By all accounts, Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark has reacted positively to every challenge he’s faced since arriving in State College in 2005. He came to PSU as an academic non-qualifier but he got his grades in order, became eligible, waited his turn for two seasons and then earned the starting spot late last summer following a highly competitive battle with Pat Devlin.

But Clark is now facing a new hurdle. The Nittany Lions suffered a heartbreaking 24-23 setback at Iowa and it was Clark’s first loss as the starter. The Youngstown, Ohio native struggled at Kinnick Stadium, which included an interception in the fourth quarter that the Hawkeyes turned into the game-winning field goal. And Clark took it very, very hard.

“This tested my will,” Clark said on Tuesday. “I did some soul searching on Sunday. The past couple games I really didn’t come to the party. We have two games left. What am I going to do to help this team? Am I going to step it up or just going to be mediocre, like I’ve been?

“It would be unacceptable for it to continue.”

Even though he admitted that there were countless mistakes committed by the Lions as a team, Clark shouldered most of the blame for what happened.

“I went through my little episode, where I was really hurt.” he said. “I talked to my dad. He let me know that everything is going to be all right.

“He doesn’t just sugarcoat it just because I’m his son. He said there were some mistakes, some bad throws made, but at the same time there were mistakes all over the place, so you can’t put everything on your shoulders the way I did.

“Naturally, as the quarterback and the way the game ended, you take it out on yourself. That is when he stepped in and consoled me.”

Clark needs to move past this, the first real adversity he’s faced as a key member of the team. He will have plenty opportunities to play his way out of this funk against a porous Indiana defense on Saturday. A win there and another the following week against Michigan State will give Clark the distinction of being just the third quarterback to guide Penn State to a Big Ten championship.

“We are prepared for every single game,” said Clark. “It’s just a matter of getting this damn thing done, pardon my language.”

He is clearly frustrated. But the sooner Clark is able to come to terms with what happened in Iowa, the sooner he’ll be able to focus on finishing out the season with a title and a berth in the Rose Bowl. – NEIL GEOGHEGAN.

The only disappointment associated with Penn State’s 13-6 road victory at Ohio State last Saturday was the reaction back in State College.

A rowdy crowd estimated at 1,500 gathered in the downtown area to celebrate PSU’s first triumph at Ohio Stadium in 30 years. And to nobody’s surprise, things quickly got out of hand. Fires were set, street signs were damaged, cars vandalized and storefront windows were smashed in the ensuing two and half hours.

“I don’t really (want to) call it a riot, but that’s what it turned into,” said Lydell Sargeant, PSU’s senior cornerback.

“We have the best fans in the country. It started out as a celebration, but a couple bad things happened and it turned into more. The majority of the fans who were out there didn’t do anything wrong. Just a couple rotten eggs in the bunch turned it sour.”

By the time the crowd finally dispersed at about 4 p.m. Sunday morning, 20 people had been arrested, 14 police officers were injured and the damage was estimated at $50,000.

“To destroy property and that kind of stuff is really not something that ought to be identified with a celebration,” said Penn State head coach Joe Paterno. “I was young once and probably did something stupid once in a while but you just hate to see them do that kind of thing.”

The unbeaten, third-ranked Nittany Lions need just three more wins to secure sole possession of the program’s second Big Ten Conference championship and a possible berth in the BCS National Championship Game. The next potential trouble date is Nov. 22, when PSU closes out the regular season against Michigan State, which is currently in second place, a full-game behind the Lions. And Paterno is already thinking about trying to head off a repeat of what happened last weekend.

“I think one of these days I’ve got to do something and talk to the kids and say: ‘Hey, look, it’s a big game,” Paterno said. “‘If we win it, everybody have a lot of fun, but don’t go downtown.’” – NEIL GEOGHEGAN.

bbIt’s not like Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark needs any extra motivation to beat Ohio State on Saturday. It’s the biggest game of his career, it will almost certainly determine the Big Ten champion and a loss would knock the unbeaten, third-ranked Nittany Lions out of the national championship picture. In addition, Clark hails from Youngstown, Ohio and was not recruited very hard by the Buckeyes.

But Clark did give a brief glimpse into his feelings about PSU’s unsuccessful recruitment last spring of a certain big-time quarterback prospect out of Western Pennsylvania. Terrelle Pryor ended up signing with Ohio State and will be Clark’s counterpart on Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

When Pryor picker OSU over Penn State (and Michigan), he said that State college was too rural for his tastes. He also mentioned that the lack of a succession plan for 81-year-old head coach Joe Paterno was an issue.

“I don't like that place,” he said of Happy Valley last March. “It's the country.”

On Wednesday, Clark certainly didn’t sound all that disappointed that Pryor spurned the Lions and ended up in Columbus.

“I resented (the comment about State College) being country and whatnot,” Clark said. “But that’s his though of this place. He decided to go to another school and it’s working out for him.

“I don’t have any bad blood. I went to one of (Pryor's) basketball games and talked to him after the game to try to get him to come here. He had other plans. You can only tell him what you want to tell him and the rest is up to him. He made his decision, and I can’t say it’s a bad one. He’s playing right now as a true freshman and doing well.”

It also worked out pretty well for PSU with Clark at the helm and Pat Devlin as a solid back-up. And Paterno is always talking up No. 3 Paul Cianciolo. Who knows what would have happened if Pryor had been added to an already crowded situation? – NEIL GEOGHEGAN.

Michigan football has a long standing and well earned reputation for arrogance. And it’s not just within the fan base but with the program itself.

That’s why it came as a surprise to absolutely no one when a Michigan player guaranteed a victory over No. 3 Penn State this Saturday in Happy Valley. It doesn’t matter that the 2-4 Wolverines lost to Toledo last weekend, that the unbeaten Nittany Lions are a whopping 24-point favorite or that the overconfident player is a wideout on a unit that ranks 109th in the nation in total offense. Arrogance is arrogance.

The player in question is freshman Daryll Stonum, who made the silly guarantee on his Facebook page this week. Stonum is a backup, and through six games he has a grand total of five receptions for 48 yards and zero touchdowns.

When asked about it, PSU’s senior wideout Derrick Williams offered a rather politically correct response, but it is one that Stonum could have used before posting his innermost thoughts on the world-wide web.

“If (Stonum) was on my team and he had that kind of confidence, I would want him to say it, but not publicly,” Williams said. – NEIL GEOGHEGAN.

He is a tri-captain and team leader, he leads all Penn State defensive linemen in solo tackles, he ranks among the top six in the Big Ten in sacks and he is probably the most versatile performer on a unit that is ranked eighth in the country in total defense.

So why isn’t more recognition and publicity coming Josh Gaines’ way?

“I’ve increased my play a lot since last year,” said Gaines, a fifth year senior from Fort Wayne, Ind. “I feel like I’m an all-around better player.”

The statistics back him up. But the 6-foot-1, 275-pound Gaines is playing under the radar and in the shadow of speedy ends Aaron Maybin and Maurice Evans.

“I do think he is (underappreciated),” agreed Nittany Lions’ head coach Joe Paterno.

“He does a good job. He’s a quiet, sure, very confident kid who rubs off in the rest of the football team. He rarely makes a mistake.”

When told about Paterno’s comments, Gaines said: “I haven’t heard or seen much recognition but coming from coach, that means a lot.”

Maybin leads the conference in sacks and is second nationally with seven. Evans was a pre-season All American and then garnered a lot of attention when he was suspended for three games – along with defensive tackle Abe Koroma – after police seized a small amount of marijuana from their apartment.

“I think (Gaines) is probably not gotten the kind of credit the other kids get because they are free-lancing most of the time on the outside,” Paterno explained.

Gaines is also an end, but his game just isn’t flashy. Plus, he’s played plenty of snaps at tackle, especially while Koroma was sidelined.

On Saturday at Purdue, Gaines made the 26th start of his career. So far this season, he is eighth on the team with 20 tackles, but 16 have been solo stops. And he’s added 3.5 sacks, three pass breakups and one quarterback hurry.

And then there are the intangibles you simply can’t measure.

“Half the people around here don’t even know who Gaines is,” Paterno said. “But he’s probably one of the stronger leaders on the team.” – NEIL GEOGHEGAN.

After Oregon State stunned the top-ranked Southern Cal, 27-21, on Thursday evening, Nittany Nation is even more confident on the eve of the Big Ten opener against Illinois. That’s because Penn State smacked those same Beavers just three weeks ago, 45-14, and because USC blasted Big Ten frontrunner Ohio State earlier this month.

But beware.

Comparing results from week to week is a futile endeavor. Just because team A beats B, and B tops C, it doesn’t necessarily mean that A is better than C. It just doesn’t work that way, and it would be counterproductive for anybody in Happy Valley to start thinking that PSU is somehow, all of the sudden, a better team than they were on Wednesday. If the players are thinking that, their title hopes could go up in flames on Saturday.

Looking too far ahead is very dangerous. Just ask Southern Cal, who seemed to sleepwalk through Thursday’s first half, fell into a 21-0 hole and never recovered.

What happened on Thursday doesn’t make Ohio State any easier to beat on the road Oct. 25. The Lions have yet to beat the Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium since joining the Big Ten 15 years ago.

And that carries a heck of a lot more weight than anything that happened in Corvallis, Ore., on Thursday. – NEIL GEOGHEGAN.

A lot of America absolutely loves bashing of the Big Ten Conference.

That is the only conclusion I can come to after listening to the never ending chorus of complaints about the league’s football teams. Yes, Ohio State got roughed up by USC last Saturday. Yes, the Buckeye’s deserved to drop out of the top-10. But the way so many people gleefully attack OSU’s program – and the Big 10 as a whole – has gotten way over the top.

First off, the Buckeyes were playing a road game, against the No. 1 team in the country and without its best player. And they were a double-digit underdog to begin with. The outcome was what just about everybody expected, so why all of the post-game darts and arrows?

In case you missed it, about 90 minutes after USC’s win, Wisconsin finished off a top-20 opponent, Fresno State, in one of the most impressive road wins of the young season. And earlier in the day, Penn State completely dismantled Syracuse by 42 points. But we don’t hear the same type of rhetoric about how bad the WAC or the Big East is.

Why is that? Is it jealousy? Nobody draws more fans year after year than the Big Ten. Nobody puts more financial support behind their programs. And nobody else has its own television network.

The Big Ten went 7-4 last weekend, including another head-to-head wins against the Big 12 (Iowa over Iowa State). Sure, there were disappointments, like Michigan’s big loss at Notre Dame, and Purdue’s overtime loss to Oregon. But the week before, the Big Ten went 11-0. And for the season, the Big Ten is 25-6 – that’s a .806 winning percentage.

I am not saying that the Big Ten is the nation’s best conference. Nobody is saying that. But can we get a little perspective here? Just because Ohio State lost a big game in September doesn’t mean they stink. Did USC stink when it lost at home to woeful Stanford in November?

And it certainly doesn’t mean that the Big Ten stinks either. In another Big Ten-Pac-10 clash a week earlier, the Nittany Lions pummeled Oregon State. Did anybody extrapolate that out to mean that the Pac 10 is terrible?

The Big Ten is always going to be one of the nation’s best football conferences – it’s a fact and it is not going to change. Right now, I’d say it is behind the SEC, the Big 12 and maybe the Pac 10, but nobody else.

Being third or fourth out of 11 is not exactly a disgrace. -- NEIL GEOGHEGAN.