Susquehannock grad Chaz Powell is seen slapping hands with fans in the Penn State student section right in front of a sign some of his fellow students made in his honor.
The redshirt freshman saw action early in Saturday night's win over Illinoi, which indicates that he has earned the confidence of Lion coaches after scoring two touchdowns in Penn State's first four games.
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JoePa watched the Lions from the press box after halftime.
Joe Paterno gave little information Saturday when asked, once again, about the status of starting defensive linemen Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma. The two have missed three-straight games after police found a small amount of marijuana in the apartment registered to them.
"Do you know what they were charged with?" Paterno asked a reporter with some sarcasm and to make a point. "A misdemeanor.
"We'll see what happens. I don't know what's going to happen. The ball's not in my court right now, OK?"
Slowed momentarily: Saturday marked the first time Penn State was held scoreless in the first quarter this season.
But the Lions did end up with 45, giving them 211 points in the first four games, the most in the program's 122 years. The 1994 team scored 210 in its first four games.
ESPN The Magazine has declared that Penn State owns the best football student section in the nation.
In the categories that determine the overall winner, Penn State ranked No. 1 for "most fun," No. 2 for "most creative" and No. 4 for "loudest."
Finish reading 'PSU's student section is No. 1' »Two former Nittany Lions who recently left the team have apparently found new football homes.
Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Josh Marks is reportedly enrolling at Pitt. Coach Joe Paterno announced last Friday that Marks had left the team for undisclosed reasons. He was expected to battle for a key backup spot this fall.
Finish reading 'Former Lions find new homes' »It didn't take long for Chris Baker to find another football team.
The redshirt junior who was thrown off the team for good last week, will play football at Division I-AA Hampton University in Virginia.
Finish reading 'Baker finds a new home?' »The losses are coming on offense this week.
Though not as critical as last week's departures of starting defensive tackles Chris Baker and Phil Taylor, Penn State still is practicing without two offensive linemen.
Redshirt freshman Josh Marks and junior college transfer Nerraw McCormack both apparently have had problems meeting the physical conditioning requirements for preseason practice.
The upcoming Penn State football season is sold-out at Beaver Stadium.
For the second-straight year, more than 93,500 season tickets have been sold. More than 15,000 student season tickets for freshmen, sophomore and juniors sold out in about three minutes during each sale in June.
All Penn State club seats and "roar suites" also are sold out for the 2008 season.
Though Penn State football officials aren't offering a clear explanation for the dismissal of defensive tackles Chris Baker and Phil Taylor this week, police are investigating two recent incidents that may have involved them and other players.
Both players had been previously suspended from the team -- Taylor also was temporarily expelled from the university -- for their roles in fights over the past 15 months.
Finish reading 'It's official: Penn State players gone' »
Maybe this really is the end for Penn State defensive tackles Phil Taylor and Chris Baker.
According to a source close to the team, as well as FightOnState.com, Joe Paterno told his team during a squad meeting on Tuesday that he was permanently dismissing both players.
Both promising linemen had been involved in high-profile fights during the past two years.
Once again, the football season will begin with a "Penn State Football Eve" celebration on Aug. 29, the night before the opener against Coastal Carolina in Beaver Stadium.
The activities outside the stadium will include a barbecue, festival food and a "fan promenade" along Curtain Road at 6 p.m.
The Penn State athletic program was ranked No. 6 nationally by SI.com for 2007-08 -- ahead of every other Big Ten school.
The Nittany Lion sports year included two national volleyball titles and four Big Ten championships.
One exchange from a Joe Paterno question-and-answer session with the Reading Eagle's Rich Scarcella:
Q: Can you picture what Saturdays in the fall would be like for you if you weren't coaching?
A: Geez, I don't even think about that. I haven't gotten the slightest idea what I would do. When it comes time for me to decide I'm going to get out of it, I'll look around. I have very simple tastes. I have a whole bunch of grandkids. They're getting to the point where they're human beings and I'm starting to enjoy them. I don't know what I'm going to do.
The Penn State home football season is nearing a complete sellout with nearly two months to go before the first game.
Tickets are already gone for three of the seven games in Beaver Stadium -- against Oregon State (Sept. 6, 3:30 p.m.), Illinois (Sept. 27, 8 p.m.) and Michigan (Oct. 18, 4:30 p.m.). Tickets are nearly gone for the Indiana game and the season-finale vs. Michigan State.
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Penn State's season-opener against Coastal Carolina on Aug. 30 and the final non-conference game against Temple on Sept. 20 will be televised by the Big Ten Network and will begin at noon.
Both games will be played in Beaver Stadium.
Game times already announced include Oregon State (3:30 p.m., Sept. 6), at Syracuse (3:30, Sept. 13), Illinois (8 p.m., Sept. 27), at Wisconsin (8 p.m., Oct. 11), Michigan (4:30 p.m., Oct. 18) and at Ohio State (8 p.m., Oct. 25).
On the same day, the Nittany Lions received verbal commitments from an extra-large running back and an extra-large offensive tackle to block for him.
Start with the runner.
Curtis Dukes possesses an intriguing combination of size (6-foot-2, 235 pounds) and speed (4.45 40-yard dash), but has impressed against questionable competition in upstate New York -- an area not known nationally for producing high-quality football talent.
He choose Penn State on Wednesday over offers from Pitt, Syracuse, Temple, Buffalo and Villanova.
He might be one of the most underrated tailbacks in the country.
Maybe.
And though it's been talked about for weeks among Nittany Lion diehards, New York's Curtis Dukes still hasn't verbally committed to Penn State.
Not yet, at least.
Former troubled Penn State receiver Chris Bell has transferred to Norfolk State and plans to play this fall for the Division I-AA team, according to HamptonRoads.com.
The Virginia native was one of the nation's top high school receiving recruits when he signed with the Nittany Lions in February of 2005.
Finish reading 'Bell to play for Norfolk State ' »The next several Penn State football schedules have been released.
Well, at least, most of the next several schedules.
The Big Ten parts? They're all there from 2009-2012. And there's some interesting stuff in there.
Like how starting in 2010 the season-finale against Michigan State will move back to Thanksgiving weekend.
And how Michigan will rotate off the schedule again, in 2011 and 2012.
Finish reading 'Breaking down Lions' schedules' »Here's a YouTube clip of the final moments of Penn State's victory over Miami in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl. NBC's Charlie Jones, who died Thursday at age 77, is the play-by-play man here. He's the guy who makes the famous "Intercepted Giftopoulos!" call at the end.
