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PSU, SMU carry weight of history into CFP debuts

DaQuan Jones remembers the chaos. The uncertainty. The sanctions. The aftermath. How could he not? He and the rest of his Penn State teammates — those that stuck around anyway — lived through it. Jones was a sophomore defensive lineman in the fall of 2011 when the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal brought one of college football’s bluebloods to its knees and sent revered coach Joe Paterno into exile. It felt like a tipping point. “The program could have done a whole tanking and kind of completely went under,” said Jones. Only, it didn’t. While some ...

Lashlee has ‘popped lid’ on SMU gains

The SMU football program is mostly known for being given the NCAA death penalty after repeated violations of payments to players from boosters of the program in the 1980s. It resulted in the cancellation of the 1987 and 1988 seasons. Before those sanctions were levied, the Mustangs had a stronger reputation on the national scene. On Saturday at Penn State (noon, TNT) in the first round of the College Football Playoff, SMU coach Rhett Lashlee knows the Mustangs could be playing their biggest game since before the death penalty. But Lashlee doesn’t want all the credit for SMU’s ...

AP likes home favorites

Welcome to the new-look postseason, where the path to the national championship begins at campus sites for eight of the 12 teams in the College Football Playoff. Bundle up, buttercup. Snow showers are forecast to give way to cloudy skies and temperatures in the 20s in South Bend, Indiana, for Friday night’s Indiana-Notre Dame game. A 10- to 15-mph northwest wind will make temperatures in the 20s feel like it’s in the mid teens in State College, Pennsylvania, on Saturday for SMU-Penn State. Temperatures in the low 20s with a light breeze is forecast for Columbus, Ohio, for ...

Carter, Warren get extra attention

By Andy Stine astine@altoonamirror.com Penn State football players Abdul Carter and Tyler Warren were both named Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) All-Americans on Tuesday. If you ask around the rest of the team, no one seems to be shocked by the honors. “I’m not surprised at all with how well he’s doing this season,” linebacker Dom DeLuca said of Carter. “He’s just a freak athlete. I noticed it as soon as he stepped on campus. “He does a lot of good stuff,” running back Nicholas Singleton said of Warren. “He’s being a good teammate, being a ...

Franklin glad offensive coordinator Kotelnicki staying put

Following are the highlights of James Franklin’s pre-SMU press conference on Monday: Saturday’s game: vs. SMU in first round of the College Football Playoff at Beaver Stadium. Winner meets Boise State on Dec. 31 in the Fiesta Bowl Kickoff: Noon TV: TNT Records: Penn State (11-2), SMU (11-2). Odds: Penn State is an 8.5-point favorite. Rankings: Penn State is ranked No. 6 in the CFP. SMU is No. 11. Series: Penn State leads, 1-0-1. Last meeting: Penn State won, 26-21, in 1978 Kotelnicki staying put Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki was involved with the ...

PSU’s Pribula enters portal

Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula has entered the transfer portal and will not be available for the upcoming College Football Playoff. Pribula confirmed his intentions in a Twitter post on Sunday and said the overlapping portal timeline and CFP playoff made for “an impossible decision.” The situation leaves Penn State in the unenviable position of entering Saturday’s first-round CFP game with SMU (noon, TNT) at Beaver Stadium without a backup quarterback who has taken a snap in game action. Freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer will likely ascend to the No. 2 spot behind ...