The Penn State Football Show

With the early departures of both Aaron Maybin and Maurice Evans to the NFL Draft, defensive end has gone from Penn State's biggest strength to one of the team's biggest concerns. One player that may fill the void is Jack Crawford. Crawford is a very interesting prospect because he is new to the game of football. He grew up in England and only began playing during his junior year of high school after moving to the United States. He received an impressive ammount of playing time last year, considering he was only a true freshman at a position that was loaded with talent. I came across this article in which Josh Gaines speaks really highly of Crawford. Here is the quote, along with a link to the article:

Filling the void: The Nittany Lions must replace their three top defensive ends next season with the departures of Maybin, Evans and Gaines.

Sophomores Eric Latimore and Jack Crawford are the prime candidates, though they've seen little game action.

Of course, line coach Larry Johnson is one of the best around at not only recruiting but also developing talent. He just turned down a lucrative offer from the University of Illinois to stay in State College.

"One guy leaves, another person steps up," Gaines said. "And there will be people stepping up.

"Jack's going to be amazing. I'll be surprised if he stays four years. He's quick off the ball. He's just as fast as Aaron, he's just as strong as me and he's (nearly) as tall as Eric (6-foot-6). He's the total package at D-end. And not only that, but he listens. ... He listens better than anybody else I've seen in the program. He learns and pays attention to little things and executes them."

http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_11520209

Here is a link to some discussion on the BWI Message Board about possibly replacing next season's game against Eastern Illinois with a stronger opponenet, perhaps from the ACC. PSU desperately needs to make this move if at all possible. The non-conference schedule is an absolute joke: Temple, Akron, Eastern Illinois, and Syracuse. Playing Oregon State last year was great. Let's get another game like that. Let's hope this works out...

http://bwi.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=36&mid=120187140&sid=890&tid=120187140&style=2&Override=1

Great article that I support. It doesn't attempt to solve any of the BCS problems, but points out all the reasons why a playoff is a big mistake.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/stewart_mandel/01/22/cardinals-bcs/index.html

Here is a nice article listing D-Will as one of the top performers so far at Senior Bowl practice. I must say I'm a little bit surprised by this. I'm still skeptical of D-Will's ability to succeed at the next level. I hope I'm wrong though...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/01/20/senior.bowl.day2/