Michigan junior OL drawing big time looks

Portage (Mich.) Central offensive lineman Nate Jeppesen's junior season is over after his team failed to make the MHSAA playoffs, but his college recruitment is just starting to get underway.

The 6-4, 260-pound Jeppesen picked up scholarship offers from Central Michigan and Western Michigan after attending camps in June. Since then, interest from BCS programs has increased. Most of the Big Ten along with programs like Syracuse, Mississippi State and Oregon have been in contact this fall.

Jeppesen is reciprocating that interest by making game visits this fall. He attended games at both Western Michigan and Central Michigan and plans a trip to Nebraska for the weekend of Nov. 5 to see the Cornhuskers take on Northwestern.

Jeppesen's most frequent visit destination, however, has been East Lansing, and he was in attendance this past weekend when Michigan State took down sixth-ranked Wisconsin.

"The crowd was into it the whole time and the game was just exciting with two really tough football teams going at it," Jeppesen said. "With where the recruits were sitting, the very last play happened right in front of us. Right when [the referee] said what it was, the crowd went absolutely nuts."

Jeppesen had attended several Michigan State games this fall prior to Saturday's contest, and plans to return to East Lansing for at least one more game before the season is out. His visits have allowed him to have several conversations with the Spartan's coaching staff about their plans for recruiting him going forward.

"They are liking what they are seeing from when I went to their camp," Jeppesen said. "They just want to see a couple game films, and they'll go from there."

An offer from Michigan State could make the Spartans the team to beat for Jeppesen's services because the in-state prospect has strong ties to their program.

"I've been a Spartan fan all my life," Jeppesen said. "A lot of my family went to Western, but my uncle went to Michigan State - actually played linebacker there - and my cousin is going there right now."

Jeppesen is being recruited at both the offensive guard and offensive center positions. As a junior he lined up at left tackle as well as defensive end for Portage Central.