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Pry: PSU defense has learned its lesson

James Franklin has praised Penn State’s defensive unit most of the season, saying the Nittany Lions’ have been playing “championship-level defense.’’ A vastly-improved Sean Clifford, Jahan Dotson’s greatness, fewer offensive turnovers and the overall defense have been the main contributing factors in Penn State’s 4-0 start and rise to No. 4 in the Associated Press rankings heading into tonight’s game with Indiana (7:30 p.m., ABC). None is more important than the other. That’s why it’s called complementary football. But the defensive success has been particularly ...

With Brady, celebrate greatness, remember the flaws

Tom Brady’s return to New England will surely be a massive lovefest, at least up until the moment he lines up under center Sunday night for Tampa Bay. With good reason, because there’s a lot to celebrate for the greatest quarterback of his time and the legacy he somehow keeps writing at the age of 44. Everyone knows about the six Super Bowl rings for the Patriots and the late-game comebacks so numerous they’re hard to count. Brady also won 219 regular-season games for New England and was 30-10 overall in the playoffs, with 73 touchdown passes. Along the way, he and coach Bill ...

US has to win in Europe to turn tide in Ryder Cup

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — Europe had players who weren’t even born the last time it was beaten this badly in the Ryder Cup by what was clearly a superior American team on Midwestern soil. This wasn’t Sunday at Whistling Straits. This was five years ago at Hazeltine, where the 17-11 outcome suggested the Ryder Cup was turning in favor of the Americans. Darren Clarke was the captain in 2016 and he pledged Europe would “be back stronger to fight” in two years. That’s exactly what happened. So while the Americans looked better than ever — “the greatest team of all time,” ...

Lions not running from their weakness

UNIVERSITY PARK — The Nittany Lions can say they’re 4-0, but they can’t say they’re running over everybody. Penn State came into Saturday’s game with Villanova as the next-to-worst rushing team in the Big Ten, and those numbers didn’t go up in Saturday’s 38-17 win over the FCS ...

Meanwhile, there’s trouble in Columbus

Some nitpicking to digest during the closest thing to an open date besides the real one Oct. 16: n While Penn State is off to a 3-0 start, things aren’t going as smoothly for the Nittany Lions’ biggest Big Ten nemesis in Columbus. The Buckeyes were torched at home by Oregon, 35-28, losing the game despite rolling up more than 600 yards of offense — including three receivers surpassing 100 yards. That’s really hard to do. Ryan Day’s response was to demote defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs, who was banished to the press box as secondary coach Matt Barnes took over the ...

US Ryder Cup team not exactly united

SHEYBOYGAN, Wis. — The video put out by the U.S. Ryder Cup media staff tried to say one thing. The body language from Brooks Koepka told a different story. Yes, he’s teammates for the week with Bryson DeChambeau and 10 other guys, charged with regaining the Ryder Cup on home soil. But his feud with the long hitter isn’t over by any stretch. “We are on the same team together,” Koepka said in somewhat cryptic remarks Thursday. “We’ve had dinner almost every night as a team.” Where they sat at the table is probably another story, and Koepka wasn’t in a mood to offer ...