Monday Mashup

Well, we're all back in a football state of mind. Here's a quick post about the weekend happenings, good or bad.

A nice job and a congrats to the NB Panthers, beating Tussey handily 35-6 after a nearly two hour rain delay. NB has bragging rights another year.

Seriously, UConn offense? This defense is top 10 nationally hands down, can't rely on them to score your points for you! Pasqualoni needs to get rid of George DeLeone, one of the reasons he was fired from Syracuse. I can definitely see why now. Running a wildcat with a QB who can't throw is bad enough, but even worse when you can with a large amount of accuracy predict the yardage gained each play. The offense is returning to Edsall era predictability. Speaking of Edsall, up next: Maryland. Yours truly will be down there, hopefully live tweeting and blogging. @J3cnb11 on Twitter.

Shaky start for Andrew Luck, throwing for 309, 1 TD and 3 picks. Colts lose 41-21 and never really cut into that lead after the 2nd. The line struggled, allowing 3 sacks. The secondary was picked apart by Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall, with Cutler finishing with 333 and 2 TDs and Marshall 119 with one TD. There is promise for the future, even with a loss like this.

Colts to take Andrew Luck at No.1

It's been common knowledge since the Colts lost their regular season finale to Jacksonville on New Years' Day. The Colts will select Stanford superstar Andrew Luck with the first pick in Thursday's NFL Draft. Coming off a 2-14 season which saw them lose 4-time league MVP Peyton Manning to a degenerative nerve disorder, head coach Jim Caldwell and GM Bill Polian were fired in surprising moves by owner Jim Irsay. New blood was brought in with the hiring of Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano and Eagles director of player personnel Ryan Grigson as GM. The roller coaster offseason continued with the release of Manning, who signed with the Broncos in a lengthy recruiting process. That cleared the way for Luck to be chosen to succeed Manning. After the glitzy selection of Luck on Thursday, the Colts will focus on Friday and Saturday to fill holes at WR, TE, DT, CB, SS, FS, and OT. A fact worth noting: the Colts have the first and last pick in the draft, aka Mr. Irrelevant. This is the chance for the new brass to make an impression. Having Andrew Luck certainly doesn't hurt.

Lady Lions take Big 10 title over Ohio State

*I know this is a football blog, but I got the opportunity to cover the Penn State vs. Ohio State women's basketball game on February 20th*

Ohio State coach Jim Foster summed up his team's performance best when he stated matter-of-factly, "They just kicked our butts, that's what happened."

Foster's No. 8 Buckeyes were routed by the 11th ranked Penn State Lady Lions (22-5, 11-3 Big 10) 84-66, who claimed their first Big Ten title since 2004 with the victory.

Junior post anchor Nikki Greene was PSU's leading scorer with 25 points and 15 rebounds, one of three Penn State players with a double-double.

"There are no words," Greene said. "It's amazing, just amazing. We just worked so hard to get here."

Penn State led by 15 at the half, and never let Ohio State get within 13 the rest of the way, stifling OSU on the boards and with second chance opportunities.

"This might be the worst we rebounded (in) my life," offered Foster, "and certainly the least competitive."

Penn State clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which begins next week in Indianapolis.

Penn State coach Coquese Washington wasn't as excited about stats and figures as she was for what the win meant to the university as a whole, a real bright spot among the dark past few months.

"It means a lot to me for Penn State to have this experience, especially this year and all that our university community has gone through."

Washington continued, "There's a lot of good here at Penn State; there's a lot of things right. And all year long, we tried to be one of the shining examples of what 'Success with Honor' means. I'm glad that our community is able to share this moment with us."

Samantha Prahalis had 16 points and 8 assists for Ohio State.

Maggie Lucas and Mia Nickson added double-digit points and rebounds for Penn State.

At a loss for words, Nickson said Penn State was just in the "right place at the right time".

"And they're beasts inside," Lucas added. "I don't think it's just right place at the right time."

Ohio State fell to 23-4 overall and 10-4 in conference play and will receive the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.