Beachum tears ACL

Brandon Beachum is out for the rest of the season, after tearing his ACL against Indiana. Via the Collegian:

"Brandon Beachum will miss the remainder of the 2009 season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee on Saturday, according to a release issued by the Penn State football program."

Beachum recovered a Jerome Hayes kickoff return fumble, offering up a bit of irony that after all of Hayes' ACL injuries, he was directly involved in another player's ACL tear.

Beachum should be ready by next fall, but is most definitely out for the rest of this season and through spring practice.

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Terrelle Pryor "a little bumped up"

This could turn out to be absolutely nothing, but right now, it's definitely worth keeping an eye on:

Tackled and dragged down by his shoulder pads from behind, Pryor said his left leg was bent behind him.

"It's not really a big deal," Pryor said. "I got a little bumped up, but I feel pretty good. It's a little bump on my leg. I'll be fine."

Cleveland.com

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Green out; won't make trip to Michigan

During the weekly Nittany Lion Hotline radio show, Joe Paterno said RB Stephfon Green will not be making the trip to Michigan with the team. The sophomore tweaked what Paterno called "a chronic ankle [problem]" earlier this week. Sophomore fullback/running back Brandon Beachum will serve as starter Evan Royster's primary backup.

This would be bigger if Royster wasn't playing so well. If this happened three weeks ago, I would be very concerned for Penn State's run game. But against Minnesota and Eastern Illinois, Green wasn't really a factor. Luckily, Beachum has really come on as a back up, and is a really strong runner. While disappointing, this isn't the end of the world by any means.

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Without Tebow, a Gator loss means nothing

It's not common for me to venture into the national college football scene, but I mean come on, it's Tim Tebow. You all know by now that Tebow sustained a rather big concussion against Kentucky two weeks ago, and that as of this article, he's not yet cleared to play against the LSU Tigers this Saturday in Baton Rouge.

So what if he doesn't play? Florida has everything to lose by putting Tebow back in before he's ready. Conversely, but more importantly, the Gators basically have nothing to lose if the hold Tebow out one more week. That's because, in college football, image is everything when the final polls come out in December. Fresh off a win over the SEC West champ in the SEC title game, a once-beaten Florida team would be guaranteed a spot in the BCS Championship Game, if that one blemish is against No. 4 LSU in Baton Rouge without Tim Tebow taking the Gators snaps. Florida could lose this week by two touchdowns, but without Tebow, it will be viewed as a fluke, and virtually ignored if Florida wins out.

Do Florida coaches and fans really want to risk Tebow becoming a vegetable, just to beat LSU on the second week in October? This game means almost nothing to the national title race if Tebow is benched. In fact, Florida would get brownie points for the "we care more about our players than our wins" image emanating from sidelining Tebow.

There are no other real challengers in the SEC East this year, despite what many OMGSEC! folks would have us believe. So, it's not like one SEC conference loss would jeopardize any chances of playing in the conference title game in December.

And speaking of that title game, what if LSU happens to win the SEC West? Unlikely, I know, but very possible still. Does anyone really think any team could beat this Florida team twice? LSU could beat a Tebow-less Florida this week, but it's a fat chance in hell they could do it again, against a Tebow-ful Gators squad late in the year.

I would hope that if Tebow isn't fully ready to come back, the doctors and coaches will make the right decision this week. There is way too much to lose. Yet surprisingly enough, there's much to gain by benching the 2007 Heisman winner. A loss at No. 4 LSU this week means nothing without Tebow. We all know it.

That's all I have to say about that.

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Stupar injured, too

Joe Paterno revealed on his weekly radio show that now Nate Stupar sprained his ankle in practice. We can only hope Sean Lee and Navorro Bowman are ready to go. This means seldom-used backup James VanFleet is, right now, the starter.

I'm starting to worry.

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Bowman should return for Iowa

According to ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg, Penn State All-America linebacker Navorro Bowman should be ready to go this week.

"Navorro's back in the lineup as of [Monday]," Nittany Lions middle linebacker Josh Hull said Tuesday morning. "He looked real good, he looked fast, changed directions well. He's going to be ready for Saturday."

If there's one good thing about the WWL, it's definitely Adam's work.

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Lee could miss Iowa game

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are reporting today that Sean Lee could miss Penn State's prime time clash with the Iowa Hawkeyes this Saturday. Of course, this could be an enormous blow to the defense, particularly if Navorro Bowman doesn't return this week. The two best players on this defense, and on the team overall, could miss the first big game of the season.

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Evan Royster is "very sick"

So much for another 1,000-yard season from Penn State's Evan Royster. According to his facebook page, the redshirt junior said "Evan Royster is sick.... very sick..."

Not sure what kind of sick, whether it's just a normal bug, or if it's the freakin' swine flu. If the latter is the case, then Penn State had better quarantine their star, pronto.

Let's hope Stephfon Green, Brandon Beachum and Brent Carter are ready for a major bump in carries this week. And of course, we wish Evan a speedy recovery!

*I updated this week's DEPTH CHART to account for Royster's possible benching, along with a few other tweaks.

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Mauti's ACL tear confirmed

Penn State said in a release today that Mike Mauti will miss 2009. We can only wish him a speedy recovery for next spring.

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Mike Mauti injures knee, possible ACL tear

Nothing has been confirmed yet, but it was reported earlier and tweeted today that projected-starting linebacker Mike Mauti injured his knee at practice.

Mauti was expected to start 2009 at outside linebacker, along with MLB Sean Lee and OLB Navorro Bowman.

While it is definitely a blow to Penn State's defense, this is not as catastrophic as it seems. Experienced redshirt sophomore Nate Stupar has played very well, and was a big force on special teams last year. If Stupar doesn't step in, we could see Lee move back to the outside and 2008 starter Josh Hull retain his starting role in the middle.

Stay tuned for more as this situation develops.

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Chaz Powell injured

Not much has come out other than that the "next D-Will" had to leave practice early. Rumors are going around that it's a high ankle sprain. Not good. I'll keep my eyes open for more when it comes out. If anyone hears something before you see it here, please comment on this post with your info.

*Have something to say about this post? Let your voice be heard, in the ZN Message Forum!

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Green needs ankle surgery

FOS is reporting this morning that redshirt freshman running back Stephfon Green's ankle injury will require surgery, probably today. What was thought to be just a sprain, was later found to be broken bones in his right ankle and lower leg. He'll most likely miss three months. But that's just the conservative estimate. If he's out through March, you can bet your ass he won't go in the Blue White Game.

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Paterno to coach from press box

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Still recovering from hip surgery, Joe Paterno will coach from the press box when No. 6 Penn State plays No. 5 Southern California on Thursday at the Rose Bowl.

The 82-year-old Paterno says he doesn't think he can handle four hours on his feet, and his doctor is concerned someone might bump him and set his recovery back.

Paterno had hip replacement surgery nearly six weeks ago to fix an injury that forced him to spend the last seven games of the regular season coaching from the press box.

Paterno, speaking at a news conference Wednesday, also worries that he might be a distraction on the sideline.

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USC/Rose Bowl update, Dec. 30

Just a quick rundown of issues we're looking at right now, regarding the Rose Bowl and USC Trojans:

• Penn State Live has a very good slideshow of the team in its last days on campus. It's worth the look:

On with the update...

• The CDT's Jeff Rice updated us today on Joe Paterno vs. The Sideline. Joe said it's about 50-50. We'll see.

• David Jones at the Patriot News took a good look at USC's Butkus winner Rey Maualuga. But even better is that we now know how USC plans to use him... not much differently than they have his entire career.

"Though middle linebackers have a lot of duties, it's been dispensed by USC that Maualuga's been "assigned" to the PSU quarterback."

• Bernard Fernandez at the Philadelphia Daily News wrote a very nice piece on Penn State's career backup quarterback, Paul Cianciolo. But don't down play how important he is, or how much he can help this team. I mean, he did give Penn State its only touchdown against Michigan in 2006.

"I'm one play away now instead of two," said Cianciolo..."

And against a defense like USC (hey, they may not be the all-time best, but they're still really freakin' good), Paul may get one more shot. But let's hope it's not in relief, but rather, mop-up duty.

• Of all people to ask, Bill Plaschke poses the question many in LA are wondering, "is USC overlooking Penn State?"

"The Penn State players spent Tuesday's 30-minute Rose Bowl media session sitting upright, quiet, attentive.

The USC players lounged. Some buried their heads in their hands and slept. Some talked on cell phones. Others bounced to iPods.

One player spent nearly the entire session stretched out on the floor underneath his table. A couple of others used their hands to pound out rhythms on top of the table.

As a giant clocked ticked off the final moments of the interview session, many of the Trojans chanted "3 . . . .2 . . . 1 . . . Happy New Year!"

Hmmm. Will it be?"

Plaschke goes on to say how Pete Carroll tells his players every day that Penn State was one point away from the national championship game. But just like Plaschke points out, we all know what happens to USC at least once a year...

"Yeah, well, Carroll also told them to stop celebrating the Ohio State victory and concentrate on Oregon State, and how did that turn out?

Once or twice a year, it seems, this Trojans monster takes on a life of its own.

No matter what their creator preaches, they hear only an inner voice that reminds them of their incredible skill. They interpret this to mean their immortality. A humbling loss usually follows."

Let's hope the humbling comes early and often.

Quick Outs:
• Not much has changed in the USC injury front. It's still looking like this: RB Stafon Johnson (knee - probable), WR Damian Williams (shoulder - doubtful), S Kevin Ellison (knee - doubtful), RB Allen Bradford (hip - out), TE Thomas Herring (ankle - out), FB Stanley Havili (academics - out)*

• Depending on how many other PSU bloggers pitch in, I'll try to have a short round-up tomorrow of the Blue & White Roundtable.

• Also tomorrow morning, look for my Rose Bowl preview. I can't believe that in less than two days, we'll know who won.

*note that Havili is now academically ineligible for the Rose Bowl, so his ankle injury has become a moot point.

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Run down of JoePa's presser

In his press conference, Joe Paterno sounded like, well, Joe Paterno. He addressed everything from this week's road trip to Purdue to Jordan Norwood's injury, and more. Here's some highlights.

On the Illinois win...

"You get a crowd such as we had Saturday with all the excitement and the enthusiasm and everything like that, you'd prefer to be home... I think if you're good and you're prepared and your kids have their heads on straight, if you're good enough, you win. If you're not good enough, you don't win."

Joe always says he prefers those old 1:30 p.m. kickoffs, but come on, everyone loves a Penn State night game.
On Daryll Clark (original question about Evan Royster's play)...

"Clark adds another dimension where they have to be careful. They can't jump in there and go all over him if Clark pulls the ball out and runs with it."

Yup, Joe really likes this whole spread offense thingy. What was that Jay?

On Purdue's defense...

"I think we've got to go in there and be ready to have a balanced attack, because they might put eight guys in the box against us..."

They might? Try, they will. Purdue may not be great this year, but they're not stupid. This will be a classic trap game, and PSU has to be ready.

On the criticism surrounding the linebackers...

"I think both Hull and Sales have played well. Of course, we take Sales out when we go to the nickel package because we want to get another pass defender in there. But I think they both have played well. And I think (Navorro) Bowman -- you didn't mention Bowman -- Bowman's played very well."

Obviously, Bowman is out of the dog house, but geeze, he's gone from sleeping out on the driveway, right to the foot of the bed. He deserves it though. After all, Bowman's turning into the next LaVar Arrington. (Yeah, he's that good at making big plays)

More on night games...

"There is the television; the crowd seems to be a little more enthusiastic when you play later in the day. All those kinds of things."

"All those kinds of things." = a belligerently drunken crowd.

On Josh Gaines and his lack of publicity...

"I think he's probably not gotten the kind of credit the other kids get, because they're free-lancing most of the time on the outside."

Can't argue much there. Gaines has been a constant on this sketchy defensive front. He's a great leader, and has taken that role right onto the field. Gaines has 3nd Team All-Big Ten written all over him.

How does Penn State handle the hype, now at No. 6?

"I just say we've got Purdue this week. If we don't pay attention to what's right in front of you, then all that stuff down the road isn't going to happen."

Classic JoePa.

...and about his leg?

"I tell the guys on the team there is a difference between being hurt and being injured. If you're injured we don't want you to play. But if you're hurt, you better get out there. Right now I'm hurt."

How can anyone complain about being banged up, when this guy is out there?

Later today: Guest blogger Boiled Sports talks about Penn State's visit to Purdue, and more!

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Penn State wins, 45-3

After a sloppy start (which I wasn't able to watch, thank you Comcast), Penn State rolled Temple by a 42-point margin. Let's go over some initial thoughts on this win.

The Good: The defense really came through today with some big plays. Aaron Maybin and the D-line continues their stellar play, sacking TU several times. But not to be overlooked was the defensive backfield play, picking off a few passes near the goal line. Even though TU QB Adam DiMichele went down early, it was a great showing my the PSU defense. Navorro Bowman was a monster all day.

The Bad: I won't go so far to say the offense was bad. But when Temple shuts Penn State out in the first quarter, picks off a pass, and sacks the quarterback, that was definitely sub-par for PSU. There were also too many fumbles by PSU, even though only one or two were lost. Those mistakes can't happen against Illinois. But there were few things this week to complain about.

Overall: Joe Paterno was on the field for the first half, then proceeded to the press box to rest his leg. We can only wait and see with this. I'm not going to speculate what's going to happen, but this doesn't look very good. Penn State still looks like the best team in the Big Ten, and we'll all see if that's accurate next week in the conference opener. Good win. Not great, but good.

*Extra points: After watching my Big Ten Bloggers Pick'em standing fall with Iowa's one-point loss at Pitt, I tuned into the Purdue-CMU game. It was a fantastic game, with Central Michigan scoring a TD with about one minute left, then getting the 2pt conversion to go up by one. Then PU scored on a long TD run, got the 2pt. Leading 32-25, CMU was moving the ball down-field, only to see Dan Lefevour's pass intercepted. Nice win for the Boilers.

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Jerome Hayes tears other ACL

This is interesting. ESPN cut out of the Penn State game before this happened, so most of us didn't even know about it. Jerome Hayes was illegally clipped by an OSU player on a punt play in the fourth quarter. Sure, the Beavers ass was flagged, but he cost Hayes yet another season of his career, tearing his ACL. Yeah, maybe all the starters should have been taken out of the game at that point, but I didn't trust Oregon State either. They had a lot of good players made for come-back mode. This royally sucks, and I really hope Evans and Koroma can come back ASAP.

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Still... still injuried

Just when Devon Still thought he would finally get the chance to make an impact at Penn State, a few of his fellow Nittany Lions went ahead and snapped his leg like a used tooth pick. Ok, so it wasn't that bad, but he still has a broken leg, and will miss yet another season of football. I really bet Joe Paterno is happy he kicked Phil Taylor and Chris Baker off the team. Penn State can now barely field a defensive tackle unit for 2008. Not good news when we all saw the line get really tired against teams like Ohio State and Michigan State. I'm still optimistic about this team's potential. But I must be honest, it's steadily fading to reality, and reality really sucks right now in Happy Valley.

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Moving Forward: With Lee out for 2008, NOW is it time for Penn State to panic?

All-American Sean Lee just destroyed his ACL in practice. Now he’s gone bye-bye for 2008. Although he’ll be back in 2009, this leaves a huge question mark hanging over Penn State’s outside linebacker spot. Who will fill that void? Does Penn State even have a chance now this season?

Now that the horror of Saturday night has passed, we can all take a deep breath. Not that it will help. The loss of Lee was nothing less than devastating to Penn State, not just the team, but the program as a whole. But remember, when the old farts in Old Main didn’t come up with a plan to deal with the old fart in Lasch Building, we said it wasn’t time to panic. When it seemed like Penn State football players were gaining daily recognition in the police blotters instead of the sports page, we said it wasn’t time to panic. When Chris Bell went, well, insane, we said it wasn’t time to panic. And you know what? It’s still not time to panic.

Lee’s injury was bad, but it’s not the end of the world. Why?

The Offense: No, not the offensive line, not the wide receivers, but the whole freaking unit. I don’t care when JokePa conjures up as the Spread HD crap. If this team doesn’t average 35 points per game, Penn State should just drop football altogether. When you have the best offensive line in years, a mobile quarterback to make plays when the protection (rarely) might break down, a stud running back that can break one loose any moment, and the best freaking wide receivers in the conference, you have the luxury of out-scoring the other team, if it comes to that. But it shouldn’t in 2008, because of…

The Defensive Line: This unit was the first to be hit by the injury and law bugs. But with the rest of the team’s problems, not too many people have noticed the defensive front four coming back together. Chris Baker might be gone (still not positive yet), but Phil Taylor will pay his dues, Jared Odrick and Jerome Hayes are almost done rehabbing those injuries, and the younger backups have gotten a full spring of working with the first team. This should be the conference’s best defensive line, and could actually improve on 2007’s 46 sacks. And if opposing tailbacks get through the line, or if Penn State needs extra pressure on the quarterback, there’s always…

The Backup Linebackers: It’s easy to forget how many really good linebackers Penn State has landed the last four years. Fans actually complained how many were signed, saying few would actually see the field. Well, now Penn State has a large stable of players to choose from, hopefully filling in for Lee. Nate Stupar, Cedric Jeffries, Bani Gbadyu, Andrew Dailey, and hopefully Navarro Bowman will all be ready to play on the outside. Throw in the three freshmen “Mikes”—Mike Yancich, Mike Mauti (although now he’s listed at the safety spot behind Mark Rubin) and Mike Zordich—and Penn State has possibly the best, deepest group of linebackers in the conference, if not the nation.

Don’t think I’m taking a Kool-Aid bath with this. I think Penn State is in the shit house right now, and needs to get its act together. But we all have to be as realistic about this team’s positives as we are about the negatives. There’s a load of talent heading into 2008. No one can deny that. I’m not ready to make a prediction of how many games Penn State will win, or who they’ll beat. But Penn State has a great shot to do good things in 2008, without Sean Lee, and those were just a few reasons why. So don't panic.

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Lee Probably Out for Season

God Fucking Dammit! Piece of Shit! Mother Fucker!!!! Darn.

GoPSUSports.com:

"Lee Sidelined With Serious Knee Injury

Team Leader and All-America Candidate Tears ACL in Practice

April 12, 2008

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - Penn State standout linebacker Sean Lee (Pittsburgh) suffered a serious knee injury in practice Friday that will likely sideline him for the 2008 season.

A probable 2008 All-America candidate, Lee tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, according to Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli, Penn State Director of Athletic Medicine. Lee will have surgery within the next 2-4 weeks and rehabilitation will take approximately nine months, according to Sebastianelli.

A rising senior, Lee played as a true freshman in 2005 and has a redshirt year available.
"I have a responsibility to the team to help do everything I can this year in what might be a non-conventional way," Lee stated. "I have to turn this into a positive. It's a bump in the road. I'm excited about the team we have and the kind of season we can have. It's a great opportunity for a young guy."

A first team Class AAAA all-state selection from Upper St. Clair High School, Lee was coming off a superlative junior season, earning 2007 first-team All-America honors from Pro Football Weekly. The vastly talented, instinctive and intelligent Lee ranked second in the Big Ten with 138 tackles last year, trailing only teammate Dan Connor, and giving Penn State just its third pair of century-busting tacklers since tackle records began being kept in 1969.

A two-time Big Ten Defensive Player-of-the-Week honoree in 2007, Lee earned second-team all-conference honors in a league that featured two of the three finalists for the Butkus Award. His 138 tackles were No. 5 on the school season list. He has 239 career stops, needing 17 to crack the school's Top 10, and with a very realistic chance of joining Connor and Paul Posluszny as the top three tacklers in program history.

Lee recorded double-figures in tackles in 10 of the last 11 games, giving him 12 in his blossoming career. An intense competitor who loves to hit, Lee also had 10.5 tackles for loss (minus-34), 3.5 sacks, forced three fumbles, recovered three fumbles and grabbed one interception. The swift and strong athlete also was second on the team with eight pass breakups. He was tied for first in the Big Ten in fumble recoveries and was tied for No. 7 in the conference in forced fumbles last year.

A starter in the last 26 games, Lee punctuated his marvelous junior season by earning 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl Defensive Player of the Game accolades. He recorded a game-high 14 tackles, tied for most in Alamo Bowl history, to lead a defensive unit that allowed Texas A&M just three points over the final 49 minutes of the game. He also had a minus-yardage hit and a pass break-up in the 24-17 victory to earn a berth on the ESPN.com All-Bowl Team.

A finance major, Lee earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors last year and would have been a strong candidate for Academic All-America accolades this fall. He has earned Academic All-Big Ten honors twice.
Coach Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions conclude spring drills on Saturday, April 19 with the highly-anticipated Blue-White Game. As in previous years, there is no admission or parking fee for the Blue-White Game. Activities will begin on Friday at 6 p.m. with a carnival outside Beaver Stadium. On Saturday, stadium parking lots will open at 8 a.m. Stadium gates A, B and C will open at 12:00 p.m., with the popular autograph session starting at 12:30 p.m. and kickoff at 2:00 p.m. The carnival will run throughout Saturday.

The Blue-White Game will air live on the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com. The contest also will be televised on the Big Ten Network on Monday, April 21 at 8:00 p.m. ET."

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