PSU hosts OT McGirt

Anyone that watched Penn State's game against Ohio State on Saturday night could tell the Penn State offensive line needs some help. James Franklin and company are hoping that help will come in the form of Emanuel McGirt. The Durham (N.C.) Hillside standout was on the sideline for the game over the weekend.

"It was pretty good," said the 6-foot-5, 271-pound McGirt. "I liked it a lot. It was good to actually go up there and meet them. They told me a lot about it but it was good to sit down and actually see them face-to-face. Coach Franklin was the coolest head coach I ever met.

"He's really humble," he said. "He will shoot you straight. Most coaches of his caliber will tell you that they've done this or that and just talk about themselves. He's all about family and team. He is all about going out and getting the win together and getting better together. He will yell at you and scream at you when you do something wrong but at the same time he will encourage you to get better.

"I was in the middle of the field with coach Franklin, Matthew Burrell Jr., Sterling Jenkins, Adam McLean and a whole bunch of guys," said McGirt. "I got to talk to coach Gattis and coach Hand during the pregame meal."

As far as the atmosphere, McGirt was very impressed.

"There's nothing like the fan base," he said. "107,000 people in there made it wild. You couldn't hear anything."

On the field, McGirt saw the need for players like him.

"I did like the fact that, it didn't matter if it was a senior or freshman, they played the best player," McGirt said. "They really need offensive tackles really, really bad. Their left tackle got hurt during the game and they moved the center to right tackle because the backup was a walk-on.

"They really want me," he said. "They really need offensive tackles. Talking to coach Franklin, he said that he wouldn't tell me I'm going to come in and start but I will have the chance to play as a freshman."

McGirt's visit to Penn State was an unofficial visit but the Nittany Lions could see him again for an official visit. Georgia has already hosted McGirt for an official visit and Virginia Tech will get one of McGirt's official visits this weekend.

"My first official visit was to Georgia at the beginning of the year," said McGirt. "I have the Virginia Tech official visit this weekend. I'll probably take official visits to Penn State, N.C. State and most likely LSU.

"I've never been to Virginia Tech before," he said. "I'm pretty sure it will be fun. Hopefully they win.

"I like it a lot at N.C. State too," McGirt said. "They're right down the street. It's always good to go there. Darian Roseboro is my boy so it's always fun to go up there.

"I still talk to LSU pretty frequently," he said. "I talked to coach Miles the other day. I saw that they had the big win against Ole Miss.

"I might visit Penn State for the Temple game for my official visit there," said McGirt. "I don't know about the games for the other two."

Some might say this is a very diverse group list of schools but there is a reason McGirt is high on them.

"Every school that I'm interested in doesn't just want me, they need me," he said. "I don't want to go to a school because they just want to have me. I want a school that needs me to help turn around the program. I don't want to go to school just to be on the depth chart, I want to go to a school that I can play at."

McGirt has helped Hillside to five wins so far this season.