Rubin earns Big Ten POW; Iowa kickoff set

Mark Rubin received his second honor this week, as he earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. In case you've forgotten, he forced Terrelle Pryor to fumble on 3rd-and-1, leading to a Penn State touchdown.

On a logistical note, the Penn State-Iowa game is now scheduled to air at 3:30 ET on ABC Regional and ESPN out-of-market.

For the complete write up on Rubin,

Mark Rubin, Penn State
SR, S, Amherst, N.Y./Amherst
Rubin collected a career-high 11 tackles and made the play of the game when he forced a fumble in the fourth quarter, which Penn State turned into the game-winning scoring drive to remain undefeated and stand alone atop the Big Ten standings. The senior safety registered nine solo stops on the night to spearhead a Nittany Lions defense which held the Buckeyes to only six points, its fewest points at home since 1982. PSU limited OSU to 61 rushing yards on the night, more than 100 yards below its season average, and forced two turnovers. The biggest turnover occurred in the final stanza. After Penn State missed a potential game-tying field goal at the start of the fourth quarter, Ohio State held a 6-3 lead and drove to midfield before Rubin hit the Buckeyes quarterback to force a fumble. Linebacker Navorro Bowman recovered the loose ball at the 38-yard line with just over 10 minutes left. The Nittany Lions scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive to claim a 10-6 lead on the way to the victory, PSU's first win in Columbus since 1978. Rubin collects his first career weekly laurel.

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Kevin Kelly earns Big Ten POW

Kevin Kelly has gone from a question mark to an exclamation point for Penn State in 2008. Let's hope Penn State doesn't even need him at Ohio State.

From BigTen.org:

SPECIAL TEAMS:
Kevin Kelly, Penn State
SR, K, Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy
Kelly connected on three field goals and all five of his extra points against Michigan to become the Big Ten’s career leader in kicking points. The senior kicker’s 14-point outing boosted his career total to 376 kicking points to pass Minnesota’s Dan Nystrom (1999-2002) and Iowa’s Nate Kaeding (2000-03), who shared the top spot with 367 points. Kelly connected on field goals of 42, 32 and 20 yards to give him 70 career field goals, which ranks third in conference annals behind Nystrom (71 field goals) and Ohio State’s Mike Nugent (72). Kelly earns his first career weekly award.
LAST PSU SPECIAL TEAMS POW: KR Derrick Williams on Sept. 29, 2008.

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Clark and Maybin, Big Ten Players of the Week

No. 3 Penn State grabbed both offensive and co-defensive players of the week honors, following the blowout win at Wisconsin.

From BigTen.org:

Daryll Clark, Penn State
JR, QB, Youngstown, Ohio/Ursuline
Clark compiled a career-best 244 passing yards and drove his offense past 40 points for the fifth time this season in a 48-7 triumph at Wisconsin. The junior quarterback completed 16-of-25 passes with one touchdown and also tallied two rushing scores for the first time in his career. After the Badgers pulled within 17-7 in the second quarter, Clark guided PSU to touchdowns on its next three drives. The scoring streak started with his two rushing scores and was capped by a 44-yard strike to give the visitors a 38-7 third quarter lead. Clark picks up his first career weekly accolade.

Aaron Maybin, Penn State
SO, DE, Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron
Maybin filled the stat sheet with six tackles, a career-best 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two forced fumbles and a pass breakup to spearhead a Penn State defensive effort which forced four turnovers and held Wisconsin to one touchdown. The sophomore defensive end picked up his eighth solo sack on the year, which tops the Big Ten and is tied for the national lead. Maybin’s first forced fumble was recovered just 16 yards from the endzone and led to a touchdown and a 24-7 lead while his second forced fumble occurred on a fourth quarter sack. He collects his first career weekly laurel.

*The other defensive player of the week was Willie VanDeSteeg, a fantastic defensive end from Minnesota.

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Derrick Williams earns Big Ten POW

Penn State logged another Big Ten Player of the Week, when Derrick Williams was selected for the conference honor. In case you missed it, he was a one-man wrecking crew against the Illini. From BigTen.org:

Derrick Williams, Penn State
SR, KR/WR, Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt
Williams became the first player in the Joe Paterno era to score a rushing, receiving and kickoff return touchdown in the same game to lead Penn State to a victory over nationally-ranked Illinois. The senior wideout caught a 21-yard scoring toss to tie the game at 14-14 and added a five-yard touchdown run to give PSU a 21-14 advantage. After the visitors cut the deficit to 24-17 at the end of the third quarter, Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for another score to put the game away. He totaled 133 yards on his three kickoff returns and added 33 rushing yards and 75 receiving yards for a career-high 241 all-purpose yards, the most by a Nittany Lion since 2002. Williams now has two kickoff return touchdowns this season to equal a school record set by Chuck Peters in 1940 and equaled by Curt Warner in 1980. Williams picks up his first career weekly accolade and the first for a PSU special teams player since 2006.

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White Out Illinois; Bowman POW; and Purdue Going National

-Penn State's road trip to West Lafayette will kickoff at the horrendous 11 a.m. noon slot, but will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2. This will be a big game for both PSU and Purdue to show just what each team can do in front of the entire country.

-This Friday, Penn State will hold a "Rally in the Valley" to get the Nittany nation revved up for Saturday's showdown with Illinois. A stadium-wide White Out has also been declared.

-On a final pleasant note, Navorro Bowman was deservedly awarded Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his monster game against Temple. 11 tackles, 5 TFL, 3 sacks, 1 FF, and 1 INT... yeah, that's pretty freaking good.

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Royster named POW

No, Evan Royster wasn't captured in battle. From the Big Ten's site:

Evan Royster, Penn State
SO, RB, Fairfax, Va./Westfield
Despite playing less than three quarters, Royster set a career high with 141 rushing yards on 17 carries and tallied three touchdowns in a rout of Oregon State. The sophomore running back averaged 8.3 yards per carry and scored three touchdowns for the second straight game, becoming the first Nittany Lion to register six touchdowns in the first two games of a season since Lydell Mitchell in 1971. Royster broke loose on scoring sprints of 15, 28 and four yards in the first half to help the Nittany Lions produce a 35-7 halftime lead . This marks the first weekly laurel for Royster.
LAST PSU OFFENSIVE POW: RB Tony Hunt on Nov. 13, 2006

Wow, the last one was in 2006? Doesn't that say something about the Penn State Offense, B.C. (Before Clark... yeah, I just came up with that)

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Lee named POW

Junior LB Sean "The Next Great One" Lee picked up his second weekly accolades this season, being named Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Purdue.

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