STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Adam Taliaferro just did what came naturally, skipping and dancing onto the field at Beaver Stadium on Saturday night to a roaring ovation and a sea of flashbulbs.

"The moment just took over," Taliaferro said. "I just went out there and did what my heart told me to do."

It all hardly seemed possible 11 months ago, when Taliaferro lay immobile on the field at Ohio Stadium. Although doctors said it was unlikely he would ever walk again, Taliaferro proved them wrong Saturday night under a scoreboard flashing the slogan, "We Believe."

Before Penn State's game against No. 2 Miami, Taliaferro briefly stood in the tunnel leading into the stadium, shaking hands with students. Wearing blue sweat pants and his No. 43 jersey, the 19-year-old sophomore collected himself, smiling before he took the field.

"Before the game, I was nervous," he said. "But once I got out there all the nerves went away. I just did what my body told me to do."

He started slowly, still slightly favoring his left leg, his clenched right hand at his side, his left arm in the air, pumping up the fans -- a record crowd in the newly renovated stadium. At about the 15-yard line, Taliaferro jogged out to midfield, almost dancing, a smile across his face, while a host of photographers followed him to the Penn State sideline.

"The adrenaline definitely was flowing," Taliaferro said. "It took me back to last year. I can't put it into words."

It was all the more special because of what Taliaferro has been through.

Last Sept. 23, Taliaferro shattered a bone in his neck and bruised his spinal cord while trying to tackle Jerry Westbrooks in a loss at Ohio State. Doctors gave him little chance of ever walking again.

But Taliaferro was never told of the severity of his injury, only that it would take hard work and dedication if he was to recover.

By Jan. 5, just days after his 19th birthday, Taliaferro was able to leave Philadelphia's Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, returning to his home in Voorhees, N.J., and beginning his outpatient rehab. By the end of February, just five months after his injury, Taliaferro was walking unassisted when he returned for the first time to the Penn State campus, where he was honored at a basketball game.

Taliaferro resumed taking classes this summer, and he's now enrolled full time and acting as a student assistant coach for the Penn State defense. Although he'll never play football again, the physical signs of Taliaferro's injury are almost gone, with just a slight limp and the inward curl of his right hand remaining.

His story has been recorded in the recently released book, "Miracle in the Making," by Scott Brown and Sam Carchidi.

"I fought back tears so many times just reading about things that I knew already," said Penn State quarterback Matt Senneca, who said he read the book in just two days. "Now, to know the position he was in less than a year ago, I think I'm going to have to fight back tears again."

Taliaferro began jogging earlier this summer, practicing for his long-stated goal of leading the Nittany Lions out of the tunnel in Beaver Stadium, but trainers made him stop, saying he needed to further strengthen his right knee.

Last week, though, Taliaferro began jogging again, preparing for Saturday night.

"When he walks out of that tunnel, it will be like watching a miracle before our eyes," Penn State tailback Larry Johnson said earlier in the week. "When we walk out, we'll be trying to fulfill that miracle and get the job done."