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]."