s i p 1 D RI 7 s 8 I TUESDAY, OCT. 5, 2010- THE DAILY COLLEGIAN vegra3o6.¢ enk ..4....*. • • G ' By Emily Kaplan There's no clear front-runner. through the first 22 matches of "You can't even call those ,10 ( COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER There's no glaring weak links. conference play. On Sept. 25, upsets," Indiana coach Sherry ~,,, And in 2010, more than any then-No. 22 Michigan overcame a Dunbar said. "The conference is In his 12 years coaching other year in recent memory any- two-set deficit to shock then-No. so good this year that I wouldn't Wisconsin's women's volleyball thing can happen. 14 Minnesota. One night earlier, be surprised by the outcome of i team, Pete Waite cannot remem- "Five years ago, there would be then - No. .9 Illinois took down any match. Preseason rankings a it t• ber a Big Ten - mean nothing." -•-• - season shaping up quite like this. WOMEN'S then some teams way at the bot- Champion and three-time defend- the coaches voted Penn State as , .A, ~. mii ,„ He's not alone. VOLLEYBALL torn," Waite said. "Now those bot- ing national champion. The loss preseason favorites to win the Big . 7 , -", It's just two weeks into con- their game. And now, when you of 65 straight conference wins. But now, Dunbar believes , ~ , An% , f ference play, but coaches around walk into any gym, you know the While an outsider might con- there's a cluster of teams who are -, -. ~ , •,. I t h the league have already noticed game is going to be close much sider these wins as monumental, legitimate contenders. . .... _ , _. _ - " I ~ '''' ~?:? +11,,.. 4,..,. I:, , _,.,‘ ,..:4,4 0 something different about their conference this season. Running back Evan Royster (22) blasts through a hole during Penn State's 24--loss to lowa on Saturday in Kinnick Stadium Short yardage a challenge By Brendan Monahan COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Bill Walsh's philosophy was on the mind of quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno after the lowa game. The former San Francisco 49ers coach FOOTBALL advocated against get ting into 3rd-and-long situations. A problem for Paterno and the Lions on Saturday? There were a lot of 3rd-and-longs against lowa. Failure to get in short-yardage situa tions and not capitalizing when in those circumstances were problems for the Nittany Lions that could keep Penn State from being successful. In short-yardage situations plays needing °My four yards or less fora first down Penn State capitalized on 4-of -9 opportunities. The two most notable Lions not worried about Big Ten start By Andrew Robinson COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Out of the nine games the Penn State men's soccer team has played this year, it has been scored on first in only two of them. Those two MEN'S games were the SOCCER Nittan Lions' first two Big Ten games, NA both games resulted in Tossarahltaiiita .startiag OQ-0 in the confarehee lath arguably their three toughest games left, the Lions know there's time to correct what's hurt them so far, even SPORTS .ON TV PICAA Football Troy at Middle tennessee 8:00 tonight, ESPN2 TRIVIA Q: When was the last time the U.S. Ryder Cup team won a Ryder Cup on European soil? Monday's answer. Dave Blaney closer than if used to be." That much has remained true ones were the back-to-back goal line plays on the first drive of the third quar ter, where fullback Mike Zordich and quarterback Rob Bolden both failed to gain one yard, and Bolden's fourth down attempt came after calling a time out. Penn State moved the ball 70 yards on the drive, but it stalled when the offense needed only one yard. "We can move the ball a little bit, but that's not what counts," running back Evan Royster said. "It's the points that count." Penn State quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said the Lions must focus on putting the offense in more 3rd-and short situations, a view shared by left tackle Quinn Barham. "That's a matter of running the ball or getting at least three or four yards on first or second down," Barham said' "We didn't get Rob enough to work with though the road will be tough. "We definitely have time to turn it around," senior co-captain Andres Casais said. "We're in con trol of ourselves. That's what we feel and that's a good thing." Right now, the Lions are tied for last in the conference with Northwestern, as both teams are winless. Ohio State leads the con ference with six points thanks to its 2-0-0 Big Ten record. Big Ten men's soccer has only seven teams and with a win in their next game, the Lions could jump to a tie for third place. Penn State's next three conference See MEN'S SOCCER, Page 10. Vick day-to-day with rib injury Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick has a rib cartilage injury that may force him to miss at least Philadelphia's next game at San Francisco. "This is going to be one of those day-to day, week-to-week (injuries)," Eagles coach Andy Reid said Monday. "We'll just see how it goes and how he feels along the way." If Vick can't play, Kevin Kolb gets another chance to prove he can be the No. 1 quar terback. Kolb began the season as Donovan McNabb's successor, but lost his job when he sustained a concussion in Week 1 and Vick played exceptional in his absence. Without Vick, the offense struggled in Philadelphia's 17-12 loss to the Redskins. it's par for the conference this year. on third down, and we left him in 3rd and-8 and 3rd-and-9." The Lions haven't been effective enough in capitalizing on those oppor tunities, and putting too much pressure on Bolden is something that concerned Joe Paterno in his post game press con ference. But Jay Paterno didn't agree the team placed too big of a burden on Bolden. The lack of short-yardage situations is dependent upon the running game and the offensive line, which has been sub-par and created a one-dimensional Lions' attack on Saturday when Penn State passed the ball 30 out of 44 plays. The lowa defensive front four caused the change in game planning. The Penn State offensive line had trouble blocking them all game. More concerning may not be the 44 See SHORT YARDAGE, Page 10. Parr biding his time By Mike Still COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Andy Parr has always been one "I'm making sure the guys on to try to lead by example. the bench are ready to go into The redshirt senior defender on the game and focused on every the Penn State men's soccer team thing." makes it a point to make sure he's Entering the season, Parr had keeping his teammates motivated secured a starting spot on the any way he can. Nittany Lions' back line. Regardless of whether or not The senior started the Lions' he's on the field, Parr wants to first game of the season against make a difference. Buffalo on Sept. 3 and was called "I'm playing as hard as I can See PARR, Page 10. Battle on award watch list Senior guard Talor Battle was one of ten Big Ten basketball players selected to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason lbp 50 list yesterday. The list is made up of the leading candi dates for one of college basketball's most prestigious awards, which is announced after the season. Battle declared for the 2010 NBA draft but didn't hire an agent, which allowed him to change his mind and return to Penn State for his senior season. As a junior, the 6-foot guard was second in scoring in the Big Ten, averaging 18.5 points per game. Battle was the only player in one of the NCAA's six major conferences to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals last season. And that's not a knock against See LEAGUE, Page 10. Poor play hindering team's line Regardless of who plays where or how much experience the player has, there's one word sever al players on the offensive line use to describe the performance of the unit as a whole inconsistent. "One minute we're good, we're opening up holes, protecting and the next minute, just freaking missing everything and not giving them time back there," left tackle Quinn Barham said. "That's been a big problem See POOR PLAY. Page 10. Andrew Dunheimer/Collegian Stefen Wlsnlewski (61) looks for a player to block. Miller off to solid debut When Michael Miller was a sophomore in high school, he played in a golf tournament at Penn State. It was love at first sight. MEN'S GOLF "I wanted a big school, a big atmosphere, and a college town," Miller said of what attracted him to the school. At the end of that tournament, he joked with his mother about how he wanted to play for Penn State See MILLER, Page 10. and when I'm off the field, I'm try ing to motivate guys playing," the senior said. Wilson (7) and Brown (2) go up By Audrey Snyder COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER By Matt Clancy COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Senior defender Andy Parr drib bles the ball vs. Bucknell this year. Pavin unimpressive as captain The U.S. Ryder Cup team made one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the Ryder Cup Monday morning, and neary won a second consecutive cup. Tiger Woods played out of his mind in his singles match probably the best he's played since his unfortunate fire hydrant accident. Still, it didn't matter, as Graeme McDowell's impressive putt on the 16th hole clinched the Ryder Cup for Europe. But it could've not gone that way. U.S. captain Corey Pavin made some question able coaching moves and failed to prove he had a pulse, which reflected on his emo tionless team (sarLS Jeff Overton) until yes terdays dogged comeback attempt. FOOTBALL
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