Penn State

On July 9, 2007, D. GENE WILLE, 75, of The Villages, FL. Born October 20, 1931 in Baltimore, MD. He was a graduate of Penn State University, followed with his MBA at American University. Gene lived most of his life in Maryland. He retired from the National Security Agency as a cryptology group manager. He served his country and was a proud reservist retired Captain for the US Navy and continued as a Captain in the Reserve until his death. He is survived by his wife Joan, sons, Bob, Jim, daughter, Cindy, 4 grandchildren, and a brother Carroll.

Offensive lineman Antonio Logan-El, a former Maryland recruit who caused a stir last year with his dramatic, nationally televised decision to sign with Penn State, will ask coach Joe Paterno to be released from his scholarship and will reconsider the Terps, he said yesterday. "A big issue for me was being away from my family," said Logan-El, who committed to Maryland as a high school sophomore but called an audible on National Signing Day in unforgettable fashion. " ... There were a lot of different variables.

Howard's Gerald Smith, the first county football player ever to orally commit as early as his junior season, wants to play running back at Penn State.He has been made no promises by the Nittany Lions. And that's one of the things that attracted him to Penn State."I like the things they talked about. They didn't tell me any off-the-wall stuff, like I was guaranteed a position. They told me reasonable stuff, like I'd have to work to get a position," said Smith, who has a 3.7 grade-point average, grew up in a tough neighborhood in Washington, D.C., and will be the first member of his family to attend college.

Andrea Garner scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds yesterday to lead No. 9 Penn State over Maryland, 91-60, at Cole Field House.Penn State (2-0) broke open the game with a 21-4 run late in the first half that made it 48-21.Freshman guard Renneika Razor, who had 14 points in her college debut, scored 12 for Maryland (1-1) and Tiffany Brown 11.Loyola 62, UMBC 48: Jennifer Bongard and Shannon Cohen each had three-pointers in a 13-2 run starting the second half for the host Greyhounds (1-1)

COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland lacrosse coach Dick Edell and his assistants second-guessed themselves after the Terps ran out of steam and lost to now second-ranked Duke 11 days ago."We didn't show enough confidence in our kids," said Edell, who ranks second among active coaches with 252 career victories. "We've got a lot of wonderful, young players on our roster. We have to take advantage of our depth."Edell and the now sixth-ranked Terps did exactly that yesterday against No. 14 Penn State at the Artificial Turf Facility, where the game was shifted due to poor playing conditions at Byrd Stadium.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The only question left unanswered by Penn State's 41-7 victory over Arizona at Beaver Stadium yesterday was this: Are the third-ranked Nittany Lions that good or are the fourth-ranked Wildcats that bad?In as dominating a performance as any of Joe Paterno's 34 teams have had against a nationally-ranked opponent, Penn State turned the Pigskin Classic into an afternoon highlight reel.Which play would you like to see again?Was it wide receiver Chafie Fields taking a short pass over the middle from senior quarterback Kevin Thompson and turning it into a 37-yard touchdown on the game's opening possession, or was it Fields taking an inside handoff from reserve quarterback Rashard Casey and scooting by the Wildcats for a 70-yard touchdown less than three minutes later?

Dennis DeBusschere converted off an assist from John Grant with 1: 11 left to propel seventh-ranked Delaware to a 12-11 win over No. 11 Penn State last night in men's lacrosse at Rullo Stadium in Newark, Del.The game featured four ties and three lead changes, and neither team led by more than two goals from the second quarter on.Penn State (8-3) twice led by two goals in the third quarter, the last at 10-8 with 5: 04 left. But Delaware went ahead (11-10) on Chris Purpura's goal with 7: 51 remaining.

Perhaps top-ranked Loyola should consider changing its nickname from Greyhounds to Reservoir Dogs.Every Monday before practice, Loyola players must run a half-mile lap around the nearby reservoir under 2 minutes, 30 seconds three times. This first-year conditioning exercise is what many coaches and players believe has made the Greyhounds the best fourth-quarter team in the nation.Loyola has outscored its 10 opponents, 29-8, shutting them out four times. No team has registered more than two goals on the Greyhounds in the final period all season.

MIAMI -- Penn State junior linebacker LaVar Arrington gets his chance today to punish offensive players on the same Orange Bowl turf where Ray Lewis, now a Pro Bowler with the Ravens, became his idol by doing the same thing.Arrington will start showing his moves at 3: 30 p.m., when the No. 3 Nittany Lions (3-0) face the No. 8 Miami Hurricanes (2-0).When Lewis was a senior at Miami, Arrington, then a Pittsburgh-area high school player, met the man whose reckless style he studied and imitated -- and still does.

Title contendersFlorida State: Seminoles looking to avenge last year's loss to Tennessee.Tennessee: Vols weren't supposed to win last year, they're better this year.Penn State: Nittany Lions beat up on Arizona, two toughest games left are at home.Florida: Last year disproved Steve Spurrier's theory that God must be a Gator.Nebraska: The Big 12 is down, but do the Huskers have enough to go all the way?Coaches on the hot seatJohn Cooper, Ohio State: Buckeye fans still haven't forgotten last year's debacle against Michigan State.

Throughout her illustrious four-year soccer career at Archbishop Spalding, Christine Nairn showed a knack for scoring dazzling goals from anywhere on the field. She hit the powerful, knuckling strikes that found the net from 30 yards and, other times, dribbled past countless defenders on her to way to the goal before efficiently placing a shot to an open corner. By the time her high school career concluded with the 2007 season, Nairn, the All-Metro Player of the Year as a senior, totaled a school-record 70 goals.

COLLEGE PARK - - Davin Meggett has virtually pulled even with Da'Rel Scott, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season, in the race to be Maryland's starting tailback, offensive coordinator James Franklin said Thursday night after the team's final preseason scrimmage. Franklin's comments were surprising because Scott rushed for 1,133 yards last season and was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection. It's not that Scott hasn't played well, but rather that Meggett, who had a solid freshman season with 457 rushing yards, has improved, according to Franklin.

LARGO -Aaron Maybin never thought for a second about accepting the NFL's invitation to be on site when his name was called at Radio City Music Hall on Saturday. Not unless the NFL, or somebody else, could figure out a way to fit 500 relatives, friends and extended family members into the building. "I think you can look around and see the kind of support I have in here. Believe me, it was a no-brainer," Maybin said, exhausted but still giddy an hour after his dream came true in the NFL draft.

At first glance, the path Aaron Maybin took to the NFL draft seems stunning and capricious. The Ellicott City native stayed just three years at Penn State, only one as a starter and that after a teammate was suspended early in the season. But surprise and caprice played almost no role in the making of Maybin, a 21-year-old defensive end-linebacker whose explosive first step will carry him into the first round of Saturday's draft. Not when his father covered more than 40,000 miles in a van he bought specifically for the purpose of investigating potential colleges for his son. Not when the elder Maybin factored in Aaron's leg room in the van before making the purchase.

INDIANAPOLIS -Deon Butler did not take the conventional path to the all-time receptions record at Penn State. His scholarship offer was pulled back and used to bring in another recruit. He started as a walk-on defensive back from Woodbridge, Va. And he had the No. 1 recruit in the nation, Derrick Williams, in front of him when the Nittany Lions moved him to wide receiver as a freshman. By the time Butler's college career ended last month, his 179 catches had eclipsed Bobby Engram's school record.

Terps' Toliver named preseason All-American col. basketball Maryland senior point guard Kristi Toliver was named to the Associated Press' preseason All-America team yesterday. Joining her were Oklahoma's Courtney Paris, who became the sixth unanimous choice in the 15-year history of the squad, Louisville's Angel McCoughtry (St. Frances), Connecticut's Maya Moore and Oklahoma State's Andrea Riley. Toliver, the Nancy Lieberman Award winner as the top point guard in Division I last season, averaged 17.1 points and broke the Atlantic Coast Conference's single-season assists record with 275. "Not many people play the game as beautifully as Kristi," Maryland coach Brenda Frese said.

It's a shame that you can't major in whining at Penn State, because if you could, I contend it would be like getting a law degree from Harvard or an engineering degree from MIT. You'd be immediately recognized as the cream of your profession. Few things in college football annoy me more than when fan bases kvetch about their place in the Bowl Championship Series rankings before the season even ends, but the grouchiness has already begun in Happy Valley after Texas Tech leapfrogged the Nittany Lions with its upset of Texas this past weekend.

No scoreboard-watching necessary for Texas Tech. Less than 24 hours after the Red Raiders gave the national championship race a makeover by defeating then-No. 1 Texas, they received more good news when the Bowl Championship Series standings were released yesterday. Texas Tech was in second place, behind Alabama and just ahead of third-place Penn State. And Maryland, which had last weekend off, unexpectedly jumped into the standings at No. 23. If the undefeated Red Raiders of the Big 12 and undefeated Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference win out, they will likely meet in the BCS national championship game Jan. 8 in Miami.

Penn State surged in the Bowl Championship Series standings after its big victory at Ohio State, closing the gap on first-place Texas and second-place Alabama yesterday. Still, the Nittany Lions are in danger of being unbeaten and left out of the BCS national championship game. The Longhorns were again first by far in all the polls and on top of all the computer rankings. Staying undefeated won't be easy for Texas, which plays at Texas Tech on Saturday, but if Colt McCoy and crew can finish unbeaten, a trip to Miami for the Jan. 8 title game will be theirs.

Joe Paterno coaching from the press box might not be such a big deal after all for the No. 3 Penn State football team. With his team down by three at halftime Saturday to Michigan, the hobbled Hall of Fame coach didn't make it down to the locker room to personally deliver a pep talk, instead relaying messages over a microphone to an assistant coach. It took a little longer than usual, but Penn State delivered another knockout blow. Thirty-two unanswered points and a dominating second half later, the Nittany Lions (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten)