Odrick enjoys trip to Happy Valley

Rivals100 defensive tackle Jared Odrick out of Lebanon, Pa. took his third official visit in-state this weekend to Penn State. The 6-foot-5, 303-pounder enjoyed his time in State College as he witnessed the Nittany Lions 33-15 victory over Purdue.

"It was a great trip and of course everyone knows I've been up there a few times, but this was a good game," he said. "I had a good time hanging out with the players and I was able to talk to Joe Paterno more."

Odrick drove up to Happy Valley Friday night.

"On our way up there the car broke down so we got in kind of late, but Saturday morning I went and had breakfast with Derrick Williams and my host Elijah Robinson," he said. "Then I took in some meetings with the strength coach and communications advisor and took the bus ride over to the game. After the game, I hung out more with Elijah. Today, I went out to eat with coach Johnson and met with a professor and Joe.

"I talked to coach Paterno about the Penn State program. Where they are going and where they came from. He told me that he's constantly thinking about a national championship and preaches that they were just one play away this year and next season they should be right on top. I think that's very realistic for them and I like that they set high goals."

What was the No. 31 player in the country's thoughts on the game?

"It was a good game and I felt like they were waiting to do something for most of it until they finally put the pieces together," he said. "They were having trouble getting into the endzone. The thing I've noticed most at the game is that the more times I go up there the more people know me which is kind of weird. I've got my own cheering section and the fans there were still going crazy even though it wasn't the Ohio State game this time."

Overall Odrick rated his trip to State College an eight.

"My visit for the Ohio State game was a nine, but like I've said previously the only time I'll ever give out a 10 is if I commit there on the spot," he said. "Right now, I'm looking at Penn State and Florida hard as they have a lot of the same things in relation to depth chart, how they play and the defensive line coaches. Then I had a really good visit to Virginia Tech too and I get along with the guys down there really well."

Last Thursday the No. 3 defensive tackle in the country unofficially attended the Boston College-Virginia Tech game.

"Virginia Tech is dominating right now and they want me to be part of that domination and I like that a lot of the players know me there," he said. "I've been down three times already and have been able to hang out with Jimmy Williams and meet Michael Vick. Mike even talked to me about Virginia Tech and where they are going. On Thursday, I had a good experience and the crowd was nuts like always."

Odrick may be headed on another unofficial this upcoming weekend for either the Miami-Virginia Tech game or the Wisconsin-Penn State game.

What does the four-star prospect want to see out of his last two official visits?

"When I go to Georgia I want to see the game atmosphere. I was down there this summer and I just want to see what happens this time around," he said. "As for my official to Virginia, that's going to be a little more official and formal. I've already been down for a couple games and I really like coach Belin and get along great with the whole defensive line."

Meanwhile, Odrick is trying to help Lebanon to a .500 record.

Jared Odrick VideoClick "We're 4-5 right now and we got one game left to do it," he said. "A lot of the coaches believe I had the best game of my senior year last game. I had 11 tackles, four hurries, four pass deflections and a fumble recovery I almost took back for a touchdown, but I tripped on my own feet. Of course, my coach said I blocked extremely well on offense too. This game our opponents decided to come right at me and I think they learned by the end of the first half that it wasn't a good idea."Here to view this Link.