In the 2007 California University of Pennsylvania football media guide, Jermaine Moye is listed as a defensive back. Ditto in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football guide.

So, when the Vulcans (11-0) lined up for the first game and Moye, a senior from Rochester High School, trotted out with the offense, more than a few heads turned.

After all, Moye was a two-time All-PSAC West selection in the secondary for California. Why would the Vulcans take an all-conference performer at one position and move him to another?

Was coach John Luckhardt crazy?

Yeah, crazy like a fox with two chickens in its pockets.

Luckhardt was thinking one day this past summer that Moye was his most explosive player since Antoine Bagwell, the Vulcans' Associated Press Little All-America running back in 2005.

Moye was one of California's kick return men last season and was outstanding, averaging 27.2 yards on 14 returns.

"He did such a good job that after a while teams started to kick away from him," Luckhardt said. "We started thinking, 'Why should the opposition dictate how often our most explosive guy handles the ball?' That's when we started thinking about moving him to offense so we could determine how much he got the ball."

It didn't hurt that California had talented Juan Butler, a junior from McKeesport High School, behind Moye on the depth chart at free safety. The Vulcans were not weakening their defense with the shift.

So, Moye was asked if he would move to wide receiver, and once he was reassured the thinking behind the change had not been made in haste, he stepped over to the other side.

It's hard to argue with the results.

Moye is the Vulcans' second-leading receiver heading into the team's NCAA Division II home playoff game at noon Saturday against Southern Connecticut State. He has 28 catches for 326 yards and three touchdowns and has also rushed five times for 23 yards.

As a returner, he has run back 29 punts for 289 yards (10.0 average) and 12 kicks for 325 yards (27.1) and a score. He was recently named to the PSAC West first team as a special teams performer.

Moye has combined with Nate Forse (42 receptions for 565 yards) and West Allegheny graduate Joe Slappy (20 for 281) to give California an outstanding receiving corps.

"I like it," Moye said when asked about going from defense to offense. "The coaches thought moving me would make us a better team. It's hard to argue with 11-0."

At 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, Moye gives California quarterback Joe Ruggiero another big target -- Forse is 6-4, 220 -- and brings a defensive mentality to an offensive position.

He also has insight into what an opposing defense might be trying to do against the Vulcans from his time on the other side of the football.

"Because I played safety, I can look at a defense and have an idea of what they're going to do and what their coverage might be," Moye said. "I also have an idea of how defensive players think.

"I know when I played defense, there was nothing better than to hit a guy and see him get up slowly. That's when you knew he would be looking for you the next time instead of catching the ball or whatever.

"So, when I catch a pass and get hit hard, I make it a point to bounce right up, just to let the other team know that I'm good and I'm coming right back."

Luckhardt agrees that Moye brings a physical presence to the receiver position. He also wishes he would have moved Moye to offense sooner.

"He played receiver some when he was at West Virginia," Luckhardt said, referring to the fact Moye transferred to California after two years with the Mountaineers. "He's still learning the position, but he's done a good job.

"When you consider everything, his returning punts and kicks, his receiving, the fact we might give him the ball on a running play or two, he's averaging about 100 all-purpose yards a game and that's what we were after."

Although Moye's shift to offense has certainly helped California, it might help Moye get more of a look at the next level.

Luckhardt believes Moye will be in an NFL camp in August and said his best shot of sticking with a pro team is as a return man/back-up receiver/coverage guy on special teams.

"While he was good at man-to-man coverage for us, you've really got to be able to do that at the next level and that's not his strong suit," Luckhardt said. "But I think he'll be a good kick-coverage guy and a good returner. He should get a shot with some [NFL] team."

A liberal arts major, Moye, whose younger brother, Derek, is a freshman receiver at Penn State, has a criminal justice minor and is considering getting into law enforcement when his playing days have ended.

"That's an area I'd like to look into," he said. "I've always like helping people out."

No one knows that better than Luckhardt.