Perhaps the most resonant memory from the 2005 MSU football season was Domata Peko, a 320-pound, lion-maned defensive tackle, picking up a fumble and rumbling (ever so slowly) down the sideline for a 74-yard touchdown against Michigan.

Peko's game-changing play was one of many made by junior-college transfers during the John L. Smith era. Peko was a senior in 2005 and has since departed, but MSU's depth chart currently features 11 junior college players, five of whom are starters. Senior wide receiver Kerry Reed starts at wide receiver, and Ervin Baldwin, Demond Williams, Nehemiah Warrick and Ogemdi Nwagbuo play prominent roles on defense. In MSU's season-opening win over Idaho, Reed caught four passes for 63 yards and a touchdown, while the four defensive starters combined for 17 total tackles and two passes broken up. Baldwin also blocked a field goal — the first MSU player to do so since the beginning of the 2004 season.

Some see such a heavy reliance on junior college players as a sign of weakness. But Smith — and many others around the country — see it as a valuable tool for filling holes in a roster.

"Every year, you look and you see junior college kids on rosters of Miami, Florida State and USC," said Bob Lichtenfels, Midwest recruiting analyst for Scout.com.

"People tend to think that if you're recruiting JUCOs, you're not doing well in the high schools, and that's not necessarily the case. Some teams do a good job. They'll scour the (junior colleges) and pick up two or three guys. You insert them for two years, they make an impact and you give the younger guys time to develop."

Fitting in

Williams, a senior, came to MSU before the 2005 season and immediately filled a hole at right cornerback, starting all 11 games. He recorded 29 total tackles and one interception. He also saw significant time on special teams, returning 17 kickoffs and averaging 25.4 yards per return, including a 98-yard return for a touchdown on the opening kickoff against Indiana.

Though he didn't come to MSU directly from high school, Williams said he felt like he was a part of the MSU tradition from the moment he arrived in East Lansing.

Williams played JUCO ball at Pima Community College in Tucson, Ariz. His abilities attracted attention from several teams in the Pacific-10 Conference, as well as Alabama.

Williams considered going to Alabama so he could be close to his hometown of Jackson, but chose MSU because he has siblings in the Midwest.

"Instantly — as soon as I got here — I felt like the guys took me right in and it felt like family," Williams said. "The fans were great here, and once you get on that field, you just feel the atmosphere."

Booking it

Academics is one of the most common reasons prospects attend junior colleges. Lichtenfels said talented high school players often go to junior college because they don't have the test scores or grade point averages to attend a Division I university.

Players who opt for a junior college lose two years of potential Division I eligibility, while players who attend preparatory schools do not, he said.

"More often than not, it's grades," Lichtenfels said. "On the East Coast, if kids don't have the grades, they'll go to prep school for a semester to get their grades up. Out in California, Kansas, Mississippi and areas like that, they don't look at prep schools. They don't know about them, or don't have the means to pay."

For Williams, the biggest adjustment between junior college and MSU was in the classroom — a message he makes certain to share with first-year transfer players.

"Academics — you've got to make sure you keep your academics up," Williams said. "Go to class. That's the most important thing. Everything else, you can adjust to. The speed of the game is faster, but you adjust pretty fast to it."

Risk versus reward?

Recruiting junior college players can be a dicey process. A player's stock can often rise on word-of-mouth, and it's important to have sources that can be trusted.

"You have a tendency to rely on those (junior college) coaches that will give you a true evaluation, rather than trying to sell a kid," Smith said.

But the pursuit of JUCO prospects can also pay big dividends if the coaching staff creates a rapport with the premier junior college programs.

"If they're continuing to recommend players to junior colleges, it creates a relationship," Lichtenfels said. "The JUCOs send players to MSU, MSU sends high school kids to JUCOs. They can exchange film and create a pipeline. The JUCOs know the kids are coming there because they want to move to the next level."

Playing catch-up

Sharing a spot in the defensive backfield with Williams is junior safety Nehemiah Warrick. A first-team junior college All-America at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, Warrick fielded offers from such powerhouses as Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma State and Nebraska. But the 6-foot-1, 203-pound Warrick chose MSU because of the opportunity to play right away and has immediately filled the void left by departed senior Eric Smith. Warrick made 12 tackles in the Sept. 2 game against Idaho.

Warrick said adjusting to the intensity of Division I football wasn't difficult because the differences were apparent the moment he joined the program.

"When I first got with the team, even in practice, the speed was 10 times different," Warrick said. "It's just another level. It's a much harder level than JUCO was."

But Warrick will gladly face that challenge for a chance to succeed on a bigger stage.

"Those JUCO days are nice memories, but now I have to focus on what I've got going on now," he said. "JUCO got me here, but now I have to focus on getting out there and getting better every day."

Ethan Conley can be reached at conleyet@msu.edu.