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Usually, I am very critical of my Nittany Lions. I watch each game on edge and think they can always do more.Last week, I was disappointed with the one touchdown they gave up because I saw it ...

Are Penn State Suspensions a Blessing In Disguise?

by Paul Salman (Columnist)

1

970 reads

Editorial

September 05, 2008

Football, College Football, Big Ten Football, Penn State Football, Joe Paterno, Editorial

Usually, I am very critical of my Nittany Lions. I watch each game on edge and think they can always do more.

Last week, I was disappointed with the one touchdown they gave up because I saw it as the linebackers being out of position and getting beaten against a far inferior team. Yes they won 66-10, but I thought 66-3 would be much better.

However, for some reason, with the current news coming out of State College, I went from extremely nervous to thinking this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

On Tuesday night, University police were summoned to the Nittany Apartment Complex, which is where all the football players live. A complaint about a loud party at Apt. 5204, as well as the smell of burning marijuana, is what the police report said.

(Let me just say that loud music and some burning marijuana at 8 p.m. should not attract four police cars. Student housing has Resident Assistants for these types of matters. There does seem to be a chip on the shoulder of the State College Police against Joe Paterno and the football team.)

No charges have been filed yet, police said. Players Abe Koroma, Andrew Quarless, AJ Wallace and Maurice Evans were named as the apartment's residents.

All but Cornerback AJ Wallace will sit out this weekend’s game against the Oregon State Beavers. Word is that Wallace was not involved with the incident, however, there are reports that both Koroma and Evans were not present at the time the Police came either.

Again, details are still being investigated, and no charges have been pressed against any of these players. The suspension is a punishment by Joe Paterno to send a strong message to his team.

"It's unfortunate. We preach, preach, preach and they stepped out of line. They deserve what they're going to get. Whatever that's going to be, I don't know” Joe Paterno said during his weekly radio show yesterday.

“My feeling on all of this is they have a responsibility to the program, they have a responsibility to themselves, to their family. They have responsibility to their teammates. And if they do something as dumb as it appears they did, and I'm not saying if they did or they didn't yet, but even being close to that kind of thing, I'm not going to play any one of those three kids this weekend."

As evidence comes out, the fate of the other three will be determined. Already, rumors are swirling that all three passed their urine tests and that early next week we should get some good news.

These are all just rumors right, but of course Nittany Nation is anxiously waiting and hoping for good news as Koroma and Evans are a major part of the Defensive Line. Losing them would be a major blow to any hopes of a Big Ten title that the Nittany Lions have.

With that being said, you may ask why I think this can be a positive situation. Well, assuming (and we all know what happens when you assume, but let's hope) nothing major happens to these other three players, and they are back in time (at the latest) for the Big Ten schedule starting on Sept. 27 against Illinois.

Penn State will have three weeks to develop some of these second-team guys who do have experience and have proven themselves but now have a chance to really step up.

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  1. I think that if they're not suspended for any game past the Temple game, it gives our new D-Line more experience and also gives our starters fresh legs. I still hope they come back by the Illinois game. If they do, we'll have a fresh D-line and a talented and experienced second and third string D-line. Then our depth will be better and we can move Lucian back to O-Line, where depth is an issue. Although our O-Line starters are veteran, if they get hurt, hopefully they don't...knock on wood, we will need a couple of talented Offensive lineman to replace them. Lucian is a very talented backup. I think he's better on the offensive line than the defensive line.
    Also, I've been impressed with Hull so far. I also love Tony Davis and that freshman safety...I can never remember his name. Our secondary is very iffy, but if Tom Bradley makes better defensive schemes, much improvement can be made.
    Our offense is basically flawless, for now. I even think that we will be able to score on all the Big 10 teams, including Ohio State, who is now overrated. We have a shot at the Championship if we keep playing great.

    WE ARE...PENN STATE!!!

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About the Author Paul Salman (columnist)

  • 73 articles written
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