July 21, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - Coach Joe Paterno and a trio of senior captains will represent Penn State at the 37th Annual Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon Festivities July 24-25 in Chicago.
Defensive end Josh Gaines (Ft. Wayne, Ind.), All-Big Ten center A.Q. Shipley (Coraopolis, Pa.) and wide receiver/kick returner Derrick Williams (Greenbelt Md.) will join Paterno at the prestigious event. Activities will be held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Chicago as the Big Ten prepares for its 113th season of football competition.
The Kickoff activities will include news conferences with every Big Ten head coach and players from each squad. Interviews with print and electronic media will take place on Thursday and Friday. The Kickoff Luncheon is Wednesday with ABC/ESPN's Brent Musburger serving as emcee. A sellout crowd of 1,800 will attend the Luncheon.
The Nittany Lions are entering their 16th season of Big Ten competition. Penn State has won 31 of its last 40 games, tied for eighth-best in the nation over that span. Last year, Penn State finished 9-4 and No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches poll, defeating Texas A&M in the Valero Alamo Bowl. The Nittany Lions are 9-2 in post-season contests since starting conference play in 1993.
In his 43rd season as head coach of the Nittany Lions, Paterno owns a 372-125-3 (74.7) career record. In his 59th year in Happy Valley, the Hall of Fame coach is second in all-time victories among major college coaches and third in winning percentage among active mentors. He has led Penn State to two national championships (1982, '86), five unbeaten and untied seasons (1968, '69, '73, '86, '94) and is the all-time leader in bowl appearances (34) and wins (23-10-1). He has guided the Nittany Lions to 16 appearances in one of the four bowls that comprise the Bowl Championship Series, earning a 12-4 record.
Paterno has produced more than 300 NFL players, 75 first team All-Americans, 36 ESPN The Magazine.CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 15 National Football Foundation Hall of Fame Scholar Athletes and 18 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners during his illustrious career. He has been selected the AFCA Coach of the Year an unprecedented five times, including 2005, when he led the Lions to an 11-1 record and the Big Ten and FedEx Orange Bowl titles.
Josh Gaines |
A two-year starter, Gaines played an important role in helping the Nittany Lions rank in No. 2 the nation in sacks and No. 7 in rushing defense in 2007. The only returnee on the defensive line with any significant experience going into last season, Gaines was instrumental in helping the unit make substantial progress. The former Northrop High School all-state selection has provided consistently strong play and good leadership the past two seasons. A 2007 honorable-mention All-Big Ten selection, Gaines recorded 40 tackles, with 5.0 TFL, including 2.5 sacks for minus-16 yards. Gaines, who comes from a family of 11 children, also had one forced fumble and one pass breakup.
A starter in all 26 games the past two seasons, Shipley anchors the offensive line. A hard-working leader for the offense, he has used his skills, tenacity and competitive nature to become one the top offensive linemen in the Big Ten. He was recognized by the conference coaches with his selection as the 2007 first-team All-Big Ten center is a candidate for the Rimington Award for the second consecutive year. The Coraopolis, Pa. native also is on the Watch List for the 2008 Rotary Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy. The former Moon Area High School standout was selected to the 2007 ESPN.com All-Bowl Team after the Nittany Lions ran for a season-high 270 yards in the 24-17 win over Texas A&M. He also made his first career reception against the Aggies, rumbling for four yards after snaring a deflected pass. He saw action on 997 snaps last season, fourth-highest on the team.
Williams enrolled at Penn State in January 2005 and has been a catalyst for the Nittany Lions as a receiver, returner and runner the past three seasons. The nation's top prep player in 2004, Williams is a three-year starter coming off a season when he made a team-high 55 receptions, tied for No 3 on the school season list. The immensely talented and hard-working athlete gained 1,121 all-purpose yards last year, second-highest on the team. He averaged a superlative 10.37 yards on his 108 touches. Williams continued to take on a larger role in the passing game, making a team-high 55 catches for 529 yards and three touchdowns. The former Eleanor Roosevelt HS All-American ranked third in the Big Ten in punt returns, averaging 11.0 yards on 23 returns. He swung the momentum of the Notre Dame clash with his electrifying, zig-zagging 78-yard touchdown return, earning the Pontiac Game Changing Performance for the second time in his outstanding career. Williams also averaged 6.3 yard! s per c arry with one score.
A candidate for the 2008 Biletnikoff and Maxwell awards and other post-season accolades, Williams made 25 receptions in the last four games, lifting him into a tied for No. 4 on the school career receptions chart with 117, along with classmate Jordan Norwood and Jack Curry (1965-67). The dynamic playmaker also is No. 15 in Penn State career receiving yards (1,258), needing 262 yards to crack the top 10.
Penn State returns 37 letterwinners and 16 starters for the 2008 season. The Nittany Lions will face eight bowl teams from 2007 this fall, including five at home.