Many mornings during his two-year church mission, Boise State offensive tackle Michael Ames grabbed his football and found someone to play catch with for 30 minutes.

It was his way of staying connected to a sport that had been his passion since he was 8 - and the sport he was determined to play again.

Ames returned to Boise in summer 2008. He watched a DVD of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl with his parents - the video was still packaged, waiting for him to arrive. He looked up a phone number for the Boise State football office on the Internet. And he made the phone call that set him on a collision course with one of the West's best defensive ends.

Ames, who walked on at Boise State 13 months ago, will start at right tackle Thursday at Bronco Stadium against the Oregon Ducks. The 22-year-old redshirt freshman hasn't played in a real game in nearly five years.

His matchup: Oregon senior defensive end Will Tukuafu, a preseason All-Pac-10 selection.

His assignment: Protecting quarterback Kellen Moore's blind side.

"It's a big thing and really, I know that," Ames said. "I know the importance of this game. É Of course it's surprising and it's kind of out there. A lot of people don't know who I am. It's just a good chance for me to go out there and show people that I can do this."

Ames is one of the most out-of-nowhere starters in Boise State's recent history. Walk-ons - other than kickers - almost never start as freshmen.

"He's a total guy who had an opportunity and made the most of it," offensive line coach Scott Huff said.

Ames was born and raised in Boise. He joined Optimist football when he was 8 and has attended Broncos games using the family's season tickets for as long as he can remember.

He started at offensive tackle for two years at Centennial High - winning a state title as a junior in 2003 and losing in the state semifinals as a senior in 2004. He was named to the All-Idaho second team in 2004.

"He was very coachable and a good leader, a quiet leader," Centennial coach Lee Neumann said. "Sometimes you wonder if a quiet guy doesn't listen, but he was one of those quiet guys who would soak up everything, every little detail, and work on it and get better."

Ames drew the Broncos' interest with his performance at the high school camp the summer of 2004. He let the coaches know he would take a mission and kept in touch. They told him to attend class part time in 2005-06, retaining all of his eligibility, and hit the weight room. He left on his mission in June 2006, after turning 19.

"I left with that in my mind that I was going to play for Boise State," he said.

When he called the football office two years later, coach Chris Petersen remembered him. He was the offensive coordinator and local recruiter when Ames was in high school.

"Those things are so far off in the future, you kind of put it in the back of your mind and hope it works out," Petersen said. "Every now and then, it works out to be one of those awesome stories where it has all clicked."

Ames joined the team in August 2008. His technique was rusty and he weighed 240 pounds. Everyone saw potential in his frame and athleticism, but no one thought he would rise so fast.

"... I thought maybe by the time he was a sophomore, junior, he would put on the weight and get the technique down. He has way outpaced my expectations,'' Neumann said.

Ames did it with a simple trick - he was coachable.

Every day, coaches say, he got better. If they suggested a change that was uncomfortable, he made the change. And he ate - packing on 40-plus pounds in 13 months.

"He was just every day doing something a little bit better than he did the day before," Petersen said. "If we could all do that, we'd be something special."

Ames emerged as a starting candidate in spring ball and he never budged from the lineup in fall camp.

The competition isn't over - Huff likes backup tackles Nate Potter and Garrett Pendergast, too - but Ames has a chance to end what has been a revolving door at right tackle for most of this decade.

"I hope he's a fixture there,'' offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin said.

That will depend in part on how Ames handles the fervor of game day. The five-year gap - he did play an all-star game in summer 2005 - does make coaches wonder how he will react.

Nobody, though, seems overly concerned.

"I've been watching him this week," said Terri Ames, his mother. "He seems real calm and steady and ready to go. He doesn't seem to feel the pressure and be responding to it at all. He's just a really solid guy anyway - solid and steady."