The Daily Collegian
Consistent Forney struggles against OSU
By JOHN GIBLIN
Collegian Staff Writer
Placekicker Travis Forney found out Saturday
that nobody, especially a kicker, is perfect.
Corning into Saturday's game against Ohio
State, Forney was a near-perfect eight of nine on
field goal attempts, and flawless in 28 extra
points tries. But two blocked field goals by the
Buckeyes a 39-yard attempt in the first quar
ter and a 21-yard attempt in the third quarter,
left the Nittany Lions bewildered after the game.
"I couldn't see where the rush was coming
from," quarterback and holder Matt Senneca
said. "When I put the ball down, I just look at the
ball I couldn't see where it was coming from."
While Penn State coach Joe Paterno had no
answer for the blocks after the game, he was vis
ibly upset with the play of the special teams.
'Dogfight' ends in Lions' win
By RYAN HOCKENSMITH
Collegian Staff Writer
Penn State doesn't mind playing
a little smash-mouth football.
But even the Nittany Lions
acknowledged the physicality of
their 23-10 win Saturday against
Ohio State.
"Thinking hack right now with
out a clear head about it, I'd say it
was the most physical game so
far," Kurpeikis said. "But you
expect that. They're brutes.
They're tough guys."
A limping parade of wounded
players from both teams made
their way on and off the Beaver
Stadium nuclear turf throughout
the contest.
"It was a very physical game,"
said Lions tailback Eric McCoo,
who rumbled for 211 yards. "We
expected this. This was a dogfight
in our backyard, and we don't let
anybody heat us in our backyard."
Five Lions starters were helped
off the field. including starting
quarterback Kevin Thompson.
Ohio State linebacker Na'il Diggs
clubbed Thompson on a rush mid
way through the second quarter,
causing a fumble Buckeyes safety
Gary Berry recovered for Ohio
State's only touchdown.
Thompson, who has started the
last 19 Penn State games, suf
fered a slight shoulder separation
and might miss this week's clash
with No. 16 Purdue.
LaVar's play speaks volumes
By WILLIAM KALEC
Collegian Staff Writer
The mere mentioning of his
name forced Ohio State coach
John Cooper to bolt out of the vis
itors media room and end his
postgame press conference.
When a question was asked
about Penn State's sack leader of
the day, Buckeyes linebacker
Na'il Diggs quickly found his way
out of a pack of reporters and into
the showers.
For 60 minutes, LaVar Arring
ton chased Buckeyes across the
field.
And after the game, his name
was chasing them away from
interviews
But despite the lack of
postgame comments emanating
from the Ohio State locker room,
Arrington's play was still the talk
of the game.
"La\Tar has really come on,"
Penn State linebacker Brandon
Short said. "I guess teams, they
have been making adjustments
for him but he has found a way to
beat them."
Five years after Dunn takes reins, men's hoops not among top teams
Two years ago as a freshman,
I woke up at 7:30 in the morn
ing.
It was a rare event to rise from
the comfort of my bed so early on
a cold State College morning. But I
had somewhere important to be at
8 a.m.; thus getting up was not
such an arduous task.
I left my Snyder Hall room and
walked the short trip to The Bryce
Jordan Center.
My mission: obtain premier seat
ing for all of the Nittany Lions
basketball team's games.
I had expected a line that would
wrap around the Jordan Center,
perhaps extend toward Beaver
Stadium. I knew college basketball
was big, and I did not want to be
left out in the cold.
After all, I had heard about peo
ple camping out for days with the
hopes of catching a glimpse of
Duke-North Carolina.
But as I soon found out, Happy
Valley is more than a stone's
throw away from Tobacco Road.
Making statements
"It's a little sore," Thompson
said. "They say it's a slight sepa
ration. It's just a painful thing. It
felt like a pop. I probably held
onto the ball too long during the
play."
Defensive end Justin Kurpeikis
took a third-quarter shot from
Ohio State fullback Jamar Martin.
Kurpeikis said the hit jarred the
ball in his right shoulder loose,
which forced him to the sidelines.
"Their gargantuous fullback
came at me and I had the wrong
arm to take him on inside,"
Kurpeikis candidly assessed after
the game.
The junior defensive end was
on the ground for a few seconds
before trainers helped him off the
field. Kurpeikis wasn't about to
let the Buckeyes see him down
for much longer than a second or
two, however.
Please see ARRINGTON, Page 16.
Against Ohio State, Arrington
found several ways to heat the
Buckeyes one occurring in an
untraditional fashion.
During the Buckeyes first pos
session of the second half, Arring
ton was sent on a blitz, and Ohio
State fullback Jonathan Wells was
supposed to block him. With a col
lision in the backfield certain,
Wells dipped his shoulder and got
low. Arrington went high, really
high. He jumped over Wells and
sacked Buckeyes quarterback
Steve Bellisari for a 7-yard loss.
"That wasn't a leap," Arrington
said. "That was just beating the
block. I got a tendency for what
they were going to do early. I feel
once I can get in the groove of
blitzing, then I will be successful
in getting the backfield."
On three occasions, Arrington
was successful at getting in the
backfield and registering a tackle
for loss. His sack total against
Ohio State tripled his previous
season output.
Those impressive numbers still
fail to show Arrington's intimidat
ing impact on Ohio State, howev-
When I arrived at the ticket office,
to my chagrin (or rather, my bene
fit) there was only one other per
son waiting in line.
And that confirmed something I
had thought all along Penn State
is a football school.
Duh.
Penn State is and never will be a
basketball school. Not, at least,
based on the way this team has
performed throughout its history.
Coach Jerry Dunn is not Mike
Krzyzewski. Nor is he on the same
"There's absolutely no reason for that," he
said. "That could've cost us the football game.-
Although the two botched kicks caused some
trepidation among players and coaches, the spe
cial teams did have some highlights.
On another field goal attempt early in the sec
ond quarter, Senneca sprinted 10 yards up the
middle of the field for a first down.
The play, Senneca said, wasn't designed to he a
fake.
On fourth down, the field goal unit was sent
out, but it didn't have enough time to run the
play. After a timeout, the sairie unit returned to
the field for an apparent field goal try, hut the
coaching staff had other plans.
"We didn't have enough time to get it off so we
had to call the timeout," Senneca said. "Then
coach (Fran) Ganter started thinking about it. We
always had the option to kick it if they didn't give
Nittany Lions linebacker LaVar Arrington rattles Ohio State quarterback Steve Bellasari Saturday during
No. 2 Penn State's 23-10 win. The game was a physical war, with each side suffering from battle wounds
after the contest.
er. Arrington introduced himself
to fellow Butkus Award candidate
Na'il Diggs during a punt return.
While running downfield, Arring
ton made contact with the Buck
eyes All-Big Ten linebacker and
knocked him to the ground.
The two made contact again
seconds later -- facemask to face
mask.
"I knocked him over. I made
sure that I got him once before
the game was over," Arrington
said. "It was good talk though, it
wasn't trash. It was good talk, it
wasn't anything negative."
level as football coach Joe Pater
no. The Jordan Center although
it is a step up from Rec Hall is
not The Dean Dome. And Joe
Crispin is not Mateen Cleaves.
There is no La \Tar Arrington on
this squad someone who graces
the cover of Sports Illustrated as
the featured star in the sport.
Someone who made "Sports Ce
nter" every week. Someone who
other people travel thousands of
miles to see. What this team has is
a bunch of good basketball play-
ers, good role players and good
people who should not go unno
ticed. How many programs, after
all, can say they have a 100-per
cent graduation rate?
Still, in this modern-day era of
win at all costs, the squad has
failed to live up to the successes
other programs have achieved at
Penn State.
The football team's reputation
speaks for itself. The women's vol
leyball team is No. 1., and has
made it to the last game of the
us a front we wanted, so he's like, 'Just choice it
and it worked."
Even Forney, when he could avoid the Ohio
State rush, was able to salvage his offensive sta
tistics. He made field goals from 28, 38 and 39
yards and added two extra points. With the 11
points for the day, Forney moved to No. S on the
Penn State career-scoring list with 214 points and
No. 6 in field goals with 37. And the other half of
the Penn State kicking game was also solid.
Punter Pat Pidgeon averaged 39 yards on his four
punts, placing two inside the 20-yard line. One of
those kicks a 45-yard boot right before the half
was downed by safety James Boyd at the 1-
yard line, eliminating the Buckeyes' threat. Lions place kicker Travis Forney boots home the winning kick in
"We blocked a couple of field goals and gave Penn State's win against the Panthers. Forney became the Lions'
ourself a chance, made a big play on defense and seventh all-time leading scorer, but had two field goals blocked
gave ourself a chance," Cooper said. "We were against Ohio State Saturday. For more football coverage. please see
playing hard it's not a matter of effort." Page 12.
The talk didn't stop after his
friendly encounter with Diggs.
Late in the fourth quarter,
Arrington was in hot pursuit of
Bellisari as he scrambled toward
the Ohio State sideline.
Just as Bellisari unleashed his
pass, Arrington hauled him down
by the neck and slammed him to
the ground.
Cooper got in the face of the
offical and Arrington, pleading
for a personal foul to be called.
Unlike his confrontation with
Diggs, Arrington slowly strutted
back to the huddle as Cooper's
"It has been five years since Dunn took over the
program in midstream. Now, the program has
undoubtedly become his to lead to the next level
during the next millennium."
year for the past two seasons. The
men's soccer team was, at one
point, No. 1. The women's soccer
team, in its sixth season of exis
tence, has won the Big Ten title
and is very much in the hunt to
win it all. Heck, the fencing team
has won five straight national
titles. But the basketball team still
has a long way to go.
Sure, Calvin Booth made it to
the pros. Sure, the team has been
to the National Invitation Tourna
ment final four twice in the last
three seasons.
But there are still shortcomings
One person has transferred from
the Lions basketball squad each
year for the past four seasons.
Collegian Photo'Megan K. Morr
voice continued to rise. Arrington
distanced himself enough so that
the sideline screams could no
longer be heard as he returned to
the huddle and continued his
intimidating play.
It would be the last time Cooper
would mention Arrington's name
all day.
"LaVar is a very emotional guy.
His game is based on emotion,"
Penn State cornerback Anthony
King said. "He can get frustrated
sometimes if he is not making
plays. In the past, some teams
have tried to run away from him.
This team has not reached the
NCAA Tournament since 1996,
when it was ousted in the first
round.
Attendance at the Jordan Center
is usually sparse. And few games
are broadcast on national televi
sion.
"The addition of players is the
key. But the bottom line is that we
are not where we want to be,"
Dunn said. "I think we are headed
in the right direction."
With most of recruiting taken
care of for the upcoming season
and a mostly young squad to build
around, Dunn must continue to
develop the program, and make a
commitment to become one of the
Tuesday, Oct. 19, 1999
W. Soccer
defensive
press adds
to scoring
The Lady Lions' defense
played with precision this
weekend, which enabled
Penn State to capitalize
in the offensive end.
By JOSH DAECHE
Collegian Staff Writer
A good defense leads to a great
offense, and that is what happened
this weekend in both of the Penn
State women's soccer games.
Led by a slew of Lady Lions'
defenders that included co-captain
Luanne Strom, Megan Mills, Kris
Phillips and Gillian Samuel, Penn
State's defense tormented Michi
gan State and Northwestern this
past weekend.
"Kris Phillips was amazing and
all over the place," Lions co-cap
tain Courtney Lawson said. "We
were saying after Friday's game
how awesome they played. They
were so up and that it really makes
a huge impact when they're con
tributing to the offense.
"It makes everything easier for
the whole team. When they're play
ing well it just shows how offen
sive minded our defensive is. It's a
mark of a very good committed
bunch defenders."
Lions defenders assisted on five
of Penn State's seven goals this
weekend.
Penn State's defense played its
typical aggressive style all week
end. But Sunday, the Lions' defense
spent most of its afternoon in the
other end of the Michigan State
defensive zone.
Penn State's defense controlled
the ball much of the game and lim
ited Northwestern and Michigan
State to a combined eight shots on
net. The Lions, on the other hand,
rattled off 11 shots against the
Wildcats and 21 shots against the
Spartans. All season, Penn State's
defenders have had no trouble tak
ing chances. Phillips has scored a
pair of game-winning goals this
season and leads the defense with
seven points.
A lot of the reason for Penn
State's solid defensive play is
because the Lions have Emily Olek
siuk in goal. The netminder is aver
aging just under one goal per
game. Penn State women's soccer
coach Pat Farmer has said earlier
season that if the opposing team
gets by the Lions defense, they still
have to put it by Oleksiuk and
that's hard to do.
A lot of the way Penn State has
taken opposing teams out of the
Please see DEFENSE, Page 16.
top programs in the county}
It has been five years since
Dunn took over the program in
midstream. Now, the program
undoubtedly has become his to
lead to the next level during the
next millennium.
Like in Fields of Dreams, if
Dunn builds it, they will come.
They will flock to Happy Valley
to see a top program claw its way
to the elite.
They will come to see electrify
ing players zip the hall up the
court, and slam home a dunk in
exciting basketball fashion.
Certainly, the basketball team's
faithful never will be as big as
Paterno's, but it can be better. And
it can be near the top.
It is just a matter of getting
there. And that's the problem.
Chris Antonacci lanto@psii.edui is
a junior majoring in journalism
and a Collegian night sports editor
and men's basketball writer. His
column appears Tuesdays.
Collegian Photo Jim Rajotte