It turns out James Franklin was as busy shuffling his coaching staff as he was preparing for the Cotton Bowl. On Dec. 9, Penn State offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne was named Old Dominion’s head coach, and on Dec. 26, Kirk Ciarrocca was named to succeed him. Then on New Year’s Eve, ...
Penn State has hired Boston College offensive line coach Phil Trautwein to fill the same position on the Nittany Lion staff. Trautwein’s name emerged as a leading candidate early Friday in a report by Yahoo Sports, and PSU announced the hiring later in the evening. He replaces Matt ...
Mississippi State fired Joe Moorhead after just two seasons Friday, making the unusual decision to dismiss a coach after a bowl game. The Bulldogs went 14-12 under Moorhead, who was previously the offensive coordinator at Penn State. He was hired after the 2017 season when Dan Mullen left ...
KJ Hamler wasn’t just Penn State’s best wide receiver the past two seasons, his production dwarfed that of every other wideout on the squad. The Nittany Lions could have a difficult time replacing Hamler, who on Tuesday night announced that he’s giving up his final two years of college ...
Penn State is looking for a new offensive line coach after announcing Tuesday that Matt Limegrover’s contract will not be renewed. Limegrover spent the past four seasons with the Nittany Lions after joining the program from Minnesota. “We appreciate all of Matt’s contributions to our ...
DALLAS — Penn State ran all over Memphis in a wild and wacky Deep South shootout at the Cotton Bowl. Journey Brown, who once ran for a staggering 722 yards in a high school game, gashed the Tigers’ defense with the biggest rushing effort in PSU bowl history. Brown’s journey to the ...
DALLAS — Following are the highlights and lowlights from Penn State’s 53-39 victory over Memphis on Saturday in the Cotton Bowl game at AT&T Stadium: Play of the game: On third-and-8 from the Memphis 24, Micah Parsons pressured Memphis quarterback Brady White, whose attempt at a flip ...
Parsons sensational for PSU DALLAS — The scary thing, for Penn State opponents, is that Micah Parsons can only get better. The consensus first-team All-American put on a show in Saturday’s Cotton Bowl, making one big play after another and dominating about as much as a linebacker ...
DALLAS — The bowl season, especially the non-College Football Playoff games, can be littered with duds. Witness the 14-0 (lack of) effort Miami — the U, not of Ohio — mailed in during Thursday’s Independence Bowl loss to Louisana Tech that resulted in the Hurricanes’ offensive ...
DALLAS — Five things to look for as Penn State plays in its third New Year’s Six bowl game in four years against a Memphis team looking to make a big splash against a marquee opponent. No. 1: Strength vs. strength Penn State has an excellent defense. Memphis has an excellent offense. ...
DALLAS — Major renovations to Beaver Stadium are still “years away,” Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour said Friday, but the athletic department is committed to keeping up with the Joneses when it comes to spending on sports programs. Barbour addressed numerous topics during her ...
James Franklin found another Pennsylvania boy with a Penn State heart to be the Nittany Lions’ new offensive coordinator. Franklin hired Kirk Ciarrocca away from Minnesota, where he had been offensive coordinator the past three seasons. Ciarrocca has a wealth of experience at the position, ...
This is exactly the kind of hire James Franklin should have made for the offensive coordinator job. The key word there is “kind.” I cannot sit here and tell you Kirk Ciarrocca is a home run hire who will do Joe Moorhead type of things for Penn State’s offense. No one can predict the ...
With Penn State’s 2019 season about to close, the defensive leadership torch is being passed to Micah Parsons. The sophomore linebacker and newly-minted consensus All-American will be the unquestioned focal point of the Nittany Lions in 2020, and a high bar has already been set for his ...
UNIVERSITY PARK — The grind of taking hit after hit finally got to quarterback Sean Clifford at the end of the regular season, but he should be back to 100 percent when Penn State plays Memphis in the Cotton Bowl on Saturday. “I feel good,” Clifford said Friday. “Definitely near the ...
LEMONT — Former Penn State linebacker Gary Gray has taken a trip down memory lane over the past two years, researching the story of his hometown’s 1960 Little League World Series championship squad that he followed along the tournament trail with his father. Gray, a two-year starter for ...
UNIVERSITY PARK — KJ Hamler is stressed out about what he says is the hardest decision of his life. “Yes, very hard,” the Penn State redshirt sophomore receiver said Friday. “I didn’t think it was going to be this difficult and this stressful,” he added. Hamler is mulling ...
UNIVERSITY PARK — Armchair quarterbacks love second guessing coaching decisions, something James Franklin is keenly aware of and made a comical reference to Friday when discussing the hiring process for a new offensive coordinator. “I’m not going and hiring some guy that’s sitting ...
By Travis Johnson The Associated Press UNIVERSITY PARK — More than two decades had passed since Penn State celebrated a win as a ranked team in basketball. The 23rd-ranked Nittany Lions, who snapped their 23-year drought with an 87-58 win over Central Connecticut on Friday, believe they ...
Penn State signed 27 recruits on national signing day Wednesday, and in an example of how quickly high school kids are getting themselves ready for college, a whopping 11 of those players will enroll early at PSU next month. Penn State’s recruiting class does not include any five-star ...