O'Korn Homecoming Article
SIAP: Good article on John O'Korn's homecoming this week. Apparently his mother is a waitress in State College and the whole family is from the area.
I had always thought he was from Florida (probably because he was a college transfer):
O’Korn grew up in Huntingdon, Pa., a sleepy borough located on the Juniata River just 33 miles south of State College. It’s the type of small town where people leave their front doors unlocked and everyone knows each other’s first name. They’ll have two rooting interests in this game: the Nittany Lions and the town’s favorite son.
“I’m really excited,” O’Korn said. “I know it’ll mean a lot to my family. I grew up going to a lot of games. I’m really looking forward to it.”
His mom, Paula, is a waitress at a State College restaurant and routinely has Penn State players and coaches’ wives as customers, sister Kalyn is a Penn State graduate, and the entire family is lifelong Penn State supporters. O’Korn’s dad, Gary, noted Kalyn will be wearing maize and blue Saturday.
He tried to graduate early so he could go to PSU:
Ultimately, O’Korn’s fate at Penn State was sealed by Christian Hackenberg’s commitment. The coaching staff wasn’t keen on taking two quarterbacks the same age in the same class. Fisher approached the idea of graduating early, but O’Korn couldn’t make it work.
John's best game was on the road against the coach who benched him at Houston. Maybe that made it personal?
Anyway, here is to hoping he plays his ass off for his hometown!!
October 17th, 2017 at 9:08 AM ^
Regardless as to how we feel about the performances thus far, the best we can do is pull for the guy and the team in general (even if we complain).
Go get em JOK!
October 17th, 2017 at 10:26 AM ^
Yes, hopefully all of our respective high school interests are doing well by halftime.
October 17th, 2017 at 1:14 PM ^
Or he’s excited for the Mustapha Muhammad commitment
October 17th, 2017 at 1:41 PM ^
Hopefully this is the reaction at 6:45 on Friday
October 17th, 2017 at 3:31 PM ^
Hopefully that's the reaction at 10:45pm on Saturday.
October 17th, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^
Gotta cheer him on and hope for the best!
October 17th, 2017 at 3:12 PM ^
Well said.
October 17th, 2017 at 9:11 AM ^
We should all be JOK supporters this weekend.
October 17th, 2017 at 9:36 AM ^
Exactly what weekend are we suppose to be JOK detractors? As long as that dude is wearing a Michigan helmet and JH is running him out onto the field I'm the biggest O'Korn supporter there is.
Anybody wishing him to fail to play poorly so they can see somebody else in at quarterback is freaking insane. Or just not a Michigan fan at all.
October 17th, 2017 at 9:55 AM ^
You are off your game mGrowOld.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:55 AM ^
if you can't be an athelete, at least you can be an athletic supporter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voK6jIZtus8
From Grease (naturally).
October 17th, 2017 at 10:03 AM ^
What you did there
October 17th, 2017 at 9:13 AM ^
I remember that time he went to State College to play a highly ranked PSU team!
October 17th, 2017 at 9:56 AM ^
comparing John Okorn to Chad Henne is kind of like comparing John Okorn to Chad Henne.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:17 AM ^
He's not as Chad Henne as he once was, but he's as Chad Henne once as he ever was!
October 17th, 2017 at 10:18 AM ^
You're right, we need O'Korn to get slightly injured but still able to play so he becomes his final form: Robo'Korn
October 17th, 2017 at 9:58 AM ^
Yes he played for Wilson HS which is outside of Reading. I went to go see him play a small schoo,l Spring Grove, after he committed which coincidentally is where Eli Brooks is from as well.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:24 AM ^
I think the story was Penn State wanted Anthony Morelli over Henne so Henne came to Ann Arbor. They did not make the correct choice.
October 17th, 2017 at 3:14 PM ^
May the maize pants make a glorious return on Saturday evening!
October 18th, 2017 at 2:00 AM ^
That would be great!
October 17th, 2017 at 9:16 AM ^
Well, my hope here is that similar to the Purdue game where he really had something to play for (impressing/beating/proving his old coach wrong) he can channel whatever he needs to, to get into the zone since this "hits close to home."
October 17th, 2017 at 9:45 AM ^
This narrative is so silly. Winning is enough motivation. Besides, any extra desire isn't going to cause him to read a defense. Hasn't happened for 5 years, won't happen now.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:00 AM ^
However have you never had that game(or any sport competition), where you were in the zone, not only for the game, but the days and hours leading up to it. Where you felt as though you could feel your nerve endings and your skin itched as if you just downed a ridiculous amount of beta-alanine?
Or when you hit that 5 mile mark on your 3 mile run then run 10 more because you're in the zone?
Or when you're down in basketball, feel your stroke and the rim feels 20 feet wide?
Coachspeek. All games are important. Even professionals have down days and teams they don't get up 100% for though.
I for one hope he Forcier's this one out of his ass and flat out makes shit happen. That is what that sack avoidance miracle rolls felt like at Purdue. I hope Peters is ready because I think that O'Korn needs to run more to keep the defense honest and relax. I'm worried that his best game includes more read runs and too many hits when the bullpen is bare.
Although I'd prefer a successful running game with play action winning field position game that doesn't cause me a series of heart attacks.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:12 AM ^
Bluinohio. You are feeling Blu. I get it. You don't want to believe JOK could play well until you see it. (Even if he has shown some flashes in the past.)
Protect your own feelings.
Me, I would rather show support for the kid in his homecoming. That is more important than protecting "my feelings."
Of course, I am a somewhat well-adjusted adult.
October 17th, 2017 at 9:17 PM ^
To play advocate, being super hopeful is all good for the feels, but isn't that just "protecting oneself" from if there's disaster?
I don't find it absurd to call out any player's track record when people get super hopeful out loud. I'm eternally hoping my teams will win even as the clocks tick down like MSU game. I prefer to keep my optimism without the desperation of puff pieces.
Let's. It rest, he seems to be saying, on hope. Let's rly on good coaching and having the QBs ready.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:25 AM ^
Man, what a shitty attitude.
October 17th, 2017 at 11:11 AM ^
Respectfully disagree. One Tom Brady is a great example of this. 199, chip on his shoulder that hasn't gone away. Still feels like he has something to prove.
October 17th, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^
What's your deal?
October 17th, 2017 at 12:59 PM ^
Or UM against OSU in 2013-14. Winning should always be motivation enough, but clearly extra motivation can make a huge difference in performance.
October 17th, 2017 at 9:22 AM ^
We all saw what O'Korn is capable of against Purdue. He needs to calm down and make his reads. The OL needs to keep him clean. If that happens Michigan will beat the Nitts by double digits and make his family proud.
Go Blue!
October 17th, 2017 at 9:25 AM ^
He played well when he went up against his old coach at Purdue. Maybe we will get a similar performance this Saturday.
October 17th, 2017 at 9:33 AM ^
I was thinking the same. Let's hope he just needs something extra to get him dialed in.
October 17th, 2017 at 9:42 AM ^
Yes, all it takes is that extra incentive to be able to read a defense
October 17th, 2017 at 10:15 AM ^
I want to smack you for being a debbie downer dick, but I freakin love the sarcasm so upvoted you.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:15 AM ^
I suspect you are not highly competitive. It's the only explanation. Intrinsic motivation is powerful. A Google full of research to recognize that.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:23 AM ^
UM fans should make those big head signs of his old coach in the crowd.
October 17th, 2017 at 9:26 AM ^
Hard to imagine what it would be like to have millions of people watching everything you do - every second - commenting on every move, every play, good or bad - chastising every mistake. I choose to support these kids, good or bad, win or lose, because they are our guys.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:11 AM ^
I, for one, am pretty glad my 'performance' at that age wasn't on public display. It was bad enough that it was on private display. Go get 'em, Mr. O'Korn.
October 17th, 2017 at 9:31 AM ^
He's gonna game-manage the hell out 'em this weekend.
October 17th, 2017 at 9:33 AM ^
JOK will hit some big play action passes to lead us to victory!
October 17th, 2017 at 9:43 AM ^
After this game I expect a JOK appreciation thread, a JOK POSBANG, and a Wolverine victory.. Go Blue!
October 17th, 2017 at 12:15 PM ^
some mf'in muppets!
October 17th, 2017 at 9:47 AM ^
will inspire him to play the game of his life. If it works, bring the family to every game the rest of the season.
October 17th, 2017 at 10:01 AM ^
Assistant coach be there also?