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All the info about thr 2011 Lions, as well as remembering the 1986 PSU Championship silver anniversary.
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The Times Leader Tuesday, August 30, 2011
PENN STATEPENN STATE2011 SPECIAL SECTION
25 years laterstill No. 125 years laterstill No. 1
A look back at the 1986 championship on its silver anniversary. Page 3A look back at the 1986 championship on its silver anniversary. Page 3
A complete preview of the upcomingseason and a position-by-positionbreakdown for the Nittany Lions.
Ready for ’11Who will win the first title game?Get the latest on every team in thenewly aligned Big Ten conference.
In the Big Ten
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No. Player Pos. Year Ht/Wt.1 Nick Sukay Saf 5TH/SR 6-1/2191 Rob Bolden QB SO/SO 6-3/2162 Shane McGregor QB SR/JR 6-1/1982 Chaz Powell CB 5TH/SR 6-1/2063 Brandon Beachum TB SR/JR 6-0/2304 Evan Lewis PK/WR SR/JR 5-10/1734 Amos Adrian CB FR/FR 6-0/2055 Bill Belton WR FR/FR 5-10/2065 Derrick Thomas CB JR/SO 6-0/1816 Derek Moye WR 5TH/SR 6-5/2106 Gerald Hodges LB JR/JR 6-2/2347 Curtis Drake WR JR/SO 5-11/1737 Stephen Obeng-Agyapong Saf JR/SO 5-10/2028 Allen Robinson WR FR/FR 6-3/1998 D’ Anton Lynn CB SR/SR 6-1/2089 Michael Zordich RB SR/JR 6-1/24110 Malcolm Willis Saf JR/SO 5-11/20910 Kevin Haplea TE JR/SO 6-4/25111 Khairi Fortt LB SO/SO 6-2/23411 Matthew McGloin QB SR/JR 6-1/21112 John Cabot QB FR/FR 6-4/20412 Stephon Morris CB JR/JR 5-8/18413 Tim Buckley DB FR/FR 6-0/19613 Paul Jones QB SO/FR 6-3/24214 Garrett Venuto QB JR/SO 6-0/21814 Mike Wallace CB JR/SO 5-9/19315 Patrick Flanagan WR SO/FR 5-8/14715 Alex Kenney CB SO/FR 6-0/19516 Ryan Scherer WR SR/JR 5-8/17617 Christian Kuntz WR JR/SO 6-4/21418 Deion Barnes DE FR/FR 6-4/24518 Andrew Goodman WR SR/JR 6-0/19719 Justin Brown WR JR/JR 6-3/21420 Devon Smith WR JR/JR 5-7/15521 Stephfon Green TB 5TH/SR 5-10/19822 T.J. Rhattigan LB FR/FR 5-10/19323 Brian Friend WR JR/SO 6-1/19624 Derek Day RB SR/JR 5-9/188
24 Jonathan Duckett Saf SO/FR 6-1/19725 Silas Redd TB SO/SO 5-10/20926 Kyle Lucas LB JR/SO 5-11/23326 Curtis Dukes TB JR/SO 6-1/23727 Jacob Fagnano Saf SR/JR 6-0/20727 Tariq Tongue WR JR/SO 5-8/16528 Drew Astorino Saf 5TH/SR 5-10/20729 Jeff Cully CB SO/FR 5-11/19730 Anthony Fera PK/P JR/SO 6-2/21530 Ryan Keiser Saf SO/FR 6-1/20631 Brad Bars LB SO/FR 6-3/22632 Dakota Royer LB SO/FR 6-1/23333 Andre Dupree FB JR/SO 5-10/25333 Michael Yancich TE SR/JR 6-2/23734 Nathan Stupar LB 5TH/SR 6-1/23435 Pat Zerbe FB JR/SO 6-1/23436 Deron Thompson RB FR/FR 5-10/18937 Joe Suhey RB 5TH/SR 6-1/22238 Ben Kline LB FR/FR 6-2/22339 Jesse Della Valle CB SO/FR 6-1/18540 Zach Zwinak RB SO/FR 6-1/23340 Glenn Carson LB SO/FR 6-3/23941 J.R. Refice DT JR/SO 6-0/26242 Michael Mauti LB SR/JR 6-2/24243 Mike Hull LB SO/FR 6-0/22044 Michael Fuhrman KS SR/JR 5-10/21645 P.J. Byers FB JR/SO 6-0/24745 Alex Butterworth P SO/SO 5-10/20646 Ken Pollock LB SR/JR 6-0/19447 Jordan Hill DL JR/JR 6-1/29748 Jordan Kerner DE FR/FR 6-4/24150 DeOn’tae Pannell G SR/SR 6-5/31052 Chima Okoli T 5TH/SR 6-4/29353 Jon Rohrbaugh KS 5TH/SR 6-0/21554 James Van Fleet LB SR/JR 6-0/22854 Matt Stankiewitch C SR/JR 6-3/29956 Eric Latimore DE 5TH/SR 6-6/27757 Emery Etter KS JR/SO 6-1/21158 Adam Gress T JR/SO 6-6/304
59 Pete Massaro DE SR/JR 6-4/26460 Ty Howle C JR/SO 6-0/29562 Frank Figueroa G JR/SO 6-3/29464 John Urschel G JR/SO 6-3/29265 Miles Dieffenbach C SO/FR 6-3/29166 Angelo Mangiro OL FR/FR 6-3/28767 Quinn Barham T 5TH/SR 6-3/30468 Ryan Nowicki OL FR/FR 6-5/29270 Nate Cadogan T JR/SO 6-5/27771 Devon Still DT SR/SR 6-5/31072 Khamrone Kolb G SO/FR 6-5/31773 Mark Arcidiacono G JR/SO 6-4/28474 Johnnie Troutman G 5TH/SR 6-4/31475 Eric Shrive T JR/SO 6-6/29775 Evan Hailes DT SO/FR 6-1/30376 Donovan Smith T FR/FR 6-5/31377 Patrick Christie T SO/FR 6-5/30178 Mike Farrell T SR/JR 6-6/29079 Kevin Blanchard OL FR/FR 6-7/28280 Andrew Szczerba TE 5TH/SR 6-6/26681 Jack Crawford DE SR/SR 6-5/27381 Shawney Kersey WR JR/SO 6-1/19882 Brian Irvin TE SR/JR 6-3/24983 Matt Zanellato WR FR/FR 6-3/18484 Kyle Baublitz DE SO/FR 6-5/27585 Brandon Moseby-Felder WR JR/SO 6-2/19186 C.J. Olaniyan DE SO/FR 6-3/24987 Kyle Carter TE FR/FR 6-3/24388 J.D. Mason TE SR/JR 6-4/24789 Garry Gilliam TE JR/SO 6-6/27590 Sean Stanley DE JR/JR 6-1/24691 DaQuan Jones DL SO/SO 6-3/31292 Anthony Alosi DT FR/FR 6-4/29293 James Terry DT SR/JR 6-3/31794 Shawn Oakman DE FR/FR 6-7/26096 Cody Castor DT SR/JR 6-3/29097 Luke Graham DT SO/FR 6-4/28397 Sam Ficken PK FR/FR 6-3/17798 Anthony Zettel DT FR/FR 6-5/259
2011 Penn State Roster
Churning hismind as if envi-sioning a huge,open hole, SilasRedd wentfull-blast intothe idea.
He doesn’t plan to become thenew Evan Royster of Penn State’sbackfield.
He wants to be better.“I’ve prepared my whole life for
this moment,” Redd said.There were moments last sea-
son when Redd, as a freshman,proved much more dazzling anddynamic than Royster ever was atrunning back.
We got an early glimpse ofRedd’s flash and dash when heaveraged more than five yards onfive carries against top-rankedAlabama. His 30-yard bolt againstNorthwestern was riveting. Hisback-to-back 26- and 20-yardbursts against Minnesota weredownright electrifying.
Those thoughts only stir upexpectations for much more thisseason.
“I showed myself I can coim-pete at the Division I level, andactually have some success,” Redd
said. “That was big, as far as help-ing my confidence.”
He has never been shy on self-certainty, going back to whenRedd came out of the King LowHeywood Thomas School inNorwalk, Conn., ranked by twomajor scouting services as one ofnation’s top10 running backs inthe 2010 signing class.
But the Nittany Lions justsigned off on one of their greatestcollege careers of all-time.
By the time he left Penn State inJanuary, Royster piled up 3,932 –more than Curt Warner or D.J.Dozier or Ki-Jana Carter or BlairThomas or anyone else from PennState’s history of storied runningbacks.
How do you replace that kind ofproduction?
“We miss him. He’s the all-time(school) rusher,” Redd said. “Butwe have guys to get the job doneas well.”
Redd’s not the only one.Redshirt junior Brandon Bea-
chum is finally coming back fromthat torn ACL he suffered late inthe 2009 season, and battled Reddhard for this year’s starting job.And recently-reinstated fifth-yearsenior Stephfon Green could alsomake an impact once he works hisway back from a spat with headcoach Joe Paterno.
The trio’s expected to providepower and punch to Penn State’srunning game. Sort of like thun-der, lightning and plenty of windgusts.
“Silas is a shifty, quick back wholikes to take it outside,” Beachumsaid. “Myself, I’m more of a be-tween-the-tackles guy. It’s a goodchange of pace.
“What we’re bringing to thisoffense is something Penn Statehasn’t had since Austin Scott andTony Hunt were in the backfield.”
But the Nittany Lions havegrown accustomed to big playsand big games erupting from thebackfield through their storiedpast. They’ll need it through thefuture, now that the Big Ten isseparating into two divisions andplaying a championship game.
“We really want to get back intothe Penn State way of running the
ball,” Redd said, “getting after it,hard-nosed running, deliveringthe hits.”
Beachum and Redd are alreadyintent on delivering a message.
The school’s rushing leadermay have left, but the big rushingplays didn’t.
“Silas Redd’s looked greatthere,” quarterback Matt McGloinsaid. “Brandon Beachum’s back.(Sophomore eligible) CurtisDukes responded well.
“Honestly, we can continue toflow there.”
Somehow, the yards will keeppouring out of Penn State’s back-field. The new guys taking thehandoffs don’t have to run into theschool’s record book. Just as longas they run to daylight, game bygame.
“I just really want to win thisBig Ten championship and want anational championship,” Reddsaid. “If I gain1,000 yards andscore a couple touchdowns alongthe way, that’ll be great.”
Just like the tradition of runningthe football at Penn State dictates.
RB hopes to ensure PSU running game is Redd hotPAUL SOKOLOSKIO P I N I O N
Paul Sokoloski is a Times Leadersports columnist.
Cover Story ..................Page 3Joe Paterno .................Page 6Matt McGloin ...............Page 8Rob Bolden..................Page 10Linebackers.................Page 12Secondary ...................Page 14Schedule ...............Pages 16-17Defensive Ends...........Page 18Depth Chart ................Page 19Predictions ................Page 20Illinois ...........................Page 21Indiana ........................Page 22Ohio State ..................Page 23Purdue ........................Page 24Wisconsin ...................Page 25Iowa .............................Page 26Michigan .....................Page 27Michigan State..........Page 28Minnesota...................Page 29Nebraska ....................Page 30Northwestern..............Page 31
Index
In an AP file photo, Joe Pa-terno is carried off the fieldafter the Nittany Lions de-feated the Miami Hurricanesin the 1987 Fiesta Bowl to winthe national championship.
On the cover
• For breaking news and up-dates throughout the week,Penn State beat writer DerekLevarse’s blog or former PennState manager Joe Soprano’suniqueperspective go togo towww.timesleader.com/sports/pennstate.
On the web
Levarse Soprano
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The second-ranked Nittany Lions helda slim 14-10 lead in the showdown for themythical national championship, butTestaverde had the No. 1 Hurricanes onthe move.
“I was scared,” said Shaffer, the start-ing quarterback and a team captain forPenn State in 1986.
“It was just a matter of time before theHeisman trophy winner brought the
game together.”The Hurricanes took over at their 23
with just over three minutes left. On afourth-and-6, Testaverde found BennieBlades down the sideline for 32 yardsand the ’Canes were set up deep in PennState territory.
“I remember standing next to (quarter-back) Coach Bob (Phillips), preparingand watching,” Shaffer said. “Saying,
‘OK, there’s 1:30 left. What are we goingto do? What are we going to call?’ Prepar-ing for when we got the ball back.”
But as the clock wore down and theHurricanes moved closer and closer tothe Lion goal line, Shaffer admits thechatter between him and Phillips dieddown.
All-America linebacker Shane Conlan,who was on the field for that final drive,had a completely different set of emo-tions.
“Obviously we were exhausted becausewe were on the field a lot,” Conlan said.
Lions’ 1986 team still a matter of pride
AP FILE PHOTO
Penn State linebackers Trey Bauer (35) and Shane Conlan were key components of the Penn State defense that shut down Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde in the1987 Fiesta Bowl. This year marks the 25th anniversary of that season.
Title still shines todayBy JOE SOPRANO | [email protected]
John Shaffer stood on the sidelines of Sun Devil Stadium25 years ago and watched Heisman Trophy winner VinnyTestaverde drive the Miami Hurricanes down the field inthe final minutes of the Fiesta Bowl.
It was not a very comforting feeling.
See 1986, Page 4
EDITOR’S NOTE: Joe Soprano served as astudent manager at Penn State during the1986 national championship season. Hecaught up with some of the players on thatteam for this story.
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“But we were just playing hardand hoping that something goodhappens.“Obviously something good
did happen for us.”That it did on a fourth-and-
goal from the Penn State 13 withjust 18 seconds left in the game.Linebacker Pete Giftopoulos
came down with a Testaverdepass at the goal line, and JoePaterno and the Nittany Lionshad their second national cham-pionship in school history.The silver anniversary of that
moment, championship andteam will be celebrated at half-time of the Iowa game on Oct.8.
Birth of a championExactly when the march to
that night in the Arizona desertbegan is up for debate.Trey Bauer insists it began
when a group of freshman ar-rived on campus in 1983.David Clark says it really
started right after a loss in the1986 Orange Bowl.The Penn State media guide
says it officially began on Sept.6, 1986, with a 45-15 victoryover Temple.Wherever you believe it be-
gan, it certainly was one mag-ical ride for the Lions.“From the beginning, it’s
something I will cherish myentire life,” said Bauer, a start-ing linebacker on the ’86 squadand now a real estate hedgefund investor in State College.“I really feel blessed to be part
of it.”Clark agreed.“Sometimes I can’t even put
words together to describe howbeing associated with that teammakes me feel,” said the formerrunning back, who currentlyworks for the George MasonUniversity police department inVirginia.“It’s awesome to be part of
that regime and be associatedwith those teammates.”Bauer says he knew Penn
State was on to something spe-cial when he arrived on campusas a freshman.“Everybody wants to talk
about the ’86 team and the ’86game,” said Bauer. “But thatteam was put in place four yearsor five years prior.”Several of Bauer’s teammates
– including Conlan – point tothe Orange Bowl loss the season
before as the inspiration for the1986 undefeated season.“A lot of people forget about
that ’85 team,” said Conlan, whoalso won a national champion-ship ring during his redshirtseason in 1982. “We were play-ing for a national championshipthat year. And we had roughly
the same team (in 1986).”That 1985 team went a sur-
prising 11-0 in the regular sea-son and earned a date with No.1 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.But the Lions fell to the Sooners25-10, coming up just short ofthe title.“We had just a really difficult,
tough night offensively, butdefensively we kind of took ittook them,” Bauer said of theOrange Bowl loss. “So we prob-ably could have won two nation-al championships in a row.”The loss left many of the
Lions with a bad taste in theirmouth.“With all we went through (in
1985), we knew we had some-thing special there,” Clark said.“From that loss we all got to-gether as a team and said this iswhat we are going to do.”Conlan, who now lives and
works in the Pittsburgh area,added that he was consideringentering the NFL draft after the1985 season, but after coming soclose to winning a champion-ship he felt he had more work todo at Penn State.“A lot of us were fifth-year
guys,” Conlan said. “And I wasdebating whether or not to gointo the NFL that year. But wefelt that we were that close thatyear that if we stuck togetherwe could get it done.
AP FILE PHOTO
Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde (second from left) wears camouflage fatigues and sunglasses as he and other members of the top-ranked Hurricanes prepared to leave south Florida for the Fiesta Bowl. The Canes’ choice of wardrobe still stands out 25 years later.
1986Continued from page 3
Wyoming Area gradSickler part of PSU title
Penn State did not win itssecond national championshipwithout a little help from theWyoming Valley Conference.
Wyoming Area graduateMark Sickler played on theoffensive line for the Lions thatseason.
“It was definitely prettyspecial,” said Sickler, whograduated from Wyoming Areain 1983.
“It was a great bunch ofpeople.”
Sickler praised theleadership on the nationalchampionship team, sayingquarterback John Shaffer wasa great leader.
He was also quick to givecredit to the players on thedefensive side of ball for theirefforts in Penn State’s 14-10victory over Miami in the FiestaBowl.
“They were a special group,”he said. “They carried usthrough the whole year.”
Sickler now lives inTunkhannock with his wifeNatalie and his sons Brett andMichael.
AP FILE PHOTO
Miami tackle Dan Sileo celebrates after sacking John Shafferduirng the game. Shaffer didn’t put up great numbers in the game,but he did walk away with the victory.See 1986, Page 5
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“And we did.”
Title talk hits Happy ValleyTalk of a second straight shot
at a national title really didn’tcome up until the 6-0 Lionstraveled to Alabama to face theundefeated and second-rankedCrimson Tide.Penn State’s defense com-
pletely stifled the Tide’s highlyregarded offense, earning theLions a 23-3 victory, a No. 2ranking of their own and drop-ping them squarely in the mid-dle of the national title debate.As Miami continued to roll
through its season undefeatedand ranked No. 1, Penn Statesurvived scares against Mary-land and at Notre Dame. Fromthere, the biggest debateseemed to be where the twowould meet to play for the title.The Citrus Bowl and Fiesta
Bowl entered into a bidding warfor the right to host the gamewith the Fiesta in Tempe, Ariz.,finally winning out.The game was eventually
moved to Jan. 2, making it theonly college football game onthat day and setting the stagefor one of the great dramas incollege football.“It’s the biggest game I ever
played in, and I’ve played inSuper Bowls,” said Conlan, whoplayed in three Super Bowlswith the Buffalo Bills.
Of fatigues and footballThe differences between the
two teams were evident fromthe time they landed in Tempe.As was their custom, the Penn
State players arrived wearingsuits and ties. Miami players gotoff their charter flight in mil-itary-style combat fatigues.Later in the week, the Hurri-
canes created a scene at a steakfry that was held for the twoteams.Each team was expected to
put on a short skit. After PennState’s players put on their skit,which featured a student man-ager striking the Heisman Tro-phy pose, Miami defensive line-man Jerome Brown started tolead several Hurricanes in a rap.After a few lines, Brown stop-
ped rapping.He asked, “Did the Japanese
sit down and eat with PearlHarbor before they bombed’em?”
The Miami players on stagethen pulled of the sweatsuitsthey were wearing to revealtheir fatigues and stormed outof the event.And for the first time that
week, Penn State got the betterfor the Hurricanes. Punter JohnBruno, who was still on stagefrom the Penn State skit, pickedup the microphone and remind-ed everyone that Japan lost thatwar.“To this day I think that that
game is still the most highlyviewed game in college football,
and I think it was because ofthat,” Conlan said of Miami’spregame antics. “It was kind ofviewed as a good versus evilkind of thing.”Conlan added neither the
fatigues nor the act at the steakfry had any affect on him.“I thought it was kind of fun-
ny,” he said.Shaffer even believes that it
worked against the Hurricanes.“I think Miami – and Miami
ultimately won it the next year –spent way too much time tryingto win the game in the papers,”
he said. “I think the good versusbad makes great headlines, but Iwas certainly never cared aboutit. And I thought at the time itwas a little bit silly, probablymore of an act.“But ultimately it certainly
worked in our favor.”Conlan did admit that one
thing did get under his skin thatweek.“Granted they had an awe-
some offense, but the thing thatreally bothers me about thatwhole game was they thoughtwe were not the athletes that
they were,” he said. “And thatwas so far from the truth.“We were on scholarship, too.
And we were a pretty damngood football team talent-wise.”
Getting defensiveWhile many experts expected
the Hurricanes highly regardedoffense to be just too much forPenn State to handle, the gameturned into a defensive struggleand was scoreless throughoutmost of the first half.“Offensively, if no one remem-
bers, I will just say we had agreat night,” joked Shafer, whofinished the game 5-of-16 for 53yards with one interception andno touchdowns.Miami would turn that in-
terception into a short drive anda 1-yard touchdown run by Mel-vin Bratton with 6:38 left in thehalf.Shaffer and the Lions’ offense
immediately answered with a13-play, 74-yard drive, cappedwhen Shaffer rolled and rushedinto the end zone from 4 yardsout.A Miami field goal early in the
fourth quarter gave the Hurri-canes the lead at 10-7.But after Shane Conlan
picked off a Testaverde pass andreturned it deep into Miamiterritory, All-America runningback D.J. Dozier gave the Lionsthe lead with a 6-yard touch-down run, setting up the game’slast-minute drama.
The final wordA little over eight minutes
later, Shaffer – presumably nolonger scared – was taking aknee and the Lions were nation-al champions.Where does this team rank in
Penn State history?Conlan cautioned it’s hard to
compare teams from differenteras.“I know the guys are a lot
bigger and faster and strongertoday,” he said “But I can guar-antee you they are not anytougher than we were.“That’s one thing I can guar-
antee. That defense was hard-nosed tough defense.”Shaffer took a much more
direct approach his and histeammates’ spot in Penn Stateand college football history.“I think it was a great national
championship team,” Shaffersaid. “If you ask any player (onthat team) I think we fit in rightbetween 1985 and the 1987 teamin.“And that was our year and I
think that is where we weresupposed to fit in.”
Penn State linebacker Pete Giftopoulos slams into Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde. Later in thegame, Giftopoulos intercepted Testaverde to clinch Penn State’s win.
Miami running back Alonzo Highsmith gets flipped by Penn State defenders Shane Conlan (31) andKeith Karpinski (84) during 1987 Fiesta Bowl. Many Hurricane fans still wonder why Highsmith didn’tget the ball late in the game near Penn State’s goal line.
1986Continued from page 4
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Distraught at the time, Paternocould think of nothing else but return-ing home to Brooklyn.For nearly a week, he walked
through his old neighborhood. Hevisited his old parish. He prayed.“It was the only time I ever said,
‘Hey, you’ve had it. You did it. You didall you can do. You’re not good enoughanymore,’” Paterno said. “Then, whenI came home, I realized that wasn’twhat I wanted, so I decided to stay.That’s the only time I really said tomyself, ‘Hey, you can’t get it done.’”And at age 84, Paterno still believes
strongly that he can get it done.Though this season will mark the 25thanniversary of his last national cham-
pionship squad, Paterno still holds outhope for one more shot at winninganother.He came close twice in the last dec-
ade, losing on the final play to Michi-gan in 2005 and again to Iowa in 2008.Penn State won the Big Ten both yearsand went to a BCS bowl, but the oneloss kept the Lions out of the titlegame both times.Paterno and his staff had been eye-
ing 2011 – the final year of Paterno’scontract – as another chance to makea run at the top .Much has conspired against the
Lions in the past year, however, in-
Coach hasn’t thought about stepping down since ’79 Sugar Bowl
FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Coach Joe Paterno was confined to a golf cart at media day earlier this month after injuring his right arm and hip in a collision during practice.He said he hopes to be at full strength this week and coach from the sideline when the Nittany Lions open the season Saturday.
Fire still burning hot for PaternoBy DEREK LEVARSE | [email protected]
I t was just a few days into 1979 when Joe Pater-no decided he was going to quit.His Nittany Lions had lost the national cham-
pionship to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl earlier thatweek. In a game of near-misses and goal-line stands,Penn State was penalized for too many men on thefield on a punt and missed a chance to score. ThePenn State coach blamed himself for the flag, andthe play still bothers him three decades later.
See PATERNO, Page 7
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cluding a shuffled schedulethat includes conference new-comer Nebraska as well astrips to Ohio State and Wis-consin – all in a three-weekstretch to close out the season
in November.And even if
Penn Statewere to pullthrough that,the Lionswould thenhave to win a13th game –the inauguralBig Ten cham-pionship thisDecember inIndianapolis –to claim a spotin the BCSchampionshipgame.That daunt-
ing path hasn’tstopped Pa-terno frompreparing for abig season,though.Upset with
himself forbeing too softon his youngteam thatfinished 7-6 in2010, Paternoset out thissummer totoughen hissquad up.To a man,
every playersaid preseason camp was themost grueling any of them hadexperienced.“I went into this preseason
with the idea that we weregoing to have a tough camp,”Paterno said. “Last year … Idon’t know that we were toughenough in some games. Withthat, I think you always haveto go back to the head coach. Iwasn’t demanding enough. Weweren’t physically toughenough.”Beyond that, Paterno has
been stricter off the field aswell. Multiple players weresuspended for all of preseasoncamp for violating team rules,including a fifth-year senior intailback Stephfon Green.And Paterno sought to prac-
tice what he preached. After
chewing out his players for notworking hard enough throughinjuries, the coach himself wassent to the hospital after beingrun over on the sideline at apractice.He was admitted on a Sun-
day night for injuries to hisright arm and hip. He wasreleased on that Tuesdaymorning and was back at prac-tice that Wednesday.His plan is to be back stand-
ing on the sideline for Sat-urday’s opener against IndianaState.Retire? Not just yet.“I still believe that there’s a
place for a good, solid pro-gram,” Paterno said. “Andthere’s a place for a bunch ofkids coming together, holdinghands, working their tails off,developing a little camaraderieand going out and having agood time playing football.Playing the kind of football thefans enjoy and coaches like tocoach.“The day I wake up in the
morning and I say, ‘Hey, do Ihave to go to practice again?’I’ll know it’s time to get out.”
PATERNOContinued from page 6
AP FILE PHOTOS
Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant of Alabama (left) and Joe Paterno get together before the 1979 Sugar Bowl. Penn State’s loss in thatgame to Bryant’s Crimson Tide left Paterno questioning his future as a football coach.
Joe Paterno tries to inspire his team during the 1979 Sugar Bowl. Penn State lost a chance for agame-winning touchdown late in the game because of a penalty for too many men on the field duringa punt. Paterno still blames himself for the mistake more than 30 years later.
“Last year… I don’tknow thatwe weretoughenough insomegames.With that, Ithink youalwayshave to goback tothe headcoach. Iwasn’t de-mandingenough. Weweren’tphysicallytoughenough.”
Joe PaternoOn his tougher
preseason camp
PAGE8
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Shaffer threw three interceptions inthe Orange Bowl after the 1985 seasonand returned to be the leader undercenter in 1986, helping lead the Nitta-ny Lions to a national championship.So Shaffer has some advice for Matt
McGloin.“I think he should just continue to
be confident,” Shaffer said. “He’s got alot of confidence in himself, and theteam seems to have a lot of confidencein him as well. So it’s learn from (theOutback Bowl) and bounce back.“Just be confident.”That shouldn’t be a problem for
McGloin, despite the constant remind-ers of the five interceptions he threw
in January’s bowl loss to Florida.Naturally the expectations for the
2011 Lions aren’t as high as they werefor the 1986 incarnation. But Shaffer’spoint still stands.McGloin’s attitude and demeanor are
what kept him ready to play last sea-son, despite being written off as acandidate for the quarterback job.After everything that happened to
McGloin in 2010, it’s easy to forgetthat he was relegated to just a kneel-down in last season’s opener. Thatwhen Rob Bolden went out with aninjury against Minnesota, it was Kevin
Junior QB moving past rough performance in Outback Bowl
FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin heads into the season once again battling for the starting quarterback job. The West Scranton grad started five games last season.
McGloin still as confident as everBy DEREK LEVARSE | [email protected]
It was a terrible start to the new year. And thefans, they blamed the quarterback – oh yes theydid.
Plenty of other things had gone wrong for PennState in that bowl game. At the end of the day, how-ever, it’s the interceptions that people remember.Bouncing back from that loss was going to be diffi-cult.But John Shaffer pulled it off. See MCGLOIN, Page 9
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Newsome who first took overunder center, not McGloin.
But it was McGloin whowon the coaches’ trust andessentially finished out theseason as the starter.
After awhirlwind fewweeks thatsaw him setschool records,call outESPN’s KirkHerbstreit andstare down theOhio Statesideline afterthrowing atouchdown inColumbus,McGloin ad-mitted heprobably need-ed to tone itdown a bit.
And theOutback Bowl– a 37-24 lossto Florida –served as awakeup call.
“It’s some-thing I neededto kick me inthe butt,”McGloin said.His five in-
terceptions – the last one com-ing in garbage time – were themost in a single game in PennState history.
“That first interception, Ikind of got down,” McGloinsaid. “That’s something thatnever happened to me before.I kind of let it get to me. Just
to see how bad I felt after thatgame, I don’t ever want to feelthat way again.”
This offseason entered somefamiliar territory for the Scran-ton native. With Bolden optingto return to Happy Valley foranother season, McGloin againbecame the underdog – theformer walk-on battling againstthe blue-chipper.
His biggest edge last seasonwas his leadership on and off
the field, giving the Lions abadly needed spark in thehuddle. It showed, even topeople who weren’t around theteam.
“He’s a very confident quar-terback. I like him a lot,”Shaffer said. “And he has got alot of guts. And he plays withmore confidence than I playedwith – it seems like to mefrom a chair watching televi-sion.
“He will have more badgames. He will throw moreinterceptions, but it’s just asmall bump in the pursuit ofhaving a very successful sea-son.”
For McGloin, he remainsfocused on improving on allaspects of his game headedinto 2011.
“You can always get bettermechanically – you can getbetter with your footsteps,
your drop, your release point –but I think it’s more mentalthan anything,” McGloin saidof being a starting quarterbackat this level. “It’s making theright decisions and being aleader.
“That’s something that theteam lacked last year was aleader at the quarterback posi-tion, and that’s something thatany great team needs. And Ithink we have that this year.”
FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin has again split first-team reps down the middle with Rob Bolden throughout the summer.
Class: Junior (redshirt)Hometown: ScrantonHigh School: West ScrantonHeight/Weight: 6-foot-1/211About Matt: The son of Paul andCathy McGloin, Matt McGloinwalked on at Penn State in 2008,turning down scholarship offers atFCS schools to play for the NittanyLions. He entered 2010 as thethird-string quarterback but tookover the starting role midwaythrough the season when he pro-vided a much-needed spark to theoffense with his vocal style in thehuddle.
2010 statsGP Cmp-Att-Int Pct Yards TD9 118-215-9 54.9 1548 14
M AT T M C G L O I NAT A G L A N C E
MCGLOINContinued from page 8
“He’s avery confi-dent quar-terback. Ilike him alot. And hehas a lot ofguts. Andhe playswith moreconfidencethan Iplayedwith, itseems tome.”
John ShafferOn quarterback
Matt McGloin
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Gown’s Penn State Football Annual. “Hehadn’t been here for spring practice. He hadjustbeeninhighschool.Hehadneverplayedbefore 100,000 people in an environmentsuch as Alabama.“So Iwas concerned about that, and I laid
back a little bit because the (other coaches)were all gung-ho about it.”PaternoacquiescedtohisstaffandBolden
did get the job out of camp, becoming thefirst true freshman quarterback to start theseasonopeneratPennState ina full century.Hadhenot beenknockedout of amidsea-
son game againstMinnesota with a concus-sion, there might not have been any contro-versy again this summer.
Instead, Bolden’s offseason was full ofthreats, rumors and uncertainty.But hedid not endup transferring, aswas
his intent following an Outback Bowl lossthat he spent on the sideline. Had Paternonot refused to releaseBolden fromhis schol-arship in the winter, he likely would be at adifferent school this season.Takingsometimetocooldownseemedto
help. The experience gave theMichigan na-tive a different perspective heading into an-other year inHappyValley.“You just have to grow up,” Bolden said.
“You’re here – just play football. That’s what
“I’m thinking I’m gonna be the starter. So that’s it.”
FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Quarterback Rob Bolden is back after nearly transferring out of the program in January. Bolden showed great poise as a freshman in 2010, but a concussion set him back.
Bolden doesn’t plan to play second fiddleBy DEREK LEVARSE | [email protected]
They had dragged their feet for long enough. It wastime to pick a starting quarterback.Joe Paterno and his staffmet at the start of the
week before last year’s opener against Youngstown State.They took a vote.Only one coach didn’t choose RobBolden.“I thought hewas a little too young,” Paterno, the lonedissenter, said in an interview this summer for Town&
See BOLDEN, Page 11
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you’ve gotta do. You’re going tohave setbacks, but just take thosethings in stride and learn from it.”That doesn’tmeanBolden
would be too thrilledwith a re-peat of last season, of course.The sophomorewasn’t about to
speculatewhat he’d do if he foundhimself stapled to the bench againby the end of this season.“I’mnot even thinking of that,”
Bolden said. “I’m thinking I’mgonna be thestarter. So that’sit.”Well then.Neither
Boldennor hisrival for thestarting job,MattMcGloin,lack for confi-dence.Bolden said
midwaythroughpresea-son camp thathe “absolutely”felt he haddoneenough towinthe battle,adding that hewas sureMcGloin feltthe samewayabout his ownchances.That’s one of
the qualitiesthat enticedcoaches to gowithBolden atthe start of lastseason.Despite
being thrown into tough games intough locales –Tuscaloosa andIowaCity right at the top of thelist –Boldenwas lauded by team-mates for howhehandled him-self.Therewasn’t ever a point,
Bolden insists, that he felt over-whelmedwith starting at quarter-back as an18-year-old.“Not at all. Any personwho
goes through competition andplays at a big-timeprogram likethis – it comeswith the job,”Bolden said.“You’re a quarterback at amajor
university, you’re going to have togo through things like that. And Ifeel like it helpedmegrowup alot.“I’m just going to take it in
stride, learn from it and try to takethat and put it intomygame.”
BOLDENContinued from page 10
FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Penn State quarterback Rob Bolden wasn’t allowed to talk to media last season, but he is fully in the spotlight now as a sophomore.
“You justhave togrow up.You’re here– just playfootball.That’swhatyou’ve got-ta do.You’re go-ing to havesetbacks,but justtake thosethings instride andlearn fromit.”
Rob Bolden
AP FILE PHOTO
Rob Bolden got a rough introduction to college football with road games against defending nationalchampion Alabama and a top-10 Iowa squad in his first four starts as a true freshman.
Class: SophomoreHometown: Orchard Lake, Mich.High School: St. Mary’s PrepHeight: 6-foot-2Weight: 216About Rob: The son of RobertBolden Sr. and Latonia Williams,Bolden stunned everyone lastSeptember when he won thestarting quarterback job out ofcamp after just a few months inHappy Valley. He became the firsttrue freshman to open the seasonas the starting QB at Penn State inexactly a century. He was in themidst of his best game of theseason out at Minnesota lastOctober when he was slammed tothe ground while scrambling andsuffered a concussion. He wouldreturn to the starting spot twoweeks later against Northwesternbut was replaced by Matt McGloinafter two drives. McGloin ralliedthe team to victory against theWildcats and Bolden was resignedto the bench the rest of the sea-son, nearly leading him to transfer.
2010 statsGP Cmp-Att-Int Yards Pct. TD10 112-193-7 1360 58.0 5
R O B B O L D E NA T A G L A N C E
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Thenews cameby textmessage, anditwasn’twhatMichaelMauti hadbeen expect-
ing.All offseason, the
junior linebacker hadbeenpreparingmen-tally andphysically tobePennState’s start-ing inside linebacker.The coaches changedtheirminds.“Probably twodays
before camp, I got atext saying Iwasprobably going to goback to the (strong-side) spot, so I’d betterdrop a fewpounds,”Mauti joked. “Cause Iwas eatin’,man. Iwas chompin’ down.”Preseasondiet aside, the sudden switch
wasn’t a hugedeal forMauti,whohas spenttime at all three linebacker spots.Hehad
practiced all over as a true freshman in 2008and again in the 2009offseasonbeforetearing anACL in camp that year.Whenhe returned to the field last season,
he spent his time as thestarting strong-side line-backer. But hewas look-ing forward tomovingback inside for this fall.Sowhat changed?Asusual, theNittany
Lionshead into thisseason stackedwithtalent at linebacker.Andoneof those youngplay-ers,GlennCarson,proved to be toogoodofanoption to leave on the
bench.The following is a look at all three line-
backer spots for theLions and the six play-erswhoall figure to see the field at one
Highly regarded sophomore bumps Mauti outside
FRED ADAMS PHOTOS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Penn State linebacker Glenn Carson impressed the coaches enough during the spring and offseason that he’s in line to start at inside linebacker as a sophomore.
Middle of ‘D’ could be Carson city
Michael Mauti found out a few days before preseason camp that he was moving frominside linebacker to the strong-side position he played all of last season.
By DEREK [email protected]
“He comes out, he practic-es hard. ... We know exactlywhat we’re going to getfrom him every day, andhe’s getting better.”
Tom BradleyDefensive coordinator on Glenn Carson
See LINEBACKERS, Page 13
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point or another in 2011.
STRONG-SIDEMauti will lead the way back at the “Sam”
position he manned last year, finishing with67 tackles while battling injuries.
“Doesn’t matter to me where I’m play-ing,” Mauti said. “Just as long as I can con-tribute to the defense.”
His move back to the outside, however,may have displaced another potential start-er. Fifth-year senior Nate Stupar looked tobe in line to start at the Sam, having gone inand out of the lineup for the past few sea-sons.
Naturally, the news came as a bit of ashock to the State College High Schoolgrad.
“Obviously I didn’t like it – who would,”said Stupar, traditionally one of the most
upbeat players on the team. “But we’ll seehow it goes. You never know what’s goingto happen.”
Linebackers coach Ron Vanderlindenpraised Stupar, saying that the competitionhas brought out the best in him and thatthis preseason camp was the best Stuparhad turned in during his five years on cam-pus.
INSIDECarson will be just a true sophomore this
season, but it will be his third year out ofhigh school. The New Jersey native waspart of the 2009 signing class, but an offsea-son injury led to him taking a grayshirt –not officially enrolling at Penn State until
January 2010 as to not lose a year of eligi-bility.
Thus he was ready to take the field as atrue freshman in 2010, working his way upto second-team at “Backer” by the end ofthe season behind Chris Colasanti.
His work this past spring convinced thecoaches to give him a shot as a starter thistime around.
“He comes out, he practices hard, hegives us his effort,” defensive coordinatorTom Bradley said. “We know exactly whatwe’re going to get from him everyday, andhe’s getting better.”
Carson’s reps in practice have been limit-ed since camp broke, however, because of aminor injury. That gave some more snaps to
another highly regarded sophomore inKhairi Fortt, who also played as a truefreshman last year.
WEAK-SIDEGerald Hodges made a reputation for
himself as a big-time hitter in his first publicappearance for the Lions in the 2009 Blue-White Game. And that was as a safety.
Hodges switched to linebacker for 2010but suffered a broken leg in the secondgame, forcing him out of the lineup formuch of the season.
The junior will make up for lost time thisfall as the projected starter at the “Fritz”position, with redshirt freshman Mike Hullserving as his main backup.
Regardless of how the lineup looksthroughout the season, the unit is lookingto rebound from last year’s disappointing7-6 season.
“There were a lot of things we just we-ren’t happy with,” Mauti said. “That’s ourmotivation. Last season, our performance,we only had about10 sacks. And that’s justunacceptable for us.”
FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Penn State linebacker Khairi Fortt (11) is part of a stable of talented linebackers for the Nittany Lions. Fortt played as a true freshman last season and will see time in 2011.
LINEBACKERSContinued from page 12
“There were a lot of things we just weren’t happy with. That’s ourmotivation. Last season, our performance, we only had about 10sacks. And that’s just unacceptable for us.”
Michael MautiPenn State linebacker
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Conventional wisdom says thatPenn State is carried by its line-backing corps. Stopping the
running game has been its forte defen-sively.Unconventionally, the Nittany Lions
sport a different look this season.Their secondary, once overlooked,boasts more experience and talentthan most programs in the nation.Penn State returns six players with
significant starting experience in asecondary that ranked 18th in the na-tion and second in the Big Ten inyards allowed.“We had a pretty solid year, given
all of the injuries we sufferedthrough,” said senior cornerback D’An-ton Lynn. “There were a few plays, afew games here and there that we
wish we could do over again but that’ssomething we can only improve uponfor this year.”The secondary allowed an average of
181.2 yards per game in 2010.An injury to Nick Sukay hampered
the Lions defensive backfield last sea-son. Sukay led the Big Ten with threeinterceptions before the playmakingsafety tore his pectoral muscle againstIllinois, ending his season.
Malcolm Willis responded when hisname was called, stepping in for Sukayto the tune of 54 tackles in sevenstarts.Sukay said he “recovered from the
injury nicely” and will split time atsafety with Willis through the season.“I started feeling pretty well through-
out the summer but obviously weweren’t wearing any pads,” said Sukay,who had eight tackles against then-No.
1 Alabama. “I’ve been doing everythingin camp. I’m not holding back.”Competition and depth will prevail
as themes for the secondary this year.With six players who started half aseason a year ago, Lynn said “none ofus feel our jobs are safe.” Coaches willbe substituting the secondary frequent-ly, he said, and the make-up of thestarting lineup may change week toweek.Some players, like senior safety
Drew Astorino, contend that the expe-rience of the younger guys moldedthem into a more cohesive unit.“Those injuries, when they first hap-
pened, were catastrophic,” said Astori-no. “But now, when you look at it,we’re a better team. Some of thosebackups had some valuable playingtime. It just gives us tremendousdepth coming into this year.”
FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Penn State cornerback D’Anton Lynn enters his third season as a starter in what has shaped up to be a experienced secondary for the Lions in 2011.
Lions have lots of depth in secondaryBy JAY MONAHANFor The Times Leader
“We had a pretty solid year, given all of the injuries we sufferedthrough. There were a few plays, a few games here and there thatwe wish we could do over again but that’s something we can onlyimprove upon for this year.”
D’Anton LynnSenior cornerback
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A look at current and future NittanyLions with ties to the area.
Matt McGloinJunior quarterback, West Scranton:
McGloin made history in 2010, becomingthe first former walk-on to ever start atquarterback under Joe Paterno. Hebecame the first quarterback in schoolhistory to throw for 300 yards in back-to-back gamesHe also played a huge part in the
Lions’ biggest comeback ever at BeaverStadium, rallying the team from 21-0down against Northwestern for a 35-21win. That just so happened to be the400th victory of Paterno’s career.Right or wrong, for many fans those
accomplishments were overshadowedby his five interceptions in an OutbackBowl loss to Florida. But McGloin relish-es proving people wrong and is back tocontend for the starting job.
Jacob FagnanoJunior safety, Williamsport: After
starring in Wyoming Valley Conferenceplay for the Millionaires, Fagnano walk-ed on at Penn State and saw some sig-nificant time as a sophomore.Beyond special teams play, Fagnano
saw time in the secondary last Octoberand November because of injuries in thedefensive backfield.Appearing in all 13 games last season,
Fagnano finished with eight tackles andrecovered a fumble.
Kenny PollockJunior linebacker, Lake-Lehman:
The walk-on is looking for his first snapsat Penn State in the coming season.With the Lions stacked at linebackeronce again, the most likely route to thefield would be on special teams.He has been praised by linebackers
coach Ron Vanderlinden for his workethic and attitude on the scout team.
Eric ShriveSophomore offensive lineman, West
Scranton: In his third season on cam-pus, the heavily recruited lineman is still
looking to make an impact. Shrive hasbounced between tackle and guard inthe past few preseason camps and hecould end up at either to start the year.Barring injuries this year, Shrive’s
biggest opportunity likely won’t comeuntil 2012. The Lions will lose four se-niors from their two-deep O-line afterthis year, including both starting tackles.
Eugene LewisIncoming wide receiver, Wyoming
Valley West: A verbal commitment forthe signing class of 2012, Lewis wouldbecome the first Wyoming Valley Con-ference football player on scholarshipfor the Lions since 2004.Lewis will again start at quarterback
this year for Wyoming Valley West, buthis athleticism has him rated as one ofthe top wide receiver prospects in thecountry. He would play receiver for theLions and have a shot to see the field asa true freshman next fall.
NyeemWartmanIncoming linebacker, Valley View:
Wartman won’t be an official member of
the Lions until national signing day inFebruary, but he already is putting inwork for Penn State by talking up theprogram to other recruits.The high school senior had scholar-
ship offers from all over the Northeastand down the East Coast, including fromFlorida.
Plenty of local flavor on Nittany Lions’ roster
FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Offensive lineman Eric Shrive is looking to stick on the two-deep as a sophomore and challenge for a starting spot in 2012.
PETE G. WILCOX/TIMES LEADER FILE PHOTO
Eugene Lewis announced earlier thismonth that he will attend Penn State.
TIMES LEADER FILE PHOTO
Linebacker Kenny Pollock played hishigh school football at Lake-Lehman.
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E ric Latimore recog-nized the feeling imme-diately. The defensive
end had dislocated jointsbefore – heck, he’d even pop-ped his own shoulder backinto its socket on occasion.So when he jammed his wriston the helmet of a pullingIllinois guard on the first playfrom scrimmage against theIllini last October, he wasn’tespecially alarmed.
“It wasn’t bad on the side-line,” Latimore said of hisdislocated wrist. “I thoughtthey’d just pop back it in. Ithought I was gonna be rightback out there.”
He wasn’t.Instead, he was stuck on
the sideline with fellow de-fensive end Jack Crawford,who had injured a ligament inhis right foot a few days earli-er in practice, spending theIllinois game on crutches.
With Crawford and Lati-more missing most of theseason with injuries, the Li-ons recorded just 17 sacks,putting them 101st in thenation. For a program thathas excelled in developingdefensive lineman underposition coach Larry John-son, it was a shock. PennState had six defensive line-men selected in the firstround of the NFL draft since2000.
“I want to win,” Latimoresaid. “Last year was justweird. We’re not used to los-ing like we did. With theamount of talent we had, weshouldn’t have lost that manygames.”
For Penn State to bounceback in 2011, the defense willneed ends Crawford and Lati-more to be back and at 100percent, especially with PeteMassaro out for the seasonwith a torn ACL.
That leaves seniors Craw-ford and Latimore as the pro-jected starters, with juniorSean Stanley the only otherend with significant experi-ence. Defensive tackles Jor-
dan Hill and DaQuan Joneshave both filled in at endbecause of the lack of healthybodies since last October. Butthe coaching staff is optimis-tic that everyone should beback at their normal posi-tions for the start of the sea-son.
“Crawford and Latimoreboth should be OK,” coachJoe Paterno said. “Massaro isout, but again, we’re gettingCrawford and Latimore back.We can move Jones back in-side. I think the two kids that
fought to play a lot thisspring, Stanley and (Jones),both had good experiences.Both practiced every play.
“So we lost here, we gainthere. But, I think overall(with the) defensive ends,we’re OK.”
It may still take some timeto get both back to fullstrength. Crawford and Lati-more both had tough stretch-es during their respectiverehabs, which lasted longerthan either had expected.
Marked as a potential
breakout performer in 2010,Crawford’s foot nagged himfrom the beginning of Octo-ber onward. He initially mis-sed three games with theinjury but was able to endurethe pain to appear in parts ofthe final five games of theseason.
“It’s tough to sit on thesideline,” Crawford said. “It’snot something I’ve ever done.It’s a hard feeling not to be apart of everything. It’s diffi-cult when things don’t goyour way and you have the
injury on topof that. Youcan have asetback, butyou still haveto have a posi-tive mindset.I still believethat I’m as
good of a player as I am now,and I’m going to have to getbetter for next year.”
Latimore’s own surgery hadcome a few months earlier, ashe required pins to be in-serted into his wrist.
“When I found out I’d missthe season, it was pretty dev-astating to me,” said Lati-more, who held out hope he’dbe able to return for PennState’s Outback Bowl match-up against Florida. But thoseplans were scuttled beforethe team left for Florida inDecember.
Both players were forced tosit out of contact drills dur-ing spring practice. Withencouragement from coaches,the pair did its best to stay asactive and involved as theteam doctors would allow.
“They could still go at it,”defensive coordinator TomBradley said. “They lookgreat, they work hard whenthey do things and they’re outat practice everyday. Andthey’re both big, tall guys.They get their hands up andthey cause some problems forquarterbacks. Not only that,but the one thing in thespring that helped us wasthat Stanley did a great job.We’ve got some depth now, agood rotation going.”
When the season opensSaturday against IndianaState, it will have been 11 fullmonths since they were outon the field together during alive game.
“Me and Jack are foamingat the mouth to get back, tohelp the team win,” Latimoresaid. “Of course we’re upsetabout how things went lastseason. This year we justgotta go 10 times harder.
“We don’t want to go outlike this.”
Eric Latimore, Jack Crawford bouncing back from injury
Defensive ends hoping to make an impact
Jack Crawford (81) will team with Eric Latimore at the defensive end positions this season. Injurieskept the duo out of much of last season, but both are ready to start for a revamped Lions pass rush.
By DEREK [email protected]
FRED ADAMS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
Latimore
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OFFENSEQUARTERBACK
1 Rob Bolden (So./So.)11 Matt McGloin (Sr./Jr.)2 Shane McGregor (Sr./Jr.)DEPTH: 14 Garrett Venuto (Jr./So.), 12John Cabot (Fr./Fr.)
TAILBACK25 Silas Redd (So./So.)3 Brandon Beachum (Sr./Jr.)26 Curtis Dukes (Jr./So.)DEPTH:21StephfonGreen (5th/Sr.), 24Derek Day (Sr./Jr.), 36 Deron Thomp-son (Fr./Fr.)
FULLBACK37 Joe Suhey (5th/Sr.)9 Michael Zordich (Sr./Jr.)DEPTH: 40 Zach Zwinak (So./Fr.), 45P.J. Byers (Jr./So.), 35 Pat Zerbe (Jr./So.), 33 Andre Dupree (Jr./So.)
WIDE RECEIVERSplit end
6 Derek Moye (5th/Sr.)85 Brandon Moseby-Felder (Jr./So.)
Flanker19 Justin Brown (Jr./Jr.)81 Shawney Kersey (Jr./So.)
Slot20 Devon Smith (Jr./Jr.)7 Curtis Drake (Jr./So.)
DEPTH: 5 Bill Belton (Fr./Fr.), 17 Chris-tian Kuntz (Jr./So.), 4 Evan Lewis (Sr./Jr.), 83 Matt Zanellato (Fr./Fr.), 8 AllenRobinson (Fr./Fr.), 16 Ryan Scherer (Sr./Jr.), 18AndrewGoodman (Sr./Jr.), 27Ta-riq Tongue (Jr./So.), 23 Brian Friend(Jr./So.), 15 Patrick Flanagan (So./Fr.)
TIGHT END80 Andrew Szczerba (5th/Sr.)10 Kevin Haplea (So./So.)DEPTH: 88 J.D. Mason (Sr./Jr.), 82Brian Irvin (Sr./Jr.), 87 Kyle Carter (Fr./Fr.)
OFFENSIVE LINE
LEFT TACKLE67 Quinn Barham (5th/Sr.)70 Nate Cadogan (Jr./So.)
RIGHT TACKLE52 Chima Okoli (5th/Sr.)78 Mike Farrell (Sr./Jr.)DEPTH: 58 Adam Gress (Jr./So.), 76Donovan Smith (Fr./Fr.), 68 Ryan Now-icki (Fr./Fr.), 77PatrickChristie (So./Fr.),79 Kevin Blanchard (Fr./Fr.)
LEFT GUARD74 Johnnie Troutman (5th/Sr.)73 Mark Arcidiacono (Jr./So.)
CENTER54 Matt Stankiewitch (Sr./Jr.)60 Ty Howle (Jr./So.)
RIGHT GUARD64 John Urschel (Jr./So.)50 DeOn’tae Pannell (Sr./Sr.)DEPTH: 75 Eric Shrive (Jr./So.), 72Khamrone Kolb (So./Fr.), 65 Miles Dief-fenbach (So./Fr.), 62 Frank Figueroa(Jr./So.), 66 Angelo Mangiro (Fr./Fr.)
DEFENSELEFT END
56 Eric Latimore (5th/Sr.)90 Sean Stanley (Jr./Jr.)
RIGHT END81 Jack Crawford (Sr./Sr.)84 Kyle Baublitz (So./Fr.)DEPTH: 86 C.J. Olaniyan (So./Fr.), 31Brad Bars (So./Fr.), 94 Shawn Oakman(Fr./Fr.), 48 Jordan Kerner (Fr./Fr.), 18Deion Barnes (Fr./Fr.)
LEFT TACKLE47 Jordan Hill (Jr./Jr.)91 DaQuan Jones (So./So.)
RIGHT TACKLE71 Devon Still (5th/Sr.)93 James Terry (Sr./Jr.)DEPTH: 75 Evan Hailes (So./Fr.), 97Luke Graham (So./Fr.), 96 Cody Castor(Sr./Jr.), 41 J.R. Refice (Jr./So.), 98 An-thony Zettel(Fr./Fr.), 92 Anthony Alosi(Fr./Fr.)
LINEBACKEROutside
42 Michael Mauti (Sr./Jr.)34 Nate Stupar (5th/Sr.)
Inside40 Glenn Carson (So./So.)11 Khairi Fortt (So./So.)
Outside6 Gerald Hodges (Jr./Jr.)43 Mike Hull (So./Fr.)DEPTH: 33 Mike Yancich (Sr./Jr.), 54Jamie Van Fleet (Sr./Jr.), 38 Ben Kline(Fr./Fr.), 32 Dakota Royer (So./Fr.), 46Kenny Pollock (Sr./Jr.), 26 Kyle Lucas(Jr./So.), 22 T.J. Rhattigan (Fr./Fr.)
CORNERBACKLeft
2 Chaz Powell (5th/Sr.)12 Stephon Morris (Jr./Jr.)
Right8 D’Anton Lynn (Sr./Sr.)14 Mike Wallace (Jr./So.)DEPTH: 5 Derrick Thomas (Jr./So.), 15Alex Kenney (So./Fr.), 4 Adrian Amos(Fr./Fr.), 39 Jesse Della Valle (So./Fr.),29 Jeff Cully (So./Fr.)
SAFETYHero
28 Drew Astorino (5th/Sr.)7 Stephen Obeng-Agyapong (Jr./So.)
Free Safety1 Nick Sukay (5th/Sr.)10 Malcolm Willis (Jr./So.)DEPTH: 27 Jacob Fagnano (Sr./Jr.), 30Ryan Keiser (So./Fr.), 24 JonathanDuckett (So./Fr.), 13 TimBuckley (Fr./Fr.)
SPECIAL TEAMSKICKER
30 Anthony Fera (Jr./So.)97 Sam Ficken (Fr./Fr.)4 Evan Lewis (Sr./Jr.)
PUNTER30 Anthony Fera (Jr./So.)45 Alex Butterworth (So./So.)
KICK SNAPPERS60 Ty Howle (Jr./So.) — FGs53 Jon Rohrbaugh (5th/Sr.) — Punts57 Emery Etter (Jr./So.) — Punts
KICK RETURN2 Chaz Powell (5th/Sr.)20 Devon Smith (Jr./Jr.)
PUNT RETURN19 Justin Brown (Jr./Jr.)20 Devon Smith (Jr./Jr.)
Projected Depth Chart
AP PHOTO
Silas Redd is at the top of the NittanyLions depth chart at tailback.
AP PHOTO
Derek Moye returns to anchor theNittany Lions receving corps.
AP PHOTO
Johnnie Troutman has worked at firstand second team guard this summer.
AP PHOTO
Michael Mauti will line up at strong-side linebacker to start this season.
AP PHOTOS
Chaz Powell will be back on the defen-sive side of the ball this season.
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OK, so the names may be tough to stomach. Most refer-ences to the Leaders Division and Legends Division thisfall will be met with cringes.But if you can look past that, this will be the first of
many interesting seasons to come in the Big Ten.No more will there be three teams claiming a piece of
the conference title like last season. No, the league hasmoved into the 21st century and the winners of each divi-sion will square off on Dec. 3 in Indianapolis.Here’s a look at the other 11 teams in the Increasingly
Inaccurately Named Big Ten and their chances of reach-ing Indy in 2011.
Forecasting the new-look Big Ten conference
1Wisconsin Badgers
2
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3
6
Ohio State Buckeyes
Purdue Boilermakers
Leaders Division
Penn State Nittany Lions
Illinois Fighting Illini
Indiana Hoosers
123456
Legends Division
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Northwestern Wildcats
Michigan State Spartans
Michigan Wolverines
Iowa Hawkeyes
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Big Ten championship gameDec. 3, 2011
Lucas Oil StadiumIndianapolis
Team PreviewsIllinois ................................Page 21Indiana .............................Page 22Ohio State .......................Page 23Purdue .............................Page 24Wisconsin ........................Page 25Iowa ..................................Page 26Michigan ..........................Page 27Michigan State ...............Page 28Minnesota........................Page 29Nebraska .........................Page 30Northwestern ...................Page 31
Conference OverallTeam W L Pct W L PctOhio State 7 1 .875 12 1 .923Wisconsin 7 1 .875 11 2 .846Michigan State 7 1 .875 11 2 .846Iowa 4 4 .500 8 5 .615Illinois 4 4 .500 7 6 .538Penn State 4 4 .500 7 6 .538Michigan 3 5 .375 7 6 .538Northwestern 3 5 .375 7 6 .538Purdue 2 6 .250 4 8 .333Minnesota 2 6 .250 3 9 .250Indiana 1 7 .125 5 7 .417
2010 Big Ten standings
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Hard to believe that this will beRon Zook’s seventh season inChampaign – a number that
actually makes him the third-longesttenured coach in the conference be-hind Joe Paterno and Kirk Ferentz.Illinois had little expectations last
year, so even reaching a bottom-rungbowl game was a sign of progress.The seven wins from last year wasthe second-highest total for the Illinisince Zook took over in 2005.Where things go from here is tough
to say. But a step backward in 2011could be what finally costs Zook hisjob, especially with a new athleticdirector taking over for Ron Guenther,who hired him.
ON OFFENSEThere was plenty of skepticism
when Nathan Scheelhaase was namedthe starting quarterback last spring asa redshirt freshman.But after starting off his career with
four touchdowns and seven intercep-tions in his first six games, Scheel-haase made much better decisions inthe second half of the season, throw-ing 13 touchdowns and just one pick.Scheelhaase benefited greatly from
tailback Mikel Leshoure, who left inthe spring for the NFL. His replace-ment, senior Jason Ford, isn’t on thesame talent level but brings plenty ofexperience with 13 career starts al-ready under his belt.A.J. Jenkins is back for his senior
season after leading the team far andaway in receiving a year ago, finishingfirst in catches (56), yards (746) andtouchdowns (7). The other top targets– Darius Millines and Ryan Lankford– caught just eight passes combined ayear ago.Senior tackle Jeff Allen is one of
the better blockers in the league, andprovides a great amount of securityprotecting Scheelhaase’s blind side.Allen is one of three returning starterson the line along with juniors GrahamPocic and Hugh Thornton.
ON DEFENSETwo very, very big losses loom for
the Illini defense as defensive tackleCorey Liuget and linebacker MartezWilson were taken in the first andthird rounds of April’s NFL draft, re-spectively.Also gone are experienced defenders
end Clay Nurse, linebacker Nate Bus-sey and safety Travon Bellamy. In all,
the Illini are down their top threetacklers from last year.Defensive tackle Akeem Spence was
a pleasant surprise last year, earning afreshman All-America selection fromone outlet. Obviously he won’t have
as much room to make plays withouthis fellow defensive tackle drawingdouble teams this season.At linebacker, the Illini will be rely-
ing on senior Ian Thomas in the mid-dle as the team’s leading returning
tackler.Things are more promising in the
secondary, led by returning startersTerry Hawthorne, Tavon Wilson andTrulon Henry.The talented Hawthorne, a former
Parade All-American coming out ofhigh school, has been hampered byinjuries. Henry had a team-best threeinterceptions last year from his freesafety spot.
OUTLOOKThe first thing that stands out as a
positive for the 2011 Illini is theschedule. Five straight games to openthe season at home and six of thefirst seven. The only road game inthat stretch is against Indiana. It’s astart that the Illini can’t afford towaste.Of the team’s four road games,
three of them -- Indiana, Purdue andMinnesota – are winnable. The fourthis at Penn State, where Illinois won ayear ago. The Illini dodge Nebraskaand Michigan State.Plenty of Illini supporters look at
that slate and see at least seven oreight wins. But with some holes ondefense, it won’t be that easy. Zook ismore than accustomed to coachingunder pressure, but missing out on abowl game isn’t an option.
—Derek Levarse
New athletic director will keep Zook on the hot seat
Illinois can’t afford to take a step back
AP PHOTO
Illinois begins the season once again with head coach Ron Zook on the hot seat.
2011 SCHEDULE9/3..............................................Arkansas State9/10.....................................South Dakota State9/17 ...............................................Arizona State9/24.......................................Western Michigan10/1 ................................................Northwestern10/8......................................................at Indiana10/15....................................................Ohio State10/22....................................................at Purdue10/29 .....................................................at Illinois11/12 ........................................................Michigan11/19 .....................................................Wisconsin11/26................................................at Minnesota
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Things are looking up inBlooming-ton, as theHoosiers have a chanceto get somemomentum rolling
with new coachKevinWilson.Indiana had been running on fumes
underBill Lynch these past few years.Wilson gives the teamamuch-neededshot in the armafter spending nearly adecade as the offensive coordinator atOklahoma.
ONOFFENSEIndiana fans are already counting the
days until the start of the 2012 season.Wilson has already secured a verbal com-mitment fromone of the best recruits inprogramhistory inGunnerKiel, who isconsidered the nation’s top quarterbackrecruit bymultiple services.The quarterback he’ll battle for the
starting job next yearmight just be hisownbrother.SophomoresDustyKiel, EdWright-
Baker and true freshmanTreRoberson areall in themix in 2010.Regardless, it figures to be a big step
back from last year, as BenChappell ledtheBigTenwith 3,300 yards.Twoof the squad’s four top receivers are
back,with 6-foot-5 seniorDamarloBelch-er leading theway, alongwith sophomore
DuwyceWilson.Things are still up in the air for tailback
DariusWillis, whomissedmost of lastseason and this springwith an injury.WithoutWillis, the run gamewas nearly
non-existent in 2010, and theHoosierssimplywon’t be able to rely on the pass asmuch as last year. A healthyWillis is cru-cial.Three starters return on theO-line, but
some shuffling is still to be expected.Justin Pagan has beenmoved over a spotfrom right tackle to right guard,whileAndrewMcDonald andWillMatte returnat left tackle and center, respectively.
ONDEFENSEThedefense continues to lag behind,
and it’s going to keep theHoosiers frommakingmuch progress until it improves.It has been almost a decade since theIndiana defense finished the season allow-ing less than four touchdowns per game.Typically it has been north of 30 points pergame.Not pretty.Linebackers Jeff Thomas andLeon
Beckum ranked second and third on theteam in tackles last year, respectively, andboth are back to start again as seniors.Gone is fellow linebackerTylerReplogle,who led the squadwith 87 tackles despite
missing timewith injuries.Without him inthe lineup, theHoosiersmanaged tosomehow surrender 83 points toWiscon-sin late in the year.Tyler’s brotherAdam returns, however,
to help anchor the defensive line alongwithMickMentzer and senior endDariusJohnson. Johnson had 4.5 sacks a year agoto lead the teamand theHoosiers desper-ately need an improved pass rush to staycompetitive this year.A pair of sophomores inGregHeban
andLawrenceBarnettwill likely start atcornerback. Senior safetyChris Adkins isthemost experiencedwith12 starts, butall were at cornerback.
OUTLOOKThings should gradually begin to im-
prove underWilson,whohelped the lateRandyWalker create a special offensivescheme first atMiami (Ohio) and thenNorthwestern before landing a job underBob Stoops atOklahoma. SoWilsonknows theMidwest and he knows how tofind success on offense regardless of talentlevel.Even so, it’s hard to imagine theHoo-
siers doingmuch better than their fivewins froma year ago. The only leaguegame that IUmight be favored in is the
season finale at home against Purdue, andthat’s assuming theBoilers are once againstruck by a rash of injuries.Measuring progresswon’t be easy this
year, butHoosier fans can at least trustthat there’s a plan for the future.
—DerekLevarse
Indiana starts a new era with Kevin Wilson coming in from Oklahoma
AP PHOTO
Kevin Wilson spent nine years as offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops at Oklahoma before taking over for Bill Lynch at Indiana this season.
Hoosiers are left looking to the future
2011 SCHEDULE9/3................................................vs. Ball State*9/10 .........................................................Virginia9/17...................................South Carolina State9/24 ............................................at North Texas10/1 .....................................................Penn State10/8............................................................Illinois10/15 ................................................at Wisconsin10/22.........................................................at Iowa10/29.............................................Northwestern11/5 .................................................at Ohio State11/19.........................................at Michigan State11/26..........................................................Purdue*-Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
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The coach and the quarterbackare gone.
The top running back andwide receiver are out for five games,as is a veteran offensive lineman.
The NCAA is still looking into themany allegations that have surfacedout of Columbus in the past year,with long-term sanctions still pos-sible.
The athletic director and universi-ty president sound like fools.
The program hasn’t suffered thislevel of embarrassment since WoodyHayes hit Charlie Bauman.
The team will still contend for aconference title.
ON OFFENSETerrelle Pryor’s future as a quarter-
back in the NFL is uncertain, butthere’s no debate that opposing de-fensive coaches in the Big Ten arehappy that he’s gone. There’s a largedifference in gameplanning for Pryorand doing so for a former PittsburghPirates farmhand.
Based on preseason scrimmages, itsounds like ex-minor league pitcherJoe Bauserman will get the nod overtrue freshman Braxton Miller – atleast for the start of the season.
The three players on offense facingfive-game suspensions are tailbackDan Herron, wideout DeVier Poseyand left tackle Mike Adams. But thisis Ohio State, and there are stillmany options.
That’s especially true in the back-field. Ohio State has at least foursolid candidates to split carries inHerron’s absence. Jordan Hall, Jaa-mal Berry and Carlos Hyde all sawtime last year while Rod Smith red-shirted.
The receivers will suffer a bit morewithout Posey to lead the group. Themost experienced target who willplay in the first five weeks will betight end Jake Stoneburner, who mayalso split out wide out of necessity.
On the line, seniors Mike Brewsterand J.B. Shugarts will have to holdthe fort until Adams returns in Octo-ber.
ON DEFENSETalented rush end Nathan Williams
should pick up right where CamHeyward left off last year as a forceon the edge.
With opposing teams keying onWilliams, it should open up some
opportunities for newcomers in themiddle. Jon Hankins and true fresh-man Mike Bennett have both shownpromise in camp. Junior John Simonalso brings the flexibility of beingable to handle responsibilities attackle and end.
At linebacker, the biggest additionmay be Mike Vrabel. The long-timeNFL starter is the Buckeyes’ newposition coach. He has his choice ofa handful of highly recruited playersto assemble his unit, which losesstarters Ross Homan and BrianRolle, the team’s top two tacklersfrom last season.
Andrew Sweat returns, althoughlikely with a jump over to the weak-side spot. Juniors Etienne Sabinoand Storm Kline are the favorites toman the other two positions.
Ohio State loses three of the fourstarters in the secondary from last
year, leaving Orhian Johnson as theexperienced man in backfield.
OUTLOOKThe schedule isn’t quite kind
enough to label the Buckeyes as thefavorites in the Leaders Division.
Still, it would be very unwise tocount the Bucks out of anything.True, Luke Fickell has no headcoaching experience and looks to bejust a placeholder for bigger nameswho are waiting out the NCAA in-vestigation. But philosophically,there won’t be much change for OhioState.
The Buckeyes will sit on leads,play defensive football, and win themajority of their games en route to aJanuary bowl game. That’s some-thing that will certainly outlive JimTressel and Terrelle Pryor.
—Derek Levarse
Ohio State’s troubles are not enough to keep team from contending
Turbulent times at the old Horseshoe
AP PHOTO
The offseason has been no laughing matter at Ohio State, but quarterback Joe Bauserman can smile as it looks like he will getthe nod as starter to begin the season. He is expected to split time with true freshman Braxton Miller.
2011 SCHEDULE9/3..............................................................Akron9/10 ...........................................................Toledo9/17 .............................................................Miami9/24 ......................................................Colorado10/1 ..............................................Michigan State10/8 ..................................................at Nebraska10/15 ......................................................at Illinois10/29 ...................................................Wisconsin11/5............................................................Indiana11/12 ......................................................at Purdue11/19 ....................................................Penn State11/26 ..................................................at Michigan
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Nothing they did seemed to matter.Regardless of who they put onthe field – especially on offense –
the Boilermakers simply couldn’t keepplayers healthy. And 2011 is no different.Unfortunately for Danny Hope, in-
juries have severely hampered his squadsin his first two years as coach since tak-ing over for Joe Tiller. Under Tiller, theBoilers were known best for a pass-hap-py attack that featured some of the bestskill-position players in the conference.Under Hope, Purdue can’t seem to
keep those skill-position guys on thefield. If there’s a bright side to all of it,the injuries allowed more players to getexperience, and the Boilers should beable to bounce back with 16 returningstarters.
ON OFFENSELast year, Purdue started four different
players at quarterback because of injury.Already in 2011, projected starter Rob
Henry has torn an ACL, leaving thesituation quite messy headed into theseason.Highly regarded Miami transfer Rob-
ert Marve is still recovering from a tornACL suffered last fall and may not beready to go until conference play begins.Not to mention that Marve’s name has
come up in connection to the massiveillegal benefits investigation that haswrecked the Hurricanes this summer.Given that the investigation will drag
on for months, it’s likely nothing willhappen to Marve during this, his fifthand final year of eligibility.That leaves Caleb TerBush as the
potential starter for the opener.Fortunately for the Boilers, tailback
Ralph Bolden, who broke out as a sopho-more in 2009 before tearing -- youguessed it, an ACL -- the followingspring and missing all of the 2010 sea-son.At receiver, senior Justin Siller is back
along with Antavian Edison, the Boilers’leading returning receiver with 32 catch-es for just 316 yards. Siller could seesnaps at quarterback in an emergency.Four out of five starters return on the
offensive line, including three seniors inDennis Kelly, Nick Mondek and KenPlue.
ON DEFENSENearly every starter from last year’s
defense is back. One of the departed,however, might as well count for threeplayers. All-America defensive end RyanKerrigan led the country in tackles forloss with 13.5, the majority of themcoming on sacks.Without last season’s Big Ten Defen-
sive Player of the Year, Purdue will relymore on defensive tackle Kawann Short,who turned in an impressive sophomorecampaign with six sacks.The real star on defense might be
sophomore cornerback Ricardo Allen.He made a name for himself in Novem-ber by returning a pair of interceptions
for touchdowns.As a freshman All-American, Allen
even drew a few comparisons to Purduelegend and NFL Hall-of-Famer RodWoodson. Allen has been even bolderhimself, talking instead about matchingMichigan’s Charles Woodson by winningthe Heisman.
OUTLOOKWith better luck this year, Purdue may
end up being the most improved teamsin the conference.Danny Hope largely deserves a pass in
his first two seasons because of the rashof injuries. It’s not as though the bar atPurdue is terribly high – the program isnow more than a decade removed fromits last conference title and hasn’t wonthe league outright in more than 80years.But supporters will be looking for
some progress this year after three sea-sons without a bowl appearance. Purduewasn’t a perennial contender under Till-er, but at least the team was fun towatch, and it allowed the school to bringin some impressive talent on offense.The Boilers need to try to recapture
some of that excitement and go fromthere.
—Derek Levarse
Bad luck, injuries continue to strike at Purdue
AP FILE PHOTO
Purdue head coach Danny Hope has seen his team be decimated by injuries in his first two seasons with theBoilermakers. So far, 2011 is starting off the same way.
Boilers turning to last man standing at QB
2011 SCHEDULE9/3 ........................................Middle Tennessee9/10 ...........................................................at Rice9/17.........................................SE Missouri State10/1 ..................................................Notre Dame10/8 .....................................................Minnesota10/15 ..............................................at Penn State10/22..........................................................Illinois10/29.................................................at Michigan11/5 ..................................................at Wisconsin11/12 .....................................................Ohio State11/19................................................................Iowa11/26.....................................................at Indiana
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In his first five seasons, Bret Bielemahas been incredibly successful inMadison. He just missed out on win
No. 50 with the Badgers when they fellshort in the Rose Bowl back in January.Still, Wisconsin doesn’t usually come
up in national title discussions despitebeing one of the favorites to win theinaugural Big Ten title game. The Badg-ers are hoping to join the discussion.
ON OFFENSEMuch of this year’s optimism comes
from the addition of all-ACC quarterbackRussell Wilson. After being cut by N.C.State for trying his hand at a baseballcareer, Wilson was able to transfer toanother school and play immediatelybecause he already had an undergraduatedegree.Wisconsin won the Wilson sweep-
stakes when he picked the Badgers overAuburn and others, cementing the team’sstatus as Big Ten favorites.Wilson started three seasons for the
Wolfpack and was officially named thestarter for the Badgers this week, takingover for the quietly effective Scott Tol-zien. While in Raleigh, Wilson was one ofthe most prolific passers in ACC history,collecting 93 total touchdowns in threeyears.And he’ll have plenty of talent around
him. The Badgers were four yards shortof having three 1,000-yard rushers lastyear, and two of them – Montee Ball andJames White – are back.Tailback is never an issue for Wiscon-
sin, which continually churns out someof the most productive rushers in theconference. Even true freshman MelvinGordon has been turning heads in camp.It’s also a given that the line will be
stocked with 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-7 hulkslike starting tackles Ricky Wagner andJosh Oglesby. Meeting guys like thathelped sway Wilson to Madison.The receivers don’t often get a lot of
hype at Wisconsin, but senior Nick Tooncould see his numbers shoot well up thisseason with the addition of Wilson. Toonwill draw plenty of attention from defens-es until the group of underclassmen, ledby Jared Abbrederis, can improve.
ON DEFENSEThe entertaining and talented J.J. Watt
will be greatly missed on the defensiveline. Fortunately for the Badgers, the restof the front line returns. Replacing Watt’sseven sacks and 14 tackles for loss will bedifficult, but ends Louis Nzegwu andDavid Gilbert will give it a shot.In the middle, Patrick Butrym, Ethan
Hemer and Jordan Kohout should bestout against the run.
Wisconsin welcomes back linebackerChris Borland to the mix. After beingnamed Big Ten Freshman of the Year in2009, Borland was knocked out for theseason last year in the early going withan injury and is back to start now. He’ll
team up with returning starter MikeTaylor, the team’s leading returning tack-ler last season and senior Kevin Claxton.Two starters from last season’s second-
ary are gone, but the Badgers will havethree seniors in the defensive backfield,
led by free safety Aaron Henry and cor-nerback Antonio Fenelus. That pair com-bined for six interceptions a season ago.Devin Smith and Shelton Johnson fill outthe unit.Despite losing the squad’s top three
tacklers from 2010, the Badgers shouldstill be in decent shape.
OUTLOOKLast season was a big step forward for
the Badgers, who claimed a share of theconference title for the first time sinceRon Dayne left Madison. Though theloss in the Rose Bowl was a blow, theexpectations are even higher in 2011.Factor in a dynamic new quarterback
and Ohio State’s offseason woes, and theBadgers would be disappointed not tocome out on top of the Leaders Divisionand possibly on track for another trip toPasadena.HowWisconsin handles it all should
be a good measure of Bielema’s growthas a head coach. The schedule sets upreasonably well for the Badgers, whodon’t play a true road contest until theirseventh game.The conference opener against Nebras-
ka at Camp Randall should be requiredviewing for any college football fan.There’s plenty of time to get everythingtogether before playing Michigan Stateand Ohio State in back-to-back weeks inOctober. The Badgers then have threegames against Purdue, Minnesota andIllinois before closing out against PennState.Wisconsin still feels a little light to
truly make waves for a run at the pro-gram’s first national title. But the Badg-ers might be reaching that point soon.
—Derek Levarse
Quarterback transferred to Wisconsin after stellar career at N.C. State
Wilson makes Badgers a division favorite
AP PHOTO
Newcomer Russell Wilson will start at quarterback for the Badgers. Wilson, a trans-fer from N.C. State, has already accounted for 93 total touchdowns in his career.
2011 SCHEDULESept. 1..........................................................UNLVSept. 10 ........................................ Oregon StateSept. 17 ....................................Northern IllinoisSept. 24........................................South DakotaOct. 1 ................................................... NebraskaOct. 15......................................................IndianaOct. 22 ................................at Michighan StateOct. 29 ..........................................at Ohio StateNov. 5.......................................................PurdueNov. 12............................................at MinnesotaNov. 19 ..................................................at IllinoisNov. 24............................................. Penn State
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backs. Coker exploded for 219yards in a bowl game win.
Marvin McNutt returns asthe team’s leading receiverafter catching eight scores ayear ago to go with a team-best 53 catches and 861 yards.
The returning starters onoffense come mostly on theline, led by 6-foot-6 tackleRiley Reiff.
ON DEFENSECornerback Shaun Prater
returns for his senior seasonafter finishing first-team All-Big Ten a year ago with fourinterceptions. Free safetyMicah Hyde also had fourpicks. He will also be back forIowa.
Both need to maintain ahigh level of play, especiallywith the departure of strong
K irk Ferentz’s squadsseem to relish low ex-pectations.
And nationally, the expecta-tions are indeed low for theHawkeyes. It’s hard to imaginethings going much worse forIowa since November. Theteam’s BCS hopes completelydisintegrated with three loss-es to end the regular season.
That skid plummeted Iowaall the way down to the In-sight Bowl and the campaignwas considered a failure, givenall of the seniors on the squad.
There was also some legaltrouble for a few players.Things only got worse when aparticularly intense winterworkout led to 13 players be-ing hospitalized with rhab-domyolysis, a serious andpotentially fatal conditioncaused by overexertion ofskeletal muscle.
The program has been un-der heavy scrutiny on and offthe field throughout all of this,and things have only recentlybegun to return to normalcy.Iowa has a league-low numberof returning starters and hasmuch to prove.
ON OFFENSEBlood pressures across the
Hawkeye State will normalizenow that Ricky Stanzi hasdeparted. Sure, he piled upplenty of wins in two-plusseasons as the starting quar-terback, but he took somevery tough routes to many ofthem.
There’s no doubt, however,that Iowa will have a dropoffwith junior James Vandenbergunder center. Vandenbergnearly led Iowa to an overtimeupset of Ohio State in Colum-bus two years ago in place ofan injured Stanzi, but he’s stilla work in progress.
As usual, the Hawkeyes willhave to rely on the groundgame. The next guy in linethis time is Marcus Coker,who was pressed into duty forfour starts last season as atrue freshman after injuries,transfers and outright dismiss-als cost Iowa its top three
safety Tyler Sash. It will beinteresting to watch how thesecondary adapts to a less-than-dominant defensive linehelping out up front.
That’s not to say the Haw-keyes will be hopeless in thetrenches. Far from it. Butthere are no easy substitutesfor Adrian Clayborn, KarlKlug and Christian Ballard.
Returning are seniors Bro-derick Binns and Mike Da-niels, both of whom havestarting experience.
Iowa has also churned outsome high-quality linebackersin recent years. The latestlooks to be James Morris, whowas named a freshman All-American last year with 70tackles and solid work in cov-erage.
OUTLOOKThe Hawkeyes dodge Wis-
consin, Ohio State and Illinoisfrom the Leaders Division,and eight wins isn’t out of thequestion.
There’s just so much stackedagainst the team coming intothe season that it’s tough topredict anything other than atransition year. That shouldstill equal a bowl appearance,though, as the team falls intoits familiar pattern of a ball-control offense led by a toughtailback, backed up by an op-portunistic defense.
Despite last year’s embar-rassing finish to the regularseason, Ferentz can still becounted on to make the mostout of his talent, and the Haw-keyes won’t be an easy win for anyone on the schedule.
—Derek Levarse
Disastrous end to last season, health scare could weigh on Hawkeyes
Hawkeyes still have plenty to overcome
AP PHOTO
New starting quarterback James Vandenberg (16) will have 2010’s leading receiver, Marvin McNutt to throw to this season.
2011 SCHEDULE9/3 ...........................Tennessee Tech9/10 ..............................at Iowa State9/17 ...............................................Pitt9/24 .................................UL-Monroe10/8 .............................at Penn State10/15.............................Northwestern10/22 .......................................Indiana10/29 .............................at Minnesota11/5........................................Michigan11/12.............................Michigan State11/19 .....................................at Purdue11/25 ................................at Nebraska
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The bowl game this past season –Michigan’s first underRichRodri-guez – likelywould not havemade
a difference. TheWolverines could havecomeout and played lights out as they didfor LloydCarr’s final game inmaize andbluewith awin overTimTebow’s FloridaGators.Rodriguez did not get such a sendoff.Michiganwas slaughtered byMis-
sissippi State in theGator Bowl, the for-merWVUcoachwas fired and then JimHarbaugh turned downhis almamater fortheNFL.The programendedupwith another
Michigan alum inBradyHoke,whowas aformer assistant underCarr before takingover as a head coach at Ball State and SanDiego State.Michiganwill be in line foranother overhaul in scheme andHoke’sstaffmust adapt to the playersRodriguezrecruited.
ON OFFENSEHoke’s first priority since he took over
the teamwas convincing quarterbackDenardRobinson to stick around. So far,so good. The speedyRobinson is back forhis junior season.Itwill be a good test ofHoke’s aptitude
as a big-time coach to see howwell he canutilizeRobinson,whoput up a record-setting 4,000-plus total yards a year ago.Adding to the conundrum is thatMichi-
gan doesn’t have a feature back. There areplenty of options, to be sure, but none ofthemmaybe able to supplantRobinson asthe team’s leading rusher.One-timePennState recruitMichael Shawand the dimin-utiveVincent Smith are the top candi-dates.WideoutDarryl Stonumwill redshirt
this season, effectively suspended for theyear byHoke after getting into trouble offthe field. LeadingmanRoyRoundtree isback, however, and still figures to be ahuge part of the offense after explodingfor seven touchdowns andnearly1,000yards as a sophomore.The offensive linewill have four players
with starting experience back,with centerDavidMolk hoping to stay healthy againto anchor the unit.
ON DEFENSEToput itmildly,Michigan’s defense has
been a disaster. Another coaching shufflehas formerBaltimoreRavens defensivecoordinatorGregMattison running theunit this year.
For starters, theWolverines’ horriblesecondary should improvewith the returnof veteran cornerTroyWoolfolk,whomissed all of last seasonwith an injury.JordanKovacs and J.T. Floyd at least bringsome experience to the secondary aswelldespite being below the talent levelMichi-gan is used to.The linebackers have also under-
achieved in recent years, though theWol-verines hope they found a difference-makerwhen they insertedKennyDemensinto the lineupmidway through 2010.Up front, tackleMikeMartin should
again be the key cog in the defense, as-suming he can stay healthy. Beyond that,CraigRoh andRyanVanBergen are solidplayers out on the edge.
OUTLOOKCertainly therewere higher-ups inAnn
Arbor that never embracedRodriguezbecause hewasn’t a so-called “MichiganMan.”Hokewill probably get a bit of a longer
leash because of his background.WhenRodriguez took over, therewas plenty ofhousecleaning, but that hasn’t happenedwithHoke,who inherits an experiencedteam.That alone could lead toMichigan’s
best season sinceCarr left.With five straight games at theBig
House to start the season, it’s easy to seehow theWolverines could get off to anoth-er hot start. But any long-termpredictionsabout the programbeing “back” should bereserved for at least another year.
—DerekLevarse
Michigan alum Brady Hoke takes over for Rich Rodriguez
AP PHOTO
Michigan hired a husky coach with a raspy voice, hoping Ohio native Brady Hoke, who grew up rooting for the Wolverines, canrestore college football’s winningest program to glory. Hoke was an assistant under former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr.
Wolverines are counting on a ‘Michigan man’
2011 SCHEDULE9/3.........................................Western Michigan9/10..................................................Notre Dame9/17.........................................Eastern Michigan9/24..........................................San Diego State10/1 ......................................................Minnesota10/8 ..........................................at Northwestern10/15 .......................................at Michigan State10/29 ........................................................Purdue11/5 ............................................................at Iowa11/12........................................................at Illinois11/19 .......................................................Nebraska11/26....................................................Ohio State
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M ichigan State isn’t quitethere yet.That’s not to denigrate the
accomplishments of last year’s Spar-tans squad, which won a share ofthe conference title for the firsttime in more than two decades.But after getting a tough deal and
being shut out of the BCS, Michi-gan State responded by losing toAlabama by six touchdowns.On paper, this is probably the
strongest group Mark Dantonio hashad in East Lansing. But preseasonhype has never worked out well forSparty, and the road schedule is atricky one.
ON OFFENSEThough he won’t leave with many
statistical records, Kirk Cousins hasa very good chance to be remem-bered as one of Michigan State’sbest quarterbacks.Cousins seems to have that extra
something that his predecessors didnot in big games. Cousins camethrough despite playing injureddown the stretch and led some im-pressive comebacks.And he’ll have most everyone
back to work with at the skill posi-tions this year. Only wideout MarkBell and tight end Charlie Gantthave departed, but Cousins spreadthings out pretty well last year –nine players had at least 10 catches.B.J. Cunningham caught nine
touchdowns as a junior. Big-playman Keshawn Martin returns, asdoes former quarterback Keith Ni-chol.Tight end Brian Linthicum also
has starting experience.At running back, Edwin Baker
broke away from the pack last yearas a sophomore, racking up 1,200yards and 13 touchdowns. Le’VeonBell also had 100 carries with 600yards and eight scores. Larry Caper,who started a handful of games in2009 as a true freshman, is alsocapable of stepping up if calledupon.The numbers could suffer a bit
this year with both starting tackleshaving departed, but guards JoelForeman and Chris McDonald aretwo of the best in the league.
ON DEFENSEFour of the top five tacklers from
last season are gone, including pro-
lific linebacker Greg Jones. TheSpartans have recruited some toptalent in recent years, but now it’stime to see how those prospects doout on the field. MSU could poten-tially start as many as five sopho-mores on defense this season.Right at the top of the list is
lineman William Gholston, whosefreshman season was cut short byshoulder surgery. He should join astarting unit up front with plenty ofexperience, led by Jerel Worthy attackle.Behind them, it will be tough to
replace Jones and Eric Gordon at
linebacker. Those two were thebackbone of the defense in 2010,combining for nearly 200 tacklesand 14 sacks.Leading the defensive backfield is
senior safety Trenton Robinson, theteam’s leading returning tacklerwho added a Big Ten-best four in-terceptions. Junior corner JohnnyAdams showed promise last year asa full-time starter, grabbing threepicks.
OUTLOOKThe Spartans are one of the top
contenders to win the Legends Divi-sion, and a glance at the rosterseems to support that. A glance atthe schedule, however, throws somedoubt on that.Sparty must travel to Iowa and
Northwestern late in the season,with both contests looming as po-tential upsets. Winning the divisionwill also be tough because MSUmust take on fellow favorite Nebras-ka in Lincoln.Also on the schedule are early
trips to South Bend and Columbus.At least the timing of the OhioState game will be positive, as itwill be the last week that a handfulof OSU starters will be suspended.Dantonio has done a good job of
building up the program, but it willtake some more work to make theteam a consistent contender.
—Derek Levarse
Talent is there in East Lansing, but can Spartans survive expectations?
Michigan State faces difficult schedule
AP FILE PHOTO
Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins will have an experienced group of skillplayers to work with this season, including several talented tailbacks.
2011 SCHEDULE9/2 .......................................Youngstown State9/10............................................Florida Atlantic9/17..............................................at Notre Dame9/24 ........................................Central Michigan10/1 .................................................at Ohio State10/15 ......................................................Michigan10/22....................................................Wisconsin10/29................................................at Nebraska11/5 ..................................................... Minnesota11/12 ...........................................................at Iowa11/19...........................................................Indiana11/26 .........................................at Northwestern
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Here’s a good one – new coachJerry Kill is already success-ful at the Gophers’ impres-
sive new stadium, winning as manygames there in 2010 as Minnesotadid.Kill led Northern Illinois to a
34-23 win in Minneapolis last Sep-tember. The Gophers didn’t winthere until the final game of theseason, a 27-24 upset of an Iowasquad that had already checked out.So they’ve got that going for
them.Kill is plainly an upgrade over
Tim Brewster for Minnesota, whichsurrendered 41 points in a homeloss to South Dakota last season.
ON OFFENSEA big issue for Kill was replacing
record-setting quarterback AdamWeber, who graduated after threeyears as the starter. Junior Mar-Queis Gray will get his chance.As one of the Gophers’ few stand-
out athletes, Gray has bouncedaround between quarterback andreceiver in his career, as the teamtried to get him touches in differentways.Last year, he had 42 catches and
five touchdowns while only throw-ing eight passes. That will obvi-ously change this year as Gray be-comes the focal point of the offensewith his arm and his legs.Senior Duane Bennett will still
get most of the carries on offense,especially with 2010 leading rusherDeLeon Eskridge’s transfer to SanJose State. The other two top re-ceivers – aside from Gray – alsoreturn in Da’Jon McKnight andtight end Eric Lair.
ON DEFENSEIt has been a depressing few
years for the Minnesota defense,with the low point being that 41-point humiliation against SouthDakota.The team as a whole managed
just eight sacks last season – deadlast in the country and less thanmany individual players recorded in2010. Three of those eight sackscame from Jewhan Edwards, who isnow gone.Things have to improve signif-
icantly this season with much ofthe front seven returning to play forthe overhauled coaching staff. That
includes linebacker Gary Tinsley,who led the Gophers with 90 tack-les and eight tackles for loss lastseason.Minnesota will certainly make
room for Florida transfer BrendanBeal, who has sat on the sidelinesso far in his career because of in-jury and switching schools.In the secondary, Minnesota
wasn’t able to get safety Kim Roys-ton back on the field in 2010 be-cause of injury, and the senior hassince been granted a sixth year. Atthis point, the Gophers defenseneeds all the help it can get, andRoyston’s return should be a help.Converted wideout Troy Stouder-
mire held his own at corner lastseason and is back for a full seasonat the position. He also gives theGophers a legitimate threat in thereturn game.
OUTLOOKUnlike his predecessor, Kill ac-
tually has head coaching experi-ence, having grinded his waythrough several seasons in both theFCS and Division II ranks beforehaving success at Northern Illinois.Kill has a winning record at every
stop of his career so far and shouldat least restore some credibility toa program that had very little of itsince firing Glen Mason and in-stalling Brewster.There will, of course, be growing
pains this season. The Gophers like-ly won’t be favored in any of theireight conference games
If the Gophers can steal a win inthe opening league road swing toMichigan and Purdue before theiroff week, it could spark the start of
a turnaround. A bowl game wouldbe a significant accomplishment.
—Derek Levarse
Minnesota has plenty of room for improvement under new coach Jerry Kill
A new beginning for the Golden Gophers
AP FILE PHOTO
Minnesota running back Duane Bennett should get the bulk of the work out of thebackfield for the Golden Gophers this season.
2011 SCHEDULE9/3 ............................................................at USC9/10........................................New Mexico State9/17...................................................Miami, Ohio9/24 ....................................North Dakota State10/1 ....................................................at Michigan10/8 .....................................................at Purdue10/22.....................................................Nebraska10/29 .............................................................Iowa11/5..........................................at Michigan State11/12 ......................................................Wisconsin11/19...........................................at Northwestern11/27 ...........................................................Illinois
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Nebraska definitely isn’tgetting an easy welcometo the league.
The schedule-maker threwthe ’Huskers right into the firewith their first-ever Big Tengame being a trip to CampRandall to face fellow confer-ence favorite Wisconsin inwhat could be a preview of theinaugural title game in Decem-ber.
Right after that is a homegame against Ohio State, andwouldn’t you know it, it will bethe first game back for all ofthose suspended Buckeyes.
Still, Nebraska is poised tomake an immediate impact onthe conference.
ON OFFENSEThe Cornhuskers need just a
bit more consistency from theiroffense to bring home a divi-sion title or a conference title.That starts with improving theplaycalling balance by improv-ing a lifeless passing game.
QB Taylor Martinez tore
apart defenses with his legsearly on last season beforestruggling in Big 12 play andclashing with coach Bo Pelini.
That spawned all sorts oftransfer rumors that werequickly shot down, and Marti-nez returns for 2011 with a
longer leash, given that CodyGreen has transferred out ofthe program.
Without Roy Helu carryingthe load for the offense attailback, Rex Burkhead figuresto see the most carries. Butthe ’Huskers have a stable ofrookie backs all competing fortime, led by the highly toutedAaron Green. The wishbonemay be gone, but this is stillthe backbone of the offense.
Another true freshman, wide-out Jamal Turner, turned plen-ty of heads when he came inearly for the spring after beingrecruited as a quarterback.Turner may very well startopposite Brandon Kinnie, wholed the team with 44 catchesin 2010 and clutch tight endKyler Reed, whose eight scoresaccounted for half of the team’spassing TDs last year.
ON DEFENSEThe Blackshirts are back,
and they’re eager to makethemselves known to Big Ten
country.Without a doubt, Nebraska
has the best top-end defensivetalent in the league, with asenior All-America candidate ateach level of the defense. De-fensive tackle Jared Crick,linebacker Lavonte David andcornerback Alfonzo Dennard alllook to be some of the verybest players at their respectivepositions in the country.
There’s no Ndamukong Suh,but Nebraska will be just finewith Crick and Baker Steinkuh-ler in the middle. Both are6-foot-6, ornery and will causeserious problems for everyoffense in the league.
David joined Crick on theAll-Big 12 first team last win-ter, racking up a league-best152 tackles, adding six sacksand nine tackles for loss whilebreaking up 10 passes.
Dennard had four intercep-tions last season, but the dy-namic will change for him thisyear. Gone is first-team All-American Prince Amukamara,
so the responsibility will pickup for Dennard.
OUTLOOKA rough start could jeopar-
dize the team’s title hopes, butsplitting those opening twogames should be enough tokeep Nebraska pointed towarda first-place finish.
Divisional foes MichiganState, Northwestern and Iowaare all at home, with Novem-ber trips to Michigan and PennState as the only real potentialstumbling blocks.
For all of Nebraska’s tremen-dous history and tradition, thepast decade isn’t one that willbe remembered fondly in Lin-coln.
But 2011 provides a chanceto start clean, out of the shad-ow of the Texas-dominated Big12. The Cornhuskers don’t lookto be a national title contenderjust yet, but this could be adecent start in getting backthere.
—Derek Levarse
AP PHOTO
Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez is looking for a little less drama under center this year for the Cornhuskers.
’Huskers expect sudden impact on league
2011 SCHEDULE9/3.................................Chattanooga9/10 ............................... Fresno State9/17..................................Washington9/24 ............................... at Wyoming10/1................................. at Wisconsin10/8 ...................................Ohio State10/22 .............................at Minnesota10/29 ......................... Michigan State11/5...............................Northwestern11/12 .............................. at Penn State11/19..................................at Michigan11/25............................................. Iowa
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usual, the ’Cats will have to do itwith considerably less talent thanmost of the conference.Defensive end Vince Browne could
make a big impact after recordingseven sacks as a junior.
Looking for a dark horse candi-date to appear in the first BigTen title game in Indianapolis?
Northwestern presents an intriguingcase.Anyone labeling the Wildcats as a
top contender in the Legends Divi-sion is doing so because of under-rated quarterback Dan Persa, whogets little attention outside of theMidwest.Northwestern is trying to change
that with a grassroots Heisman cam-paign featuring the Persastrong.comwebsite that touts the senior signal-caller as “Chicago’s Heisman candi-date.”Persa and dynamic young coach
Pat Fitzgerald – who just signed along-term extension to remain at hisalma mater for many years — havepeople in Evanston very excitedabout the 2011 campaign.
ON OFFENSEIt goes without saying that any
legitimate run at the Big Ten titlegame is dependent on Persa’s health.The senior injured his Achilles cele-brating his game-winning touchdownpass against Iowa, and the Wildcatswere destroyed in their final threegames without him.Persa, who starred at Liberty High
School in Bethlehem, should be backto full strength now. He completed aBig Ten record 73.5 percent of hispasses and was also the team’s sec-ond-leading rusher, adding 500 yardsand nine scores on the ground.For the Wildcats to take that next
step, Persa will need some help.Jeremy Ebert, who led the leaguewith 953 receiving yards a year ago,and “Superback” Drake Dunsmorereturn, along with Demetrius Fields.Running back has been a much
bigger concern. Fitzgerald has beenupset with favorites Mike Trumpyand Adonis Smith in camp, and itcould be musical chairs in the back-field for another year. Jacob Schmidthas also been in the mix.The O-line is solid but unspectac-
ular. The unit’s experience – morereturning starts than any other teamin the conference – means Persa andcompany shouldn’t have to worry toomuch, though.
ON DEFENSEThe Wildcats surrendered 163
points in those final three Persa-less
contests last year. Even before that,the D couldn’t get off the field inthat collapse at Penn State that sawthe Lions rally from a 21-0 deficit.This year, Northwestern could
start as many as nine seniors. But as
Linebacker may be the biggesthole to fill on the team with thedepartures of Nate Williams andQuentin Davie. Senior Bryce McNaulwill need to provide some leadershipto a unit that allowed a humiliating330 rushing yards to Illinois’ MikelLeshoure last year.Senior safety Brian Peters had
three interceptions a year ago andled the team with 107 tackles. Fel-low seniors Jordan Mabin and DavidArnold join him in the secondary.
OUTLOOKThe margin of error for the Wild-
cats is still very slim. Any number ofthings could go wrong to derail theseason, especially when Persa issuch an indispensable part of theoffense. Add in the fact that the’Cats only play six home games, andthings could get tricky.But out of those six road games,
only a November trip to Nebraskaseems like a certain loss.The downside to a strong showing
in league play would be a toughermatchup come bowl season, makingit tougher for the program to earnits second-ever postseason win. Thelast one came in the 1948 RoseBowl.
—Derek Levarse
Quarterback could make Wildcats a dark horse contender for division title
Northwestern’s season riding on Persa
AP FILE PHOTO
Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa, from Liberty High School in Bethlehem, willbe the key to the Wildcats’ season this year. Persa was injured late last season.Without him, Northwestern lost its final three games.
2011 SCHEDULE9/3 .........................................at Boston College9/10 .............................................Eastern Illinois9/17 .........................................................at Army10/1.........................................................at Illinois10/8 .......................................................Michigan10/15..........................................................at Iowa10/22..................................................Penn State10/29 ...................................................at Indiana11/5 ...................................................at Nebraska11/12 ................................................................Rice11/19 .....................................................Minnesota11/26 ............................................Michigan State
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