Posts tagged ‘Pitt’
Football Season is Over. Football Season Has Just Begun.
We’re back on campus after the University’s winter break, and there’s plenty to talk about. Naturally, football is at or near the top of a lot of people’s lists.
A loss in a winnable bowl game brought a disappointing end to an up-and-down Penn State season. Now’s when things get interesting. News and rumors have trickled out since the game, the most notable being reports that freshman quarterback Rob Bolden intends to transfer. Bolden was named the Nittany Lions’ starter in preseason but was ultimately replaced by sophomore Matt McGloin.
There’s also buzz that Bolden may not be the only prominent member of the Penn State program to leave in the coming weeks. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley ’78 was linked with the open head coaching jobs at Pitt and Temple, and is reportedly a candidate for the re-opened Pitt job and the head spot at UConn. Joe Paterno has even campaigned for Bradley’s candidacy — not that the coach wants to lose one of his top assistants. Speculation is that if Bradley leaves, he might take a couple of his fellow assistants with him, a migration that could impact Paterno’s future as well. For now, though, it’s just that — speculation. Expect much more of it, and maybe even some actual news, in the coming days and weeks.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Paterno Antsy for Big Ten Expansion
A friend called my attention to a story in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune about the recent talk of expanding the Big Ten. Joe Paterno has told ESPN (again) that he’d love to see a Big East team join the Big Ten, and he mentioned Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse, “even Connecticut.” Having a 12th team would pave the way for a Big Ten championship game, which would keep the league in people’s minds a little longer each fall.
“Right now we play—and then we sit and watch,” the paper quotes Paterno as saying. “We were through (with the regular season) Nov. 21st.”
It’s not the first time Paterno has made his views on the subject known; last April, when he was in New York City for one of the Alumni Association’s “An Evening with Joe” events, he told ESPN pretty much the same thing.
It also brings to mind this item from our senior editor Ryan Jones, writing last March about Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese’s regret that that conference didn’t add Penn State back in 1982. Penn State was an independent at the time, and the Big East came within one vote of inviting the University to join. Interesting to think about how things might be different today if that vote had turned out differently.
Tina Hay, editor
Penn State v. Pitt: A Rivalry Renewed?
With a 35-10 dismantling of Michigan on Saturday, Penn State kept alive its hopes for the Big Ten title and a possible return to the Rose Bowl. Even if they don’t defend their conference crown (still-unbeaten Iowa controls its destiny in that race), the Nittany Lions are in great shape for a BCS bowl berth. Joe Paterno and his team won’t entertain speculation about their postseason destination, but of course, that hasn’t stopped fans or media. On Monday, the Altoona Mirror did more than just speculate, breaking down the possibilities by which Penn State would play in the Fiesta Bowl. The opponent? Pitt.
It’s only a possibility, and not necessarily a likely one. But it’s fun to think about, isn’t it?
Ryan Jones, senior editor
A Powerhouse on West Campus
On Saturday, I went to see the women’s rugby team in action. I don’t know much about the sport, but I do know that the Lady Ruggers are one of the best club programs in the nation; plus, I felt I owed it to myself to catch a game after profiling All-American Kate Daley in the magazine’s Jan/Feb ’09 issue. So it was fitting that on Saturday, Daley seemed to score every time she touched the ball. Even with a “split” squad that saw the Lady Ruggers divvy up their best players into two teams, Penn State trounced Princeton and Pitt by a combined 172-5.
In the second half against Princeton — by which time the score was something like 62-5 — I snapped a photo of a Penn State player getting up after scoring a try. Lying on her back, she was using her momentum to swing herself back onto her feet — and I guess she didn’t notice the Princeton player lying face-down in front of her. Point being, it only looks like the Penn State player (who might be Lauren Rosso, Meghan Byrnes, or Annie “Meatsticks” Zeigler — ladies, feel free to leave a comment and let me know) is adding insult to injury by bashing her vanquished foe on the noggin.
Click to enlarge... though the Princeton player would probably rather you didn't.
Either way, it was that sort of day for the Tigers. Maybe if they’d seen this video from two years ago — back when the team played on the IM fields near Beaver Stadium — of the Lady Ruggers picking up and moving a truck some unfortunate tailgater had left the day before, they’d have known better than to show up at all.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
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