Most decidedly NOT Mississippi State. Even with everything that's come out in the last month, this is still Penn State. If guys like Mullen and Sumlin are the best we can do, then this new committee should just hand the keys to Tom Bradley right now.

I simply cannot believe that guys like Mullen or Sumlin would even be considered for this job. This is one of the top 10 winningest programs of all time. You don't (or at least you shouldn't) just bring in some also ran from Houston or Mississippi State to run this program.

This is just my opinion here, but if you can't get an ELITE coach now, then give Bradley his shot. By doing so, you won't alienate large swaths of the fanbase, you preserve some of the tradition, and hopefully, you can still salvage at least a solid portion of what was once a solid recruiting class. An maybe, just maybe, he can hang on to some of the better assistants we have in LJ Sr. or Vanderlinden.

And sadly, I don't know if there are any elite coaches out there right now. And I'm not sure I'd call Tony Dungy elite, although I'm not quite sure where that pipe dream came from.

But I fear for the worst. The decision-making process from everyone at Penn State in the last month has been atrocious. I fear that the decision makers want Bradley gone because he was part of the staff, and that's wrong, and frankly, just stupid. But this is where we're at. A month ago, I was optimistic. Curley had hit home runs with Sanderson and Coquese Washington, and Pat Chambers looks like a good hire, too. Three years ago, I couldn't have imagined having confidence in Curley, but I did on Nov. 3. Then we find out that he allegedly perjured himself, and what's worse, it appears that he tried to pull the rug over some particularly heinous crimes.

And now we're left with this committee to name the next Penn State football coach. It's a big responsibility. And it will be a HUGE mistake to settle for someone like Mullen or Sumlin just for the sake of cleaning house.

 As the season approaches, several outlets have discussed Evan Royster and his legacy at Penn State. Barring injury, he'll become the all-time leading rusher at a school that has produced some outstanding (at least at the college level) tailbacks.

So how does Royster measure up? Is he as good as Lenny Moore and Lydell Mitchell? John Cappelletti? Curt Warner, D.J. Dozier and Blair Thomas? Ki-Jana Carter or Curtis Enis? Larry Johnson or Tony Hunt? Some pretty good running backs here.

It's tough to weigh exactly how good Royster is. I will say this, however. What Royster lacks in flashiness, he makes up for in reliability. He won't break many 60 or 70-yard runs, but he'll consistently move the pile forward, a few yards at a time. You won't see him make a bad cut and end up losing three yards very often.I remember in the late 90s and early 2000s, Eric McCoo used to drive me insane by running up to the line up scrimmage, and then STOPPING, before starting
back up again and running parallel to the line of scrimmage and getting dragged down for a three-yard loss.

Royster doesn't do that. I like how he runs up the back of an offensive lineman if the running lane hasn't opened up. And then, he often pops out the other side for a five-yard gain. On paper, Royster matches up fairly evenly with many of the greats named above. He may
have had more games than Warner or Blair Thomas. But he also has only four career games with more than the benchmark of 20 carries (21 against Purdue in 2007, 26 against Iowa in 2008, 23 against Minnesota in 2009
and 20 against Michigan in 2009).

Some will use his draft position as a means of comparing him to the other Penn State greats. To me, that's unfair, because he's not a No. 1 pick, and he might not even be a first-round pick. But that shouldn't tarnish what he's done at Penn State.

If Royster puts up another 1,200-yard season with 8 touchdowns, he will have smashed the rushing record book at Penn State. He's not the home run hitter that Ki-Jana Carter was. He may not have been on a national championship team like Warner, Dozier or Thomas. He may not run over defenders like Curtis Enis did. He may not have a 2,000-yard season like LJ did. But he still, in my opinion, deserves to be involved in any discussion of the Penn State greats.

It seems as if some comments here have rankled the undergarments of some of the people over at MGoBlog.

I've been increasingly irritated at Black Shoe Diaries (the guy who posts as BSD, not the whole blog) for his insistence that having a redshirt freshman who couldn't hit Charlie Weis—miss you, big guy xoxo—in three tries neck-and-neck with a walk-on is a JUST FINE quarterback situation THANK YOU, but this has gone from standard-issue fan denial to plain old insanity

It's sweet that our Michigan friends our  are concerned about what they perceive as our dire situation under center, but I'm not convinced things are going to be all that bad.

I mean, it's not like we're going to be trotting out Nick Sheridan (=DEATH) or Steven Threet when we open against Youngstown State in four weeks.

In don't think any Penn State fan is expecting Newsome to pick up where Clark left off, and I'm fairly certain the coaches aren't either. I'm also confident that they're not going be asking Newsome win many games.

At crux of the idea is what Newsome did last year and in the spring game, which at this point, is ridiculous. If we're going to use that  argument, then Michigan has concerns of its own. (Anyone remember Denard Robinson's performance against Penn State last year?) If we're going to use the spring game as a measuring stick, then Forcier and Robinson were going up against Michigan's defense (without Brandon Graham). Nuff said.

Look, I'm not delusional (OK, maybe a little bit) but I'm not expecting any more than eight wins this season. And I expect to attribute at least some of the blame for the losses on quarterback play, whether it be Newsome or McGloin (or perhaps, eventually, Bolden or Jones).  Newsome is only a sophomore, and his game experience, is rather limited. The talent amassed around the quarterback, and on the defensive side of the ball, dictates that this will be a solid, if unspectacular team. We'll see flashes of brilliance, and we'll undoubtedly see some "I want to kick the dog" moments.

But I'm still optimistic, and am not ready to write off any of our quarterbacks without seeing them get a least a little meaningful playing time. Like I said, for me, eight wins is the goal. Nine would be great, but I'm not counting on it. Anything more than that, as big of a homer as I am, I would be flat-out stunned.

Rumor is that offensive lineman Khamrone Kolb committed after the Minnesota game on Saturday. I think this is the 20th commitment for the 2010 class, but I'm not sure. This kid has been kind of under the radar, but I think it's a solid get, nonetheless. Nothing like adding depth on the offensive line.  I'd be interested to see the breakdown goes, and how many scholarships we have let available. Some 5th year kids probably won't be back next year.