Bill O Brien

STATE COLLEGE - Bill O'Brien isn't crazy. "This is a big game. For me to sit up here and say it's not a big game, you know, that's crazy," Penn State's head coach said at his weekly news conference on Tuesday. "It's Ohio State. " As Penn State (5-2, 3-0 Big Ten) prepares to host the Buckeyes (8-0, 4-0) at 5:30 on Saturday afternoon for the official Whiteout game, O'Brien is aware of the importance of the nationally-televised game. The winner will sit alone atop the Big Ten Leaders Division.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Their pregame handshake was brief and perfunctory. Don't read any animosity into the on-field exchange between Bill O'Brien and Urban Meyer. These two guys are all business. With Penn State and Ohio State tied before halftime Saturday night, a smart guy in the Beaver Stadium press box pointed out, "If O'Brien doesn't beat Urban now, he may never beat him. " Given the recruiting advantages Meyer and Ohio State will hold over O'Brien and Penn State, the observation wasn't snarky, merely accurate.

If football were art, you might say that Penn State's offense and defense have created some nice paintings this season, but its special teams have shown the potential to spill paint all over the finished product. Special teams on the Nittany Lions have been anything but special this season, and head coach Bill O'Brien isn't too happy about that. The Lions have struggled everywhere. They rank in the bottom 10 of the 120 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision in net punting (31.9-yard average, 117th)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Penn State coach Bill O'Brien told reporters after Saturday's win over Indiana that "there's no story there" regarding whether he'll be back at the same job next year or accept an offer to become an NFL coach if one is made. When given a chance, however, to assure Nittany Nation that he would return in 2013, he chose to speak about Wisconsin, the final opponent of the season next week. "That's not something that I even think about," he said. "I think about the fact that I'm the head coach at Penn State and I'm looking forward to getting this team ready for Wisconsin.

And so there they were, nose-to-nose, chin-to-chin, veins popping, eyes bulging, F-bombs detonating, hot at it - Tom Brady, the Wonder Boy, and . . . and . . . help me out here, who is that other guy in Brady's grille, anyway? Bill O'Brien. Who? This was Dec. 11, as the New England Patriots were beating the Washington Redskins, and, much to the camera's delight there was a snarling sideline dustup between Brady and . . . and . . . Bill O'Brien - that Bill O'Brien, then the Patriots' offensive coordinator, who the next time the camera lingers on him will be as the new head football coach of Pennsylvania State University, which is kind of a big deal, seeing as how there hasn't been a new one for 46 years.

Bill O'Brien was an unknown when he landed at the State College airport in January on the night before he was introduced as the successor to the legendary Joe Paterno as Penn State's football coach. That led to complaints from former Nittany Lions that he wasn't a Penn State guy and from many in Nittany Nation that O'Brien never had been a head coach at any level. And the players were apprehensive. "I didn't know who he was," defensive tackle Jordan Hill said. However, it didn't take the Nittany Lions long to buy into O'Brien's vision of how he intended to run the program after the Jerry Sandusky scandal and later the NCAA sanctions that knocked the team out of postseason play and reduced scholarships.

Inquirer sports intern Emily Kaplan, a Penn State senior from Montclair, N.J., has been named the Judges Award winner of a national essay competition sponsored by the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation. Approximately 30 universities nominate one senior for the competition based upon academic performance and a commitment to journalism. The foundation is named after the late, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist from the Los Angeles Times. Kaplan's essay on Penn State head football coach Bill O'Brien was judged best among the entries.

With at least seven NFL coaching vacancies needing to be filled after Monday's rash of firings, the name of Penn State coach Bill O'Brien has come up for most, if not all, of them. O'Brien, the former New England Patriots offensive coordinator, could have his choice of any job after earning national honors for leading the Nittany Lions to an 8-4 mark in his first season. As for whether he has been contacted, O'Brien's agent, Joe Linta, has not responded to a request for comment.

Ten months ago, Bill O'Brien was an anonymous NFL assistant best known as the man who got into a sideline screaming match with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. On Tuesday night, the 43-year-old was named the Big Ten coach of the year. The award was voted on by coaches and news media who cover the conference. O'Brien squelched any rumors that he might be leaving the Nittany Lions. He told an Atlanta radio station Tuesday that he plans to return next season. Defensive end Deion Barnes, a Philadelphia native, was honored as the Big Ten's freshman of the year.

The bottom had threatened to fall out of Penn State's highly rated recruiting class in the wake of "Black Monday," when the NCAA punished its football program with a four-year bowl ban, reduced scholarships, and other penalties in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child-abuse scandal. Within two weeks of the July 23 bombshell, five high school players who had orally committed to attend Penn State had backed out. Many others, including top quarterback prospect Christian Hackenberg, were exploring their options while being inundated with calls from rival FBS coaches.