PSU Back-up DT Suspended for Saturday's Game

Submitted by True Blue 9 on November 9th, 2021 at 1:37 PM

Wasn't sure if anyone else caught this interesting tidbit for Saturday's game. There was a pretty blatant shove of Maryland's QB by the Penn State bench in last Saturday's game. The play was identified as Fred Hansard and from what I can tell, he's a second-string DT for them. Coach Franklin announced this morning that Hansard would miss the 1st half of the Michigan game.

Will be interested if this affects their depth at all. Any advantage is a good one.

Go Blue!

https://www.si.com/college/pennstate/football/penn-state-suspends-player-for-hit-of-maryland-quarterback

Hab

November 9th, 2021 at 2:25 PM ^

I mean, I get glass houses and all.  But let me just honestly ask, does the fact that Bo knew about Anderson really mean we, as fans, can't call this out anymore?  Does PSU really get to move on with their healing process because I happen to support a University that had a similar failing?  Taken to its logical conclusion, doesn't that just result in more silence?  That seems to be the last thing anyone should want on this subject.

Or is it just that we no longer have a witty one-liner to show just how much better we are than PSU?  If that's the case, then I'd suggest that perhaps we missed the point all along...

As an aside, that's one weird gif.

 

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NittanyFan

November 9th, 2021 at 2:40 PM ^

"JoePa knew" is a witty one-liner (as you say), but it doesn't address the harder question of "why did JoePa know, yet still not do the right thing?"

Paterno was fired 10 years ago today - today is the exact anniversary.  Given the number of similar instances that have been uncovered in the last 10 years (PSU wasn't a "one-off"), the better questions to ask seem to be (1) "why do powerful people so often not do the hard but right thing?" and (2) "what can I do to increase the likelihood I would do the hard but right thing if and when the time comes?"

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Hab

November 9th, 2021 at 2:45 PM ^

Did not know that today was the 10-year anniversary.  Thanks for that info.  "JoePa knew" can certainly serve as a witty one-liner, but in this case, I appreciate that you've taken it and turned it into something more.  As an additional but related question, I'd offer up (3) what can institutions of higher learning who employ powerful persons do to provide those persons with the tools they need to make the hard, but right decision.

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NittanyFan

November 9th, 2021 at 3:18 PM ^

I disagree on #3.  Powerful people already have the tools, simply by virtue of being powerful.  Universities (or corporations or whatever) more need to empower the less powerful folk in the organization.

An anecdote (I won't share too many details but I will share at a high level) ------- sometime in the past 10 years, I saw one of my colleagues, at an after-hours work dinner, assault another colleague.  A peer-level colleague was there too.  My peer and I reported it with our recommendation that employee #1 (who admittedly didn't report into either of us) be fired.  The firing didn't happen: the higher-ups (this went all the way to the SVP level) kept employee #1 because of the revenue he was generating on a project.  I should have quit that job immediately, but I didn't.  But the job was never the same thereafter (and I did leave relatively shortly thereafter).

I knew then how Mike McQueary --- a man who admittedly has flaws himself --- felt.  Like he had no power, having to hear the whispers from colleagues who had heard rumors, feeling crappy when he still saw those colleagues involved.  It's an awful way to feel.  

JoePa had the tools --- McQueary, among others, did not.  If/when someone gets to Paterno's level of power and still doesn't know how to do the right thing --- well, people should already have their moral compass by that point.

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bo_lives

November 9th, 2021 at 3:30 PM ^

IIRC the story "broke" on November 4 when the indictments against Sandusky became public. The Board of Trustees met and fired Paterno by November 9. I remember being a little surprised they actually did it, considering how much of an idol he was to the school right up to that time. Although it's incredibly likely the Trustees knew a lot more and perhaps even foresaw having to take the action of firing Paterno, I still think the PSU Board of Trustees' actions are a positive example of how to respond to such a crisis. On the other hand, there is MSU and "Lou Anna Simon knew"-- where the University refused to remove her until the Michigan House of Representatives made them do it 6 months later.

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bo_lives

November 9th, 2021 at 3:07 PM ^

People making the "JoePa Knew" quip aren't making a noble statement calling out pedophilia rings--which lord help us everyone on this blog vehemently and vociferously opposes---but rather, making a dig at Penn State fans and the fact that many defended Joe Pa at the time (some still do).

The reason it rings pretty hollow now is that Michigan had a very similar scandal, in which the program's coaching idol looks *very* bad, but which a) happened 30 years after said coach retired and 15 years after he died, and b) broke in the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic. These features don't change how bad the scandal was/is, but they do make the overall situation easier for the fans to bear, since it isn't currently derailing our sacred football program and making us the target of an appalled media/public. Even with all this being the case, I personally know many Michigan fans who still *do* defend Bo and assert that the situation can't have been as bad as it looks. Pretty convenient for them that they don't constantly get asked about it because most of the country never even heard the story. And despite some chatter about it in the summer, the Bo statue still stands outside a building named Schembechler Hall.

Ironically, I remember previous times this came up before the Bo story, where I took the stance that it's weird to fault PSU fans for not making their entire football program, school, and community commit seppuku (which was an opinion many people around here legitimately held especially in 2011 and 2012). I said it was weird because 99.99% of the PSU institution had no connection to what happened, nor had any way of knowing, and it's ridiculous to assert that their lack of self-flagellation implies they condone pedophilia. I asked people to envision a hypothetical world where it came out that Bo did a similar thing, to which the immediate response was "BO WOULD NEVER". To which my response was, "But how do you know? PSU fans would have of course said the same thing about Joe Pa in the past".

So yeah, we're all anti-pedophilia here, as well as anti-coverup. Don't pretend "the point" was always just to fight complacency and prevent future scandals. I have yet to meet anyone who was going to engage in a horrible conspiratorial cover-up to save their own skin, but then told the truth because they saw some shitposter on a Michigan blog blurt out "JOE PA KNEW". On the other hand, I have certainly met Michigan fans who love to talk shit about teams they hate. Putting two and two together, I would say there are ways to talk shit without looking like an oblivious hypocrite.

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Hab

November 9th, 2021 at 3:40 PM ^

You're right, I was taking a dig at PSU fans who still defend JoePa.  I said as much above.  I also did so knowing about UM's own issues.  It only rings hollow if you assume it's to take some moral high ground.  That wasn't my point, but that's the direction it went since that's what most people involved in trash talk in sports intend.  I explained my justification above.  You may not agree, and that's fine.  Not sure that qualifies me as a shit-poster or a hypocrite.  I do appreciate the discussion started by Nittany-Fan above, as I think I mentioned.  

Please accept my somewhat insincere thanks for your concern about the optics of my insignificant post buried on a message board on a sports blog.

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rice4114

November 10th, 2021 at 1:14 AM ^

I agree with both of you...but before "Bo Knew" came along any kind of Joe Pa New + PSU fan bashing that happened here was largely (maybe universally) accepted here. Heck its one of our biggest posters schticks. I think we as a group have changed our tune a bit. Since day 1 of the PSU scandal I have always said I honestly think 2 million UM fans in the same situation would generally respond like 2 million PSU fans did. People arent that different coming from basically the same region. Now OSU fans on the to other hand..

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Blau

November 9th, 2021 at 1:47 PM ^

Pretty strong start to the comments in this thread... /s

Anyways, I'm getting the feeling this will be similar to last week's game against IU except PSU keeps it between 3-7pts for most of the game. I'll happily take FGs this Saturday as I just don't think PSU has the horses to punish our defense with an often injured QB. I'll say final score is something like 19-13 in a sludge fart of a game. 

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Michology 101

November 9th, 2021 at 3:18 PM ^

Well, a part me feels that Michigan just has to bracket Dotson throughout the game and they'll win. I remember Michigan recently getting beat because they didn't properly game plan around one great PSU wide receiver.

I know this is a different defensive coordinator, but I still don't trust that he'll commit to stopping Dotson.

Many defensive coordinators just don't want to concede into doing a lot of game planning to contain one wide receiver. 

Though I've watched enough of the Detroit Lions and Calvin Johnson to learn that a defense can sometimes control a great WR with proper brackets. 

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umchicago

November 9th, 2021 at 3:13 PM ^

i was just thinking this past week, that game was the last time michigan got a break from the refs in a big game. those couple seconds carr fought for in the final minutes proved invaluable, as we needed them in order to get that final play (henne to manningham) off.

but i'm not sure that was even a bad call by the refs. it sure wasn't close to the steaming pile of dung we got from msu's refs two weeks ago or 2016 at osu.

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jmblue

November 9th, 2021 at 5:07 PM ^

That was no break.  Carr called timeout with 32 seconds left and the clock kept ticking down to 28 seconds before the refs stopped it.  Carr asked for the four seconds and got only two of them.

But we did get a break in the 2002 game when a PSU receiver got a foot inbounds but was wrongly ruled out, on their final possession in regulation.

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Billy Ray Valentine

November 9th, 2021 at 1:49 PM ^

I give kid the kudos for making a public apology, regardless of whether or not he wrote it alone.

 

I don't understand the "one-half" suspension. What would warrant a full game or multiple games? A two-handed-out-of-bounds-shove of the opposing team's QB seems borderline egregious. If one of our players engaged in similar conduct, what would we think appropriate discipline should/would be? 

 

The title of this thread is misleading. The player is not suspended for "Saturday's game." He's suspended for the first half of Saturday's game.  

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Billy Ray Valentine

November 9th, 2021 at 4:31 PM ^

I agree that no suspension could be OK. For me, a lot would depend on how the conversation with the player went after the game. Plus, the coaches probably know whether this is a good kid or a "delta-bravo." If I truly believed it was a momentary lapse with no malice, I'd be OK with light punishment. If I suspected my player was being opportunistic and taking a cheap shot, I'd like to hope that I wouldn't cover for him.    

 

I disagree that this is no more egregious than a run-of-the-mill late-hit. Ball carriers always need to consider that a late-hit might be coming from an on-field defender. I think there needs to be a clear demarcation between offenses by actual players versus players/coaches/staff that are not actually playing. Maybe I'm being too harsh, but offenses by non-players should be punished on a higher level.  

 

There is no way that Tagovailoa could have known he was about to be floored by a two-hander. He's running almost full speed to get out-of-bounds. The burden to ensure no unnecessary injuries occur has to be with those on the sideline. 

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oriental andrew

November 9th, 2021 at 4:09 PM ^

Only issue I have with the apology is the specific language. Apologizing for the "unfortunate incident that took place" and his "apologies for any unsportsmanlike behavior" seem to be a deflection, whether he meant it that way or not. I'm just completely over and skeptical of the so-called apologies of public figures which don't actually take any responsibility. 

Just keep it short and sweet - I screwed up, I apologize, I will try to learn from this incident and do better next time. 

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mp2

November 9th, 2021 at 1:51 PM ^

anything come of morris? was he in the last game? I don't recall seeing him, but I admit I am not the best at watching for individual players.

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wolverinebutt

November 9th, 2021 at 2:20 PM ^

I watched the video.  The kid messed up, but it looks more like he protected himself/was surprised when he looked up?  I think a half game may be plenty in this case.  Hopefully, the QB was not hurt. 

   

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