SB Nation - Knowledge Timmons

Senior Day Haiku

BSD — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:00:33 -0000

by Carlos Osorio - AP

This Saturday will mark the fourth senior day in the history of this fine blog. Tomorrow afternoon 18 seniors will run out of the tunnel for the last time wearing the Blue and White. Some of them will go on to try to earn a roster spot in the NFL. Others will go on to lead successful careers in business and life. Some are stars. Some are little known walk ons. They got up every day at 5 AM for four years to lift weights and run sprints so they could put on a show for us twelve Saturdays a year. They are heroes. They are legends. They are Penn State football.

If you're new to BSD this season, we have a tradition where we honor all of the senior players, from the All Americans to the third string long snapper, with a little ditty we call Senior Day Haiku. Feel free to add your own Haiku in the comments. We'll go in alphabetical order.

P - Jeremy Boone

He must hate the ball
Holy Cow did you see that?
He just hit the moon!

QB - Daryll Clark

Roll out and go deep
Never good enough for some
Just short of legend

TE - Brennan Coakley

You might have been good
Just too many injuries
We will never know

DE - Tom Golarz

Did you notice that
Golarz rhymes with solarz?
That is all I got

DE - Jerome Hayes

I still remember
You sacking Jimmy Clausen
Man, that was awesome

LB - Josh Hull

Went from suck to good
It must have been the mustache
Bow-chicka-bow-bow

OL - Dennis Landolt

Quiet performer
Right or left doesn't matter
I got your back, Clark

LB - Sean Lee

Your torn ACL
Brought you back another year
We're thankful for that

WR - Patrick Mauti

Sorry ‘bout the knee
Wait, you're not the linebacker?
Your brother is good

OL - Nerraw McCormack

You waited your turn
Got your chance but hurt yourself
Wasn't meant to be

CB - Shelton McCullough

Ran out the tunnel
I would kill to do that once
Gradulations, dude

DT - Jared Odrick

You know I own you
Double team? Doesn't matter
Running back is mine

LS - Andrew Pitz

The unheralded
Long snappers are people too
You did a good job

OL - Ako Poti

Please don't let Clark die
Nightmares of Heyward haunt me
Please, God, make it stop

TE - Andrew Quarless

Crossing the middle
Missed a block and dropped a pass
Joe's dog house must suck

TE - Mickey Shuler

Like father like son
All you did was play steady
Paterno likes that

CB - Knowledge Timmons

What was that blue streak?
Knowledge gunning the sideline
Look out return man

CB - A.J. Wallace

High expectations
Joe says too loosey goosey
Cover-3 just blows

And Here Come The Pretzels

Run Up The Score — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:42:59 -0000

On yesterday's ESPN GameDay show, Chris Fowler and the crew passed along information that Penn State coaches indicated their offensive playbook would be uncharacteristically open against Ohio State. The coaching staff trusted the improved offensive line, and especially trusted Daryll Clark to win the game for Penn State. If such a strategy was ever in place for the Penn State offense, it was scrapped after their first offensive play of the game as defensive end Cameron Heyward bolted through Dennis Landolt and Evan Royster, defensive tackle Todd Denlinger spun around Johnnie Troutman, and defensive end Thaddeus Gibson hopped over a weak chop attempt by Ako Poti. The result, 2nd and 16, and 59 minutes of puckering.

And shame on you for not fighting through your doubleteam, Doug Worthington!

Sifting through the rubble this morning, and nothing has changed. Yesterday's game was an absolute owning of the home team -- coaches, players, fans, offense, defense, special teams -- from beginning to end. Cameron Heyward is an unblockable monster. No matter which Penn State offensive lineman he lined up against, they were quickly and embarrassingly thrown aside. Daryll Clark was hit and hurried, and again unable to carry the team in those circumstances.

Clark will take some justified heat for this loss. Fair or not, his place in Penn State quarterbacking history will be roughly alongside Wally Richardson's 1995-1996 run -- fondly remembered, but nowhere approaching legendary. Daryll will leave Penn State with a shared Big Ten title, love and respect from a vast majority of the fanbase, and gaudy stats against awful teams. People will be happy to see him when he returns to campus in 5, 10, 20 years. But he won't be a Penn State legend or anything close to it.

I suspect the coaching staff feels embarrassed this morning. There's absolutely zero excuse for the ongoing clusterfrick that is Penn State's special teams unit. If Joe Paterno expects to win games with defense and special teams, it's probably a fine idea to actually have good special teams. Given the athletes on this team, are we supposed to believe that Drew Astorino is our best ~~punt returner~~ designated fair catcher? Penn State's punt team practically handed Ohio State their first touchdown and took the life out of the crowd. And it's clearly not a matter of putting bad athletes on the field for kicking plays -- the players chasing Ray Small down the field on his first punt return are A.J. Wallace, Knowledge Timmons, Josh Hull, Chris Colasanti, Navorro Bowman, Brandon Beachum, and Andrew Quarless. And they were put in a bad position by an awful Jeremy Boone punt.

The playcalling was atrocious. If you don't have enough confidence to throw the ball on 3rd and 5, do us all a favor and kneel on the ball three straight plays and punt. Your defense will get the same amount of rest, and there's no risk at all! Beats the hell out of running the same tired crap right at Ohio State's strengths, or letting your quarterback get battered play after play.

Tom Bradley and the defense don't get a pass for this either -- they let the team down repeatedly on some crucial third downs. D'anton Lynn blew a coverage that led to DeVier Posey's long touchdown. On Pryor's rushing touchdown, Bowman had him dead in the backfield and was shaken off. They had their chances to turn the game around, or even just get off the damned field, and failed.

Finally, man up and give credit to Terrelle Pryor and Ohio State. This can't be stressed enough: they dominated every single aspect of the game. As for Penn State, they had their two toughest opponents at home and blew it. While 10-2 is still within reach and sounds great, this season has already been cast upon the disappointment heap. Penn State will end up in some middle-tier bowl with a cheesy sponsor. Don't worry. We'll pretend to care about it.

Depth Chartin': Last Clan Standing

Run Up The Score — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:44:41 -0000

It's been said here at BSD that depth charts are part information, part motivation. Perhaps now, we can just split it in thirds, because trickeration may have just walked into the bar.

Your starting linebackers, according to this week's Game Notes from GoPSUSports.com:

Outside Linebacker
45 Sean Lee (6-2, 236, Sr/Sr)
9 Michael Zordich (6-1, 225, So/Fr)
33 Michael Yancich (6-2, 223, So/Fr)
Inside Linebacker
43 Josh Hull (6-2, 236, Sr/Sr)
48 Chris Colasanti (6-2, 238, Jr/Jr)

Outside Linebacker
11 Navorro Bowman (6-1,230, Sr/Jr)
34 Nate Stupar (6-1, 236, Jr/So)
15 Bani Gbadyu (6-1, 231, Sr/Jr)
54 James Van Fleet (6-0, 216, So/Fr)

Lee and Bowman are listed as "possible" on the injury report. Possible. Anything is possible, right? Without Lee, we're probably looking at Gbadyu | Hull | Bowman. If Bowman is also out, expect Stupar to get the start in his place. And hold on, baby. Hold on. For now, Bowman is expected to play. Colasanti burned his redshirt last week, so he's available for duty if necessary.

Elsewhere, Johnnie Troutman is the starter at left guard. The left cornerback is Knowledge Timmons OR A.J. Wallace. James Terry has nudged his way up to second team DT. Graham Zug has been cleared to play on Saturday.

Iowa has its own share of injury news, as stud left tackle Bryan Bulaga, perpetually brittle tight end Tony Moeaki, and all-around villainous turd Derrell Johnson-Koulianos are missing from the Hawkeyes' depth chart:

Here’s what Ferentz said about the three after Saturday’s 27-17 victory over Arizona:

"Day to day. We talked about it a little earlier. Realistically we thought that they would have a shot, outside of Bryan. We knew he was out because he missed practice on Thursday. We were hoping to get some good news sooner or later. The injuries that Tony and Derrell have, they could be fine this week or they might not be. We will know more by Tuesday."

Marc Morehouse, Hawkeye reporter/blogger and BHGP fave, thinks the three will play.

Update: Lee has a possible ankle injury, too?

Joe Paterno Press Conference Highlights

BSD — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:45:18 -0000

by Pat Little - AP

View full size photo »

Here are some bullet points from Joe Paterno's press conference this afternoon.

Navorro Bowman is still nursing a groin injury and will be out a few days. His status for Syracuse is questionable.
Joe liked the way Knowledge Timmons played at cornerback, so No. 4 will probably get the start again this week against the Orange. Joe was also pleased with the play of D'Anton Lynn, so it looks like Wallace will be coming off the bench for another week.
Joe says Evan Royster is still the best option at punt returner, so they're going to stick with that.
Joe didn't want to play Devon Smith against Akron, but he got "out-voted". They tried to get him the ball on the outside in space. Says it's tough to throw to a small guy like Smith as opposed to a tall guy like Moye because the timing has to be perfect. Joe referred to Smith with the typical Central PA nickname "Smitty".
Quarless suffered some issues with cramping on Saturday. He'll be fine this week.
Joe thought the offensive line did alright. He was pleased with the pass protection, but thinks the run blocking needs some work. He says credit Akron for doing some things they weren't prepared for.
Joe thought the kicking game was "solid". Boone did a good job and Wagner did well on kickoffs. Obviously wasn't pleased with missing two field goals.
He thinks Jerome Hayes did well. He's wearing a knee brace for probably a little longer. He only played about 20 snaps and he sat out the entire spring. Considering that he was pleased with his performance.
Joe isn't concerned about the 40 yard TD that Sukay gave up. He just misread the play. He's confident Sukay will do better.
When asked about being "out voted" and whether he picks his spots to challenge the staff, Joe says it depends. If he's in a good mood he'll give in. If not he will challenge them. Sometimes he just likes to agitate them to make them think a bit. He was agitating them about playing Smith because he is a true freshman. The staff felt strongly that he could contribute, so he gave in.
Joe was once again asked about the failed Eastern Conference he tried to put together. He had Syracuse and Boston College ready to leave the Big East, but Pitt pulled the rug out from it and joined the Big East killing it. But Joe insists he doesn't hold a grudge because Penn State ended up in the Big Ten because of it.
Joe says Jack Crawford is a good athlete, but he still has a lot to learn.
When asked about the importance of Syracuse turning things around for the good of "eastern football", Joe basically said eastern football doesn't matter anymore. With Boston College in the ACC and Penn State in the Big Ten, resurrecting the Eastern Football mystique doesn't matter. College football is a national game now. But of course, according to Joe, he doesn't think about these things.

Potential Penn State Problem #1: Extra Crispy

Run Up The Score — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:00:21 -0000

A quick look at Penn State's team passing defense statistics from 2008 indicates that things may not have actually been so terrible: 19th in pass efficiency defense, 27th in passing yardage allowed, 16 INT, 10 TD, 56.3% completion rate. Combined with an prolific offense and the #8 rushing defense in the nation, it's easy to see why the team was so successful in 2008.

Even if we look at the conference-only stats from 2008, Penn State fared well. They were #3 in both pass efficiency defense (107.8) and passing yardage allowed (186.8 ypg), and #1 in opponents' 3rd down conversions (32.3%). So, what the hell? Why all the concern?

For one thing, all of this is obvious nitpicking. We're talking about the weaknesses in a team that went to the Rose Bowl last year. They only lost twice, remember? Still, it was the secondary that faltered in the waning minutes in Iowa City* and pretty much throughout the entire Rose Bowl against USC:

QB Mark Sanchez ALL PASS ATTEMPTS USC vs PSU 2008 / 2009 Rose Bowl (via DraftParty)

The failures were equal parts personnel and scheme. We know Mark Rubin was essentially a fourth linebacker playing strong safety and sometimes got lost in coverage. But really, how were Lydell Sargeant and Tony Davis supposed stop anybody when they're constantly instructed to line up 8-10 yards off the line of scrimmage? The scheme is the scheme -- something I labeled "Bend But Don't Suck" years ago -- and it's not changing anytime soon. It's great when the front four can get pressure on the quarterback, and especially brilliant if said quarterback (a) isn't that great and (b) doesn't have much receiving talent. That pretty much included 75% of Penn State's schedule last season. But against a hot quarterback (Iowa, second half) or a really good one (USC), Penn State doesn't have much of a prayer stopping an opposing aerial attack as long as the defensive line is adequately blocked.

So, yes. The BBDS defense returns again, but with entirely new personnel. Rubin, Davis, Sargeant, and Anthony Scirrotto are all gone. A.J. Wallace is the one guy with extensive game experience at corner, and he has the dual distinction of being suspended for the first few games in 2009 and not having played terribly well as a cornerback in the past. Your opening day starters appear to be D'Anton Lynn and Knowledge Timmons at corner, Drew Astorino at free safety, and Nick Sukay at strong safety.

It's truly impossible to predict how the secondary will play. Lynn and Sukay were both highly rated players coming out of high school (so was Wallace, but the clock is really running out on him). Astorino showed last year that he's not afraid of the big stage. And Timmons, well...he's fast. That's practically all we know about him to this point, other than he really loves his iPhone. (Hey, me too.)

Maybe we'll look back at this season in five months and laugh at how needlessly concerned we were about this group. But until then, pucker pucker pucker.

* - Sorry. And we can get into the other 20 reasons we lost that game, but let's focus, mmkay?

A Way Too Early Look At The 2009 Schedule - Week 7 - Penn State

JG2112 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:30:12 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

6 months ago: Penn State football coach Joe Paterno pauses after he talked to media, Thursday, June 11, 2009, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Penn State: At a glance:

Location: University Park, Pennsylvania
Stadium: Beaver Stadium (size: 107,282)
Expected Attendance: about 109,000.
Undergraduate population: 44,512.
First season: 1887
Number of Big Ten Titles: 3
All-time record: 800-349-32
All-time bowl record: 26-13-2.

Most awesome alum: undoubtedly Jonathan Frakes, better known as William T. Riker and "#1" on the new Star Trek series.

Most awesome Penn State fan site: Red, er, Black Shoe Diaries of course.

And here comes the Big Ten buzzsaw.

Much has changed since the last time these two teams played in 2006, a referee-assisted 28-27 overtime victory for the Nittany Lions at Metrodump. The Gophers have a new coach, a new stadium, and have switched offensive philosophies twice. For Penn State...errr......Joe Pa...errr....Darryl Cla......good linebac......okay, so much has changed for Minnesota since 2006.

This year Indiana and Michigan drop off the Gophers' schedule. It looks pretty bad, however, when one realizes that Penn State (11-2 in 2008) and Michigan State (9-4 in 2008) rotate on to the schedule. The Gophers get the "good" fortune to play their seventh game in 2009, and their second conference road game, in the pale fury of University Park, PA against the Fighting Paternos.

Why good? Well, Minnesota should be 5-1 or 4-2 going into the game (um, right?). If so, perhaps a repeat of the stirring victory over then #2 Penn State in 1999 could be in the offing. Whether that happens depends a lot upon injuries, morale, and players. Speaking of players, we're going to fly solo and analyze the Nittany Lions, starting with....

More after the jump.....

Penn State on Offense - You may have heard of Darryl Clark. Heck, your grandparents may have seen him play in the ‘40s. Clark returns as a fifth-year senior, but is six years' removed from high school, so he's closer to legally renting a car than he is to gaining the right to vote. In 2008, he completed almost 60% of his passes, throwing 19 TDs against only 6 INTs. He also ran for 10 TDs. His backup, Paul Devlin, transferred to Joe Flacco U., so true freshman (as well as Michigan and Virginia de-commit) Kevin Newsome backs him up. Seeing how Newsome struggled in the Lions' spring game, Penn State is an injury away from quarterbacking incompetence.

Penn State's five top rushing threats return, highlighted by Evan Royster and Stephon Green. Royster gained 1236 yards at 6.47 ypc, and Green gained 578 yards at 5.50 ypc. This will be the obvious focal point for the Gophers' defense, because.....

.....Penn State's three senior receivers (Deon Butler, Jordan Norwood and Derrick Williams) all graduated, taking a majority of the receptions with them. Top returning wideouts include Graham Zug, Brett Brackett, and James "DUI" McDonald. This part of the offense will likely be functional but non-threatening at the time of the Gopher game. The wideouts' inexperience should allow Traye Simmons to help the run defense, hopefully neutralizing Royster and Green.

The Lions also lose three all Big Ten offensive linemen, though they have Stefen Wisniewski moving to center and Dennis Landolt at right tackle. New 6'5", 313-pound left tackle (and gloriously named) DeOn'tae Pannell will have to step in and perform at a high level to ensure the rushing game does not stall.

Bottom Line - Penn State's Offense: The offense will likely take a step back from its production in 2008. If Clark, Royster, and/or Wisniewski spend any significant period of time out injured, the offense will have significant production issues. Minnesota's large defensive line and mobile linebackers should be able to at least hang with the rushing attack, and the defensive backfield should handle the Lions' inexperienced wideouts. Due to Tramaine Brock's departure, however, we can count on at least one video replay with Ryan Collado trailing a wideout into the end zone.

Penn State on Defense: Linebacker U., right? Shane Conlan, Paul Pozlusny, Leapin' LaVar Arrington. Lately, Penn State has also churned out a number of solid defensive linemen, including 2009 draftees Aaron Maybin and Maurice Evans.

Well, wait a moment. Evans wasn't drafted, which begs a couple of questions. Was the NFL correct in determining Evans made a mistake in coming out early? Did Evans consider himself too good for college? What is left in State College? Well, Jared Odrick for one. Odrick had 41 tackles last year, 9.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. Also, Jack Crawford is new to the sport, being British and all (check that name), but he is highly regarded in Pennsylvania (as well as Portsmouth, for that matter) and will be expected to contribute. Ollie Ogbu and Abe Koroma are also returning linemen.

As for linebackers, well, if you follow a police blotter, you may have read some stuff about Navorro Bowman this off-season (all the action should serve Bowman well: he's a Crime, Law and Justice major, which I presume is University-Speak for "Wants to Be a Cop or District Attorney if he tears his knee up"). It seems JoePa is satisfied Bowman is ready to play football instead of smoking spliffs or beating up coeds. This is too bad for Duane Bennett, et al, as Bowman had 106 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, and 4 INT's last year.

Also returning after a year out due to injury is LB Sean Lee. He was all Big Ten in 2007 before tearing his ACL, and will undoubtedly be a tough block for the Gophers' O-line.

Wide receivers are the big question mark on offense. On defense, it's the defensive backfield. All starters have moved on, leaving CBs AJ Wallace and (really?) Knowledge Timmons and Ss Drew Astorino and Cedric Jeffries, as well as a cavalcade of 2009 signees, to take their place. This is where Gophers Offensive Coordinator Jedd Fisch should be picking on the defense, if he is the offensive genius Coach Brewster has made him out to be.

Bottom line - Penn State's Defense: The defense will step back this year from their dominating 2008 performance. Odrick, Bowman and Lee form about 40 % of a solid front seven. However, the defensive secondary is untested and has little experience. The Gophers should abandon any pretense of balance in their offensive attack in this game, spread five wideouts, get Pittman, Stoudermire, Brandon, McKnight, Kuznia, Decker, and Carpenter in space against the untested secondary, and pick them apart.

Penn State on Special Teams: 4-year starter Kevin Kelly departs, with either (Michigan de-commit) Anthony Fera or Colin Wagner assuming the kicking duties for Penn State's all-time leading scorer. Jeremy Boone, a senior returns as punter with a 43.03 ypk average from 2008.

One additional point bears mentioning regarding PSU's special teams. The youngest and most inexperienced areas of Penn State's team are their wideouts and defensive backfield. Kickoff return teams normally field some reserve players from these units. As the starters for Penn State are younger, the backups are even younger. Troy Stoudermire should be able to exploit these players' inexperience and youth and have some big returns at Beaver Stadium.

Bottom Line: What to Expect

Minnesota is Penn State's Homecoming opponent. We are sandwiched between a home game against Eastern Illinois (heh?) and a road game against Michigan. We could be the beneficiary of a team which wasn't really tested the prior week. Also, if the Wolverines improve, Minnesota could be the beneficiary of a team looking ahead to a 3-game stretch including Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State.

As for the Gophers, this is the start of what looks to be a bad stretch of games, including a road game at Ohio State, home games against Michigan State and Illinois, an off week against South Dakota State, and then the battle for the Pig. This is the best chance to beat one of those scheduled "rough games." Penn State has little experience at wideout, even less in the defensive backfield, and is exploitable in special teams. If the Gophers spread the field and pick on Penn State's defense, the Gophers could walk out of Pennsylvania with a victory.

Minnesota 38
Penn State 34

Your say....

Poll

Who will win on October 17th?

Minnesota

41 votes

Penn State

369 votes

410 votes | Poll has closed

Nitt Picks Is Ignoring His Honey Do List

BSD — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:24:27 -0000

If the wife had her druthers I would be hanging curtains in the master bathroom right now, but I'm a man. I'm 35 years old. I do what I want to do. I'll get to the curtains as soon as this Nitt Picks is finished, or as soon as she gets back from Target with more curtain rods to hang. Whichever comes first.

There's still some good stuff leaking out from the Lift for Life event on Friday, and Donnie Collins from Blog Sweat & Tears is knocking it out of the park. First he gives us a bunch of his impressions and tells a hilarious story from about five years ago when they set up a mock LFL for media members to get a taste of what it's like. Collins was one of ten guys to give it a shot, and it was harder than he thought.

At the time, I considered myself a man in really great shape. I was in the gym every night at work. I was as strong as I had ever been. And I looked at the stations and what was being asked of us and thought, "No problem." Well, the first event was the leg press. I forget what number I did, but I'm sure it was the best score among the competitiors. The next event, we carried 45-pound plates for as long as we could, back and fourth across the gym.

By the third event, I wished I had never been born.

By the last one, which was the versaclimber, I couldn't even feel my legs. If I had my choice, I'd have quit after about 15 seconds. I forget who it was -- be it John Thomas or one of the players -- pretty much demanded I go for a minute. I did, and then as I collapsed to the ground like a sack of potatoes falling into a grocery cart, whoever was there spotting said to me, "You know, you can throw up if you want. It happens a lot. Perfectly natural." I didn't, which I guess I'm proud of.

On top of that entertaining read, BS&T offers up a bunch of audio interviews you should really take the time to listen to.

Jack Crawford talks about how he went from playing basketball and boxing in Great Britain to becoming a football star in America.

Knowledge Timmons talks about the state of State's secondary.

Matt McGloin says he's ready to be the backup quarterback.

And finally, Stephfon Green talks as fast as he runs.

In other news, the Reading Eagle has an exclusive interview with Joe Paterno worth the read. I especially liked reading this part. (Emphasis mine)

I still got that Southern Cal loss in my craw. We didn't play well, and we didn't coach well. I don't think we did a good job out there. There were some extenuating circumstances. Cry said the wolf. No, I'm not content. The minute you get content, you better get out of it. The other guy's not sitting around feeling sorry for me. I'm looking forward to a tough season. I like our team. We have a long way to go. We have a lot of hard work ahead.

It's pretty rare to see Joe Paterno say he likes his team in July. In fact I can only think of two occasions when Joe Paterno has talked so highly of his team before the season started. The first was in 1994, and the other was last year. The master of motivation usually likes to downplay his strengths and focus on his weaknesses when talking to the media. I take this to be a very good sign for 2009.

In basketball news, the CDT does an article talking about PSU basketball commit Taran Buie and the amazing summer he's having playing against some of the best college and NBA players in the country.

Now if you will excuse me, I think I just heard the garage door open.

Why Does Ohio State Get A Pass?

BSD — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:00:20 -0000

More photos » by Terry Gilliam - AP

Terrelle Pryor: Looking Spectacular in the Spring Game.

Browse more photos »

It's only June, and I'm already getting tired of the Penn State haters. Our offensive line is inexperienced. Our secondary got shredded like coleslaw in the Rose Bowl, and this year we have to play with the coleslaw's backups. We'll miss those great wide receivers. You know, the ones that were supposedly overrated as well as uninspiring and hard to tell apart. But just to cover their bases in case Penn State does put it all together and do well, people are already starting to rip the schedule: a drum beat we're sure to hear from now until next January.

I'm not here to say Penn State is going undefeated. I'm an experienced blogger who has learned to not make crazy predictions like that because some Pitt troll out there is going to bookmark the page and send me the link when we choke in some late October road game. I can deal with the fact Penn State has holes to fill. That's the nature of college football. Every team has holes to fill. But what I don't understand is, why does Ohio State always get a pass?

Every single crackpot preseason poll I've looked at so far ranks the Buckeyes in the top ten and the favorite to win the conference. And what is the general reasoning for this believe? Simply the fact that Terrelle Pryor has improved. For the life of me I can't understand how the Bucknuts have come to this conclusion. Is it because of his performance in the Fiesta Bowl against Texas? My God, he completed five passes for 66 yards against a pass defense that ranked No. 104 in the country. Let's retroactively give him the Heisman. If anyone tries to say he looked great in the spring game I'll just laugh. I can remember a few years ago Knowledge Timmons had two interceptions and Chris Rogers had three sacks. Neither guy sniffed the starting lineup. Spring games mean nothing.

The Ohio State offense was far from a juggernaut last season. They ranked 76th in total offense and 45th in scoring offense. Now they don't have Beanie Wells to carry them. Their offensive line situation is very similar to ours. They have to replace the left side and some guys on the right are switching around. And while we have to replace our top three receivers, they have to replace their top two, Brian Robiske and Brian Hartline. But hey, everything will be fine, because, you know, Terrelle Pryor will be better. I mean, he has to be, right?

Oh defense the Buckeyes are also very similar to Penn State. They return a scary defensive line, but they also have to replace James "Pile-jumper" Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman. And they lose all Big Ten cornerback Malcolm Jenkins so there are holes to fill there. It's not like their pass defense was all that special last year. They ranked 25th in pass defense and 13th in pass efficiency defense. Penn State ranked 27th and 19th, respectively, despite the Rose Bowl debacle.

Now, Ohio State recruits well and I'm sure they'll fill the holes with very good players. But how can anyone assume they will play as a cohesive unit from the get go? Why are they getting a complete pass on all of this and a top ten ranking while people are lining up to tear down Penn State before the season even starts?

I'm not saying Penn State deserves a top ten ranking. Long time BSD followers will remember my stance on preseason polls. I hate them, and I don't think there should be any poll released until week four or five in the season. But I just don't understand why Ohio State is getting a free pass on all of the talent they have to replace.

Nitt Picks Isn't Quite Awake Yet

BSD — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:48:40 -0000

Just some quick Nitt Picks for you this morning.

There was an article last week about Daryll Clark making an appearance at a charity function. While there he made some comments about the upcoming season.

" I am absolutely confident that [we] can do well again next season. The workouts have been going really well. I will be a captain along with linebacker Sean Lee," said Clark, who was a special guest and honored Thursday night at the annual United Way "Champions Among Us" dinner at Mr. Anthony’s.
But he said there will be challenges. "We have lost a lot of veteran receivers but we still have some [receivers] coming back and also we will have some freshmen."

Nothing earth shattering there. But still nice to read.

It's no secret that Penn State's secondary will determine the success of the team this year. We need some players to step up particularly at cornerback, and last week Rivals had a chance to interview Knowledge Timmons who realizes this season is his last chance to get it done.

"Yes, it is my last year," he said. "I am either going to continue to play football in the NFL or my football career will be over after this year, and I don't want my career to be over. There is a crazy sense of urgency."

For Timmons, that meant an intense winter workout session and spring practice. Solely focusing in on his cornerback skills, Timmons made his best effort at accomplishing the things Paterno zeroed in on for him.

"I got stronger, faster and worked a lot on my cover skills," Timmons said. "I became more of a student of the game. I watch film and watch other guys on the team practice. I put a lot more effort into this spring than my past four seasons. I think I am going to be ready for the season."

Finally, I stumbled upon a Bleacher Report article on the basketball team. By now you should know that this blog takes anything written on the Bleacher Report with a grain of salt. They basically let anyone say anything they want, and you have to know that name of the game is bringing in the traffic hits.

So with that, here is a loosely thrown together Bleacher Report post on the basketball program. I'm not exactly sure what the point of the article is. I can't tell if it was written to mock Penn State...

"We're No. 66!"

Penn State received the wonderful honor of winning the postseason tournament that declares them the 66th best team in the country.

Or rip Ed DeChellis...

While DeChellis has been a splendid ambassador for the school and the program, he must use this newfound success and turn it into better players. He needs to move this program a step forward.

But DeChellis has never figured out how to bring big-time players into Happy Valley. He has to compete with Big East schools located in every direction imaginable for players. He has yet been able to lure players to compete in the slower, more boring brand of basketball that is the Big Ten instead of the more up-tempo, offensive minded style of the Big East.

What's with this "newfound success" business? Did DeChellis just hit the lottery or something? Did the basketball fairy just drop in and give him a 27 win season out of nowhere?

I think Ed has busted his tail on the recruiting trail and on the practice court and in the film room to take this team from a stinking pile of crap to an NIT championship. To suggest now is the time to move the program "a step forward" is an insult to the previous 1000 miles we've traveled on this journey.

The author does say some nice things about Penn State, but I don't know. When I read through the article it just rubbed me the wrong way much like anything else I've ever read on Bleacher Report.

In Scores of Other Games

Imagine that. They tie the student tickets to the ID cards and demand for tickets goes down.

Myford could not provide exact numbers but said "just under 40,000" students registered this year, while "more than 40,000" students registered last year. There are only 22,000 tickets available for students every year.

He believes the change this year from paper tickets to storing tickets on student ID cards is responsible for the decrease in pre-registration. It eliminated students who were purchasing tickets only to resell them for profit, he said.

Florida State is still fighting their sanctions.

Spring Game Wrap-Up Mothership

Run Up The Score — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:23:45 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

7 months ago: Penn State coach Joe Paterno pauses during a news conference before the Blue and White spring scrimmage football game at Penn State in State College, Pa., Saturday, April, 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Browse more photos »

All the news and notes you can stomach about Saturday's Blue-White game. If you find any articles or videos of interest, please add them to the comments:

Rest assured, Daryll Clark is still very good.

Graham Zug continues his intergalactic award tour, capturing the Red Worrell Award for most-improved player in spring practice.

The Harrisburg Patriot-News' Bob Flounders and the Philly Inquirer's Jeff McLane (who is leaving the PSU beat to be an Eagles writer) yuck it up after the game.

The York Daily Record brags on its two hometown Nittany Lion reps, Knowledge Timmons and Chaz Powell.

FOS has a rather extensive report on the PSU offense.

The Pocono Record examines PSU's backup quarterback situation.

JayPa says that if disaster struck tomorrow, Newsome is your #2 QB, though McGloin is "2A".

Details of Navorro Bowman's incident are filtering out -- seems he flunked a school-administered drug test. Joe Paterno is taking a "wait and see" approach with Bowman, who has had a rather rough year.

The Allentown Morning Call has video/audio of the action, along with a report of a very happy Joe Paterno.

Finally, over ten minutes of tailgating video from some fine, upstanding gentlemen. Deep-frying and drunken nail-hammering is prominently involved:

The Tailgate Scene (via WWTLBlog)