Beaver Stadium

Penn State coach Joe Paterno announced Wednesday night that freshman Robert Bolden will be the starting quarterback in Saturday's season opener against Youngstown State at Beaver Stadium. It marks the first time in Paterno's 45-year tenure as head coach that a true freshman will start the opening game. The 6-foot-3, 221-pound Bolden, from Orchard Lake, Mich., beat out sophomores Kevin Newsome and Matt McGloin for the honor of starting the opener. But Paterno indicated that Newsome or McGloin, or both, will see action on Saturday.

All-America linebacker Dan Connor, quarterback Anthony Morelli and wide receiver Terrell Golden have been elected football captains by their Penn State teammates. Golden is the most interesting of the selections since he is not expected to be a starter this season. He will be the only senior among the wide receivers, but had just six receptions for 120 yards last season. His leadership skills have emerged since the team convened in January for offseason workouts. He won the Red Worrell Award as the offense's most improved player in spring practice.

Penn State will play Indiana next season at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., the schools announced today. The game, scheduled to be Indiana's home game, will be played Nov. 20. The Hoosiers travel to Beaver Stadium this season Nov. 14. "We are very excited about the opportunity to play the 2010 Indiana football game at FedExField, one of the nation's premier sports facilities," Penn State athletic director Tim Curley said in a statement....

With the euphoria from last Saturday night's impressive 40-7 victory over Nebraska still hanging in the Happy Valley air, Penn State coach Joe Paterno got to worrying. Worrying that the 15th-ranked Nittany Lions might be thinking that they're all that. Worrying that they might perceive today's opponent, Louisiana Tech, as easy prey. So in an effort to plant his players' feet back on the ground, the 75-year-old coach preached one of his favorite warnings: You're never as good as you think you are when you win, never as bad as you think you are when you lose.

Northwestern running back Dennis Lundy, his school's all-time leading rusher with 3,076 yards, will not play in today's game against Penn State at Beaver Stadium. Coach Gary Barnett suspended Lundy for "violating team rules. " Penn State starting hero (safety) Cliff Dingle will not play either. He injured his knee in last Saturday's win over Illinois and will undergo surgery next week. Dingle, a senior with another year of eligibility remaining, is out for next Saturday's home game with Michigan State and is not likely to be able to play in the Jan. 2 Rose Bowl against Oregon or Southern California.

ESPN's "College GameDay" will air from Penn State this weekend, site of the 24th-ranked Nittany Lions' game against No. 1 Ohio State. The show is broadcast from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, with live reports throughout the day and on Friday. The public is invited to attend. This is the fourth visit to Penn State by "College Gameday," with Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit. ESPN Radio's "College GameDay" also airs from outside Beaver Stadium, from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday.

The only thing Joe Paterno likes more than "preseason" games is bowl games. His teams do equally well in both. For the second consecutive year, Penn State will be in one of the traditional "preseason" games when it plays Southern California on Sunday, Aug. 27, in the Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium. The game will be nationally televised by ABC. Last year, Penn State buried Arizona, 41-7, in the Pigskin Classic, which was played at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions beat USC, 24-7, in the 1996 Kickoff Classic.

The NCAA president says his organization would have investigated Penn State's handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal if the university had not commissioned its own investigation, according to a report. CBSSports.com reported that Mark Emmert, speaking at the Division I Faculty Athletics Representatives annual meeting on Monday, said the NCAA's investigation likely would not have begun until the spring and would have lasted a year. Penn State hired a firm run by former FBI director Louis Freeh to investigate the matter in November.

Anthony Stanko acknowledged he liked what he saw of Penn State during a recruiting visit to Beaver Stadium for the Nittany Lions' victory over Michigan last October. When the 6-5, 302-pound offensive lineman from Howland High in Warren, Ohio, made the 3-hour drive with his parents to State College this past Saturday, his good feelings about the place were further confirmed, so much so that he orally committed on the spot. Stanko, rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com, thus becomes the first member of Penn State's 2012 recruiting class.

"Run the ball, run the ball. " That's what Kevin Conlin and his linemates were telling Joe Paterno as Penn State started to lose touch with Ohio State late in the third quarter last Saturday. A decade ago, there would have been no need to tell Paterno to run the ball. That's what his teams did, what he did. Times have changed, and the coach has changed with them. He wants balance, abhors predictability. But the Penn State passing game simply wasn't working against the Buckeyes.