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.