Versatile recruit to fill gaps for Lions

If a quarterback gets injured next year, Penn State's latest recruit, who committed to the Nittany Lions on Monday, could fill that void. Or if the punter breaks a foot, he could step in there, too.

"We've had a lot of Division I players come through this school," said Mike Pettine, the coach at Central Bucks West High School the last 30 years, "but I can't remember any player being more consistent game in and game out."

A 6-foot-1, 195-pound safety, C.B. West's Blomgren chose Penn State over Nebraska and Florida State.

"Originally, he talked about going away from home," Pettine said. "When it got down to crunch time, he got to thinking of the distance between Nebraska and Florida State and home."

Blomgren said he liked the coaches and players at Penn State, but the biggest factor was the proximity to home.

"It really wasn't a factor at the beginning," he said. "I wanted my friends and family to be able to see me play."

In 1996, Blomgren helped lead his team to a 10-1 record, which local fans considered a failure because the school lost early in the playoffs. He ran for 1,279 yards and passed for 1,943 yards over the last two years and collected 14 interceptions over the last three seasons. The secondary, however, is probably his future.

"He doesn't want to play quarterback," said Pettine, adding that several schools recruited Blomgren at that position. "We had to kind of draft him as a quarterback.

"If Penn State ever had an emergency, I'm sure he'd be willing to help the team."

The possibilities don't stop there.

"I think he could be a wide receiver," Pettine said. "If he bulked up a little bit, he could be a weak side linebacker."

Blomgren also did spot duty as a punter.

"Nobody had much interest in me there," he said with a laugh.

Blomgren became the ninth recruit from Pennsylvania to commit to Penn State.