January 2009 Archives

Nittany Lion center A.Q. Shipley and quarterback Daryll Clark are nominees for the prestigious Pittsburgh-area Dapper Dan Awards.

Shipley, a graduating senior, is one of six nominees for the 2008 Sportsman of the Year. Clark, a senior this fall, is one of four nominees for the Breakthrough Athlete award.

And Penn State senior volleyball player Christa Harmotto is one of four nominees for Sportswoman of the Year.

Penn State received a verbal commitment this week from Olney, Md. cornerback Michael Wallace -- and is now just waiting on his teammate and good friend.

Wallace is about 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds and also had offers from New Mexico, Army, New Hampshire and Towson -- and is not nearly as coveted as teammate Jelani Jenkins, regarded as possibly the top linebacker in the nation.

Jenkins will decide between Penn State, Florida, USC, Notre Dame and Stanford on Feb. 4.

Larry Johnson, Penn State's top recruiter and standout defensive line coach, has turned down an impressive offer from the University of Illinois to remain with the Nittany Lions, according to several media outlets.

Johnson, who is responsible for landing about half of Penn State's current recruiting class of 23 high school stars, interviewed at Illinois last weekend and then reportedly met with Penn State's Joe Paterno on Wednesday.

 

It appears that that highly-anticipated decision concerning Penn State assistant coach and ace recruiter Larry Johnson will be known soon, maybe as early as today.

For the past week, Johnson has been linked to accepting a significant pay raise and at least sharing defensive coordinator duties at the University of Illinois. He interviewed there last weekend.

 

 

Five more Nittany Lions will be playing in yet another all-star game.

It's the third Texas vs. The Nation All-Star Challenge on Jan. 31 at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

Receiver Jordan Norwood and cornerback Lydell Sargeant will star for the Texas team -- which requires only very loose connections to the state. (Norwood lived there for a spell and his father now coaches at Baylor; Sargeant, an army brat, must have spent at least a little time there).

Obviously, something may have changed the mind of Penn State ace recruiter Larry Johnson in the past year.

Reports are swirling that he is preparing to interview for a defensive line coaching position -- the same one he does now -- at the University of Illinois. Fighting Illini head coach Ron Zook also needs a recruiting coordinator and could, possibly, move Johnson into a co-coordinator position.

But consider what Johnson had to say a year ago at a Big 33 function in Camp Hill:

Six former Nittany Lions are still alive in the NFL playoffs  --  including Tennessee Titan starting quarterback Kerry Collins.

Collins, in his 14th NFL season, has led the Titans to a 13-3 record, the AFC South title and the No. 1 playoff seed in the AFC.

Meanwhile, the New York Giants feature offensive tackle Kareem McKenzie and defensive tackle Jay Alford. McKenzie anchors a line that led the NFL in rushing yards per game (157.4) this season and Alford is member of the d-line rotation, recording 15 tackles and 2.5 sacks this year.

 

Steel-High's Jordan Hill, the Class A co-player of the year in Pennsylvania, recently became Penn State's 23^rd verbal commitment for its 2009 class.

The 6-foot-3, 280-pound defensive tackle and all-state honoree de-committed from Rutgers to accept the Penn State offer. He helped lead the Rollers to a state title this fall.

 

 

Gordon Smith of York: "Was that PSU ... or PU. Whew, that was pitiful. That Big Ten just gets worse and worse."

Jim Beveridge of York: "As I said before, the forward pass is easy. Another game of over 400 yards in the air. Of course, if you play pass coverage like Penn State did, you make it ridiculously easy."

Glenn Medice of York: "To the point: No halftime adjustments on defense, and no apparent urgency to get back into the game on offense. Memo to JoePa: No-Huddle."

To read more about local fans and the Rose Bowl experience, see this story.

 

One thing we didn't truly have a chance to examine justly in our print coverage of the Rose Bowl was the stunning passing performance by USC quarterback Mark Sanchez.

The numbers, by themselves, are impressive enough: 28-of-35 passing for 413 yards and four touchdowns.

But then realize that his yardage is second all-time in Rose Bowl history, behind only Oregon Danny O'Neil's 456  --  also against Penn State, though the Lions at least won that one.

 

It's difficult to beat the atmosphere of the Rose Bowl.

Towering palms and pines rising up beyond the top of the stadium walls. Stucco villas tucked away in the hills behind that. And the San Gabriel Mountains looming over all of it, bigger than just about anything else around here.

Except for that perfect blue sky to frame it all.

And did we mention temperatures hitting 70 degrees, no need for glass or tarps to enclose the press box on this day?

 

 

The buzz here is building quickly 30 minutes before kickoff in the Rose Bowl.

 

Enough Penn State fans have already filed in to create a mini-whiteout through one-quarter of the stadium.

And one of the tunnels leading into the grand old place?

 

An excerpt from a story by The Associated Press on Derrick Williams:

Even more telling, though, might be the attention Derrick Williams gets from opposing coaches when they game plan. USC coach Pete Carroll compared Penn State's use of Williams to how the Trojans used Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush all over the field earlier this decade.

"He's the problem for us," Carroll said of Williams. "One guy does the job of two, three guys, then it causes problems and you have to call defenses that can capture all of that and it restricts you some."

Less than an hour before kickoff, here are some "expert" picks on the big game, from Rivals.com scribes:

 Olin Buchanan: USC 20, Penn State 14
 Tom Dienhart: Penn State 17, USC 14 
 David Fox: USC 31, Penn State 21 
 Mike Huguenin: USC 20, Penn State 16
 Steve Megargee: USC 20, Penn State 17

The past 16 hours definitely have been rough on the Penn State media covering the Rose Bowl.

 

Somehow, more than 20 of the contingent became ill on New Year's Eve and through New Year's Day morning  --  and it doesn't seem to have anything to do with adult beverages.

 

Daryll Clark already received a special Christmas present  --  and now he hope it brings him some New Year's luck, too.

 

The Penn State quarterback has been reunited with his older brother, DeJuan, who lives about 50 minutes from Los Angeles, where Clark and his Nittany Lion teammates have spent the past 10 days preparing for the Rose Bowl.