Two local high school football coaches have first-hand experience with new Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. R.J. Albarano roomed with him in the late 1990s while the two were on the football team at California (Pa.) University. “He played QB for us at Cal,” Albarano, a ...
When Saint Francis opened its 2020-21 basketball season with a shocking 80-70 upset at Pitt, my immediate reaction was to call the victory the best of Rob Krimmel’s nine-year tenure. But where did it rank in annals of the Red Flash program? Though its place on the national landscape has ...
Some nitpicking as Penn State’s home season (for sure this time) concludes: n With three games canceled, and uncertainty over the availability of some key Ohio State players in the Big Ten title game, there’s an anti-climatic cloud over the entire conference today, and, surely, Penn ...
Kickoff Saturday: Michigan State (2-4) at Penn State (2-5), Noon TV: ABC Latest line: Penn State is favored by 14.5 points With all the uncertainty that has surrounded this year, college football’s goal was really pretty simple: Just get the season in. And for the Nittany Lions, by ...
Yes, but I think the league missed a great opportunity to show out-of-the-box thinking that would have injected some needed excitement into the Big Ten. And that would have been to allow the Buckeyes — with the Big Ten’s help — to schedule the best opponent they could find for a date ...
Football teams often talk about an identity. Through their 0-5 start, the Nittany Lions didn’t have one, other than a losing identity. They certainly didn’t have a defensive identity as they were lit up for 30 points weekly. Nor could they throw the ball effectively, even though they ...
Lion time Today: Penn State at Rutgers, noon Records: Penn State (1-5); Rutgers (2-4) TV: Fox Sports 1 Latest line: PSU favored by 11.5 When things aren’t going well — despite Penn State’s one-game winning streak – coaches who have enjoyed past success typically refer to their ...
There’s a fine line between winning and losing, but there’s a wide gap on how outcomes affect certain teams. Especially teams with big dreams. Penn State’s 27-17 victory Saturday at Michigan in an empty Big House sent a much-needed infusion of positivity through the Nittany Lions, who ...
Since Penn State has never been 0-5, there’s no reference point in how the Nittany Lions handled that adversity. The closest stretch of futility was the early 2000s when the Lions managed four losing seasons in five years. Joe Paterno wanted a chance to bring the program back and kept ...
UNIVERSITY PARK — If you can’t make a yard, you don’t deserve to win. That old football axiom was on full display Saturday as Penn State’s 41-21 loss to Iowa was unfolding. With the Nittany Lions down 10-7 in the second quarter, they faced third-and-1 at their 49. Did they go ...
To answer this week’s question: Absolutely. Much as coaches want to treat players the same, regardless of position, it just doesn’t, and can’t, work that way. Quarterback is the most important position on the team — one of the most important positions in all of sports. Coaches ...
When the book is someday written on “Inventing New Ways to Lose,” presuming he look back and laugh about it, say 20-plus years from now, James Franklin could provide a chapter on Penn State’s 2020 visit to Nebraska. When, for the second straight week, the Nittany Lion offense gave up a ...
In starting out 0-3, Penn State has already lost what it thought was a chance to be in the Big Ten East title race, if not in the running for the College Football Playoff. Beginning today, we’ll find out if James Franklin has lost more than just three games. We’ll find out if he has ...
This is truly a coin flip, which is almost what we did. Cory had first pick this week and picked the defense. I’m sure we both can take either side of the ball since each has been mightily disappointing. But as unprepared as the pass defense has been, I’m comfortable saying the offense ...
UNIVERSITY PARK — On Halloween night, in an eerie backdrop under a full moon, with only family and staff dotting cavernous Beaver Stadium, Ohio State was anything but spooked. In fact, the only people scared are the legion of Nittany Nation fans suddenly dealing with an 0-2 start following ...
Coming up Saturday: Ohio State (1-0) at Penn State (0-1) Time: 7 p.m. TV: ABC Latest line: Nittany Lions are 11.5 underdogs. If there’s one thing that last week’s loss at Indiana accomplished, it quickly took the shine off tonight’s matchup with Ohio State and the pressure that ...
Since everything has been said during this virus-extended offseason about the latest opener in the modern era of Penn State football — the 1887 team (PSU’s first) opened Nov. 5 — my usual pre-game column will shift today. Besides, there was a bigger Penn State story this week with the ...
When the Altoona Mountain Lions opened their season last week by thrashing traditionally-respected Cumberland Valley, most figured the crosstown rivals from Hollidaysburg arrived at Mansion Park as underdogs Friday night. Well, as Lee Corso might say, “Not so fast, my friends.’’ If ...
Of the countless Division I athletes Blair County has produced over the years, Tim Lambour’s experience was perhaps the most unique when it came to racial relations. Lambour was a basketball standout at Bishop Guilfoyle, helping lead the 1970 Marauders to the Pennsylvania Catholic ...
This is supposed to be the most special time of the year. The calendar flips to September, summer vacation is in the rear-view mirror, the kids are back in school, the cooler fall air begins to replace the August heat. And you pack the car, hopefully with the Mirror Gameday in tow for a ...