See comment about Ginn (below).
Updated: Oct. 2, 2005, 5:18 PM ET
Freshmen give Penn State new look, new attitude
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By
Pat Forde
ESPN.com
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><!-- begin leftcol --><!-- template inline -->STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- With the sun setting on a perfect football Saturday and the home team up 30 big ones, a familiar chant shook Beaver Stadium.
"We are!" bellowed one side of the stadium.
"Penn State!" roared the other side.
Back and forth it went. With feeling. And with good reason.
For the first time in years, being Penn State is something to shout about.
Being Penn State means being a player on the national scene once again. It means a 5-0 record for the first time since 1999, the end of an 11-game losing streak against ranked opponents, an impending national ranking, a ton of hype for Ohio State's arrival next Saturday and happy chants echoing through Happy Valley. It means the Nittany Lions stand alongside Alabama, Nebraska and Notre Dame in the Resurgent Old Money Program department.
Derrick Williams is just one reason Penn State's offense is among the -- get this -- most exciting in the country.
And it means that fans have something to talk about other than when 78-year-old program patriarch Joe Paterno will hang it up.
The main topic of conversation these days: How 'bout those incredible freshmen, Derrick Williams and Justin King?
"I'm telling you, I
love it!" exulted Dwight Williams, Derrick's dad, beneath the stadium stands after Penn State had finished mauling No. 18 Minnesota 44-14. "All these guys who have been counting us out, talking about Joe Paterno, just sit back and watch. We're back in the picture.
"That was the best! The best! That's why we came here --
exactly why we came here."
At that point, Dwight Williams was so excited he hugged me, two minutes after meeting me. Meanwhile, 106,000 fans wanted to embrace his son, who lined up everywhere but lead tuba player and scored the Nittany Lions' first two touchdowns.
Williams and King met as 10th graders at a Nike football camp here in State College. Both ran 4.29 40-yard dashes, according to Williams. The kid from suburban Washington D.C. and the kid from Pittsburgh talked then about going to school together, and followed through.
They committed to Paterno when the Nittany Lions were about as trendy as a mullet hairdo. Penn State was passé, with a 26-33 record this century, and all the "it" schools wanted the two ultrafast athletes. Yet here they came, enrolling last January for the chance to wear those old-time uniforms and play for that old-time coach in the Land That Modern Football Forgot.
"Me and Justin kept saying we didn't want to jump on the bandwagon of a team," Williams said. "We wanted to make an impact."
They've made the impact of a meteorite smashing the Earth. That's one of the theories for what killed off the dinosaurs, and the arrival of Williams and King helped kill off Penn State's Pleistocene Era offense.
For the first time since -- when, the Kerry Collins Era? -- the Nittany Lions are fun to watch offensively. An attack that has historically been every bit as cutting edge as a rotary phone suddenly looks hip.
Offensive coordinator Galen Hall has the Nittanies running a creative spread offense. They threw the ball 32 times against Minnesota, with a whopping 18 of those passes on first down. They changed formations freely, ran reverses and -- are you listening, Jim Tressel? -- found a number of ways to get the ball to the electrifying Williams.
While Ted Ginn Jr. is chronically and criminally underused by Tressel's Buckeyes, Penn State lined up Williams at slot receiver, tailback, kickoff returner and even quarterback Saturday. He touched the ball a dozen times in the first three quarters against the Gophers and racked up 109 all-purpose yards. His first TD came from tailback on an option play, and his second came from the slot on a reverse.
"He's a true playmaker," said Rick Houchens, Williams' coach at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Md. "I don't know of many players on the college level doing as many things as he is on the football field. Reggie Bush is about the only one.
"If he's doing this as a freshman? Oh my gosh, those NFL scouts' eyes have got to be popping right now."
King also is being utilized creatively. A cornerback by trade, he's seen time on offense as well, and he turned in a 19-yard run on a reverse against Minnesota. For the season, King has 221 yards on 11 touches -- better than 20 yards a touch.
In a sign of the changing times, Paterno said Penn State didn't get King involved enough offensively. That's because the coaches thought they'd need him more on defense.
Turns out the defense was barely tested. Penn State pulverized Laurence Maroney, the nation's leading rusher, holding him to 48 black-and-blue yards. With its zone-blocking running game shut down, the Gophers went three-and-out their first three possessions and trailed 17-0 before recording their first first down.
Minnesota's aerially challenged offense is not built for comeback football, so the game was basically over at that point. Funny thing is, that used to be Penn State.
Not anymore.
"With the personnel we have now, you can go into a game thinking you can throw the football," Paterno said. "We're pretty balanced right now."
Quarterback Michael Robinson -- who actually turned in the hit of the game, knocking out strong safety Brandon Owens to finish off a run -- said Penn State's speed at receiver is forcing defenses to play the Nits more honestly.
"[Opposing safeties] are not coming up like they used to," Robinson said. "Not as fast."
That's another tribute to Williams.
"He gives us speed, attitude, a little bit of a swagger," Robinson said. "This is a guy who hasn't lost much. That's one thing the freshmen are giving us. They haven't lost, so they don't have that losing mentality. That's one thing they've taught the older guys."
And that's why Williams can matter-of-factly say that the team's goal is the national championship.
"A successful season is going to the Rose Bowl," Williams said.
That might be asking a lot this year. But as long as Derrick Williams and Justin King are wearing those old-time uniforms, the Penn State fans will have something to shout about.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2178352
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