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Lions ‘left it all on field’

COLUMBUS — The pain was apparent in Sean Clifford’s eyes and the brevity of his answers. As he came off the Ohio Stadium turf Saturday night following the Nittany Lions’ 33-24 loss to the No. 5 Buckeyes, Clifford looked back and spent a few moments of reflection. The Ohio native completed a career-high 35 passes in 52 attempts for 361 yards a touchdown, a strong comeback from a week ago when his performance was compromised due to injury and led to a shocking loss to Illinois. “This is where I’m from, Ohio,’’ Clifford said softly. “It’s a tough one for ...

Speculation distracting Franklin

The main storyline of the 2021 Penn State football season, unfortunately, has devolved into one thing — whether this is James Franklin’s final year in Happy Valley. Franklin said the ongoing speculation linking him to other jobs (USC, LSU) has not been discussed with the staff or the players, but he’s nobody’s fool: In fact, Franklin is probably the savviest coach in the country when it comes to social media, who’s on it, what’s being tweeted, etc. Clearly, the entire program is distracted, the players for how they’ve performed dating back to Sean Clifford’s injury at ...

Small window for turkey hunts

This week will be a busy one for hunters. Fall turkey season opens Saturday and runs one week until Nov. 6. That is a much shorter season than we are used to. Perhaps that is because of the reported decline in the turkey population in the last couple years. Many other management areas have longer open seasons this year than we have in 4D, so check it out in your hunting digest. Hunting turkey can be a different and harder pursuit the second week. The flocks of hens and young that most hunters ran into in the early part of the season have become educated by all the scattering and ...

Baseball’s playoff format should stay put

Since Major League Baseball set its playoff system with the Wild Card Game involving non-divisional winners, there has been much clamoring about the unfairness of the setup. And truth be told, things haven’t always shaken out spic and span. The Pittsburgh Pirates won 98 games in 2015, but finished in second place in the National League Central Division to the St. Louis Cardinals, who won 100 games. Because they were unfortunate enough to be in an ultra competitive division that year, the Pirates were locked into the winner-take-all Wild Card Game with the Chicago Cubs, who ...

Penn State doesn’t get paid for 9 overtimes

By Neil Rudel nrudel@altoonamirror.com UNIVERSITY PARK — We’ve now witnessed the low point of James Franklin’s eight-year Penn State tenure. As a 24-point favorite, fresh from a bye week, the Nittany Lions lost to Illinois, 20-18, in a torturous nine-overtime game — NCAA record ...

Backup QBs get chance to show up for PSU

By Neil Rudel nrudel@altoonamirror.com Backup QBs get chance to show up All eyes are on the Penn State quarterback(s). Sean Clifford has made a surprisingly quick return to practice, but his availability for today’s game with Illinois (noon, ABC) remains questionable. The Nittany Lions (5-1, 2-1 in the Big Ten) should not need Clifford to beat the struggling Illinois (2-5, 1-3), but they almost certainly will need him to stand any chance next week at Ohio State. In that regard, Clifford’s injury, suffered Oct. 9 at Iowa and rumored/feared to mean a more extensive absence, ...