http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18640506&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=7592&rfi=6West Haven’s Jackson thriving in the Big 12Sean O’Rourke07/29/2007It’s just a memory now but Rob Jackson still gets a sinking feeling in his gut when he thinks back to his first few weeks at Fort Scott Community College.
Jackson was a two-time Register All-State selection for coach Ed McCarthy at West Haven High and committed to play defensive end for Paul Pasqualoni at Syracuse. But after he didn’t meet qualifying standards, Jackson headed west to Fort Scott, located nearly 1,400 miles away in a small city of 15,000 in Kansas, located on the Missouri line.
"It was hard for me," said Jackson. "I thought about coming home all the time."
Jackson missed his roots in Connecticut; he missed his girlfriend and his family. But he was at Fort Scott to work on his grades so he could matriculate at a four-year college to play football.
And all Jackson needed to do, whenever he thought about coming home, was ask himself one simple question.
"I used to think what would I be doing in West Haven right now?" Jackson said. "I could never come up with an answer... and I knew I didn’t want to find one."
Jackson never had to face his own question.
"He was out there at Fort Scott, a small town in the middle of nowhere with no one to lean on," said McCarthy, who talks frequently with his former pupil. "He knew he had to put in the two-year sentence."
MANHATTAN BOUNDJackson stuck it out at Fort Scott for two years but was sidetracked for a second when Pasqualoni was fired after the 2005 season. That’s when Tim McCarty, a recently hired coach
on the staff at Kansas State, told first-year coach Ron Prince about Jackson.
"Coach McCarty felt that Rob could be special and boy was he right," Prince said. "The dismissal of coach Pasqualoni opened the door for us, and other schools shied away from Rob because he didn’t qualify to join us that January (in 2006), which happens with most kids that come from junior college. He missed spring practice and took it right down to the wire because he needed to take summer classes at Fort Scott."
The 6-foot-3, 265-pound Jackson arrived on the Manhattan, Kan., campus just in time for the opening of fall camp in August 2006. Admittedly, he was a bit out of shape and not completely prepared for the rigors of camp with a Division I program in the Big 12 Conference. Still, Jackson won the starting slot as the right defensive end.
"Rob played well right away but it took him four or five games to get his legs under him," Prince said.
Jackson finished the season with 4½ sacks and 8½ tackles for a loss to earn All-Big 12 honorable mention honors. He played opposite Ian Campbell, who led the Big 12 in sacks (school-record 11½) and tackles for a loss (17½). The Kansas State defense led the Big 12, and was eighth nationally, in sacks with 40.
"We have a lot of playmakers at Kansas State and Rob is one of them," said Campbell, a junior who will move to outside linebacker as the Wildcats switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defensive alignment.
"The Big 12 has become pass happy. It’s not the run, run, run conference that it used to be. So that makes getting to the quarterback a big part of the defense, and with Rob and I out there we can do that."
The Campbell and Jackson combo was a main reason Kansas State finished the regular season with seven wins, just two less than the program had won in the previous two seasons. The Wildcats went to the Texas Bowl, where they lost 37-10 to Rutgers.
Prince said Jackson’s transition to Division I football was aided by Campbell’s quick start. But it wasn’t long until Jackson emerged as a star on his own.
The defining moment, as recalled by Prince, came on the first play of a game at No. 24 Missouri. Jackson hit Mizzou quarterback Chase Daniel hard, forcing a fumble that was returned for a 43-yard touchdown.
"I don’t want to be overly dramatic but that was the play that took his game to a different level," Prince said.
Kansas State lost that game 41-21 but would proceed to win its next three, including a 45-42 victory over then-No. 4 Texas that included two huge Jackson sacks.
"We beat Iowa State, Colorado and Texas," Prince said. "We don’t win those games without Rob Jackson."
POISED TO STEP UPCampbell, one of Kansas State’s quad captains in 2007, knew Jackson had the ability as soon as he stepped on the field last August. But there were intangibles Jackson needed to master before he could be considered a star in the Big 12.
"He had to learn how to practice, he had to learn how to study film and he had to get stronger," Campbell said.
Campbell added that Jackson has conquered all of the above and that opponents should be worried this season when Kansas State is next on the schedule.
"I’m the left hook and he’s the right ... and if the left doesn’t get you then the right will," Campbell said.
Jackson, 21, has added 12 pounds of muscle in the offseason and said he is quicker than ever out of his stance.
"Rob was great in spring camp and he was unblockable in our spring game," Prince said. "He looks great physically. His body is leaner and he’s stronger."
Jackson has set lofty goals this season for himself and the Wildcats. Kansas State opens training camp Friday and kicks off the season Sept. 1 at Auburn, considered a favorite in the Southeastern Conference. That game will be televised nationally by ESPN.
"The goal is to get a minimum of eight sacks. I want to make first team Big 12 and I want to play in the Big 12 championship game," Jackson said.
Prince said Jackson has become a leader for his team and that he reached a comfort level at Kansas State, two factors that will aid him in the pursuit of a big season.
"Rob Jackson isn’t on the Ted Hendricks list (honoring the nation’s best defensive end) but he will by mid-season," said Campbell, who is on the preseason Hendricks list.
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHTPrince doesn’t mince words when he talks about Jackson’s future, rating him ahead of Campbell as perhaps K-State’s top defensive pro prospect.
"When Rob goes to the NFL Combine next year he is going to be a guy that has his best football ahead of him," Prince said. "A lot of guys are worn down after playing four years of Division I football but Rob has a lot of football in him. He’s going to be special."
Jackson admits he has thought about playing in the NFL.
"I have been thinking about it more," Jackson said. "But I’m not going to get caught up in it."
And if Rob Jackson ever finds himself looking ahead, all he has to do is ask himself what he would be doing in West Haven if he hadn’t stuck it out at Fort Scott.
