Blue White Illustrated

T H E M O N T H I N . . . Saturday night brought a needed golden opportunity for a breather in the pres- ence of Rutgers, and the Nittany Lions took full advantage by ringing up a 21-0 halftime lead en route to a 28-3 victory at Beaver Stadium. Penn State had every- thing in its favor: a gorgeous tailgating afternoon to prime its fans, a new stripe- out concept that worked and a perfect opponent in Rutgers – their old eastern cousin, the one you don't mind having for dinner as long as it's at your house and you can tell them when it's time to go home. For Rutgers, that became midway through the second quarter. NEIL RUDEL ALTOONA MIRROR Talent is unmistakable when it gets a full game of exposure. This was Barkley's official coming-out. Last week against Buffalo, I was comparing him in my mind to Tony Hunt. After a couple of runs against Rutgers, the name Larry Johnson arose. But when I saw two runs in particular in the second quarter, all I could think of was one back – Ki-Jana Carter. That's a lot to put on a freshman. But when you see gifts, you can't deny them. DAVID JONES PENNLIVE.COM He's a dork. He comes in and seems calm, cool and collected, things like that. But a lot of his jokes aren't really funny. I try to laugh at them to make him feel good. DaeSEAN HAMILTON goofing on teammate Christian Hackenberg DaeSean is one of my best friends, so I'm sure that was in a very joshing manner. I am who I am. I think you [beat reporters] have a pretty good idea of who I am. So you know, I have no comment other than that. CHRISTIAN HACKENBERG Nyeem was, in my opinion, better than any coach I could have had this week. [It was helpful] just being able to sit with him, watch film with him and listen to him like a coach, but somebody who also has the experience of being out there recent- ly. He's played Will, he's played Mike, he knows the defense as well as anybody. He was a huge help to me, to Jason [Cabinda], to Von Walker and everybody out there in a leadership role and in a coaching role. TROY REEDER Q U O T E S N O T E W O R T H Y O P I N I O N S HAM SALUTED Legendary Penn State linebacker Jack Ham received yet anoth- er honor in August, as the Football Writers' Association of American named him to its 75th Anniversary All- America Third Team. The anniversary squad is drawn from the FWAA's All- America teams from near the end of World War II through the 2014 season. The FWAA, which was founded in 1941, has picked its All-America teams annu- ally beginning with the 1944 season, making it the second-longest continu- ously selected team in major-college football. As a senior co-captain in 1970, Ham earned All-America honors after making 91 tackles and intercepting four passes. He still shares a pair of defensive records for blocked punts: four in his career, three in his final season. Ham had 251 career tackles (143 solo). BORTNER TO RETIRE After more than 35 years as a Penn State student- athlete, coach and administrator, associ- ate athletic director Jan Bortner an- nounced he will retire on Sept. 30. Dur- ing his 10 years as an administrator, four programs Bortner worked with – men's and women's fencing, men's gymnastics, men's volleyball and wrestling – won a combined 10 NCAA championships. A four-year participant in the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships as a student-ath- lete, Bortner succeeded longtime Penn State men's tennis mentor Holmes Cathrall as head coach in 1990 after a successful stint as the women's head coach. Bortner earned a 199-159 record and led the Penn State men's program to its first NCAA tournament victory during his tenure from 1990-2005. EMBRAY JOINS STAFF Penn State added to its administrative staff in Au- gust, naming Keith Embray assistant athletic director for student-athlete wel- fare and development. Embray comes to Penn State after serving the past three years as assistant athletic director for student services at the University of Central Florida. He began his duties at Penn State in early September.

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