There are differences growing up in Louisville, Ky., and attending college in the small Cleveland County town of Boiling Springs.

"In Louisville, it's stop-and-go traffic after school, or just about wherever you go," said Louisville native and Gardner-Webb offensive guard Corey O'Daniel, a 6-foot-7, 330-pound senior.

"Here, you've got a one stop-light town."

Playing for the Bulldogs has served O'Daniel well, however. At least 17 NFL scouts - including the Carolina Panthers - have stopped by Gardner-Webb's preseason camp to check him out. He's a first-team All-Big South player who also has made at least two preseason All-America teams.

"Unless something crazy happens or he gets injured, he's got a shot at the NFL," said coach Steve Patton. "Somebody's going to take him because of his size and speed."

And O'Daniel didn't find Gardner-Webb - located in Boiling Springs, about 55 miles west of Charlotte - by accident.

Although he was recruited early out of prep power St. Xavier High by Kentucky and Louisville, O'Daniel was attracted by Gardner-Webb's wide-open offensive style.

"It fits into what I do best, and that's pass block," said O'Daniel.

Patton, who's in his 14th season at Gardner-Webb, long ago figured out that running the spread offense was his best chance to level the recruiting playing field with other Football Championship Series programs around the Carolinas.

"We were one of the first around here to run the spread offense," said Patton. "It makes it easier for us to recruit. We've got some disadvantages, being a church-related school in a small community. We're not as attractive as a place like Furman in Greenville, S.C., or Appalachian State in the mountains or Coastal Carolina at the beach.

"But we throw it around a lot and that means our offensive players get to do what they want to do."

In O'Daniel and sophomore tackle Jamie Dunaway, Patton has blockers who can help spring things for players like running back Patrick Hall (who played at Gastonia Ashbrook) and receiver James Perry.

O'Daniel has a large tattoo on his left biceps, one he says he will expand on if he makes the NFL. "Then I'll get one all the way down my arm," he said.

He also has been known to have a smiley-face drawn on the tape that's around his wrist during games.

"I guess that's to mess with the defense's head," O'Daniel said. "Why's he wearing a smiley-face?"

Gardner-Webb has lost All-American linebacker Marty Patterson for the season with a hip injury. He was the Big South's preseason defensive player of the year.