On LawnBoyz, White Shoes, and Purdue

You can get this in a few shirt styles.
Buy one for the White Out vs Michigan.

Last weekend was a case where I'm glad I was wrong. It was the most complete game I've seen this team play since James Franklin took over, possibly since well before that. Sean Clifford, despite the pick, is showing us one of the reasons Tommy Stevens transferred. It's a great way for this team to enter the Big Ten schedule.

In victory, particularly when it's that dominant, fans choose to get upset over things that might be obscured somewhat if the team stunk. This time it was the LawnBoyz chain the running backs wear after good plays. I love it. I made it into a shirt (I'm not the only one) and you should buy one. But many other fans who are mostly the "I'm not racist, but..." types, had a big problem with it, including that the chain was "ghetto." We know what that really means, and those people can suck it.

Then came the Generations of Greatness uniforms for this week vs Purdue. Overall I like the throwback mashups they do, but for the white cleats. I hate them on any team. Seeing them on Penn State is of course going to annoy me. Plenty of fans love the look, and the players do, too.

I'd caution them to chill out when attacking people like me who don't like the white shoes as if we're the same group as those who don't like the LawnBoyz chain. We aren't. Most of the people I've seen who don't like the white shoes say it's purely aesthetic reasons. That's the camp I'm in. I also don't like that they're wearing them to "honor" the 1979 Sugar Bowl team. Let Bama honor that team.

If Penn State wants to wear white cleats, fine. But don't do it under the veil of honoring a team that lost the biggest game to that point in Penn State football history. Just make some alternate uniforms and wear white shoes that way.

I'm still waiting for the truly great throwback design--pinks and blacks. Give me them, and you can have your white shoes.

As for this week, I'm assuming Penn State will win comfortably. Without Rondale Moore, Elijah Sindelar, and others, Purdue can hope to scare the home team a bit, but pulling the upset would be too much for such a depleted starting lineup.

The pick: Penn State 38, Purdue 14

PSU Baseball Tied For First Place in the Big Ten

PSU is hanging around the Big Ten baseball race for first.
(Photo: Mark Selders/PSU)

Penn State baseball propelled itself into the thick of the Big Ten championship race this week, as the Nittany Lions (24-13, 7-5 Big Ten) are now tied with Purdue (24-12, 7-5 Big Ten) and Michigan State (27-13, 7-5 Big Ten) for the conference lead. This past weekend, Penn State clawed its way to a 10-9 comeback win over Ohio State, grabbing the series and a critical win from the Buckeyes. Here's how the Big Ten baseball standings break down as of today:

Lady Lions roll Purdue 73-61, likely lock up NCAA berth

There wasn't a whole lot going for Penn State coming into today's game against Purdue. The Boilermakers swept the Lady Lions in the regular season, both wins coming in convincing fashion. Taking into account the previous editions of this matchup so far this season, one would expect Purdue to hold the "2" in front of their name, with Penn State the "7".

But the No. 2 seed Lady Lions finally found a way to beat No. 7 seed Purdue, and it couldn't have come at a better time than this afternoon in Indianapolis, as Penn State downed the Boilermakers 73-61 to advance to the semifinal round of the Big Ten tournament. The Lady Lions will face the winner of the Michigan-Illinois game, which will tip off this afternoon.

Lady Lions to face Purdue in Big Ten 2nd Round

Purdue was expected to beat Indiana tonight in the opening round of the Big Ten women's tournament. But what wasn't expected was a close 66-62 final score. The Boilermakers had two players scoring in double digits--Drey Mingo (21) and Brittany Rayburn (23, 12 via free throws)--but were out-rebounded 40-30, while Indiana couldn't overcome sloppy turnovers and lower shooting percentage.

This is arguably the toughest bottom-half seed any 2nd round team will face tomorrow. Penn State was swept this season by Purdue, a series which featured one 10-point loss for the Lady Lions, and another 3-point loss that was much worse than it looked (PSU was down big most of the game). But Purdue showed some weakness against Indiana, which could, could be exploited by Penn State.

Lady Lions earn a No. 2 seed and 1st round bye for Big Ten Tournament

Penn State just wrapped up a very nice 22-8 regular season--with a team which returns nearly intact for next season--but the work is far from over. And in fact, the toughest part of the season, or at least the most high-pressure stage, is still on deck.

The Lady Lions took advantage of a down year in the Big Ten to grab the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament, which starts this Thursday.

In any other year, probably a No. 2 seed would be a relief. But if you take a look at which team Penn State is likely to face in its first game, there is no rest for the weary Lady Lions. Purdue swept Penn State this season, the only team to do that in a two-game series (Michigan State and Penn State only played once) in 2011. Indiana is very unlikely to pull the upset, so Penn State should count on having one final try to dispatch the Boilermakers, a game which also happens to be in their home state of Indiana.

Beyond that, Wisconsin will likely advance over Illinois, setting up what should be one of the most intriguing games in the second round against Michigan. The Wolverines haven't been impressive, but beat all the right teams to get that first round bye. Wisconsin has used a very strong middle portion of the season to scare almost any team it faces. Ideally here, Penn State would like Michigan to advance past the Badgers.

There is no point in projecting the final, but I will say I like the Spartans to take the title over either Penn State or Purdue. I'm probably wrong. The bracket:

Lady Lions avoid meltdown against Indiana, hopefully sparking some urgency

Julia Trogele (Photo: PSU)

Penn State nearly face-planted into the hardwood of Assembly Hall, as the Lady Lions trailed the Hoosiers by as many as 16 points. Penn State (21-6,10-3) trailed for 39 minutes and 20 seconds. But taking a one-point lead--their first of the night--with 40 seconds left was all the Lady Lions needed to avoid a huge upset and what could have been an even bigger let-down after failing to rise to the occasion Thursday night in a loss to Michigan State.

With just three regular season games left on the schedule, Penn State is in a position to win or tie for a Big Ten title, or at least hold on for a second-place finish heading into the conference tournament. Of course, the Michigan State game was supposed to be the moment when this team put everything together and prove it's ready for prime-time.

Lady Lions' split of the Hoosier State won't help break into the polls

Nikki Greene (Photo: PSU)

It was an up-down end of the week for Penn State, but it's always better to finish strong. That's just what the Lady Lions did against Indiana in the BJC on Sunday, pulling away from the Hoosiers for an 82-69 win. The W came after a rather deflating performance in West Lafayette on Thursday, as the Boilermakers downed PSU 79-69.

Before this weekend, I started hearing grumbles--fully justified, I might add--about Penn State's lack of recognition in the major polls. Coming into the Purdue game, Penn State had a nice 31 spot in the RPI, with the 65th toughest schedule in women's hoops. That included a victory over a Texas Tech team that started the season 16-1 before dropping the past two to No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 2 Baylor.

Of course, losing to a mediocre Purdue team by 10 doesn't exactly do much to get you into the polls. The Boilermakers are a traditional power in the Big Ten, but now sitting at 13-7 with a loss Sunday to Michigan, there was really no excuse for Penn State to drop the game to Purdue. It's that kind of loss that prevents a team like Penn State from breaking away from the conference pack--something that was totally doable this week.

Penn State is now eligible for the Tournament, but with another bad loss like the one at Purdue, the Lady Lions can kiss goodbye what should be a locked up spot in the NCAAs.

Purdue Beats Penn State On a Last-Second Shot. Yeah, This One Hurts a Little...

Look, there's no sugar-coating this one: It hurts about as much as any football loss. I had goosebumps seeing the camerman lift his camera above the Penn State huddle right after DJ Jackson hit the go-ahead trey with 18 seconds left that gave PSU a rare lead in a game which Purdue held a double-digit advantage for most of the first half and a slim lead for most of the second half. I began to prematurely envision about just how awesome this win would look with a touch of video editing wizardry courtesy of the Big Ten Network's "The Journey" crew. It was then however, that another thought crossed my mind, preventing me from getting too excited: Purdue has the ball with the shot clock turned off. Surely enough, JaJuan Johnson got wide open after Jeff Brooks got screened to death, hitting a game-winner that I knew was good the moment it left his hands.

Creepin' The Big Ten: Week 7

Apologies for the lateness on this week's edition of Creepin The Big Ten. I just woke up and realized that it's already Wednesday and the next batch of Big Ten games are on the horizon. I still consider myself to be far more reliable than Ohio State's special teams, though. Speaking of which...

Creepin' The Big Ten: Week 1

Kudos to Galen for the name behind this new segment. As you all know, there’s more to college football than what’s happening with Penn State. Hence, we feel it’s our duty here at LBU to give you a recap of how our fellow Big Ten brethren fared in the past weekend:

Indiana 51, Towson 17 – Yes, it was Towson, but IU’s offense was as good as advertised. Ben Chappell tossed a pair of TD’s to go with his 182 yards passing while Darius Willis tacked on 102 yards and two rushing TD’s himself. IU coach Bill Lynch also tossed his gum and yelled at a ref for no apparent reason.

Ohio State 45, Marshall 7 – Marshall got plenty of TP for their bungholes* in OSU’s Thursday Night debut. Terrelle Pryor picked apart the Thundering Herd’s secondary with 247 yards passing and three TD’s, one to eighth-year senior Dane Sanzenbacher and two more to DeVier Posey. Brian Rolle also added a pick-six along with Brandon Saine running for 103 yards and a pair of TD’s. Freshman Jamaal Berry had a solid debut as well, running for 80 yards on seven carries.

LBU Video: Float The Lions! 2005 Purdue Pregame

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Not all of our videos here are of the 10 Minutes or Less variety.

Today we bring you a bit of a change-up, with the Penn State Marching Blue Band's pregame performance from the 2005 Homecoming Game against Purdue.

This was my last homecoming game in the band, and it was--to say the least--stressful once the game was underway. (PU went up early on PSU)

But the pregame show was fantastic as always, on a crisp, cool autumn afternoon in Happy Valley. Enjoy...



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10 Minutes Or Less: 2000 Penn State vs. Purdue (Drew Brees Is Foiled Again)

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Here's a little treat for you this Memorial Day weekend: One of the most emotional victories in Penn State football history. It's hard to believe this was ten years ago already, even though many of us can recall this one as if it happened last season. I can still recall the "WE BELIEVE" signs being held up by the fans throughout Beaver Stadium as the team was not only struggling through what would turn out to be its first of four losing seasons during the first half of the 2000's (better known in the PSU football lexicon as "The Dark Years") but also grieving over the recently fallen Adam Taliaferro. While we all know Adam's story has a happy ending (Adam would go on to lead the team out of the tunnel in their 2001 season opener, graduate from PSU, and obtain his JD from Rutgers. He is now a practicing attorney in Philadelphia), it was still uncertain at this point whether he would ever walk again.

I can also recall watching Gameday that morning and hearing Kirk Herbstreit predict that Purdue's Heisman Trophy-candidate quarterback Drew Brees would have a "field day" against PSU's secondary*. As we all know though, Herbie turned out to be dead wrong as Brees was limited that day to rather pedestrian passing numbers. Just like in 1999, Brees had an opportunity to quarterback a game-winning drive for Purdue in the game's final minute but came up short once again. While it would be foolish to claim that this one game alone killed Brees' Heisman hopes, it surely had to have some sort of impact on the Heisman voters when December rolled around...Okay, perhaps not, but it certainly lends credence to the phrase "Happy Valley: Where Heisman Dreams Go To Die."

Unlike Bald Bull in "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out," stepping out of the way from Derek Wake's bull-charge only makes things worse.

Undoubtedly the most memorable part of this game are the back-to-back botched punts by Purdue's Travis Dorsch that occurred deep in Purdue territory, thanks to linebacker Derek Wake's bull-charging past Purdue's blockers, getting to Dorsch before he even had a chance to get into his punting motion. These two gaffes made all the difference in the game, as PSU took advantage of the short field, scoring touchdowns in both instances and hanging on for the 22-20 decision in their favor.

I don't want to get too entrenched into details, that's what the video is for. Make sure you don't exit out of the video early, lest you miss a rare instance of Joe Paterno choking up during a post-game interview...Happy Memorial Day.

* Remember, this was long before Herbie came out of the closet as a PSU fan.




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Everything Is Going According To Plan

So, Penn State has secured its #11 seed for the Big Ten Tournament after last Saturday's 64-60 loss to Purdue at home.* Needless to say, Ed DeChellis' plan is being executed to perfection.

10 Minutes Or Less: 1999 Penn State at Purdue

UPDATE: LaVar Arrington has offered his ringing endorsement of this post via Twitter, as evidenced Here and Here. I will now go to my grave a happy man.

Before Drew Brees Pwned NFL Defenses, LaVar Arrington Pwned Drew Brees

Purdue, 1999. I apologize for the crappy sped-up video quality. This was the only thing I could find around the internets. Now please, Drew, go win one for the city of New Orleans and for folks such as myself who could then brag about how their alma mater went 3-0 against Drew Brees.



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PSU Visits Purdue, Time To PLAY FROM THE F***ING HEART

What do Bill Hicks and Talor Battle share in common? Not reaching their deserved level of success.



So, the Fighting DeChellises take their winless Big Ten record into West Lafayette today, where they will look to do the improbable and beat a Purdue team that may have found their groove again. To be honest, I don't even know why I'm bothering to write up a preview since there's a better chance of you contracting koala herpes than PSU does winning this game. However, as one of 50 PSU basketball fans out there I feel obligated to do my civic duty, so as the late, great, Bill Hicks would say (and I'm paraphrasing): Excuse me, while I plaster on a fake smile and plow through this shit one more time.

After inexplicably dropping three straight games following a 14-0 start to the season, Purdue has since tallied off three straight wins and will in all likelihood, add a fourth straight today. That is, unless Ed DeChellis can devise a scheme that helps contain E'Twaun Moore (17.6 ppg), Robbie Hummel (15.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg), and JaJuan Johnson (14.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg). Oh, and don't forget pesky role player Chris Kramer, and his artistic ball-swiping abilities.

It's also imperative that PSU keeps up their recent trend of having two players not named Talor Battle pitch in with double-digit scoring. Purdue is usually known for their stingy defense, but this little quip from Purdue blogger Hammer and Rails gives one a sliver of hope:

We have had a habit recently of giving up 20+ points to an unexpected source. Jordan Taylor, Keaton Nankivil, Demetri McCamey, Zack Novak, and Jason Bohannon have had career nights against us of late. Who will it be in this game? Will it be Tim Frazier, who is shooting 43% from 3-point range but only averages 5.7 points per game? It is disturbing that we have been known for our perimeter defense, while teams are shooting a Big Ten best 37.2% from long range against us.

So, there you have it, folks. PSU needs to launch about 50 threes today and hope they connect on say, 20. Maybe then, they'll only lose by two or three points. Really, all you can hope for at this stage in the season is that the team plays above their heads again like they did at Wisconsin a week ago, and perhaps figures out a way to hang on this time around...

That's it, I'm done. Time to do something more productive with my life.

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