Penn State

rose bowl

By Derek Levarse dlevarse@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter
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LOS ANGELES — After a rash of injuries early on in the season, Penn State has managed to stay fairly healthy as the season wound down.

Headed into Thursday’s Rose Bowl matchup against USC, the Nittany Lions’ only lingering injury has been the left foot of Jordan Norwood.

The senior receiver said he was injured in the regular season finale against Michigan State and that it had been bothering him ever since. He fully plans to start and play on Thursday.

“It’s going to be fine,” Norwood said Monday. “I took some time off of it while we were back home, but I’m going to be good to go.”

Norwood took it easy in the weeks following the win over the Spartans, participating lightly in the team’s December practices before heading out to California last week.

He estimated that his foot isn’t quite at full strength but isn’t about to let it affect his final game in a Penn State uniform, as he has been practicing regularly this week.

The soft-spoken wideout emerged as Daryll Clark’s top target during the non-conference schedule, leading the team in catches and yards through the first four games. But a hamstring injury suffered in practice before the Big Ten opener against Illinois kept him out for two games and his production tailed off a bit in favor of Derrick Williams and Deon Butler as the season went on.

Penn State has no other recent injuries to report, leaving them without only the same long-term issues – Sean Lee, Jerome Hayes, Brent Carter and Doug Klopacz are all recovering from torn knee ligaments and safety Nick Sukay had foot surgery and hasn’t played this year.

Trojans short two starters?

USC hasn’t been as fortunate since the season ended.

The Trojans will almost certainly be without safety Kevin Ellison for the Rose Bowl, as the senior suffered a knee injury in his last game against UCLA earlier this month. Ellison had teamed with Taylor Mays to form one of the best safety tandems in the country.

Junior Will Harris may start in Ellison’s place.

Another recent development for the Trojans is the availability of fullback Stanley Havili, who is recovering from an injured ankle and may miss the game because of academic issues. His status for the Rose Bowl is still up in the air.

Though the fullback position isn’t the first one that comes to mind when one thinks of the high-powered USC offense, coordinator Steve Sarkisian has utilized Havili often this season, particularly as a reliable target in the passing game.

So much so that USC would likely put another pass catcher in the backfield in Havili’s place if needed, moving tight end Rhett Ellison into that spot.

Hall staying put

With a new three-year contract in tow, Joe Paterno isn’t retiring anytime soon. And that goes for offensive coordinator Galen Hall as well.

Hall sounded quite a bit like Paterno on Monday when he said he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he left.

“I just think it’s a competitive spirit in me that I’m not ready to leave,” Hall said.

One of his receivers, Deon Butler, had a different theory.

“I think it’s because of me,” the senior deadpanned. “I think he’s sticking around because he loves coaching me so much.”

Of course, Hall fully plans to be back for next season, even though Butler will have graduated.

As he’s said a few times in the past, Hall reiterated that he’ll likely remain at Penn State until Paterno retires, at which point he imagines he’ll follow suit.

Time served

Three Penn State starters were back in their familiar jerseys again in practice on Monday after serving brief punishments.

Defensive end Aaron Maybin, center A.Q. Shipley and guard Rich Ohrnberger had all been wearing the green (offense) and red (defense) jerseys of the second team in the past few practices for apparent violations of team rules.

Penn State officials wouldn’t elaborate but said that any possible transgressions were minor. All three were back with the first team in a practice out at the Home Depot Center complex in Carson, Calif., where the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team plays.