Only five players in the country were ranked higher than Kenny Bigelow in the high school class of 2013, and all five are in the NFL.
Three of them — Robert Nkemdiche, Vernon Hargreaves and Laquon Treadwell — were first-round picks, and a fourth probably would have gone that early if not for an injury suffered in a bowl game that dropped Jaylon Smith into the second round. And Carl Lawson went in the fourth round.
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Bigelow signed with USC — recruited by Lane Kiffin — three head coaches ago for the Trojans. He played in only 19 games for USC in five seasons, two of which were derailed by major knee injuries.
Bigelow tried not to pay attention to any of the postmortems about blue-chip recruits who didn’t pan out. Lord knows no one wants to end up on those biggest-bust lists. But truth be told, it was a hard feeling for the defensive tackle to escape. He’d watched teammates, some of whom he’d hosted himself on recruiting visits, getting to play while he couldn’t get into the lineup.
In 2017, Bigelow had gotten himself into the best shape of his life. He describes his low point — out of many contenders, he says — as coming after USC’s game against Oregon State, when he was told by someone on the Trojans staff that he should be happy to have played in the last eight minutes of the game, a 38-10 USC romp. He was told he wasn’t good enough to play there or in the NFL, “explicitly” he says, before declining to specify who at USC told him that.
“It’s disheartening,” Bigelow told The Athletic. “You used to feel all of the love, and then when time passes, you feel like you’re getting the cold shoulder as they’re bringing in the next wave of guys.”
With Bigelow’s confidence taking a hit, it didn’t help that his mom was on the other side of the country.
“I knew they were wrong,” he says. “I knew I just needed a chance and someone to support me, and I’ve found both in abundance here.”
“Here” is Morgantown, W.Va., where as a sixth-year graduate transfer Bigelow has been reunited with his old high school buddy David Sills, a Mountaineers preseason All-America wide receiver.
West Virginia is a contender to win the Big 12 this season and make a run at the top 10. That’s primarily on the strength of one of the nation’s most explosive offenses, but it could be the work of Bigelow and touted Clemson grad transfer defensive end Jabril Robinson that determines whether the Mountaineers can win the league title and possibly even make a run at a Playoff spot.
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“Kenny’s so powerful and is great with his hands and is very quick for being 312 pounds,” says West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, who adds that Bigelow has legit NFL talent. “It’s shocking to me that USC would let him go, but maybe they’ve got six or seven guys there who are (five-star stud D-linemen) like that.”
Bigelow says his goal for this season is to be as “physical as hell and be relentless” in his approach to each snap. He credits Sills and former WVU running back Wendell Smallwood for talking him up to the Mountaineers’ staff. Bigelow is aware his career hasn’t gone as planned, but he says the last chapter is the only one that matters.
“All of that led me to this moment,” he says, “and I feel like it’s gonna be a good ending.”
The Urban Meyer Ohio State investigation keeps getting messier. On Tuesday, OSU had a document dump that included a curious reference of two women in a text from Meyer’s agent Trace Armstrong to the Buckeyes head coach.
The Athletic has learned that those “Laura and Colleen” mentions refer to Laura Hoey and Colleen Conry, who were actually part of Meyer’s legal team and coordinated the preservation and imaging of the coach’s phone that day for purposes of the investigation. The attorneys from the Ropes & Gray film imaged and preserved Meyer’s cell so they could have a record of all the information. If they deleted messages, they risked being disbarred. Conry, it should be noted, is a former federal prosecutor.
I had a visit to State College last week for an upcoming feature on QB Trace McSorley. A few takeaways from watching Penn State at practice: The Nittany Lions freshmen class is LOADED. Seventeen freshmen are listed on their depth chart for the opener. The two I’d expect to make a splash sooner rather than later are running back Ricky Slade, a 5-foot-9, 200-pounder who was a lot bigger than I expected and very impressive, and former five-star DE Micah Parsons, who has been converted to linebacker. He’s a freaky athlete who is the most talented player on the defense, but he’s still getting acclimated to a new position.
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Wide receiver Justin Shorter, another five-star recruit, wasn’t 100 percent when I was out there, but he certainly passes the eye test. He’s N’Keal Harry size right now at about 6-4, 225. Penn State’s other two rookie receivers, slot guy Jahan Dotson and 6-2, 220-pound Daniel George, also stood out.
One other name to remember: QB Will Levis. He has an absolute cannon. A Connecticut native, Levis is an intriguing project. He had offers from Florida State and Penn State. He’s already got an NFL body at 6-3, 225 and can run in the 4.6s, but it’s his arm that really wows you. The ball explodes out of his hand. Levis slides into a very stacked quarterback room. He can learn from one of the best leaders and intangible guys in the country in McSorley. Behind him is another talented big QB in Tommy Stevens, and their third-team guy is strong-armed redshirt freshman Sean Clifford, whom they’re also very high on. Penn State might have three QBs who could start somewhere in the Big Ten.
Penn State’s Ryan Bates (Matthew O’Haren / USA TODAY Sports)
The Penn State O-line has continued to blossom. The coaches have been thrilled with the way left tackle Ryan Bates has taken his game up a notch. Junior Juwan Johnson, another huge wideout, has become more of a technician in his route running. KJ Hamler is 100 percent after a high school knee injury, and he’s electric with the ball in his hands. He is not as polished a route runner as DaeSean Hamilton was, but he looks like he’ll be quite a weapon for McSorley.
Last year, the Penn State offense that had four guys with at least 50 catches, and in the bowl game against Washington, nine guys touched the ball in the first 22 plays. McSorley’s ability to make plays without trying to force anything should translate into another big season for the Penn State QB.
QBs transferring immediately after losing quarterback battles has become increasingly common in college football. The battle at Texas between Sam Ehlinger and former starter Shane Buechele was a tight one this month. Props to Tom Herman who announced his No. 1 guy–Ehlinger–on Monday, Aug. 20, nine days before UT started classes.
Why was that timing interesting? Some coaches have dragged out their decisions into the start of classes, so if the player is tempted to try and leave, he’d be forced to sit out that semester, so it impacts his transfer and the start of transitioning at another school during the fall.
Get to know: Kyahva (Key ah va) Tezino. Never heard of him? When you watch San Diego State try to make it two in a row against Stanford on Friday night, you’ll probably hear Tezino’s name called a lot. The Los Angeles native who made a career-high 17 tackles in the Aztecs’ Armed Forces Bowl against Army will be a critical component in Rocky Long’s defense when it tries to contain Bryce Love. The 6-0, 230-pound junior runs very well, and Aztecs coaches say has a great knack for slipping under blocks and hitting gaps in their pressure defense. He’s also a really good blitzer.
Every week I ask a coach or player what makes someone around him special. This is Florida State defensive ends coach Mark Snyder (who coached Myles Garrett at Texas A&M) on Brian Burns:
“He’s very smart and explosive. His get-off and ability to bend are rare. The only other guy I’ve ever been around who has get-off and can bend like him was Myles. Brian’s such a freak. Only thing is he’s 235, and Myles was probably 30 pounds heavier.”
My heart sank when I got on Twitter on Sunday night and noticed a tweet from USC coach Clay Helton about the passing of longtime Trojans fan Jan Moser Dyer. Moser Dyer passed away over the weekend after a long battle with cancer. I met her on a flight to Chicago last year, and it was the most memorable flight I’ve taken. And I’ve never looked at Helton quite the same after it. I ended up writing about his relationship with Jan after they both agreed it was OK to share their story.
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“Jan was such a special example of how sweet life is,” Helton said on this week’s Pac-12 coaches teleconference. “We have a saying at USC, ‘Fight On,’ and she was the definition of it. She was a good Trojan and a great member of our family.”
RIP Jan. I’m grateful we got seated next to each other on American Airlines Flight 2503.
(Top photo by West Virginia University Sports Information)
