The Penn Stater Magazine

The Penn Stater Daily — Nov. 18, 2013

November 18, 2013 at 11:27 am Ryan Jones 1 comment

He just won, baby: In case you somehow missed it, Matt McGloin ’12 started his first NFL game on Sunday. To be more specific: An NFL rookie who wasn’t offered a Division I scholarship and wasn’t drafted out of college started—and won—in his NFL debut. He wasn’t Peyton Manning, but for a rookie starting on the road, McGloin was nonetheless terrific, completing 18 of 32 passes for 197 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. Most importantly, he led the Raiders to a 28-23 win.

For more, here are game highlights and video from McGloin’s postgame press conference, and good stuff from one Bay Area columnist who celebrates McGloin as “the never-chosen one” who once again excelled in the face of the doubters. Good for him.

And a lot more sports: McGloin’s replacement Christian Hackenberg passed for 212 yards and a couple of TDs and got lots of help from a potent running game as the Nittany Lions beat Purdue … Tani Costa scored twice on Friday night as the women’s soccer team opened NCAA tournament play with a 3-0 win over Monmouth … the field hockey team saw its NCAA dreams end Saturday in a 5-4 opening-round loss to Princeton … the No. 2 women’s volleyball team extended its winning streak to 15 straight matches with back-to-back, straight-sets weekend road wins at Wisconsin and Minnesota … the top-ranked, three-time-defending NCAA champion wrestling team opened its dual meet season with wins at Rider and Lehigh … the Nittany Lion basketball team posted an 83-71 win at Penn, while the Lady Lions fell at home to top-ranked UConn.

Tragic fall: Police are still working to determine exactly how and why Conor MacMannis fell to his death from a ninth-story balcony early Saturday morning. MacMannis, a 20-year-old undergraduate from Virginia, died after falling from a balcony at Penn Towers apartments on Beaver Avenue. The Centre County coroner has ruled the death accidental, while adding that “drugs and alcohol appear to be a factor.”

Looking for a “fixer”: The Chronicle of Higher Education today examines the sort of candidate who might be willing to fill the role of president at Penn State, and the challenges that person will face. As the search process continues, it’s always interesting to see an outside perspective on the difficulty of filling the job, and how the new hire might fare. (Subscription may be required).

Drummer’s eye view: Ever wonder what it’s like to march in the Blue Band at Beaver Stadium? Thanks to Joe Hermitt at PennLive, this first-person video—from a camera mounted on the bass drum of Blue Band president Ryan Simpson—is as close as most of us will ever get.

Ryan Jones, senior editor

Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: Blue Band, Christian Hackenberg, Conor MacMannis, Matt McGloin, Ryan Simpson.