Jared Odrick

Penn State senior co-captain Daryll Clark spent this week as a counselor at the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp at Soka University in Aliso Viejo, Calif. The camp is held for the top college and high school players. Clark, who was first team All-Big Ten last season, was one of seven college and professional counselors, along with Chase Daniel (Missouri/Washington Redskins); Cody Hawkins (Colorado); Colt McCoy (Texas); Zac Robinson (Oklahoma State); Mark Sanchez (USC/New York Jets)

Apparently, one season was enough. Penn State defensive end Aaron Maybin will declare himself eligible for April's NFL draft, according to multiple reports. Maybin informed coach Joe Paterno and defensive line coach Larry Johnson of his decision on Thursday. His family plans to make a formal announcement soon. A message left at the home of Mike Maybin, Aaron's father, was not returned yesterday. A redshirt sophomore, Maybin has two years of college eligibility remaining.

Penn State senior defensive tackle Devon Still (Wilmington) has earned a major addition to his growing list of accolades with his selection as the Big Ten Nagurski-Woodson defensive player of the year. Also named the conference's Smith-Brown defensive lineman of the year, Still becomes the fifth Nittany Lion to be selected Big Ten defensive player of the year since 1998. Still joins an elite group of former Nittany Lions, all of whom were first-team all-Americans: linebacker LaVar Arrington (1998)

MIAMI - Tom Brady sat on the bench, his sweat-soaked hair hanging in his face as he fumed about his first interception in nearly 11 months. A little later he was back in the same seat wearing a wide grin as teammates congratulated him on a record-setting performance. Brady shook off a rare turnover to throw for a team-record 517 yards and four touchdowns, including a 99-yarder to Wes Welker, and the New England Patriots started with a victory for the eighth consecutive season last night by beating the Miami Dolphins, 38-24.

STATE COLLEGE - Members of the Penn State defense understandably exude a lot of confidence. The unit has been solid all season and posted its best effort Saturday in a 20-0 victory over Minnesota. "This game really was a game where from the start, we were going to dominate this team," linebacker Navorro Bowman said. "That's the type of attitude we came out here with. We weren't going to let this team get anything. We weren't going to give them anything. The outcome is what we expected.

Jared Odrick spent pretty much the entire 2009 Penn State football season battling double-teams in the trenches, a practice that prevented him from compiling the gaudy statistics with which to impress NFL scouts. But the scouts noticed. They noticed Odrick's tenacity, his toughness, his strength, and the fact that he still managed to lead the Nittany Lions with seven sacks despite all this attention. Now with the poking, prodding, timing, and questioning done and the NFL draft ready to roll Thursday night, the 6-foot-5, 304-pound Odrick is a lock to be taken in the first round as what many scouts rank as the fourth-best defensive tackle on the board.

During practice for Saturday's Senior Bowl, Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick got his practice jersey caught in a tackling dummy and nearly had his shirt ripped off. But Odrick kept right on chugging and finished the exercise. "The fact that he's got a great motor and had great production in college is his highest testament," said Mike Mayock, a draft analyst for the NFL Network. "He's got great size, his motor runs all the time, and he's smart and tough. It will be tough for some of those teams at the end of the first round to pass on him. " The Eagles have one of those late first-round picks in the draft, which begins April 22. They hold the No. 24 selection, and there has been a lot of speculation that the team will address an aging defense in the draft.

In the revolving door that is Penn State's defensive line, Jared Odrick has stuck his foot out and stopped the spinning. That is, unless the tackle injures his foot doing so. It's been that kind of two months. Since late July, Penn State has lost six linemen. Two tackles were booted off the team, an end and a tackle suffered season-ending injuries, and another end and tackle are serving suspensions. Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma, who have been suspended, have been charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana and aren't expected to dress for 16th-ranked Penn State's date with Temple tomorrow.

Penn State has spent much of its first two games creating questions such as: When will the offensive line come together? Can the running game progress to where it will take pressure off the passing game? And when will the kicking game, especially on field goals and kickoff coverage, come around? Amid all these questions, the lack of uncertainty or drama in the front four thus far has to be helping coach Joe Paterno sleep a little better at night. Anchored by 300-pound all-American candidate Jared Odrick at tackle, the defensive line has shut down the first two opponents, Akron and Syracuse.

There wasn't a lot to say yesterday after Penn State rolled to a 52-3 victory over Eastern Illinois except "Bring on the Big Ten - please. " It was the kind of game that everyone, including each of the 104,488 people at Beaver Stadium, anticipated. The 14th-ranked Nittany Lions (5-1) compiled a 553-206 advantage in total yards against the outgunned Panthers (4-2) of the Football Championship Subdivision. Quarterback Daryll Clark threw three touchdown passes - all in a 5-minute, 18-second span of the second quarter - and ran for one. The Lions scored six TDs and one field goal on their first nine drives.

Penn State senior defensive tackle Devon Still (Wilmington) has earned a major addition to his growing list of accolades with his selection as the Big Ten Nagurski-Woodson defensive player of the year. Also named the conference's Smith-Brown defensive lineman of the year, Still becomes the fifth Nittany Lion to be selected Big Ten defensive player of the year since 1998. Still joins an elite group of former Nittany Lions, all of whom were first-team all-Americans: linebacker LaVar Arrington (1998)

Devon Still is a mountain of a man - a 6-foot-5, 310-pound defensive tackle with a body strong enough to make Penn State opponents think twice about running inside and long arms that can block the sight of any quarterback trying to locate a receiver downfield. But this tower of strength turns to mush whenever he sees his little 17-month-old daughter, Leah, running toward him. "It's just knowing that no matter what, no matter how things go on the football field, that she's always going to love me regardless," Still said Wednesday.

MIAMI - Tom Brady sat on the bench, his sweat-soaked hair hanging in his face as he fumed about his first interception in nearly 11 months. A little later he was back in the same seat wearing a wide grin as teammates congratulated him on a record-setting performance. Brady shook off a rare turnover to throw for a team-record 517 yards and four touchdowns, including a 99-yarder to Wes Welker, and the New England Patriots started with a victory for the eighth consecutive season last night by beating the Miami Dolphins, 38-24.

NEW YORK - It was Sam Bradford's night. For the National Football League's first-ever prime-time draft, Bradford, a junior out of Oklahoma, became the 10th quarterback in the last 13 years to be the No. 1 overall pick, going to the St. Louis Rams. But it was the quarterback taken 24 slots later that was the shocker. After Denver twice traded down, from No. 11 to No. 13, then to No. 24 - the Eagles' original pick - the Broncos moved again to take Florida quarterback Tim Tebow with the 25th pick.

Jared Odrick spent pretty much the entire 2009 Penn State football season battling double-teams in the trenches, a practice that prevented him from compiling the gaudy statistics with which to impress NFL scouts. But the scouts noticed. They noticed Odrick's tenacity, his toughness, his strength, and the fact that he still managed to lead the Nittany Lions with seven sacks despite all this attention. Now with the poking, prodding, timing, and questioning done and the NFL draft ready to roll Thursday night, the 6-foot-5, 304-pound Odrick is a lock to be taken in the first round as what many scouts rank as the fourth-best defensive tackle on the board.

During practice for Saturday's Senior Bowl, Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick got his practice jersey caught in a tackling dummy and nearly had his shirt ripped off. But Odrick kept right on chugging and finished the exercise. "The fact that he's got a great motor and had great production in college is his highest testament," said Mike Mayock, a draft analyst for the NFL Network. "He's got great size, his motor runs all the time, and he's smart and tough. It will be tough for some of those teams at the end of the first round to pass on him. " The Eagles have one of those late first-round picks in the draft, which begins April 22. They hold the No. 24 selection, and there has been a lot of speculation that the team will address an aging defense in the draft.

The motor powering Jared Odrick on the football field never seems to stop. Penn State's outstanding defensive tackle vigorously carries out the uninviting job of locking up with two offensive linemen, which happens on nearly every play. If he does his job well, and he usually does, someone else on the defense for the Nittany Lions swoops in, makes the tackle and receives the recognition. That's fine with Odrick, though. What he does has contributed to No. 11 Penn State's status as one of the top defenses in the country.

THEY ARE ALL big and powerful. You don't cut it as a lineman in a major college program unless you meet certain requirements in terms of size and strength. But XXXL physical dimensions are about the only tie that binds offensive linemen to their rowdier defensive counterparts. A mental divide separates those who play on one side of the ball or the other, a divide created by a player's natural proclivities or a coach's assessment of his nature. Almost everyone agrees that Saturday afternoon's nationally televised Big Ten showdown between No. 11 Penn State (8-1, 4-1)

STATE COLLEGE - Members of the Penn State defense understandably exude a lot of confidence. The unit has been solid all season and posted its best effort Saturday in a 20-0 victory over Minnesota. "This game really was a game where from the start, we were going to dominate this team," linebacker Navorro Bowman said. "That's the type of attitude we came out here with. We weren't going to let this team get anything. We weren't going to give them anything. The outcome is what we expected.

There wasn't a lot to say yesterday after Penn State rolled to a 52-3 victory over Eastern Illinois except "Bring on the Big Ten - please. " It was the kind of game that everyone, including each of the 104,488 people at Beaver Stadium, anticipated. The 14th-ranked Nittany Lions (5-1) compiled a 553-206 advantage in total yards against the outgunned Panthers (4-2) of the Football Championship Subdivision. Quarterback Daryll Clark threw three touchdown passes - all in a 5-minute, 18-second span of the second quarter - and ran for one. The Lions scored six TDs and one field goal on their first nine drives.