Penn State Football: Top 10 Players of the 2000's

8. Tamba Hali (Defensive End, 2002-2005): Before he became an All Pro NFL player, he was an All-American at Penn State. Before that, he lived in the civil war-torn country of Liberia until he was ten. He joined his father, a Fairleigh Dickinson University chemistry professor and Teaneck High School chemistry teacher, in the United States. During his high school career, Hali became an All-American and the number one overall high school prospect in the state of New Jersey. He then received a scholarship from Penn State. Hali was a key piece on the 2005 Nittany Lions team that finished the season 11-1 and a win against Florida State in the Orange Bowl. During that season, the senior lead the defense with 11 sacks (tied for eighth nationally) and 17 tackles for loss. Those number earned him unanimous All-American honors, first team All-Big Ten, and was named the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year. On his way to being selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, Hali was named the Senior Bowl MVP. Number 91 was a fan favorite from the beginning and continued to grow on Nittany Lion fans everywhere. Put all that together and you have the one of the best to wear the blue and white. 
Career Achievements:
- Unanimous First Team All-American (2005)
- First Team All-Big Ten (2005)
- Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year (2005)

Penn State Football: Top 10 Players of the 2000's

9. Deon Butler (Wide Receiver, 2004-2008)- Deon Butler might not be the most well-known Penn State player but the former defensive back turned receiver was a key part of two Big Ten Championship teams. In 2005, along with Derrick Williams and Jordan Norwood, Butler provided a spark for a team that had come off back-to-back losing seasons. He also provided a reliable target for senior quarterback Michael Robinson. During that 2005 season Butler set numerous Penn State receiving records including; season receptions (37), receiving yards in a game (125), season yards (691), and touchdown catches (9). Penn State went on to win the Big Ten Championship and earned a bid to the Orange Bowl to taker on Bobby Bowden and his Florida State Seminoles. The Nittany Lions won that game 26-23 in triple overtime. The following season he would set the single game receiving record  with 216 yards on 11 catches against Northwestern. Butler would remain a deep threat over the next 3 seasons for quarterbacks Anthony Morelli and Daryll Clark. He was a overlooked because of his counterpart and former number one recruit Derrick Williams but Butler had just as much to do with the sudden resurgence of the Nittany Lions after what many called, "the dark years". When his career was finally over, he had hauled in 2,771 yards which broke Bobby Engrams school record. He was drafted in the third round (91st overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks.
Career Achievements: 
-All-time leading receiver 
-Freshman All-American (2005)
-Freshman All-Big Ten (2005)

Penn State Football: Top 10 Players of the 2000's

          Penn State football has a rich history of great players. They've had a Heisman Trophy winner, a 2,000 yard rusher, and countless All-Americans. Since 2000 the Nittany Lions have seen it's share of those great players. It's hard to put a list together of the greatest Penn State players. It's even harder to make a top ten. This list of Penn State's best since 2000 has some requirements; stats matter, your impact on Penn State matters, NFL career not a factor, the greatness of the player, what do the fans think. All of that is taken into consideration and I put together my top ten, so here we go. 

*Players who played 2010-present are included*

10. Evan Royster (Running Back, 2006-2010): We begin this countdown with Penn State's all-time leading rusher. Royster might be one of the more underrated players to wear the blue and white. The native of Fairfax, Virginia, he came out of high school as one of the most coveted lacrosse recruits in the country. He was heavily recruited by powerhouse Johns Hopkins, but the all-american chose to follow football instead. He was pretty good at that too. After redshirting his freshman year, Royster saw significant playing time during the 2007 season along with Rodney Kinlaw. He was the second leading rusher on the team behind Kinlaw and scored the game-winning touchdown in the 2007 Alamo Bowl against Texas A&M. He wasn't the flashy type of runner, nor was he the power back. He was a combination of the two. Over the next three seasons he would go on to tally more than 3,000 yards and eventually break Curt Warner's rushing record which stood for more than 30 years. Royster would finish his career with 3,932 yards and 29 touchdowns. He was drafted in the 6th round (177th overall) in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. 
Career Achievements:
-Penn State's All-Time Leading Rusher
-Second Team All-Big Ten (2008)

College Football Preview

Living in a college town like State College (where Penn State is) college football is pretty much everything. When the college football season gets closer it's kind of like a Christmas feeling. The weekends are what you live for and no matter who your team is playing, Saturday's are meant for football. The 2014 season is right around the corner and it promises to be an interesting one. There are many questions going in as there are with every season but this one will be unlike any other with the new playoff system. Is it perfect? No. Will people be happy about it? No. Is it a start? Absolutely. It sets up like this:

The Top Four Teams:

The selection committee will choose the four teams for the playoff based on strength of schedule, head-to-head results, comparison of results against common opponents, championships won and other factors.

New Year's Festivities:

Fans will enjoy back-to-back triple-headers. Two semifinals and four other premier bowl games will be played on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Those holidays will belong to college football. Semifinal games will rotate among six different bowls, extending the experience to more fans.

Qualifiers:

Both participants in the Orange, Rose and Sugar Bowls are contracted outside the playoff arrange­ment (Big Ten and Pac-12 to Rose Bowl; SEC and Big 12 to Sugar Bowl; ACC to Orange Bowl against the highest ranked available team from the SEC, Big Ten and Notre Dame). If a conference champion qualifies for the playoff, then the bowl will choose a replacement from that conference. When those bowls host the semifinals and their contracted conference champions do not qualify, then the dis­placed champion(s) will play in the other New Year’s bowls.

The Fiesta, Cotton and Peach Bowls will host displaced conference champions and the top-ranked champion from a non-contract conference. The highest-ranked available teams will fill any other berths. The Selection Committee will make the pairings.

Source: collegefootballplayoff.com 

The impact of the playoff system will be felt when teams are scheduling their non-conference games. With the selection committee looking at the strength of schedule being a factor in selecting the top four teams, there won't be anymore Northern Idaho type of teams on the schedule (I'm not sure if that's a real school or not). Point being, the season will be much more competitive and meaningful. 

When the preseason rankings come out we all look at them and try to pick a winner. There are certain teams you can always expect to be at the top when the season is over. You have the Alabama's of the world who always seem to be mentioned in the national championship conversation and rightfully so. Defending champs Florida State led by reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston are at the top of the polls and many believe they'll be there at the end. Many also believe that Winston could become the second player ever to win the Heisman for a second time. Ohio State's Archie Griffin did so in 1974-75. Winston won’t run away with the trophy by any means, as there are a few guys behind him who will have something to say. Ohio State’s Braxton Miller and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota look to have the same ending to their season that Winston did, with a Heisman Trophy and a national championship.

The top 25 polls were released and there was no real surprise in the top 10 with reigning champs Florida State leading the way. Nick Saban and his Alabama squad roll in at number two followed by the team that beat them in the Sugar Bowl in Oklahoma. Oregon and runner-up to Florida State Auburn round out the top 5. Ohio State, UCLA, Michigan State, South Carolina, and Baylor complete the top 10. The title game is a long ways away but it’s always fun to talk about it before the season even starts.

1. Florida State- the favorites to win the new golden football trophy thing. I’m still upset about them getting rid of the crystal ball.

      2. Alabama- you can never count out the Tide because well, Nick Saban is still coaching

      3. Oklahoma- always a contender, but also always seem to slip up

      4. Oregon- Heisman hopeful + new uniforms every game = still can’t win the big game

      5. Auburn- lost to Florida State and we still don’t know how they got there

      6. Ohio State- they’re from the Big Ten so obviously they won’t win the title, maybe the Rose Bowl (Big Ten Syndrome)

     7. UCLA- where did they come from?

     8. Michigan State- Big Ten Syndrome

     9. South Carolina- they don’t have Jedeveon Clowney

     10. Baylor- they score a lot of points and don’t give up a lot, so maybe they can win?

     

     One thing is for sure; at the end of the season there will be a Heisman Trophy winner and a National Champion. It just might be the same as last season. Whatever happens during the 2014 season, it’s going to be a good one so sit back and enjoy the new ride. COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS ALMOST HERE!

Penn State Football: Still One Team

Since the fall of 2011 Penn State football has gone through a transformation that no one thought they would ever see. Under coach Joe Paterno Penn State was a traditional run first team. The offense was highly predictable at times which frustrated fans but it always seemed to work. They won games, they won Big Ten championships, and made it to the postseason. They never really had to worry about the defense, which was always the strength of the team. It would keep them in games when the offense would struggle to put points on the board. It seemed that every year we were waiting for a new type of offense to take the field but for the most part it stayed the same. However, the 2008 and 2009 seasons  brought a little hope of something that we might see down the road. With Daryll Clark at quarterback, Evan Royster in the backfield, and the trio of Derrick Williams, Deon Butler, and Jordan Norwood catching passes, the Nittany Lions developed what was called the "spread HD" offense. It was an up-tempo, point scoring offense with big play potential. The 2008 season ended on a sour note though with a 38-24 Rose Bowl loss to USC. The 2009 season saw much of the same type of offense. With Williams, Butler, and Norwood moving on, they were replaced by Derek Moye, Graham Zug and tight end Andrew Quarless. The spread HD offense kept the same trend as the year before with the up-tempo and highly productive offense. The Nittany Lions made it to another bowl game, this time with a better result beating Les Miles and his LSU Tigers in the Capital One Bowl 19-17. The following season saw a quarterback battle between freshman Rob Bolden and walk on Matt McGloin go well into the season before McGloin would eventually get the nod. The offense struggled at times and couldn't seem to find a rhythm throughout the season. The defense was on par with its normal self for the most part but did have its struggles. The team would go on to lose in the Outback Bowl to Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators 37-24. The 2011 season saw Matt McGloin take over the leader position on offense. The former walk on saw his fair share of criticism for some of his mistakes which were costly at times. Little did we know that those mistakes would be the least of his worries, and the worries of those who supported the Nittany Lions. 

November 2011 would be a month that no Penn State fan or anyone who watched TV would forget. The Penn State sex abuse scandal opened up, and boy did a lot fall out. The season ended with a 30-14 loss in the Ticket City Bowl to Houston but no one really cared too much about that. Everyone focused on the scandal and focused on who was involved, or who wasn't involved. We're not going to look at the past because people seem to be doing that a lot lately with the scandal, almost three years after the fact. 

The search was on for the next head coach at Penn State. A search many Penn Staters thought should stay within the current staff. Former President Rodney Erickson and Athletic Director Dave Joyner created a search committee to find that new head coach, and they had to make it a good one. On January 7th, 2012, the search committee introduced their choice in former New England Patriots head coach Bill O'Brien. The man who had been known for his verbal fight with Tom Brady on the sidelines took over as Penn State's 15th head coach. Just over six months after being named head coach, O'Brien had to deal with his first hurdle as the leader of the Nittany Lions, and it was a big one. Around 11AM on July 24th, NCAA President Mark Emmert handed down the most intense penalties any school had ever received. Those penalties included a four-year postseason ban, a loss of 40 scholarships over a four-year span, the vacating of all wins from 1998-2011 (112 wins total), and perhaps the most significant penalty was that any current player could transfer away from Penn State to any school and play right away. The goal of the sanctions handed down by Emmert was to essentially shut down the football program without actually doing so. That might have been their goal but Penn State fans were not about to let that happen. 

The 2012 season began with more questions than any other season in Penn State history. It was different to say the least. The first season without Joe Paterno as head coach since 1966. The team had names on the back of the jerseys. Bill O'Brien had never been a head coach. Everything was stacked against the team but that's never been a real surprise for Penn State. The team was led by a group of seniors who meant more to the program than any win could ever bring. It was a group of seniors who when everyone else left, they stayed. When people doubted them, they made them second-guess. When their backs were against the wall, they came out fighting. Moral of the story is they never gave up and never listened to the talk. They just did the only thing they could do, play football. 

Back-to-back losses to open the season was not the way Bill O'Brien wanted to start. Especially with those losses coming to Ohio and on the road against Virginia. In their return to Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions got their first win by defeating Navy 34-7. The resilient team came to play every week after that winning 8 of their last 10 games and finishing 8-4 including a Senior Day win against Wisconsin. That would be good enough for a New Years Day bowl or potential BCS game but due to the sanctions Penn State was not eligible for postseason play. Coming into the 2013 season and his second season as head coach, Bill O'Brien brought in high school standout and one of the top recruits in the nation, quarterback Christian Hackenberg. O'Brien also had to replace that senior class that included All American defensive tackle Jordan Hill, fullback Michael Zordich, linebackers Michael Mauti and Gerald Hodges. Mauti was the heart and soul of not only the defense, but the entire team. The season started with a bang with wins against Syracuse and Eastern Michigan. The first loss of the season came in the third week of the season against future first round pick Blake Bortles and Central Florida. The Nittany Lions would go 5-4 over the next nine games and go on the finish with a 7-5 record. Questions arose after the season as to whether or not Bill O'Brien would stick around or head off to the NFL. When the Houston Texans came calling, O'Brien could not turn it down. The search for a new head coach was on again. Enter James Franklin. 

January 11th, 2014, James Franklin is named the 16th head coach at Penn State. Much like Bill O'Brien, people knew very little about Franklin. A native of Langhorn, Pennsylvania, Franklin made his name at Vanderbilt where he led the Commodores to three straight winning seasons and three straight bowl appearances (2-1 in those games). Vanderbilt had been a doormat for SEC teams to beat up on but after Franklin took over, he brought a little bit of swagger to the program. Along with being a great coach, he might be an even better recruiter. In his introductory press conference he said that Penn State would "dominate the state" in recruiting and so far up until this point he hasn't disappointed boasting a top 5 class for 2015. Don't forget he still has to deal with the limited scholarships. Franklin hasn't coached a game yet but has brought a certain level of energy to the team and it's being felt throughout the community. He wants to sell out every game the team plays in Beaver Stadium. More importantly he wants to win. The past two season have come around with much anticipation and excitement and this season looks to follow that trend. 

Penn State football has changed recently in more ways than one but one thing that will never change are the fans. From the season ticket holders of 50 years to the newborns going to their first game, and everyone in between. Those fans are what makes Penn State such a special and unique place. We've seen the dark times in Happy Valley and they were as dark as you could possibly get but no matter what is happening, winning or losing, and no matter who the head coach is, Penn State fans will always show up. The NCAA tried to decimate the program. They tried to take everything away from a proud university. They tried to kill the spirits of 107,000 strong. They did the opposite of those thing. All the negativity brought upon the school made it stronger and at the end of the day it brought a community closer together and made a group of fans proud to yell out "We Are!", with the hopes of an even louder response of "Penn State!"