I want to give O’Brien the benefit of the doubt. I want to believe he’s calling his team, which defeated Wisconsin 24-21 in overtime Saturday to finish the season 8-4 despite an 0-2 start, a bunch of “fighters.”

Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to 30-60 years in prison earlier this morning for abusing 10 boys over 15 years. But much went on during the sentencing hearing, including multiple statements from the victims, lawyers, and Sandusky himself. And then, finally, the sentence and Judge John Cleland’s reasoning.

Northwestern’s Venric Mark does not like to be touched, especially on the football field. That makes him an ideal player to give the ball to whenever possible. He will run away from everyone – defenders, blockers, everyone. You do not touch this man.

NFL referee Ed Hochuli sometimes catches flak for being pretty much the only referee in any sport in amazing shape. After seeing what happened to a referee in today’s Northwestern-Penn State game, maybe everyone should be following Hochuli’s example.

It’s been one step forward, two steps back for Penn State students and State College residents in terms of getting the rest of the country to not find them insufferably annoying. Consider this grammatically ambiguous billboard your two steps back of the day. Read more after the jump.

The New York Daily News is reporting that 48-year-old Greg Bucceroni of Philadelphia has sent an email to Poly Prep, a high school in Brooklyn, claiming that he was a child prostitute in a ring that included several men, including the soon to be sentenced Jerry Sandusky.

Perhaps the Jerry Sandusky Saga will never officially end. It has been etched in stone in college football, sports, and American culture lore and will never be whited out. But for all you closure hounds out there, three more important dates still lie ahead in the future of this scandal: Jerry’s sentencing, the beginning of Jerry’s prison sentence, and Jerry’s death. While I can’t speak for the latter two, we know this much: on October 9, 2012, Jerry Sandusky will receive his prison sentence. Read more after the jump.

Penn State lost to Virginia earlier today 17-16, but it wasn’t without a bit of heartbreak. Despite moving the ball with relative ease (though they often stalled in Virginia territory) and playing solid defense, a late Virginia TD put the Cavaliers up 17-16. Still, Penn State drove down the field with under 90 seconds left in the game and moved into field goal range. Except Penn State kicker Sam Ficken probably wasn’t feeling all that confident.

Alright, so this wasn’t quite one-handed. Penn State defensive lineman Jordan Hill sniffed out Virginia’s screen play, stuck his right paw up in the air and the ball, as it turns out, pretty much stuck to his hand – though he did use his left hand to reel it in completely. And then on the INT return, Hill gave us a little shimmy-juke as he advanced the ball deep into Virginia territory.

The black cloud of weirdness hanging over Penn State has now engulfed Beaver Stadium’s iPod playlist. The latest thing that Jerry Sandusky ruined, after the jump.