Freeport grad, SRU safety Ben Lane has hulked out, is primed for possible All-PSAC year
He’s big, green and you won’t like it when he’s angry.
He’s not the Incredible Hulk.
He’s Ben Lane, ex-Freeport football standout and current Slippery Rock University senior safety.
“I like to get him upset before games,” said The Rock’s head coach, Shawn Lutz. “Because he’s a guy that plays with that swag, and when you challenge him, he’s only better. ... Tell him he’s soft or he’s not any good or something like that, and he really takes offense to that.”
Lane, the 2022 Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy winner, is easygoing when not wearing a helmet or in the weight room. He’s played in 35 games during his first three seasons in green and white, registering 73 tackles, seven pass breakups, a forced fumble and three fumble recoveries.
With amplified responsibilities, Lutz expects Lane to earn all-conference honors this season. The latter heaped all-region and All-American objectives on top of that.
“I try to just be angry when the game starts,” Lane said. “I feel like I’m just more aggressive, more physical when I’m angry. Coach, sometimes, he’ll just be like, ‘Come on.’ Just trying to hype me up, like, ‘Let’s go. Let’s get him.’ ... When I see the opponent on the other side of the field, that kinda makes me angry enough.”
And then there’s other unfortunate news for quarterbacks, running backs, receivers and tight ends who have to line up across from him this fall.
Lane, who studies tape of Jalen Ramsey and Jalen Pitre, said he put on 20 pounds of muscle — some of which he’s shed since — this past winter break and “was pushing 200 (pounds)” at the start of the spring. His teammates poked at him, saying he had “those SpongeBob inflatable arms,” Lane said, referring to an episode of a cartoon where the character acquires freakishly large biceps. “As the spring went on, Coach Lutz would keep making comments, like, ‘You might have to cut some weight!’”
Lane has made a dozen career starts, but Lutz considers his experience and versatility full-time starter worthy. With his consistency and approach to the game, Lane embodies The Rock’s football program.
And with Michael Henwood having graduated, the defense is leaning on him to lead the secondary this season.
Though he believes Lane could play nickel and cornerback, “his best position is at free safety, where he can just roam the field and use his athleticism to his advantage,” Lutz said. Unsurprisingly, the coach also plans on sticking Lane in the box to stuff the run.
“He’s such a nice young man off the field, but he’s a guy that likes to be closer to the ball because he does like to hit people,” Lutz said.
Lane hasn’t sought out any transfer portal opportunities, he said. He likes that SRU is close enough for his mother to attend his games. The dedication he sees from those who surround him and comfort with coaches have kept him content, as well. Those same coaches have lofty predictions for him.
Lane has also had another thing on his mind lately regarding goals.
“This is something I’ve been thinking about,” he said. “I plan on us having the best (defensive) back end in the nation. That’s my goal as a group. Us older guys set the standard and show the younger guys, ‘This is how we do it.’”
