Email

Print

IUP is the second choice in the expanded PSAC West that includes newcomers Gannon and Mercyhurst in the West and C.W. Post in the East. Gannon and Mercyhurst moved from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The PSAC will hold a state championship game for the first time since 1988 with the first-place teams in the East and West meeting on the final weekend of the regular season.

"I think it's going to be between IUP and us [in the West]," said Luckhardt, who is entering his seventh season at California. "I'm excited we're getting this kind of respect. People now are mad at us, that's good. Nobody was mad at California football seven years ago."

The most prominent Division I transfers will be quarterback Kevin McCabe (Virginia), wide receivers Marcel Pestano (Pitt) and A.J. Jackson (College of the Sequoias), tight end Chase DeCarlo (Georgia Southern) and linebackers Dantey Brown (Penn State) and Greg Webster (Pitt).

McCabe, a standout at Pine-Richland who started the first three games for Virginia in 2006 and sat out 2007 as a redshirt, transferred to California in January and participated in spring drills with the Vulcans.

"It didn't take long for Kevin to establish himself as our quarterback. That wasn't too hard to figure out," Luckhardt said of McCabe, who will be taking graduate courses. "He has a major league arm."

Pestano caught 43 passes for 614 yards and two touchdowns in 2006 and '07 at Pitt. The newcomers will complement proven veterans such as running backs Brandon Lombardy and Daine Williams, linebacker Darren Burns, defensive lineman Willie Walker, receivers Nate Forse, Jermaine Moye and Joe Slappy and defensive back Terrence Johnson.

"I like to say we are retooling," Luckhardt said. "We're not destitute." A number of other teams in the West aren't shy on talent, either. IUP has 13 starters back from a 9-3 team that lost in the second round of the playoffs, led by quarterback Andrew Krewatch and wide receiver Ken Witter, who were the catalysts for an offense that generated 38.5 points and 402 yards per game. Jim O'Rourke will anchor the offensive line and the headliners on defense are lineman Anthony Guerra and linebacker Terrence Jackson.

Edinboro, picked third in the poll, will again have quarterback Trevor Harris, the PSAC West Offensive Player of the Year, leading the offense. He threw for 3,628 yards and 30 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions last season. Slippery Rock lost much from a 9-2 team and will rely on the punishing running of Corey Manfull and defensive stalwarts Tyler Boudreau and Marty Kern on the line and A.J. Saunders in the secondary. Mercyhurst will be experienced and could be troublesome for the contenders and it would seem that things can only improve for Clarion, Gannon and Lock Haven.