Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1519242
M A Y 2 0 2 4 15 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M By The Numbers 7 Victories in the Penn State softball team's first 10 Big Ten games this season. The Nittany Lions' 7-2 start to the con- ference campaign, which includes series wins against Indiana, Maryland and Nebraska, is their best since winning eight of their first 10 league games in 2016. 1 0 t h Penn State's place in CBS Sports' ranking of the teams most likely to contend for spots in this year's inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. Writer Will Backus notes that there are a number of factors working in coach James Franklin's favor this year, including a strong back- field, an experienced quarterback and a schedule that deletes Michigan while bringing Ohio State to Beaver Stadium. "At least 10 wins — a perfectly attainable goal for Franklin — in a conference like the Big Ten should be enough to secure one of 12 spots," Backus contends. 1 4 t h Olumuyiwa Fashanu's spot in two NFL Network mock drafts. Analysts Charles Davis and Eric Edholm both have the All-America left tackle going to the New Orleans Saints in the middle of the first round. After a season in which the Saints ranked 14th in the league in total offense, Davis notes that Fashanu "would help their offense improve immediately." Edholm agrees that Fashanu will be the pick but has some concerns about his skill set. "I'm a little worried about Fashanu's run blocking," he notes, "but he's a facile pass protec- tor who is just starting to reach his athletic potential." 2 2 Victories for the Penn State women's basketball team during the 2023-24 season. The Lady Lions' 22-13 fin- ish was their best since going 25-8 in 2013-14. However, PSU did not make the NCAA Tournament as it did in 2014. Instead, it settled for a spot in the Women's Basketball Invitation Tourna- ment, where it won its first three games before falling to Villa- nova, 58-53, in the semifinal round April 1 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. 3 8 Individual NCAA championships won by members of the Penn State wrestling team since 2011, the year that 184-pounder Quentin Wright became the first Cael Sanderson- coached PSU wrestler to capture a national title. No other pro- gram has enjoyed anywhere near that level of individual success. Second-place Cornell has produced 14 champions over that same span, while Oklahoma State and Ohio State have had 10 apiece and Iowa seven. 64 Number of Penn State linebackers who have been drafted into the NFL since the start of the common draft era in 1967. That's the most of any school in the country according to Pro Football Focus. The Nittany Lions lead USC (60), Ohio State (54), Alabama and Oklahoma (48 apiece) and Michigan (45). Another PSU linebacker is expected to be chosen in the up- coming draft, with CURTIS JACOBS projected as a Day 2 or Day 3 pick. 1 3 , 4 1 6 Votes for senior 197-pound wrestler Aaron Brooks in fan balloting for the Dan Hodge Trophy, which goes to the nation's top collegiate wrestler. Brooks, who went 22-0 en route to his fourth national cham- pionship, received nearly half of the 26,928 votes cast in WIN Magazine's poll. Northern Iowa 184-pound national champ Parker Keckeisen was second with 9,669 votes, while three of Brooks' Penn State teammates — senior 174-pounder Carter Starocci (1,849), sophomore 157-pounder Levi Haines (1,730) and senior heavyweight Greg Kerkvliet (224) — rounded out the top five. The winner of the fan balloting receives five first-place votes for the Hodge Trophy. Brooks also won the majority of the first- place ballots from the award's voting committee and became the fifth Nittany Lion to claim the Hodge Trophy, joining Kerry McCoy (1997), David Taylor (2012, 2014), Zain Retherford (2017, 2018) and Bo Nickal (2019). PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL