Silas Redd is ready to move on...and "Fight On."
The junior running back from Norwalk, Conn., will leave Penn State and transfer to USC, confirming the rumors that have surrounded him ever since the NCAA handed down its sanctions against the Nittany Lions program last Monday.
Under the sanctions - which include a four-year bowl game ban and loss of scholarships in addition to a $60 million fine and vacated wins dating back to 1998 - any current or incoming Penn State player has the opportunity to transfer to another NCAA school with immediate eligibility. Tim Buckley, a redshirt freshman safety from Raleigh, N.C., was the first to avail himself of this opportunity, transferring on Monday to North Carolina State, but where Buckley was a preferred walk-on, Redd is a major player.
The 5-foot-10, 200-pound Redd ran for 1,241 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore in 2011, and has been named to the watch lists for both the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and the Doak Walker Award for the nation's top running back.
Redd will be a welcome addition at USC, where the preseason No. 1 Trojans are thin in the backfield behind 1,000-yard rusher Curtis McNeal. The addition of another 1,000-yard rusher in the form of Redd will undoubtedly shore things up at "Tailback U," and improve USC's chances of capturing the first national championship of the Lane Kiffin era.
As for Penn State, new head coach Bill O'Brien and the Nittany Lions will start training camp next week, and they will have to soldier on without Redd.
As for Redd, it's time to "Fight on."
