Scott Shirley and Andy Shay preview the holiday and bowl season for the Uplifting Athletes chapter network, the year in review for our nonprofit organization, the college football awards, and a few personal stories from the past. Visit upliftingathletes.org for more coverage of the nonprofit organization that aligns college football with rare diseases.
Penn State is getting a certified winner in its 2015 recruiting class in Archbishop Wood linebacker Jake Cooper, a three-star prospect who has won three Pennsylvania state football titles. Cooper toughed it out through a sprained MCL in last Friday’s championship game, estimating he was at “65 or 70 percent” for Wood’s 33-14 win over Central Valley. Cooper joined Ross Tucker and Dustin Hockensmith on the Keystone Sports Network this…
The fantasy football season has officially hit crunch time, with many league championships coming down to what happens in Week 16. Waiver wire help is in limited supply, but at least one opportunity presents itself this week in the Dallas Cowboys backfield, if DeMarco Murray (hand) is forced to miss any time. Joseph Randle could be worth a proactive add on the waiver in the event that he does get…
Penn State landed another top offensive line recruit last week in Lackawanna College tackle Paris Palmer. Coach James Franklin flipped Palmer from his previous commitment to South Carolina, in the process adding an experienced offensive lineman to a 2015 recruiting class that made the jump to No. 9 in the nation on 247sports.com. Franklin also lost freshman quarterback Michael O’Connor, who announced his intentions to transfer, which could impact the…
The Dallas Cowboys exacted revenge on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15, bouncing back from an ugly Thanksgiving Day loss to hand Philadelphia a 38-27 loss at Lincoln Financial Field. The Cowboys built a big 21-0 lead early and fended off an Eagles comeback to take a one-game lead in a back-and-forth race to win the NFC East crown. With two weeks to go and winnable matchups against the New…
Four high school football teams were crowned state champions at Hersheypark Stadium over the weekend, capping the end of an action-packed 2014 season. St. Joseph’s Prep, Archbishop Wood, South Fayette and Bishop Guilfoyle were all crowned champions in their respective divisions. Longtime high school football writer Andrew P. Shay and former NFL lineman Ross Tucker broke down the four championship games on this week’s Keystone Sports Network podcast. Tucker had…
Ross Tucker and Andy Shay discuss the most recent playoff results and preview the State Finals.
For the first time in three seasons, Penn State is going bowling. The Nittany Lions are back in the postseason mix after two years of bowl sanctions and their destination comes as little surprise. James Franklin and his crew are headed to New York City for the Pinstripe Bowl and a date with Boston College. The Nittany Lions and Eagles will clash Dec. 27 at 4:30 p.m. as part of…
The inaugural College Football Playoff field was set as the committee announced semifinalists in No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 Florida State and No. 4 Ohio State. The Buckeyes snuck in on the strength of a 59-0 blowout win over Wisconsin, edging Big 12 co-champions Baylor and TCU, both of whom played one less game and were docked style points by not winning their conference outright. Four of…
Penn State started the 2014 season overseas in Dublin, Ireland, where the Nittany Lions played at Gaelic football stadium in the Croke Park Classic. Now they’ll finish it on a baseball field at Yankee Stadium, a bizarre start and finish that brought a bit of symmetry to James Franklin’s first season. That fact wasn’t lost on StateCollege.com beat writer Ben Jones, who said he saw potential in the Pinstripe Bowl…
On the same day its 2014 regular season ended, Penn State got a big boost to its recruiting efforts when 2016 quarterback Jake Zembiec gave his verbal commitment to the program. Zembiec, a four-star prospect from Aquinas Institute in Rochester, N.Y., became the third verbal pledge in the Nittany Lions’ class and represented a key cog in the future competition for Christian Hackenberg’ successor. Zembiec checks in at 6-2 and…
A week after putting together arguably their most crucial win of the season, the Philadelphia Eagles suffered their most lopsided defeat in a 24-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle ran 85 plays to Philadelphia’s 45 and used a dominant defensive effort to limit the Eagles to just 139 total yards, nine first downs and little more than 18 minutes of possession. Turnovers were again a story for the Eagles…
The fantasy football waiver wire doesn’t yield a ton of big names for Week 15, when the playoff stakes are high in most leagues and matchups count more than ever. This past week had its standouts, but also a number of under-performers that, surprisingly, featured star quarterbacks Drew Brees and Peyton Manning. Sticking with quarterbacks, help could be hard to find as popular waiver wire targets such as Colt McCoy…
Penn State has just one interior lineman in its lauded 2015 recruiting class in Steven Gonzalez, a four-star guard from Union City (N.J.) High School. The 6-3, 305-pound prospect said he is 100 percent committed to the Nittany Lions and doing his part to lure other big-time offensive linemen from both the 2015 and 2016 recruiting classes. Gonzalez said James Franklin made all the difference when he gave his verbal…
Penn State landed four-star cornerback Garrett Taylor over the weekend, as he committed the day after taking an official visit for the Michigan State game. While still considering LSU, Ohio State and Virginia Tech, Taylor swiftly pledged to James Franklin and gave him a big, versatile cornerback who is both talented and aggressive. Taylor’s winding recruitment ended in Happy Valley after first beginning with a commitment to Brady Hoke and…
The fantasy football playoffs are looming in a huge number of league formats, so the pressure is mounting to make late improvements to rosters with the hopes of building depth for a postseason run. And while the Week 14 waiver wire pool doesn’t feature a ton of immediate help, there are promising prospects available at all positions ranging from Johnny Manziel to Isaiah Crowell to Daniel “Boom” Herron and plenty…