Monday, September 18, 2006

Big Ten Season Begins with a Bang

Posted by slider at 9/18/2006

Well folks, here we go. After Ohio State's convincing victory at Texas, they are the odds on favorite to win the National Title. Penn State is in a position this week to alter the course of the rest of the college football season. A win at Ohio stadium would all but ensure that at least one, if not both, Title game participants will have one loss. If the Lions can beat the Bucks tomorrow and win out, they would have a legitimate shot at being in that game (If Notre Dame cooperates and wins out as well to help put a positive spin on the Lions 41-17 loss to the Irish.). If you are in the viewing area, tune in and watch @ 3:30 EDT or 2:30 CDT.

Get a copy of the Penn State Football Weekly for 09/18/06
Transcript of Coach Paterno's Press Conferemce.


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Lions Freeze Penguins

Posted by slider at 9/18/2006


As I said at the beginning of the week, you never lookas good in these games as you want to. Penn State got the win and had the opportunity to play some young players in perparation for next week's Big Ten opener with #1 Ohio State. However, their overall performance left a lot to be desired. In particular, Anthony Morelli looked quite pedestrian after two big games in his first two starts.

Tony Hunt led the way with 143 yards rushing on 18 carries and 1 TD. True freshman, A.J. Wallace, added a score on a 76-yard reverse. A lot of guys got in on defense, but Paul Posluszny finished with 8 tackles to lead the Nittany Lions. Ed Johnson picked up 2 sacks, and Anthony Scirrotto and Lydell Sargeant each picked off a pass.

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Monday, September 11, 2006

Preparation for Youngstown State Begins

Posted by slider at 9/11/2006

These are dangerous games. You never look as good as you want and there is a higher standard to achieve because the competition is so poor. Although Youngstown State has a fine pedigree in I-AA football, they are still a I-AA team. To be honest, I have long been a proponent of eliminating these games by making teams that play them bowl ineligible. However, until that day, we'll just have to suffer through them.

Transcipt of Coach Paterno's Press Conference
Get a copy of the Penn State Football Weekly for 9/11/06

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Sunday, September 10, 2006

Lions Overpowered by Irish

Posted by slider at 9/10/2006


The Lion's inexperience was exposed during a game which could have been a lot closer if not for avoidable mistakes. Penalties and missed opportunities plagued the Lions all day. The loss is not the end of the world, however, any National Title hopes were laid to rest. The running game looked much better, but Anthony Morelli looked very much like a first year starter in just his second career start. The Lions will get to hone their skills next week against Younstown State before taking on #1 Ohio State.

Tony Hunt's 74 yards pushed him past Franco Harris and Jon Williams into 14th place on the all-time PSU rushing list. Both Dan Connor and Paul Posluszny finished with 12 tackles and solidified their position as two of the top linebackers in the country. Sean Lee also played a solid game for a defense that has looked a lot better than most thought it would be this year. Notre Dame's 41 points are not an accurate reflection of how well the defense played.

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Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Run-Up to Notre Dame Begins

Posted by slider at 9/05/2006

The talk of the PSU/Notre Dame game is increasing. With Notre Dame's lackluster performance against Georgia Tech and Penn State's strong showing against Akron on a less than stable field, the questions about this squad's destiny are really flying. A definitive answer to many questions will come over the next three weeks. Assuming Ohio State gets by Texas on Saturday, the Lions will be playing two Top 5 teams in a three week span. Sandwiched in there is a ridiculous game against Youngstown State (Which, BTW, makes me ill. I hope there is some good excuse for playing a non-Div I-A school. I understand that most teams schedule some creampuffs early, but good gravy!). Over the past twenty years of serious college football interest, I've noticed that the average slip/rise for a team that beats/loses to a team they shouldn't have beat/lost to is about six to seven ranking spots. Given this observation, Penn State could be ranked as high as #5 by the time the dust settles on September 20th. Very exciting for what is mostly a young team. Only time will tell.

Get a copy of Penn State Football Weekly for 9/04/2006
Transcript of Coach Paterno's 9/05/2006 press conference

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Monday, September 04, 2006

Penn State Wins Opener

Posted by slider at 9/04/2006

Penn State Zips up opening week win on sloppy field.

Anothony Morelli looked very good and the Nittany Lions got the win, but there are some serious questions about the offensive line's run blocking. The ground game was all but non-existent. You can't win the Big 10 with out a running game. On the bright side, after the way Notre Dame played this week, being undefeated going into the Ohio State game is not so far fetched. Other bright spots for the Lions: Dan Connor's 13 tackles and 2 sacks made him Big 10 Defensive Player of the Week; Jordan Norwood picked up where he left off last season, and it appears he will give Deon Butler and Derrick Williams a run for their money as a "go-to" receiver for Morelli; The defense played very well as a whole. This was one of the biggest question marks coming into the season; Although run blocking was a problem, the offensive line was able to give Morelli enough time to do significant damage.

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Wednesday, August 30, 2006

New Feature

Posted by slider at 8/30/2006

I wanted to take some time and space to point out a new Feature link. The Penn State Football Story is one of my favorite programs about Penn State football. I grew up watching this on Sunday mornings after Nittany Lion football games. At the time I watched on WNEP channel 16 in Scranton, PA. I believe at the time that may have been one of the few places you could watch it. However, today it has kind of taken on a life of its own. I was very surprised to see that it was on out here in the Midwest about a year ago. If I remember correctly, Comcast Sports had it on. I checked into some other TV listings, and it is now available in most parts of the country and as part of Penn State's Offical Football Web Site. It is a great way to recap the week's action and I highly recommend checking it out. Here is a list of times and channels that carry the show on a weekly basis.

EDIT: I must be psychic. Right after putting this post and link up, there was an announcemeent with a little more information about this topic.

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Monday, August 28, 2006

Summer News

Posted by slider at 8/28/2006

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I'm often asked, “What the heck is a NITTANY Lion? Why not just the Lions? What are you Penn State fans trying to pull?” Well, with a little help from the Official Penn State Football Site I offer the following:

Penn State's athletic symbol, chosen by the student body in 1906, is the mountain lion which once roamed central Pennsylvania. H.D. “Joe” Mason, a member of the Class of 1907, conducted a one-man campaign to choose a school mascot after seeing the Princeton tiger on a trip with the Penn State baseball team to that New Jersey campus. A student publication sponsored the campaign to select a mascot and Penn State is believed to be the first college to adopt the lion as a mascot.

Since Penn State is located in the Nittany Valley at the foot of Mount Nittany, the lion was designated as a Nittany Lion. In regional folklore, Nittany (or Nita-Nee) was a valorous Indian princess in whose honor the Great Spirit caused Mount Nittany to be formed. A later namesake, daughter of chief O-Ko-Cho, who lived near the mouth of Penn's Creek, fell in love with Malachi Boyer, a trader. The tearful maiden and her lost lover became legend and her name was given to the stately mountain.

And no, Penn State didn't always have those plain blue and white uniforms. The school's original colors were dark pink and black. However in 1890, as a result of the pink portions of school uniforms fading to white from exposure to the elements, the black was changed to blue and the rest is history.