Nitt Picks - The Legend of Stephfon Green is Born

The white blur broke free from the pack and shot up the sideline, pulling away from its pursuers and forcing the defenders in front of it to adjust their angles of attack until finally, more than 40 yards later, someone finally brought it down.

As Stephfon Green bounced to his feet, reporters in Holuba Hall, who hadn't previously seen Green in action, exchanged looks. His teammates, who had, exchanged yells of excitement.

There is a new weapon in the Penn State backfield this spring, one that is literally turning heads with each step.

Flash back to one of last summer's first scrimmages, when a true freshman first began to create the legend.

Here was Stephfon Green, fresh off his high school graduation, breaking a simple screen pass 80 yards against Penn State's defense.

"I thought he was a beast from Day 1," former Penn State cornerback Justin King, who watched that play from the sidelines, said in a phone interview yesterday. "I was like, man, that kid's got that 'it' factor. ... I've never seen that happen here."

Evan Royster, the team's leading returning rusher, returns. But if Green's productivity matches the hype, Green could see his share of time this season.

Another defensive back, Lydell Sargeant, has his story. Sargeant saw Green create big play after big play but was unconvinced it was anything more than Green just outrunning the defense.

That perception was thrown out the window the day Green ran a 4.2 in the 40-yard dash.

"We realized he's a legitimate 4.2 guy," Sargeant said. "Last year, he showed going against first and second teams he can do work against quality competition."

Sargeant flashed a wide smile when asked about Green and barely waited for the question to be finished before he started raving.

Not long before he spoke after Saturday's practice, he had seen another highlight. Green lined up behind quarterback Pat Devlin when a basic handoff off the right side of the offensive line turned into a dazzling run.

Green displayed his home run threat by busting loose for a 45-yard gain. He was hardly touched before Anthony Scirrotto tackled him from behind.

"He's got the speed to do just about anything," center A.Q. Shipley said.

Shipley didn't see much of Green last fall, but he heard all about him.

"All last year, Dan Connor was talking him up," he said. "He must have been doing something right."