QUIET CHAOS Is any player wrecking more for the Wrecking Crew than linebacker Jarrod Penright? By Rusty Burson

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Dat Nguyen flipped on his television during the Texas A&M-Notre Dame game and thought he had seen a ghost. Or possibly a ghastly mistake being made by his alma mater.

Warrick Holdman was back in uniform for the Aggies, swarming to the football, plowing over offensive linemen and ripping through opposing quarterbacks.

"I saw No. 43 out there playing outside linebacker, and it really took me aback," Nguyen said from his home in Lewisville. "It was Warrick’s number, Warrick’s build, Warrick’s intensity, and my initial thought was that Warrick was back for his seventh year. Man, that guy really reminds me of Warrick."

It was not, of course, Holdman, who is now a starting outside linebacker for the Chicago Bears. But the Aggies’ current No. 43 certainly appears to be well on his way to becoming the next great outside linebacker in A&M’s Wrecking Crew lineage of relentless rushers.

Jarrod Penright closes in on Baylor quarterback Greg Cicero.

In fact, the current No. 43 – junior Jarrod Penright – may already be a step ahead of even some of the most magnificent names in A&M’s ancestry of dominant defenders. Holdman, for example, had seven sacks in his most productive season. Jason Glenn combined for 10 sacks in his junior and senior seasons. And John Roper, the most productive outside linebacker in school history in terms of sacks, topped out at 15 in 1987 and again in ’88.

Through the first five games this season, Penright already had 8.5 sacks, putting him on a pace to shatter Roper’s linebacker record and to at least come close to the all-time school record of 20 sacks by Jacob Green in 1979. An amazing number, even to those well-versed in the history of Wrecking Crew superlatives.

"That’s incredible," Nguyen said of Penright’s start in 2001. "I knew he was playing well, but to have nine sacks in five games is pretty amazing. But I’ve watched him a little bit, and he is remarkably strong. When a guy is throwing offensive linemen around, you know he’s strong. I’d say he’s definitely doing a nice job of upholding that Wrecking Crew reputation."

Perhaps nothing could make Penright happier than to hear those words. Although he’s only 20, Penright is quite a historian when it comes to A&M’s outside linebacker legacy.

He can recite all the names. He can describe many of the big hits. But most of all, he understands his responsibility in continuing the tradition that was started before he was even in grade school.

"I think about all of them because they were great linebackers," said the soft-spoken Penright after naming players like Holdman, Glenn, Keith Mitchell and Quentin Coryatt. "If you can get all of those into one person, you have a monster. My goal is to be the best linebacker I can be. And tradition is something that we have to keep going.

"If I don’t do something, how do I know that the next linebackers are going to do it? So I have to go out there, and I have to work hard. I have to leave something behind for the future linebackers."

Outside linebacker Jarrod Penright is on pace for a record year for sacks for any Aggie linebacker in the history of the program.

Penright’s play is certainly leaving a lasting impression on his current teammates, many of whom cite his inspired play as one of the key reasons for the Aggies’ defensive resurgence.

After a relatively slow and uninspiring start against McNeese State and Wyoming, the Aggies limited their next three opponents – Oklahoma State, Notre Dame and Baylor – to an average of 6.7 points and 207.3 yards per game.

In those three games, Penright recorded seven sacks, nine tackles for losses, 21 tackles, one forced fumble and one quarterback hurry. That’s a season’s worth of productivity for many defenders, even some of the best in A&M’s recent history.

"He’s playing like a man among boys," A&M inside linebacker Brian Gamble said of Penright. "He’s really been outstanding."

He’s also one of the primary reasons the Aggies entered the Colorado game ranked No. 3 nationally in total defense. A&M head coach R.C. Slocum "called out" his defense following the win over Wyoming, challenging the Wrecking Crew to live up to its name.

Penright certainly took it to heart.

"(Slocum) was very correct in doing that," Penright said of the tough talk. "We hadn’t done anything to that point. We were just playing like the Aggie defense, not the Wrecking Crew. But to hear him say we were the Wrecking Crew by name only really hurt. It stung, and it got my attention.

"Ever since I got here, we’d break the huddle, and I always break it with the Wrecking Crew (hand) symbol. That’s something I want to be known for – known for being a part of the great tradition. But that’s something that isn’t just handed down to you. We’re going to fight for it, and the fans are going to know that the Wrecking Crew is out there. I think we all understand that now."

Opposing offenses now understand that Penright is a one-man machine on the outside. He is relentless in his pursuit of opposing quarterbacks and has been virtually unblockable in recent weeks.

As a former high school sprinter at Aldine Eisenhower, he has remarkable quickness and speed. As a former high school high-jumper, he has outstanding agility. At 6-2, 240, he is actually and inch taller and 10 pounds heavier than Holdman was as a senior at A&M. And what opposing offenses have been totally unable to account for is his tremendous strength.

Penright has the moves to get past an opposing offensive lineman. But many times this season he has simply tossed them out of the way en route to the quarterback.

"He’s such a physical player," Slocum said of Penright. "He’s a very, very strong guy. I think he’s made some big plays and made an awful lot of progress."

The overpowering Penright is a terror on the field, but quiet and unassuming away from football.

The word "progress" doesn’t even do justice to what Penright has done this year compared to his first two seasons at A&M. It’s been like a rousing awakening.

Playing behind Roylin Bradley and Glenn, Penright managed just 30 tackles and one sack in his first two seasons. Last year, he was slowed by a hernia injury throughout much of the season, and entering this year he appeared to be much more of a question mark than an exclamation point.

Penright, however, sensed his time was coming. He credits Glenn and Bradley for teaching him the speed of the collegiate game. And he credits former A&M players such as Cornelius Anthony and Jason Webster for helping him with both his spirits and his spirituality.

Penright, the son of a Baptist youth minister, wears a cloth, Fellowship of Christian Athletes bracelet on his wrist at all times – even during games. He speaks openly about his faith and says he is extremely grateful to have had role models at A&M who made sure he never lost faith in himself.

"(Webster) and C.A. were the leaders of the team Bible study when I first got here, and they were great leaders, great players and great Christian men," said Penright, who is now one of the leaders of the team’s Bible study. "I started hanging out with them, learning from them and just keeping company with them. They helped me to focus on the right things and keeping the right perspectives on football and life.

"So, even though I had some injuries and trying times, I knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I just kept fighting, because I felt like there was something I was going to be able to do. I knew the Lord had led me to Texas A&M for a reason, and I believe this is my time to come into my own."

Ironically, Penright says he was first led to A&M by an event that seemed potentially tragic at the time. As a senior at Eisenhower, Penright had narrowed his college choices to A&M and Michigan.

As signing day approached, however, his mother, Michele Moses, suffered a series of four mini-strokes. There was a possibility of long-term paralysis, and Penright knew instantly he didn’t need to be thousands of miles away from home.

"If I was in Michigan, I wouldn’t be able to get back here to see her if she needed me," Penright said. "That touched me. What if I wasn’t here? What if things would’ve gotten worse than what they were? I know Michigan would’ve flown me home to see my mom, but now I’m right down the road. To me, it was just a sign that I needed to be here."

Fortunately, Penright’s mother had no serious complications from the strokes. Today, she is as active as ever, helping her husband’s ministry at the New Life in Christ Baptist Church and attending as many A&M games as possible.

And while Jarrod Penright may have acquired many traits from his mother, his soft-spoken nature is not one of them. Michele Moses is outspoken in every sense, especially when it comes to cheering for her son.

And because she works for an Aggie-owned company in the Houston area, she rarely misses a game. In fact, she says her Aggie bosses have been extremely considerate in making sure she is able to increase the decibel level inside Kyle Field.

"I remember all the way back to when he played in (Pee-Wee)," Moses said. "I’m sure I embarrassed him with how loud I was yelling. But that’s just my nature. Way back then, I remember Jarrod getting hit really hard and him telling me that he didn’t want to play anymore. He’s changed a lot since then, but I’m still the same – screaming and yelling for him at the games. I was a cheerleader for my brother’s team when he was in high school, and I’m still the loudest cheerleader in the stadium now."

Penright is obviously giving his mother and all Aggies plenty of reasons to cheer. And he promises that the best is yet to come.

In fact, Penright says he is not anywhere near to playing at the same level of some of the great linebackers of A&M’s past.

"I don’t consider myself a good blitzer yet," he said. "Hopefully, I’ll get to the point where I am. But I don’t even belong in the same sentence with some of those legendary guys. Maybe one day people will look at me as one of the best, but I still have a lot to prove and a lot of improving to do."

His mother says she has no doubt that he will continue to improve by leaps and bounds. After all, that’s been a Jarrod Penright trademark for as long as she can remember. In fact, he spent so much time as a child leaping and jumping that she nicknamed him "Frog" as a toddler.

And she still sees that in him.

"We might be in a store or in church or anywhere, and Jarrod was always jumping around, bouncing here and there," Moses said. "I started calling him Frog then, and I guess he’s still pouncing around – just pouncing on quarterbacks now."