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What’s the best thing going for Penn State right now? Expanded playoff field will do wonders for Nittany Lions

By Cory Giger sports@altoonamirror.com When the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams beginning next year, there’s no program or coach in the country that stand to benefit more than Penn State and James Franklin. That’s not me being a homer. Because, you know, everybody knows I’m just a Penn State homer. Wink, wink! When the Nittany Lions beat Michigan State on Friday, they’ll finish the regular season 10-2 and will be ranked in the top 12 by the College Football Playoff committee. They’re currently sitting at No. 11. This year, then, will mark the sixth time ...

Blair County teams enjoy big success

This scholastic soccer season saw a number of firsts for area teams in the district and state playoffs. For the first time, four Blair County soccer teams garnered district championships — the Hollidaysburg boys and the Central, Bishop Guilfoyle and Altoona girls. n The Hollidaysburg boys, starting a majority of sophomores and freshmen, shut out Bellefonte, 3-0, to grab the District 6 3A title. n The Central girls defeated a familiar foe in Bedford and went through 30 minutes of overtime to stay strong to grab the District 6 2A title, 5-4, in the second round of shootouts. n ...

QB Pribula proves worthy of PSU’s trust

UNIVERSITY PARK — A backup quarterback’s job seems easy until he’s pushed into emergency duty in a moment’s notice. There usually aren’t a lot of reps in practice for the second stringer, and QB coaches have prepared with the starter all week. But Beau Pribula certainly aced the test when Drew Allar had to exit Saturday’s game in the third quarter with an injury, finishing with 71 yards rushing on eight carries and a score in a 27-6 win over Rutgers on Senior Day at Beaver Stadium. It also wasn’t the easiest time to be summoned, just six days removed from the firing ...

Report: Yurcich firing made before UM game

By Neil Rudel nrudel@altoonamirror.com The No. 1 storyline for the remainder of this season is who will fill the Nittany Lions’ now vacated offensive coordinator position. James Franklin accelerated that narrative by pulling the plug on Mike Yurcich’s tenure last Sunday after Penn State lost to Michigan, 24-15. Or did he do it sooner? According to a report by Audrey Snyder of The Athletic, quarterback recruit Bekkem Kritza met with Franklin last Saturday morning at Beaver Stadium prior to the Lions’ matchup with the Wolverines. The meeting included Kritza’s family and ...

PSU point-counter: Franklin’s game management hurts Lions (Rudel)

This week’s topic is easy. Penn State’s biggest problem is at the top of the totem pole: James Franklin. I said last week the Michigan game was not a must-win for Franklin, and in terms of keeping his job, it wasn’t. Here’s hoping Penn State would never suffer from the complete loss of perspective that has inflicted Texas A&M, which is buying out $76 million of Jimbo Fisher’s contract. Franklin is signed through 2031, and whether he makes it that long — either by his choice, or eventually, Penn State’s — is another subject. But he’s the answer to today’s ...

PSU point-counter: Lack of talent at WR derail PSU hopes (Giger)

It is darn near impossible to believe that Penn State’s wide receiver situation is this bad. So bad that it killed the program’s chances for greatness this year. I’ve only covered PSU since 2006, and this is by far the worst group of wide receivers the program has had in my 18 years. The 2004 group (Gerald Smith, Mark Rubin, etc.) was worse — running back Tony Hunt led that team in receptions with 39 — but Penn State was lousy that year, so there were no real expectations. This year’s team had huge expectations. The coaches had known for a couple of years that they had Drew ...