Sports

By Derek Levarse dlevarse@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter
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STATE COLLEGE — The time of the call, according to Dan Connor’s cell phone, was 3:28 p.m.

That would be two minutes after the final whistle on Saturday, give or take a few seconds.

After taking a shower and coming out to do a few interviews, Connor still hadn’t listened to the voice mail. But he knew who it was from.

“I got a message from Paul on my phone right now,” Connor said of his former teammate Paul Posluszny. “But I haven’t checked it yet. I’ll probably have to give him a call and talk some trash.”

From one linebacker to another, Connor officially has reason to gloat to Posluszny after Saturday’s 26-19 win over Purdue. His 11 tackles vs. the Boilermakers were more than enough to claim Penn State’s career tackles record, as Connor now has 379 to top Posluszny’s 372.

It took 31 years for someone to break Greg Buttle’s mark of 343 when Posluszny finally accomplished the feat on Nov. 4, 2006.

“When Greg Buttle did that it was 30 years ago,” defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said with a certain level of awe in his voice. “To have a guy break it and then Dan break it a year later, that’s one of the great stats at Penn State. There have been so many great linebackers here, and to hold that record is a real credit to Dan.”

On injured reserve as an NFL rookie with the Buffalo Bills, Posluszny didn’t even get to hold Linebacker U’s most hallowed record for a full year, as Connor wrestled it away on Saturday, recording a solo tackle on Purdue’s Jaycen Taylor with 9:37 remaining in the third quarter.

“It means so much, it’s unbelievable,” Connor said. “This is where you go if you want to play middle linebacker out of high school. To have this record, it’s a great feeling. It’s a big burden off my back to not have to think about it or answer questions about it (any more).”

All of this from one of the nation’s top recruits out of Strath Haven High School, who chose the Nittany Lions just after they had finished their worst season ever under Joe Paterno -- a 3-9 mark in 2003.

Even if Connor hadn’t set the record, that fact alone ensured Paterno would have saved a special place in his memory for big No. 40.

"He’s one of those kids that came in here when we were really struggling,” Paterno said. “Obviously he’s an outstanding football player. Really outstanding.”

Incredibly, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the record could change hands again next year. Junior Sean Lee has been matching Connor tackle-for-tackle this season and has 205 on his career. With a strong finish, Lee could set himself up to take a crack at it in 2008.

Even on Saturday, Lee managed to overshadow his teammate. He had one more tackle (12) on the day and forced two fumbles -- the first of which he stole at the goal line to prevent Purdue from taking a 17-3 lead late in the first quarter. The Boilermakers never recovered.

“(Sean) made a lot of great plays today,” Bradley said. “He’s a great football player and I really don’t think people realize how much he does for our football team. He does so much on the run and the pass. It’s a great job by him. I’d like to tell you that we work on stripping the ball at the goal line all week, but we don’t. I think a lot of that is on his own.”