This early portion of the offseason has not been short on accomplishments for the Penn State football team, as yesterday Jordan Hill notched an invite to the 64th annual Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama on January 26th.
It was a successful recruiting weekend in Happy Valley as Penn State hosted its verbal commits for the 2013 Class and received four additional commitments today in linebacker Zayd Issah, linebacker Jonathan Walton, defensive back Anthony Smith, and receiver DeaSean Hamilton.
The awards keep rolling in for the Nittany Lions, as Bill O'Brien was selected as the AT&T ESPN Coach of the Year, and Michael Mauti was named to the ESPN All-American team as of Saturday night.
Penn State and Pittsburgh, two storied interstate rivals, announced an agreement that would extend their non-conference series to 2019. The Nittany Lions and Panthers are now scheduled to meet annually on the gridiron from 2016 to 2019. Pittsburgh will host Penn State in 2016 and 1018, while Beaver Stadium will be the site of the 2017 and 2019 games.
Penn State joined Notre Dame as the only college football program with two first-team Academic All-American honorees as junior guard John Urschel and senior defensive end Pete Massaro were both selected to the Capital One Division I team.
After becoming a folk hero in State College this year, Craig Fitzgerald is receiving a bit of national attention. He is one of the three finalists for the 2012 Strength and Conditioning Coach of the year award by the Football Scoop website.