Contrary to popular belief, football is a very complicated game. On offense, Portland State has around 100 basic plays and play variations it might run in any given game. And, while there aren't nearly as many variations, there is an offensive line call that goes with each different play. Plus, the offensive line has to adjust to meet last-second defensive line shifts while maintaining the integrity of the original call.      

Senior Cam Keizur, who has alternated between center and guard this season, has the offensive line play calling assignment because "he's very smart.  He understands what the defense is trying to do and what we're trying to do to them," said Offensive Line Coach A.C. Patterson.

Keizur is indeed smart. The Criminal Justice and Criminality major (He'd like to be a policeman) earned a 3.98 spring term and is carrying a 3.58 cumulative GPA. Having redshirted his freshman year, he will graduate after this fall term.      

He credits his football IQ to playing for a lot of years and for growing up in a football family. Keizur's dad Mike Keizur was a defensive lineman at Western Oregon and his younger brother Garret ("he's tall, but not as big as I am") plays tight end at Willamette University. His older brother Cal played wide receiver and cornerback in high school.       

Being assigned to coordinate with the quarterback and relay the corresponding offensive line assignments to the rest of the line is a challenge on which Keizur, a team co-captain this year, thrives.      

"I really liked playing defensive line better, but I seem to be better on the offensive line. The thing I like about the "O" line is that it's more mental.  I've always understood football pretty well. My dad coached me while I was growing up. He helped me understand the game of football," said the former West Linn High School player who is listed at  6-4, 320 pounds.     

Keuzur's job is to take the quarterback's play call and pass the appropriate offensive line assignment to teammates on either side who pass it on. He also likes playing the offensive line because "it's a critical position. There's a lot of hitting and pulling."      

His size helps him compete with just about anyone he's up against.      

Keizer didn't flinch at the size of the eighth-ranked University of Washington's defensive line (averaging 300-plus pounds) earlier this season where he thought PSU offensive line "competed fairly well. They are very good. I've played players at that level and I feel I can hold my own there, but their whole unit was really good… not just individuals… the entire defensive unit."      

"He's extremely tough. He can take the hits and blows that come with the position he plays. He's not afraid," agreed Patterson.       

Keizur sees his strengths as an offensive lineman as being "big, strong and I keep a good pad level (low)."  Over the years he's grown physically and has gotten better by just playing. He's also concentrated on moving his feet. The difference between a good offensive lineman and a great one is foot speed, he said.     

"I've gotten better by just playing. I've picked the skills up fast and have done a good job getting bigger, faster and stronger. I've spent a lot of time in the weight room," he said. Experience also has helped him with play calling. "At first that was really complicated. It gets easier with experience."       

Keizur started playing football in grade school. He started playing defensive and offensive line positions because he was big for his age, he said. He also played basketball, baseball and track and field, but football and competing in the shot put were the only sports he continued into high school.     

He wasn't highly recruited out of high school, although he did have opportunities.     

"I could have walked on at several programs (Oregon, Oregon State and Boise State, where his dad had a connection), but I felt my best chance for a scholarship and to play was coming here… also, it's a chance to play near home, so I felt being in Portland was my better option," said Keizur.     

He experienced the Viking coaching change which put Bruce Barnum, the 2015 FCS Coach of the Year, in charge and saw the team make a run at the national playoffs.      

There's better overall player morale under the new regime, he said.  "What that stems from, I don't know. The coaches now really seem more interested in us as people… that's one difference."      

His highlights during his playing time as a Viking?      

"Beating Washington State and playing in Texas against North Texas State and getting that big win there," he said immediately and with a grin.      

Besides helping him choose a profession (he chose Criminal Justice because it was an available PSU major that sounded interesting), he also seems to have made the right choice in terms of playing time.      

Keizur has started 37 games during his PSU career. He's earned All-Big Sky Conference third team and honorable mention honors and is expected to compete for first team honors this season.      

He'd like to follow a number of other recent Vikings and continue playing after college. And, he's had some interest from the NFL. But, if that doesn't work out, he thinks he's made great memories and had a great education.  And, he'll make one very large policeman.