It was a huge weekend for the Penn State Nittany Lions.
They exorcised some demons with a 13-6 victory in the Horseshoe at Columbus. They are now 9-0 heading to the bye week and ranked as the No. 3 team in the land. Who would have thought? Certainly not me. I never imagined the Nits would make it through “Red October”
unblemished.
In today’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll look at a key to the Nittany Lions’ success, check in with the Penn State women’s basketball team and have another edition of 10 Questions.
Let’s start with football.
Daryll Clark has been the key to Penn State’s success.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Clark is the Key
There’s a great children’s book about the game of football called “Kick, Pass, and Run.” In it, a group of animals discover a football in the forest and decide to play their own game.
It was first published in 1957 and as a child, I can remember my mother reading me that book every night before bed. It never got old.
The characters didn’t have crazy names like SpongeBob Squarepants or Bob the Builder. No, author Leonard Kessler didn’t have to give his characters crazy names. These characters could stand on their own.
There was rabbit, the fastest animal on the field. There was also cat, a sly one who was quite capable of making things happen. And there was dog, who was big and tough.
But I didn’t like those characters as much as I liked owl. Owl was a coach on the field, and owl could take over a game. Owl was the best.
He was the reason why I wanted to hear the story again and again, night after night.
As I was sitting with my young son watching Penn State defeat the Buckeyes, he asked me a simple question.
“Dad, who’s your favorite Nittany Lion?”
It was a question I’d heard before from the young Nittany Lion fan, and it was a question I usually dodged. As a reporter, we’re supposed to be impartial. We’re not supposed to have favorites. Sure, there are players we enjoy talking to during the postgame interviews, but that’s usually because they’re a good quote. If they can tell a good story or interject some humor, then they’ll rise to the top of our postgame wish list. For example, Stephfon Green is a good quote. He went into great detail about how the team had to change cleats at halftime of the Purdue game because the Ross-Ade Stadium turf was so slick. A.Q.
Shipley is another good one. When I asked Shipley what was the hardest part of being a captain, he looked at me with a straight face and deadpanned, “shaving.” It’s those kinds of moments that are etched into your memory bank.
So, I thought long and hard before answering my son with the name that kept popping into my head.
Daryll Clark.
Sure, you’ll say, pick Clark. It’s easy. He’s the quarterback of the undefeated Nittany Lions. And he’s having one hell of a year.
And while certain members of Penn State’s fan base and reporters who cover the team are surprised by the way Clark has performed this season, I can honestly say that I, for one, am not.
Really.
To go back to the children’s book, Clark is owl. He might not be the fastest player on the field. And he might not be the toughest. But Clark can get the job done, and he’s proving it on the field. Make no mistake about it, he’s the reason your beloved Nittany Lions are 9-0 and ranked as the No. 3 team in the nation.
Makes you wonder why we talked so much about a quarterback controversy, doesn’t it? Also makes you wonder why Anthony Morelli was playing last season when Clark could have done the very same things he’s doing in 2008.
But that’s in the rearview mirror. No sense lamenting what might have been. Clark still has his critics, for sure. Yes, he threw a bad pick against Temple. And threw another one at Wisconsin. But you know what?
Clark is the first to shoulder the blame, take responsibility for his mistakes. Even on Penn State’s first drive at Madison when he threw a beautiful ball that Derrick Williams simply dropped, Clark pointed to his chest as if to say, “my fault.”
It wasn’t his fault, though. And that’s the point here.
With the Nittany Lions rolling like they haven’t in, oh, 14 years, it’s time to start thinking BCS bowl game. It’s also time to start thinking Heisman Trophy. Yes, you heard correct. Heisman Trophy.
Penn State hasn’t had a Heisman Trophy winner since John Cappelletti in 1973. It’s time, don’t you think?
Williams thinks it is, for sure.
“Personally, Daryll’s the best player in the country,” Williams said, when asked about the QB’s chances. “Just a great player, the way he carries himself in a game, how he leads a team. He’s an amazing player. If I could, I’d vote for him, and put him as a front runner.”
Penn State coach Joe Paterno, never one to trumpet an individual, didn’t exactly endorse Clark for the Heisman Trophy, but he did throw a bouquet his way.
“I think Daryll Clark is a heckuva college football player right now, a heckuva college quarterback. Where would he rate? I don’t know,”
Paterno said. “We got a lot of football to play yet. It doesn’t make much sense for me to out there and start saying, ‘I think Daryll oughta be here, here or here.’ He’s just gotta stay focused on what he’s gotta do, get better each week and we’ll see what happens.”
And while Clark is clearly excited that his name is being mentioned in the race for college football’s biggest individual award, he’s saying all the right things.
“It’s real flattering, man. It’s real exciting to think about,” Clark said. “When you think about it … if the wideouts don’t make the catches and do the things that they’ve done and the running backs don’t run as hard to open up play-action, and if the offensive line doesn’t pass block and run block, my name isn’t mentioned at all.”
But he is being mentioned. He’s flying under the radar, though.
Just like owl.
Lady Lion Media Day
Under the direction of then first-year coach Coquese Washington, the Penn State Lady Lions certainly endured their share of ups and downs during the 2007-08 season.
Sure, there was the upset of Duke at the Bryce Jordan Center. But there was also a school-record 12-game losing skid to close out Washington’s inaugural season.
At the annual Lady Lion Media Day, held on Oct. 22, Washington said that the team was starting fresh. There would be no reference to last season. None of the highs, none of the lows.
“We haven’t talked about it since March 6th or 7th. We moved forward and started talking about what our goals are,” Washington said. “We’re not looking backwards. Certainly, we were disappointed at the way we finished the season, but we didn’t dwell on it. We knew there were some things that we needed to get better at and started to improve on those in the off season, during the summer and coming back this year.
Last year was last year.”
The Lady Lions lost just one player, Kam Gissendanner, to graduation.
And they added three solid freshmen — Emily Phillips, Renee Womack and Zhaque Gray.
Washington said that she is expecting all three to contribute in some way, shape or form this season.
“I expect the freshmen, first and foremost, are going to give us a little more depth. All three are pretty quick and pretty athletic.
Initially, they’ll impact us defensively to get into our transition game and get us points on the board that way,” Washington said.
All three players are guards, and none is taller than 5-foot-8. With a plethora of guards on the roster, the trio will battle for playing time.
Washington said that she plans on working them into the lineup slowly, so they aren’t fatigued once Big Ten play rolls around.
“I think that’s the goal. The sooner they can feel comfortable going out there and understanding and knowing what they’re doing and being a positive when they come in the game, I definitely think they’ll help us at the end of the season,” Washington said.
Gantdaily.com sat down with RB Stephfon Green this week.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
10 Questions: Stephfon Green
Today, gantnews.com sits down with PSU running back Stephfon Green for another edition of 10 Questions.
GD: Three things always in your refrigerator?
SG: Kool-Aid, vanilla pudding and Hot Pockets.
GD: Who would play you in a movie?
SG: Omar Epps.
GD: XBox or PlayStation?
SG: XBox.
GD: The Last Book You Read?
SG: Cry Me A River by Ernest Hill.
GD: Favorite All-Time Movie?
SG: Love and Basketball.
GD: If I didn’t go to Penn State, I would have gone to?
SG: LSU.
GD: If not football, what sport?
SG: Track and field.
GD: Your ride?
SG: Don’t have one, but I want a red 2008 Range Rover.
GD: Funniest or best thing Joe ever said to you?
SG: He called me a “little squirt.”
GD: Favorite Penn State Moment?
SG: Running out of the tunnel on game day, knowing I am about to play for my team and the 110,000 fans.
In addition to writing for gantnews.com, Chris Morelli is the award-winning editor of Blue-White Illustrated, a sports publication devoted to Penn State athletics. He is also a regular on “Front and Center,” which airs on ESPN Radio in Altoona and State College. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com.