Josh Spearin had no idea.

It was Aug. 7. Opening day of training camp for the University of Maine football team. Two players were ahead of him on the depth chart at right tackle. One was his brother.

He expected to redshirt for a season and play his first game in 2010, bigger and stronger.

But in little more than a month, Spearin made his first college start in the Carrier Dome at Syracuse, N.Y., before some 35,000 screaming fans.

Five weeks after that, the true freshman from Bonny Eagle High School has carved out a home on Maine's offensive line as the starting right tackle.

"Ability and talent always surfaces," Maine coach Jack Cosgrove said. "He has a gift to play the position. A working knowledge of technique, fundamentals, good feet, toughness. It comes down to we want our best 11 on the field. Josh Spearin became one of our best five on the line."

Spearin -- at 6 feet, 3 inches and 285 pounds -- had an inkling he would get the start at Syracuse following the previous game, a 20-16 loss at Albany. The following week, offensive line Coach Frank Giufre pulled him aside to give him the news.

They liked his presence. His physical ability. How well he takes coaching.

"It was exciting," Spearin said. "My brother had been starting over me to begin with. So it was difficult in a way. But it was still starting."

There were no hard feelings from big brother. Matt Spearin -- a 6-2, 295-pound redshirt freshman -- rooms with his brother on the road. He gave him some advice.

"It's a little frustrating," Matt Spearin said. "But I like to think I helped him a little bit. We talked about what it would be like before the Syracuse game. I told him 'It's just a regular game. The worst thing you can do is mess up. Oh well.' "

Since then Josh has played every game. "He still makes a lot of young kid mistakes," Matt said. "But he's real physical."

Added Giufre: "He's made great improvements. Being an 18-year-old kid and starting at the Division I level is pretty impressive. I think he's going to be a (darn) good player once he keeps maturing, keeps growing up and grows into his body. He's doing good things."

The Spearin brothers come from a working class family in Limington. Mom works in the meat department at Hannaford, dad works in construction.

The brothers played on a state championship team at Bonny Eagle in 2007 -- part of a string of four titles in five years for the Scots. After Matt graduated, Josh played on another championship team in 2008.

"You're not going to survive in this program if you're not a hard worker," Cosgrove said. "They came in with a hardworking mentality and background. They didn't have to learn it.

"It's a credit to the school they played at and the success that school has had. Hard work has its benefits."

The brothers spend time together on and off the field. They room together for road trips, and eat dinner together every night. They're rarely apart.

"My brother and I are pretty close," Josh said. "We like to watch over each other. He's not that far ahead of me but he had to go through everything first. He kind of got me ready for everything and has been a big help in that way. I look up to him a lot."

Maine's line has gone through some growing pains this season -- particularly early on when the team switched quarterbacks and went from a rushing offense to a passing offense. But the group has improved, said Cosgrove.

"We feel like UMass was (Josh's) best game," Cosgrove said, referring to Maine's 19-9 win last Saturday. "There's a steady growth going on here week to week. It's what you expect and hope for."

Ultimately the Spearins would like to have an impact on the football program together.

One at each tackle spot, or one at guard and the other at tackle.

Said Matt, who is an inch shorter, but 10 pounds bigger: "I'd like to start side-by-side here some day. At guard and tackle. That'd be pretty cool. We want to be a key part of things."

Cosgrove said that one day that might be a possibility: "They could end up playing side-by-side."