OT: Penn State: Another player leaving the program
Starting wide receiver Shawney Kersey, Penn State's most experienced player at the position, has left the team for "personal reasons," the Nittany Lions announced on Twitter.
As if this team wasn't bad enough already, they just got even worse. When do we play Penn State again? Like 3 more years?
*EDIT* Thanks Wolverine Devotee, we play them next year on the road.
September 12th, 2012 at 11:22 AM ^
Good lord. They may just lose to navy and temple too.
Michigan gets them on the road next season.
September 12th, 2012 at 11:23 AM ^
Next year might be a good time to do it.
September 12th, 2012 at 11:28 AM ^
MGO party bus to Penn State next year! We'll be laughing the entire way home (because I'm really funny, not because of how bad Penn State is).
September 12th, 2012 at 12:50 PM ^
September 12th, 2012 at 12:30 PM ^
I hear they're bitter little hostile and twisted morlocks these days. They have the "whole world is against us" mindset and the stadium is getting a bit unfriendly. Some friends went for Toledo and found it to be rather chilly.
You need to go after they've been beaten down so badly they can't even summon the feeling of rage.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:38 PM ^
You need to go after they've been beaten down so badly they can't even summon the feeling of rage.
Like they said. Next year.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:57 PM ^
When did Penn State last play Toledo?
September 12th, 2012 at 11:23 AM ^
I have little confidence in their ability to stop the option
September 12th, 2012 at 11:33 AM ^
Navy is bad. Really bad. And Temple has been trending way down since Golden left. As bad as Penn State may look, I don't think they'll lose either of those. Their strength is the front 7 on defense, so they shouldn't have too much of an issue with Navy's option. They should overwhelm Temple too.
Kersey maybe be a senior receiver, but he hasn't been real effective this year, only 6 catches for 44 yards. Watching the PSU-UVA game, I didn't hear his name called many times at all. It hurts depth for sure, but it's not a huge drop from Inefffective Guy #1 to Ineffective Guy #2.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:48 PM ^
September 12th, 2012 at 12:31 PM ^
September 12th, 2012 at 1:33 PM ^
"Outplayed"? Pish-posh. Their offense is trash. Don't blame their kicker for the loss - you have to score touchdowns when you're handed as many gifts as they got. I agree they're not terrible - they have a pretty darn good defense and will probably be in a lot of games this year because of that. But their offense is probably the most pathetic in the B1G, unless Iowa would like to challenge for that distinction.
September 12th, 2012 at 3:01 PM ^
definitely has the Big Ten's worst offense this year. They've scored all of one offensive touchdown so far on the season. PSU has 4 passing TDs.
September 12th, 2012 at 2:31 PM ^
"We Are Penn State: We Are Probably Better Than Indiana!"
September 12th, 2012 at 10:00 PM ^
Took my son for the game last time Michigan was in town and it wasn't a good experience. it will be good for him to see the world set straight again when PSU gets back to losing to Michigan.
Actually we always go to the basketball/baseball/football game when Michigan is in town.
September 12th, 2012 at 11:24 AM ^
The exodus next offseason might well be worse than this past one. This year there was a sense of solidarity produced by all the bad headlines, and there was still the memory of last season's decent team to keep them going. By next offseason, PSU will probably be coming off a losing season with not much hope for the future (with three more years of sanctions to come).
September 12th, 2012 at 12:47 PM ^
September 12th, 2012 at 12:53 PM ^
Players want to win, but more than anything else they want to play, and PSU with its thin roster has very little competition for starting spots. It also has first-rate coaches and facilities and plays in a fairly strong conference, so it's still as good a springboard for the NFL as any other major-conference team. I think most of their players would rather start at PSU than be buried on the depth chart at OSU or play in obscurity at Marshall.
September 12th, 2012 at 11:25 AM ^
Wow do I feel bad for O'Brien. Every week just seems to get worse.
I wonder if at some point he'd even consider holding open tryouts for the team. I mean its not like they couldn't use a new kicker or anything.
September 12th, 2012 at 11:33 AM ^
How can you feel bad for him? When he was hired, it was widely speculated that PSU would hire a coach for 3 years, wait for this to blow over, then fire him. It just turned out to be 4. He gets a head coach position listed on his resume and no one will bat an eye at his record because everyone knows there were extenuating circumstances that prevent the record from properly reflecting on his ability as a head coach. He knew what he was getting into when he was hired.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:29 PM ^
How can you feel bad for him? Because he is a human being and is going through a clearly tough spot in his life. It is also okay to feel bad for the players.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:38 PM ^
I do feel bad for the players. They didn't sign up for this. He did and he is getting an opportunity from this that he wouldn't have offered to him anywhere else, except maybe an FCS school or lower.
September 12th, 2012 at 1:39 PM ^
when he took the job. I think he could have gotten better than an FCS gig if he was hell-bent on being a college head coach. I do think he knew what he was getting into, but the last Patriot OC to jump to a college head-coaching gig landed at Notre Dame. His resume was pretty solid.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:42 PM ^
Seems kind of ugly to call this flamebait.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:37 PM ^
September 12th, 2012 at 12:39 PM ^
I think they'll fire him when they think that they can make a clean break. If that means firing him after he brings in 2 good to decent recruiting classes so that the next coach has something to work with, then so be it.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:45 PM ^
September 12th, 2012 at 11:27 AM ^
September 12th, 2012 at 11:31 AM ^
The NCAA was pure genius on this one. Worse than the death penalty. They allowed PSU to bank their ticket revenues, but good lord is the on field product going to be gut-churningly awful for the next 5-6 years. Much in the way The Horror hung a cloud on our program which we're just recently shedding, I savor at the countless looming on-field embarrassments for PSU. Not the least of which is that when you're at a PSU home game, their blundering need to remind you of the obvious - that THEY ARE, in fact, PENN STATE. Dumbest cheer in sports.
I live in DC where it seems 95% of PSU alums migrate, so yeah, my disdain runs deep.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:28 PM ^
Do you mean a death penalty for one year, or three or four years? I agree that the NCAA is evil genius central, but I think this is better than the death penalty for three or four years. Death penalty for one year, hm, maybe.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:45 PM ^
I don't know man. At least with a death penalty four three or four years you won't have stains on your resume 2-9 seasons, and losing to Winnipisakee Tech like PSU is going to have... It will be lovely to behold.
September 12th, 2012 at 11:38 AM ^
FWIW, it sounds like he was kicked off the team by O'Brien for being disruptive.
http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2012/9/11/3318766/report-shawney-kersey-leaving-team
September 12th, 2012 at 11:49 AM ^
I thought BSD was supposed to be relatively even-keeled, but it really makes it easy to not feel bad about the smoking crater of PSU football reading those comments.
September 12th, 2012 at 11:56 AM ^
I agree. I feel bad for Penn State but their fans are delusional! Did you see the post about Notre Dame going to the ACC and some guy suggests that Penn State should join them and leave the Big Ten because "The Big Ten sucks"? Like the ACC wants them? WTH???
September 12th, 2012 at 12:33 PM ^
it's because of Penn State and Ohio.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:47 PM ^
Don't compare us to them. Few, if any, OSU fans responded this way when Tress "agreed to resign" or however it was phrased.
September 12th, 2012 at 1:00 PM ^
different reasons: Tress, because of cheating, but he could have been a pedophile as well.
September 12th, 2012 at 1:00 PM ^
September 12th, 2012 at 2:06 PM ^
I've never denied that there are assholes in the OSU fanbase. I will deny that the assholes are a majority, or even a large minority. OSU has taken a lot of steps to crack down on them, at least around the Shoe, and I think it's paying off.
With regards to the "coverup," I'd point out that it was the athletic department who reported Tress to the NCAA.
September 12th, 2012 at 4:12 PM ^
After covering For Tressel for years, yes.
September 12th, 2012 at 2:36 PM ^
Do you think it's working? And when do you think it was at its worst?
Because there was some tradition between the two schools, but after being freed from Cooper fans down there seemed to go apeshit and trips down there in the early 2000's were pretty horrific. Wondering if that's changed.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:55 PM ^
I see. The Big Ten sucks. Yet they have only won 3 conference titles in 19 years in this conference that sucks. Does that mean they are on the level below suck? What does that say about them?
Oh, right. These are Penn State fans. Their team never loses. It's the rest of the world who works behind the scenes to screw them over.
September 12th, 2012 at 2:40 PM ^
I thought it might be a similar fanbase to Michigan. ND fans are annoying, sure, but for the most part they remind me of Michigan fans (and are probably annoying in ways we come off to other schools). They had the same values. But it didn't take long to change that.
The second year when they came up here with their really good team, they were so cocky. And while we played them closer than anybody, they were kinda dicks about it. Then when we started winning...oh boy. Every fanbase has the tinfoil hat conspiracy guy...but it seemed like their whole fanbase is made of them. Every single poster. The whining and theories ad nauseum. They are a piece of work.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:33 PM ^
I think O'Brien isn't too sad when his paychecks clear.
September 12th, 2012 at 12:44 PM ^
So far this year, Allen Robinson and Kyle Carter have been getting over half of the catches at WR, so you have to wonder if it is simply someone who was not satisfied essentially. They can use all the depth they can get just about anywhere right now, but from a production standpoint, it isn't a big loss, and they do have other guys who can step up into the third receiver role potentially, though losing experience probably stings a little regardless as they are again having to potentially throw freshmen into the fire.
There was also a comment on the BSD boards that, if true, provides a little insight as Kersey originally committed to Rutgers apparently: "Not sure how JoePa latched onto him, but he was squawking about transfering back in 2010 because he wanted more play time."
September 12th, 2012 at 12:50 PM ^
Does anyone feel sorry for the coaches of standard tomato cans? Does anyone feel sorry for Ron English, when a coach with less skin pigment and his track record would have gotten a lot better opportunity than EMU?
O'Brien will have to put up with losing. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but so do approximately 50 percent of coaches in the sport. He gets a great paycheck, a head coaching job at a major university, and the media will eventually nominate him for sainthood for sticking around.
This coach is going to get a free pass from the media for at least six years. I think he can put up with a few seasons of being overmatched.
September 12th, 2012 at 7:28 PM ^
Your assertion is pure conjecture, provides no value to the discussion, and wrongly assumes the greater college football gestalt if full of bigotry.
Maybe if RE was a better coach, he would have a better gig?
September 12th, 2012 at 12:59 PM ^
They will be lucky to win a game
September 12th, 2012 at 1:19 PM ^
Is it bad that I'm starting to feel sorry for them, or that I find myself rooting for them in their non-conference games?