December News and Notes

Although it’s technically the offseason for Penn State, that doesn't mean the off-field stories have to stop.  Case in point, today there is plenty of news to sift through, so let’s just get right to it!

Bowls:

First of all, if you haven’t done so already, be sure to join my Bowl Mania group on ESPN.com and try to beat me and the other challengers at picking the winner of all 35 bowl games.  This year it’s just for bragging rights, but if it’s successful, maybe I’ll raise the stakes next season.  Just go here, sign up and make your picks!

Update:

We’re still not exactly sure why Coaches Vanderlinden and Fisher left the staff a little while back.  However, my sources (yes, I actually have inside sources for this story; it’s like I’m a real journalist or something) tell me that Coach Vanderlinden and Coach O'Brien simply didn't mesh well together and that over time the relationship became strained.  Basically, Vandy was given a “quit or be fired” ultimatum and decided on the former.  Still, he was an incredible coach who served Penn State well for a very long time.  I wish him nothing but the best of luck and success where ever he ends up.

Recruiting News:

Thomas Holley became Penn State’s 17^th verbal commitment yesterday!  He is a 4-star prospect on Rivals and ESPN and a 5-star prospect on 247Sports.  Most people in the know believe he’ll be a 5 star kid on all the major recruiting services when all is said and done.  The massive 6’ 4” 303 lb DT had offers from basically every big time school in the country including Alabama, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.  Eventually, Penn State beat out Florida for Holley’s services.  He becomes the 3^rd defensive lineman in the 2014 class along with 3-star DT Antoine White and 4-star JUCO transfer Tarow Barney.

Speaking of Tarow Barney, since he is a JUCO (junior college) transfer, he doesn't have to wait until National Signing Day on February 5^th to sign his National Letter of Intent – the binding written agreement by a recruit to play for the school of their choice.  In fact, Barney decided to make his commitment official today by signing on to play for the Nittany Lions!  Welcome aboard Tarow!

Finally, LB Donte Raymond also made recruiting news this morning as the former Delaware commitment switched to Penn State.  Raymond is a relatively unknown recruit who only received offers from FCS schools prior to Penn State offering over the weekend.  He becomes the 3^rd LB in the 2014 class joining Troy Reeder and Jason Cabinda.

Awards:

The Lions may be done playing, but the awards are still being announced on a near daily basis.  Luckily for all you fine folks, I went ahead and compiled all of the awards given out to Penn State players thus far.  I think you’ll notice a trend towards the end as Penn State leads the conference in Big Ten All-Freshman Team winners with 5.  Enjoy!

Allen Robinson

- Howard-Richter Big Ten Receiver of the Year

- Sporting News 1^st Team All-American

- CBS Sports 1^st Team All-American

- Athlon Sports 2^nd Team All-American

- SI.com 2^nd Team All-American

- AP 3^rd Team All-American

- ESPN 1^st Team All-Big Ten

- BTN 1^st Team All-Big Ten

- Coaches 1^st Team All-Big Ten

Christian Hackenberg

- Thompson-Randel El Big Ten Freshman of the Year

- BTN Big Ten Freshman of the Year

- BTN All-Freshman Team

- ESPN All-Freshman Team (Captain)

- 247 Sports 1^st Team True Freshman All-American

John Urschel

- William V Campbell Trophy Winner

- AP 3^rd Team All-American

- BTN 1^st Team All-Big Ten

- Coaches 1^st Team All-Big Ten

- ESPN 2^nd Team All-Big Ten

- 2 time Academic All-American

Da’Quan Jones

- BTN 2^nd Team All-Big Ten

Austin Johnson

- BTN All-Freshman Team

- ESPN All-Freshman Team

Nyeem Wartman

- BTN All-Freshman Team

- ESPN All-Freshman Team

Brandon Bell

- BTN All-Freshman Team

Akeel Lynch

- BTN All-Freshman Team

Adam Breneman

- 247 Sports 2^nd Team True Freshman All-American

Congratulations!

With no bowl game to look forward to, the offseason becomes a time when we look away from the gridiron for stories, and as always I'm here to provide you with the latest news and notes regarding Penn State football.  Today is all about congratulations (except the first story) so let's get right to it!

We'll get the awkward stuff out of the way first.  There is still no REAL word on exactly why Ron Vanderlinden and Charlie Fisher decided to leave the coaching staff.  However, the good news is that it doesn't seem to have affected recruiting.  Here is what the 2 linebacker recruits from the 2014 class had to say.

After all the talk about John Urschel’s classroom accomplishments this year, he has finally hit the big time.  At a fancy dinner in New York, Urschel won the Campbell Trophy, considered to be the academic Heisman.  This is a BIG deal and was even televised on ESPN3.  Congratulations to John and good luck in the draft!  Watch his speech

Congratulations also go out to Da’Quan Jones for being invited to play in the Senior Bowl!  This is the premier end of the year all-star game in college football, and most of the players you see will be involved in the NFL draft in a few months.  Jones is just the latest in a long list of defensive linemen to play in this game.  See that list as well as game time information here.

In addition, John Urschel and Glenn Carson will both take part in the East-West Shrine Game.  Similar to the Senior Bowl, the Shrine Game is actually the longest running of the college football all-star games.  It will be played on January 18^th at 4pm, most likely on ESPN.  More info can be found here.

And finally, congratulations again go out to Allen Robinson on winning the Big Ten Receiver of the Year Award for the second year in a row, and to Christian Hackenberg on winning the Big Ten Freshman of the Year Award!  Both were flown to the Big Ten Championship Game this past weekend and were celebrated for their accomplishments.  Here is a video of their trip.  And here is a great letter by the folks over at Onward State asking Allen Robinson to stay for one more year.

Bowl Season

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  No, not Christmas - Bowl Season!  The only time of the year when there’s college football on nearly every night, and none of it is bad.  Even the lower games feature teams that are at least .500, so no more of those Alabama vs East Nowhere State games.  Anyway, here’s the complete bowl schedule if you want to check out this year’s matchups.

Bowl Schedule

Now, did you spend most of the season reading this blog and thinking to yourself, “this guy has no clue what he’s talking about!”  Well, if so (or if you’re just a competitive person), it’s time to put up or shut up.  I’ve set up a Bowl Mania pick em group on ESPN.com.  It’s free to join (although you do have to sign up on the website) and you can compete against me!  Just make your picks for all 35 bowl games, it’s that easy.  The group is public, so anyone can join, and you can change your mind if you get picker’s remorse.  But once the first bowl game kicks off, all your picks are locked in.  Let’s see who really knows their college football!
Bowl Mania

Finally, if you don’t want to play along, but the Christmas season has you in a shopping mood, check out the annual list of bowl game swag… maybe you’ll get some ideas!

Bowl Swag

Week 14 Awards

There you have it folks, 12 games, no more, no less.  Thanks to the NCAA, Penn State will once again not be going bowling this holiday season, but that almost seems ok in light of Saturday’s incredible upset win.  I almost feel bad for Wisconsin, who has now lost their regular season finale to the Nittany Lions two years in a row despite fielding arguably better teams.  The awesomeness of the game was overshadowed by the events down in Alabama, but for Penn State fans, I think this game will serve as a perfectly serviceable ending to the 2013 season.  Now, without further adieu, it’s time to hand out awards one last time!

The final Beast Mode Award could have gone to any number of players who poured their heart out in the final game of the season, but one star shined brighter than the rest.  18 year old true freshman QB Christian Hackenberg walked into Camp Randall Stadium having yet to win a true road game.  All he did was throw for 339 yds and 4 TDs with no INTs against a defense that was only allowing an average of 179 passing yds/game this year.  He picked apart the Badger defense with ease and solidified the Big Ten Freshman of the Year Award in the process.  Congratulations Christian, I think we’re all excited to see what you do as an encore next year!

For the final Transformer Award of the season, I've decided to go with Allen Robinson.  Possibly the best overall player on the entire team, Robinson caught 8 passes for 122 yds to wrap up yet another record setting season.  After beating his own records set one year ago, Penn State's new single-season receptions record now stands at 97 while the single-season receiving yds record now stands at 1,432.  Additionally, Robinson is now 2^nd on Penn State’s career receptions list and 3^rd on the career receiving yds list.  Breaking those records and completing his degree might just be enough to convince the junior to come back for one more year instead of bolting for the NFL.  He has said he’s currently 50/50 and he’ll make his decision over Christmas break.  Fingers crossed!

The breakout freshman of the game and Matrix Award winner is Eugene “Geno” Lewis.  Lewis is a fantastic athlete that is poised to break out as soon as next season.  He gave us a sneak peak on Saturday.  Although he only had 3 catches, he scored a TD on 2 of them.  Moreover, Lewis ran back a kick off for 36 yds, the longest return of the season.

I’m breaking away from the norm for my final In Disguise Award and giving it to the entire Penn State defense.  They were truly the unsung heroes of the game, giving their best performance of the season.  Wisconsin came into Saturday’s game averaging 297.3 yds/game rushing.  All the Penn State defense did was hold them to a meager 120 yds!  Add to that 3 interceptions and I think they more than deserve this award.

Last and possibly least, the final Megatron Award goes to false start penalties.  I don’t have time to look it up, but I think it’s safe to assume that the 8 false starts committed by the offensive line are a Penn State record.  Donovan Smith especially showed his youth by committing 4 of those 8.  Coach Mac was steaming on the sidelines, at one point throwing his headset on the ground and his hands in the air in a gesture that seemed to say, “are you f***ing kidding me?!”  Let’s just hope they get that worked out in the offseason.

And that will officially wrap up my regular season coverage.  Thank you sooooo much to everyone who has taken the time to read even just 1 of my posts this season!  I truly hope you have enjoyed this blog and that you’ll continue to read my random offseason musings.  I had a blast doing this and, as of right now, I plan to pick up right where I left off next September for the Croke Park Classic in Dublin, Ireland between Penn State and Central Florida.  Continue to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus for the latest news and notes.  Send your questions or suggestions for future posts to PSUOptimus@gmail.com.  And as always, GO STATE!!!

Newsflash: It was announced today that backup quarterback Tyler Ferguson has decided to transfer at the end of the semester.  This isn't very surprising in today’s football world where lack of playing time, especially for QBs, inevitably leads to unnecessary transfers.  3 walk on QBs, D.J. Crook, Austin Whipple, and Jack Seymour remain on the team.  4-star 2014 recruit Michael O’Connor will enroll in January, so this is just a temporary issue.  He will likely be Hackenberg’s backup come next season, unless one of the walk ons really steps up their game.

Week 14 Grades

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m still kind of coming down from Penn State’s epic upset win over Wisconsin on Saturday and actually the entire day of college football.  It was all just an incredible way to end the regular season.  This is one of the best times of the year, in my opinion, as Rivalry Week gives way to Championship Week (with a few Big 12 games sprinkled in) and eventually the Bowl Season.  Unfortunately, the NCAA has barred Penn State from competing in most of those festivities, but that won’t stop the fun here on the blog.  Let’s just get right into it and roll out some grades! 

*Note: there’s some important news items at the bottom of this post.  If you want to skip right to those, go ahead.

Offense

QB: (A+) Christian Hackenberg saved his best performance for last as he went an amazing 21/30 for 339 yds and 4 TDs.  Most importantly he didn't throw a single interception and to top it all off, he didn't even get sacked!  I cannot wait to see what a full offseason under O’Brien will turn this kid into come 2014.  It’s going to be ridiculous.

OL: (F) As you can tell by Hackenberg’s numbers, the line pass protected well enough on Saturday, but the running game never got going.  Moreover, the bigger reason for a failing grade was the 8 false starts, 4 by Donovan Smith alone.  Coach Mac was visibly frustrated on the sideline to the point that the announcers kept pointing him out.  You guys are going to give the old man a stroke playing like that!

RB: (D) If you take away Zwinak’s 61 yd dash in the 4^th quarter, he went a mere 54 yds on 21 rushes.  Belton didn't do much better only going 7 yds on 3 rushes.  Maybe it was the offensive line, maybe it was the cold weather, either way the running game failed to meet expectations.

WR: (A) With the running game seemingly out of commission, Penn State gladly took to the air.  Robinson continued to do what he does best, catching 8 passes for 122 yds but still no TDs.  Thankfully, Geno Lewis decided to show up.  He only caught 3 passes, but that translated into 91 yds and 2 TDs!  Richy Anderson also grabbed 2 passes for 16 yds.  I expect those two to breakout next year along with a slew of true and redshirt freshman waiting in the wings.

TE: (A+) Even better than the WR play was the TE play.  All 3 starters got into the action as they combined for 7 catches, 105 yds, and 2 TDs.  Breneman alone has now caught a TD pass in his last 3 games.  None of the TEs are graduating which means the Big Ten is on notice for next year… this trio is going to turn heads.

Defense

DL: (A) Wisconsin came into Saturday’s contest averaging just under 300 yds/game thanks to 2 running backs who each averaged over 100 yds/game.  All of that was made possible by the largest (by average weight) offensive line in the conference.  Yet none of that mattered as the Badgers were held to a season-low 120 yds on 30 attempts and no TDs.  You can thank an absolutely suffocating defensive line for those stats.  Kyle Baublitz lead the line with 4 tackles including 1 for a loss.  Anthony Zettel only had 2 tackles, but both were for a loss.  And then there was C.J. Olaniyan who may have been the best of all as he racked up 3 tackles (all quarterback hurrys) and even managed to “intercept” a tipped ball which he almost ran back for a TD.

LB: (A) It’s a pretty good sign when 3 of your top 4 tacklers are linebackers.  Mike Hull, Brandon Bell, and Glenn Carson combined for 18 tackles and were a big part of Penn State’s victory.  Brandon Bell has looked really good in recent weeks and was the player that tipped Joel Stave’s “pass” leading to C.J. Olaniyan’s interception.  He’s definitely a player to watch next season.

DB: (A+) The much maligned Penn State secondary has gotten noticeably better over the past few weeks and they may have had their best showing on Saturday.  Ryan Keiser had 5 tackles, 2 pass breakups, and his 2^nd game winning interception of the season.  Jordan Lucas, Trevor Williams, Malcolm Willis, and Malik Golden combined for 13 more tackles, 3 more pass breakups, and Williams also stole an interception.  Is this what we have to look forward to next year?  Because I'm down!

Special Teams

K: (D) Sam Ficken had another rough day (although not nearly as bad as Alabama’s kicker) as he missed 2/3 FGs.  The only thing saving him from a failing grade was that he hit all 4 of his extra points.  Hopefully another offseason and maybe some more words of advice from Robbie Gould and he’ll be back to Mr. Automatic again by September.

P: (C) Not a great day for Alex Butterworth either.  Once again he had one of his punts blocked and none of the 4 punts he got off were exactly “booming.”  Butterworth is not only a senior, he’s the only punter on the roster.  I’m interested to see how the coaching staff figures this one out for next year.

Tomorrow’s Awards post will wrap up the regular season here at Prime Penn State Football.  I’m still deciding what I’m going to do in the offseason, but rest assured there will be more than enough news to post regularly.  Let me know what you want to read about by emailing me at PSUOptimus@gmail.com, whether it’s recruiting news, position battles, coaching changes, whatever.  I’ll be more than happy to look into it for you and break it down in my own special way!

Now as promised, here's some Penn State football news that's been floating around the interwebs.

Good News:

- Congratulations to Allen Robinson on winning his second consecutive Richter-Howard Big Ten Receiver of the Year Award!  This is just the 2^nd year of this award, so technically he’s the only player in history to ever win it.  Robinson’s 97 catches for 1,432 yds are both Penn State single-season records, although his measly 6 TDs is not.

- Congratulations to Christian Hackenberg on winning the Big Ten Freshman of the Year Award!  Hackenberg also won Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Sunday for the 5^th time this season.  He finished the year 231 of 392 (59%) with 20 TDs and 10 INTs.  He was second in the Big Ten in completions and one off the lead for TDs.  His 2,955 total yds puts him 3^rd on the Penn State single-season yardage list behind Matt McGloin (2012) and Daryll Clark (2009). 

- Finally, congratulations to John Urshel and Da’Quan Jones who, along with Robinson, were named 1^st-Team All Big Ten!  9 other Penn State players were honorable mentions.

Bad News:

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the retirement (at least, that’s the rumor) of Penn State linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden.  Coach Vanderlinden came to Penn State in 2001 from Maryland and is almost solely responsible for the resurgence of “Linebacker U.”  Since arriving he has produced some of the best linebackers in Penn State history – and that’s saying something!  Linebacker is by far the most well represented position group for former Penn State players in the NFL.  Sean Lee, Paul Posluszny, Dan Connor, Cameron Wake, Navarro Bowman, Mike Mauti, Gerald Hodges, Nate Stupar (as well as former players like LaVar Arrington) were all coached by Vanderlinden and are all impact players for their respective teams.  I think it’s safe to say that I speak for all of Nittany Nation when I say, we’ll miss you Coach Vanderlinden and we’re very sad to see you go!

Week 14 Wrap Up

If you can’t go to a bowl game, you might as well go out in style.  Penn State came into Camp Randall Stadium as 24.5 point underdogs, against the 5^th best defense in the country, having yet to win a road game this season.  They left in an epic final bow to the Penn State audience, beating the #15 Badgers 31 – 24.  It was a shocking display of superior execution and a little bit of luck.  In the end, the Nittany Lions rode off into the sunset of the 2013 season with a winning record and all the promise in the world in front of them.

No one – myself included – saw this coming, nor could they have predicted what happened on Saturday.  No one thought the Nittany Lions could accomplish anything more than a respectable showing against a team as talented as Wisconsin.  Frankly, those same Lions didn't exactly give anyone a reason to be optimistic, given how they had played on the road, and at times even at home, all season long.  Inconsistent was probably the nicest way of describing Penn State’s play this year.  Flashes of talent and brilliance were plentiful, but so were the mind-boggling mistakes and miscues exhibited by this still very young team.  Just how young are they?  23 freshmen (on a roster of approx 61 scholarship players) boarded the plane on Friday en route to Madison; among them, Christian Hackenberg, Adam Breneman, Geno Lewis, and Brandon Bell.  Each of them made an impact in this game, which took place ironically on Wisconsin’s Senior Day.

In the end, as it so often does, heart trumped talent.  It was obvious from the opening drive that the 24 point underdogs felt wildly disrespected by the prognosticators.  They had a chip on their collective shoulder and the entire team seemed hell bent on proving the doubters wrong.  On a frigid Wisconsin afternoon, Penn State’s fire burned so passionately that all the advantages enjoyed by the home-team Badgers seemingly melted away.  In less than 2 minutes, Christian Hackenberg would begin what was to become simultaneously his greatest performance to date and his coming out party.  He launched a 68-yd pass (the longest play Wisconsin had allowed all season) to fellow freshman Adam Breneman, who broke a tackle and took it all the way to the endzone… and that was just the start.  Opposing defenses will watch the tape from this game during the offseason and likely recoil in terror at the prospect of defending against Hackenberg in coming seasons.  Worse still will be the realization that Christian will be a year older, a year wiser, and will finally have been through a full winter and spring of indoctrination into O’Brien’s pass happy, pro-style system.  And they probably won’t feel any better when they realize that even if stud receiver Allen Robinson heads to the NFL, Geno Lewis, Richy Anderson, and a 3-headed monster at tight end (James, Breneman, and Carter) are all returning next year to catch the flurry of passes that are sure to come their way.  The entire Big Ten should be afraid, very afraid, of what may lay in store for them over the next 2-3 years.

For those who were too captivated by an admittedly crazier game over on ABC between Alabama and Auburn, you missed a great one that almost equaled last year’s season finale.  Both teams went back and forth, with Penn State tying it up at 14 just before halftime.  However, the 3^rd quarter, and the start of the 4^th, were all Nittany Lions as they jumped out to a commanding 31 – 14 lead on 2 more Hackenberg TDs and a Sam Ficken FG.  The lead forced Wisconsin to prematurely abandon their prized running game and instead turn to their mediocre passing game.  QB Joel Stave threw a season-high 53 pass attempts, compared to just 30 rush attempts.  Those kind of numbers are anything but Wisconsin football.  Although Stave ended the night with an impressive 339 yds - exactly equaling Hackenberg’s total for the day - he did it on 23 more attempts than the 18 yr old freshman.  Thankfully, the Penn State secondary did something most fans have waited all season to see… they buckled up their chin straps and went to work.  Tipped passes, blocked passes, constant pressure, and 3 interceptions (2 of which lead to TDs) eventually spelled doom for Wisconsin and in spite of a desperate attempt to come back, it was all for naught.  On their last possession, O’Brien simply gave the ball to Zach Zwinak, who, after having difficulty all day, broke free late in the 4^th quarter with a 61 yd run, effectively sealing the deal.  The home crowd was stunned and sent home in near silence, wondering what in the world just happened.

Now don’t get me wrong, it wasn't a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination.  Most notably, the offensive line committed what I can only assume was a record 8 false start penalties, 4 by Donovan Smith alone.  The special teams also continued to struggle as Alex Butterworth had a punt blocked for the 2^nd week in a row and Sam Ficken missed 2 of his 3 FGs.  Normally, mistakes like that would cost a team the game, yet somehow, Penn State won anyway.  It seemed like destiny.  In the face of overwhelming sanctions, the Lions have now managed 2 winning seasons and sent 2 of the most beloved senior classes in school history out with the wins they so proudly earned and deserved.

As for my prediction, who really cares?  I got basically nothing about this game right, and I couldn't imagine being more happy to be wrong.  Christmas came early and all Penn State fans got a present on Saturday: a victory that has never tasted so sweet. 

Go State!