The Nittany Lion

BCS Playoff Idea dead...at least for now

2008-05-01T11:37:00.001-07:00

So the BCS meeting that took place in Florida this week has come back with no change in the format, and that means that there will be no playoff to determine the champion for the foreseeable future.

I have mixed feelings about the BCS playoff idea. Part of me thinks it would be great because it would more accurately determine the best team in any given year, however the other part of me loves the BCS controversy, even if some teams to get the shaft.

However, a playoff system isn't the only thing that the BCS needs to consider in terms of changes they need to make to at least stop some of the whining. This whole concept of only two teams per conference being able to play in the BCS is completely outrageous. There have been many instances where the worse team has gone to the BCS in favor of the better team because of this rule; most memorably for me was in 20006 when Notre Dame got the nod to play in the Sugar Bowl over a better Wisconsin team, who was deemed ineligible because Michigan and Ohio State were already representing the Big Ten.

Speaking of Notre Dame, this "ten wins and you're in" model for non-BCS conference teams also needs to be changed. We saw that this year with Hawaii when they got completely dismantled by Georgia.

These are just my thoughts, and I want to hear what you guys think, so post your opinions in the comments below and get a good discussion going.

Welcome to the party Mark Arcidiacono and Malcolm Willis

2008-04-30T10:51:00.001-07:00

Penn State picked up two commits this week in offensive tackle Mark Arcidiacono and safety Malcolm Willis.

Arcidiacono, despite having a 100% unpronounceable name, is 6'5", 285 pounds, and as a junior was named second-team All League.

Not too much is known about either of these guys, but one thing is for certain, Willis has one of the best pictures that I have seen of a recruit:

PHOTO: Scout.com

This was clearly his Myspace profile picture that he took himself.

That picture is only second to this one, thanks to Brian over at MGoBlog:

PHOTO: Rivals.com

Oh, and in other news, Michigan and Ohio State continue to kick our ass on the recruiting front. That is all.

Bye Bye Kevin Newsome

2008-04-24T12:29:00.001-07:00

Kevin Newsome has just committed to Michigan. Not a huge blow because I would rather have Forcier than Newsome, but it just means that we are putting our eggs in one basket once again. Maybe this will sway Forcier more towards Penn State and take Michigan off the table for him now that Newsome has committed to the Wolverines.

Confirmed: Lee tears right ACL

2008-04-12T18:42:00.001-07:00

ESPN:

Lee will have surgery within the next two-four weeks and rehabilitation will take approximately nine months, according to Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli, Penn State's Director of Athletic Medicine.

"I have a responsibility to the team to help do everything I can this year in what might be a non-conventional way," Lee said in a school news release. "I have to turn this into a positive. It's a bump in the road. I'm excited about the team we have and the kind of season we can have. It's a great opportunity for a young guy."

Well that is what we all thought. I have made peace with this today so this news isn't too much of a shock. He will get the redshirt and we will see him on the field in 2009. Major blow, but the kid has fantastic character and he will be back. Gotta love him.

More bad news

2008-04-11T17:50:00.001-07:00

Sean Lee has a possibly serious knee injury.

Standout Penn State linebacker Sean Lee suffered a potentially serious right knee injury Friday that could force him to miss the upcoming season.

"He was blitzing a quarterback, and his knee slid out from under him," Lee's father, Craig, told the Mirror on Friday evening. "We don't know the extent of it at this point."

The severity of the injury won't be known until Saturday morning, both Craig Lee and Penn State spokesman Jeff Nelson said. The Lee family was on its way to State College on Friday evening to visit Sean on campus.

This is absolutely terrible. It could be his ACL which would mean that he would probably miss the entirety of the 2008 season. However, he does have a redshirt available meaning that Lee could come back in 2009 and play, and Penn State is fairly deep at linebacker so we could give some young guys playing time. The worst part of it is the loss of leadership on the field.

We'll know more on Saturday morning (I assume he is going to have an MRI), so I will keep you updated on this situation.

Am I the only one that this worries?

2008-04-03T12:05:00.001-07:00

We got absolutely dominated in the 2008 recruiting class by Michigan and Ohio State, there is no way to put a good spin on that. But, unfortunately it is starting again for the 2009 recruiting class. (Keep in mind all this data comes from Scout.com)

Ohio State Commits

Position	National Rank	National Rating	Name (State)	Commit Date
S	17	3 stars	Jamie Wood (OH)	2/24/2008
WR	18	4 stars	Chris Fields (OH)	2/19/2008
CB	6	4 stars	C.J. Barnett (OH)	2/10/2008
OT	20	3 stars	Jack Mewhort (OH)	12/29/2007
FB	Not Ranked	1 star	Adam Homan (OH)	12/29/2007
DT	3	5 stars	Johnny Simon (OH)	12/26/2007
MLB	7	4 stars	Storm Klein (OH)	10/14/2007
MLB	3	4 stars	Jordan Whiting (KY)	9/1/2007

It's only the beginning of April and that is already a very impressive list. The standout from that list has to be Johnny Simon, who coincidentally is currently attending Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, Ohio, the same high school that Brandon Beachum attended.

I don't see how we can start beating Ohio State on the football field if we cannot beat them in recruiting.

Michigan Commits

Position	National Rank	National Rating	Name (State)	Date Commited
S	NR	1 star	Isaiah Bell (OH)	3/31/2008
RB	NR	1 star	Teric Jones (MI)	3/29/2008
CB	12	4 stars	J.T. Turner (OH)	3/28/2008
DT	4	5 stars	William Campbell (MI)	6/21/2007

Not as impressive a list as the one Ohio State has, but still not shabby for this early in the process. I think you will find that Michigan fans aren't worried given the amount of talent the Wolverines were able to pull in last year on NLOID.

Penn State Commit

Position	National Rank	National Rating	Name (State)	Date Commited
C	Not Ranked	1 star	Ty Howle (NC)	3/23/2008

Oh...oh my goodness. I know, I know, early April, but look at how far behind the 8-ball we are on this class compared to the other Big Ten powerhouses. 1 commit, and not a very impressive one at that. That is just unbelievably bad.

If Penn State is going to regain any respect in the Big Ten and once again contend for a national title, this has to get better. NLOID 2009 is just 10 months away, and the Nittany Lions already have some serious work to do.

Once you pop, you can't stop

2008-04-03T08:41:00.001-07:00

Turns out that is not only true for Pringles potato chips, but also true for Penn State basketball player Stanley Pringle, who has been charged with masturbating in the library. The reasons that this is worrying are two fold:

1. It's so unbelievably bizarre. Come on Stanley, can you not keep it in your pants until you get home? You had to whip it out right there in the library, next to some girl!? And apparently that wasn't the first time that you did it either:

A similar incident occurred on March 21 on the second-floor landing of McElwain Hall's main stairwell between 8 and 8:15 p.m, when police said a man entered the building behind the woman and followed her to the stairwell landing where he began to masturbate. A similar description of the man was given in both incidents, police said. No charges have been filed for the McElwain Hall incident.

Oh Stanley, oh my dear Stanley.

The second reason that this is worrying is that the legal troubles for Penn State athletics continue, and now they are spreading to other sports. Sure, having a ton of problems with the football team was bad enough, but now that it is involving basketball players as well is a bit more than I can handle.

Hopefully the players will be able to behave themselves in the future, and Stanley, might I suggest the bathroom for doing...that...in the future. Not the library bathroom, not your friend's bathroom, your own bathroom! Jeez!

In football related news, I have gotten extremely excited about Penn State football prospect Tavon Austin. He's not the biggest guy on the field at 5'9.5" and 170 pounds, but he is quick and can juke some guys as well. For some reason I'm not able to embed highlights from his junior year on here, but you can check them on Youtube here.

Not only were the highlights the reason that I have become interested in him, its what he's been saying about Penn State. We've already given him an offer, and he says that Penn State is in his top two:

With more offers than he can count right now it should be a heated battle to land this outstanding prospect. In this interview with Scout.com's Dave Berk, Austin names Penn State and West Virginia as his leaders.

Unfortunately you do have to be a Scout.com subscriber to see that interview, but you don't have to be a subscriber to see that article.

However, it is very early, and Tavon has said that he doesn't want to commit until January of '09, so just because Penn State and WVU are his top two right now, it doesn't mean that this will be the case come time for his commitment. Also, he has been compared to WVU running back Noel Divine, which could be a reason why he might be favoring WVU at this time.

Only time will tell on this one, and I will be keeping a close watch on him as the recruiting process moves along.

Practice highlights

2008-04-01T06:09:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the guys at Run Up The Score for these awesome practice highlights:

Best line: "The trouble with all you guys, get outta there get-- move out, you start to wind up here, you don't wanna start delivering your blow here, you wanna get your nose right in there!!" -Joe Paterno

Good job young democratic supporters!

2008-03-31T10:22:00.001-07:00

When Barack Obama spoke on the lawn of Old Main on Sunday, 22,000 people heard him. And you can also check out a bunch of photos from the visit here, including my own personal favorite of Obama feeding a calf from a giant bottle of milk.

In unrelated news, we have my favorite picture coming out of spring practice so far:

Joe Paterno appears to be trying to reconnect with some of the young men on his team by trying to "Crank Dat Soulja Boy", but failing miserably.

Pryor signs with Ohio State

2008-03-19T09:07:00.001-07:00

Behold, it has finally happened. Terrelle Pryor has signed with Ohio State. There isn't really more that needs to be said about this. We all knew it was going to happen. Now lets go out there and get Forcier.

The ripple effect

2008-03-18T09:51:00.001-07:00

The problem with Terrelle Pryor signing his name on a piece of paper with an Ohio State insignia on it at some point during this week doesn't end with just Terrelle Pryor. It has further reaching implications and ramifications.

Not being able to land Terrelle Pryor is more evidence that Penn State does not have the advantage in recruiting players out of their own state. If you would look at the prospect list for the '08 class from Pennsylvania, the ones that say committed to Penn State are far outnumbered by the ones that are committed to Pittsburgh, and then there are out of state schools such as Ohio State, Florida, Illinois, and even North Carolina. Penn State, even though it is the biggest in state school and has among the best football tradition in the country, is losing out to Wannstedt!

We all know that JoePa doesn't travel that much to make in home visits to recruits or go to their schools, but this is just in the state of Pennsylvania. I realize State College isn't an exactly convenient location (as Terrelle Pryor has pointed out) but surely JoePa isn't packing SuePa and and in the kids into the family truckster and driving clear across the state. Maybe his assistant from the BHGP Paterno episodes should book his travel plans.

But at 81 it must not be easy to travel. And then there is this problem:

Right now, [Paterno] is coming off a rough offseason, during which a flu bug limited him to making just one off-campus recruiting visit — and even that one was just to Jeannette to meet Terrelle Pryor. Perhaps not coincidentally, Penn State fielded its lowest-rated recruiting class in years.

A division 1A football coach is a full time job, and it covers a lot more aspects than coaching the team during the season, and this includes recruiting during the off season. If a coach like Rich Rodriguez, for example, came down with the flu during recruiting season, it would not prohibit him from making only one off campus recruiting visit during the off season.

Joe Paterno after reading this blog post. PHOTO: Houston's Clear Thinkers

There are people out there who are critical of the people who criticize JoePa, saying "is three bowl wins in a row not good enough?" etc., but there is a bigger problem here. If fans are not content with going 8-4, finishing 4th or 5th in the Big Ten for two consecutive years, and going to a mediocre bowl game is I am not, then you have to start by recruiting better talent and getting players to commit. The evidence is there, and it appears that Joe just cannot do it as effectively as he used to.

Those were the implications, now here are the ramifications. Well, in this post, we're just going to discuss one ramification: Jordan Hall. The kid is a must not miss running back out of Jeannette, Pennsylvania. However, he is the teammate and good friend of one Terrelle Pryor.

Look at how admirably Jordan speaks of Terrelle:

"Terrelle is a great player. He's the No. 1 player in the country in football, and if he played just basketball, he'd be No. 1 in that, too," Hall said. "He's unbelievable. Everyone sees what he does."

But, unfortunately for Penn State, you have to believe that wherever Terrelle goes, Jordan Hall will follow. I really feel that Jordan wishes signing day was this week so he can hop right along and be a Buckeye with Terrelle:

On his own recruiting, Hall said: "I'm going to commit early. I'm not going to be like Terrelle."

Hall is probably one more top Pennsylvania recruit that the Nittany Lions will miss out on. This is why we need The Chin! Or just someone else who can get a mean case of the sniffles and not worry about it turning into pneumonia!

Sorry if this is a rather depressing outlook on Penn State recruiting, but its been a gloomy day. Hopefully help is on the way and there is no extension past 2009. Pray for that.

Update. Pryor to sign at Noon tomorrow

Pryor to decide by end of week

2008-03-17T11:40:00.001-07:00

So, the Terrelle Pryor recruiting saga is finally going to come to an end after he announced he will decide where to go to college sometime this week. His announcement came shortly after he helped the Jeannette Jayhawks win the PIAA AA championship, beating Strawberry Mansion 76-72 in overtime at the Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of The Pennsylvania State University.

At this point, I'm disappointed in Terrelle Pryor. I know, I know, how dare I be upset with a kid for simply taking his time with his college decision! But in my eyes, this wasn't taking his time with his decision. This was the deliberate misleading of an entire university: its coaches, its players, and its fan base.

There was no official visit to Penn State, there will be no official visit to Penn State. As far as I knew, the reason for his delay in his decision was so he could have more time to evaluate his decision, and to take an official visit to Penn State and maybe Oregon as well, but as we can see that never happened.

I agree, the post season basketball schedule was very demanding, but Pryor still found time to make an unofficial visit to Ohio State, but could not squeeze in that official visit to Penn State.

Also, the location of State College has always been a concern to Terrelle Pryor. He made this comment while being interviewed after the championship game:

Of Penn State's rural setting, Pryor, the still-unsigned No. 1-ranked high school quarterback in the country, said: "It's like the country [here]. I don't dig it."

Alright, fair enough. But hey, maybe he has just come to this realization through his strenuous rethinking of his college choice. Nope. A month in a half ago, in an interview posted on January 30th, he had something very similar to say:

"It went OK," Pryor said of the meeting. "I just don't know about the area up there. I don't know if I'd like being in that kind of area."

Pryor looking like he's having a heluva time during his visit to the giant cow pasture that is State College, Pennsylvania.

Picture courtesy of: blog.pennlive.com

Clearly he hasn't changed his mind about Penn State that much. He has always said that Penn State has great coaches but the thing about the area has always been a big issue. Hey, I can't blame him not not "digging it".

I'm not mad at the kid, I'm really not, just disappoint in the way he went about this. I'm more mad at myself that I actually let his indecision lure me into the daydreams of contending for his signature. I actually thought that he would make that official visit to Penn State like he said he would, but the writing was really on the wall from his decision to delay after signing day:

He liked Ohio State more from the beginning:

Pryor told Rivals.com he originally planned to sign with Ohio State on Feb. 6, but his father, Craig, convinced him to give Penn State a closer look.

Bob Lichtenfel's insider info says Ohio State:

“Kids can say whatever they want to you, but if you just sit back and watch his actions, that’s what I think: it’s Ohio State,” Lichtenfels said.

I'm just looking forward to getting the focus off of Terrelle Pryor and on to some of the new recruits such as Tate Forcier and Kevin Newsome Jr. for 2009, because Pryor is most likely a Buckeye.

Spring practice starts a week from today so I will post any major news and how the players are performing in the run up to the Blue/White game. By the way, its St. Patrick's Day, so punch the hell outta anyone not wearing green.

3rd time unlucky

2008-03-13T13:57:00.001-07:00

For most of the game, Illinois was in the lead. They were even up by as much as 9 in the second half, but Penn State took the lead to make the score 63-62 with 2:05 left in the game thanks to two Andrew Jones free throws. Penn State held that lead until about 3 seconds left in the game, when Chester Fraizer of Illinois put his team back on top with a lay-up, and that was enough to win it. Penn State lost to Illinois 64-63 Thursday afternoon, which knocked the Nittany Lions out of the Big Ten tournament in the first round.

We have seen the last of Nittany Lion basketball this season. I'm disappointed because I thought that this game was going to turn out well, seeing as we had beaten Illinois twice this season, and the momentum was ours coming off the win against Indiana.

Talor Battle played the whole game, all 40 minutes, and had 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. He lead the team in points and assists.

I am hoping that the team can take some of the success that they had this season into next season. Talor Battle and Stanley Pringle are two players that have really shown that can play ball, and I'm looking forward to seeing them next season.

This will probably be the last post about a sports result that I will cover until football season, but in the coming weeks you can expect any major Penn State news story, any major team developments that will come out of spring practice, and a coverage of the Blue-White game. Keep checking back daily though as I will post Penn State related news as it comes in.

Beaver Stadium: The Bigger House

2008-03-11T15:37:00.001-07:00

For at least the 2008 and 2009 football seasons, Penn State's Beaver Stadium will be the largest stadium in college football, also becoming the largest stadium in the United States if you don't count racetracks. This is due to the University of Michigan complying with a lawsuit from the U.S. Justice Department which means the stadium will have more seating for the disabled.

This will reduce the capacity of Michigan Stadium to 106,201, given that disabled seats take up more space than regular seats, making "The Big House" 1,081 seats smaller than Beaver Stadium.

The plan is that the capacity of the stadium will once again surpass Beaver Stadium once renovations are complete in 2010. However, in the meantime, some Wolverines fans are upset that their beloved stadium won't be the biggest for at least two years:

Some students were frustrated about the settlement because the University had frequently said through the approval process for the renovation project that it wouldn't affect the stadium's capacity.

Engineering graduate student John Nanry said he thought the Big House "might lose a bit of its personality if it's not the biggest," but added that Penn State's Beaver Stadium already felt bigger because it traps sound better than Michigan Stadium.

I don't know if this is just me, but I think it adds a bit more excitement to know that next year I am going to be in the largest, and potentially loudest stadium in college football. However, this will all be completely worthless if Michigan beats us next year for what will feel like the 34th straight time. Grr.

Hope for the future

2008-03-11T10:38:00.001-07:00

Albeit not the greatest basketball season in history, Penn State's 68-64 victory over Indiana Sunday afternoon was a fantastic way to end the regular season going into the Big Ten tournament. The season started out very promising as the team had an easy time of their non-conference schedule, going 8-4, and won the first two games of their conference schedule with relative ease.

That was, however, where it all fell apart, with the catalyst being the season ending knee injury to Geary Claxton. Following the 10-4 start, Penn State lost 6 straight games, which virtually meant that a bid to the NCAA tournament was out of reach, however to finish off the season, the Nittany Lions won 5 straight Big Ten home games, including wins over then #7 Michigan State and #17 Indiana.

Yes, the injury to Geary Claxton was tough, and the performance of the team after his injury made it clear that the team was missing its fallen leader. However, had Claxton not been injured, we may not have seen the great performances that we saw from Talor Battle, Stanley Pringle, and David Jackson just to name a few.

I am looking forward to seeing the players take the momentum that has been gained from this win over Indiana into the Big Ten tournament. Penn State plays Illinois, a team that the Nittany Lions beat twice this season, at 2:30 ET on Thursday. The bracket for the tournament can be found here (its in pdf form).

If Penn State beats Illinois, they then have to face Purdue, which has been a tough team to beat throughout the year and have beaten the Nittany Lions both times that they played, however if the team can play as well as they did against Michigan State or even as they did against Indiana, the game would be interesting. But hey, it's college basketball and anything can happen.

I am just excited about returning the likes of Battle, Pringle and Jackson next year and hopefully the team can have a shot at the NCAA tournament.

To do that though, they will have to be a lot more consistent than they were this year. For example, in the game that they beat Michigan State 85-76, the Nittany Lions shot 49% from the floor and 67% from the free throw line, and then a week later, against an inferior Michigan team, Penn State shot just 36% from the floor and went on to lose 68-63. Many of the games that the team lost was caused by inconsistency.

Free throw shooting was a recurring problem throughout the year, and needs to be addressed and worked on because those points are easy money and can really make a difference in close games.

There is talent on this team, they just have to get motivated, work out some of their kinks, and next year could be a special year for Penn State basketball.

Pryor to visit Memphis!?

2008-03-08T08:32:00.001-08:00

Once again, Phil Fritz is making up stories. This time, its that Terrelle Pryor will make a visit to Memphis this weekend. His article includes no quotes that would support his claim that Pryor is going to visit the Tigers, so it appears that it is so because Phil Fritz says its so.

This article is particularly humorous because it comes right after Terrelle Pryor reinforced that he will be focusing on football in college and not basketball.

This would also mean that Terrelle would skip his basketball game that is scheduled for today at 2 PM EST to go and visit a school that he has shown no previous interest in.

This, however, is the most interesting part of the article:

Very reliable sources in Memphis report that the potential to earn beaucoup bucks at round ball grossly offsets the risks from playing even one season of Division One football in the Big Ten or any other major football conference.

Very reliable sources in Memphis!? Surely Phil needs to reevaluate his definition of "reliable". This also leaked over to Sporting News, but it sites Fritz's article as its source, so I don't think that means anything either.

However, if this does happen by some insane long shot, Pryor has made this media circus into a full three-ringer.

Pryor to decide by April 1st

2008-03-07T11:32:00.001-08:00

I promised myself that I would not fuel Terrelle Pryor's ego anymore by writing about him, but alas, I have broken this promise. In an article on SI.com, Pryor commented on the status of his decision and the things that have been going on with him since National Letter of Intent Day.

The most interesting thing about this article and the statements that he makes is how many visits that he wants to take between now and the time April 1st rolls around:

"I'd like my mom to see both places and Penn State," he said. "So we're talking about a day trip to both Ohio State and Michigan, and she'd come along with me on my Penn State trip."

Alright Terrelle, that's very nice of you that you want your mom to see the places that you are interested in, with only 24 days remaining until April 1st and your basketball team is in the midst of the playoffs, I don't see how you are going to fit in all of those visits.

Pryor chose not to sign on NLOID because he wanted to give more thought to his decision, and he specifically said that he wished to take his official visit to Penn State. Well, he also says that he has criteria of when he wants to take this Penn State visit:

"I am not going to Penn State when it's (spring) break; there's no point because there won't be anyone there," he said. "I'm not sure if the break is next week or when, I'm so busy with basketball. I was going to try to take my visit there last weekend before my dad had to go to the hospital."

Quite obviously I'm not going to criticize the kid for wanting to spend time with his father in times of ill health, but now that he says he's not visiting during spring break, that takes another week out of the picture, combined with his busy basketball schedule.

In my opinion, I think that if he was really motivated to make the visit to Penn State, he would have done it already. After all he did find time for that day trip to Ohio State to show his buddy around! That being said, if Jeannette gets eliminated from the basketball playoffs, he may have more time, but they are on a tear at the moment and that looks unlikely.

Keep in mind though, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) basketball championship for Jeannette's division is scheduled for Saturday, March 15 at the Bryce Jordan Center, so he may be making the visit to State College whether he truly wants to or not.

As always, more on this as it unfolds.

Update on Quarless

2008-03-07T07:50:00.001-08:00

Turns out that unspecified violation of team rules has now been specified. Tight end Andrew Quarless was charged with DUI on Thursday. According to State College police, he was driving with a BAC of .084. Given that Quarless is only 19, his charges also include DUI as a minor and underage drinking.

This is not Quarless' first underage drinking offense, as he was also cited back in August of 2007.

Holy lack of posts Batman!

2008-03-06T10:19:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the week long absence of posting, but I have been crazy busy lately. I think what I'll do here is recap all the Penn State news that's happened over the past week.

Thanks to Laschout, we learned that there was a meeting between former Steelers' coach Bill Cowher and Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley. Not only did Cowher meet with Curley, but Laschout also stated that Cowher slept at Curley's house. This had Penn State message boards speculating as to what this may mean, but most settled on the outside shot that Bill Cowher was a candidate to be JoePa's successor.

Laschout then did a follow up post stating that Bill Cowher's house in North Carolina had recently been put up for sale, which further heightened the Cowher to Penn State speculation. Cowher fever really infected the Penn State nation for about 24 hours, so much so that reputable Penn State blog Run Up The Score changed it's Nittany Lion banner picture to one of Bill Cowher's chin.

It was then, however, that the rumor started to fall apart. A blog run by The Pittsburgh Post Gazette posted that reporter Ed Bouchette had spoken to Cowher about the potential move to Penn State:

"Put that to rest," Cowher said firmly yesterday. "I'm staying here."

Alright, fair enough. Potential coaches lie to the media all the time about where they may be going or where they may not be going, its nothing new and its accepted that it is going to happen, and it also appears that Cowher's new residence will only be about two miles down the road from his current one. The question of why Cowher was even in State College to begin with kept the rumor alive in the minds of Penn State fans, and the fact that Cowher actually slept over at Curley's house made it all the more juicy.

However, Penn State spokesman Jeff Nelson, per the Altoona Mirror, made a statement which contradicted the story that Cowher was even a guest a the Curley household to begin with:

‘‘I can confirm that he did not stay at his house,’’ Penn State spokesman Jeff Nelson said. ‘‘I spoke to Tim, and [Cowher] did not stay at the house.’’ Nelson did add, ‘‘It’s possible that Bill Cowher was on campus,’’ so perhaps there is reason for Nittany Lion fans to be excited.

I have since then been informed that whatever Jeff Nelson says should not be taken too seriously, but with the debunking coming from Cowher himself and a spokesman from the University, coupled with the fact that the allegations of him staying at the Curley house esd only reported by an independent blog and not verified by any other reputable source, it appears that this is more rumor than truth.

That being said, definitely keep an eye out for more Cowher related news and if anything comes up I will post it on here.

Discipline continues to be an issue for Penn State players as tight end Andrew Quarless joined the suspension list when he was suspended indefinitely on Wednesday. The team did not say why he was suspended, just that it was a violation of team rules.

He joins Chris Baker, Phil Taylor, Navorro Bowman, Knowledge Timmons, and Chris Bell as the sixth Nittany Lion player suspended this offseason.

Lets not forget that Anthony Scirrotto also had to go to court and agree to a plea deal as well. Off the field issues have been a problem for Penn State recently, and I do not want to see us lumped in with Ohio State when it comes to hoodlums off the field.

Success with honor right? Well boys, that applies on and off the field alike.

Wow the basketball team got dismantled by Wisconsin last night. The Nittany Lions offered a season low 41 points as they lost 77-41 in Madison. Diaper dandy Talor Battle was not so dandy last night as he recorded only 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.

This is particularly disappointing as Penn State was going into Madison with two consecutive wins and the team spirit was high.

No post season for the Nittany Lions, but I hope Talor Battle can really take some of the success that he has enjoyed this season into next season.

Wisconsin also clinched a share of the Big Ten title with this win.

Now I am very sad that I have to address this, but I realize I haven't broken any news in this post, it was just a recap of the most interesting Penn State related stories this week. It's as simple as this: if you don't like my blog, don't read it. If you do, keep checking back because I plan to post more frequently now.

That's all for now Nittany Lion fans. Go State!

Justin King is a fast young man

2008-02-26T11:11:00.001-08:00

He ran a 4.31 40 at the Combine today. That is a very speedy time. Many people thought that it was a mistake for him to come out before his senior season, but now we, and the scouts, have seen that he has the speed to play in the NFL.

Dan Connor misses the NFL Combine due to illness

2008-02-25T14:59:00.001-08:00

This is a really disappointment for a guy who really had a chance to show his stuff at the Combine. The NFL Network reported that he went home do to suffering from the flu. However, this being said, Dan Connor had a fantastic career at Penn State, and it is better that he didn't participate at all rather than have an absolutely terrible show in front of all of the NFL scouts because he was sick. Not only is Connor suffering from the flu bad for his future career, but it is also bad on the content front for this blog because I was planning to do an entire post on how much Dan Connor lit up the playing field and not how he was sniffling in bed in his hotel room.

I'm not worried about what this will do to his draft stock because Dan Connor is a solid inside linebacker and I think the scouts already know what he is capable of.

Given that I can't post too much about Connor, I did watch the defensive lineman workout today and there were some players that I was really impressed with, and one that I really wasn't. Here is a look at some of the defense lineman who could make a big impact in the NFL:

Players who impressed me:

Chris Long, Virginia DL

Chris Long was the most impressive in the agility drills out of all the defensive linemen on show today. He's 272 pounds and he was really the fastest guy on the field today in terms of agility. His ability to change direction with complete fluidity was unrivaled by any other defensive lineman.

He ran a 4.71 40 which wasn't the fastest of the day, but for a defensive lineman that is really quick. He also recorded a 34" vertical leap, which you can see on display here in some of his college highlights.

This guy really is the total package. He is quick and agile for coming off of the line and attacking the quarterback, but at some times his size can be a disadvantage because he has trouble breaking blocks from much bigger offensive lineman. His hand strength is getting better though, and that one little weakness can be easily overcome. He is a valuable weapon in the pass rush and he can use that vertical leap to block passes. You want Chris Long on your NFL team.

Projection: Top 15

Vernon Gholston, Ohio State DL

As good as Chris Long is overall, Vernon Gholston definitely has the leg up on him in some areas. He's a bit lighter at 266 pounds, ran a 4.64 40, and recorded 37 bench press reps, which is tied for the Combine lead (Jake Long, Michigan OT).

I wasn't as impressed with Gholston's agility as I was with Long's, but it wasn't poor by any stretch of the imagination. In addition, 37 reps really does speak for itself. He is an absolute beast, and with the quickness that he does bring, Vernon Gholston is a massive asset to have on your defensive line.

I would take Long over Gholston, but if Long had already been taken, it was my pick, and I had defensive line needs, I would definitely be happy with picking Gholston. He has had a great Combine and I'm expecting big things from him in the NFL.

Projection: Top 25

Trevor Laws, Notre Dame DL

Laws really flew under the radar because of the absolutely horrible season that Notre Dame had, but he is a big time player. He is not as quick as the other guys that I have mentioned here (he ran a 5.08 40), but he did record 35 reps on the bench press meaning that he definitely has the strength to be an NFL defensive lineman.

During some of the agility drills, especially the bag drill, he was looking down at the bags quite a bit which wasn't great to see, but he did do the drill very quickly which is good that he doesn't have all that much work to do.

Laws recorded a 30.5 vertical leap, so he has a potential to bat down some passes. This guy is going to be a solid NFL player, and I'm expecting him to be very pleased on draft day.

Projection: Late 2nd round to early 3rd round

Players who didn't impress me:

Frank Okam, Texas DL

This should just say "player who didn't impress me" because Frank Okam was the only player out of the defensive lineman that really looked terrible through his entire workout.

He's a big guy, and in this case that is a bad thing. He weighed in at 347 pounds and that is entirely too big. This causes him to be ridiculously slow (he ran a 5.32 40) and agile is not a word to describe Frank Okam. I thought Frank Okam was the real deal, but seeing him out there amongst the best defensive linemen in the country made him look out of place.

During the position drills he was falling all over the place and he has absolutely no ability to change direction at speed. The only good thing about his workout was his bench press (32 reps) which showed that he does have the strength, but in today's game if you don't have the speed to chase down the ball carrier you really will just not cut it.

Okam's workout unfortunately made his draft stock plummet which is sad for him because he was a star on the Texas defensive line.

Projection: Second Day

Sorry for the lack of Penn State related content today, but I was really expecting Connor to have a big day at the Combine. Hopefully tomorrow Justin King doesn't come down with the flu and we can have a Penn Stater in action on the last day of the Combine. You can see Anthony Morelli running the 40 yard dash here and they also talk a bit about him as well.

Hopefully more tomorrow about King's performance. That is all.

2008 Combine Update

2008-02-24T14:08:00.001-08:00

Anthony Morelli has been in action today as quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers had their workouts at the Combine. I was watching over on the NFL's live Combine feed where you can watch the action as it happens as well as recorded videos, and Morelli was throwing the ball around a bit, but it was looking like he was lacking a bit of power which led to some under thrown passes.

Morelli also took part in the 40 yard dash and the vertical jump and his results were 5 seconds even on the 40 and a 26.5 vertical. I'm not sure exactly why, but it appears that Morelli has only participated in those two events as it currently stands.

Defensive lineman and linebackers take the field tomorrow, so I will be posting a lot as Dan Connor beasts his way across all the events.

Speaking of Dan Connor, he gave an interview to the NFL network about the combine and where his going to be on draft day in the short video found in that link.

That's it for now, but I'll have more content up tomorrow about Connor.

Penn State Pride

2008-02-24T05:34:00.001-08:00

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of posts recently. I will post a full Combine wrap up when it finishes on Tuesday.

I just thought I would post this video since it is one of my favorite Penn State videos that can be found on the Internet. Enjoy everyone.

Also, there is a great video of Penn State players showing kids around the facilities for Thon that really makes you smile and be proud of Penn State players that haven't been arrested.

ESPN Spring Ball Preview

2008-02-21T13:31:00.001-08:00

ESPN has written a preview about spring practices for the Big Ten and it discusses all the issues that the Big Ten teams are facing this coming Spring.

The question of who is going to be starting quarterback for the 2008 season is the most pressing matter for the Nittany Lions to address this Spring. Daryll Clark and Pat Devlin are the two that are going to be competing for the position, and ESPN quite plainly analyzes this:

Daryll Clark has waited his turn at quarterback and could strengthen his case this spring. He'll be pushed by Pat Devlin, the highly touted prep signal-caller who backed out of a commitment to Miami for a shot in Happy Valley.

The article also discusses the need to find the starting running back and solidify the linebacking core. Not really much information coming from this article but its something about Penn State on an otherwise completely dead news day.

ESPN has also published the Spring ball Big Ten Power Rankings with Penn State winding up at number 3 behind Ohio State and Wisconsin. This is what ESPN had to say about the Nittany Lions:

What we know: The Nittany Lions boast a veteran offensive line and seasoned wide receivers in Derrick Williams, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood.

What we don't know: The starting quarterback.

How the Nittany Lions can win the league title: Solidify the quarterback spot and ride a solid defense led by linebacker Sean Lee and strong safety Anthony Scirrotto.

ESPN thinks the Nittany Lions have a reasonable shot at the Big Ten title by ranking them number 3, but if either Clark or Devlin, presumably Clark, doesn't get settled, then there could be another mediocre season on the field at Beaver Stadium.

Kelvin Sampson Fired

2008-02-21T11:59:00.001-08:00

The official announcement will be on Friday, but Kelvin Sampson is no longer the coach of the Indiana Hoosiers Basketball Team. The President of the university says he doesn't know it to be true, but sources have reported it to multiple news agencies, so unless these sources go by the name of Kirk Herbstreit, then it's safe to say that Sampson has been fired.