One Last Hoorah

Yinzers,

Well, it's going to be an emotional weekend at Beaver Stadium. This weekend marks the last home football game for the Pennsylvania State University class of 2010, of which yours truly is a part. As of November 13, 2009 MY Nittany Lions hold a record of 37-10 including a Big-10 title (2008), an Outback Bowl win (2006), an Alamo Bowl win (2007) and a heartbreaking loss in the Rose Bowl (2008) for which I flew to sunny, southern California to bear witness. There are too many memories to list on the MSM; however, there are several traditions that will be sorely missed: the drum major's front flip, the Floating Lions pregame show, one armed push ups, touchdown tossing in the stands, crowd surfing the lion, and my personal favorite, singing of the Alma Mater arm-in-arm with people you have never met, yet still are your brothers and sisters on game day. Experiences such as these are what makes Happy Valley what it is. I missed only two games, excluding bowl games, in my 4 years at Penn State. I would not trade the long Saturdays at the stadium in the blistering sun, pouring rain, freezing cold, or dumping snow for anything. But enough sap, let's talk football!


This weekend pits the Indiana football Hoosiers against your Nittany Lions. The Hoosiers come into the contest with a 4-6 (1-5) record in the Big-10. Indiana has not beaten the Nittany Lions in all 12 meetings between the two institutions. The Hoosiers are fighting for bowl eligibility (6 wins) but, in order to get there, they would have to pull off wins at Penn State and Purdue. Indiana does have some hope for at least one year. Junior QB Ben Chappell has the ability to be a very gifted passer and showed it by putting up 300+ yards on Northwestern. This is a big upgrade from Kellen Lewis last year. If the Hoosiers want to run with the big dogs in Happy Valley, their only hope will be to rake in about 6 interceptions and 5 fumble recoveries to get enough attempts at the end zone.


As for your Nittany Lions, the key is playing sound, fundamental football. As long as Penn State can do the little things right, there should be no problem in this game. Stefon Green should be back in the lineup after missing a few with an injury. The biggest concern should be staying healthy in this game and finishing strong at Michigan State the week after, not to look ahead. If Penn State can win out, there is an outside chance that we could make it back to the Orange bowl. I just hope we do not overlook this week's game in light of the former sentence.


Elsewhere on campus, across the street more specifically, other Penn State teams' seasons are rolling. The NIT Champion and 65th best team in the nation opens up their 114th season tonight against PENN. The Nittany basketball Lions are getting more and more popular on campus. The future looks bright with the return of guard Taylor Battle in lieu of the loss of power forward Jamelle Cornley. It will be interesting to see if Penn State can fill those shoes under the rim.


On the West side of town, the #1 Penn State women's volleyball team continues to be undefeated even since winning back-to-back national championships. This brings their current match win streak to 90, sitting them 3rd in the record books. Just in case ynz didn't know, the mecca of collegiate volleyball IS Happy Valley. The men's team, a Spring sport, will start off-season tourneys after winning the 2008 national championship.

In closing, game time this weekend is 12:00 pm. Thank you to the football team for adding to my Penn State stories and thank you to the senior class for sticking it out to completion.

For the Glory,
B Brog