I The Behrend Beacon Cross Students decked in clothing proudly displaying their school's colors. Adult fans traveling with (heir teams to support them on the road. Cheers and yells and support from groups of fans. At first thought, this sounds like it could he a big-time foot ball game at University Park, or even a Behrend basketball play off game. In truth: it was the Behrend Cross Country invita tional this past Saturday. My first reaction attending my first cross country invitational Behrend sophomore Jenna Fatica. This Weekend’s Schedule Saturday, September 20 * - Behrcnd's Mens Soccer Team(3-4) will take on Waynesburg at I :(X) p.m. Waynesburg erfters with a 3-4-1 record after a 1-2 loss to Laßoche college on Thursday and a 2-0 win over Hood College last Saturday. - The Behrend Women's undefeated Tennis team(7-0) will face Oneonta at 11:00 a.m. and La Roche at 3:30 p.m. Oneonta boasts a 4-1 record after a win to Hartwick on Sept 17. Thursday, September 25 - Behrcnd's Women Soccer Team( 1-4-1) will face Allegheny! 1-4-1) at 4:30 p.m. at the Behrend fields, - Behrcnd's golf teams will host a Behrend invitational at Peak N' Peek at 12:00 p.m. In last year's invitational, the Blue and White finished fourth overall: Daeman and Lake Erie finished in the top two spots with Westminster's score only four lower than Behrend's. And by 1 Beat The Experts “Experts,” we NFL onnor mm Rachd R» mean “People * Miami (s' New England N.E. N.E. N.E. N.E. who publish a ! , Dallas <?' Green Bay Dal. Dal. G.B. Dal. neWSpaper Arizona (s ' Washington Was. Ari. Wash. Ari. Weekly. Jacksonville (s' Indy. Indi. Indi. Indi. Indi. New Olreans (« Denver Den. Den. Den. Den. N.Y. Jets (s' San Diego S.D. N.Y.J. N.Y.J. N.Y.J. We were pretty s , Lollis „ Sci „, c Sca . Sea . S ea. last Week. Carolina <<L Minnesota Min. Car. Min. Car. Oakland (s' Buffalo Buf. Buf. Buf. Buf. Cleveland <«' Baltimore Cle. Balt. Balt. Balt. But we were Tampa Bay (s' Chicago Chi. Chi. Chi. T.B. better than Tic Breaker +4 +4 +3 +6 Behrend’s Pittsburgh (s' Philly Phi. Pitt. Phi. Pitt. football fans. 7 ~ 5 ,|O - 2 7 ~ 5 NCAA Temple @ PSU PSU PSU PSU PSU That includes A | abama & Arkansas Ala Ala Ala Ala you. Wake Forest @ FSU Wake FSU FSU FSU Try to out-pick LSU @ Auburn LSU Aub Aub Aub US* Send a list of Georgia @ Arizona St. Georgia Az. St. Georgia Georgia your weekend Last week: * 5 -° * 5 -° 41 * 5 -° * denotes winner picks to cisso6o@psu.edu. Season Totals: 25-9 Behrend hosts 2008 Country Cross Country Convert surprise. Literally hundreds of people were in attendance. Many were from Behrend. but many traveled with their team to sup port them in their own runs. Several times during the race, as 1 followed the athletes in their gru eling runs. I had other schools' fans shouting in my ear. "Go Mercyhurst," cried a man next to me. Glancing his way. I waited for the next Behrend ath lete to appear on the stretch and yelled my lungs out. taking per sonal satisfaction in the subse quent silence of my neighbor. The event was far more fun than I thought it would be, easily rivaling any other sports event on campus. The crowd, much more educated in the art of watching cross country, moved between several vantage points to cheer the runners. At one point, nearing the final streich of the race, the athletes were expected to run up a steep incline. This was in the third mile - around at the point at which my heart would have exploded in my chest had 1 been running with the athletes. It was there that many fans congregated, trying to provide Confessions of a first-person account by Connor Sattely sports editor cisso6o(o psu.edu POET r / invitational inspiration tor their athletes as they neared the elimb. Coaches yelled out times, instructions, and commands to runners, and fans screamed their loudest. Behrend's Cross Country team, whose men finished second and whose women finished third overall, ran great races. Coach Greg Cooper reacted to the per formance with optimism for the rest of the season. “We really Daniit. Smith / Thk Bkhrknd Bf.acon Behrend junior Andy lams. 20-14 24-10 21-12 19-15 came together and came on strong in the end,” says the sec ond-year head coach. “We over came some injuries and did really well as a team. We have some things to work on, and right now getting healthy is a top priority." With more than five Behrend runners out with injuries and sicknesses. Cooper knew that the race would be a challenge. “It's never easy to replace someone,” he says. “But our guys and girls stepped up and came together very well." Andy lams, one of Behrend's best runners, finished first for the school's men. He acknowledged that the course is one of the tougher that he's run on. “It can mentally break you down,” says lams, a cross country veteran. “You have to will yourself past the course, and pick certain places to speed up and slow down so you don't hit a wall.” Though this invitational was the last of the year at Behrend, lams, like his coach and team mates. knows there are plenty of things to work on to improve. Jenna Fatica, who finished eighth overall in the women's race and first for Behrend's team, views the course somewhat dif ferently than some of her team- mates. “It's a good race to get [personal records] on,” says the sophomore. “It’s actually a very quick course. Pretty tough, at times, but not the hardest." Fatica,v who transferred to Behrcnti' this year ffbm Akron, hadn't rari' a five-kilorn’eter race since high school, but still man aged to excel. Behrend's cross country teams are scheduled for the next few weeks to travel to invitationals at Allegheny (Sept 27) and Pitt- Greensburg (Oct 4). Having the entire team healthy will no doubt keep Behrend in the winners cir cle for the rest of the season. Even more than that, the contin ued support of the fans that con tinue to cheer on Behrend will fuel the athletes to victory. Cl yj “Off the Wall” Each week, sports editor Connor Sattely picks a widely accepted NFL view and disputes it in his editorial column, “Off the Wall.” Think he’s wrong? Let him know and your rebuttal might make next Arizona Cardinal quarterbacks Matt l.cinari (leftl anil Kurt Warner The "T-Formation "Power I."The“Aee formation The "Tampa Two" defensive seheme. All represented major shifts in strategy in the NFL. Some, like Dungy's Tampa Two. were derived from schemes of championship professional teams. Others, and many current schemes used in the National Football League found their ori gin from college football. In Ohio State's Hop against USC. we briefly saw the bril liance of a well-executed two quarterback system. The double QB system normally features a talented scrambler (in this case, freshman Terrell Pryor) and a comfortable-in-the-pocket. tradi tional quarterback (Todd Boeckman). The result has sever al pros and eons for teams will ing. or forced, to use it. The positive side of the double quarterback system was obvious in the first Ohio State drive. Pryor and Boeckman switched off on almost every play, each quarterback featuring a display of both throwing and running. Every time the defense grouped up to face a run by Pryor, he dropped back and usually experi enced success in his throwing. Boeckman was more predictable. His rushing stats, according to ESPN, rounded out at a stellar eight attempts for -27 yards. His throwing stats were equally dis heartening: he completed 14 of his 21 passes for two intercep tions and only 84 yards. Chris And, as those of us who watched the game saw, Ohio State fell apart rather quickly. What developed early as a rhythm between the two quarter backs dissolved into a pathetic offensive effort that only resulted in a field goal in the first quarter. More case studies, such as in Michigan (Tom Brady and Drew Henson) and even in Florida sev eral years ago (Chris Leak and then-freshman Tim Tebow) prove that with the right combination, the double playcaller system can be deadly. Until one of the quar terbacks starts to slack. Therein lies the major problem in the NFL: quarterback consis tency seems to sprout from a week-to-week start, and familiar ization with his offense. With two quarterbacks, the offense is open to confusing playcalling, rhythm changing speed, and blown judg ment calls. Looking at the history of the two-QB system in the NFL, the most recent example that comes Friday, September 19, 2008 week’s edition. Bv Connor Sattelv sports editor cisM)0()(«' psu.edu The rise of the two-QB system to mind is Ari/ona. Mall l.einarl and veteran Kurt Warner com binetl lor several impressive per formances. includin'! a victors against Pittsburgh's previously impressive defense Then, a less weeks later. Lcinart went down ssitli a broken collarbone and the sssteni was However, this was a system bom out of necessity and failed competition. Though Oflensise Coordinator Ken Whisenhunt pm the two situs to good use. it was simply because they had no sin gular situ to hand control of their team to. l or example. II Peyton Manning were on the team, they would hase started him rather than have him share lime with Warner. What if. thoueh. the sssicm were born out ol tin attempt to usher in a ness era of change in the NFL? The idea of Tim Tebosv entering a situation like Indianapolis, to follow the previ ous example, brings up several interesting scenarios. Dungy and his staff could use lebow much like he was used in his freshman year at Florida; using Tebosv as an option or draw runner would allow Manning to reenter the game and pick apart stumbling defenses reeling from Teboss's ground attack. This can be used with any NFL team and with any combination of skilled quarterbacks. llowe\er. the entire sy stem must depend on the healthiness and continued success of both players. If one slacks, the other struggles. If one gets hurl, the other gels the offense shoved upon him. But with a shift in strategy can come a shift in preparation. Work in both quarterbacks in preparing plays for the next match's defense. Combine their efforts - maybe include both players in the same play for some option pass ing trickery. The next development in strat egy? Look for the two-quarter back system to make a long-last ing appearance in the NFL as col lege runners look for jobs at the next level. And remember this column when Tebow is grabbed in the fourth round and used to bring in a new era of professional football. Submissions should be mailed to cisso6o@psu.edu and should contain no less than 250 words. All sub- missions will be considered for publication.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers