Ohio has four new players participating in spring practice. One is Kyle Belack, a 5-11, 195 lb 2-star WR from Myrtle Beach SC who verbally committed to Marshall in June 2014. After visiting both schools in July Belack switched his commitment to Ohio. Also graduating early from high school and enrolling for the spring semester was CB Maxwell Howell from Seminole Ridge High School in Loxahatchee FL. Howell is 6-1 and 175 lbs. and was also rated 2 stars by rivals.com His rivals profile shows other offers from Cincinnati, Indiana, Maryland, Purdue and Temple.
Two mid-year JUCO transfers opening spring practice with the Bobcats were offensive linemen Josh Cooper and Joe Anderson. Cooper is a 6-2 309 lb 2 star player from Mississippi Delta Community College, and Anderson is a 6-6 320 lb 2 star player from El Camino Community College in Torrance CA. Neither had any other offers listed in the rivals.com recruiting database.
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Last week safety Nathan Carpenter was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA and he is expected to return for the 2015 season.
Carpenter redshirted due to injury in 2010. He then played in 43 consecutive games, covering all 14 games in 2011, all 13 games in each of the 2012 and 2013 seasons and the first 3 games in 2014. He aggravated an existing groin injury against Marshall and missed the remainder of the 2014 season. Carpenter had undergone two surgeries for the injury before the 2014 season.
If he's healthy Carpenter will become one of the few players ever to play against the Herd five times.
In 2011 he started and forced a fumble, recovered two fumbles and recorded four tackles against the Herd in OU's 44-7 win in Athens.
In 2012, Carpenter didn't start but he made 6 tackles and recovered an Antavius Wilson fumble with 5:37 left in the game. Carpenter returned the fumble 48 yards to the Herd 31 which set up the winning field goal in a 27-24 Bobcat win in Huntington.
In 2013 Carpenter started at CB, forced a fumble by Steward Butler and recorded six tackles as Ohio beat the Herd 34-31 in Athens.
Last year Carpenter didn't start but intercepted a Rakeem Cato pass at Ohio's goal line in the 4th quarter. The game was already out of reach as the Herd led 41-7 at the time. That was Carpenter's final play of the 2014 season. He also had 3 total tackles in the game.
That's 2 forced fumbles, 3 recovered fumbles, an interception and 19 tackles in four games against Marshall.
Carpenter is from one of Ohio's top football families. He played at Lancaster High School for his father Rob, who played running back for Miami (not the good one, the one in Ohio) and then rushed for over 4,000 yards in a 10 year NFL career.
Nathan's brother Bobby played LB at Ohio State in 2002-2005, was drafted in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys and played seven NFL seasons.
Another brother, Jon played LB for the University of Cincinnati in 2004-2008. He was a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2014 and was just named head football coach of Shawnee High School in Lima OH.
Nathan's third brother George played LB for the Herd in 2008-2011. He saw action in all 50 games in those 4 seasons and was Marshall's third leading tackler in 2011.
This post was edited on 3/1 11:39 PM by Dick Ash
Two mid-year JUCO transfers opening spring practice with the Bobcats were offensive linemen Josh Cooper and Joe Anderson. Cooper is a 6-2 309 lb 2 star player from Mississippi Delta Community College, and Anderson is a 6-6 320 lb 2 star player from El Camino Community College in Torrance CA. Neither had any other offers listed in the rivals.com recruiting database.
***********************************************************************************************************************************
Last week safety Nathan Carpenter was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA and he is expected to return for the 2015 season.
Carpenter redshirted due to injury in 2010. He then played in 43 consecutive games, covering all 14 games in 2011, all 13 games in each of the 2012 and 2013 seasons and the first 3 games in 2014. He aggravated an existing groin injury against Marshall and missed the remainder of the 2014 season. Carpenter had undergone two surgeries for the injury before the 2014 season.
If he's healthy Carpenter will become one of the few players ever to play against the Herd five times.
In 2011 he started and forced a fumble, recovered two fumbles and recorded four tackles against the Herd in OU's 44-7 win in Athens.
In 2012, Carpenter didn't start but he made 6 tackles and recovered an Antavius Wilson fumble with 5:37 left in the game. Carpenter returned the fumble 48 yards to the Herd 31 which set up the winning field goal in a 27-24 Bobcat win in Huntington.
In 2013 Carpenter started at CB, forced a fumble by Steward Butler and recorded six tackles as Ohio beat the Herd 34-31 in Athens.
Last year Carpenter didn't start but intercepted a Rakeem Cato pass at Ohio's goal line in the 4th quarter. The game was already out of reach as the Herd led 41-7 at the time. That was Carpenter's final play of the 2014 season. He also had 3 total tackles in the game.
That's 2 forced fumbles, 3 recovered fumbles, an interception and 19 tackles in four games against Marshall.
Carpenter is from one of Ohio's top football families. He played at Lancaster High School for his father Rob, who played running back for Miami (not the good one, the one in Ohio) and then rushed for over 4,000 yards in a 10 year NFL career.
Nathan's brother Bobby played LB at Ohio State in 2002-2005, was drafted in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys and played seven NFL seasons.
Another brother, Jon played LB for the University of Cincinnati in 2004-2008. He was a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2014 and was just named head football coach of Shawnee High School in Lima OH.
Nathan's third brother George played LB for the Herd in 2008-2011. He saw action in all 50 games in those 4 seasons and was Marshall's third leading tackler in 2011.
This post was edited on 3/1 11:39 PM by Dick Ash
