The transfer of Steven Bench, who saw limited time in 2012, leaves junior college transfer Tyler Ferguson as the only upperclass quarterback on the PSU roster. He will likely battle highly regarded, five-star recruit Christian Hackenberg for the starting position in the preseason.
Behind those two are walk-ons DJ Crook and Austin Whipple, who both graduated early and took part in spring practice in Happy Valley as first-semester freshmen.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Crook comes from West Barnstable, Mass., and played last fall at Worcester Academy. Here's where it gets interesting. He told the Cape Cod Times in December that beyond Penn State he was considering, "Albany, Villanova, Dartmouth and Penn."
Crook passed for a state-record 8,126 yards at Barnstable High with 77 career touchdown passes.
The other Penn State walk-on is 6-1, 190 Austin Whipple of Salisbury School. If you've been around the Ivy League for a while the name should be familiar. His father, Mark Whipple, was the Brown quarterback when Buddy Teevens was calling signals at Dartmouth in the late '70s. Mark Whipple was the head coach at Brown from 1994-97 and his dynamic attack set numerous Ivy and school offensive records. He has been an NFL assistant since 2004.
Austin Whipple passed for 1,526 yards and 16 touchdowns in his final season at Pine-Richland HS in Pennsylvania before coming to New England and prepping at Salisbury.
In the increasingly unlikely event that Hackenberg should redshirt, as had been a strong possibility before Bench's transfer, potential Ivy League quarterback Crook or Ivy League legacy Whipple could be one play away from starting in front of more than 100,000 people on Saturday afternoons at Beaver Stadium.
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Could three Ivy Leaguers hear their names called before the NFL draft winds up? It could happen according to this story.
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Week 1 opponent Butler closed spring practice Saturday with quarterback Matt Lancaster passing for one score and running for another in the Blue-White game. The Pioneer Football League's Most Outstanding Offensive Player last fall helped the Bulldogs to an 8-3 season and a share of the conference championship. He was 25-of-35 for 267 yards and one touchdown passing in last year's 35-7 loss at Dartmouth. The Big Green opens at Butler on Sept. 21.Week 5 Dartmouth opponent Bucknell wrapped up spring practice Saturday night with four-year starting quarterback Brandon Wesley completing 19-of-25 throws for 236 yards and a touchdown in the Orange and Blue game. The question with that kind of performance, of course, is whether it means Wesley will be a significant weapon this fall – or whether the Bucknell defense will struggle.
There's a nice video report from Bucknell's spring game here.
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Dartmouth resumes spring practice this afternoon. Tonight's report on BGA Premium will begin with a look at how the defensive line shapes up this spring.
