Hail to the Lion

Good News, Bad News, Good News

2006-08-11T20:06:00.000-04:00

The good news is I'm back from vacation and pumped to start the college football season. The bad news is, I'm shutting down Hail to the Lion.

But don't worry. I have been invited to host a new site called Black Shoe Diaries which is part of Sports Blogs Nation. I could not be more excited to be part of SBN. Please join me over at Black Shoe Diaries and make sure to update your links and bookmarks.

Open Thread

2006-08-04T15:59:00.000-04:00

Blogging is hard work, so I need a vacation. I'll be out next week so posting will be sporadic if at all. I'll be relaxing on the beach next to this girl. Of course, my wife and kid will also be there preventing me from talking to her.

While I'm relaxing on the beach I'll be collecting my thoughts and gearing up for the start of the season. I have a big announcement in the wings, and I hope to make it soon.

So while I'm gone, feel free to start up your own threads. Discuss who will win the Big Ten or who will win the Heisman. Heck, discuss who will win Conference USA for all I care. I'm on vacation.

Welcome NDNation Fans!

2006-08-03T12:51:00.000-04:00

I see I'm getting a lot of hits from Rock's House on NDNation.com, a Notre Dame site. Some douchebag named Arsenal posted the following on their message board with a link to this post.

Great line from a PSU blog

"In other news, Troy Smith from THE Ohio State University was named Big Ten Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. What's wrong with these morons? Haven't they ever heard of Derrick Williams and Anthony Morelli? Is there no justice in this world?"

Morelli really should've been nominated. I mean, he absolutely lit up their second team defense!

He took me completely out of context thinking it would get a few yucks on his message board. Either he is a complete moron, or he didn't notice the paragraph before that statement where I called the people that nominated Paul Posluszny the Preseason Big Ten Defensive Player of the year geniuses. I think we can all assume they are the same people.

Fortunately, they are not all completely stupid over on ndnation. One commenter points out to Arsenal that my post was meant to be sarcastic. I thought Notre Dame was supposed to be a smart school. Maybe this is one of those Notre Dame wannabe fans who never went to school there but he kisses the toilet seat Charlie Weis takes a crap on.

Joe Paterno's Press Conference

2006-08-03T10:29:00.000-04:00

If you happened to miss Joe Paterno's press conference on ESPN the other day, you can watch it here. It's worth the 17 minutes. There are some classic Paterno zingers in there.

JOEPA Penn State News Conference 8/1/06 (Pt. 1 of 2)

Part I

JOEPA Penn State News Conference 8/1/06 (Pt. 2 of 2)

Part II

Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon

2006-08-03T09:38:00.000-04:00

Little blurbs have been coming out of the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon going on in Chicago this week. Apparently, Tony Hunt and BranDon Snow are in Paterno's doghouse. Hunt is in trouble for letting his grades drop. He's not ineligible or anything, but Paterno isn't happy. There's much speculation going on in terms of Snow's situation. Nobody knows what happened, but Joe has made it clear he's not happy and that Snow is going to sit early in the season. The good news is he's still with the team and Joe says he plans to include him in the offense this year.

A lot of time has been spent commenting on Northwestern coach Randy Walker who tragically died of a heart attack a few weeks ago at the age of 52. While he gets asked about his health most years, I can imagine Joe Paterno has fielded even more questions about his health this year as he approaches the ripe old age of 80 this season. Amazingly, Joe recently climbed Mount Nittany with his family. Here's what Joe had to say about the trip:

"I hadn't climbed it in 30 years. But my kids teased me into going up there for a family climb. When I got to the top, I was all right. But coming down was really tough. I had a little problem with my leg."

Joe reported a little soreness and swelling in his knee, but he should be fine. If only we could all live to be mountain climbers when we're 80.

No surprise, the media isn't giving Penn State any respect. They selected Ohio State as the favorite to win the Big Ten followed by Michigan and Iowa. That's ok. We didn't get any respect last year either. Michael Robinson and the other captains sat at their table and nobody wanted to talk to them. They went on to win the conference. Everybody snickered when Paterno got up in front of the podium and told everyone he thought they were going to be pretty good last year. He went on to win several Coach of the Year awards. The nice thing about not being favored to win is that you have everything to prove and nothing to lose. I think Penn State is in store for another special season. The question is how many games will we have to win before people start to believe?

Student Criminals

2006-08-02T21:21:00.000-04:00

I was just surfing my usual daily websites and blogs when I happened across the ESPN college football page. Of course the lead story is the dismissal of Oklahoma Sooner starting stud quarterback, Rhent Bomar, for getting paid $18,000 last year for a job he only worked at for about five hours a week. But here are some of the other headlines:

Auburn suspended two players for alcohol-related reasons.

Tennessee dismissed one player and suspended another. Tight end Lee Smith was arrested for drunk driving and cut from the team. Freshman Marsalous Johnson waved a gun at a police officer on the interstate and will sit four games for that.

Miami has suspended four players. Tyrone Moss, Ryan Moore, James Bryant, and Rashaun Jones will all sit out the Florida State opener for "violating team rules." This is on the heels of safety Willie Cooper being shot in the buttocks and his teammate returning fire.

Air Force has suspended place kicker Ryan Harrison indefinitely for an "unspecified violation of school standards."

Utah State has dismissed linebacker Steven Downs for a marijuana violation.

It seems the world of college football is in disaray this week. Instead of pouring over the preseason polls and debating who will be number one at the end of the season, we're all focused on who's in trouble with the law and the NCAA. Thank God Penn State isn't dealing with these kinds of issues. A few years ago it seemed our players were making all the headlines. I have to believe it is the senior leadership from the captains keeping the players in line. I can't wait until the season starts so we can stop talking about all this crap and start talking about football.

Poz-itively the Best

2006-08-01T21:52:00.000-04:00

As if you need any further proof of the greatness of Poz, the 2005 Butkus and Bednarik winner was named Big Ten Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. I cannot emphasize enough how intelligent the people are who select the winner of this award.

In other news, Troy Smith from THE Ohio State University was named Big Ten Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. What's wrong with these morons? Haven't they ever heard of Derrick Williams and Anthony Morelli? Is there no justice in this world?

Playing up the Penn State inferiority complex I touched on yesterday, ESPN.com's college football page today ran a poll asking, "Which team will win the Big Ten football title this season?" Your options were:

Iowa
Michigan
Ohio State
Wisconsin

That's right. Penn State isn't even an option. The defending champions aren't even considered a possibility to repeat according to ESPN. Obviously Lee Corso must have made up this poll. He's such a Penn State hater.

Penn State's Inferiority Complex

2006-07-31T14:49:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I think Penn State fans are the biggest bunch of whiners. No doubt we have that reputation throughout the blogosphere and message boards. Any time a writer dares to suggest Penn State is not good or lacking in an area, they are barraged with flames from Penn State fans. Often times it's nasty and doesn't make any sense. Rather than debate, some idiot ends up calling the writer names and making some crazy prediction about Penn State not losing another game through the end of the decade.

I wish I knew where this came from. Other fans from other programs that I run into on the internet don't seem to be this way. They can debate and back up their claims with theory and statistics. They don't immediately fall back on trash talking like Penn State fans do.

Today's post by Tom Dienhart is a great example (hat tip: The Nittany Line) Dienhart has the audacity to suggest Penn State will be "worse than advertised" this year and Penn State fans jump all over him. Here is some of the response:

Teams will not score more than 24 against us, and with Hunt, Dwill, Butler
and Morelli (a top ranked QB i might add), we will score that many by pure
luck.

Come on. There is nothing that can back up this claim. We're supposed to believe we're going to score 24 points on pure luck? It's just thrown out there by the Penn State fan as if it were fact. Here's another one:

I gotta admit, when I read your stuff, truly, I laugh out loud!

Why attack the writer? He thinks Penn State will drop off this year. So what? Make your point if you think he's wrong, but don't attack his integrity. I don't know why Penn State fans are like this. Every year the preseason polls come out and every year Penn State fans complain we don't get any respect.

I have a theory. I think it stems back to 1994, the year Penn State got snubbed by the pollsters in favor of Nebraska for the national title. Penn State fans really believe we had the better team that year. I think it all stems from that. And beyond that, many older fans can remember that Joe Paterno has gone undefeated five times and he only won the national championship one of those years (in 1982 they had one loss to Alabama). Incredibly, they went undefeated in '68 and '69 and didn't win the national championship either of those years.

I'm sure anyone can understand if your team went undefeated five times and only won the title once, you would feel slighted as well. I think this, combined with decades of success that have created (sometimes false) expectations has created an inferiority complex within the Nittany Nation. We expect our team to do well every year. When others express less than our expectations we get defensive. Combine that with the feeling we are always getting looked over by the college football pundits and you have created an inferiority complex that motivates Penn State fans to lash out at our detractors with delusional remarks created from our false expectations.

But fortunately, we're not all that way. Most Penn State fans are capable of watching the games and talking about football intelligently without stooping to personal attacks. It seems we just don't frequent the blogs and message boards enough. My theory is it's the younger generations of fans that create most of the problems. They are the ones with enough technical savy to know the difference between a blog and a message board. Your average baby boomer booster isn't surfing BWI to find the latest dirt on Maurice Clarrett. And again, I think it stems back to 1994, when kids born after 1980 were just coming of age and becoming true Penn State fans. I suspect they were told stories about the glory years of the 70's and 80's and felt like their team was going to be a dynasty forever. Then they got snubbed in '94 and they weren't mature enough to realize sometimes you just get screwed in the game of college football.

Then in 1999 they were told they were going all the way again. But Minnesota had other plans and knocked them off that year. That sent them into a tailspin that saw four losing seasons in the next five years. As a fan base we were hurt and angry. The older fans were mature enough to know we had a good run but everything must come to an end. I think the younger fans felt like they were robbed before they ever got to experience the good years. That immaturity is what we see acting out today in the form of an inferiority complex.

Anyway, that's my theory. Spout off in the comments and tell me if you think I'm right or wrong.

GET UP!

2006-07-29T21:41:00.000-04:00

Starting to feel that blue blood pump through your veins yet? Are you as psyched for the season as I am? If not, watch this. Only 35 days to go.

Linebacker U. Gets Another Verbal

2006-07-29T20:56:00.000-04:00

The Penn State Nittany Lions landed their tenth verbal commitment for the class of 2007 on Friday afternoon. Andrew Dailey from Washington High School in Massillon, OH has decided he wants to play linebacker for Linebacker U.

Dailey was recruited by Jay Paterno and passed on several offers from over a dozen schools including Florida, Nebraska, Purdue, Pittsburgh, Illinois, Syracuse, Michigan State and Indiana.

Rivals and Scout both list him as a four star prospect. Dailey stands 6'2" and 210 lbs with a 40-yard dash time of 4.7. Here's what Andrew's coach, Tom Stacy, has to say:

"Andrew is a good person and a good student. He really does a nice job of
representing our program off the field. He's 6-2, 220 and runs well. He's
physical and he's a play maker. He's a three-sport athlete and he makes a
lot of plays for us. We think he's a pretty good football player."

What's impressive about this commitment is that he comes from the state of Ohio. Along with fellow recruit Chris Colasanti from Michigan, it must be unsettling to our Big Ten foes to see us recruiting well in their back yards. Now some Ohio State fan will probably comment that they didn't even offer this kid a scholarship. Pay attention to what Andrew says in talking about Notre Dame not giving him an offer:

"Penn State would have been the school I was going to choose. That's where I felt the best."

Once he met the Nittany Lion coaches the deal was sealed. Eat that!

I'm continually impressed with the quality of linebackers Penn State continues to recruit. Colasanti, Stupar, and Dailey may likely be the starting lineup four years from now, but with this year's recruits Navorro Bowman and Bani Gbadyu and current Lions Jerome Hayes, Sean Lee, Tyrell Sales, and Dan Connor all with eligibility left I don't know how the coaches are going to get all these kids on the field. No doubt some of them may get a rep or two at TE or FB.

I can't imagine we will be recruiting any more linebackers in this class since we only have about 18 scholarships to play with this year. We may not even recruit a linebacker next year for that matter. But even so, the tradition of Linebacker U is set to live on for years to come!

Open Thread

2006-07-28T14:23:00.000-04:00

Who do you think is going to win the Big Ten this year? I'm still on the fence about this one. I can still be convinced about a bunch of teams. Let me hear your thoughts then I'll reveal my Big Ten preview next week.

New Faces on the D-Line

2006-07-28T08:44:00.000-04:00

Everyone knows the Nittany Lions have to replace three starters on the defensive line this year. Tamba Hali, Scott Paxon, and Matthew Rice were key players in Penn State's heralded defense last year. All three of them will be playing on Sundays this year. In order for Penn State to be successful this year, their replacements are going to have to step it up. The defensive lines for both squads dominated in the Blue-White Game holding both offenses to a combined 44 rushing yards. And indications from coaches and players comments are that things are going to be just fine.

Of course, Jay Alford returns with his 8.5 sacks to anchor down one of the tackle positions. Alford led all returning Big Ten players in sacks last year. Filling in the other tackle position is Ed Johnson, who sat out last year for disciplinary reasons. Who better to ask about Johnson and Alford than the guy depending on them to eat up blockers?

"Life is going to be a lot different without Scott Paxson in front of me, that's for sure," Posluszny said. "But the good thing is we have [Jay] Alford back, and now that Ed Johnson's back, that's going to be great because now we'll have two big guys to plug up the middle of the line at all times."

Anchoring one of the defensive end spots will be Jim Shaw. Shaw transferred from Rice a year ago. He played in eight games last year. You may remember he made a key play in the Orange Bowl forcing Florida State Seminole Quarterback Drew Weatherford into an intentional grounding penalty in the endzone resulting in a safety. Shaw's teammates cannot stop singing his praises.

"(Jim Shaw) has to be the strongest that I've ever seen in my life," defensive tackle Jay Alford said. "He's like the only guy I've seen to [bench press] like 415 [pounds] like seven times, and he runs a 4.6 [40-yard dash]. He's an athlete, athlete. Love him."

Who will solidify the other defensive end spot is a question. Josh Gaines and Mike Lucian are fighting it out for the starting job. Looking over their shoulders are several incoming freshmen with their eye on the spot as well. Tom McEowen and Jared Odrick were animals in the Big 33 game. These kids along with All-Everything freshman Maurice Evans will be hard to keep off the field. I suspect by the start of Big Ten play, nobody is going to be questioning our defensive line anymore.

Hungry for More

2006-07-27T21:14:00.000-04:00

The other day I got into it with Brain from mgoblog over who was more hungry to win the PSU-Michigan game this year. Brian argues Penn State will not be any more hungry than they were the last seven games against Michigan, in which Penn State has lost them all. I argued that Penn State wants this game really bad this year. After losing seven in a row to the Wolverines, the Nittany Lions are tired of hearing the press say they own us. Last year Penn State let that game slip through their fingers, just like they had done several times before. I think this year they want it bad.

Anyone who thinks the Nittany Lions are going to come out fat and lazy in their defense of the Big Ten championship should hear what Paul Posluszny has to say.

"A lot of these guys finally got a taste of how great success can be here, so that just motivated us even more," Posluszny said Wednesday during a meeting with reporters in Beaver Stadium. "A lot of us have seen the worst, going through a 3-9 season, and we've seen a Big Ten championship...We don't want to lose that taste."

Most encouraging, Poz had this to say:

"There's no reason why we can't compete for another Big Ten title this year."

If the mentality of the team mirrors that of their captain, it sounds like they are focused and hungry. That's good news for Penn State fans who worry about a drop off from last years championship squad.

Encouraging News

2006-07-27T16:18:00.000-04:00

Jon Mahoney from SI.com rates Penn State on of his top five hottest schools in the eyes of high school recruits.

Coach Joe Paterno and his assistants recruited well in Pennsylvania last year, landing Downingtown East (Exton, Pa.) quarterback Pat Devlin. Penn State did even better with out-of-state recruits, signing the likes of Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.) defensive lineman Maurice Evans and Granby (Norfolk, Va.) wide receiver Chris Bell. Penn State got off to a fast start in its recruitment of Class of 2007 stars, snagging pledges from stellar recruits like Central Catholic (Greensburg, Pa.) wide receiver Nick Sukay and Brother Rice (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) linebacker Chris Colasanti.

It seems the organizational changes the team made in recent years of moving Fran Ganter into the AD office and bringing on Mike McQuery as the recruiting coordinator are paying off. Penn State has had two great recruiting years back to back and this year is shaping up to be another good one. So much for those who said the game had passed Joe by. He continues to show he can adapt with the best of them.

Preseason Hopes

2006-07-27T14:14:00.000-04:00

The pre-season is always a fun time. Everyone is 0-0 and dreaming of BCS bowls. Everyone looks up and down the schedule and puts positive spin on their team while putting negative spin on the others convincing themselves their team has the best shot to go all the way. So sometimes when we see an object analysis of our team by someone who could care less if your team wins or loses, it kind of stings.

Today, Sunday Morning Quarterback gave his "somewhat obligatory assessment" of the Penn State Nittany Lions. There aren't too many surprises in his assessment. Four starters gone on the O-Line, no M-Rob, three starters gone on the D-Line, all new secondary, yada yada yada. Not surprisingly, he picks PSU to finish around 7-5.

Now your typical delusional Penn State fan will scoff at this and convince himself that Morelli is going to light up the scoreboard, the O-Line will do just fine, Tony Hunt is going to rush for 1500 yds, and Paul Posluszny will single handedly prevent anyone from scoring. But let's be realistic here. We lost 13 starters from last year. We all know Paterno runs his program to make a title run every 3 to 4 years. Last year was the year. This year is a rebuilding year. I would prefer to see a 7-5 rebuilding year rather than the horrendous years that plagued us in the first part of the decade.

But I can't say I completely agree with 7-5 this year. (In fairness to SMQ, he claims he didn't look at the schedule in making his prediction) We play Akron, Youngstown State, Northwestern, Illinois, Temple and Michigan State all at home this year. I have to think we are favored to win all of those which gets us to six wins right there. The remaining games are @Notre Dame, @Ohio State, @Minnesota, Michigan, @Purdue, @Wisconsin. Personally, I think it's realistic that we can win at least three of these games to give us a record of 9-3. But I'm not crazy enough to say anything less than a ten win season is a failure.

Madden on Morelli

2006-07-26T11:10:00.000-04:00

Mark Madden from ESPN radio put out a hit piece on Anthony Morelli last week. Where to start with this guy? First of all, I'm pretty sure casual dress Friday wasn't meant to include muu muus. Here's a tip: Maybe next time instead of getting the triple cheeseburger, you might want to think about cutting back to the double.
But enough of that. Let's take a look at some of the drivel this guy gets paid to write:

Morelli's intelligence (or lack thereof) is the elephant in Penn State's locker room. No one wants to talk about it, but it is undeniably a potential negative factor.

Oh really? I've heard nothing but good things out of the coaches and players. Paterno has never been shy about warning the media when he felt the team wasn't very good. All indications this year are that they are going to have a good football team. But according to Madden, the fact that nobody is saying Morelli is a smart guy must mean he's dumb.

Maybe he's not going to graduate at the top of his class, but then we're not talking about rocket science here. It's football. Morelli has been riding the bench for two years now. If he doesn't know the playbook, I can't believe Joe would name him the starter.

But what really bugs me about Madden's piece is the tone. Sometimes we forget we're talking about 21 year old college kids. They have stress all around them. They perform on stages in front of millions of people. People depend on them to win so they can make money, but he's not seeing any of the action. He has to worry about classes and all the other crap that comes with being 21 years old. Media jerks like Madden forget these guys don't get paid for what they do so they deserve a break now and then.

Heisman Hype

2006-07-25T11:04:00.000-04:00

It seems more and more schools hype their players for the Heisman trophy every year. Some schools don't need to put effort into hyping their players. The media does it for them. Other schools don't get the hype so they put together advertising campaigns before the season starts. Cal has put together a website for their star running back Marshawn Lynch. Louisville put together a nifty website called the Dirby City Duo for their star QB Brian Bohm and RB Michael Bush. (Hat Tip Heisman Pundit)

Penn State for years has refused to promote it's players. Paterno protects his players from the media and keeps them in a tight circle. Right before the Orange Bowl last season he refused to allow the players attend a scheduled press conference because it was the week before finals and he didn't want to distract them. He won't talk up certain players because he doesn't want other players to feel left out. And they certainly don't put together websites or buy billboard space to promote players ala David Carr. Not surprisingly, Penn State players always get snubbed in the Heisman voting.

Sometimes I'm conflicted in how I feel about this. I would love to see a Penn State player win the Heisman in my lifetime. It would bring the Nittany Nation great joy and it would be great for recruiting. But at the same time, it fits in with the Penn State tradition that no one person deserves more attention than the rest of the team. "There is no name on my jersey" has become a rallying cry for Penn State fans and players. The philosophy goes, when you name isn't on your jersey you have to find another way to make people notice you...as in play hard. There are no logos on the helmets. Everyone wears black shoes. Endzone dances are not tolerated. Everyone is part of the team and nobody is special. As much as I would love to see a player win the Heisman, I would not be willing to do it if it meant giving up this great tradition.

Penn State Under Investigation

2006-07-24T13:45:00.000-04:00

Orson over at Every Day Should be Saturday has been on a quest to find a video of the old Joe Paterno commercials for Milano Bread. So far he has come up empty, but he found this nugget from The Nittany Line.

Then today I found this article in the Altoona Mirror where budding young reporter Corey Sober asked new recruit Josh Marks, "Josh, from what I hear, Joe Paterno bribes his players with free Milano bread. Is this true?"

Marks denied being bribed, but the comment has caught the eye of NCAA president Myles Brand.

"We take all accusations of bribing recruits seriously. If Penn State is found to have bribed a recruit, we will take away scholarships and bury their program until they have to beg Pitt to play 2-for-1's in Pitt's favor."

When Hail to the Lion tried to reach Coach Paterno for comment, the coach had this to say:

"Who is Josh Marks? I have never bribed a player with Milano bread. You must have misunderstood. When he said 'bread', he probably meant money. We do that all the time. Is that against the rules? I'm a senile old man ya know. When I started coaching the game of football only had two rules. Eleven guys on a team and only one ball on the field at a time. I can't keep track of all these rules today. I can't even remember where I parked my car when I leave the office at night. Most nights I end up walking home and having Sue drive me back after everyone has left so I can find my car again. Who are you?"

Expect a full NCAA investigation into this. Hail to the Lion will keep you informed.

Tarnished Dome

2006-07-23T21:25:00.000-04:00

Imagine that. College Football's golden boys have been accused of negative recruiting.

"I'm not going to lie," (Jamie) Cumbie told The Post and Courier newspaper of Charleston, S.C., for a story Wednesday. "The coaches at Notre Dame sent some bad letters ripping Clemson after I committed here."

This sparked a media war with the Notre Dame head coach, the media anointed "Guru", Charlie Weis.

"I find it quite amusing that a student-athlete already enrolled at another university has decided to be the team spokesman on Notre Dame recruiting practices," Weis said. "There is an obvious contradiction between how this was handled and what was stated. We do not use negative recruiting tactics."

Oh re-he-he-healy? Well, after Weis shot one over the bow, Clemson quickly made their kid put out the following statement:

"No one from Notre Dame, either in writing or in general conversation, said Clemson had a horrible education," Cumbie's statement said. "Notre Dame made a comparison in different areas between the two schools and the facts made Notre Dame look better."

Oh ok. They were just comparing the two schools. These statistics just made Notre Dame look better, but that wasn't a knock on Clemson or anything. Nooooooo sir. I'm just curious why Clemson had their kid respond this way. If an institution was trying to cut me down with the kids I have already recruited, I would think I would be pretty upset and want to fire back. The fact that Clemson took this response makes me wonder who has dirt on Clemson and what that dirt is.

Negative recruiting goes on all the time. We all know it. People have been recruiting against Joe Paterno's age for years telling kids they will be playing for someone else before their career is over if they go to Penn State. Of course, most of those guys have been fired since then while JoePa remains. You telling me no coach has ever told a quarterback that if he goes to Penn State Joe is either going to turn him into a linebacker or make him run plays that were drawn up in the 60's? Let's get real here. Everyone recruits by putting down their competition. Penn State included I'm sure. That's the way the game is played when the NCAA official isn't watching.

What bugs me about his is the media is shocked, SHOCKED, when someone suggests their Notre Dame choir boys and "The Guru" are capable of such a thing. Give me a break. We've all seen the amount of pressure there is on a head coach of Notre Dame to perform. It's the highest profile job in college football. They called Ty Willingham a genius after his first year. Two years later he was looking for a job. It takes a fierce competitor willing to cut throats to be successful at that job. So spare me the choir boy crap. Notre Dame is not any more morally superior than the next guy. Let's not pretend they are.

2006 Defensive Preview

2006-07-22T21:28:00.000-04:00

The senior led squad from 2005 suffers heavy casualties in 2006. Gone are seven starters including NFL picks Tamba Hali, Alan Zemitis, and Calvin Lowry. Gone are three of four starting linemen and the entire backfield.

Defensive Line

Gone from the defensive line are starters Tamba Hali, Mathew Rice, and Scott Paxon. This group combined for 164 tackles, 19 sacks and 36.5 TFL. That's the bad news. The good news is Jay Alford returns with his 37 tackles and 8.5 sacks.

Like most teams, Penn State rotates several defensive linemen in and out of the game. Five of the top eight linemen from last year return, so this group does have considerable experience. The starting line most likely will be:

DE - Jim Shaw (6 tkl, 1 sack)
DT - Ed Johnson (DNP in 2005 - 21 tkl, 4 TFL in 2004)
DT - Jay Alford (37 tkl, 11.5 TFL, 8.5 sacks)
DE - Josh Gaines (9 tkl, 0.5 TFL)

Coming in this year is what may be the greatest group of defensive linemen to ever come to Penn State in one class. Don't be surprised if uber recruits Maurice Evans, Aaron Maybin, Tom McEowen, Jared Odrick, and Phillip Taylor see significant playing time.

Penn State's success on defense will depend heavily on this group's ability to stop the run and put pressure on the quarterback to protect the inexperienced secondary.

Preseason Grade: B-

Linebackers

All three All-Conference linebackers return in 2006. The line is anchored by All-Universe Butkus and Bednarik winner Paul Posluszny with his 116 tkls, 3 sacks, 8 TFL). Poz suffered a slight tear in his knee in the Orange Bowl last season, but reports are his rehab went well and he should be 100% in time for the opener. Rumors from spring practice said Paul was an animal in the weight room since he could not participate on the field and his body fat is now below 5%.

Joining Posluszny are All-Big Ten linebackers Tim Shaw and Dan Connor. Shaw recorded 76 tackes and 4.5 sacks last season. Connor recorded 76 tackles and 1.5 sacks in only nine games.

The scary thing about this group is the coaches feel even if all three of these guys got hurt their backups could step in and the defense would not skip a beat. Jerome Hayes, Tyrell Sales, and Sean Lee are that good. You may remember Lee was forced to step in when Poz went down in the Orange Bowl making several key tackles near the goaline.

Preseason Grade: A+

Defensive Backs

This season the Nittany Lions have to replace all four starters in the secondary. Zemitis, Lowry, Harrell and Phillips are all going to be playing on Sundays. This group combined for 248 tkls and 12 INT.

VHT Sophomore Justin King makes the switch to defense full time this year. His speed and athletic ability figure to make him an All-Conference corner someday. Anchoring down the other corner will be sophomore Tony Davis. Senior Donnie Johnson will be starting at strong safety. Johnson made himself known during the MSU game last year pulling in an INT and blocking a kick. The Hero position figures to be a battle between sophomores Spencer Ridenhour and Anthony Scirrotto.

Message board banter says the coaches are very impressed with incoming freshman speedster A.J. Wallace and plan to utilize him right away on offense and defense much like Justin King was used last year. Expect to see him get some playing time as the nickel or dime back.

This group has tons of talent but lacks any significant playing experience. Unfortunately they will be thrown to the wolves early. They will be tested by Notre Dame and Ohio State before the leaves start turning color. Their learning curve will have to be a steep one if Penn State hopes to contend for the Big Ten title and a BCS Bowl.

Preseason Grade: C+

Overall Projection:

There is bound to be a dropoff from last season's experienced squad. You don't lose seven starters and come back the number one unit in the nation. (Of course if you are Ohio State I guess that's another matter in the eyes of the pollsters. But that's another post for another time.) The defense is stacked with tons of talent and has the potential to be a great squad as it gains experience. This group won't shut anyone out, but they will keep it close and give the offense a chance in every game.

Preseason Grade: B

Number 9

2006-07-20T11:15:00.000-04:00

It's not even August yet and Penn State has picked up their ninth commitment from the class of 2007. Stephon Green from John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx has agreed to play football for the Nittany Lions.

A relative unknown as a football prospect (2 stars on both Rivals and Scout), Green was a local track star in his community. At the Bronx PSAL Borough Championship meet, Stephon won both the 100 and 200 meter dashes at times of 10.70 and 22.30 seconds respectively.

Rumor has it that Green attended a Nike camp and performed poorly only running a 4.7 in the 40 yard dash. This may explain why he didn't see much interest from other big name programs. But apparently, message board lore has it that Green ran back to back sub 4.4 40's at another camp which grabbed PSU's attention.

Regardless of his 40 time, his high school rushing stats are mind boggling. On just 64 carries, Green accumulated 767 yards for a whopping 12 ypc. He scored a touchdown on one of every eight carries. He had one kickoff return which he returned 89 yards for a touchdown and recorded one pick on defense.

Green is projected to play defensive back for the Nittany Lions. Welcome aboard, Stephon.

Commitment #8

2006-07-13T10:03:00.000-04:00

Last night Penn State got it's 8th commitment for the class of 2007 when North Carolina standout DE Kevion Latham gave his verbal commitment to the Nittany Lions.

The 6'3" 233 lb DE is a four star prospect on rivals.com, but unrated by scout.com. According to rivals.com, Latham sports a 4.63 40-yard dash, a 320 lb. bench press, a 455 lb. squat, and a 32 inch vertical leap. It seems they have different data from scout who lists him quite smaller and slower. Perhaps they have old data and the kid sprouted up this year. What impresses me most is his 4.5 GPA and 1700 SAT score. Is that even possible or is that a mistake?

Kevion passed on offers from North Carolina, Stanford, California, Georgia Tech, Oregon and Vanderbilt to play for the Nittany Lions.

In his junior season, Kevion recorded 12.5 sacks and 83 tackles. He will have to bulk up to play DE in college. Given Penn States 2006 class which was heavy on defensive linemen, I suspect Kevion will spend his freshman year wearing a red shirt and living in the gym. Alex thinks he may play right away and that this may be the only defensive lineman we will sign this year given the limited number of scholarships we have to offer.

Latham's commitment gives Penn State 8 early verbals with probably only around 18 scholarships to offer. Five of the 8 verbals are rivals.com Four Star prospects. Welcome to the good guys, Kevion.

Don't Be a Cry Baby

2006-07-13T08:13:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Nate Bauer went off on an editorial by The Collegian which lambasted the university for not allotting more tickets to the students.

This all started a few weeks ago when the university announced that student tickets had sold out in a record 13 days. Tickets are sold on a first come first serve basis. A university official gave a brief glimmer of hope when they said they may make more student tickets available, but then they backtracked and said no. So many students will be left without tickets this fall.

But the Collegian editorial is childish in their complaint and reasoning. They say "Ticketless students are going to need something to do on game days so they don't spend the entire day drinking in the parking lot. " To avoid this situation, they suggest opening the Bryce Jordan Center to allow students to watch the game on the Jumbo-Tron.

You can't blame the university if a student chooses to drink in the parking lot all day. That is their choice. We're all individuals. We're all responsible for our actions. It's not the responsibility of the university to make sure you have something constructive to do on a saturday afternoon. If you can't get in the game, watch it on television. That's what I'll be doing.

But what makes this argument ring hollow is the fair weather nature of the Penn State student section. During the down years, you could look at the student section and easily the last 20 to 50 rows were empty. They eat their tickets during the down years and then complain when there are no tickets to be had during the good years. You can't have it both ways. The way to get more tickets is to show up even when the team sucks.

The other problem, and I'm not sure how you correct this, is that lots of students that show up for the game could really care less about football. They treat the game as more of a social event. I may get in trouble here, but I'm talking specifically about sororities. I remember when I was a student in the 90's sitting (but usually standing) in the student section surrounded by sorority girls that couldn't tell you the difference between linebacker and a safety. They all get together before the game and go in at the same time so they can go in as a block and sit together. Usually they get there early so they can get good seats. They're all decked out in their hair and makeup and pretty face paint with their sorority T-shirts. Then once the game starts they are wandering around looking for boys (what better place to find boys than at a PSU game?) or talking about the party last night or where they are going to drink tonight. Then when the team loses they are the first ones to get angry and yell "You suck" at the players as they walk off the field as if they have been personally offended. It always made me mad when I saw people like this taking up a seat in place of some deserving fan that couldn't get a ticket. Again, I'm not sure how you weed out these people who go to the games just for the social factor. Perhaps if demand is so high it's time to raise prices and try to weed out these people.

But getting back to the editorial, The Collegian wraps up their column by saying, "Someone in this university needs to grow up and take responsibility for this issue." If anyone has to grow up, it's The Collegian.

Pardon Me While I Throw Up My Lunch

2006-07-12T13:49:00.000-04:00

Ugh. I'm so sick of The Great Brady Quinn. Is the Heisman even up for grabs this year? Did they have the voting already? Is there any need to even play this season?

This just in: All the "Brady for Heisman" hype ends September 9 around 7 PM.

2006 Offense Preview

2006-07-11T12:57:00.000-04:00

Only 53 days until the Penn State football season kicks off against the Akron Zips. The college football world is starting to awaken from its seven month hibernation. Pundits are putting out their pre-season polls. Message boards are coming to life picking them apart. The blogosphere is starting to buzz. It seems like a fitting time to provide my analysis of this year's Penn State team. Today I will start with the offense.

Quarterbacks

The key word here is "experience", or more specificially lack thereof. After backing up Zack Mills and Michael Robinson the past two years, Anthony Morelli gets the keys to the offense this year. Backing him up will be Paul Cianciolo and Matt Suhey, who have yet to see a snap in Div. I-A.

Last year Morelli got on the field three times in blowout games. Joe had pulled in the reins to prevent running up the score, but Morelli still managed to go 13-20 for 155 yds 1 TD and 0 INT. He didn't light anyone up, but he didn't let them get back in the game either. The times I saw him, including the spring game, I thought he showed good technique. His passes were crisp, on target and on time. He showed good confidence in the pocket and excellent arm strength.

Much of the country is expecting a drop off going from MRob to Morelli. While MRob was the type of guy that could strap an offense on his back and carry them down the field, Morelli, being a pocket passer, prefers to use the players around him. I look for him to spread the ball around and let his speedy wide receivers turn his 5 yard passes into 50 yard plays. The offense will look much different. The fact is that last year defenses did not respect Michael Robinson as a passer. The book him was take away the deep ball and try to force him into 3rd and long to take away his scrambling ability. Teams that were able to do that had success. This year teams will have to cover the entire field.

If Morelli gets hurt, the season may be in trouble. Cianciolo looked horrible in the spring game and Suhey has no experience. Fans may whisper in Paterno's ear to play true freshman Pat Devlin, but this is supposed to be a rebuilding year. I don't look for Pat to see the field until 2007.

Preseason Grade: B

Running Backs

Tony Hunt returns as the team's leading rusher from last year. Backing him up will be Austin Scott and Rodney Kinlaw.

While there is no bonafide star in this group, they are all capable backs. Tony is a steady runner that will churn out four and five yard runs all day. He is a tough back that will lower his head and get the extra yard every time. His pass blocking and catching abilities push him to the #1 spot on the depth chart. But he has yet to show the explosive speed to break the long run.

Austin Scott enters his senior year having yet to live up to the hype. He stepped in admirably in the Orange Bowl and turned out a fine 100 yard performance, but most on those yards came on one long run and he was mostly ineffective in the second half. He tends to run like he did in high school where he tried to run around guys. He has yet to make the adjustment to the speed of the college game which requires moving forward at all times and fighting for the extra yard. His ability to pick up the blitz is suspect. This was evident in the Orange Bowl when Florida State blitzed on almost every play and Michael Robinson took a beating. But Scott does show signs of brilliance at times when the O-Line can block for him. He is probably the most explosive back on the roster.

Also returning is stud senior fullback BranDon Snow. Joe Paterno loves this kid. He doesn't run the ball much, but he may be the best blocker on the team. If the tight ends struggle he may see lots of playing time as Penn State returns to more Power-I sets. But Galen Hall is going to try to use the wide receivers to spread the ball, so don't look for him much outside of the red zone.

Bottom line there is no Larry Johnson or Ki-Jana Carter in the group, but these guys will hold their own against any team in the Big Ten.

Preseason Grade: B

Wide Receivers

The star of the group is Derrick Williams who returns from a season ending broken arm last year. Before getting injured Williams had 22 catches for 289 yds and 1 TD. The one TD came in the last minute of the Northwestern game to seal Penn State's win and set up their national title run. Michigan had the looks of his official coming out party before it was cut short. He racked up a season high 6 catches before getting hurt.

Deon Butler led the Lions in receiving last year with 37 catches for 691 yds and 9 TD. He may have the best hands on the team and proved himself to be a formidable deep threat. In the spring game, Jordan Norwood was Anthony Morelli's favorite target pulling in 8 catches for 154 yards.

With tons of talent and now a year of experience under their belt, this group will spread the field and cause matchup problems for defenses to ponder. Look for 3 receiver sets to be a common formation in the 2007 offense.

In my opinion, the biggest reason for Penn State's return to the Top 10 last year was the wide receivers. When you look back on the great Penn State teams of the 80's and 90's, they were all blessed with good receivers: O.J. McDuffie, Bobby Engram, Joe Jurevicius, Bryant and Tony Johnson. When you look at the down years, lack of skill at WR is a common trend. If this is any indication, 2006 should be a good year.

Preseason Grade: A

Offensive Line

The biggest question mark this year on offense is the offensive line. They return All-American stud and probable future first round draft pick Levi Brown at left tackle. But other than that they will be adding four new starters.

A.Q. Shipley switches back to offense and figures to anchor down the center position. Whispers out of spring practice suggest he has returned this year with a new attitude and work ethic. But the other three positions are not nailed down and we may see some different rotations until the coaches settle on a final depth chart before the start of Big Ten play.

The success or failure of the 2006 squad may hinge on this group. Unquestionably this is the biggest concern on the team. In the spring game the two squads combined only rushed for 44 yards. But then going into the 2005 season we were saying the offensive line was a question mark. That group did not have any stars outside of Brown and they did an adequate job. I expect this group will do the same after they get some experience.

Preseason Grade: C+ (Any line with Levi Brown is above average, but this group is just barely)

Tight Ends

Gone are the days of Kyle Brady, Troy Drayton, Tony Stewart, and John Gilmore. It has been several years since Penn State has had a tight end that can pull down that clutch 8 yard pass over the middle. Isaac Smolko managed to come out of nowhere to make the game saving catch on 4th and 15 against Northwestern, but that proved to be a fluke as the year went on. With Smolko's departure Jordan Lyons, Patrick Hall, and Kevin Darling step in. This group will not force any defensive coordinators to adjust their game plan. One more reason why the offense will be sporting a lot of three wide receiver sets. Perhaps highly touted recruit Andrew Quarless will see some action midway through the season. I'm anxious to see what this kid has to offer.

Preseason Grade: D

Overall Projection:

The skill positions return everyone except for Michael Robinson. The Dynamic Duo (Hunt and Scott) and the Three Amigos (Williams, Butler, and Norwood) are going to be a blast to watch light up the scoreboard.

The key is the offensive line. At times this group is going to look brilliant when the O-Line can protect Morelli and block for Hunt and Scott. But if the O-Line struggles, and they will at times, the offense is going to sputter and look bad. Our success will depend on how fast this group can get up to speed. Look for Galen Hall and Jay Paterno to go for a lot of quick deep strikes early in the season. Long methodical drives require offensive lines that dominate the run and protect the quarterback play after play. This O-line is not capable of that yet.

Preseason Grade: B

Mai Non!

2006-07-10T13:23:00.000-04:00

I guess now that the World Cup is over I can finally comment on it. I tried to watch the final. Some of it anyway. I just can't force myself to watch an entire game without flipping the channel. Yesterday I watched it until the NASCAR race came on. It was 1-1 when I turned it. I would come back 20 minutes later...still 1-1. Whew...didn't miss anything I guess. Later I came back it was 1-1 in the first overtime. Then 1-1 in the second overtime. I'm sensing a pattern here.

About the only thing interesting was when the French guy head-butted the Italian guy. This morning the talk shows were a buzz with the fake outrage only they can muster up. Here in America we are shocked when violence breaks out at a sporting event...unless you're talking about hockey of course. But in the rest of the world violence is part of the games. I mean, these people kill each other over soccer. Remember the guy from south America that scored in his own goal in the Olympics a few years ago? They killed him...over a soccer game.

And what is with all these soccer players faking their injuries? Yesterday I watched a guy go down and hold his ankle as play continued. Judging by his reaction it looked like a career ending injury. They finally stopped the game and the medical trainers came out. They put the guy on a stretcher and carried him off the field and play continued. After it became apparent they were not going to call a foul, he miraculously got up and ran back into the game. Give me a break. Part of the problem why soccer does not catch on in the United States is that the players are perceived to be pretty boys. All this flopping around and faking injury doesn't help.

So the game finally ended in a 5-3 shootout. This is the dumbest way to crown a world champion I have ever seen. Given the fact the World Cup only comes around every four years makes it even more retarded. The goalie stands in front of a huge net he cannot possibly defend. He is forced to guess which way the shooter is going to go. Many times he falls down before the shooter even kicks the ball. None of the shots were blocked yesterday. France lost when one of their guys missed the net hitting the crossbar.

I cannot stress how dumb this is. Let them play until they drop dead or someone scores. This is like the world series being decided by a game of dodge ball after both teams run out of pitchers in Game 7. It's like deciding the NBA championship with a free throw contest. Or deciding the Superbowl on a coin flip. It's crazy. Don't waste three hours of my life to watch something so stupid. I will never understand soccer or why the world loves it so much.

New Commits

2006-06-29T14:32:00.000-04:00

Earlier in the week Penn State landed a trio of recruits for the class of 2007.

Chaz Powell is a running back/defensive back from Glen Rock, PA. The 6'2" 185 lb Powell apparently impressed the scouts and put his name on the map when he ran a 4.44 40-yard dash and showed off a 30 inch vertical leap during a recent combine in State College. Prior to the combine he was a relative unknown and went from a mid-level Division I program to a high level program. Penn State jumped and offered him a scholarship. Chaz accepted over offers from Maryland, Georgia, UConn, Boston College, and Temple. Penn State is lucky to snatch this kid up since he was starting to see interest from other big time programs like USC, Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame after his combine performance. There is some concern over Chaz's grades in school. It was important to him to commit early so he could focus on his education during his senior year in school. He is projected to be a defensive back for the Lions.

Western PA standout wide receiver/defensive back Nick Sukay also committed to the Nittany Lions. The 6'3" 200 lb standout is a four star prospect on rivals.com and scout.com. Last season Sukay caught 29 passes for 660 yards and eight scores on offense while making 58 tackles, 7 forced fumbles and six interceptions on defense. He passed on offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, and West Virginia in order to play for the Nittany Lions. In speaking of Penn State, Nick said, "I have always had a passion for Penn State football. When I came to the Ohio State game last year and saw 110,000 fans I knew then that's where I wanted to be. I have never seen anything like that in my life. I can't wait to get out on that field.” He is projected to play on defense, but with his size and athletic ability he may see playing time on special teams as a true freshman.

With Jeremy Kapinos set to graduate after the 2006 season, the coaches felt punting was a need that had to be addressed. To do so, they pursued Ryan Breen from Clarkston High in Michigan. Breen is said to have a booming leg averaging 40 yards per punt and often putting kickoffs through the back of the endzone. Penn State was the first school to offer Breen a scholarship. Even though he showed interest in playing for Iowa, Michigan, and Michigan State he jumped on the PSU offer right away. Given that Penn State only has 18 scholarships to offer this year, they must have been pretty impressed with this kid. Expect a battle with walk-on Jeremy Boone to replace Kapinos.

The Big Ten Channel

2006-06-22T09:41:00.000-04:00

Yesterday the Big Ten Conference announced two huge media agreements.

In the first agreement, the Big Ten has contracted with ABC/ESPN to broadcast up to 41 Big Ten football games per year for the next 10 years. Up to 17 games will be broadcast on ABC and up to 25 games will be broadcast on ESPN/ESPN2. In addition, Big Ten games that are covered on ABC but not shown regionally will be shown on ESPN or ESPN2.

This would have been handy for me last year when I was in Nashville on the weekend of the Michigan game. The game was broadcast on ABC, but due to my region I was forced to watch an SEC game. Had this agreement been in place I could have still watched the PSU/Michigan game on one of the ESPN channels. Now Penn State fans across the country will be able to watch more Penn State football games. Also included in the deal are plans to broadcast up to 59 men's basketball games as well as up to 12 women's basketball and volleyball matches. This is a great deal for the Big Ten Conference, Penn State, and the fans.

In the second agreement, the Big Ten has teamed with the Fox Network to create the Big Ten Channel. The Big Ten Channel will broadcast 35 football games per year. Each school will appear twice including at least one conference game.

I'm trying to keep an open mind about the Big Ten Channel, but my first gut instinct is this is going to suck for me. I'm just a basic cable type of guy. Up until now, living in the Philadelphia area I've been pretty lucky in seeing most Penn State games on television. If the game wasn't on ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2, the local WB channel would pick it up and broadcast it on ESPNU. I think last year I watched the Northwestern and Illinois games on ESPNU. The only game I think I was forced to pull out the AM/FM boom box and listen on the radio was the Central Michigan game.

Under the new agreement, I will most likely have to watch these types of games against lesser opponents on the Big Ten Channel. The availability of the Big Ten Channel is yet to be determined. Currently, the only agreement is with DirectTV through their Total Choice Package. So right now, to get the Big Ten Channel you will first have to be a DirectTV subscriber and you will need to get their Total Choice Package. FOX Network will negotiate with local cable providers to broadcast the channel. So there is a chance you may get the Big Ten Channel on cable, but most likely it will not be free. It will probably be part of some deluxe package offered by your cable provider.

For Penn State fans outside of the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland areas, this is great news. This will at least give them an option to see more Penn State games, all-be-it at a price. But for local fans like myself, this deal takes regionally broadcast games and forces me to pay if I want to watch them. If you're a die-hard Northwestern or Indiana fan, you might as well switch to DirectTV now. Your teams will be regular players on Big Ten TV. The bad news for PSU fans is if we have a few more down years like in the past, we might become regulars too.

I have until August of 2007 to see if the local cable provider will offer the Big Ten Channel or decide if I'm going to switch to DirectTV. Personally, I don't think I will fork over an extra $50 or whatever to see Penn State roll up the score on Indiana and Akron. I would prefer to put that money towards going to the game in person or buying a nice boom box to listen to the games on the radio. But if Penn State has another down year, you may see as many as half their games on the Big Ten Channel which may change my attitude.

How Do You Tailgate?

2006-06-16T08:32:00.000-04:00

Last year, Sports Illustrated crowned Penn State the Ultimate Tailgating Venue. I know I've been to some doozies in my day.

Our tailgate experience usually starts around 6 AM in Jersey Shore, PA. That's where my uncle Ron lives. I leave my car at his house and we pile into his Ford F-150 usually with one of his buddies and we head down to the local grocery store where we meet Ron's lifelong buddy Cling and his dad. Then we head off for State College.

We're usually making the right at Damon's and rolling up the hill around 7 AM. We like to park right along the road so we can watch the cars and motorhomes drive through. We put up a couple of those blue pop-up tents and some tables and chairs. We get the radio going and put out the munchies.

By 7:30 AM we're mixing drinks and watching the sun come up over Mount Nittany. The drink of choice is Captian Morgans and Coke, but an Ice House beer or two has been known to disappear. It seems we always make the mistake of mixing the first one too strong. After that we spend the rest of the day practicing "buzz management." Our days of getting too hammered to find the stadium are way behind us.

If it's a late game, Cling will cook up some spam and eggs breakfast sandwiches on the grill. With some mustard and cheese they are quite tasty. I can't help but break out into the old Monty Python spam skit. How about some spam eggs sausage and spam? That doesn't have much spam in it. I DON'T WANT ANY SPAM! spam spam spam spam SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM!

When College Gameday is in town, Ron and I have to go watch. It's kind of lame though. Unless you practically camp out over night you end up standing behind the barrier way out of sight of the set. You can see the show on the big screen they set up, but you can't hear a word of the show. I'm convinced they only set up the big screen so people can see when they are on television and start jumping up and down and screaming like idiots. But it's always fun to see Lee Corso pick the Lions to lose every time and prove him wrong.

Last year Ron got a converter that will allow you to run household electrical appliances off of a car battery. I can't emphasize enough how this device has taken our tailgate party to a new level. If you don't have one of these, get one. Now we spend the morning and afternoon playing Madden tournaments on the PS2. Ron always takes the Patriots, I'm the Broncos, and Cling has to take the Raiders. Ron and I both enjoy beating Cling. We also watch old movies like Caddyshack on the DVD player. We are clearly the envy of everyone passing by our tailgate party.

For lunch we like to mix things up. Sometimes Ron will smoke a turkey. Sometimes we'll cook up steaks or sausage on the grill. One thing is for sure, nobody goes into the game hungry.

So next time you're driving up Porter Road and you see some guys parked on the left eating spam and egg sandwiches under a blue pop-up tent next to a black F-150 drinking Captain and Coke and playing some Madden on the PS2, make sure you say hi!

How do you like to tailgate?

Big 33 Preview (PSU Edition)

2006-06-15T09:08:00.000-04:00

This week high school kids are practicing in preparation for the annual Big 33 rivalry between high school football stars from Pennsylvania and Ohio. Featured in the game this year are a few incoming freshmen for the Nittany Lions.

Featured in the picture from left to right are future Nittany Lions Abe Koroma, Pat Devlin, Tom McEowen, Jared Odrick, Travis McBride, and Collin Wagner. Scout.com is giving reports this week on these recruits and many others.

Word on Abe Koroma is he is a solid player. He is a quiet kid that does whatever the coaches ask of him. He is drawing many comparisons to former Nittany Lion standout and current San Francisco 49'er Anthony Adams.

Pat Devlin is showing fantastic leadership on the field. He is reported to be the most poised of the quarterbacks on the PA squad. The coaches say he is going through his progressions and making proper reads. He is showing excellent touch in his passes and looks like a precision passer. There are some concerns from the coaches. Apparently his passes don't have a lot of zip like a Morelli pass and he struggled running a two minute drill in practice. These are things that may come around as he builds confidence with practice and experience. I can only imagine how hard it is to run a two minute drill with players you've never played with and an offense you've only had a few days to learn.

Coaches are saying Tom McEowen is a beast on the defensive line. He's unstoppable. Coaches have been double teaming him in practice and they still can't slow him down. On one play he reportedly split a double team, wrapped up the ball carrier and threw him to the ground. Coaches had to ask him to tone it down a bit. They told him to just wrap the guy up and they will blow the play dead. I can't wait to see this guy play.

Equally impressive has been Jared Odrick. Odrick has been playing both sides of the ball on the offensive and defensive lines and dominating wherever he plays. Coaches have been impressed with his strength and quickness. According to one of the Big 33 coaches, it's going to be tough to redshirt him this fall.

Travis McBride may remind a lot of Penn State fans of Mike Archie from the 90's. He's a quick running back that can turn the corner or hurt you catching passes out of the backfield. Coaches say he may be the most sure handed player on the team catching everything that is thrown his way.

By all accounts Collin Wagner appears to have the makings of a solid kicker. Coaches are impressed with his work ethic. He reportedly narrowly missed a 49 yard field goal in practice. He doesn't have a booming leg, but he hits his marks and is pretty accurate.

I'll try to take some time to report on their performance after the Big 33 game.

Fourth Verbal

2006-06-09T08:25:00.000-04:00

Penn State just got their fourth verbal commitment for the class of 2007. Jon Ditto from Gateway High School in Monroeville, PA has committed to playing college football for the Nittany Lions.

Ditto stands at 6'3" and 221 lbs and runs a 4.55 40-yard dash. Penn State coaches envision using Ditto as a flex TE. His size presents problems for smaller defensive backs while his speed will prevent most teams from covering him one-on-one with a linebacker. Scout.com rates him a four star prospect and the #11 TE in the nation. Rivals has not yet ranked him but lists him as a WR.

In his junior year, Ditto had 29 catches for 508 yards and 5 TD's. He earned second team Class AAAA Associated Press All-State and third team PA Football News All-State honors. Ditto passed on offers from Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Tennessee, Pitt, and Maryland.

Jon joins the Nittany Lion family along with previous recruits Nathan Stupar, Josh Marks, and Chris Colasanti and his former High School teamate Justin King. Welcome aboard, Jon.

The Hit

2006-06-07T09:48:00.000-04:00

Michael Robinson

The Hit

It's funny how we all remember special moments in time. Certain images so searing they put a lasting imprint in your mind. You remember where you were. What you were wearing. Who was with you. Last year when Michael Robinson lowered his head and layed out Minnesota safety Brandon Owens (hereafter referred to as The Hit) was one of those moments.

I was at home in Phoenixville watching the play on television that day. I remember Owens lowering his shoulder and Robinson lowering his head. I remember Owens' body going limp as MRob stood over him glaring on the sideline. I remember calling my uncle, who was at the game, to say "Did you see that?" Later on in the season I, along with all of Penn State Nation, came to look at The Hit as a defining moment for the team. Before The Hit, Penn State seemed unsure of themselves. We struggled more than we should have against South Florida. We had barely escaped Northwestern with a win the week before. Michael Robinson was a turnover machine. We were 4-0, but before The Hit, we felt lucky more than good.

They say perception is reality. The Hit changed the perception of Michael Robinson and the team. The Hit said, we're going to fight for every yard. The Hit said Michael Robinson is tougher than anyone on your team. The Hit made us believe. The Hit said Penn State is back and we're not the Big Ten doormat anymore. After The Hit, Penn State went from pretender to contender.

In speaking of The Hit, Michael Robinson said, "I didn't think he was gonna hit me that hard. It kind of scared me a little bit. I saw him and I was like, 'Let me just buckle up, hold on to the ball and try to stay up.' I didn't know he was gonna go down like that. I hope he's OK."

Sadly, Brandon Owens is not OK. Seven months after The Hit, his arm is still in a sling after surgery in January to repair nerve damage. He will sit out and redshirt in 2006, but most likely his football career is over. I don't wish harm on any Penn State opponent. I wish every player that suited up in Beaver Stadium could go home as healthy as they came in. But injuries are part of football. Owens is a tough kid, and he has the respect of the entire Penn State Nation for his toughness on and off the field. I hope he goes on to get healthy and be successful in whatever he pursues. But man, that was some hit.

Notre Dame Hatin'

2006-06-02T10:47:00.000-04:00

Is there anything on God's green earth more annoying than a Notre Dame? Michigan can be annoying with their smugness. Ohio State fans are annoying with their rudeness. Pitt fans smell, which can be very annoying. But nothing annoys me like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Maybe it's the baseless optimism of their fans. Whenever they can put three wins together in a row everyone talks about their return to national prominence. Nevermind if those wins come over Army, Navy, and Indiana. No other school shares this kind of optimism. Congratulations on going 9-3, but you have a long way to go before winning the national title. But that didn't stop ESPN's Ivan Maisel from ranking them in his Post-Spring Top 10.

Maybe it's the way their people are treated like God's in the media. After one 9-3 year, Charlie Weiss is touted as a football genius, even though he won with players that Ty Willingham recruited. Going into the 2007 season everyone is practically handing Brady Quinn the Heisman. Mel Kiper already has him listed as the top pick for the 2007 NFL Draft. High School QB Jimmy Clausen made a spectacle of himself complete with the stretch limmo and 15 person entourage when he held a press conference at the College Football Hall of Fame to announce his intent to play for Notre Dame. Reporters fell out of their chairs and quickly decreed this kid will win multiple Heisman trophies to go along with his three or four national title rings.

Maybe it's their arrogance and elitism. They view themselves as being above everyone else. They have the College Football Hall of Fame. They choose to remain independant. They have their own network contract. Try arguing x's and o's with a Notre Dame fan and you are quickly reduced to listening to lectures about glory days of the past. You're forced to listen to how they dominated college football half a century ago. I can't think of any other fans like this.

Johnny Danbury compares them to Yankee fans in this regard. The difference is Yankee fans can point to recent success. The Yankees have won championships in every decade since the 20's. But even then, Yankee fans aren't as obnoxious as Notre Dame fans. Yankee fans wear their caps even during the down years. They still look at you with that quiet smugness because they know they don't have to walk around with a foam finger waving in your face all the time to remind you they are the greatest baseball franchise ever.

But Notre Dame fans only seem to come out of the woodwork after they have a little success. The sad thing is it doesn't take much success to erase years of failure. They haven't won a bowl game in something like 15 years. Yet after a 9-3 season, they are convinced this is their year to win it all. Perhaps they should focus on winning a bowl game before they think about winning THE bowl game. It's quite sad and pathetic. It's like the raging alcoholic that wins $500 at the horse track. He's at the bar buying drinks for his friends to celebrate his "success", but you know tomorrow he'll be broke again, yet still talking about the glory days.

NCAA Free Agency

2006-05-30T10:53:00.000-04:00

A new NCAA rule is about to take effect that could potentially rock college sports. Proposal 2005-54, if allowed to take effect, would allow any college athlete that has earned a degree and has a year of eligibility left (redshirts) to transfer to any other school to play out their final year of eligibility without having to sit out a year like transfers have had to do in the past. So basically, a fifth year senior can transfer to the school of their choice for their final year and play right away.

The NCAA is trying to say this will benefit the student athlete by allowing them to start graduate school right away without having to delay a year and take unnecessary courses. College coaches, at least those that have even read the rule, are rightfully upset with this new legislation.
This rule would be a disaster for college sports. Imagine your a school from one of the smaller conferences and you've been grooming your star player for four years. You've paid for his education and his room and board. You have organized your recruiting the past four years counting on him being your starter going into next season. Then a big time program comes in and scoops him up to give their freshman recruit another year to develop. Or worse yet, imagine a conference rival plucking talent from your team. Imagine the Michigans and Ohio States raiding the Illinois and Indiana's, taking their best players, their team leaders, and wisking them away with promises of playing in a bowl game their senior year. Compared with playing out another losing year with no bowl game and nothing to play for the temptation may be too much to resist.

The NCAA needs to kill this rule fast. College coaches and presidents are pushing to override the rule. Hopefully they will be successful.

Stupar Joins Lions

2006-05-25T09:08:00.000-04:00

On the heels of picking up Josh Marks last week, Penn State quickly landed their third verbal last night. Nathan Stupar from State College High School (PA) committed to the Nittany Lions passing on offers from Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Boston College, Stanford, Rutgers and Pitt.

Nate is 6'2", weighs 220 lbs, and runs a 4.61 40-yard dash. He is projected to play either LB or TE for the Lions.

In 2005 Stupar won First Team AAAA All-State honors at TE. During his junior year he had 44 catches for 644 yards on offense and recorded 56 tackles, 10 sacks, and an INT on defense.

Stupar drew attention to himself last season during State High's game with Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt High School. Many scouts were in attendance that night, including PSU, to get a look at top RB prospect LeSean McCoy (featured in picture). But by all accounts the night belonged to Stupar who dominated on both sides of the ball.

Stupar has the genes of a football player. His dad played DE for Penn State in the 1970's. His brother currently plays TE for Virginia. His uncle, Jeff Hostetler, played QB for PSU before transferring to West Virginia. He later went on to lead the New York Giants to a Superbowl victory over the Buffalo Bills in Superbowl XXV.

Welcome to the good guys, Nate.

Second Verbal

2006-05-21T15:18:00.000-04:00

Penn State landed their second verbal commitment this weekend. Josh Marks of Southern Columbia High School in Catawissa, PA has committed to playing his college career in Happy Valley passing on offers from Pitt, Temple, West Virginia, and Rutgers. The 6'5" 300 pounder is projected to play guard in the Nittany Lion offense. Scout.com rates him a four star prospect.

Southern Columbia head coach Jim Roth says, "(Josh) is very strong. He'll do 25 reps of 225 lbs. He's at 300 lbs. right now, but he moves well."

Josh joins Chris Colasanti as the first members of the recruiting class of 2007. Welcome to the family, guys.

JoePa Joke

2006-05-19T14:23:00.000-04:00

Joe Paterno is visiting his buddy Bobby Bowden down in the Tallahassee. Bobby takes Joe out water skiing in his new ski boat.

So Joe is water skiing behing Bobby's boat when they hit some waves and Joe falls. Paterno starts splashing around and yelling, "Come get me! I can't swim!"

Bobby circles around and pulls the boat up beside Joe. "If I pull you out of there, you have to promise not to tell anyone in Florida that I saved your life."

Joe responds, "Deal. As long as you promise not to tell the people back in Happy Valley I can't walk on water."

Sharing the Spotlight

2006-05-19T14:01:00.000-04:00

Ok it's mid May now. The Blue-White game was played weeks ago. We're still over three months away from the start of the season. Yet news about Penn State Nittany Lion Football continues to trickle in.

Joe Paterno was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame this week. It's a proud day for the Penn State nation. I won't bore you with all the details of Joe's career. You all know his record. He's well deserving of the honor and I'm glad the committee changed the rules to allow him early entry. But there is a small twist to the story.

Also elected to the Hall this week was Florida State Seminole coach Bobby Bowden. The Hall trumped this up as a great occasion inducting these two great coaches into the Hall together. Personally, I think it stinks. Nate Bauer is so mad he wants to punt kittens. It's a shame these two guys get lumped together in the same sentence all the time. Seems like Joe never gets the spotlight to himself anymore without having to share it with Blobby.

Of course both coaches are saying all the right things. They are both telling the cameras how much they love being inducted into the Hall with their "good friend". I don't buy it for a second. I think they both open the paper on Sunday morning after the game and after reading the writeup of their own team they check the scores to see how "the other guy" did. I think they both plan on coaching until they die and secretly hope the other guy dies first so they can secure a record that is sure to never be broken again.

I have to admit they put on a good show for the media, but I think they are both ticked they have to share their day in the sun. I'm ticked as well. I think they both deserve to be there, but they also both deserve their own day in the sun without having to share.

Penn State's First Verbal

2006-05-01T13:28:00.000-04:00

This weekend while Penn State fans were weeping watching their favorite players go off to play in the NFL, the school quietly scored its first verbal commitment for the 2007 recruiting class.

Chris Colasanti from Bloomfield, Michigan has chosen Penn State as the school he wants to play for. He's somewhat of an unknown by Rivals and Scout.com, who only rates him a one star player. But Colasanti turned down offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Ohio State, UCLA, and Stanford to come play for Paterno and coach Bradley. The fact that all of these big time schools thought highly enough of this kid to offer him a scholarship makes me think he's quite a prospect. Another great sign is how the Nittany Lions are able to go into the heart of Wolverine territory and pluck a player out of their back yard. Michigan and Ohio State have been doing this to us for years. Now we're flipping the tables. It must be a little unsettling to other Big Ten schools to see us having success on a national scale.

But enough about my opinion. I'm too cheap to buy the full subscription to Rivals and Scout.com so what do I know? (Although I do have an ESPN insider subscription which grades him a 79). What do his high school coaches think about him?

Brother Rice Assistant Coach David Sofran says: "A throw-back type football player. Hard-nosed, tough and definitely fits the bill on what you want an inside linebacker to look like. Could be one of the best linebacker prospects in the history of Brother Rice."

How does Chris describe his playing style? "I'm a hard hitter. My speed is alright but I want to get quicker for sure. I'm a student of the game. I watch film of my opponent now. I'm an intelligent linebacker and I'm a leader."

Sounds like he will fit in quite well at Linebacker U.

NFL Draft Review

2006-05-01T09:09:00.000-04:00

In 2005 not a single Penn State player was taken in the NFL Draft. This year Penn State restored themselves as a perennial football player farm by having six players taken in the NFL Draft Here's a rundown of the weekend action:

Tamba Hali - DE - First Round (20/20) - Kansas City Chiefs

On Sunday morning Chris Berman called Hali the best story of the draft. After everything Tamba has gone through in his youth to becoming a first round pick, you can't help but feel good for this kid. Hali should be able to step in right away and contribute to a defense that was weak against the run and pass last year.

Michael Robinson - RB - Fourth Round (3/100) - San Francsco 49'ers

The 49'er's picked M-Rob as a RB, but they also need help at WR. I can see them utilizing Robinson at the wideout position much like the Rams used to use Marshal Faulk. This team is so desperately in need of offensive help, as evident in their drafting of a TE and two other WR's, that Robinson should be able to work his way on the field somewhere.

Alan Zemitis - CB - Fourth Round (25/122) - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Questions about Alan's size and speed caused him to drop to the fourth round. Scouts question his ability to play man-to-man. Tampa Bay has a well established secondary, but they are getting old. This may be a perfect fit for Zemitis to learn for a few years and compete for the starting job down the road.

Calvin Lowry - S - Fourth Round (5/102) - Tennessee Titans

Calvin joins a defense in need of help. They did poorly against the run and pass last year. He's a sure tackler, but the scouts question his size and ability to read the offense. Mel Kiper says he was underratted. I don't know if that's good or bad coming from Mel. Realistically, Lowry will probably make a good backup or special teams player.

Tyler Reed - OG - Sixth Round (31/200) - Chicago Bears

I think everyone considers this one a shocker. If Chicago really wanted Reed they probably could have picked him up as a free agent since nobody really seemed to show any interest in him. As a pure football talent he is probably good enough to at least have a decent career as a backup. No doubt off the field issues and inconsistent play affected his draft position.

Ethan Kilmer - DB/WR - Seventh Round (1/209) - Cincinnati Bengals

While nobody likes to see their team have to punt, Kilmer made it exciting last year every time he ran down the field. Every Penn State fan was hoping this kid would get drafted but secretly probably thought it wasn't going to happen. But he managed to slip in right at the end and land on the Bengals. His speed, athletic ability, and sheer guts should land him a spot on special teams. He has potential to be the Steve Tasker of the 21st Century.

Honorable Mention: I was surprised there were no takers on Anwar Phillips. Most projections I saw had him going in the middle of day two. I'm sure he will land somewhere as a free agent. He has the talent to have a decent career as at least a backup or nickel back. Scott Paxson was also passed on, most likely due to his troubles off the field. In the right system with an already established defensive line Paxson could make a decent contribution. Mathew Rice, Chris Harrell, and Andrew Richardson also have a decent shot of making NFL rosters.

Anti-BCS Rant - Part I

2006-04-25T08:48:00.000-04:00

Thus far I have spared my few readers on this young blog to my anti-BCS diatribe. Well, today you're going to hear my views on the Bowl Championship Series.

On Sunday the BCS announced it will be expanding to a fifth game. The plan is to play another game a week after the other four BCS bowl games. It kind of sounds like a playoff, but it's not. The fifth game will be between two teams who did not participate in the four previous games. Now here's the real catch: Instead of adding a fifth bowl location, one of the existing BCS bowls will get a second game every year to be rotated among the four bowls starting with the Fiesta this year. They claim this will be more inclusive and make it easier for smaller programs to qualify for the a BCS bowl game thus sharing the wealth. This is a crock of....well, you can fill in the blank.

Rest assured this will only serve to make the BCS richer. Marquee matchups like the Capital One Bowl which traditionally features the Big Ten #2 against the SEC #2 will be shuffled over to one of the BCS bowls. They will not include the small programs. They will just include more of the bigger programs from one of the big six conferences (Big 10, Big 12, SEC, Big East, PAC, and ACC). The second tier bowl games will still manage to get some pretty interesting matchups, but the third tier bowl games, which often feature the smaller programs that don't reside in one of the big six conferences, are going to have even fewer of the big teams to choose from. If the BCS continues to snatch up the big time teams, the smaller bowls are going to suffer and eventually have to shut down leaving the small schools nowhere to play in December. How is that sharing the wealth?

Tune in later to read Part II of my anti-BCS rant, "Why the BCS Hurts the Student Athlete."

2006 Team Captains

2006-04-24T09:26:00.000-04:00

As a side note to the Blue-White Game last saturday, Penn State announced the team captains for 2006 will be Paul Posluszny and Levi Brown.

Posluszny was a consensus All-American last year bringing the Butkis and Bednarik awards to Happy Valley. He's a leader on and off the field. He passed on millions in the NFL to stay in school and play another year at Penn State. He is the heart and sole of the defense. This pick was a no brainer making Poz the first two time captain since Mike Reid and Steve Smear in '68 and '69.

Levi Brown was a second team All-American and first team All-Big Ten in 2005. He has started the past three years and figures to be the anchor on a young inexperienced offensive line in 2006. Brown graduated in 3.5 years and like Poz could have passed up his final year to make millions in the NFL but chose to come back.

Both of these players deserve to be named captains and I believe they will show great leaderships to a young team. My only complaint is in who was not named captain. I think Tony Hunt is deserving of the captain's role as well. With the exception of Poz, no player on the team has shown more guts and determination than Tony. He comes to practice every day with the mindset that he is going to do whatever is asked of him to help the team win. He doesn't have the blazing speed or the fancy moves. He just plays smart and tough. I'm disappointed he didn't get the nod as well.

Blue-White Game Recap

2006-04-23T21:03:00.001-04:00

I managed to clear my afternoon yesterday to watch the Annual Blue-White Game. The BW Game can be extremely boring at times. The defense is not allowed to really pressure the offense. No punt returns. Nothing to really play for. All you can look for is individual effort.

Anthony Morelli looked great. No, he was better than great. On a cold rainy day his passes were on time and sharp. He threw tight spirals and hit most receivers in stride. In probably what amounted to a half of play he went 13-16 for 191 yards. And he spread the wealth well hitting five different receivers. His only mistake on the day was fumbling the ball on the goal line. Anthony, buddy, M-Rob you are not. Keep your feet on the ground and hand it to anyone wearing 26, 33, or 30 and you'll be fine.

Speaking of the receivers, they all looked great. Williams looks to be back to 100% and man that kid is fast. Norwood had a great day leading all receivers with eight catches for 154 yards. Deon Butler played at WR despite rumors last season he would switch back to defense. And to think we still have three seasons of watching these guys to go.

Tony Hunt got limited playing time to start the game and looked sharp breaking two of his four runs for over four yards. He ended the day early with four carries for 20 yards.

Another tradition of the Blue-White Game is seeing all the diamonds in the rough. The guys who were buried in the depth chart last year and hope to be the stars of next season. Knowledge Timmons pulled down two interceptions. Granted, they were both poorly thrown balls, but he was in position and didn't drop them.

Based on yesterday's performance I have to say Kevin Suhey is the backup quarterback. He looked sharp and managed to move the white team pretty well even though he couldn't get them in the endzone. His final stats were 9-14 103 yards. Paul Cianciolo never looked comfortable. Maybe it was the weather or the crowd, but Suhey definitely showed he can lead the team.

Tyrell Sales was the beast on defense leading all tacklers with nine and forcing a fumble. Curiously, he finds himself at buried on the depth chart behind some guys who wear Nos. 31 and 40. I'm sure he'll find a way on the field if he keeps playing like that.

The offensive line was disappointing. Despite Hunt doing well, the two squads combined to gain only 59 yards on 45 carries. 1.3 yards per carry is not going to get it done in the Big Ten. Twice the Blue squad was stuffed on the goal line in the first quarter. Granted Levi Brown didn't play, but hopefully the O-Line can get it together quickly in fall practice before we go to South Bend.

On the flip side, the defensive line looked impressive stuffing the run all day. And despite the lack of blitzing linebackers they managed to get pressure on the QB several times getting five sacks. I don't think we'll have any worries about the D-Line doing their jobs in the fall.

So that was it. There's your spring Penn State football fix. The good news is nobody got hurt. The few injuries on the team are mostly minor and everyone should be healthy in time for Akron. Bottom line the team looked great. There is a lot of talent and when these guys learn to play together they are going to do some special things.

Blue-White Week

2006-04-20T12:55:00.000-04:00

The annual Blue-White game is this weekend. I sense more of a buzz than in past years. In the past it seemed nobody knew when the Blue-White game was until you read about it on page five of the sports section in the Sunday paper the day after. Now it seems people can't wait for the game this year and I think that's great. There is definitely more excitement in the fan base to get their Penn State football fix. I guess we really were spoiled with winning teams for so many years. A few losing seasons has really renewed a sense of appreciation with the fans.

There are so many questions people will look to have answered in this year's game. How will Morelli perform? Who is going to play on the offensive and defensive lines? Is Derrick Williams back to 100%? Who will start in the secondary?

In all I'm very optimistic for the 2006 season. I think Morelli will take the offense to a new level. While M-Rob could strap the offense on his back and carry them down the field, Morelli will utilize the talent around him and make those young receivers better. I look for Tony Hunt to get more touches on screen plays like he did in 2004. With Levi Brown back to lead the offensive line I think they will be fine by the time we start Big Ten play.

On the defensive side of the ball there are more questions. I think the defensive line will be ok. All those guys have to do is tie up blockers and let the best linebackers in the Big Ten do the rest. The question will come in their ability to get pressure on the quarterback. Their ability (or inability) to do so may dictate the success of an inexperienced secondary. The secondary most likely will feature Justin King as our new (untested) shut down corner. Whoever plays across from King is sure to get tested early. Right now that appears to be Tony Davis. I would suspect by mid season we will see A.J. Wallace making his way onto the field as the nickelback with his eye on the starting job in 2007. The Hero Back position seems to be locked up by Donnie Johnson. Donnie looked fantastic in the 2005 Michigan State game getting a pick and blocking a kick. The FS position seems to be a question mark with Nolan McCready the favorite to land the position. This unit will be tested early so the learning curve is steep. But they all have game experience and the talent to be a good squad.

Bottom line is there are some good omens coming out of spring practice. In years past, Paterno has not been shy about talking down his team when he felt they were not very good. Key Paterno phrases like "We have a lot of work to do" and "We're not where we want to be right now" were heard often during the past few down years. This season there definitely seem to be a sense of optimism coming from the coaches and players. Let's suit up. I'm ready to play.

2006-02-23T10:58:00.000-05:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Doing it Right

2006-02-21T13:14:00.000-05:00

Tom Dienhart over at the Sporting News goes off on Penn State today, or more specifically, he goes off on people who say Penn States resurgence to national prominence is good for the sport of college football. Here is some of what he says:

I shake my head every time I hear it.

"It's good for college football when Penn State is good."

No, instead of the TV foofs saying, "It's good for college football when Penn State is good," they should say "It's good for the TV networks and Penn State when Penn State is good."

I disagree. It is good for college football when Penn State is good. In this day and age when most of the powerhouse teams struggle to graduate fifty percent of their players, it's good to see a school like Penn State, who routinely graduates over eighty percent of its players, do well. In this day and age when head coaches come and go with the wind, it's good to see Penn State, who has had the same head coach for forty years, do well. In this day and age when major programs are under black clouds for recruiting violations, it's good to see Penn State, a school that does it by the book, do well. In this day and age when college football players look like gangsters and hip hop stars, it's good to see Penn State, a program that makes their players wear business casual and be clean cut, do well.

Myles Brand, President of the NCAA, said Penn State is a model institution which all other schools should model themselves after. I didn't hear him say that about Notre Dame, or Michigan, or Ohio State, or Miami. He certainly didn't say it about Dienhart's beloved Boilermakers. In fact there is only one school Brand called a model institution. Penn State. When other institutions, coaches, fans and athletes see Penn State doing well, it tells them it is possible to do it right. And that, Mr. Dienhart, is why college football benefits when Penn State is good.

Hat Tip: 50 Yard Lion

The Whole Vidal Thing...

2006-02-15T20:06:00.000-05:00

At first I was excited to hear Vidal Hazelton was thinking of attending PSU. Now I'm not so sure.

Vidal originally committed to USC. But his dad refused to sign his letter of intent saying Penn State is a better fit for his son. Now there is a huge saga going on with people speculating which school he is going to sign with. Penn State made a play at Vidal last weekend by showing him the red carpet during his official visit to Happy Valley.

Don't get me wrong. I would love to see Vidal suiting up in the Blue and White on those brisk autumn Saturdays, but I think we have to let this kid go. I'm afraid his dad would be too much of a distraction to the program. Any time over bearing parents get involved in their kid's career, it gets ugly. Look at what Eric Lindros' dad did for him. And Eli Mannings' dad got his son's NFL career off to a less than classy start.

The point is, whenever over bearing parents get involved in their kid's career, people get hurt, fans get angry, and things get ugly. PSU fans should ask themselves, do you think Dexter Hazelton is going away after his son signs with a program? How do you think Dexter will react the first time his son complains about having to share playing time with Derrick Williams, Jordan Norwood, and Chris Bell? Will he tell his son to be patient and work harder? Or will he go to the Philadelphia Inquirer and tell them his son made a mistake going to PSU? An article like that could potentially damage recruiting for years to come. I don't know what he would do, but I would rather not take the chance. We've got a pretty good wide receiving crew. I say let's just take our chances with what we've got.

PSU Anti-Bias?

2006-02-11T17:18:00.000-05:00

I, for one, do believe there is a bias against Penn State by the Big Ten officials. It just seems like the Nitts never get a call down the stretch while opponents get some pretty crazy calls in their favor. This article by David Jones does not dispell my suspicions.

Hat Tip: The Nittany Notebook and The Nittany Turkey

Build Me Up So You Can Break Me Down

2006-02-09T09:45:00.000-05:00

Ugh. Just when I thought the mens basketball program had turned the corner in beating Illinois on the road, they turned around and lost to Minnesota at home. The Nitts have six more games to go. They need to win three of them to qualify for the NIT. In the words of Thomas Paine, "These are the times that try mens souls."

Recruiting Review

2006-02-07T13:50:00.000-05:00

So far my PSU blog is slow getting out of the blocks. Probably not smart for me to start a football blog in the offseason. But at least we have some recruiting news.

This year's class is without a doubt one of the best I have every seen come to PSU. Here is my take on some of the key players:

Quarterback: Devlin kid is the total package. The only thing that could make landing this kid sweeter would be taking him away from another program at the midnight hour of recruiting. Sorry Miami...not really. Hopefully Joe will redshirt this kid his first year. I would rather he do that than get some garbage time in the fourth quarter of the Youngstown State game. Let him back up Morelli in 2007, and then he can start through 2010.

Defensive Backs: The stud in the group is A.J. Wallace. Along with Justin King, PSU will have another pair of shutdown corners for the next few years.

Linebacker: PSU landed another solid LB class with Navarro Bowman and Bani Gbadyu. The Linebacker U tradition lives on.

Running Backs: Brent Carter is the stud of the group. It will be interesting to see if he lives up to his potential. If not, Evan Royster is a solid player who will be waiting in the wings.

Wide Recievers: The additions of Chris Bell and Cedric Jefferies give PSU even more depth than they had. Look for Deon Butler to move over to CB until A.J. Wallace gets up to speed with the defense.

Defensive Line: It's almost unbelievable how much talent Larry Johnson has build on the defensive line. In all PSU signed 9 defensive linemen highlighted by Maurice Evans and Aaron Maybin. Look for some of these kids to shift over to offense to give the offensive line some depth.

Offensive Line: We got some major talent with Antonio Logan-El, J.B. Walton, and Lou Eliades. These kids are going to dominate the big ten in the years to come.

Overall, I have to give the coaches an A+ on this class. Changes in recent years are really paying off. Replacing Jay Paterno with Mike McQuery as recruiting coordinator was a brilliant move. And Larry Johnson is well deserving of Rivals.com Recruiter of the Year award. Thanks to these coaches, Penn State Football is going to be fun to watch the next four years.

The Penn State Football Blog

2006-01-27T14:05:00.000-05:00

This is a blog I am creating to discuss Penn State football and college football in general. I am a 32 year old chemical engineer living outside of Philadelphia. I graduated from Penn State in 1997, but I have been a Penn State football fan my whole life. I look forward to discussing Penn State football with other college football fans.