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Punishment for penalty too often exceeds crime

By Neil Rudel nrudel@altoonamirror.com The answer to today’s point-counterpoint question, like the old “Scruples” game, is a definite “depends.” First off, player safety must be paramount so the concept of discouraging targeting is admirable. The days of players staggering back to the huddle with concussions – players were denied water in the same era, through the 1960s-70s, and given salt tablets instead — are thankfully gone. While the targeting rule, in theory, is positive, its administration is not. Players called for targeting are ejected and also forced to ...

Safety first means targeting = ejections

By Cory Giger For the Mirror Football must change. The thinking must change. The attitudes must change. Because safety should always be the most important thing. And throughout the history of football, safety has really never been the most important thing — specifically head safety. We are, thankfully, finally in the midst of a change in football. It took decades and thousands of players at all levels suffering countless concussions — and some dying with CTE or other health problems caused by football — for people to realize, accept and wake up to the dangers of the vicious ...

College football survives first week of player pay

The first week of college football is in the books and, surprisingly enough, no players were injured while lining their pockets with endorsement money. The end of college football as we know it didn’t come either, confounding the ominous warnings repeated so often for so long by so many in positions of power in the sport. Actually, the biggest takeaway of this nascent season might be this: Despite the fact that some players are getting paid for the first time, college football so far looks a lot like college football has looked for a long time now. Well, not exactly the same. ...

Penn State’s defense opens to curtain call

James Franklin didn’t have the stat sheet when he arrived at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday afternoon to meet the media. So he’d have to wait a few more minutes to make sense of some of these numbers: Wisconsin ran 95 plays to Penn State’s 51, racked up 30 first downs to the ...

For (rugged) openers, big chance greets PSU

By Neil Rudel nrudel@altoonamirror.com “Having Wisconsin as an opening game is different than the way college football normally starts out.” That was one of the first statements James Franklin uttered during his weekly press conference Tuesday previewing the Nittany Lions’ season opener Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium (noon, Fox). While he’s right that most of college football’s marquee programs — Penn State still qualifies — don’t open on the road against big-name teams, some take part in neutral-site matchups such as Clemson vs. Georgia and Alabama vs. Miami ...

PSU point-counter point: Defense already due to show improvement

By Neil Rudel We know Cory loves offense so I’ll take the defense today for the sake of our debate. Plus I actually believe it. Ask which unit you expect more from this season, and I would say the offense. But Saturday at Wisconsin is a separate topic. Mike Yurcich’s track record has produced high-scoring offenses everywhere he’s been, dating back to his tenure at Shippensburg, where his work got noticed by Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State. This Penn State offense has good skill players and, presumably with an improved Sean Clifford, will be good — in time. But probably ...