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And so it has begun.
The exodus of Penn State players first appeared as Tim Buckley decided to transfer to North Carolina State. However, Buckley was a little used safety that had originally walked on to the Penn State football team and is originally from Raleigh.
Penn State's luck wouldn't hold, and now the Nittany Lions have lost two high profile players. There is the transfer of starting running back Silas Redd to USC, which is easily the most damaging transfer. Redd has two years of eligibility left and could be a promising draft prospect. He almost singlehandedly carried the Penn State offense at points last year.
The other departure is less surprising but could also hurt in the long run. It is no surprise that Rob Bolden has been looking to transfer from Penn State for a while. It started almost two years ago after his first season as a Nittany Lion, and the rumors of unhappiness have swirled around him since. Now Bolden is off for greener pastures at LSU, leaving Matt McGloin as the only experienced quarterback option in Happy Valley.
So, who's next?
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In other, happier transfer news around the Big Ten, Northwestern WR Kyle Prater has received a waiver from the NCAA to play this season without sitting out. Prater was a five-star receiver recruit out of the Chicago area and originally committed to play at USC. This is a big help for the Northwestern offense that will be looking to replace a few parts in its passing game.
Scouting Report: Derrick Green - Michigan is back in good standing with running back Derrick Green, and to get a better look at what Green brings to the table, Magnus over at TTB scouts the RB prospect and comes away impressed with his size and power, but not so much his vision and ability to make people miss. Regardless, Magnus thinks that Green has the skillset to be very successful behind the kind of offensive line Michigan is building; just not the skills to carry a team by himself.
247 Sports: Composite Rankings Released for 2013 - Magnus also rounds up the rankings of Michigan recruits and targets in 247's new composite ranking. The Wolverines have five players in the top-100: Shane Morris (16), Dymonte Thomas (55), Kyle Bosch (62), Patrick Kugler (74), and Chris Fox (82). There are eight more in the 100-200 range,
Michigan's Taylor Lewan respects William Gholston's talent, won't focus on 2011 punch
Lewan was even asked if he was sad that Gholston wasn't part of the Michigan State contingent at the Big Ten's media days. "I don't know," Lewan said bluntly. "That's kind of an odd question to ask."
Lewan was widely cited as being bland during media days, which, given the circumstances isn't a bad thing considering that this comes along with praise about Lewan taking a bigger leadership role on the team. Still, we'll always have the twosie picture.
Tommy Rees suspended for Notre Dame season opener - One way to help make a decision in a quarterback controversy is to have one of your quarterbacks remove himself from the discussion. Unfortunately for Brian Kelly, and Notre Dame nation, Tommy Rees probably won't sit out more than a game.
Not to fear! Our superior instincts tell us we're somewhere right below the Hyatt Regency, host to the 2012 B1G Media Days extravanganza. We emerge from the depths of the city 30 minutes later and arrive, frazzled but totally exhilarated, in the lobby. Well done, B1G, what a posh venue. So posh I have momentarily forgotten the correct number of syllables in "concierge". Too posh. Its well-to-do clientele don't seem to acknowledge that a high profile football event is taking place ... somewhere in here. Look at them with their boring black attire and pompous black suitcases and stupid blackberry devices. Don't they know that very famous people -- Denard Robinson fergodsakes! -- are currently inside the double doors of this, this ... completely empty ballroom.
Heiko at mgoblog talks about the spectacle that is Big Ten Media Days.
The beat goes on and on and on for Iowa, with one running back replacing another due to injury, credit card fraud, academic difficulties and other mind-numbing violations of team rules. They arrive with high rankings, more often than not, and often fulfill those expectations before drifting out of sight, sometimes with a bang, always with head-shaking frequency. What are Iowa’s options? One is to recruit a different sort of athlete. Not bigger backs or faster backs, mind you, but rather class valedictorians and science fair champions. That’s not going to happen — this is Iowa, not the Ivy League, and the Hawkeyes will begin valuing off-field talents more heavily than on-field exploits on the same day the rest that the program’s rivals do the same; never, in short. No, all Iowa can do is hope that its next successful back — unknown, as of today — doesn’t follow the same trend. Maybe one of the Hawkeyes’ backs steps into a major role in 2012 and holds on to complete his career as the program’s first four-year back since Damian Sims. And if that doesn’t occur? Iowa will simply go back to the recruiting trail, find another gem and hope that the umpteenth time is the charm.
One of the best summations of Iowa's plight under AIRBHG I've ever read.
NBC has effectively decided that anything we don’t see on SportsCenter every day must therefore be presented to the audience in an overwhelmingly familiar manner. But while sports can be funny and dramatic and ridiculous, they’re still fundamentally different than sitcoms and dramas and reality shows. The joy of watching sports is largely in the spontaneity, in watching a random game and knowing that something totally unexpected and amazing could happen, perhaps unintentionally, at any time. Presenting this competition as if it were any other primetime tentpole—complete with appearances by Ryan Seacrest!—is to rob it of its unique charm.