Penn State plays Alabama September 11, and one of the keys to the game will be the performance of the running game. Everyone here knows about Alabama’s Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson. Here is some information on the Penn State Nittany Lions’ running back Evan Royster.
From the AP: “the 19th-ranked Nittany Lions’ Evan Royster is 481 yards shy of erasing the school career rushing mark of 3,398 yards held by Curt Warner since 1982. …
Royster’s in select company already in the Penn State record books. Entering the 2010 season, he has 2,918 yards, good for eighth in career rushing.
“That’s more than Penn State’s only Heisman winner, John Cappelletti, and standout Ki-Jana Carter, and behind notable names including Lydell Mitchell, Larry Johnson, Curtis Enis, Blair Thomas and Warner.
“Royster’s success is partly due to having played extensively since his redshirt freshman year in 2007, moving up the depth chart after Austin Scott — a one-time promising prospect — left the team following off-field issues. He backed up Rodney Kinlaw at the time.
“Royster had been considering Nebraska and Oklahoma among his college options while being recruited out of high school in suburban Washington, D.C., where his family eventually moved. But Penn State was a place where he thought he could get some early playing time.” (read the entire AP report below)