Penn State wide receiver Derek Moye is a living optical illusion.

Like a zebra - which looks like a white animal with black stripes until you blink your eyes, whereupon it looks like a black animal with white stripes - the 6-5, 198-pound Moye is a former high school sprinter whose larger-than-usual size for his position sometimes gives the impression that he is more Clydesdale than thoroughbred.

After Moye tied his career high with six receptions in last week's 20-0 shutout of Minnesota, those catches totaling 120 yards and one highlight-reel touchdown, Golden Gophers coach Tim Brewster praised the redshirt sophomore from Rochester, Pa. Well, sort of.

"He's not that fast, but he uses his body well and shields the ball well," Brewster said when asked to assess Moye's performance.

Not that fast? A three-time first-team PIAA Class AA All-State selection at Rochester High, Moye was the 200- and 400-meter state champion in 2007, turning in winning times of 22.15 seconds in the former and 48.04 seconds in the latter.

For those who can more easily identify swiftness in football terms, Moye has been timed in 4.38 seconds over 40 yards.

"But that's hand-timed," said Moye, perhaps embarrassed to give himself too much credit as a burner. Hand times often are a smidgeon lower than electronic times.

Moye, his teammates and the Penn State coaching staff can only hope Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez, like Brewster, also underestimates Moye's speed when the 13th-ranked Nittany Lions (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) visit the Wolverines (5-2, 1-2) for a nationally televised game Saturday afternoon in the Big House.

Michigan, under first-year defensive coordinator Greg Williams, the former head coach at Syracuse, plays a lot of man coverage, which should result in Moye at least occasionally being isolated on a smaller cornerback. If that happens, don't expect quarterback Daryll Clark to merely launch jump balls in the hope that Moye can go up and over the defender.

When it comes to running deep pass patterns, Moye is a pretty close approximation of his mentor and role model, record-setting former Penn State wideout Deon Butler. The big difference is that Butler, who was listed at 5-10 and 168 pounds when he was shredding opposing secondaries for the Nits, looked even faster than he was because, well, he's a little guy. Players Butler's size always appear to be running harder to achieve top-level acceleration than long-legged lopers like Moye.

"The most helpful was Deon Butler," Moye said when asked which of Penn State's three starting wideouts from 2008 - the others were Derrick Williams and Jordan Norwood - helped prepare him for his emerging role as Penn State's go-to guy in the passing game. "Without a doubt, he's gotten me and Chaz [Powell] ready to play."

Moye is not the fastest player on the Penn State roster. That honor, both in fact and visually, falls to true freshman wide receiver Devon Smith, the 5-7, 153-pound mini-bullet who ran the fastest 55- and 60-meter dashes in the country during the 2008-09 high school track season. His 6.21-second time in the 55 last January was the third-fastest prep time ever.

But if Smith were to anchor a 4 x 200 relay team comprised solely of Penn State players, it's a good bet Moye would be one of the baton-passers, with Powell, tailback Stephfon Green and cornerback A.J. Wallace strong candidates for the two remaining berths.

After redshirting in 2007, Moye - a tailback in high school who caught only 16 passes his senior season - spent last year observing and learning from the veterans ahead of him on the depth chart. He saw action in 12 games, catching three passes for 71 yards and a touchdown, his 23.7-yard average leading the squad. But he figured his time eventually would come, and it has.

"My route-running has definitely improved throughout the year," said Moye, whose 27 receptions, 472 receiving yards, 17.5-yard average and four TDs all lead the team. "I'm working on my blocking a lot, too. I think that's definitely improved since the beginning of summer camp."

Nit-picking

 

The 20th verbal commitment for Penn State's recruiting class of 2010 is Khamrone Kolb, a 6-6, 300-pound offensive tackle from Burke, Va. Rivals.com and Scout.com each rank the Nits' list of commits as the nation's second best. Rivals has Texas No. 1 while Scouts has Oklahoma in the top spot . . . If tailback Stephfon Green (ankle) can't play at Michigan, there could be a depth problem behind starter Evan Royster. Third-teamer Brent Carter has missed the past two games with a knee injury, which could mean a lot of carries for Brandon Beachum and fullback Joe Suhey, who also can play tailback, if Royster goes down and Green and Carter are unavailable. *