Texas Tech’s season opener against Northwestern State, which kicks off at 6 p.m. Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium, will not only mark the first college game Micah Awe has played — it also will be the first one he’s ever attended.

“I’ve seen them on TV, but I didn’t go on a visit because of school,” said Awe, the 6-foot, 210-pound true-freshman linebacker out of Mansfield Summit. “I’ve never been to a college game, period.”

If he weren’t so assertive about that claim, it might be difficult to believe considering how fast Awe (pronounced AH-way) has caught on after just one fall camp’s worth of practices. He earned a spot on the two-deep at strongside linebacker behind Terrance Bullitt, quickly moving the redshirt option off the table.

“He will play,” Tech coach Tommy Tuberville said Wednesday. “He won’t redshirt. He’s too valuable, from being a backup on defense to being, I think, one of the ring leaders on special teams. ... He’s going to be a heck of a football player.”

Awe, who was born in Nigeria and moved to the United States with his family when he was 3, attacks the game with an uncommon level of intelligence. His high school class list included scores of advanced placement classes, and he’s carried that grueling load over to Tech, where’s he’s majoring in petroleum engineering.

Among the classes for his first semester: Calculus (which he calls “a review”), geology and intro to engineering. Such a docket requires a balance centered on faith and a strong work ethic that Awe believes he’s come close to mastering over the years.

“In high school I was the type of person where, with math, it wasn’t easy, but when I studied it became easy,” Awe said. “It’s like football. If I study, it becomes easy.”

Despite his freshman status, Awe has approached his work — both on the field and in the classroom — with unbridled confidence. He said he learned those lessons from his father, who told his son that if he was going to do something, he might as well become the best at it.

So when Awe picked up football in seventh grade, he didn’t let his initial status as a “D-teamer” faze him, working instead to become a standout linebacker who racked up more than 200 tackles over his final two high school seasons.

He carried that same confidence into his first fall camp, undeterred by people who told him he had little chance of playing as a true freshman, especially as a true freshman who had only one college offer.

“That’s what sparked me the whole summer,” Awe said, “people saying you had no chance, that you would have to redshirt. I didn’t care about any of that.”

Awe hasn’t exactly been a shrinking violet on the field this fall. While most freshman attempt to settle into the team dynamic before speaking their minds, Awe didn’t waste any time. During players’ meetings earlier in camp, Awe took the floor to address his teammates, an uncommon act for players just out of high school.

“For him to speak, it was like, OK, he wants to play,” said Dartwan Bush, a junior defensive end. “He wants to help the team.”

Tuberville has little doubt Awe will make an impact this season. He remarked Wednesday that the freshman is almost always in the right spot and rarely has to receive an instruction more than once. If anything, the head coach has had to temper Awe’s energy.

“The only thing that I have to get on Micah about is he doesn’t know full speed from half speed,” Tuberville said. “It’s always full speed for him. Today we were running a blitz drill and he about runs over one of our running backs, who is one of our starters, who wasn’t expecting him to be coming full speed. They’re starting to learn about Micah.”

Awe is eager for the chance to let others learn about his game. If nothing else, he will have a great seat for his first college football game.

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