TimesLeader.com

Sticking around again

By Derek Levarse dlevarse@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter

His first meaningful carries didn’t come until last Saturday – 21 games into his Penn State career. But Brandon Beachum had been on the field with Daryll Clark long before then.

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Brandon Beachum carries the ball in a game last season. Beachum, who switched to number 3 this season, has been a versitle back for the Nittany Lions.

FRED ADAMS FILE PHOTO/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

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Against Michigan this past weekend, it was quarterback and tailback – Clark handing off to Beachum. Earlier this decade, it was Beachum handing off to Clark – ballboy and quarterback.

The Youngstown natives had met well before either was in Happy Valley, as Beachum – nearly four years younger than Clark – tagged along with Ursuline High School, where his father coached.

“Just one of those kids that just hangs around the older guys at football games,” said Beachum, who confessed he used to carry around Clark’s pads as a middle-schooler.

In less than four years, Beachum went from “just one of those kids” to one of the nation’s top recruits. He spent his first two years of high school at Poland Seminary before transferring to Ohio powerhouse Cardinal Mooney for his junior and senior seasons.

Beachum was a stalwart on both sides of the ball in helping his team to a Division IV state title in 2006 and another trip to the championship in 2007.

Plenty of top Division I programs were looking at him as a linebacker, but one of the reasons he decided on Penn State was the chance to play offense and carry the ball.

“He’s a football player,” coach Joe Paterno said. “I guess that sounds trite, but he’s a football player. He’s smart. You put him at tailback, he understands … the type of running is a little bit more patient – wait for a crack, gets the crack. Move him up to fullback – he understands he now primarily is going to be a blocker. When he runs the football, it’s a question of get your head down, make the three or four yards.

“So he’s very adaptable. And he doesn’t make mistakes.”

So far this season, he has 17 carries for 81 yards and has 29 more yards on three catches. Against Michigan he had seven carries for 23 yards while spelling Evan Royster.

Paterno compared Beachum to a couple of other versatile backs in Penn State history – Joel Coles (1979-82) and more recently, Mike Archie (1992-95).

“He would be very much like those two kids, complete players,” Paterno said. “They’re tough. They can block. They catch the football. They understand the blocking scheme of the play they’re running. So he does all those things well.

“He’s a tough kid to keep out of there.”

That’s one of the reasons Beachum hasn’t redshirted. He played in every game last season as a true freshman, getting 28 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown. But he also played special teams, where he got to use some of those linebacker instincts.

At 6-foot, 220 pounds, Beachum hits harder than one might imagine. He carries that same intensity over to his running style, as members of Penn State’s vaunted defense have nicknamed him “Bulldog.”

This season, when backup fullback Josh Matzkin went down with an injury, the coaches felt comfortable enough to move Beachum to that spot. Then when tailbacks Stephfon Green and Brent Carter were dealing with injuries, he slid right back in at tailback and didn’t miss a beat.

It’s why Beachum lobbied Paterno and the coaching staff to play instead of redshirt in both of his first two seasons, despite guys like Royster and Green ahead of him on the depth chart.

“I didn’t want to be one of those guys who sits on the bench for a year,” Beachum said. “I wanted to get on the field right away.”