July 8, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Coach Joe Paterno and a trio of senior standouts will represent Penn State at the 38th Annual Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon Festivities, July 27-28 in Chicago.
All-Big Ten quarterback Daryll Clark (Youngstown, Ohio), all-conference linebacker Sean Lee (Pittsburgh) and All-Big Ten defensive tackle Jared Odrick (Lebanon) 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 114th 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 both days. The Kickoff Luncheon is July 28, with a sellout crowd of 1,800 expected to attend.
The Nittany Lions are entering their 17th season of Big Ten competition. Penn State has earned one of the nation's Top 10 records since the start of the 2005 season, posting a 40-11 (78.4) mark, good for No. 9 nationally. The Nittany Lions finished No. 8 in the nation last year with an 11-2 record, earning their 22nd Top 10 finish under Coach Joe Paterno. The Nittany Lions are 9-3 in post-season contests since starting conference play in 1993.
In his 44th season as head coach of the Nittany Lions, Paterno owns a 383-127-3 (74.9) career record. In his 60th year in Happy Valley, the Hall of Fame coach is the all-time victories leader 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 (35) and wins (23-11-1). He has guided the Nittany Lions to 17 appearances in one of the four bowls that comprise the Bowl Championship Series, earning a 12-5 record.
Paterno has produced more than 350 NFL players, 76 first team All-Americans, 42 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. Paterno has been named Big Ten Dave McClain Coach of the Year three times, including 2008, when he led the Nittany Lions to an 11-2 mark, the Big Ten title and a berth in the Rose Bowl. In his first year as the starting signal-caller, the talented and dynamic Clark quickly demonstrated consistently strong play, leadership and toughness. He led the Nittany Lions to the 2008 Big Ten title and national championship contention with an 11-2 record. Clark was the runner-up in voting for the 2008 Silver Football, presented by the Chicago Tribune to the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player. He also was among the semifinalists for the Maxwell and Davey O'Brien awards and should be a strong candidate for both honors and other national awards this season.
Clark completed 192-of-321 attempts for 2,592 yards last year, the third-highest passing yardage season in Penn State history. A poised, accurate and strong-armed passer, he tossed 19 touchdown passes and only six interceptions in his 321 attempts for a superlative 1.86 interception percentage that ranked as the fourth-lowest in school season annals. The former Ursuline High School standout was third on the squad with 282 yards on 79 attempts (3.6) and had 10 rushing touchdowns. Among the numerous school records he broke in 2008 was the season touchdowns responsible for mark, as his 29 scores (19 passing, 10 rushing) eclipsed Michael Robinson's record of 28 in 2005.
Clark graduated last December, earning his telecommunications degree in 3 1/2 years. A 2009 co-captain with Lee, Clark participated in Commencement exercises in May, and is working on a second degree,
Having lost seven starters from the 2008 defense, the Nittany Lions will get a critical boost with return of fifth-year senior Lee. He missed last season when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during an April 2008 practice. Lee will team with returning starters Navorro Bowman and Josh Hull and several gifted underclassmen to again give "Linebacker U" one of the top units in the nation.
A 2009 second team pre-season All-American by Phil Steele's College Football, Lee delivered a superlative junior season in 2007 that saw him record 138 tackles. He earned All-Big Ten and Defensive MVP honors in the 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl. His 138 stops were No. 5 on the Penn State season list and he ranked No. 2 in tackles in the Big Ten behind teammate Dan Connor. Lee enters the season with 239 career stops, needing 17 to crack the school's Top 10, and with a very realistic chance of joining Connor and Paul Posluszny as the top three tacklers in program history.
The former Upper St. Clair High School standout was on the practice field every day last season, assisting linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden and providing tips, reminders and guidance to the unit. In addition to being a candidate for the Butkus, Rotary Lombardi and numerous post-season football awards, Lee also will be an Academic All-Big Ten candidate this year. He is on schedule to graduate in December.
Odrick earned first team All-Big Ten accolades in 2008 and has been named a pre-season All-American by Sporting News, Phil Steele's and Athlon College Football. A Rotary Lombardi Award candidate, Odrick played an instrumental role in Penn State being ranked in the Top 10 nationally in three of the four primary defensive categories last season, including No. 8 in rushing defense at 93.2 yards per game. He recorded 41 tackles, with 9.5 TFL (minus-33), 4.5 sacks, one forced fumble and three pass breakups last year.
A former Parade and U.S. Army All-American from Lebanon High School, Odrick delivered one of the biggest defensive plays of the 2008 season. With the score tied, 17-17, in the third quarter, Odrick brought down Michigan quarterback Nick Sheridan in the end zone for a safety, giving Penn State its first lead and sending the Homecoming crowd in Beaver Stadium into a frenzy in the eventual 46-17 thumping. He posted a career-high sßix tackles, with 2.5 TFL against the Wolverines. Odrick also is on schedule to graduate in December, doing so in 3 1/2 years.
Penn State returns 37 letterwinners and 10 starters for the 2009 campaign. The Nittany Lions host Akron on Sept. 5 (12:00 p.m., Big Ten Network) to open the season.
--NITTANY LIONS--