Archive: December, 2012
Joe Juliano
Former Penn State stars Tamba Hali, Cameron Wake and NaVorro Bowman have been voted to participate in the 2013 Pro Bowl.
Hali, a linebacker with the Kansas City Chiefs, and Wake, a defensive end with the Miami Dolphins, were elected to starting berths on the AFC team. It is the second Pro Bowl selection for both players.
Bowman, a linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl.
Make that one more award for Mr. O'Brien.
The rookie head coach is making out pretty well this offseason.
Bill O'Brien was named Maxwell Football Club’s Collegiate Coach of the Year, it was announced Wednesday. The award, voted on by NCAA Bowl Subdivision head coaches, football sports information directors, Maxwell Football Club members and a handful of national media members, will be presented March 1 at the Harrah's Atlantic City Resort.
The quarterback who broke Cam Newton's junior college passing record was close to coming to Penn State.
Jake Waters, who led Iowa Western to a national championship in the program's fifth year of existence, narrowed down his choices to Kansas State and Penn State.
He chose the Wildcats.
The AP 2012 All-American lists have been released. And for the first time since 2004, no Penn State player made the top three teams.
The most notable omission is senior linebacker Mike Mauti, the only Big Ten player ranked in the top 10 in the conference in tackles (7th, 96), interceptions (4th, 3) and forced fumbles (3rd, 3).
Several Big Ten defensive players were honored -- including defensive tackles Jonathan Hawkins (Ohio State) and Kawann Short (Purdue) on the second team -- but no linebackers.
What do Heisman Trophy finalist Collin Klein and Penn State coach Bill O'Brien have in common?
They are both working on recruiting a 6-foot-2, 215-pound quarterback from a junior college in Iowa. His name is Jake Waters and it's clear why the Nittany Lions and Kansas State Wildcats are vying for his commitment.
Waters, an Iowa native, put up video game-esque statistics this season for Iowa Western Community College, which won an NJCAA national championship. First, it's important to note that the Reivers program came into existance just five years ago. That's an impressive rise to prominence. And a lot of credit goest to Waters, who broke Cam Newton's record for completion percentage (73.3) by a junior college quarterback this season.
When he was sidelined for his final collegiate game, his teammates wore his number on their helmets. At that point it was clear, Mike Mauti was the emotional leader of the Nittany Lions, who have endured so much in the 2012 season.
Over the weekend, they made it official: The senior linebacker is their most valuable player, too.
The co-captain, who helped anchor Penn State to an 8-4 finish, was named the team's MVP at the senior banquet on Sunday.
Joe Juliano
Penn State football coach Bill O’Brien received oral commitments during the weekend from three high school recruits, according to several recruiting web sites. One came from a linebacker who had decommitted from the Nittany Lions during the summer.
Zayh Issah, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound linebacker from Central Dauphin High School in Harrisburg, committed to Penn State on June 29, or less than a month before the NCAA sanctions were assessed. He withdrew his commitment on Sept. 7 but reinstated it after O’Brien hosted visits for recruits on Saturday.
Two other players to commit were 6-1, 180-pound cornerback Anthony Smith of Randolph, N.J., who competed this season for Valley Forge Military Academy, and 6-1, 235-pound linebacker Jonathan Walton of Daphne, Ala.
Bill O'Brien took home another piece of hardware on Saturday -- and there still could be more to come.
Penn State's rookie head coach was named the AT&T ESPN Coach of the Year. O'Brien, the Big Ten Coach of the Year, is a finalist for several other awards including the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year and the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year. He is also on the watchlist for the Bear Bryant National Coach of the Year.
O'Brien led the bowl-ineligible Nittany Lions to an 8-4 finish.
Joe Juliano
Well, Penn State fans who were wishing for more football games against archrival Pittsburgh, you got them.
The two universities announced Friday the addition of two games to their schedules, meaning the two fierce intrastate rivals will meet for four consecutive years from 2016 through 2019.
The Nittany Lions will take on the Panthers on Sept. 8, 2018 at Heinz Field and on Sept. 14, 2019 at Beaver Stadium.
Joe Juliano
Two Penn State football players, senior defensive end Pete Massaro and redshirt junior guard John Urschel, have been named to the Capital One Academic All-America first team that was announced Thursday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
For Massaro, a graduate of Marple Newtown High School in Delaware County, it marked the second time he had been named to the team. He also earned first-team honors in 2010. He is one of 10 Penn State players to be a first-team honoree on two occasions.
Massaro graduated in December 2011 with a 3.85 grade-point average in finance and is on schedule to earn a second degree in economics later this month. Because he sat out the entire 2011 season recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, he was not eligible to be nominated for Academic All-America honors.
This season is Joe's fourth season on the paper's Penn State beat. He previously covered the Nittany Lions for United Press International from 1976 to 1984.
Emily Kaplan is the Inquirer’s fall intern covering the Nittany Lions. She is a senior at Penn State and has covered a variety of sports for the university’s student-run paper, The Daily Collegian. Over the last two years, she has reported for The Associated Press from State College.
A Montclair, N.J. native, she has also interned at MLB Network, NHL.com and covered the 2012 Olympics in London. Follow her on Twitter here @EKaplan24.
