My quest for finding a play I could use for 47 days turned up futile. You would not IMAGINE the amount of notable 48-yard plays Penn State has, but oh that one less yard changes every thing.
A quick search of the current Penn State football roster gave me Aidan Prosbt, a 6-foot-2, 264-pound redshirt freshman defensive end from Erie. While I have much respect for Aidan, Penn State Athletics’ official site doesn’t even have a bio filled out for him. Doesn’t even let me know if he’s Jeff Probst son. Sorry Aidan, but the tribe has spoken.
So I went into the depths of my brain and thought about previous No. 47s in Penn State history. There was Brandon Smith. No, not that Brandon Smith. That one wear No. 12 at Penn State and *then* wore No. 47 for the Eagles. The other Brandon Smith. The 2016-2017 one. So I was going to write about him, but then I remembered good old Josh Gaines.
Gaines was a multi-year starter for the Nittany Lions during the mid-2000s, most notably being a captain for the Big Ten Champion 2008 team. He had solid stats playing opposite Aaron Maybin, finishing his senior season with 4 sacks and 7.5 TFLs.
It’s funny watching his highlights, as he was a 6-foot-1 defensive end with a 275-pound frame. If you inserted Gaines into today’s football, he had an extra 10-15 pounds and plays defensive tackle, similar to what we’ve seen from Kevin Givens and Zane Durant. Funny how the game changes, and quite the reminder that the mid-2000s is now almost 20 years ago.
Only 47 days.