Nose tackle Jordan Favreau (photo by SMU Athletics).

When he was recruited out of Coppell High School, in 2009, he joined a crowd of promising young offensive linemen on the SMU roster. A year later, he shifted to defense, only to see his 2010 season — his first as a nose tackle — derailed by medical issues

Favreau played a limited role in 2010, and then got caught in a numbers game in 2011 when the Mustangs added a slew of talent with the return of Torlan Pittman and the addition of a pair of talented first-year nose tackles. Pittman reclaimed his starting role, and was joined in the rotation by Aaron “Spike” Davis and freshmen Darrian Wright and Rishaad Wimbley (until Wimbley moved to running back).

“That summer (before the 2011 season) was tough,” Favreau said. “I had pretty bad asthma attacks, and then I strained some muscles in my back lifting weights — that was kind of scary, because I had injured my back before, in high school and during my freshman year.

“I went through a lot of (pain relief) patches before practice. It didn’t really limit my ability, but when it really hurt, I couldn’t do too much. We have a lot of talented guys, and if you’re not 100 percent, it’s hard to get much done.”

Favreau, whose father, Mike, was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers after a stellar career as a linebacker and guard at the University of California, hardly resembles the player who arrived at SMU in 2009. When he got to the Hilltop for his freshman year, Favreau was barely 230 pounds — hardly ideal for a college lineman. He said he now carries 275 pounds on his 6-foot-3-inch frame, and plans to play at about 285.

With Wimbley now in the offensive backfield, the Mustangs have four nose tackles (five, if incoming true freshman Nick Reed is included) competing for playing time at one spot.

“We’re all a little different,” Favreau said. “‘Pitt’ is the strongest, the thickest of us, and ‘Spike’ is a little lighter, but one of those high-motor guys. Darrian Wright and I — we’re somewhere in between. But we all can play.

“I’m not worried about trying to knock ‘Pitt’ out of the lineup or anything like that, and I think ‘Spike’ might be playing defensive end (defensive coordinator Tom Mason said Davis will play both nose tackle and defensive end). My only focus is doing what I need to do to get playing time. I’m not trying to beat this guy or that guy. When that happens, you get in to the game of comparison. I just want to get healthy.”

As he gets ready for his redshirt junior season in 2012, Favreau said this year’s spring workouts represent a chance to start over in his effort to prove to the coaching staff that he deserves to be a part of the rotation at nose tackle.

“This spring, my approach is that I basically sat out a year, and I’m tired of waiting,” he said. “I’m going to just tear it up this spring. I feel like this is my time. I have got two years left, and I want to play.”