SILVER LINING

Back in August, Penn State fans envisioned that the Lions' game against Michigan State this weekend would be nothing more than a coronation. Beating the Spartans would be the final touch on a sparkling undefeated season that landed Penn State back in Pasadena. Instead, after a season that has been devoid of impressive wins and signature moments, the game is a chance to beat a bowl-eligible team, perhaps earn a share of the conference title and strengthen the Lions' shaky BCS resume. Still, despite falling short of expectations, this season has been a fun one for Penn State and its fans. Each week, the Blue and White faithful not only live and die with each down for their team, but have had a rooting interest in so many otherwise unimportant games.

Consider for a moment the position of a Florida Gators fan (one of my good friends is such a person and gave me the idea for this post). He's enjoyed his program's greatest success the last few years, celebrating two national titles and a 20-game winning streak. He's seen his Gators pulverize the rest of the SEC while being the favorite every time they take the field. Heading into this season, the Gators were easily the top-ranked team in the nation and have known that regardless of what every other team in the country does, all it has to do is win. The only scoreboard that has to be tracked is the one that says "U of F" on it. Sure, it's fun to see if rivals win or lose and the Gator Nation was more than a little curious as to whom it would play in the conference championship game, but outside of those few contests, every other game was completely ancillary.

I am not saying that I wouldn't rather have a Penn State team that was 10-0 right not and ranked first, but given what the Lions are in 2009, I am happy that I get to cheer for all hell to break loose every Saturday. I remember rooting hard against Ole Miss when it was ranked ahead of Penn State and lost on the road to South Carolina, only to freeze in the rain while Penn State blew a fourth quarter lead to Iowa two nights later. Then, as Penn State put together its five-game winning streak, I started to cheer hard against the remaining unbeatens, hoping they would fall back to the Lions and allow Penn State to have an argument to be included in the discussion for the national title. Now, with a possible quarter-share of the Big Ten championship at stake this weekend and a shot at a second-straight BCS berth, this weekend's games will have me glued to my set.

Right now, I am watching Colorado try to hang on for the upset against Oklahoma State, a win that would greatly improve Penn State's chances for a BCS game. I will also, as always, be cheering hard against that four-letter word from western Pennsylvania as it takes on West Virginia and Cincinnati. I'll wish for Utah State to upend Boise State, Minnesota to take down Iowa and Michigan to beat Ohio State. If Penn State were 11-0, I wouldn't care nearly as much about these games, although I would have plane tickets to Pasadena.

There's no arguing that having Penn State in the race for the national title isn't a better scenario than having it fighting for its BCS life, but there's something to be said for how much more invested fans are in all the other games when the Lions need help to get where they're going.

BATTLE OFF AND RUNNING

The Nittany Lion basketball team proved that its game against the Penn Quakers was nothing more than a Training Day, winning its season opener 70-55 on Friday night. Star guard Talor Battle earned much of the Glory, netting 27 points to go along with his 10 rebounds and four assists to lead the team in all three categories.

Junior Jeff Brooks played great as an Inside Man, and was the only other Lion to score in double figures, chipping in ten points in 27 minutes, perhaps showing that this is the year He Got Game. Guards Chris Babb, Tim Frazier, Cameron Woodyard and Adam Highberger shot just 31%, making fans Remember the Titans of last year's sharpshooting backcourt.

Penn, from Philadelphia, hung tough with the Nittany Lions for most of the night, but the Lions showed tremendous Courage Under Fire to pull away with a late surge and win their fifth straight conference opener.

Oh yeah, Denzel Washington was at the game to watch his son, a freshman on the Quakers, play.

5 REASONS TO GET ON BOARD WITH PENN STATE BASKETBALL

The Penn State basketball team opens its 2010 season on Friday night against the University of Pennsylvania at the Bryce Jordan Center. Just in case you were looking for a reason to pay attention to Eddie D and the boys this year, here's your list of five reasons why you should care about Penn State basketball.

5. 15th Anniversary of the Bryce Jordan Center
If you've been to Rec Hall for a game, you'll probably never be convinced that this arena was an upgrade (and a nostalgic part of me doesn't disagree) but the Bryce Jordan Center was unveiled as one of the jewels of college basketball fifteen years ago. In a terrific turn of serendipity, the ribbon-cutting on the state-of-the-art building coincided with one of the best regular seasons in Penn State basketball history. Since then, the teams that have called it home haven't always been great, but the amenities, parking and video boards certainly are. Now, finally, the team promises to be even better than the halftime acts that used to be the main drawing point for half the crowd.

Many jokes have been made about the museum-feeling associated with games in the BJC, but that's more due to the fans and the play on the court than the building itself. Last year, the BJC was host to thrilling wins against George Mason and Illinois and the growing student section has begun to carve out a niche for itself among Big Ten fan bases. Maybe you've been hibernating since the team moved across campus or maybe you were never big into college hoops, but this year is the best time to come and see why, on the BJC's 15th birthday, it was the envy of other schools when it first opened.

4. The Schedule
It took longer than most people would have liked, but the Penn State team has finally made amends for the weak out-of-conference schedules it has played in previous seasons. Whether or not the soft slate was the reason the Lions didn't get invited to the Big Dance last season, this year's campaign is dotted with quality teams. The season opens with Penn and then takes the Lions down to South Carolina for the Charleston Classic that includes South Carolina, Miami (Fl), Davidson, South Florida and UNC Wilmington. Other non-con opponents include Virginia, Temple, Virginia Tech and American University all before a blockbuster Big Ten schedule begins.

3. The Big Ten Network
It was easy to ignore Penn State basketball in years past since it was never actually on television, but now, with the Big Ten network, you can follow the Lions every step of the way. The only game on Penn State's schedule not listed as being televised as of today is the December 5th game on Broad Street in Philadelphia against Temple. You won't have to squint at the box scores to find out what happened to the Lions anymore, just flip on the BTN and watch.

2. You Might Regret it Later if You Don't
Most of today's Penn State football fans weren't around when coach Joe Paterno took the head coaching job in 1966. We've come in at various points throughout his long tenure and relied on videos, books or other fans to fill in the gaps we missed. It is beyond anybody's realistic or even wildest dreams that the basketball program will reach the heights of the football squad, but there's no arguing that this is a program that can succeed and be competitive for NCAA Tournament berths and conference titles every year.

The Lions success last year was hopefully just the beginning of what they can accomplish and the excitement felt by getting on the bandwagon now cannot be replaced by jumping on five years from now when winning is a regularity. There's something special about being around for the start of something important (just ask Ben Franklin and company) as anybody in MSG for the NIT Championship last year will tell you.

1. Talor Battle
He's a beast. Last year as a sophomore, he rose to the top of list of Big Ten guards while leading the Lions to the most regular season wins in school history. Despite being the focal point of every defense he played against, Battle routinely came up with clutch baskets and let the fans know the team was never out of any game it played. The All Big-Ten performer shared the leadership mantle with Jamelle Cornley and fought through a mid-season slump caused by fatigue and personal issues, to lead the team into the post-season. Now that Cornley has gone on to the pros, Battle is the unquestioned leader of this team and he's already proved to the world that he has the skills to be one of the country's best guards.


Battle, the BJC, the BTN, the schedule and beginning of new basketball tradition. If you aren't there to see what this team has in store for fans after the first postseason championship in the program's history, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

MAD ANT FEVER...CATCH IT

Former Penn State basketball standout Jamelle Cornley has been drafted by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Developmental League with the 42nd overall pick. Cornley, who reportedly tinkered with the idea of transitioning to the gridiron after leading the Nittany Lions to an NIT Championship last spring, played briefly with a professional basketball team in the Ukraine before returning to the U.S. last summer.

The three-time MVP of the Nittany Lions basketball team opted to have surgery on his injured shoulder following the 2009 season, limiting his ability to showcase his talent to scouts and coaches in the NBA after a successful college career.

Cornley is one of 17 players who will vie for a spot on the ten-man roster when the NBDL's season begins on November 27th. The Mad Ants will play a preseason game on November 20th in Meadville, PA against the Erie Bayhawks.

THE BALLAD OF OHIOWA

Listen closely and I'll tell you a tale about the 2009 Penn State Nittany Lions. Just stop me if you've heard it before.

A capacity crowd at Beaver Stadium awaits the appearance of its beloved Lions, roaring in anticipation of a Saturday showdown against a Big Ten power. Penn State, highly ranked and riding the momentum of a string of easy victories, has made believers out of pundits and fans alike and enter the game favored to win and expected to take the lead in the race for the conference championship. However, the thousands of home fans go home disappointed as the buildup for the game far outdoes the action on the field. Ultimately, questionable playcalling, poor execution and crippling special teams blunders bury the Lions in a double-digit loss.


This script has been played out twice in the 2009 campaign, once against Iowa on September 26 and again against the Ohio State Buckeyes on November 7. The loss to the Hawkeyes was upsetting but not unfathomable, the loss to Ohio State was puzzling. The Lions led its game against the Hawkeyes into the fourth quarter until a blocked punt gave Iowa the lead and turned the tide of the contest for good. Still, as frustrating as it was, it could have been considered a "quality" loss. The Haweyes were undefeated and ranked fourth in the country until their starting quarterback got hurt and Iowa dream season spoiled against Northwestern. Additionally, the game was played in less than ideal weather conditions and Penn State, although undefeated, still couldn't get out of its own way in its first three games against subpar competition.

Then came the game against Ohio State. The Buckeyes, the recurring antagonist in Penn State's 17 year nightmare, did what they do best against the Lions, dominate. This loss hurt so much more than the Iowa game because I really don't think fans saw it coming. In the five weeks after the loss to the Hawkeyes, Penn State's offense and defense had become downright frightening. Averaging nearly 30 points per game while allowing less than nine, the Lions were a freight train headed straight for the BCS. Not only was the team playing its best football, but the fans had been conditioned to think that this was not like the other Penn State teams. This Lions team had no problems playing on the road, going 7-1 in the last two seasons and had broken out of its funk against Michigan, beating the Wolverines by a combined 54 points in two years. It had even taken down the Buckeyes in the Horseshoe for the first time since joining the conference. This is not to suggest that the 2009 team is the same as the 2008, but this is the Spread HD and Captain Clark, there was no need to fear.

The worst thing about the loss to Ohio State last Saturday, for me, was that it seemed like Penn State didn't know what to expect. It appeared that Penn State wasn't aware that it had huge deficiencies in the special teams game or that Ohio State had a ferocious defense. It's one thing to lose to a superior team when you execute your best, its another thing to lose a game when you commit a crucial mistake but it's an entirely worse thing to come out flat or to look unprepared in a big game.

In its eleven losses against Ohio State, the Lions are averaging just 10.9 points per game and have scored more than 17 only twice. The 24-7 loss to the Buckeyes is what fans should have expected given Penn State's previous performances against Ohio State, but it still defies logic how this particular team's best effort at home only netted seven points.

Perhaps if Clark hadn't been playing some of the best quarterback in the country, perhaps if the running game hadn't found its stride, perhaps if the wide receivers hadn't appeared to have come of age, fans could understand why Saturday happened. Instead, they are left scratching their heads and nursing that all-to-familiar feeling of letdown.

WELCOME TO THE PARTY, TEMPLE

The Floating Lion would like to interrupt your regularly scheduled Penn State content to inform you that Temple, yes Temple, has received one vote in both the AP and Coaches Poll this week. The Owls picked up their sixth straight win since starting the year 0-2 with a win against Navy on Saturday. Congrats to Temple for giving Penn State's non-conference schedule some serious credibility.

CLARK IS ON THE MARK

Daryll Clark continued his strong play on the road on Saturday, leading Penn State to a 34-13 victory over Northwestern in a game that had all the makings of a typical trap game. Sandwiched between the Michigan and Ohio State games, the contest against the Wildcats didn't seem to have the Lions' full attention for the first 45 minutes of the game as the teams were tied at 13 going into the final quarter. Luckily, Penn State took its "Stanzi-pills" and came out with guns blazing in the fourth score 21 unanswered and put the game away.

Clark finished the game 22-31 for 274 yards and two total touchdowns and, perhaps most importantly, no turnovers. Since his poor performance against Iowa in which he tossed three interceptions and completed only 38% of his passes, Clark has been on fire. In the last five games he has connected on 66% of his throws, accounting for 14 total touchdowns and only one turnover. Not surprisingly, the Lions are 5-0 in that stretch with an average victory margin of 27 points.

One reason for the increased success in the aerial attack may be the infusion of Clark's running into the offensive game plan. Nearly 70% of his rushing attempts, 80% of his rushing yards and all of his touchdowns on the ground this season have come in the last five games.

The senior captain's strong performances haven't gone unnoticed as Clark has been named one of 15 semi-finalists for the Davey O'Brien Award and is the only player to be twice-named the Big Ten's offensive player of the week (Akron and Michigan) in 2009.

Still, for all of his success this season, the lasting memory of the 2009 campaign may be crystallized next Saturday when Penn State welcomes the Ohio State Buckeyes to Beaver Stadium. Last season, Clark watched backup quarterback Pat Devlin lead the Lions to a fourth-quarter rally in Columbus through glassy eyes after being knocked from the game with a concussion. Should he lead his team to victory in this game, Clark will finish his career undefeated against as a starter against Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin, the first Penn State quarterback to ever accomplish such a feat.

ESPN, HOW ABOUT 60 for 1986?

Allow me to begin by disclosing that I am skeptical about ESPN. Sort of like the way Jerry was skeptical about Tom, high school girls are skeptical about pimples or the kids that lived on Elm Street were skeptical of Freddy Krueger. However, when the network announced that it would be "celebrating" its 30th anniversary with a new series of hour-long sports documentary programming called 30 for 30, I was more than a little intrigued.

Side Note: What does it say about you when you are forced to celebrate your own accomplishments because you have so ostracized everybody else in your industry that nobody else wants to acknowledge your longevity and the innovations you're responsible for (including the many horrors that go along with it)?

As a sports fan and a cinema fan, sports documentaries are twice as delicious for me. If done well, a sports documentary is a well told, visually stimulating, in-depth look at a subject that, for me, is inherently fascinating. It has always amazed me that HBO was allowed by ESPN and other networks to possess such a stranglehold on the sports documentary market. Films that investigate the de-segregation of college football in the South, the triumph and tragedy of US Olympic teams and the odyssey of Barbaro were just a few of the many exquisitely produced HBO films that dealt with relevant sports topics.

Meanwhile, ESPN toiled with films like "A Season on the Brink," and "Hustle." Forgettable films starring Brian Dennehy and Tom Sizemore respectively that were overproduced and not as good as the books they were adapted from. But now, with 30 in 30, comes a chance for ESPN to make up for all of its former misdeeds. Thirty true documentaries exploring topics from the last 30 years in sports, all directed by interested and reputable filmmakers sounded like a fantastic idea.

When the website for the series was launched, it didn't include a full list of documentary titles and topics but did list enough to whet the sports fan's appetite. The first two installments have been solid and worth watching, but the documentary that I think every Penn State fan is waiting for is a look at the 1987 Fiesta Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes. It was the first topic that I unsuccessfully searched for when the list of titles was posted online and seemed to be a no-brainer as the subject of a sports documentary.

As of October 20, there is still no mention of a film about that night that really did change college football as a mode of national entertainment. However, a careful inspection of the opening credits of the 30 for 30 series shows the Miami players infamously marching down the steps of their charter flight to the desert in combat fatigues. There is a film listed that will focus on the Miami football program in the 1980s, and its possible that this is where the clip comes from. However, it would be another case of ESPN dropping the ball if it refused to devote an hour to this football game that still ranks as one of the most-popular and most referenced national title games of all time.

THE POWER OF THE MUSTACHE IS NOT OVERSTATED

You know your defense is good when you're not only intimidating the other team, but also the referees. In Saturday's game against Minnesota, the Lions not only completely bottled up the Golden Gophers offense, but also forced one of the officials to the sidelines. The reason:

Mustache Envy.

After a long morning of grooming and weather-coating his lip fur with bees' wax, linesman M. Mahouski is expecting another typical day at the office. He's counting on an October afternoon full of whistle-blowing, flag-throwing and making young coeds swoon with his facial hair pillow.















Then, it happened. Through the misty rain and fogged breath, Mahouski saw it. A patch of glorious hair so unlike the whiskers and stubble he was used to seeing college players wear. A full-fledged chevron (a thick and wide mustache, usually worn long to cover the top border of the upper lip).















Could this really be happening? Mahouski, sporter of one of the best manicured mouth coiffures, was upstaged by a man half his age? This hadn't happened before since James Avalon cheated and filled in his wispy chin growth with permanent marker in the fifth grade. Mahouski was bested in a mustache competition. The decision of what move to make next wasn't his choice. There is a strict code to be adhered to in times like this, one developed centuries ago by men wiser than him. These men wore classic face blankets like the Wandering Jim, the Hardpan, the Flapwings and the Chilly Cheeks. Mashouski had no choice but to leave the game, shamed into exile by the dense mouth insulator of Josh Hull.















It was quite a day for the senior linebacker. A shutout win for his defense, a first quarter interception of Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber and a dominating victory over Mahouski in a moustache contest 100,000 people didn't even know they were watching.

BLAME IT ON THE RAIN

It was another uneventful game in a season that's been devoid of big moments for the Penn State football team. Neither the Nittany Lions or Minnesota Golden Gophers seemed to have much juice during the 90th Homecoming Game at Beaver Stadium, but at least the Penn State defense showed up to capture its first shutout of the season, 20-0.

The horrible weather going on all over the northeast scared many of the fans away and made for less than ideal conditions, but it was clear early on that the Golden Gophers just didn't have the talent on either side of the ball to hang with the Lions. Penn State had only one three-and-out possession all day and only had one drive that chewed up fewer than 31 yards. Co-Captain Sean Lee returned to action for the first time since the Temple game to help spearhead a classic defensive effort. Lee and company collected an early interception and stuffed Minnesota at the goal line while surrendering just one drive of more than 24 yards all game.

If one had to pick a pervading theme for the 2009 season so far, it would probably be the rain or the schedule, but the dominating defense would run a close second. In a very Jim Tressel way of looking at things, the season is halfway over and Penn State is 5-1 overall and tied for second in the conference. It's had one really bad quarter all season, so the glass is certainly half-full for this team as it readies for the "difficult" portion of its schedule starting with the Michigan Wolverines next week.

Perhaps the biggest concern coming out of Saturday's game against Minnesota is the health of backup running back Stephon Greene. The sophomore left the game in the first half and didn't return to the sidelines for the remainder of the contest.When asked about it after the game, Joe Paterno said, "...I know he's hurt, but I don't know how badly. It was probably an ankle [injury]."

STOP THE PRESSES, PSU ON THE COVER OF SI

Sports Illustrated has placed Penn State's Daryll Clark and Stefen Wisniewski on one of its regional covers for its College Football Preview issue, calling the 2009 Lions squad, "Party Crashers." The issue will hit stands on Monday, August 17, but the reprecussions from the photo shoot may be felt well into November. A monkey wrench has just been tossed into the Lions' plans to repeat as conference champions, a monkey wrench called the SI Cover Jinx.

Before you roll your eyes and click away, let me try to convince you. I won't say I'm superstitious, but I have been living with the guilt that comes from believing I am the sole reason that Penn State failed to go undefeated in 1996 (I wore the wrong shirt to the Iowa game and the wrong shoes to the Ohio State game). I know that what I eat, wear or do during Penn State games can't possibly impact the outcome, but why take a chance?

A quick search through Sports Illustrated's online cover archive reveals that Penn State appeared on the cover of the famous magazine a total of 15 previous times. Subtract from that total the two commemorative issues (2008, 1994) featuring Penn State, the two times the Lions appeared in the background of a photo featuring another team (1995, 1979, 1990) and the 1987 cover that had only a tiny inset photo of Penn State and that leaves 9 covers to examine as a test of the potency of the jinx. Let's get started...

Chuck Fusina was the first Penn State player to be selected as an SI cover model, gracing the front of the November 13, 1978 issue. The Lions were the top-ranked team in the country, having just dismantled fifth-ranked Maryland 27-3 and NC State to run its record to 10-0. Once the issue was released, the Lions defeated Pittsburgh 17-10 to set up a matchup against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl for the national title. Fusina, who won that year's Maxwell Award and was the runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting, threw four interceptions as Penn State lost 14-7 to the Crimson Tide.





In 1982, Penn State featured a senior-laden squad that was labeled National Title or bust. The Lions got off to a great start, punctuating its 4-0 start with a dramatic, last-second victory over second-ranked Nebraska. The win earned Todd Blackledge the cover of Sports Illustrated on October 4, 1982. Just five days later, the third-ranked Lions traveled to Tuscaloosa, Al. and were humbled by the Tide 42-21.







Perhaps the most famous cover for Penn State fans just might be the one that followed the Lions' 1983 Sugar Bowl win featuring a photo of a jumping-for-joy Greg Garrity with the words "No. 1 AT LAST!" emblazoned across the top. The cover punctuated the first ever national title for Penn State, but was followed by three straight losses to open up the 1983 campaign, including a 38-point throttling from Nebraska and a home loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats.






The Lions' next SI Cover would come on November 11, 1985, with the magazine asking the question, "Who's No. 1 Now?" above pictures of Penn State's DJ Dozier and Florida's Ray McDonald. The Lions would answer the question emphatically by blowing out Notre Dame by 30 points the next week and then doing the same to rival Pitt to end its season 11-0 and the top-ranked team in the nation. However, on New Years' Day in Miami, Penn State would see its National Title dreams crushed by Barry Switzer and the Oklahoma Sooners, 25-10.





On December 22, 1986, Sports Illustrated made history by naming Joe Paterno its sportsman of the Year, placing the coach on its cover. Less than two weeks later, Paterno's squad would pull off a tremendous upset and defeat the Miami Hurricanes 14-10 for the program's second national title.








Halfway through the 1994 season, the Lions were 6-0 and ranked number one in both the AP and Coaches Polls after defeating fifth-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor, 31-24. Sports Illustrated rewarded Penn State's accomplishment by placing wide receiver Freddie Scott on the cover with the words, "Penn State: No. 1." The phrase was true, but short-lived. After a 63-14 dismantling of #21 Ohio State, the coaches poll dropped PSU to #2. One week later, following a deceptively close 35-29 victory at Indiana, the Lions fell behind top-ranked Nebraska in the AP Poll as well. Penn State finished the year 12-0 and became the first ever team from the Big Ten to go 12-0, win The Rose Bowl and not earn a national championship.




In 1997, the Lions were coming off of a 11-2 season with a Fiesta Bowl win over a Texas team that had both Priest Holmes and Ricky Williams in the backfield. With loads of talent returning, Sports Illustrated tabbed Penn State its preseason number one, choosing Joe Jurevicious for its College Football Preview cover. Things would start well for Penn State, as the Lions streaked to a 7-0 record before losing 34-8 to eventual national champion Michigan at home. Penn State would finish the year 9-3, including a Citrus Bowl loss to Florida in which the biggest story was the absence of both Curtis Enis and Jurevicious. Enis was guilty of improper contact with an agent, while Jurevicious didn't even make the trip for alleged poor academic performance.



Two years later, Sports Illustrated once again picked Penn State as its top team in the preseason, this time featuring a menacing Lavar Arrington on the College Football Preview Issue. The Lions began the year 9-0 before ending the regular season with three straight losses to drop off out the national and conference title picture, finishing the year with an Alamo Bowl win against Texas A&M, a disappointing consolation prize for a team with so much promise.






In 2005, the Lions won their first Big Ten Championship in 11 seasons. Following the team's conference title clinching victory over Michigan State, Sports Illustrated once again put Penn State coach Paterno on the cover on November 28, 2005. Just over one month later, the next time the Lions took the field, the Lions captured the Orange Bowl Championship with a triple-overtime victory against the Florida State Seminoles.







Some might consider it just a coincidence, but the more paranoid among us see a disturbing trend. The two times that Penn State was on a preseason Sports Illustrated cover, the Lions failed to win 10 games or make a major bowl game. Covers featuring players from undefeated teams in 1978 & 1985 both foreshadowed disappointing losses in national championship games later that season. In addition, in-season covers from 1994 and 1982 preceded disappointment the following week for both, a 21-point loss for the '82 squad and an unwarranted drop in the rankings for the '94 team. It seems like the only safe bet is to put coach Paterno on the cover. So, is it too late for a reshoot?

RANKINGS!

Pre-season college football rankings...can't live with them, can't live without them.

The USA Today Coaches Poll unveiled its 2009 Preseason rankings Friday morning with the Penn State Nittany Lions slotted eighth and the defending National Champion Florida Gators the clear-cut #1.

Pre-season rankings are routinely blasted as being completely inaccurate since many teams haven't even started their practice sessions yet, but they sometimes are a great indicator of what the national perception of your team is for the upcoming campaign.

Overall, here's how the conferences were represented:

CONFERENCE	# of TEAMS	HIGHEST RANKING	AVG. RANKING
SEC	5	1	7.6
BIG XII	4	2	9.5
PAC 10	4	4	13.8
ACC	4	7	15.3
BIG TEN	3	6	11.7
OTHER	5	16	19.6
BIG EAST	0	0	0

As it looks right now, Penn State has only two ranked opponents on its schedule - Ohio State (6) and Iowa (21). By comparison, USC is slated to play five ranked opponents (Ohio State, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State and Notre Dame), Florida is lined up to play three (FSU, LSU and Georgia), and Texas is scheduled to play two (Oklahoma and Oklahoma State).

Surely, these rankings with undergo seismic shifts as some teams' preseason hype morphs into regular season failures and others suprise. Here's a list of teams currently unranked that could make some noise come bowl season - West Virginia (31st), Miami (33rd), Illinois (35th), Tennessee (t-53rd) & Michigan (56th).

HULL OF A PROBLEM TO HAVE

The Daily Collegian has a couple of good reads this morning about the upcoming season. Will somebody tell these young, enterprising journalists that it's the summer and they should be out slacking off at an internship instead of slaving away to write copy?

Of all the units on the defensive side of the ball for Penn State, the linebackers are the one that doesn't have anybody worried. A deep, talented stable of athletic players almost guarantees that this position will be the strength of the team, but that doesn't mean that its not without some uncertainties. Although most fans will tell you that whichever number you plug in will get the job done, there's still doubt as to who will line up next to Sean Lee and Navorro Bowman. Senior Josh Hull is confident that he's going to be the man.

"I'm 100 percent confident enough in my talent that I'm going to be on the field playing linebacker at one of the three spots," Hull said before competing in last Friday's Lift for Life.

Click HERE to read the full article.

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Over on the offensive side of the ball, the Lions must replace last year's Rimington Award Winner, AQ Shipley at center. Stepping into those shoes is junior Stefen Wisniewski, who started at guard last season for Penn State. It may take a few games before his play resembles his former teammate's, but let's hope he has a better knack for remembering the snap count.

"The last thing you think about is the snap count. I remember A.Q. [Shipley] would turn around and ask Daryll [Clark] what the snap count was like every other play," Wisniewski said about last year with a laugh.

Click HERE to read the full article.

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Hull and Wisniewski are both players who, despite starting last year, are facing new challenges in 2009. Jack Crawford had only four tackles as a freshman last season, but has everybody talking about what he can do as a projected starter at defensive end in the fall.

"Jack's a monster," senior defensive end Jerome Hayes said. "This year's gonna be a very big year for him, gonna put him in a position where he can really succeed and help us out as a defense so were all excited -- the team and the fans -- about Jack."

Click HERE to read the full article.

PARTY LIKE IT'S 1992

Thursday night brought me an opportunity to spend an evening with some of my heroes, five Penn State football players from the early 1990s - OJ McDuffie, Ki-Jana Carter, Troy Drayton, Reggie Givens and Brian O'Neal. The quintet, who all currently reside in south Florida and all played on the 1992 Penn State team together, were guests of the Greater Scranton Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association for "A Night of Penn State Pride." The former PSU greats signed autographs and participated in an extended Q & A session for the fans. It's been a long night's drive, but here's some of the highlights that I remember from the event.

On Running out of the tunnel at Beaver Stadium...

All of the players were in full agreement that the emotions connected with being a Penn State football player on gameday in State College were nearly indescribable.

Brian O'Neal commented that the best part for him was riding on the blue buses up to the stadium and hearing all the car horns going off in the parking lot and the hands pounding on the side of the bus as it drove by. Of waiting in the tunnel to run out before the game, he said, "If you could bottle that feeling and sell it, you'd be a gazillionaire."

Ki-Jana Carter reminisced of how he would always race out of the tunnel and sprint straight to the handicapped section of seats in the north endzone. In particular he recounted the 1994 Homecoming Game against Ohio State in which he was so fired up to take on his hometown team that he started crying in the tunnel. He then said that he ran so hard across the field that he was actually out of breath and hoping the offense wouldn't have to take the field first.

Carter also talked about how coach Joe Paterno's method of making the players dress before boarding the bus to the stadium made them more focused for the game. He compared it to the NFL and other schools that have players wear suits to the stadium then get dressed once inside. Carter said that once a player puts that uniform on he knew it was gameday and none of his distractions would be brought with him to the stadium.

On What was the loudest opposing stadium they played in while at Penn State...

While all five players said nothing compares to the roar of Nittany Nation, each named an opponent's venue that stood out in his memory.

Ki-Jana Carter - Ohio State
Brian O'Neal - Syracuse
Reggie Givens - Alabama
Troy Drayton - West Virginia (Troy named the Penn State vs Miami game in 1992 as his favorite Beaver Stadium game)
OJ McDuffie - Syracuse

On their recruitment by Penn State...

Ki-Jana Carter - He was nearly set on attending Ohio State after growing up in Columbus, OH, but took an unofficial visit to State College with one of his high school coaches. He remembered that it was the way current players like OJ McDuffie and other players from the Buckeye State treated him and took the time to make him feel at home that swung his decision away from Ohio State and to the Nittany Lions. He added that most schools that recruited him came off as arrogant, implying that he should feel honored that they would let him play at their schools as opposed to taking the time to get to know him and really making him feel welcome.

OJ McDuffie - He had a final five of Ohio State, Michigan, UCLA, Notre Dame and Penn State. He crossed off Ohio State after it fired then-head coach, Earle Bruce and didn't care for Notre Dame at all after taking an official visit to South Bend. He returned home from his trip to UCLA to find a Fed Ex package containing a seven-page hand-written letter from Joe Paterno on spiral-bound notebook paper, detailing all the pros and cons of signing with Penn State. He remembered being promised nothing but a great education and a chance to possibly play for a National Championship. He said that Joe Paterno and the letter he wrote were the main reasons he came to Penn State.

Brian O'Neal - Brian grew up in Cincinnatti and told a classic story about his recruiting experience with Ohio State head coach John Cooper. As he told the story, his mother was handling his recruiting since his father was an NBA referee and was often on the road. Coach Cooper visited his house to recruit him, and Brian had always figured he would play for the hometown Buckeyes. As his mom began to ask about the kinds of classes her son would take, the graduation rate at Ohio State and other questions about his non-football life at the university. Cooper kept blowing her off, saying that it would all be addressed during Brian's official visit, and kept trying to steer the conversation toward football. Finally, after about ten minutes of not having her questions answered, Mrs. O'Neal stood up and told the coach that she had better things to do than to be blown off by him and that he had to get out of her house. She shut the door behind the coach and told Brian, who was sitting with his jaw open to the floor, that he could cross Ohio State off of his list of potential schools. Just minutes later, Cooper called the house from the road and asked Brian how he thought the visit had gone. Brian told him that he had angered the one person in the house that he couldn't anger and that the Buckeyes' chances didn't look too good.

On how Penn State prepared them for the NFL...

All the players said that NFL practices were no more physically demanding than what they went through at Penn State. Troy Drayton compared playing for Joe Paterno to going through four years of boot camp.

On the ill-fated 1994 season...

Ki-Jana Carter confessed that not winning the National Championship in 1994 is something that will probably haunt him for the rest of his life. He talked about how that year's team did everything it could to prove it was #1, but had to leave the decision up to a bunch of sportswriters. He took solace in the fact that 15 years later, the team is still mentioned among the greatest college football teams of all time and that the controversy of that year was one of the reasons the NCAA felt it had to move toward the current BCS system that guaranteed the two highest ranked teams would play each other.

On who the best player they ever played against was...

Ki-Jana Carter - Greg Lloyd
Brian O'Neal - Levon Kirkland
Reggie Givens - Reggie White
Troy Drayton - Lawrence Taylor
OJ McDuffie - Deion Sanders

FROSTING...THE NOMINEES - PART 3

Sparked by the upcoming season's unusually weak slate of games (especially non-conference), we recently introduced our hunt for Penn State's easiest schedule of the last 45 years.

With the first two nominees already introduced, we now unveil the third in our list; from the 1980s.

1987

The Nittany Lions were coming off of arguably the best season and best game in the program's history. An 11-0 regular season in 1986 was capped off by a classic 14-10 victory over top-ranked Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, securing Penn State its second National Championship of the decade. Anybody hoping to see a repeat performance in 1987 was sorely disappointed as the Lions lost 13 players to the NFL draft, and had to replace graduated quarterback John Shaffer, who was 23-1 as a starter for Joe Paterno. Luckily for the Lions, the temporary fall from the top of college football was padded by a soft schedule that featured only one team with fewer than four losses and included just four road games, none further away than Boston.

The Lions were able to rack up eight wins in 1987, but beat only two teams with winning records, Rutgers (6-5) and Notre Dame (8-4). Less than half of Penn State's opponents finished the season above .500, and only three teams were invited to play in a bowl game, combining to go 0-2-1 in the post season. The Lions took on Clemson in the Citrus Bowl, falling 35-10 to the Tigers, and finished the season unranked.

1987 Schedule
vs. Bowling Green (5-6) W 45-19
vs. Alabama (7-5) L 13-24
vs. Cincinnati (4-7) W 41-0
@ Boston College (5-6) W 27-17
vs. Temple (3-8) W 27-13
vs. Rutgers (6-5) W 35-21
@ Syracuse (11-0-1) L 21-48
vs. West Virginia (6-6) W 25-21
@ Maryland (4-7) W 21-16
@ Pittsburgh (8-4) L 0-10
vs. Notre Dame (8-4) W 21-20

THE GOOD
The Lions took on three teams that were ranked in the top-20 at the time they played them, including #7 Notre Dame in the regular-season finale. Only one of the final five opponents finished below .500. The Lions did get to celebrate a milestone, when Joe Paterno opened the campaign with win #200 against Bowling Green.

THE BAD
The Lions' four road games were in Boston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Syracuse - all just a few hours from campus. Each of Penn State's first six opponents ended the year with at least five losses.

POSTSCRIPT
Penn State was coming off of back-to-back undefeated regular seasons in 1985 and 1986, so its pedestrian performance in 1987 could certainly be forgiven. Penn State would fall even further in 1988, finishing at 5-6, Paterno's worst record yet. The coming seasons would see the Lions take on teams like Texas, USC and Miami as Penn State's time as a college football independent ran out. It began play in the Big Ten Conference in the 1993 season, bringing an end to many of its traditional rivalries.

HIGH IN THE RAFTERS

Like an old girlfriend you thought you had dumped months ago, I've returned to the upper echelon of sports blogging, also known as The Floating Lion. As a nice appetizer to my forthcoming posts, I've learned that the NIT Championship banner was recently raised in the BJC Rafters.

It looks beautiful and will certainly stand out among all of the Lady Lion accomplishments, and of course the unforgettable Men's 1954 Final Four banner. Here's to the hope that this is the first of many more new banners in the Jordan Center.

Also, I thought these were usually unveiled during the first home game of the next season. Whether the fact the athletic department was a little overzealous and premature in raising the flag remains to be seen. Either way, it will look great to fans and recruits.

BATTLE ILLUSTRATED

SportsIllustrated.com has posted a story about Penn State's star guard, Talor Battle. The Albany, NY product has enjoyed a meteoric rise arriving on campus to becoming one of college basketball's best point guards. The rising sophomore was recently honored by being named to the USA Basketball Roster for the World University Games this summer.

Read the article here.

FROSTING...THE NOMINEES - PART 2

Sparked by the upcoming season's unusually weak slate of games (especially non-conference), last week we introduced our hunt for Penn State's easiest schedule of the last 45 years.

With the first nominee already introduced, we now unveil the second in our list; this one from the 1970s.

1971

The 1971 Nittany Lions ran roughshod over everybody in their path to start the season 10-0. Then, a funny thing happened on the way to their third undefeated regular season in four years, they ran into the Tennessee Volunteers - the only club it played that season with more than seven wins.

The ten straight wins to open the 1971 campaign came via brutal domination by the Lions. Penn State's offense, led by one of the school's greatest backfields ever, Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell, averaged 44 points per game over that stretch, and failed to put up more than 30 only once. The defense was just as impressive, surrendering just 10 points per contest and notching a pair of shutouts. Things would change in Knoxville however, as the fifth-ranked Lions were thoroughly beaten by the Vols, 31-11, on national television.

A closer look at those first ten opponents reveals a lackluster lineup including just one team with more than six wins and a group of five opponents that had just 12 total wins among them. The Lions started the year with back-to-back road games against Navy and Iowa, the former in the middle of a string of six straight losing seasons and the latter on its way to a one-win season; the tenth of nineteen straight non-winning campaigns. The Lions hung 66 points on a TCU team that may have been guilty of feeling a little too good about what would become a 6-4-1 season, it's only time finishing above .500 in 18 straight years.

1971 Schedule
@ Navy (3-8) W 56-3
@ Iowa (1-10) W 44-14
vs. Air Force (6-4) W 16-14
vs. Army (6-4) W 42-0
@ Syracuse (5-5) W 31-0
vs. TCU (6-4-1) W 66-14
@ West Virginia (7-4) W 35-7
vs. Maryland (2-9) W 63-27
vs. NC State (3-8) W 35-3
@ Pittsburgh (3-8) W 55-18
@ Tennessee (10-2) L 31-11

THE GOOD
Penn State played six road games this season and only five at home. It also had a true national schedule, playing games in six different states from Iowa to Tennessee. In addition, say what you want about the level of competition, but Penn State left no doubt as to how great it really was, winning its games by an average of 34 points.

THE BAD
The Lions played five teams with three or fewer wins, and only one squad that was ranked at the time of the game.

POSTSCRIPT
This Penn State team featured the one-two punch of Harris and Mitchell and although it didn't have a chance to prove it during the regular season, could have played with anybody in the country. It did finally get its chance in the Cotton Bowl, dismantling the Texas Longhorns and its wishbone attack, 30-6. Penn State would finish ranked fifth in the AP Poll, it's third top-five finish in four seasons. The Lions would post another double-digit win season the following year before going 12-0 in 1973 behind Penn State's only Heisman Trophy winner, John Cappelletti.

Check back to see the next nominee from the 1980s.

FROSTING...THE FIRST NOMINEE

Sparked by the upcoming season's unusually weak slate of games (especially non-conference), last week we introduced our hunt for Penn State's easiest schedule of the last 45 years.

Since this is a highly subjective and debatable subject, we are going to steer far clear of making a definitive decision and instead put the onus on you, the reader, to decide. We'll provide the facts and a bit of background and you provide the conclusion and award (or is it disgrace) one season with the title of "Weakest Penn State Schedule."

One final note, before unveiling the first nominee. This exercise says nothing of the process of making a schedule or who should take the blame for a soft schedule. We only want to know which year had the softest lineup of opponents. And without further adieu, here is the first of five nominees, one from each decade Joe Paterno has been the head coach.

1968

Joe Paterno enjoyed the first of his five unbeaten and untied squads in the 1968 season, and while this team was absolutely loaded with talent, the unblemished record came at the hands of some real creampuffs. The Lions' 10 opponents finished a combined 43-56 and not one of them was ranked at the time it played Penn State. The schedule did feature five road games, including a cross-country trip to take on the UCLA Bruins sandwiched between dates in Morgantown, WV and Chestnut Hill, MA, but also included six teams that failed to win more than half of their games. The true measure of the greatness of this team was somewhat crystallized when a total of 17 players who were on the 1968 roster were drafted into the NFL, including eventual Hall of Famer Jack Ham.

THE 1968 SCHEDULE

vs. Navy (2-8) W 31-6

vs. Kansas State (4-6) W 25-9

@ West Virginia (7-3) W 31-20

@ UCLA (3-7) W 21-6

@ Boston College (6-3) W 29-0

vs. Army (7-3) W 28-24

vs. Miami (5-5) W 22-7

@ Maryland (2-8) W 57-13

@ Pittsburgh (1-9) W 65-9

vs. Syracuse (6-4) W 30-12

THE GOOD:
The Lions had to play three straight road games, two of which came against teams with winning records.

THE BAD:
Penn State opened the year with a Navy squad that finished 2-8 and wrapped up its road schedule with a Pitt Panther team that was 1-9.


POSTSCRIPT:
The Lions would accept an invitation to The Orange Bowl in Miami, Fl to take on the sixth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks. Penn State would win in thrilling fashion after the Jayhawks were flagged for too many men on the field, giving the Lions a second chance at the game-winning two-point conversion, which Penn State scored on to take a one-point lead with just eight seconds left on the clock. The Nittany Lions finished the 1968 season ranked #2, behind an undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes team that had knocked off USC in The Rose Bowl. The next season, Penn State would once again run the tables to finish 11-0, but be overlooked by the national media and a certain president, winding up #2 behind the Texas Longhorns.

GREAT THINGS AWAITING, EXPECTED OF CLARK

Since Joe Paterno became head coach of the Penn State football program in 1966, nine players (including Curt Warner later this year) have been inducted into College Football's Hall of Fame. Exactly zero of them played quarterback. But just because none of Paterno's signal-callers have been immortalized in South Bend, it doesn't mean that this position isn't one of the greatest harbingers for the Lion's success in a particular season. As a matter of fact, it just about guarantees it.

Consider that Penn State will be led by senior captain Darryl Clark at quarterback this season. Last season he won the Big Ten's Offensive MVP award and joined Kerry Collins and Michael Robinson as quarterbacks that have guided the Lions to a Big Ten title. However, unlike Collins and Robinson, Clark accomplished this feat before his senior year, injecting Penn State fans with optimism for his final campaign - and for good reason.

Beginning in 1968, Penn State has enjoyed twenty 10+ win seasons under Paterno. The absolutely remarkable thing about this accomplishment is that each time a quarterback led the Lions to 10+ wins and returned for his next season, he did it again. Think about that. Never has a Paterno-coached quarterback failed to deliver after tasting success in the form of a double-digit win season! Seriously...I looked it up.

(click to enlarge)

A similar look at the history of 10+ win seasons over the same time period at Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Notre Dame and Alabama shows that this occurrence is unique to Penn State among those schools. And as more evidence that the quarterback is the major reason for this phenomenon, only once (1972-1973) has a first-year quarterback taken over a 10+ win Nittany Lions team and managed to repeat that accomplishment.

(click to enlarge)

The expectations facing Clark in 2009 include successfully defending the conference championship, being the captain to a team full of untested talent on both sides of the ball, improving on his own individual numbers to make a run to the Heisman trophy and continuing the newest Golden Age of Penn State football that he watched begin from the sidelines as a freshman in 2005. That may seem like a lot to lay on the shoulders of one man, but Clark has his teammates, all of Nittany Nation and history to rely on.

TOM BRADLEY SPEAKS, SO DOES JOE...SORT OF

ESPN.com blogger Adam Rittenberg caught up with Tom Bradley recently to talk about the Nittany Lions' defense. Bradley will once again have to prove why he is one of the top coaches in America as the Lions try to replace three starters on the defensive line and the entire secondary.


TOM BRADLEY PART I


TOM BRADLEY PART II



Meanwhile, EDSBS has posted the transcript from a "conversation" between the two winningest active coaches, Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden, about the controversy over some of Bobby's wins. Looks like Joe might not be as sympathetic as he's led us to believe.

FROSTING

The Penn State football team is coming off of an 11-2 campaign in 2008 that included a second conference title in four seasons, a berth in The Rose Bowl and the emergence of junior quarterback Darryl Clark as the Big Ten's Offensive MVP, but if the buzz surrounding the upcoming season is somewhat muted, blame the schedule.

While predictions for how the Nittany Lions will perform in defense of their conference crown are varied, the opinions on the schedule are consensus - it stinks. The Lions can't help the fact that the Big Ten appears to be short on contenders, but their non-conference schedule is truly atrocious. The four out-of-league opponents, Akron, Syracuse, Temple and Eastern Illinois, combined for just 12 wins against FBS competition last season, and none of them finished the year at .500 or better. Mix in the fact that all four of those games are at home and you've got a recipe for cupcakes.

That got us at The Floating Lion thinking about what were some of the weakest schedules the Lions have faced since Joe Paterno took over the program. It's easy to remember the many loaded schedules over the decades like 1982 (Pitt, Nebraska, Alabama, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Boston College) 1990 (Texas, USC, Notre Dame, Alabama, Pitt, Boston College) and 1999 (Pitt, Miami, Arizona, Ohio State, Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State) to name a few, but how about the bad ones? And, is 2009 the worst Penn State schedule of all time?

We've come up with a list of some of the team's weakest schedules, all in the hopes of putting this season's abomination in its proper place among the other soft lineups. We'll present each of them to you, before putting the question to a vote to find out which was the worst schedule of the last 45 years. Stay tuned...

HOMECOMING GAMETIME SET

Penn State officially announced on Monday that the Nittany Lions homecoming game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on October 17 at Beaver Stadium will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. Along with the Iowa and Northwestern games, which were previously announced as beginning at 8:00 and 3:30 respectively, the Lions are slotted for three afternoon/primetime games this season with a fourth afternoon start (Ohio State) sure to follow.
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It was nearly a year ago that ESPN aired it's infamous Outside the Lines investigation into the criminal history of the Penn State football program. Many Blue and White fans still feel that the show was little more than a witch hunt and some conspiracy theorists hold that the show was an attack on Penn State and head coach Joe Paterno because of a hot-and-cold relationship with the network. At last check, ESPN was little concerned with fair and balanced reporting, but if it were, now might be a good time to prove it.

A good place to start would be an article written by Andrea Adelson of The Orlando Sentinel about the number of arrests the University of Florida program has suffered in the last four years...24 in case you were wondering.
____________________________________________________________________

If you're looking to score tickets to that big game this year, your best chance might just to be to wait until the last minute. A post from The Business of College Sports from May 30 shows that ticket prices for some of this season's biggest rivalry games have actually gone down since they were last tracked in mid-March.

BUTTSCRATCHER!

It happens rather suddenly. One day, you're handling the off-season well - leafing through the sports pages, noting baseball box scores, and maybe even catching a period or two of an NBA or NHL playoff game. Then, all at once, like a tidal wave of suppressed memories and longings, that passion for college football arises and refuses to be ignored. Like an itch that must be scratched, college football has interrupted your regularly scheduled life and demands your attention.

It's been lurking beneath the surface since New Year's, but college basketball, opening day and the planning of summer vacations has done an adequate job of limiting it. Now, less than 12 weeks from the season's kickoff your resistance to the seduction of college football is futile.

Here at The Floating Lion, off-season football blogging has been nearly non-existent. Scouring the police blotters and reporting which 17-year-old kid "committed" to your school is hardly the kind of hard-hitting college football news that we relish commenting on. Still, we've silently observed as transfers, injuries and violations have helped to reshape the college football landscape and provide much-needed fodder for our addiction. Now, with the onset of preseason magazines and summer workouts, the focus of college football is back to where it should be, subjective analysis and daydreaming of 12-0.

So be sure to check back in frequently for updates and features that will help you get through the grueling homestretch before the season officially begins. Not that it ever really ended for any of us.

BCS TALK

Friday's discussion on the fairness of the current BCS system before a House of Representatives subcommittee will be shown live on C-SPAN. Interested fans can also watch the proceedings live online here. The discussion is slated to run from 10:00 a.m. until 12:30 a.m.

In related news, Joe Paterno told a pack of reporters on Thurdsay night that he would like to see the Big Ten expand to a twelfth team to allow the conference to play a league championship game. It's a move that Paterno thinks would give the conference a better shot a competing for a national title.

"I've tried to talk to the Big Ten people about, 'Let's get a 12th team -- Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt -- we could have a little bit of a playoff,'" Paterno said.

The coach also fielded questions about the possibility of a team from the Northeast winning a national title, something that hasn't happened since the Lions captured one after the 1986 season.

"The only [Northeastern] team that's got a shot would be us, and yet we've got a tough job because the Big Ten is not as visible in the key times as the Southeastern Conference and the Big 12."

CORNLEY TO DECIDE ON FOOTBALL FUTURE NEXT MONTH

Greg Paulus isn't the only former college basketball star rumored to be making a move to the gridiron. Penn State basketball great Jamelle Cornley has been mulling over a career change to football, a sport that might give him a greater chance for success at the professional level.

The Nittany Lion senior, who's certainly got the physical build for life on the defensive line, plans to meet with Penn State football assistant coaches and team doctors soon to discuss his potential future with the pigskin. Teammate Talor Battle was quoted in The Daily Collegian as saying that he thinks Cornley should stick with his first love, basketball.

"He just loves it way too much to just try to go do the football thing, because that would just mean -- honestly, in my eyes -- is more for a money standpoint," the point guard said. "But I think he's really good and hopefully he gets a shot to play professionally in the NBA, and if not, I'm sure he'll have a great career in the overseas somewhere."

The article, published in Friday's paper, goes on to state that Cornley has received interest from professional basketball teams in Europe, but that he's taking time to make the best decision for himself, a decision that should come some time next month.