Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/79325
most other Big Ten happenings – the re-emergence of Michigan as a legiti- mate title contender, the transformation of Wisconsin tailback Montee Ball into a Heisman Trophy favorite, even the arrival of rock-star coach Urban Meyer at Ohio State – to sidebar status. Everyone wanted to hear from Penn State. They got what they wanted. While the university's leaders were gathering in State College to squabble over the handling of the NCAA's sanctions, O'Brien and his players spoke un- equivocally about their desire to move forward. "I've heard the talk that this is so bad and what are we going to do?" O'Brien said. "I don't see it that way. I see it as an opportunity. I see it as a little bit of adversity that we need to overcome. "I came from [the NFL], where there were 53 players on the roster, eight practice squad players and 45 players on the active roster – 21 on offense, 21 on defense, three specialists on game day. So I'm pretty well aware of how to handle a roster of 65 scholarship players. We have plans in place. I'm not going to get into the details of those. They're already in the works. But I don't think that that's as bad as everybody says it is." Maybe not, but it's pretty bad. The NCAA hit Penn State on July 23 with a four-year bowl ban and a reduction of 40 scholarships while also allowing opposing coaches to raid their roster Conference coaches disagree on whether to pursue Penn State players BIG-GAME HUNTING were fair game now that the NCAA has given them the right to trans- fer without sitting out a year. Purdue's Danny Hope said he C would have no reservations about pursuing the Nittany Lions' play- ers. "The NCAA has established the rules and the guidelines," he said. "As long as we're compliant, we're going to ex- ercise any oppor- tunity we have to improve our foot- ball team." Illinois coach Tim Beckman said his staff suspected even before the sanctions were an- nounced July 23 that there might be an opportunity to bolster the Illini's roster. He dispatched eight members of his staff to State Col- lege but didn't send them onto campus. He said the assistants went "to establishments outside of campus and called some individu- als. If they wanted to come by, they had an opportunity to come by." BIELEMA HICAGO – Big Ten coaches ex- pressed differing views on whether Penn State players Others said they thought it would be inappropriate to recruit Penn State players. Ohio State's Urban Meyer said he had "a problem with that," when asked about pursuing Nittany Lions. (Although it was lat- er reported that Ohio State made a run at incoming freshman tailback Akeel Lynch.) Wisconsin's Bret Bielema like- wise said he would not chase after Penn State players. He said he made the decision not to pursue any Nittany Lions after the topic came up in a staff meeting. Biele- ma cited his respect for other members of the Big Ten coaching fraternity. "One of the things that I've loved and appreciated about being in this conference is that there is a gen- uine respect for everybody in our league," he said. "You are a Big Ten brother and you're a guy who sits in our conference meeting rooms. ... So I'm not casting doubt on any- body or questioning anything, but we made a decision that we would not actively pursue any Penn State players." Like Ohio State, the Badgers don't need much help to solidify their roster. They're the two-time defending conference champions and the overwhelming favorites to represent the Leaders Division in this year's Big Ten Championship Game. Said Bielema, "We have 105 players, and I think they can help us win a championship." Bielema said that while he was packing for the trip to Chicago, he happened to see a TV news story on Penn State players announcing their plans to stick with the Nit- tany Lions. "I'm going to be the biggest fan for those guys who stick it out and stay," he said. Bielema's message, coupled with his disinterest in raiding Penn State's roster, is likely to resonate with Nittany Lion players. Of course, the decision by several other coaches to do just the oppo- site is likely to resonate, as well. And not in a good way. Senior linebacker Michael Mauti acknowledged that by setting up camp at Penn State, coaches were merely abiding by the ground rules the NCAA established. But he said there may be some lingering hard feelings when the Big Ten season gets under way. "I'm a competitor," he said. "If the people we're playing against want to weaken our stability, hey, we're going to have a problem." –M.H.