I just finished watching The Drake on PCN for the PA State AA Championship...and wow what a game!!!  Curtis Drake lost in double overtime to the Wilmington Greyhounds 35-34.  Wilmington is my High School alma mater, so I'm personally not too disappointed.  The Drake played QB and he is a great athlete.  He was making people miss all game.  However he did have a case of the dropsies.  He also threw two picks in the game.  In the first overtime West Catholic and The Drake scored easily from the 10 yard line (PA High School football overtime, start on the 10 yard line everytime).  Then Wilmington struggled uuntil it was 4th and 16.  Then Wilmington's QB (Shane Wagner -#11) dropped back and had an AMAZING scramble for the TD.  He broke some ankles on that scramble.  The second overtime had Wilmington score easily, and so did West Catholic.  But West Catholic gambled and went for two (don't agree with the call, because the the 3rd OT starts mandatory 2 point conversions).  The Drake made a bootleg to the left and was up-ended on the two and was down at the one giving my high school the win.  Not bad for a small town country school.   

For all of you who watched the game, you probably saw Illinois line up on one side of the field, then run to the middle for the extra point.  I have seen other teams do this before, but I don't know what advantages it has.  Can anyone who has a bigger football IQ than me, tell me why teams do it?  The only thing I can think of, is if the defending team doesn't cover it properly, then the offense can audible to a two point conversion quickly.

Rumor has it the Ta(in)te committed to Michigan.  If this is true then damn, we lost another one.  He probably saw how terrible Michigan looked and saw immediate playing time.  Supposedly there is another talented junior QB playing at a high school in Pittsburgh that is interested in us.  Sounds very familiar.  Anyone hear anything about it?

"When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellency becomes a reality." - Joe Paterno

I know a lot of people don't agree with the star rankings, but rivals.com reviewed (who they think are) the top 40 high schools players in PA.  I looked at this list and am shocked at the results.  Only three recruits in the top 25 are headed to PSU.  I know we are slowly recruiting nationally, but it still shocks me at the lack of Pennsylvania natives enrolling for JoePa.  Thoughts?

http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?ra_key=2219

So it's Sunday and I'm bored out of my mind.  I just finished reading a college football "preview," and thought if I write a long post about my thoughts on the upcoming season.  Feel free to read all of them or none of my thoughts.  All of the following is my opinion and mine alone. 

1.  I think Penn State has the POTENTIAL to go 11-1 this season.  If you match up player for player with all the other teams on our schedule, only one college has more quality players than PSU.  I also believe that potential is a good thing but reality is different, therefore I am predicting a two loss season with a Capitol One Bowl appearance.  My guess on the second loss will be either @Iowa or @ Wisconsin since we never play well outside the Beaver (except for bowls).

2.  I think we have less than a snowballs chance in hell of beating OSU in Columbus.  PSU hasn't beet OSU in Columbus since 1993.  They only lost three starters from last year and they are at home.  That losing streak will continue, however there is another losing streak of PSU's that will end after nine games.

3.  I think James Laurinaitis would have been the second best Linebacker until the injury to Sean Lee.  I also think he was the third best linebacker last year and the Butkis Award was rigged. 

4.  If I had to pick two unknown names from both the offense and defense who would be household names, they would be: offense- Evan Royster, Stephfon Green defense-Bani Gbadyu, Chris Colasani.  I can see Royster and Green being the next great duo of Running Backs for college football.  Royster running over defenses and tiring them out, meanwhile Green will come in and run around the defense.  Gbadyu will lead the team in tackles since he is the will start for the whole season and is the fastest linebacker on the team.  Colasanti, because he will start once we play in the Big 10 foro his athleticism and his name sounds like a great linbacker name.   

 5.  I think our defensive line is the best line in Penn State History, maybe even college football.  I see the starters, the backups, the third stingers (Devon Still, Aaron Maybin) even the ones in the dog house could start on 95% of the other college teams at this point.  I can see PSU averageing over five sacks a game and leading the nation. 

6.  I think if Lydell Sargeant starts at corner, we should give him a stick of butter because he is going to get burned. 

7.  I think Daryll Clark will play 70% of the snaps with Devlin playing 30% throughout the year. 

8.  I think the 2008 recruiting class has some big brass.  I am very excited about: Brandon Beachum (next Tony Hunt, running over players), Jack Crawford (he's huge and has a great motor, even though he hasn't played football for a long time; neither did Tamba Hali), D'Anton Lynn (great athlete who really picked up momentum grabbing offers from big time schools at the end), Michael Mauti (Army All-American who really lit it up with the best), Mike Zordich (loves the game and comes from a father who did pretty good in college and the NFL).  My sleeper pick of the class is Brandon Ware.  If he learns the game he will be a beast who will throw lineman to the turf, but he has to work hard. 

9.  Finally I will conclude with what I think about JoePa.  I think he should retire after the season.  It is time for this team to turn a new leaf.  That being said I wouldn't mind if he stayed for ten more years.  I mean how many times do you get to watch a living legend.  He may be past his prime, but how many times does it bring a smile to your face when he gives it to a ref?  Watching him on the sideline is like watching Cal Ripken Jr. at the end of his career.  He was starting to lose it, but once he is gone, he's never coming back.  That's it. 

Once again sorry for the rant about random Penn State topics.  Feel free to criticize me and say how much of an idiot I am, but I love this site, I love tlaking about sports and most of all I love Penn State. 

Go State, Beat Chanticleers 

Just wanted to share that I ran into LaVar Arrington last night when I could barely walk.  I just finished a bar tour and tried to take a picture with him and totally missed.  I was ticked.  He still looks huge and intimidating.  However, the reason I'm writing is I heard from a friend he was here buying the old Sports Cafe.  Does anyone know anything about this rumor?  I would love to get another shot at getting a picture with him.