Friday, December 7, 2007
Steelers play spoiler on sunday
by Jess Carlson
staff writer
jic.so I B@psu.edu
This Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers will travel to
Gillette Stadium in hopes of putting an end to the
New England Patriots' undefeated season.
The Patriots are the fourth team in NFL history to
win 12 or more games in a season. Their 12th vic
tory was almost
taken away from
them by the
Baltimore Ravens
last week in a nail
biting 27-24 win.
After a few ques
tionable calls and
unfortunate penal
ties against the
Ravens, the
Patriots took the
lead when Tom
Brady connected
with Jabar Gaffney
in the back of the
end zone with just
44 seconds left in
the game
Despite the fact that the Patriots' record is 12-0,
their performance in the last two games has been far
from perfect. Both the Philadelphia Eagles and the
Baltimore Ravens gave the Patriots quite a scare
when they found themselves trailing 28-24 and 24-
20 during the fourth quarter of both games.
Although New England has appeared dangerously
susceptible to defeat in the past two weeks, they still
have the number one offense in the NFL, with QB
Brady well on his way to breaking Peyton
Manning's single-season touchdown record of 49,
as well as Dan Marino's record of 5,084 yards.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will be looking for their
Beat The Experts
Email asmsoo6@psu.edu or
bySaturday
to enter your picks.
Winners will receive gifts from
at 9 a.m.
the Behrend Beacon Staff.
ittsburgh vs. New Eng
II Y Jets vs. Cleveland
11: uffalo vs. Miami
ampa Bay vs. Houston
hiladelphia vs. NYG
acks. vs. Carolina
etroit vs. Dallas
t. Louis vs. Cincinnati
ennessee vs. SD
lakland vs. Grecn Bay
rizona vs. Seattle
ansas City vs. Denver
innestoa vs. San Fran
ndianapolis vs. Balt
ie-Breaker
tlanta vs. New Orleans
Also, judging
Steelers will look to end the Patriots perfect season by the fact that all three
of the Steelers' losses
Andy Chris
Pittsburgh NE
Miami
Dallas
Dallas
Arizona
Arizona
(+l7) (+3)
NO NO
third win in a row this Sunday. Mistakes like a
number of fumbles from runningback Willie Parker,
and absent key players like safety Troy Polamalu,
wide receiver Santora) Holmes, left tackle Marvel
Smith and running back Najeh Davenport, may be
okay against a 4-8 Cincinnati Bengals; however,
these need to be addressed and taken care of prior to
Sunday's game.
Big Ben Roethlisberger's performance has been
considered the next
best thing in the AFC
division, behind
Brady's passing game.
However, in the last
three games he has
thrown less than 200
yards each game with
three touchdowns and
this season have come
from road games, including a horrendous defeat by
the 3-9 New York Jets, they definitely have a lot to
prove this week.
On a more positive note, the Steelers are leading
the AFC Division; however, it is not set in stone.
With their next two games being against tough
opponents, and the second-place Cleveland Browns
facing "easier" opponents, there is a chance for the
Steelers to lose their lead.
The Patriots have won five of the last six games
against the Steelers, including a Steeler loss the last
time they were in Foxboro. Kick-off is set for 4:15
p.m. on Sunday. and will be aired regionally on
CBS.
Ryan Muska
Pittsburgh NE
Dallas
St. Louis
Arizona
(+6)
Atlanta
- r)7
--
four interceptions.
Let's keep in mind
this includes two very
wet games and poor
field conditions.
Miami
Dallas
Dallas
Arizona
r--1
\,)
This Weekend's Schedule
Friday, Nov. 30
Behrend Hockey: @ Lawrence Tech, 4 p.m.
Behrencl Hockey: @ Jackson Community College, 9:35 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. ,1
Behrend Hockey: @ Oakland University, 4 p.m.
Behrend W. Basketball: @ Pitt-Greensburg, 1 p.m.
Behrend M. Basketball: @ Pitt-Greensburg, 3 p.m.
Behrend ballers go 2-0 this past weekend
by Tim Herr
staff writer
tahso2so'psu.edu
After the tough first loss of the season to Mount
Aloysious last week, the Penn State Behrend men's
basketball team has rebounded with two blow-out
wins at home to improve to 5-1 overall (2-1 confer
ence). The first game against Frostburg State
resulted in a 78-63 vic-
tory with Kevin
Buczynski having the
game highs of 18 points
and 12 rebounds.
In the first half,
Buczynski was having a
frustrating night against
Frostburg's smaller line
up but commanded the
paint in the second half
and dominated from
then on out. Starter
Adam Potter and bench
reserve David Gahan
both shot a combined
10-for-10 from the held
contributing a combined
28 points, along with
starter Justin Kovac
shooting 4-for-5 from
the beyond the arc.
Behrend started the game with an 11-0 run, with
Frostburg State never leading the game thereafter.
Behrend dominated the hoards 42-24 while shoot
ing 52.4 percent from the field and holding
Frostburg to a combined 32.7 percent.
On Wednesday, the Behrend squad exhibited pure
dominance in an 83-46 rout against division rival
Hilbert. Hilbert was ranked third in the AMCC pre
season rankings (behind both Lake Erie and
Behrend) with the reigning AMCC player of the
year Dallas Reinard leading the veteran squad. The
game had Behrend having the close 32-27 halftime
edge, and absolutely crushing the Hilbert Hawks in
the second half 51-19. Buczynski made an
The Heisman will not go to who you think
by Andrew McLachlan
sports editor
asmsoo6o.,psu.edu
In what will go down as the craziest year in col
lege football history, we look back on this past sea
son and decide who should win the Heisman tro
phy. In years past, players like Reggie Bush, Eric
Crouch, Ron Dayne, and Charles Woodson made
the choice easy, as they were the best players in col
lege football. This year, I think the Heisman should
go to Austin Starr.
You may ask, who is
Austin Starr? Well, he is
a kicker from the Indiana
Hoosiers. The junior has
been almost automatic
every time he kicks, with
19/21 on field goals and
45/45 on extra points. In
a year that has had its ups
and downs for the
Hoosier team, Starr has
been there to help out and
be practically prefect
time after time.
In June 2007, Indiana
football head coach Terr
Hoeppner was taken to
the hospital, complaining
about massive headaches. It was revealed that
Hoeppner has brain cancer. Assistant coach Bill
Lynch was named interim head coach, as Hoeppner
would sit out the entire 2007 season to recover. No
more than five days after the announcement was
made, Hoeppner had passed away. He was only 59
years old. Hoeppner left behind his wife Jane, his
son Drew, and his daughters Amy and Allison.
He only got to coach two years at Indiana, com
ing from a successful Miami (OH) program. When
he started at Indiana, the Hoosiers were the worst
The Behrend Beacon I
early case for this years AMCC player of the year
leading all scorers with 21 points and adding seven
rebounds along with four blocks. Buczynski along
with the entire team held Hilbert to 32.7 percent
while also having the rebounding edge 45-25 and
won the assists battle 23-10. Tom Newman had a
solid all-around game with 11 points, seven assists
and four rebounds. Gahan, coming off the
Frostburg victory in which he saw more minutes
than in the first few games of
the season, contributed 13
minutes with eight points and
seven rebounds.
Senior center Dan Zeigler
Hilbert's Dallas Reinard
was defensively contained all throughout the game
shooting 4-for-12 from the field and added 10
points which was well below his AMCC-leading
23.8 points per game average entering the game.
Dallas showed some signs of the great player that
he is at times including his draining of a tough
three-pointer while being closely defended, but was
mostly contained by the tight defense of the
Behrend team. Michael Reyes had the team high of
13 points for the Hawks.
The last game for Behrend until after Christmas is
coming up on Dec. 8 at Pitt-Greensburg.
Greensburg is presently 2-5 overall (2-1 confer-
team in the Big Ten conference. Even though he
did not have a winning season at Indiana, Hoeppner
was getting his team on track for a winning season.
When he found out about his cancer, his wish to his
wife was to get his team into a bowl this year, in a
very competitive Big Ten conference.
So Lynch prepared the boys during camp to make
sure they were ready for the season and to dedicate
the season in Hoeppner's memory.
In the final game of the season, Indiana had a
record of 6-5 and with a loss
to their rivals of Purdue; they
would more than likely not
reach their goal of making it
to a bowl game. Also,
Purdue has won 10 of the last
12 games against Indiana, so
the odds were not in favor
for the Hoosiers.
The Hoosiers battled
hard throughout the game
and had an opportunity with
a few seconds left to win the
game on the leg of kicker of
Starr. The pressure of get
ting his team into the post
season, winning millions of
dollars for his school, and to
Heisman Trophy Award
grant the wish of his late
coach, Starr sunk the field
goal and won the game for the Hoosiers.
To me, that is a lot of pressure to have and Starr
is a year younger than me. I could not imagine hav
ing that much on the line and it was up to me to win
it. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Arkansas
runningback Darren McFadden are the odds on
favorite to win the Heisman, but with the year being
as crazy as it has been, I look to a kicker to win the
Heisman. It is not too late, voters. Lets vote for
Starr and keep the insanity going.
Whenever Gahan and
Zeigler come off the bench
together, they play incredibly
well on both ends of the
court to offer valuable rest
ing time for the starters while
also contributing. Senior
Gahan plays with such inten
sity it gives renewed energy
up and down the roster any
time he enters the court.
Guard Justin Kovac had nine
points, five rebounds, and
four assists and continues to
lead this offense while
always being a threat from
the perimeter.