State Coach Joe

In this blog space last week, I referenced a quote Penn State coach Joe Paterno issued at a pre-Orange Bowl news conference. The National Organization for Women is calling for Paterno's resignation over the comments. The controversy swirls around something Paterno said regarding a sexual assault allegation made against a Florida State player. Penn State officials are saying that the quotes are being misrepresented and read out of context. I can with some certainty say that Paterno was answering a pointed question about FSU's losing A.J. Nicholson, who was sent home and not allowed to play in the game.

Sampson restricted until '13; IU on probation col. basketball The NCAA placed Indiana University on three years of probation yesterday and made it nearly impossible for former coach Kelvin Sampson to return to college coaching anytime soon for a telephone recruiting scandal that set back the once-storied men's basketball program. The NCAA gave Sampson five years of potential penalties for his role in more than 100 impermissible phone calls to recruits made while he was still on probation for a similar phone-call scandal at Oklahoma.

Offensive lineman Antonio Logan-El, who committed to Maryland as a sophomore but stunned the program with his highly publicized decision to choose Penn State, will transfer to Towson, he said yesterday. "Me and my family sat down and talked things through," said Logan-El, a Forestville native who was considered the top offensive lineman in the state by Rivals.com. "We thought it was a great fit for me." Logan-El said he will finish the semester at Penn State.

Offensive lineman Antonio Logan-El, who committed to Maryland as a sophomore but stunned the program with his highly publicized decision to choose Penn State, will transfer to Towson, he said yesterday. "Me and my family sat down and talked things through," said Logan-El, a Forestville native who was considered the top offensive lineman in the state by Rivals.com. "We thought it was a great fit for me." Logan-El said he will finish the semester at Penn State.

Penn State (10-2) vs. Texas (8-4)Site: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Ariz.Time: 8 tonightTV: Chs. 13, 9Line: Texas by 1Players to watch:Curtis Enis, Penn State: He ran for 1,210 yards and 14 TDs.James Brown, Texas: He had a huge second half of the season and finished with 17 TD passes and 2,468 yards.Best win:Penn State 29, Michigan 17: Penn State's defense forced five second-half turnovers and blocked a punt as the No. 11 Nittany Lions beat the No. 16 Wolverines. Penn State had four interceptions, recovered one fumble and returned a blocked punt for the go-ahead touchdown.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- There was an eerie feeling at Notre Dame Stadium last night. Rocket Ismail was in the dressing room, nursing a bruised thigh. Penn State was putting the pressure on freshman quarterback Rick Mirer and putting some points on the scoreboard.The circumstances were similar to those here against Stanford earlier this season, when Ismail was out with a bruised thigh and the then-top-ranked Fighting Irish suffered their only defeat to date by blowing a big lead. Unfortunately for Notre Dame, so was the ending.

Paterno injured Penn State coach Joe Paterno was carted to the locker room after one of his players ran into his left leg early in the third quarter of a 13-3 loss at No. 17 Wisconsin. Freshman tight end Andrew Quarless tumbled into the 79-year-old coach while catching a short pass along the sideline. Paterno, 79, was flown back to State College, Pa., ahead of the team with a member of the school's medical staff, and was expected to have X-rays last night and a magnetic resonance imaging test today or tomorrow.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State's transitional season offers another farewell tour today at Beaver Stadium when the Nittany Lions meet Pitt for the 92nd time in a hotly contested intrastate rivalry.With Penn State moving to the Big Ten next season, today's 4 p.m. matchup on ESPN will be the last in the Pitt series until 1997.Penn State coach Joe Paterno said he had mixed feelings about a rivalry in which the Lions have gone 6-3-1 in the past 10 games."I wish we had not had to do it, in some ways," Paterno said of the decision to close the series.

When Freddie Scott considered his college options two years ago as an accomplished high school receiver and son of the former Baltimore Colt of the same name, he had several intriguing choices.There was Big Ten kingpin Michigan, which was just 45 minutes from his home in Southfield, Mich.There was national power Miami, a mother lode for the pro passing game.There was Purdue, which projected him as a starter in his freshman season.And there was Penn State, where, according to legend, quarterbacks sometimes become linebackers and receivers almost always become accountants.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Richie Anderson likes to be creative running the football, but this was gaudy overkill.Slip a tackle here, dodge a defender there, that's one thing.But yesterday, the Penn State tailback made the entire Maryland defense miss him. Often.Anderson, from Sandy Spring, Md., scored four touchdowns -- three rushing, one receiving -- to lead the ninth-ranked Lions past his Maryland pals, 49-13, at Beaver Stadium."I know a lot of their guys on the defensive side," he said after Penn State ran its record to 4-0. "A win against them isn't any sweeter for me, personally.

Paterno injured Penn State coach Joe Paterno was carted to the locker room after one of his players ran into his left leg early in the third quarter of a 13-3 loss at No. 17 Wisconsin. Freshman tight end Andrew Quarless tumbled into the 79-year-old coach while catching a short pass along the sideline. Paterno, 79, was flown back to State College, Pa., ahead of the team with a member of the school's medical staff, and was expected to have X-rays last night and a magnetic resonance imaging test today or tomorrow.

Doesn't it seem like you just took down your Christmas tree or packed away your menorah? And now there's already another holiday commanding our collective attention. Is your house decorated with recruiting manuals? Is the dry erase board in your living room nearly full and your three computers logged onto different sites simultaneously? National Signing Day - one of the biggest and most meaningless days in sports - is right around the corner. And this year, the absurdity has hit an all-time high.

In this blog space last week, I referenced a quote Penn State coach Joe Paterno issued at a pre-Orange Bowl news conference. The National Organization for Women is calling for Paterno's resignation over the comments. The controversy swirls around something Paterno said regarding a sexual assault allegation made against a Florida State player. Penn State officials are saying that the quotes are being misrepresented and read out of context. I can with some certainty say that Paterno was answering a pointed question about FSU's losing A.J. Nicholson, who was sent home and not allowed to play in the game.

Penn State (10-2) vs. Texas (8-4)Site: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Ariz.Time: 8 tonightTV: Chs. 13, 9Line: Texas by 1Players to watch:Curtis Enis, Penn State: He ran for 1,210 yards and 14 TDs.James Brown, Texas: He had a huge second half of the season and finished with 17 TD passes and 2,468 yards.Best win:Penn State 29, Michigan 17: Penn State's defense forced five second-half turnovers and blocked a punt as the No. 11 Nittany Lions beat the No. 16 Wolverines. Penn State had four interceptions, recovered one fumble and returned a blocked punt for the go-ahead touchdown.

In the wake of Penn State's first loss in two years, and in the middle of a players-only team meeting this week, Bobby Engram talked about confronting adversity.It is a subject for which Penn State's All-America split end is most qualified.Four years ago, Engram had to deal with the sudden loss of his father, Simon Engram, killed in an accident back home in Camden, S.C.Three years ago, he had to deal with his dismissal from the university after being charged with burglary, theft and receiving stolen property -- a stereo -- from a State College apartment.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- If Penn State failed to maintain its No. 1 ranking yesterday, at least the Nittany Lions affirmed their place as a national championship contender and established themselves as the undisputed kings of the Big Ten.Penn State also left an indelible bruise on an Ohio State team that thought it could disrupt the Lions' homecoming party. The Lions, who have made a habit of abusing opponents with the nation's best offense, produced their most jaw-dropping exhibition of the season against the 21st-ranked Buckeyes.

MIAMI -- Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden has won 10 of 14 bowl games, but none may have been as sweet as Friday night's 24-17 win over Penn State in the first Blockbuster Bowl, before 74,021 at Joe Robbie Stadium.The win was Bowden's first over Penn State coach Joe Paterno, whose Nittany Lions had beaten Bowden six straight times in the early 1970s when Bowden was coach at West Virginia. The two coaches, best of friends, never had faced each other since Bowden came to Florida State.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- If Penn State failed to maintain its No. 1 ranking yesterday, at least the Nittany Lions affirmed their place as a national championship contender and established themselves as the undisputed kings of the Big Ten.Penn State also left an indelible bruise on an Ohio State team that thought it could disrupt the Lions' homecoming party. The Lions, who have made a habit of abusing opponents with the nation's best offense, produced their most jaw-dropping exhibition of the season against the 21st-ranked Buckeyes.

When Freddie Scott considered his college options two years ago as an accomplished high school receiver and son of the former Baltimore Colt of the same name, he had several intriguing choices.There was Big Ten kingpin Michigan, which was just 45 minutes from his home in Southfield, Mich.There was national power Miami, a mother lode for the pro passing game.There was Purdue, which projected him as a starter in his freshman season.And there was Penn State, where, according to legend, quarterbacks sometimes become linebackers and receivers almost always become accountants.

COLLEGE PARK -- Losing to Penn State is a bond among football generations at Maryland.Curley Byrd, the winningest coach in Terps' history, was calling the shots when the series began in 1917 with a 57-0 loss to the Nittany Lions. Tom Nugent could revel in the lonesome 1961 victory, but he was still 1-5 against the Nittany Lions. Jerry Claiborne took Maryland to seven bowl games, but he was 0-8 against Penn State. Bobby Ross was 0-4.The Terps, in their second year of Mark Duffner's rebuilding plan, get a last chance tonight at 7 to beat the Nittany Lions before the Maryland-Penn State series is put on hold because of Penn State's alignment with the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions come to Byrd Stadium with a 4-0 record and a No. 9 ranking, and the Terps are 0-4 and bogged down with a defense that is on pace to set an NCAA record for futility.