Penn State hits the meat of their conference schedule after this Saturday's bye, and they're also in control of their own destiny. They don't impress, but they keep winning. I don't expect it to last with a Husker visit followed by trips to Columbus and Madison. The more games they win, the more I fear they will get schooled by their bowl opponent.

I know you do. I just disagree.

That LSU v Bama game is insane. If I had 5 tickets in the right section, I could take next year off.

Student tickets are commanding upwards of $500...and the average is over $775/ticket.

I would almost pay that just to avoid listening to Lundquist and Danielson. (I know there's a mute button)

I love hearing Lundquist call LSU games for the uncomfortable pause when they score where he decides whether to say "Touchdown...LSU" or "Touchdown...Louisiana State"

Who says "Louisiana State"?

He's more concerned with the children tied up in his trailer than he is the name of the school....Oh the countless lives old Verne has ruined.

The one thing I hate about the most about national announcing teams is that they know so little about the teams - you would think they could do some homework, but it's usually the top 10 cliches, plus some personal bias (and in the case of Alabama, a ritual tonguing of Nick Saban's bunghole)

UGA has no running backs for the NMSU game on Saturday. Hope AMurr doesn't get hurt

For your viewing pleasure:



AND

Bama was a 4 1/2 point favorite as of Wednesday but I haven't seen where it's at now. After looking at all the analysis, I can't believe it's not a pick 'em at this point. Maybe 3 points for home field for Bama.

For me, this game is all about Trent Richardson. If he goes for over 100 and 2 TD's, I think Bama wins 28-24 and the Heisman becomes a 2 man race with T. Rich and Andrew Luck.

But, if LSU kills McCarron and Bama can't get any passing game going, could be a different story in the 4th quarter. Still, LSU has been able to overcome some mental errors against some good teams because they're loaded with talent. Not sure they can make those mistakes against Bama.

I honestly don't know who I'm pulling for. I guess it'll present itself when the game starts.

Also, I'm just as interested in the USC@Arky game but that's for UGA purposes. Best possible outcome there: Arkansas win and Petrino gets rolled up on by own player; broken shin.

This made me laugh so loud at work, that people are wondering what's wrong with me. Thank you!!!

I'm foaming at the mouth!

Plus, Brian Wilson's appearance on Gameday this morning was all kinds of awesome. "Don't point that pencil at me, Corso." "Interesting mascot matchup: 'Backs against Cocks." Even Herbstreit lost it.

I thought Wilson was great. Like an athletic version of Gilafianakis or something.

Derris, I have to say that I think Bama will just go 3 yards and a cloud of dust, and come up with something to keep LSU honest without letting honey badger or the rest of the backfield pick McCarron into oblivion.

For some reason I think Bama wins 21-10 or 21-17....but I expect "ugly" play and the indomitable will of Saban to carry the day.

Maybe I've been brainwashed?

Not enough gweeg. Prolly close, though.

I don't know why the Blackshirts can no longer defend against a spread offense attack, but they certainly suck against it this year. I congratulate Northwestern on an excellent offensive strategy, something the Huskers were sorely lacking early in the game. Those two early turnovers killed any momentum the Huskers might have had in this game.

Well, Garkansas took care of business, and Bama failed epically. Im happy but I'm dealing with some fallout on the bama fan wife front.

"Failed epically" is a stretch. A couple of BRUTAL defensive efforts. I actually agreed with Lou Holtz tonight for the first time ever. OT should start at the 40. In a game like tonight, why give the O an advantage when clearly the defenses were the show?

Also, I'm with SB on Okie St. Not a believer.

I think they lose to OU and whoever they play in their bowl.

They play lukewarm defense.

Again, none of you live with the "high and haughty Crimson Tide" fan day in and day out. There was not a single Bama fan mentally prepared for that game to come out any way except Bama dominance. And, losing a game you really should have won (15-6 if they make a few chip shots) is failing epically. 3 sub penalties (one in ot) is failing epically if you have The. Best. Coach. Evar.

So no one else posted this JoePa covering for his assistant being a monger story?

Truly one of the most fucked up things I've ever read. This dude would make a Catholic priest blush.

Brutal. 10 years ago...a lot of pain that would have been stoppedwithone phone call.

The taxpayers of PA should prepare to drop a few hundred mil on this too.

As I understood it, the guy wasn't even an assistant anymore but had emeritus status. Joe Pa told the people he thought he should tell. While the entire situation is incredibly screwed up, I think Joe Pa followed protocol. At least in this most recent situation. The other 2 guys, well, they're just as guilty for sweeping it under the rug. Absolutely disgusting and vile. Breaks my heart for that kid(s).

Still processing all this. Makes every other major college athletic sanction seem like small change. Obviously, my heart goes out to the kids and their families who have been hurt by this. Even when I think to understand why this shit happens, a story like this blows everything out of the water.

Transcript: grand jury testimony

Best running commentary I'm finding on this so far is nitannyturkey.com. PSU alum with experience working at a public university. Not apologizing for any PSU staff involved (nor should he).

Latest: Penn State's AD (Curley) and VP of finance (Schulz) have steppend down to defend the perjury charges. President Spanier, who has always come across as a dweeb IMHO, "expressed unconditional support" to the perjury defendants, and Penn state are fronting the legal costs.

Yet another complication GAR's link doesn't cite (probably because it wasn't officially released at time of writing) is that the graduate assistant who witnessed the '02 incident is Mike McQueary, a former Penn State QB and current WR coach and recruiting coordinator. JoePa's latest press tried to make him the fall guy, but it had to go against Paterno's grand jury testimony to do so.

Paterno is an icon in the Northeast, and that will likely be his ultimate downfall here. People think he has Curley wrapped around his finger, and he and Sandusky were long-time friends up to '99 when JoePa said Sandusky would never get the head coaching job (this shortly after the 1998 investigation... hmmm...). Even if his personal best case scenario is true, JoePa will go down in history books as not having done enough. I suspect they let him finish the season and announce a formal resignation in early January. So much for having a right to die on the sidelines... not that he's ever there anyway.

Ironically, my strongest memory around Jerry Sandusky during my undergrad years was his inclusion on a list of Christian faculty who took out an advert in the school paper, making themselves available to students to discuss faith. I'm waiting for the hyprocrisy piece along the lines of SI's Tressel story earlier this year, but maybe the crime is too serious or the scenario is too similar to the pedophile priest scenario.

TEARS?

But they also have an NFL offense. They'd pretty much win the AFC West.

This story is so truly awful. Creepy and lurid. It just makes your skin crawl.

No one will survive this. Everyone involved, including Paterno, will have the stink of this on them.

I don't think a lot of people realize how much of a legend this guy was. I mean, he was D Coordinator for over 20 years. That's unheard of these days.

The fact that he was allowed to "announce" his retirement BEFORE the '99 season and coach tells me that they already knew and were protecting him. The guy was only 55 and in his coaching prime and suddenly he "retires"? If they had unceremoniously fired him, everything would've come out but since he got a farewell tour, nothing was questioned.

Every incident that followed is on everyone that was complicit in this. Anyone that knew ANYTHING should be fired immediately.

I have a feeling that Paterno will be comfortably shielded from this but I'm with Sketch in that this is the beginning of the end.