Godwin emerges as ‘big-time’ target in PSU passing game

Inside Yankee Stadium, Chris Godwin reunited with his high school quarterback.

Godwin and Darius Wade were a year removed from their days at Middletown (Del.) High School, where they were four-year starters and led the Cavaliers to four straight state championship game appearances. Godwin was the unstoppable wide receiver who some say left a legacy as perhaps the greatest high school player in Delaware history. Wade was the quarterback who threw for 7,778 yards and 100 touchdowns in his career.

Godwin and Wade had just completed their freshman seasons at Penn State and Boston College, respectively, when they met on the stadium concourse last year.

Godwin was the unstoppable wide receiver who hauled in seven passes for 140 yards and a touchdown to help the Nittany Lions to a 31-30 win in overtime in the Pinstripe Bowl. Wade was the backup quarterback who watched as starter Tyler Murphy threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in the loss.

After the game, Wade congratulated Godwin and joked about the timing of his breakout game after posting modest numbers during the regular season.

Godwin made 19 catches in the team’s 12 regular-season games. He recorded a season-high three catches twice and picked up a season-best 31 yards on two grabs against Temple. He hauled in his first touchdown pass in the team’s 11th game against Illinois and failed to record a catch in the final game of the regular season against Michigan State.

During bowl preparation, something clicked.

He got a chance to take a deep breath after spending his first season learning on the fly. He took the time to think about everything he learned.

“When the bowl game hit, I was feeling really confident,” Godwin said. “And so the only thing that was left was just to go and put it on the field and turn it into production.”

It all came together that day in the Bronx.

It was the kind of day Godwin and Wade dreamed about back in Delaware.

“We used to talk about this stuff all the time when we were in high school just playing at the next level, putting up big numbers and having good games,” Godwin said.

This season, he’s been putting up big numbers and having good games consistently.

Godwin is Penn State’s leading receiver heading into its matchup with Michigan at noon Saturday at Beaver Stadium.

Godwin started to make a name for himself the summer before his freshman year of high school.

Middletown went to a team camp at West Chester University, and Godwin showed a natural ability as a wide receiver during a 7-on-7 game. He was getting open, making plays and showing he had an understanding of the game.

His teammates were screaming, “he’s just a freshman.” His coaches were excited about his potential.

“For that brief half-hour moment, he put on a show,” said Brian Timpson, his wide receivers coach at Middletown. “To do it as a 14-year-old and basically tell the team I’ve arrived was something special to watch.”

Godwin carried that success into his freshman season, the start of a decorated career at Middletown. It was the first year he ever played wide receiver on a team after being an offensive lineman on his youth football teams due to weight limits. But he always lined up at wide receiver during games with friends in the backyard.

He had pretty good hands and loved to score touchdowns.

Plus, he was a fan of receivers like Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson.

“Growing up, receivers were so fascinating to me,” Godwin said. “There’s so much more that goes into it than people think.”

When he finally got to play the position in high school, he was a natural.

“There were teams that thought when he was a freshman that he was a senior,” Middletown coach Mark DelPercio said. “They’d ask me what offers does he have?”

Godwin’s drive to get better matched his talent.

DelPercio said Godwin was still acting like that 14-year-old kid — asking questions and looking to improve — even after he committed to Penn State before his senior year.

By then, he was a first-team all-state player and a “marked man” in Delaware.

DelPercio said he thinks Godwin is the best high school football player from Delaware.

Ever.

“I really do,” DelPercio said. “And I think some guys would agree with me on that. He was a three-time, first-team all-state player, Gatorade Player of the Year. He was first-team all-state on defense, on offense and on special teams.”

It’s lofty praise.

But he’s not the only coach to come to that conclusion.

“I’ve been a head coach for 30 years,” Salesianum coach Bill DiNardo said. “I think he is the best all-around football player that I’ve ever seen. He was just dynamic in high school.”

DiNardo would know.

Middletown and Salesianum met each year in the regular season and played in back-to-back state championship games.

Godwin and Middletown won when he was a junior. Troy Reeder, now a Penn State linebacker, helped Salesianum beat the Cavaliers in the title game the following year.

Over the years, DiNardo watched Godwin dominate offensively as a wide receiver, defensively as a linebacker and on special teams as a returner.

“If you kicked to him, shame on you,” DiNardo said. “He returned a punt against us one year, and that was it. We never punted to him again. He returned a kickoff against us in his senior year during the regular season. And in the state finals, we just squibbed it and kept it away from him.”

Godwin excelled as a receiver despite constant attention from opposing defenses. He faced press coverage with safeties ready to help. He faced double coverage. And he found a way to make plays.

“We got to the point where it was: throw the ball to Chris and something special’s gonna happen,” Timpson said.

DiNardo saw Godwin make those “special” plays over and over again when scouting and watching film.

“There were so many,” DiNardo said. “He was by far the best high school player that I’ve ever seen.”

And the coach couldn’t think of any other players to add to the list.

“I can’t think of somebody from the 1960s or early 70s that was better than him,” DiNardo said. “I can’t believe that. He was so strong and so fast, and he was so good. I can’t think of anybody that was better than him.”

When Godwin scored the first touchdown of the Pinstripe Bowl on a 72-yard pass from Christian Hackenberg, a group from Middletown celebrated from their seats behind the opposite end zone.

DelPercio was at the game with his family and some of his coaches to see his former quarterback and wide receiver.

“There were some people around us, they must of thought these guys are crazy Penn State fans,” DelPercio said. “We were going nuts.”

But they weren’t surprised by Godwin’s performance, the best of his young college career.

It helped Godwin realize he can play at this level. And he went into the offseason focused on getting better.

He worked on building his short-area quickness and footwork to improve his route running.

It’s part of the reason Godwin was fascinated by the position growing up.

“There’s a lot more that goes into it than people think,” he said. “The different routes that you can run — how you can express yourself through your routes. You have a lot of room (for) a little flair, (to) have some personality in your routes running ‘em different, doing like different press releases. It’s like a one-on-one matchup between you and your defensive back. I like that challenge.”

Godwin has won his share of matchups this season, showing an ability to get open and to adjust to passes to make impressive grabs. He has a team-high 49 catches for 808 yards and three touchdowns.

“He’s been having a great year, just becoming a big-time target, and I think that’s what we expect from him,” Reeder said. “We see it every day in practice. That’s what he does.”

His confidence started to build going into the Pinstripe Bowl.

And it’s grown this season.

“That confidence helps when the games come,” Godwin said. “Once the game hits, you’re ready to go. You’re not worrying about what the defense is gonna really try to do to stop you because you feel like whatever they do, you can kind of combat that and counterpunch. That’s been pretty big for me.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Godwin emerges as ‘big-time’ target in PSU passing game."