Clark's Heisman stock tumbles

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Whatever momentum had been gained by supporters of Daryll Clark urging that his name be included in the Heisman Trophy conversation was stopped as if it had run into a brick wall.

Penn State's senior quarterback again performed poorly in a game of national significance, completing 12 of 28 passes for 125 yards, an interception, and no touchdowns yesterday in the Nittany Lions' 24-7 loss to Ohio State.

Clark acknowledged that his inability to lead the Lions to victories over the only two ranked teams - Ohio State and Iowa - on their schedule is "something that will hang over my head unless we finish the season the right way, which I'm very confident we'll do."

Asked, however, whether it's unfair to judge him on those two games, Clark replied, "That may be the case. I don't really think it's fair, but it's going to happen."

Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who had been lobbying for more recognition for Clark, admitted that his quarterback has had better games.

"Then again, there was an awful lot of pressure on him early and throughout the whole ball game," he said. "Once they were able to put that kind of pressure on without really sending a lot of people, that made it tough to develop some of the [pass] routes."

Royster a bit gimpy. Evan Royster, the Lions' leading rusher, had to leave warm-ups early because of a minor knee injury, but was in the starting lineup.

"I caught a swing pass, and somebody was right in front of me when I turned," Royster said. "I tried to stop, and my knee just buckled. It didn't have any big effect [in the game]. It was a little bit sore, but nothing serious."

Royster finished with a season-low 36 yards on 13 carries.


Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or jjuliano@phillynews.com.

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11
Comments   
Posted 06:41 AM, 11/08/2009
Wino
The only Penn State QB that had Heisman credentials is now playing for Delaware.
Posted 06:51 AM, 11/08/2009
TedR
Heisman stock? Are you kidding me? Heisman hopefuls are judged by how they play against good competition. The only 2 good teams PSU faced, Clark was abysmal. Against the rest of the pansies on the schedule, anyone could look good. Devlin made the right choice. Hey JoePA, I appreciate everything you've done for PSU, but age over talent will never win another national championship esp at the skill positions. Oh, and what happened to the defense and special teams?
Posted 07:36 AM, 11/08/2009
red rock
Too funny.
Posted 08:49 AM, 11/08/2009
lockmaster
Long time PSU fan. Daryll Clark is THE most over rated quarterback in all of college football. Anyone can pad their stats against the Akron's and other lousy teams we play early on in the season BUT everytime there is a big game he plays lousy, not decent, not ok but lousy. What's his stats like against OSU, Iowa, USC etc... In fact the only time we beat OSU was thanks to Pat Devlin who led the team down for the only TD score. Yes, Daryll's good enough to get us to the blockbuster bowl or the half-eaten-bag of chips bowl but he will never deliver a national championship. Hope next years quarterback can deliver better results.
Posted 08:59 AM, 11/08/2009
Bob Cronin
Ted R is right about Clark but go easy on the Penn St defense. They didn't get any support from their achilles heel. A lack of punt coverage and punt returns. Well they'll probably finish 10-2 and have a good bowl opponent as a consolation prize.
Posted 09:09 AM, 11/08/2009
rick2657
Anyone who has watched PSU knew Clark was not Heisman material. No surprise in the struggles Clark had yesterday. Running skills are poor, once the game starts Clark cannot adopt to the flow of the game and as pressue increases passing accuracy is gone and what you have is an ineffective qb. PSU made a poor decision in selecting Clark as their QB both for the preseent and the future. There is talent in Happy Valley but no top tier qb since he left last year. Back to the middle of the pack for the nits. TOO BAD!
Posted 09:46 AM, 11/08/2009
beez1228
Lets hope kevin newsome and our two recruits in the 2010 class fair better in the future.
Posted 10:17 AM, 11/08/2009
obviousman#1
He never had a shot. Paging Pat Devlin,paging Pat Devlin, Has anyone seen....
Posted 11:17 AM, 11/08/2009
Shimmy
Heisman STOCK? More like a Junk Bond.
Posted 08:13 AM, 11/09/2009
johnnyk2u
Remember the quarterback competition last year - the sham that it was! Compared to Clark and what limited time he had on the field, every fan could see that Pat Devlin had more pocket presence, accuracy, and leadership, but not Jay Paterno! Like Jim Kelly, Pat Devlin will forever highlight this Penn State coaching blunder.
Posted 02:51 PM, 11/09/2009
Voytas
If Paterno is trying to increase the praise of a QB, it means that QB is average and needs some confidence, which in turn is also his last resort at trying to make something happen. If Paterno is trying decrease the praise of a QB, it means that QB is good, but is starting to portray an attitude he doesn't like, which in turn means PSU will run, run, run the ball even if it means losing. Can't you just retire Joe?
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