SPORT The Daily Collegian Psych teacher soothes Kinlaw By Mark Viera COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER | mcvsoo9@psu.edu Sometimes, before games, Rodney Kinlaw will receive a text message: “Are you relaxed?” “I’m relaxing right now,” he’ll respond. He’s calm, visualizing himself as a jet on a runway. The brake is applied but the engines are on turbo, building pressure as they rev up. “Be relaxed,” Dr. Earnest Blacks hear will respond. “Be that jet on the runway.” Blackshear, 45, is a clinical psychol ogist and former adjunct Penn State psychology professor who worked this summer on cognitive exercises to help Penn State running back Kinlaw and wide receiver Terrell Golden. The goal, Blackshear says, is to help con dition their minds for competition. You can see hints of Blackshear’s work in Kinlaw’s career performance against Buffalo. He had 129 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Kinlaw hit holes affirmatively and was quick to burst once he reached the line of scrimmage. And now, it’s unclear who is the No. 10 Nittany Lions’ featured back. So far, coaches and players said, using an equitable two-back system suits them just fine. Connor accepts leading position By Corey McLaughlin COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER | cpml67@psu.edu Dan Connor already appreciated how well Paul Posluszny played mid dle linebacker. Now, Connor fully understands the responsibility he had. After playing outside linebacker for two seasons, Connor moved to the middle this spring, traveling the same path Posluszny followed before his senior year. And like Posluszny, Connor’s responsibilities multiplied with the move. It’s not just running around and tackling. Those are the easy tasks, Connor said, compared to his annual duties before the snap. Prior to each play, Connor announces the defense in the huddle. After the players’ break, he glances at the opposing offense and screams out alignments for the defensive line men in front of him. If they’re not where they are supposed to be, he has to yell again. Then, if need be, he helps the defensive backs behind him with their coverage call. By the time a running back lowers a shoulder into Lions looking for luck to open Big Ten play By Tom Brolley COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER | twbsooo@psu.edu The last time the Penn State women’s volleyball started its sea son with two losses in its non-confer ence schedule was in 2005. That year, the Nittany Lions lost to Nebraska and Stanford, but finished undefeated in Big Ten play. This year’s No. 3 Lions are hoping for a similar fortune in conference play after suffering non-conference losses to No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Stanford. But getting through the Big Ten without a loss will be a challenge. Through the non-conference sched ule, the 11 conference schools amassed a 91-26 (.778 winning per centage). Every team comes into Big Ten play with a winning record and no more than four losses. However, Penn State coach Russ Rose believes it is sometimes hard Rodney Kinlaw (20) worked with Dr. Earnest Blackshear, a clinical pyschologist. That’s also where Blackshear someone whom Kinlaw considers a mentor might help. Blackshear, who has worked at Ground Zero with victims of post traumatic stress disorder associated with 9/11, teaches relaxation. He wants to slow down performance anx iety to a point where Kinlaw is Dan Connor (40) changed positions this season and has gained a larger role him, Connor’s job is halfway over, but the work goes relatively unnoticed and doesn’t appear in a statistical category. “Dan is the captain of the defense. He calls everything and gets every body in the right positions,” corner back Lydell Sargeant said. “He has an unlimited amount of responsibili ties. Without having Dan on the field, I don’t know what we could do.” Connor took over those jobs in the spring after deciding to return for his senior season. Instead of entering April’s NFL draft, where he likely would have been picked with Posluszny and the Nittany Lions’ four other selections, Connor shifted inside to middle line backer for his final collegiate year. The transition “hasn’t been too bad,” Connor said. Through three games, he leads the to compare teams based on presea son results because teams play much different non-conference schedules. Volleyball is the only Big Ten sport that plays a double round-robin schedule, during which every team plays each other at home and on the road. Even with a few upsets mixed in during the season, Rose believes the double round-robin usually ends up with the best teams in the confer ence near the top. “It gives you the best indicator of who the best team was through the course of the season,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that’s the team that’s going to get hot in NCAA playoffs and compete for the national cham pionship, but it does give you an indi cation that, over a 10-week period, this team [the Big Ten champion] had the best product.” During the last four years, there See W. VOLLEYBALL Page 16. patient. He wants to help him remain ready for his chance to enter the game. And once he gets in the game, he wants to help teach Kinlaw to wait for holes to develop. Blackshear wants Kinlaw to become that jet on the runway. “He's helped a lot. especially with Rodney," Golden says. •He's helped team in total tackles (29). solo tackles (20), tackles for loss (4.5) and is tied for the sack lead (3). He’s also approaching Poslusznv's school career record of 372 tackles. Connor currently has 303 and. on his current pace, would break Posluszny’s record when the Lions play Temple in the second to last game of the regular season. “He’s the leader," said outside line backer Sean Lee. who ranks second in tackles with 23. “What Puz was lot us last year, Dan is this year. . . The way he approaches the game, he's a lot more relaxed and methodical, but he’s still focused. He’s got great instincts. I just watch him and almost how he dissects plays." That part, when you're -reading and reacting," Connor said, hasn't been a challenge. See CONNOR. Page U> Kyle le\MS/Collegian Nicole Fawcett spikes the ball-over two Colgate defenders earlier this season. On the Web |^. For more: ■ NCAA column ■ MAKEPLAYS blog ■ Men's soccer visit: www.collegian.psu.edu Nathan A. Smith/Collegian this summer to heio him become more relaxed and patient while on the field. IKinlawi relax a lot and you can see it in the way he run-. ... He's almost a completely dittcront player from a poise standpoint.' Blackshear met Kinlaw. Golden and a few other Penn Stale- players two years ago at a camp;:.- outreach and education program lot his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi. The goal of the Struggles vs. UM a persistent trend [ By Kevinftoran, Corey MSESighlin I and Made Viera' C 0:. FG:AC cruT WRITERS Joe Paterno was a spry 69-year old and Anthony Morcili was only 11 in 1996. the last time Penn State defeated .Michigan in a football game. The Nittany Lions and Wolverines have played eight times since then, four times at Beaver Stadium, four times in Aim Arbor and the results have been the same. Penn Stan-lost every contest. Early the seine of defeats. Michigan d<-ien -dominated two talented Penn State teams. Toward the middle, the Wolverines took advantage oi the Lions during a few down seasons, hetore they most recently handed Penn State its only loss in 2()(i5 and lolled over the Lions last year on their wav to the BCS. Current Penn State players are aware of the circumstances sur rounding tim last two defeats, but here's a look at them all: Women’s soccer nets five late goals By Steve Maslowsky Sandwiched between games with top-25 teams, it would have been easy for the No 17 Penn State women's soccer team to overlook its midweek showdown with intrastate rival Bucknell. And tor 45 minutes of soccer last night at Varsity Soccer Field in Lewisburg. it looked iike that would be exactly what would happen. However, the Nittany Lions scored five goals p$(J in the second half last night to secure a 5-1 win that didn't come as east- jj ly as the final score indi cates Bucknell Penn Slate <4-2-1 > went into the locker room at the end of the first half locked in a scoreless tie with underdog Bucknell (3-4). "It was a tale of two halves," Penn State head coach Erica Walsh said. "Bucknell was probably the better of the two teams in the first half.” The Lions recorded only five shots in the first half, compared to 15 in the second. Penn- State outshot Bucknell by a margin of 20-7 overall. The team leaned on its leaders in the second half, with captain Aubrey Aden-Buie scoring twice, and Katie Thursday, Sept. 20,2007 11 African American fraternity’s pro gram was to “illuminate black males," Blackshear says, by making sure they were “aspiring as high as they can academically.” Blackshear has been in contact with Kinlaw ever since. In fact, Kinlaw and Golden and a See KINLAW, Page 16. Nov. 8, 1997 Beaver Stadium UM 34, PSU 8 The Wolverines’ national champi onship train stopped in State Col lege. Both teams entered the game undefeated (No. 2 Penn State at 7-0, No. 4 Michigan at 8-0) with high hopes for the postseason. But this game was all Michigan’s. The Wolverines, who led the Big Ten in all defensive categories, limit ed quarterback Mike McQueary to 68 passing yards and the Lions to 169 yards of total offense, their low est total since 1988. At the season’s end, Brian Griese led Michigan to a Rose Bowl win, and Wolverines cornerback Charles Woodson won the Heisman. The loss was Penn State’s only home defeat as it finished 9-3, losing to Florida in the Citrus Bowl. Nov. 7, 1998 Michigan Stadium UM 27, PSU 0 •Annihilation” was the Collegian’s See STRUGGLES, Page 16. Schoepfer, captain Jessie Davis, and Ashley Myers accounting for the rest of the goals. Melissa Hayes con tributed three assists. The offense has leaned on Aden- Buie and Schoepfer all season long, as they are first and second on the team with four and three goals tal lied, respectively. The inconsistent performance is nothing new for the Lions this sea son, as they have dropped contests to No. 13 Tennessee and No. 18 West Virginia but had an impressive road win over No. 23 Connecticut and played to a tie with No. 6 Texas A & M. ! .-';1 psu.edu The season so far has Walsh, in her first year at Penn State, still looking to find her team’s identity. “The character [of the team] is still being tested,” Walsh said. “We just need a little bit of a fire lit under us.” Walsh plans to provide some of that fire herself, as she indicated after the game that she will hold all of the players accountable for their performance. “Those players that perform well will the get the opportunity,” she said. “And those that don’t will have to do some soul-searching.” The Lions will return to action this Sunday against No. 21 Notre Dame, the team that eliminated them from the NCAA tournament last year. in win
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