Hahn waived

According to a report in the Contra Costa Times, former Penn State fullback Matt Hahn was waived by the Oakland Raiders today.

Hahn was picked up by the Raiders after the draft and was officially signed two days ago. He dropped a pass at mini camp over the weekend. Hahn was coming off a torn ACL which forced him to miss the last part of the 2007 season.

I’ll be honest, the move isn’t shocking as you see so many guys cut as teams try to make the 80-man limit….but Hahn was one of the best people to talk to on the team. His recovery was nothing short of heroic in a way. How many guys would tear an ACL in October and be in mini-camp in May? Not too many.

He’s one guy who’s always been cordial with the media, kept his mouth shut and did his job and you don’t see that too often from a guy who received a lot of praise in high school.

 

Handful of Lions sign FA contracts

The day after the NFL draft is usually one of the busiest on the NFL calander. Undrafted rooks aplenty are putting ink to paper all over the league.

It’s no different today for a group of former Penn State Nittany Lion football players.

Athony Morelli, Matt Hahn, Terrell Golden and Austin Scott all inked deals with various teams.

Morelli was signed by the Arizona Cardinals, and there’s been some interesting talk out of Cardinals camp regarding the signing.

“He has all the tools you look for in a QB; an athletic body, very strong throwing arm and far better movement then I had expected, but is acutely under coached and unprepared for the job of being a professional QB.

Has a violent overhand delivery and when he’s on his game has as much ability as anyone in the draft. Can make all the throws; out, dig, fade and comeback. Going to have to start from have to start from square one with this player, but has a big upside. A 6th – 7th round steal

That’s from the website AZRedReport.com which covers the Cards.

Interesting that in the same article Morelli kind of ho-hums his time with the Nittany Lions saying he “made the best of it,” which is somewhat of a hidden slap to some of the coaches, if you ask me. Of course part of that is also how he was treated off the field.

My take? I think the kid is going to make it in the NFL for some time to come. Something tells me he will be on a roster for a handful of years. Now whether or not he stays with the Cards and ever gets a chance behind Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner, I don’t know. The Cards also had Tim Hasselback, Tim Rattay and Brian St. Pierre behind those two on their depth chart in 2007.

If he stays in the right system and responds to coaches the way he needs to in order to be successful, he could be OK.

The most interesting signing is Scott, who was cleared of rape charges two weeks ago and was picked up *before* Rodney Kinlaw. In fact as of this posting, Kinlaw has not signed anywhere.

Hahn, coming off a torn ACL in the Indiana game last year landed with the Raiders and Golden signed with the Eagles.

 

 

Nittany Notes; Title game pick

There is minimal news on the PSU front as of this blogging at 10:45 am EDT.

One little tidbit, we understand per some of our sources that Kevin Hahn has transferred from Monmouth to PSU and is eligible to play in 2009. Kevin is the younger brother of fullback Matt Hahn, who graduates this year.

Matt is still recovering from ACL surgery after tearing the ligament at Indiana last season.

According to one recruiting website, the younger Hahn drew interesting from PSU when he was coming out of high school.

BCS NATIONAL TITLE

Tonight from New Orleans, the All-State BCS National Title game takes place between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 LSU.

You can’t really say you’ve been waiting for this game considering both teams backed into the title game since no one else apparently wanted to play in New Orleans.

Never the less, the experts have pegged LSU a 3.5 point favorite in the game tonight, and they probably should be favored, playing at home in the Big Easy.

BIG TIME BRUTUS: They have a gigantic offensive line, headed up by pro prospects Kirk Barton and Alex Boone. Their running game is physical, and Todd Boeckman is the same type of guy Craig Krenzel was….you know, the kind that doesn’t lose the game and all he does is make plays. I love the Buckeyes secondary too.

 BAYOU BLITZ: What else do you need to know about LSU aside from the fact they play in the best conference in America, and they’ve been in the close, nip-tuck game all season. Top to bottom, they have the make up of a title team. A fast D, a deceptively high powered offense. Plus Mike the Tiger is a pretty cool mascot.

For the Buckeyes to win: They must control the game offensively with long, physical drives wearing down the LSU defense. The longer the Buckeyes keep their defense off the field and rested, the better. First downs are critical to the Buckeyes success tonight.  And if they do that, they win.

For the Tigers to win: They must beat up Ohio State’s receivers in coverage, not allow first downs and force Boeckman to make critical mistakes, something he rarely, if at all did this season. Tigers D-line must be aggressive unlike in losses to LSU and Ar-Kansas.

The Key Matchup: There’s two we really like tonight. (1) LSU’s Glenn Dorsey against that huge Buckeyes offensive line; (2) LSU receiver Early Doucet vs. Buckeyes corner Malcolm Jenkins. That’s some serious Sunday talent in those two matchups.

The Uh-Oh Factor: Ohio State has lost eight in a row to SEC teams. I doubt it plays much into what they do tonight, but you never know….one thing goes wrong, snowballs start forming….

The Switch Factor: When does Les Miles go to backup QB Ryan Perrilloux? What if Matt Flynn has an MVP type game, how do you pull him for even a series? What if they can’t get Perrilloux off? LSU isn’t shy about using two QBs, but if one is hot, you ride that hand, not switch.

The Call: I thought when the Buckeyes blasted PSU this season it was the best team I’ve seen in Beaver Stadium since the 2001 Miami team….the one that had something like 52 guys make NFL rosters.

I still stand by the fact that OSU is the better team in this game because I like their physical style and I also like the fact that this LSU team is better suited for OSU’s style unlike last year against Florida.

It’s very tight early, but Boeckman shoots one downfield to Ray Small who makes a sleeping LSU D pay for it and that’s the difference. Ohio State 23, LSU 16

 

 

Paterno Tuesday

Joe Paterno just wrapped up his weekly teleconference with the media.

Among the highlights.

-Thinks James Laurinanitias is similar to Connor, Lee, maybe a little bigger. But he is a smart, fine player, he’s alert to the play.

-Regarding Matt Hahn’s injury, Paterno said “Dan Lawlor’s going to have to do it,” Paterno also mentioned that walk-on Larry Federoff could get some reps. Paterno said that Lawlor has all the things to be a fine fullback but he needs to step up to the plate this weekend.

-Doesn’t think Mike Lucian will play this week against Ohio State.

-Saturday is more interesting for the fans, if they are good enough to win, they will.

-Joe thinks Justin King played well, he was concerned for him going into the Indiana game last week, he had a tough assignment.

-Credits Tressel by saying he’s a great coach and has a fine staff.

-Joe isn’t sure how playing a night game once already this season will help his team Saturday, but he doesn’t believe it will hurt them.

-Mike Gross of the Sunday News had the best question of the session, asking if it’s tough to keep injured players on the up and up. Joe said it absolutely is and that some of that goes to the position coaches. (Note: interesting question because you have to wonder how a kid like Matt Hahn is doing, given that he is done as a player. At least Jared Odrick has two more years.)

Today’s must read link comes from the Daily News in Philadelphia, which conducted an interview with Austin Scott.

You can read that right here.