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We will try very hard not to make any mistakes in this preview, since when talking about Penn State nobody wants to even think about using any Whiteout.
44 - The number of seasons that JoePa has been the head coach at Penn State. He has broken Amos Alonzo Stagg's mark of 41 for the most seasons as head football coach at a major college. Stagg was at the University of Chicago from 1892 through 1932, and all but the first 4 of those years were spent in the Big Ten Conference (or Western Conference from 1896 to 1899, then the Big Nine until 1917). After leaving the Big Ten and giving up football in 1940, Chicago is now a Division III program.
324 - The number of games that JoePa had won after Zack Mills led a 29-27 comeback victory over tOSU, during Jim Tressel's first year as tOSU's head coach (2001). That gave JoePa the major college coaching record, breaking a tie with Bear Bryant. He has since been passed by and then re-passed Bobby Bowden, since the NCAA allows Bowden to count his 31 victories at Howard College (now 1-AA Samford University).
391 - JoePa's current win total, now 5 ahead of Bowden. Jim Tressel is third among current FBS (1-A) coaches with 225, and Frank Beamer has 224 pending his Thursday night game at East Carolina.
408 - Eddie Robinson's record for wins in Division 1 football. JoePa should be due to break that mark in 2011.
469 - John Gagliardi's wins as a college football coach (Division III). He won 24 games at Carroll College from 1949-'52, and has won 445 at St. John's as of last Sunday, his 83rd birthday (8-0 this year). He started at Carroll College 1 year before JoePa became an assistant at PSU.
548 - The total number of major college games coached by Stagg (per ncaa.org), including his stints at Springfield College and Pacific. This week's game will be #523 for JoePa, so he may want to hang around for 2 more years in order to break that mark.
1 1/2 inches - The distance that Tony Johnson's feet were clearly in-bounds by, late in regulation time in the 2002 overtime loss to Iowa. After that, JoePa famously chased down the referee leaving the field. That Iowa play was instrumental in getting the Big-10 to adopt instant replay. The 1 1/2" distance may also indicate the thickness of Joe's glasses, but he did see that play more clearly than the referees. The only time since then that JoePa moved that fast on the field resulted in him returning with different colored pants at the 'Shoe in 2006.
1 1/2 feet - The approximate distance that Mike McCloskey was out-of-bounds when he caught a 15-yard pass near the 2-yard line from Todd Blackledge with 9 seconds left against #2 Nebraska in 1982. For some reason, Joe didn't protest this call. Penn State scored on the next play to win 24-21, and went on to win their first national title (Nebraska finished #3 at 12-1). Yes, that's the same Todd Blackledge eating his way across college campuses on CBS. The team that finished #2 that year was pre-Death Penalty SMU, led by the 'Pony Express' backfield of Eric Dickerson and Craig James (now on ESPN).
82 - Joe Paterno's actual age. When he coaches in a bowl game after his birthday on December 21st, he'll be stolling the sidelines with rolled-up pants at the age of 83.
3-2-1 - That's the all-time bowl game record for the Nittany Lions, not counting games coached by JoePa.
26-13-2 - Their overall bowl record including his games. JoePa's 23 bowl wins are the most ever; Bobby Bowden is next with 21.
12-12 - The all-time record between tOSU and Penn State. The Nittany Lions won the first 4 games, which were all in Columbus, so tOSU's only lead in the series was the 12-11 mark before last year's game, which was Penn State's first win in the 'Shoe since they joined the Big 10 in 1993.
39-41-7 - Ohio State's all-time record on the road against ranked teams
12-6 - Ohio State's record on the road against ranked teams under Tressel
2 - The number of times that Penn State played against a #1 team in Happy Valley. Before the 37-17 victory by the #1 Buckeyes in 2007, the only other occasion was on November 18, 1989, when the #17 Nittany Lions lost to #1 Notre Dame 34-23. For those wondering if they played a #1 Wolverine team in 1997, TSUN was ranked #4 when they beat a #2 PSU team 34-8 on November 8th. They assumed the top spot in the next poll since that was the same day that Nebraska needed OT to win at Missouri, after tying the game on a kicked ball that was caught with no time remaining. 1997 was the last year before the BCS, so they didn't play in the bowls; TSUN ended up #1 in the AP that year, while the Coaches poll ended up voting Nebraska #1 as a going-away present for Tom Osborne. Has anybody heard what Tom Osborne's doing lately?
1 - The number of times it takes a Buckeye fan to hear the Lion's roar blasting out of the speakers in Beaver Stadium in order to hate it.
Date and Time
Date: Saturday, November 7th, 2009 Time: 3:30 PM ET Kick-off Location: Beaver Stadium, State College, PA Constructed: 1960 (last renovated in 2001) Seating Capacity: 107,282 (record there is 110,752) Playing Surface: Grass
Events:Doug Plank has been named tOSU's honorary captain for this game.
Broadcast Information:
TV Broacast: ABC (reverse mirror on ESPN2) with Sean McDonough (Play-by-Play), Matt Millen (analyst), and Holly Rowe on the sidelines.
Radio Broadcast: Ohio State Radio Network (WBNS 97.1 The Fan in Columbus): Paul Keels (Play-by-play), Jim Lachey (Analysis), and Marty Bannister (Sideline).
The game can also be heard on Sirius satellite radio Channel 127.
2009 Penn State Nittany Lions Offensive Preview
Returning starters: 5
Ohio State pummeled the hapless Aggies last weekend after a slow opening quarter, and now it is on to the biggest conference game of the season to date, a trip to Happy Valley to take on the Nittany Lions. The two teams have developed quite a mini-rivalry over the years since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993 (and even before when Woody and JoePa met 3 times in the mid to late 70's), and this year's game will be yet another where there are significant Rose Bowl and conference title implications. Both teams are out of the National Championship hunt, but the stakes remain extremely high for this game.
Galen Hall has Penn State's offense clicking again this season, firing on all cylinders much of the time, and playing well when not facing a team from Iowa for the 2nd straight season. The competition hasn't exactly been overwhelming, but they did get a couple of nice conference road wins and they come in with quite a bit of momentum since their 2nd half meltdown against the Hawkeyes to open conference play. The Lions rank 24th nationally with 429.1 total yards per game. The running game hasn't been quite as good as they had hoped, but it still ranks a very respectable 33rd nationally at 182 yards per game. Penn State has also been pretty good throwing the football, averaging 253.7 yards per game, good for 41st nationally. Their 30.7 points per contest also ranks them 33rd nationally. The Lions have been very, very good at sustaining punishing drives, as they have been effective moving the chains
Starters Returning: 10 (Offense 5, Defense 4, Special Teams 1)
Notable Returners: QB Daryll Clark, RB Evan Royster, TE Mickey Shuler, RG Stefen Wisniewski, RT Dennis Landolt, DT Jared Odrick, DT Ollie Ogbu, LB Josh Hull, LB Navorro Bowman, LB Sean Lee (injured in 2008), P Jeremy Boone
Starters Lost: 14 (Offense 6, Defense 7, Special Teams 1)
Notable Losses: WR Derrick Williams, WR Deon Butler, WR Jordan Norwood, LT Gerald Cadogan, LG Rich Ohrnberger, C A.Q. Shipley, DE Josh Gaines, OLB Tyrell Sales, CB Tony Davis, CB Lydell Sargeant, S Anthony Scirrotto, S Mark Rubin, K Kevin Kelly
2010 Verbals Commitments:
Scout.com - #3 overall class - 2-5*, 14-4*, 4-3* - 3.90* average
Rivals.com - #2 overall class - 0-5*, 14-4*, 6-3* - 3.70* average
Kyle Baublitz DE 6-4 255 York, PA - 4*/4* Robert Bolden QB 6-4 205 Orchard Lake, MI - 4*/4*
Adrian Coxson WR 6-1 194 Baltimore, MD - 5*/4*
Mike Dieffenbach C 6-4 277 Pittsburgh, PA - 4*/4*
Dominique Easley DE 6-2 253 Staten Island, NY - 4*/4* Khairi Fortt LB 6-2.5 221 Stamford, CT - 4*/4*
Luke Graham OG 6-5 274 Harrison City, PA - 3*/3*
Evan Hailes DT 6-2 310 Chesapeake, VA - 4*/4*
Kevin Haplea TE 6-4 230 Annandale, NJ - 4*/3* Mike Hull LB 6-0.5, 204 Canonsburg, PA - 4*/4*
DaQuan Jones DT 6-4 300 Johnson City, NY - 4*/3*
Paul Jones QB 6-3 225 McKees Rock, PA - 5*/4*
Alex Kenney WR 6-0 190 State College, PA - 3*/3*
Kahmrone Kolb OT 6-6 300 Burke, VA - 3*/3*
Levi Norwood WR 6-2 170 Waco, TX - 3*/3* C.J. Olaniyan DE 6-5 230 Warren, MI - 4*/4*
Silas Redd RB 5-10 190 Stamford, CT - 4*/4*
Tom Ricketts OT 6-6 266 Wexford, PA - 4*/4*
Dakota Royer LB 6-3 220 Manheim, PA - 4*/4* Zach Zwinak FB 6-2 225 Frederick, MD - 4*/4*
Class of 2009:
Scout.com - #11 overall class - 1-5*, 7-4*, 15-3*, 4-2* - 3.19* average
Rivals.com - #24 overall class - 0-5*, 7-4*, 12-3*, 8-2* - 2.96* average
Mark Arcidiacono OL 6-4 289 Philadelphia, PA - 4*/2*
Justin Brown WR 6-3.5 210 Wilmington, DE - 4*/4* Nate Cadogan OL 6-6 265 Portsmouth, OH - 3*/3* Glenn Carson LB 6-3 220 Manahawkin, NJ - 4*/4*
Curtis Drake QB 6-0 175 Philadelphia, PA - 3*/2*
Curtis Dukes RB 6-2 225 Philadelphia, NY - 4*/3* Anthony Fera K 6-2 230 Houston, TX - 3*/3*
Frank Figueroa OL 6-4 282 Alexandria, VA - 2*/2*
Garry Gilliam TE 6-7 245 Hershey, PA - 3*/2* Darrell
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