But we already knew that, right? (via GoPSUSports)

More photos » PAT LITTLE - AP

10 months ago: Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark, center, streches during spring football practice on Friday, March 27, 2009 in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Pat Little)

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There has been a TON of activity lately in the college football world, with breaking news happening on an almost daily occurrence. Rick Stockstill stunned the college football world by announcing he WOULD NOT be leaving Middle Tennessee State to become the next head coach at East Carolina. The previous day, huge news broke when it was announced that Houston coach Kevin Sumlin had agreed to a contract extension through 2015.

Wait, those aren't big stories? The bowl season is over, and the 2010 season is 226 days away? Oh, well then the following will have to satisfy you this week. Stay tuned next week for such potentially riveting headlines as "Skip Holtz has a Hangnail" or "Texas Tech Files 12(b)(6) Motion Against Mike Leach."

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Jay Paterno has been writing columns all over the internet (and maybe in print, but I wouldn't have noticed). They've been getting better, too.

The most recent one is even kind of newsworthy:

Broken Promises, Useless Contracts: The Current State of Coaching

Both cliché and totally accurate.

[I]n 1966 Joe Paterno shook hands with Penn State President Eric Walker and was told the pay was $20,000 a year.

There were no negotiations, no agents, no buyout clauses, and he was a tenured member of the faculty. Tenure was a bit of a safety net - and a reminder that the coach was part of an academic institution and not bigger than the institution.

This is no understatement. Football coach at a place like Penn State was no rock star gig. JoePoz gets to that on internet-page two. Paterno felt called to something that no egomaniac would have really thought much of back then.

The past few days have seen seismic movements in the world of college football coaching where vacancies have occurred at two of the more notable programs in the country.

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More photos » Don Ryan - AP

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Like most college graduates, I didn't start out at the top in my first job. In order to start paying back those student loans I took a job as an operator in a chemical plant. It was a great experience that really benefits me as an engineer now, but at the time it wasn't very glamorous. I was doing shift work, so there were many nights when I would be standing out in the cold at 3 AM, the wind knifing through my blue jeans and long underwear, as I tried to get a pump primed or I tried to thaw out a valve with an ice ball the size of a microwave on it. I still remember the day I was mopping the floor in the men's room when a driver walked in and started laughing.

"I bet your parents would be so proud if they could see you now. Four years of college, and here you are on the night shift mopping piss off the floor," he bellowed.

"Shows what you know," I shot back. "I was in college for five years.."

But I digress. I bring up this story because I had a boss who got the bright idea one day he was going to give a reward to the operator that could make the most argon. It sounds like a great theory in principle. Reward the guy that performs the best. But it ended up backfiring.

When you're part of a 24 hour shift rotation, you depend on the guy before you to hand you off a stable process. You're counting on him to hand off a plant that is operating as well or better than he found it, and someone else is counting on you to hand off a stable plant to them. Well, when my boss instituted this program, it gave people incentive to screw the next guy. They did this buy pulling off more argon than the plant could really produce. You can do this for a few hours, but do it for too long and eventually you have to pay the piper. Think of it this way: if you're putting one gallon of water per minute into a swimming pool, but someone opened the drain and you're losing two gallons per minute, eventually you are going to run out of water. So many a night I came in to work, and about an hour into my shift everything got unstable because the guy that worked the shift before me cheated and pulled off more argon than the plant could handle. Basically, I was following the Pete Carroll of air separation.

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Three quick questions...

Is the Big Ten back baby woo wooo yeah?!

I always hated the conference bashing, and so I have no drive to partake in the chest pounding.

But this post-season was impressive.  Oregon was beat by a tougher team that could control the clock.  Georgia Tech looked like little school children on offense fighting against Iowa's defensive line.  LSU lost a slug-fest you don't normally have to play in the south (while probably much worse, there are comparisons between playing in that pig pasture in Florida and on a snowy, icy field in Pennsylvania).  

All three of the top Big Ten teams were Vegas dogs, and all three won in games where the score didn't really tell the story: Ohio State outgained Oregon by 159 yards, Penn State outgained LSU by close to 100, Wisconsin picked up 181 more than Miami, and Iowa held GT to 155 total yards and put up over 400.

They were routes, really, and the three losses that went along with themweren't anything to be embarrassed about.  I'm not going to start the "Big Ten Rulez" chants in my section anytime soon, but I think we can put to rest the idea that an undefeated Big Ten team isn't as or more deserving of an MNC bid than any unbeaten in the country.

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Carolyn Kaster - AP

4 months ago: Penn State quarterback Kevin Newsome runs for a touchdown against Eastern Illinois during the second half of their NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. Penn State won 52-3. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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You thought the quarterback controversycompetition between Daryll Clark and Pat Devlin in 2008 was pretty intense? You ain't seen nothing yet. Somewhere between four to six players will be fighting to stick their hand under Stefen Wisniewski's butt and take that first snap against Indiana State next September. The contenders will include a couple true freshmen, a redshirt walkon sophomore that earned himself a scholarship, a journeyman wide receiver that started out as a quarterback, and a speedy true sophomore that played sparingly at wide receiver in 2009, but starred as a quarterback in high school and had more touchdown passes this year than the true freshman quarterback that served as Daryll Clark's backup.

You have to figure Kevin Newsome has the inside track to take over for Daryll Clark. He served as the primary backup all season, but he saw very little playing time and had more rushing attempts (20) than pass attempts (11). Newsome didn't exactly tear it up in his 11 pass attempts, but he didn't suck either completing 8 of them for 66 yards. He had no interceptions or touchdowns, but then by the time he saw the field the game was well in hand and Paterno had called off the dogs. So we never really got to see what he could do.

At one point this season after watching Newsome play I commented he reminded me a lot of Michael Robinson. Like Robinson, his throwing mechanics leave much to be desired, but he's an electrifying runner. He has tremendous burst seemingly going from stand still to top speed in two steps. He's a big, physical player that hits a hole hard and lowers his shoulder to get that extra yard. It doesn't hurt that he wears Robinson's old number 12 either.

If you believe in the Paterno Doctrine, Newsome will take over as the starter next year simply for no other reason than he was the backup this year and now it's his turn. That may be the case, and if it is, the race for the backup spot will be even more entertaining.

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It was a heck of a run.  Pre-bowl game thoughts from the comments at ATVS:

His 4-0 Record at LSU, along with a 157-44 scoring advantage in those games, makes him a legend IMO.

And so it's sad that, after Bobby Bowden The Other Bowl Legend retired to much fanfare and things like this:

...Leslie Edwin "Les" Miles ended his career as a Bowl Legend with nothing more than some poor clock management, a lot of mud, and a two point loss to some guy name Joe Paterno.

So let's take a good look back at the humble beginning, long established glory, and substance of what made this man such a Master of the Money-Grab Game, a true Patron of the Postseason, such a Gutsy Scuffler of the Glorified Scrimmage.

It all started with The Beginnings.

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More photos » John Raoux - AP

about 1 month ago: Penn State players celebrate after defeating LSU 19-17 in the Capital One Bowl NCAA college football game in Orlando, Fla., Friday, Jan. 1, 2010.(AP Photo/John Raoux)

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And so ends the 2009 season. Like all seasons, there were highs and lows. There were moments of disappointmen, and moments of euphoria. There were times when we felt like we were on top of the world. And there were times when it seemed like nothing made sense. These are the moments that make college football so glorious. So wonderful. If I ever see the fans of an NFL team rush the field, it will be the first time. Nothing compares to college sports.

Thank you, and congratulations to the 2009 Penn State football team for ending on a high note. A few weeks ago I opined that this was the forgettable season. Embarassing losses to Ohio State and Iowa sandwiched with uncompetitive wins over teams like Temple, Syracuse, Illinois, Indiana, and Akron made for a season void of memories worth remembering. There was not a single game, win or lose, that was decided by less than 11 points. But the Capital One Bowl and LSU changed all of that, and gave Penn State fans a win for the ages. Thanks for that.

Before I continue, I just have to say it's a shame that the condition of the field and the officiating took away from the game. I won't say it was the worst officiating ever, but it was clear that the officials had no control of the game. LSU fans are pointing at the quesionable personal foul penalty at the game, but it was more than that. There were questionable spots, like when Derek Moye caught a pass one yard past the first down line that got marked a yard BEHIND the line. There were blown holding calls, like when the LSU left tackle put an arm around Navorro Bowman's neck and tackled him to the ground on a blitz. There were times it looked like the officials either didn't know the rules or couldn't remember which down it was, like when Daryll Clark got called for intentional grounding on first down and all the sudden it was fourth down for Penn State. And is there a new rule that says every fumble or diving catch has to be reviewed? It's hard to enjoy a game when each drive is stopped twice to look at a play.

And how about the field conditions? What was up with that? I know it's n ot the Rose Bowl or anything, but that field was an embarassment by any standard. They would have been better off if they ripped off the sod the week before and just played on dirt. Thank God nobody was hurt as a result of that slop.

There's a lot of discussion going on about Daryll Clark's legacy. I won't get into that too much, but I think with time it will speak for itself. He leaves with just about every Penn State passing record despite only starting two seasons. He won a Big Ten title, and only lost four games in two years. And now with a win over a top 15 opponent, you can't say he doesn't have a big win. He may not go down as the greatest Penn State quarterback ever, but I don't see how you can't put him in the top five.

But enough negativity. What a great win for Penn State. The Nittany Lions already have enough questions going into 2010. We'll get into all that in the weeks to come, but it's good to go into the offseason with a confidence booster. Instead of looking inward and focusing on what's wrong with the program, we can all feel good about which direction we're going and just focus on looking ahead.


Go State! Hit the offseason!