Today's entry allows me to catch up on a few loose ends. First, Eric Mebane's dad contacted me last night with some compliments on Mebane's progress and his focus on day 84. He agrees that Eric definitely has a chance to crack the two deeps this year at D-End even though Ryan Kerrigan and Gerald Gooden anchored as starters. He states that Eric needs to add strength, but he understands that only hard work will see him rise up the depth chart. He sent me the following graphic outlining Bowie's football accomplishments. This is more proof we have a solid player. Finally, he mentioned incoming running back Reggie Pegram as a steal of a player.
Eric Mebane came to Purdue ready.
Second, those who are members of the facebook page saw this come out last night. With the help of my very good friend Greg Compton we will soon have new Project Houston shirts available well in advance of basketball season. I wanted to design a NASA mission patch to tie into both the Final Four and our Astronaut roots. I think these look pretty sweet! Thanks to SBNation, they are available in the store to the left.
I am stoked for Project Houston
Robert Maci - So. (RS)
Hometown: Fishers, IN (Cathedral HS)
Defensive End
6'4", 236 pounds
2010 Projection: two deeps at defensive end, starter on special teams
Today's featured player may be one of our most versatile. Robert Maci comes from Cathedral high, where he was a three-star recruit in the 2008 class at one of the best football schools in Indiana. Team members Sean Collins, Kakpindi Jamiru, and former player Frank Halliburton were all players from Cathedral's program. Maci himself was co-MVP of Special Teams with Carson Wiggs last season, making 17 tackles and returning one short kickoff in all 12 games last year. He also appeared as a reserve at defensive end.
Maci starred for one of the best programs in Indiana.
In high school, Maci was a first-team All-State selection. He helped Cathedral to the Indiana class 4A state championship as a junior. As a senior the Irish lost to Evansville Reitz 35-34 in the state semifinals. His Purdue roots are deep, and he is a smart kid majoring in industrial engineering. Both of his parents are alums. His uncle won three letters as a defensive end at Purdue. 12 more family members are also Purdue grads, likely making this the easiest recruit we have ever landed.
I like this kid. He seems like a hard workers and he very obviously was raised in the correct environment. He had quite a spring game with two sacks, so I can definitely see him making a bigger splash on defense this year. He is also an experienced special teams ace. You can never have too many of those.
Boilermakings Note:
Know a ’10 Opponent: Purdue « Over The Pylon
The Ball State blog Over the Pylon takes a quick look at Purdue, with my answers to their questions.