September 2009 Archives

Linebacker Sean Lee said this morning that he probably won't know for a few more days if he'll be able to play in Saturday's game at Illinois.

He does know this, though: That when he can play again that he'll be doing it with a brace on that knee, probably for the rest of the season.

Lee, a senior, sprained the knee during the Temple game and missed the loss to Iowa. He did not practice on Monday, either.

"It's getting better every day," he said. "I've been rehabbing every day, non-stop. ... Some of it is just time to let it heal"

Though he just began jogging again, "as the knee gets better each day it's going to feel more normal."

Frank Bodani is once again here to answer your Penn State football questions at 8 p.m. Monday.

Read Frank's Monday column here.

Watch Frank and Jim's postgame comments live from the field at Beaver Stadium.

We'll see you at 8 p.m.

Well, it was a wet, white and woeful night here at Beaver Stadium as 109,316 fans saw No 4/5 Penn State (3-1) get upset by Iowa, 21-10. The Nittany Lions scored on their first play from scrimmage on a 79-yard pass play to Chaz Powell. A field goal on the next drive and that's all they would get. Iowa blocked a punt and intercepted Daryll Clark three times to get its seventh win in eight tries against the Lions.

Below you'll find videos of a postgame roundup video from York Daily Record reporters Frank Bodani and Jim Seip as well as Joe Paterno's post-game press conference and raw footage of Chaz Powell's touchdown catch.

Be sure to check the YDR's Penn State page as well as this blog for much more content regarding Saturday's win.

Also, please log on next week for another live multimedia chat when Penn State tries to rebound in its first road game of the season -- a 3:30 kickoff at Illinois.

Welcome to the York Daily Record's fourth Penn State live chat of the season. The No. 5/4 Nittany Lions (3-0) will face their toughest test of the season thus far in the Big 10 opener against Iowa (3-0) at 8 p.m. at a rainy, wet, Beaver Stadium. It's Penn State's only night game of the season and the battle between the undefeated rivals will be televised nationally on ABC.

Join our live chat to comment, view photos, vote on polls and see live streaming coverage of Joe Paterno's press conference here.

Check out a pregame video featuring Frank Bodani and Jim Seip of the York Daily Record/Sunday News before the game at a rainy Beaver Stadium.

Chaz Powell's 79-yard touchdown catch and run on Penn State's first play from scrimmage.

Watch how you ask Joe Paterno about his poor kickoff return production.

I did just that this past week.

And pretty much got slammed for it.

With a little less than 90 minutes to go before game time, the rain is falling heavy and the white tarp finally just got rolled off the Beaver Stadium field.

Soon enough we'll see how the conditions will affect the Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes.

About one-quarter of the student section is filled, most everyone keeping to the "whiteout" theme, wearing white ponchos or white trash bags or just their white T-shirts.

The rest of the stadium is pretty much empty.

The first Lion on the field warming up could be one of their most important on this kind of night -- all-star punter Jeremy Boone.

Welcome to the York Daily Record's fourth Penn State live chat of the season. The No. 5/4 Nittany Lions (3-0) will face their toughest test of the season thus far in the Big 10 opener against Iowa (3-0) at 8 p.m. at Beaver Stadium. It's Penn State's only night game of the season and the battle between the undefeated rivals will be televised nationally on ABC. Iowa is coming off an impressive win against Arizona, 27-17.

Penn State leads the all-time series, 11-10, but has only won three times in the last 10 meetings between the teams (once in the last seven meetings), including last season's 24-23 defeat and a memorable/painful 6-4 loss in 2004.

Linebacker Sean Lee is doubtful for tonight's game, but Navorro Bowman is expected to play if he feels well enough.

Check out a pregame video featuring Frank Bodani and Jim Seip of the York Daily Record/Sunday News before the game at a rainy Beaver Stadium.

For more coverage leading up to the Nittany Lions' fourth-straight home game, here are some links:

Find out why Penn State QB Daryll Clark can't wait to get a second crack at beating the Hawkeyes. On the other side, Iowa field general Ricky Stanzi has nerves of steel at the end of games. Here's some tailgate tails from Iowa. And a breakdown of the game by Frank Bodani can be found here.

Stick with us all night as we've got you covered regarding everything PSU, including live photo and video updates throughout the game. You're welcome and encouraged to comment on what you see/read.

We'll also provide a live streaming video feed of Joe Paterno's post-game press conference. Here's the link for the live steam: Live Stream.

And check out the video below for Penn State players offering their thoughts on the best place to play in the Big 10. Also, posted below this entry on the blog are two entertaining videos about the student section by visual editor Brad Jennings.

YDR/SN visual editor Brad Jennings captured the excitement and energy of the students at Beaver Stadium. Are you among them?

Plus they do the wave.

Frank Bodani and Dave Sottile talk about this weekend's matchup with Iowa.

What have we learned about Penn State in the three warmup games? Listen to the podcast to find out. Oh yeah, and more talk about Josh Hull's mustache.

It seems even more likely now that star linebacker Navorro Bowman will be ready to play on Saturday against Iowa, despite his nagging groin injury.

The problem is that All-America teammate Sean Lee isn't so sure of himself.

While Lee said this morning that Bowman looked good in practice on Tuesday, he admitted that he's uncertain whether doctors will give him the OK to play on Saturday because of a sprained knee.

Lee did not practice on Monday or Tuesday and said he is resting and rehabbing the knee in order to try and play against the undefeated Hawkeyes.

"If I'm not moving well and playing at 100 percent the doctors won't put me out there," said Lee, also an outside linebacker. "I would love to be out there, especially in this game. You don't get to play in very many like this, but it's strictly up to the docs."

As for Bowman, who practiced again on Tuesday after missing nearly all of the first three games, "He looked very good. He looked like his normal self," Lee said. "He looked comfortable, he looked great out there."

Joe Paterno said he's still unsure whether injured star linebackers Navorro Bowman and Sean Lee will be able to play on Saturday against Iowa.

Bowman, who has missed three-straight games with a groin injury, worked through about one-third of practice on Monday.

But Paterno said he'll be anxious to see how Bowman's injury responds today in practice, "to see if that thing got sore or not, whether he can go a little bit more today.

"You don't want to stick him in there when he's not really 100 percent because that's such a tough position, so many people come at you all the time as a linebacker. You'd hate to have him get an injury because he can't move as well as he should."

Lee suffered a sprained knee against Temple, his status also uncertain for Saturday night.

"That's a day-by-day thing," Paterno said. "He tells you he's going to make it, but he's not the doctor. He's so determined to play, but I really don't know.

"You keep your fingers crossed that maybe you're going to have one or both of them."

Expect star linebacker Navorro Bowman to make his return to the field on Saturday against undefeated Iowa, according to one of his teammates.

Bowman has missed the first three games with a groin injury, but he practiced well on Monday, said fellow linebacker Josh Hull.

Bowman's presence on Saturday, especially if he is close to 100 percent, would be a big lift for a defense that could be missing All-America linebacker Sean Lee, who has a knee injury.

Bowman is the fastest linebacker on the field for the Lions.

"He did everything at practice," Hull said. "He looks real explosive and changed directions real well. If his health continues as it is today I would expect him to be starting on Saturday."

Lee's status, meanwhile, seems more uncertain. He suffered the injury against Temple this past Saturday.

"They might have to put some chains on him and chain him to the bench,"
to keep him out of the Iowa game, Hull said with a laugh.

But, "his status is still up in the air right now. ... He did not practice yesterday, and we're going to leave it at that."

Frank Bodani is once again here to answer your Penn State football questions at 8 p.m. Monday.

Read Frank's Monday column here.

Watch Frank and Steve's postgame comments live from the field at Beaver Stadium.

We'll see you at 8 p.m.

Penn State (3-0) got its third win of the season in as many games with a 31-6 victory against Temple (0-2) at Beaver Stadium. Below you'll find videos with Joe Paterno's post-game press conference as well as a postgame roundup video from York Daily Record reporters Frank Bodani and Steve Navaroli.

Be sure to check the YDR's Penn State page as well as this blog for much more content regarding Saturday's win.

Also, please log on next week for another live multimedia chat when Penn State takes on Iowa at Beaver Stadium at 8:00 p.m. in the Big 10 opener.

Welcome to the York Daily Record's third Penn State live chat of the season. The No. 5/5 Nittany Lions (2-0) will face perhaps their weakest opponent of the season in Temple University (0-1) at noon at Beaver Stadium. Temple was idle last week after losing its opener at Lincoln Financial Field, 27-24, to Villanova.

For more coverage leading up to the Nittany Lions' third-straight noon home game, here are some links. Find out why Temple may be the most interesting team in the nation. Or what to expect from Penn State in its final tuneup game. Or Joe Paterno's bathroom musings and thoughts on a new name for Beaver Stadium.

Stick with us all afternoon as we've got you covered regarding everything PSU, including live photo and video updates throughout the game. You're welcome and encouraged to comment on what you see/read.

We'll also provide a live streaming video feed of Joe Paterno's post-game press conference, which is sure to be entertaining (as evidenced by the story link above).

And check out the video below for Penn State players offering their thoughts on the best places to eat in State College.

Preview Saturday's game with the Temple Owls with the latest edition of the Penn State podcast, featuring York Daily Record/Sunday News staff members Frank Bodani and Dave Sottile.

Frank Bodani is yet again ready to talk about Penn State football. The Nittany Lions beat Syracuse as expected last week, but there are still some holes in their game.

There are still lessons to be learned. The running game has some kinks to work out. But Graham Zug has been coming along nicely.

Next week is Temple. Frank's here tonight to answer your questions. (NOTE: If something other than the chat window comes up in this post, please refresh your browser.)

Penn State (2-0) got its second win of the season in as many games with a 28-7 victory against Syracuse (0-2) at Beaver Stadium. Below you'll find videos with Joe Paterno's post-game press conference as well as a postgame roundup video from York Daily Record reporters Frank Bodani and Steve Navaroli.

Be sure to check the YDR's Penn State page as well as this blog for much more content regarding Saturday's win.

Also, please log on next week for another live multimedia chat when Penn State takes on Temple University at Beaver Stadium at 12 noon.

Welcome to the York Daily Record's second Penn State live chat of the season. The No. 5/7 Nittany Lions (1-0) will face a storied rival in Syracuse University at 12 noon at Beaver Stadium. Former Duke basketball standout Greg Paulus will start his second game at quarterback for the Orange under first-year head coach Doug Marrone.

Penn State's got quite a history against the Orange, and leads the all-time series 41-23-5. The Nittany Lions have won eight of the last 10 meetings between the schools, most recently a 53-13 rout last season.

Stick with us all afternoon as we've got you covered regarding everything PSU, including live photo and video updates throughout the game. You're welcome and encouraged to comment on what you see/read.

We'll also provide a live streaming video feed of Joe Paterno's post-game press conference, which is sure to be entertaining.

Daily Record/Sunday News Penn State beat reporter Frank Bodani and copy editor (and Nittany Lion) Dave Sottile talk about the pros and cons of Week 1 and look forward to Week 2 in this week's Penn State podcast.

Listen to it here, or download it for your mp3 player.

Penn State fans,

Frank Bodani's live chat will be tonight at 8 p.m.

There's plenty to talk about, with mixed success against Akron and today's new football poll. (With Penn State leaping over Ohio State, mind you.)

Also, here's Frank's Monday column.

Here are some post-game notes from Penn State after the Lions' 31-7 season-opening win over Akron.

• Penn State improved to 102-19-2 (83.7) in season openers, having won
its last eight, 17 of the last 19 and improving to 37-7 (84.1) under
Joe Paterno in openers. The Lions are now 110-12-1 in home openers all
time.

More stats on the jump

Penn State opened its season with a 31-7 win against Akron at Beaver Stadium. Below you'll find a video with defensive highlights as well as a postgame roundup video from York Daily Record reporters Frank Bodani and Steve Navaroli.

Be sure to check the YDR's Penn State page as well as this blog for much more content regarding Saturday's game.

Also, please log on next week for another live multimedia chat when Penn State takes on Syracuse University at Beaver Stadium at 12 noon.

Hey all,

Hope you all enjoyed our live chat and Penn State's win over Akron. Here's JoePa's post game thoughts.

Welcome to the York Daily Record's first live chat of the season. The Nittany Lions (0-0) will kick-off their 2009 campaign against the Akron Zips (0-0) at 12 noon. Be sure to stick around for live photo and video updates throughout the game and comment on what you see/read. We'll keep you posted with in-depth analysis and game action from Beaver Stadium.

Penn State moved to 4-0 against Akron all-time with a 31-7 victory in the first game of the season. Penn State is now 1-0, winning behind a 353-yard, 3-touchdown passing performance by Daryll Clark. Akron fell to 0-1 and managed 28 rushing yards in the game.

Depth charts are what they are: flimsy, light-weight reading to be used as a guide-point and nothing more.

So that takes us to Penn State's first official depth chart of the season, released on Monday. Mostly, it is ho-hum stuff with all of the expected sightings.

There are a few things worth noting, though. Like the starting wide receivers, which has junior Brett Brackett ahead of Susquehannock's own Chaz Powell. Powell didn't make much of it when he talked with us briefly on Monday evening. He said he was still running with the first team.