NCAA FOOTBALL
Paterno makes a bold call in Bolden
For the first time in PSU history, a
true freshman will start a season
ALEC ITALIANO
True freshman Robert
Bolden beat out two experi
enced quarterbacks as coach
Joe Paterno made the bold
move last Wednesday for him
to start in the home opener
against Youngstown St.
This is certainly an uncanny
move for the Nittany Lions and
a first for Paterno's 45 years as
head coach. A season has
never been started by a true
freshman and this is only the
second time in Penn State his
tory when a true freshman has
started a game. Wally Richard
son was the last true freshman
to start a game, and that was in
1992 in the pre Big-10 days.
"Based on what we have seen
to this point, Bolden has a
slight edge right now, but we
are confident all three quarter
backs are ready to go and hope
to give them an opportunity to
play until we settle on the one
that gives us the best chance to
win," Paterno said to ESPN.
Bolden, a four-star recruit
from Orchard Lake, Mich.,
graduated from St. Mary's
Prep. As a senior, he went 72 of
Big-10 makes split,
separated from the
The hig ten conference has begun the first of possibly many
shakeups in the highly controversial NCAA football system cur
rently in place, and it is creating a lot of excitement throughout
the NCAA, especially in University Park, PA.
Last Wednesday, conference commissioner Jim Delany revealed
a split of the old Big-10 conference between two unnamed divi
sions that will be effective at the start of the 2011 NCAA regular
football season. Division one
(for lack of a better term) will in
clude Michigan, Nebraska, lowa,
Michigan State, Minnesota and
Northwestern; Ohio State, Penn
State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Pur
due and Indiana in division two.
The Big-10 conference did have
11 teams in it before and was
forced to add Nebraska to the
mix to make the two divisions
equal at six apiece. This does ul
timately put Nebraska into a
tougher division, but it would
not be the first time a team
would have to face a tough
schedule coming into a new con
ference.
DIVISION ONE
Nebraska
lowa
Michigan State
Minnesota
Northwestern
Back in 93' when Penn State originally joined the Big-I0 it def
initely brought the end to many rivalries already in place and put
Penn State into a very odd spot being forced to play new teams
not previously faced that often.
The Nittany lions always were always considered a bit out of
place since they joined the conference. Head coach Joe Paterno
fought hard to create a Big East conference at the time, but it all
fell through as Penn State was forced to join the other powerhouse
football schools in the mid-west.
Also the natural rivalries Penn State had with eastern teams in
I. ''
Lau „ i4AoaE l Ak i
THe lady lions blanked
Medaille in their season
opener 9-0 last Thursday
152 passing for 1,013 yards,
seven touchdowns and also ran
for 535 yards according to
ESPN.com.
Bolden follows Daryl' Clark
who was the starter for the last
two seasons before graduating
last spring. Clark revolution
ized the PSU offense as he led
the "spread HD" offense to the
record books, but the game
plan is to not change the cur
rent offense for Bolden.
"I don't think the offense will
change at all," receiver Derek
Moye said to ESPN. "We'll go
out there and stick to our game
plan."
Another freshman quarter
back in contention was true
freshman Paul Jones, but was
given the redshirt for the 2010
season.
Sophomores Matt McGloin
and Kevin Newsome were the
real competition for Bolden, but
after a long, grueling pre-sea
son in what was one of the
most covered quarterback con
troversies in Happy Valley his
tory, they were shown to the
bench as Bolden will take the
charge for the Penn State Nit
tany Lions this Saturday.
Behrend Bottom Line
~~1
True freshman Robert Bolden rushed for over 500 yards atSt. Mary's
Prep as a senior.
the 'Bos disappeared. The biggest and most obvious rival ship that
vanished was that off Pitt and Penn-State, but also big games be
tween Maryland, West Virginia and Syracuse were all lost in the
mix-up. Now with this new system, the possibility of these rival
games coming to light is more of a possibility depending on how
the "new" Big-10 decides to handle all the cross-over conference
matchups. Many would love to see Pitt and Penn State play again
after the rivalry has been dormant for a few years.
For all those Michigan and Ohio State fans still reading do not
be too disappointed about having one of NCAA footballs truly
great rivals being put in separate
conferences. The two teams will
still play annually, and from the
sound of it, the game will be the
last one of the season for the two
organizations. The possibility of
revisiting each other for the
championship game a week or
two later is also likely and it will
be held on a neutral field, which
has never been done before.
That is all that is set in stone
right now until the sporting
world receives more information
from the desk of Mr. Delany. It
is likely that more teams could
be added to these two ghost divi
sions right now which calls out a
lot of Independent schools right
now and possibly even a re-shuffling of the Big East division if
need be further down the road.
ALEC ITALIANO
sports editor
As for the financial aspect of the situation, it is favorable for just
about every team involved because of the rivalries that were either
re-instated or preserved. Also, this does lay the groundwork for a
possible playoff system in seasons to come if commissioners
around the nation follow suit and the right amount of money can
still be made. In the end, it is money that makes these decisions.
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GOLF
The team starts off their sea
son in Bradford Saturday
against Pitt-Bradford
41(011 P pOth
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010
Penn State
pack in 2011
DIVISION TWO
Ohio State
Penn State
Wisconsin
Illinois
Indiana
WOMEN'S AND MEN'S SOCCER
The Herb Lauffer invitational kicks off this weekend at the
Behrend fields. Women's games are at 10 AM and 12 PM and
Men's games are at 2 PM and 4 PM both Saturday and Sunday
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Queens of aces
call up young guns
Team calls on
their under-
classmen to
pick up the
slack of lost
personel
KAELA BISHOP
senior reporter
Just last season, Behrend's
women volleyball team reached
the AMCC Championship
match. The team was able to
take third place in the ECAC
bid and an overall of 22-11.
Though the team lost five
starters, there is still a ton of
talent to work with. The
younger players have shown
their abilities during practices.
"I'm impressed with the sig
nificant progress being made
from the rest of our sopho
mores: Marry Sperry, Carly
Higham, Alyssa Pears, Lexy
Weissinger, and Jessica
Woods," said head coach Phil
Pisano. "They're all been fo
cused on playing a larger role
for us and competing hard each
day, while also being very wel
coming to our new members."
Pisano is entering his seventh
year as head coach. Under
Pisano, the Lions have had a
record of 50-5. Pisano has been
named AMCC Coach of the
Year in 2005, 2006, and 2008.
Danielle Woods is entering
this season as the only senior
on the team. Named the 2009
Team MVP, led the team with
454 digs and tied for second
with 42 aces. Woods is cur
rently ranked ninth on the pro
gram's all-time list with 1,216
career digs and 144 aces.
Pisano said, "She's pushed
herself to be more vocal in
practices. She's able to play at
a consistently high level and
forces others to match her
work ethic to keep up."
Leadership will also come
from the team's only junior,
Stefanie Kelley.
"I am very excited to see this
season begin because we have
a strong athletic freshmen class
who are helping us to compete
at a higher level in practice,"
said Kelley. "Since our younger
players came in with a solid
volleyball background, we've
been working on enhancing
their skills to become the best
athletes they can be."
In the 2009 season alone, Kel
ley collected 319 digs, 73 kills,
20 aces and six blocks.
"She's also taken on a large
role as a leader." Pisano said,
"Stefanie is very versatile, un
derstands the game quite well,
and shares that knowledge with
her teammates."
Another player to watch for
is Mary Sperry. Sperry, is a
sophomore, but has the most
experience of her class. Sperry
was named All-AMCC honor
able mention and Team Rookie
of the Year in 2009.
"Mary Sperry is our most ex
perienced sophomore and has
also stepped up to help push
her teammates," said Pisano.
"She plays with a high level of
energy and holds herself to a
high standard; both of which
are traits we want the whole
team to emulate."
The team, however has not
been discouraged from the lack
"I'm impressed
with the signifi
cant progress
being made from
the rest of our
sophomores...
They've all been
focused on play
ing a larger role
for u 5..."
Phil Pisano
Head coach
of experience. Talent, athleti
cism, and motivation are only a
few a factors driving this team
to another successful season.
Pisano said, "I absolutely be
lieve we have a team that can
capture a conference champi
onship this fall. There will be
some bumps along the way, but
we're going to be a much differ
ent and much better team in
November."
PSBLions.com
Sophomore
Mary Sperry
(left) chats
with her team
mates before
a serve
Sperry was
named rookie
of the year as
a freshman
last season
and will be
looked to-
wards to show
leadership to
the young