I Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010 Redshirt sophomore defensive end Pete Massaro (59) fights off a block from Kent State offensive lineman Brian Winters during the Lions’ 24- 0 win on Saturday. Massaro missed last season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee in the 2009 Blue and White game. DE healthy and contributing By Brendan Monahan COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER His first season starting at Marple Newtown High School, defensive end Pete Massaro burst onto the scene. In Marple pootr a? Newtown’s third Massaro’s sophomore season, he sacked Springfield High School's quarterback three times and rel ished the hits. He's always been a pretty Lord ready to bounce back By Zack Feldman COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER A 12th-place finish in a run ner’s first meet of the season doesn’t usually place them high up in a team’s plans, but to Nicole Lord, it is WOMENS motivation to CROSS get back to the COUNTRY top. Lord immedi ately became one of the top success stories at Penn State last fall, bursting onto the scene with a second place finish in her first colle- Lord giate race, fin ishing in the top three of each race she participated in and ulti mately winning the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year honor. But while most of the outdoor track team finished running after the June 9-12 NCAA Championships or earlier, Lord and Brooklyne Ridder ran until early July, competing at the USA See LORD, Page 10. Philadelphia vs. Atlanta 7:05 tonight, CSN Pittsburgh vs. St. Louis 7:05 tonight, FSN Q: Where does Donovan McNabb rank on the all-time passing yardage list? Monday’s answer January 2009 intense guy," Marple Newton coach Kay Gionta said. '’He's a gn\ that has a high motor." Thai high motor has taken him from the greater-Philadelphia area to State College, where he became a Penn State football player, it's pushed him through an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear suifored during the 2009 Blue-White game. It's given him a chance to press for more minutes this season, something coaches say was inevitable last vear if the redshirt Chloe Elmer/Collegian Comerback Derrick Thomas (5) pursues Kent State's Leneric Muldrov. ; 13) on Saturday. Thomas intercepted a pass in the win. DBs making adjustments By Andrew J. Cassavell COLIECFAM STAFF WRITER Tom Bradley's nickel package has improved significantly since it lirst trotted onto the field against Youngs- , town State. rnn7n ,,. Given its first FOOTBALL play of the 2010 season resulted in an 80-yard touchdown on a screen pass, filled with missed assignments and poor pursuit, how could it not? Dixon out with knee injury The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t saying yet how long quarterback Dennis Dixon will be out with a left knee injury, a problem that typically sidelines a player for multiple games. Dixon, who started the first two games of the season for the suspended Ben Roethlisberger, was examined by doctors Monday and might have additional tests Tuesday. Dixon, who injured the same knee at Oregon in 2007, might not return before Roethlisberger’s four-game suspension ends. Charlie Batch, No. 4 on the depth chart, finished up after Dixon was hurt Sunday during a 19-11 victory at Tennessee. sophomore hadn't gotten injured. “It’s been a haul back for him,” Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said, “and he’s back where he was.” His speed was the asset that first showed Gionta of Massaro’s potential. After Massaro’s fresh man year, he ran a 4.7-second 40- yard dash in spring mini camp. Because of Massaro’s quick ness, Bradley said he likes to use the defensive end in drop-back zone plays, and Massaro’s style is something that fits the philosophy Bradley, Penn State’s defen sive coordinator, joked after Saturday’s shutout there was nowhere to go but up after that breakdown, but he said aside from the obvious improvement since that play, the Lions’ sec ondaiy is starting to take form. See SECONDARY. Page 10. For more Lions coverage, Jm follow the Collegian foot- Ul ball writers' Twitter: twitter.com/PSUFootblog TWITTER Revis dealing with hamstring The New York Jets’ shutdown comer back isn’t being shut down just yet. An MRI exam Monday revealed that Darrelle Re vis has a strained left ham string, but he would not rule himself out of New York’s game at Miami on Sunday. “They just said it’s strained and it could take one to two weeks, or it could take a week,” Revis said. “It depends on how my body recovers ” Re vis, who was limited in practice last week with, tightness in the hamstring, immediately grabbed at his leg after Randy Moss made a spectacular, one-handed 34- yard touchdown grab with 53 seconds left in the first half of New York’s 28-14 win over New England. He was examined on the sideline, then taken to the locker room for treatment. of defensive line coach Larry Johnson. “What he kind of grades us on is how fast we play in practice,” Massaro said. “You got to practice fast in order to play fast.” His quick play has earned him six tackles in three games. He also had one of the two sacks against Alabama’s Greg McElroy, which came in the second quarter. But Massaro’s speed took a back seat after he tore his ACL. Gionta was at the Blue-White See MASSARO. Page 10. Braga leading nation in assists By Andrew Robinson COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER The man with the most assists in American college soccer hap pens to be Brazilian. games, Penn MCN< c State senior mid- ffltN s fielder Matheus SOCCER Braga leads the NCAA with eight assists after picking up one in both of the men’s soccer teams wins this weekend. Braga’s torrid start to the season has quickly caught the eyes of his team mates. “Matheus is playing ridiculous right now,” junior defender Mark Fetrow said after Sunday’s 4-0 thrashing of Denver. “Everyone is extremely confident whenever he has the ball.” It didn’t take the Rio de Janiero native long to get going this sea son, chalking up three assists in the team’s season opening 5-0 win over Buffalo. Braga has been held assist-less in just one game this season, a 2-1 loss to Bucknell on Sept. 10. Last season, the senior tallied a goal and two assists in the Nittany Lions 5-0 win over St. Francis and went on to total seven assists and seven goals for the year. While Braga has already surpassed his assist total, which led the Big Ten last year, his goal scoring has just started. The Daily Collegian leers name capts. By Anthony Barton COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Looking at Coach Scott Balboni’s choices for the leers’ captain and assistant captains for the 2010-2011 - season, it’s safe to say he looked for a variety of qualities to lead the team. Senior for ward Marek Polidor is the > captain, with Balboni senior forward ■ Tim O’Brien, |CERS junior forward Paul Dale" and ,'ai am. sophomore forward Eric Steinour being the assistants. “My initial reaction was I was honored and proud to be the cap tain," Polidor said. “I think we have a real exciting year ahead of us. I'm going to work hard to lead by example on and off the ice.” Balboni said this year more than ever he wanted to see how his players returned following the offseason. He looked at the physical shape they were in, and how the younger players reacted to different leaders on the team. Following a team vote, he put his input into the decision and made the final call. •‘The other three guys will do great for us, but I think they were just a step behind Marek,” Balboni said. “I wanted to make sure he was recognized for that.” Balboni said what he saw in Polidor was an intelligent player, who with leading by example, was the best choice. “He's nice on and off the ice, See ICERS, Page 10. Sarah Finnegan/Collegian Braga (7) dribbles up the field. Going into the weekend, Braga said he had hoped to start scoring and Sunday he finally did, netting a header off a comer kick. The senior’s effort this weekend earned him Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors with Michigan State’s Cyrus Saydee. For Braga, setting up his team mates has always been a focal point of his game dating back to when he learned the game. “Since I started playing soccer, even in Brazil, it’s been my tactic to play in the mid [field] and find those guys up top,” Braga said. “I led the team [in assists] my sec ond year here and I’m leading them this year so hopefully I keep See BRAGA, Page 10. Collins back under center Despite benching Vince Young for for mer Penn State signal caller Kerry Collins in the Tennessee Titans’ 19-11 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Titans’ coach Jeff Fisher insists there’s no quar terback controversy in Nashville. Nevertheless, it’s impressive that the ex-Lion Collins, now the ripe old age of 37, continues to push the de facto 2005 Heisman Trophy winner five years into his own NFL career. It’s clear Collins has found a fountain of youth somewhere. Collins, 12th all-time in NFL passing yardage with 38,767, is only 1,472 yards shy of passing Johnny Unitas for 11th and 1,784 short of Joe Montana for 10th.
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