Blue White Illustrated

PHIL���S CORNER Nittany Lions need immediate help, so new class gets off to early start ith Penn State limited to 15 scholarships per recruiting class until 2016, Bill O���Brien and his staff must be a little creative and even more selective when targeting prospects. After the NCAA handed down its sanctions on July 23, I imagine O���Brien and his staff immediately got together to formulate a recruiting strategy for the next four years. But for the current cycle, the Nittany Lions already had 15 verbal commitments in place by mid-June. This meant that the staff had a real problem on its hands. O���Brien and his assistants understood there was a real possibility that several of those verbally committed prospects would reconsider their decision and possibly reopen their recruitment. But they also realized they had an opportunity to sign more than 15 players if some of those recruits chose to enroll in January. The players who arrived early would count as members of the Class of 2012. That turned out to be exactly what Penn State did. The Nittany Lions now have 17 players in the Class of 2013. Five of those players ��� athlete Richy Anderson of Thomas Johnson High in Frederick, Md.; quarterback Tyler Ferguson of College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif.; tight end Adam Breneman of Cedar Cliff High in Camp Hill, Pa.; defensive back Anthony Smith of Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pa.; and defensive back Jordan Smith of H.D. Woodson High in Washington, D.C. ��� enrolled at Penn State on Jan. 7 for W the beginning of the spring semester. By finding a group of eligible early enrollees, Penn State was able to have five recruits get a head start on the rest of their class and participate in winter workouts and spring practice. And if you take an in-depth look at Penn State���s scholarship roster for the upcoming season, four of the five early enrollees are at positions where depth is a serious concern. They are definitely positions of need. That is particularly true at the quarterback position. In the middle of December, the Nittany Lions had just one scholarship quarterback ��� sophomore Steven Bench ��� on their roster. It was the primary reason why O���Brien and quarterbacks coach Charlie Fisher scoured the junior college circuit for a signal caller. Blue White Illustrated has been able to confirm that O���Brien and Fisher targeted at least five junior college quarterbacks, with Jake Waters from Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Ferguson receiving the most attention from the media. With Ferguson���s arrival on campus ��� plus the addition of ���run-on��� quarterbacks Austin Whipple from Salisbury, Conn., and D.J. Crook from Worcester, Mass. ��� O���Brien and Fisher now have four credible quarterbacks on hand for spring practice. This also gives those quarterbacks time to learn the playbook before the start of preseason practice in August. Ferguson is turning out to be a real plus. Several Internet recruiting serv- ices rank him as a four-star recruit, but the real bonus here is that he still has four years to complete three seasons of eligibility in Happy Valley. At College of the Sequoias in 2012, Ferguson threw for 2,614 yards and 22 touchdowns, while completing nearly 66 percent of his passes. Early reports from winter workouts have been very positive. Another bonus early enrollee is Anderson. He is expected to play at either running back or the slot wide receiver position. With Curtis Dukes not returning for his final year of eligibility, the only running backs on Penn State���s scholarship roster going into spring practice are juniors Zach Zwinak and Bill Belton and redshirt freshman Akeel Lynch. Given the depth concerns, it���s easy to see why Anderson is considered such a significant addition. The same type of situation exists in the secondary, which has been bolstered by the addition of Anthony Smith and Jordan Smith. It is not known whether they will begin their respective Nittany Lion careers at free safety or cornerback, but depth going into spring practice is a major concern across the entire defensive backfield. That is particularly true at the two safety positions. The only players behind fifth-year seniors Malcolm Willis (free safety) and Stephen ObengAgyapong (strong safety) are redshirt junior Ryan Keiser, who began his career as a walk-on, sophomore Jordan Lucas and redshirt freshman Jake Kiley. Even Breneman���s early enrollment is a blessing for the Lions, despite the fact that they already have five formidable tight ends on their spring scholarship roster. The list of returnees includes fifth-year senior Matt Lehman, redshirt junior Garry Gilliam, sophomore Jesse James, redshirt sophomore Kyle Carter and redshirt freshman Brent Wilkerson. For the first time since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in June, Breneman is doing football workouts. His enrollment in January affords him the opportunity to participate in

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