Black Shoe Diaries
DOMINATE THE STATE
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Only “The Number 22” Until Penn State Football
Joe Paterno was never fond of retiring jersey numbers, so it makes sense that only after his death did the Nittany Lions retire a one. It’s a good one too, given that it’s the number of Penn State’s only Heisman winner. John Cappelletti won the Heisman in 1973, leading Penn State to one of its […]
Penn State’s Top 10 Players for 2026: Daryus Dixson
The BSD staff recently voted for the top 10 Penn State players heading into 2026. The votes are dictated by how the players are expected to perform in the upcoming season, without factoring in long-term or NFL potential. Each member submitted a ballot with players ranked 1-10, with a first-place vote being 10 points. Up […]
Summer Summary: August 13th
Our fellow SB Nation site in Piscataway thinks the new head coach has an easy start to his Nittany Lion career. Mr. Campbell doesn’t quite see it that way. Here’s where several football players like to chow down. Also, some early standouts from fall camp. Penn State-Pitt soon? ICYMI, hockey’s reasons to be excited for […]
Penn State Hockey’s Three Reasons For Pessimism
On Tuesday, I covered three reasons to be optimistic about Penn State hockey’s 2026-27 season. The roster is talented, and the goaltending should be good enough to keep the Nittany Lions competitive against better teams. However, there are some warning signs that the season will be a struggle for Penn State. 1. Defense The defense […]
Penn State’s Top 10 Payers For 2026: No. 7 Benjamin Brahmer
The BSD staff recently voted for the top 10 Penn State players heading into 2026. The votes are dictated by how the players are expected to perform in the upcoming season, without factoring in long-term or NFL potential. Each member submitted a ballot with players ranked 1-10, with a first place vote being 10 points, […]
Only Curtis Jacobs Until Penn State Football
We are 23 days away from Penn State football, my friends. This post was originally going to be about second-year player Jahmir Joseph, but he recently switched from #23 to #0. So, instead, we are going back a few years and looking at Curtis Jacobs. I mentioned this during the spring when we did our […]
BSD YouTube Show: 2026 Penn State Athletics Takes Purge
For the second year in a row, Pat is joined by former BSD writer Clay Sauertieg to fire off some takes. For an explainer on the concept: in the movie, The Purge, all criminal activity is legal for 12 hours. For this episode, criminal activity isn’t legal, but any and all takes can be said […]
Penn State’s Top 10 Players For 2026: No. 8 Cooper Cousins
The BSD staff recently voted for the top 10 Penn State players heading into 2026. The votes are dictated by how the players are expected to perform in the upcoming season, without factoring in long-term or NFL potential. Each member submitted a ballot with players ranked 1-10, with a first place vote being 10 points, […]
Only Ibn McDaniels Until Penn State Football
We are just 24 days away from Penn State football. Today, we profile a new #24: Ibn McDaniels. McDaniels was a three-star prospect out of New Jersey in the 2024 recruiting class, who camped at Penn State multiple times but never received an official offer. Instead, he landed at Syracuse, where he spent the last […]
Penn State Hockey’s Three Reasons For Optimism
I thought I would adapt our long-running offseason series for football for hockey, which could be in for a rebuilding year with new players at all three levels. Still, this looks like a solid team entering the season, and the Nittany Lions have the talent to return to the NCAA Tournament in 2026-27. 1. Goaltending […]
Penn State’s Top 10 Payers For 2026: No. 9 Brock Riker
The BSD staff recently voted for the top 10 Penn State players heading into 2026. The votes are dictated by how the players are expected to perform in the upcoming season, without factoring in long-term or NFL potential. Each member submitted a ballot with players ranked 1-10, with a first place vote being 10 points, […]
Only Quinton Martin Until Penn State Football
We are 25 days away from the return of Penn State football. One of the potential breakout players on the season? #25 Quinton Martin, who’s headed into his third year with the Nittany Lions. He spent the last two seasons backing up Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, which as it turned out, wasn’t all that […]
Everything you need to know about attending a football game at Penn State
Things to Do on a Penn State Game Day Greet the Team – Fans line up to offer a spirited welcome to the team as they are dropped off from the iconic blue buses before each game. Dropoff time is typically about two hours prior to kickoff, and you can view details at gopsusports.com ahead of each home […]
Only Saquon Barkley Until Penn State Football
So Penn State does have two #26s on the team this season, but they are both returning players: RB Cam Wallace and LB Cam Smith. So since those two are a bit known around here, I decided to take the liberty to profile a former 26 — Saquon Barkley. How freaking awesome was this guy?! […]
Penn State’s Top 10 Players for 2026: Carson Hansen
The BSD staff recently voted for the top 10 Penn State players heading into 2026. The votes are dictated by how the players are expected to perform in the upcoming season, without factoring in long-term or NFL potential. Each member submitted a ballot with players ranked 1-10, with a first-place vote being 10 points, a […]
MMQB – TEU?
For the better part of two decades – longer than that, for sure, just so the old heads don’t start yelling at me – Penn State has churned out tight ends at the highest level. Jesse James, Mike Gesicki, Pat Freiermuth, Brenton Strange, Theo Johnson, and Tyler Warren continued a nearly continuous run of NFL-level […]
Only Omarion Davis Until Penn State Football
We are 27 days away from Penn State football, and we have another newcomer to profile. Donning the 27 this season is Omarion Davis, a sophomore safety originally from Charlotte, NC. Davis spent his freshman season at Boston College, where he played in all 12 games and had two starts. He finished the year with […]
Only Bryson Williams Until Penn State Football
We are four weeks away — FOUR WEEKS! — from Penn State football. Today, we have another new face on the roster #28 Bryson Williams. Williams comes from Nebraska where he was a three-star prospect in the 2026 class. Rivals had him ranked as the No. 32 overall safety. He originally committed to Iowa State […]
Penn State Hockey Preview: Goaltenders
Goaltending has been a positive for Penn State hockey the last two seasons. Despite breaking in two new starting goalies last year, the Nittany Lions found two solid options and spent most of the season rotating between Kevin Reidler and freshman Josh Fleming. Reidler left for the NHL and third stringer Chris McFayden ran out […]
Only D’Antae Sheffey Until Penn State Football
We are 29 days away from Penn State football, which means we get to profile a Townie: running back D’Antae Sheffey. A three-star prospect in the 2026 class, Sheffey was committed to Syracuse for much of 2025, but he decommitted right around Thanksgiving and went unsigned during the early National Signing Day period. He was […]
Josh Reed Returns To Penn State Basketball For 2026-27 Season
Thanks to the injunction that allowed class of 2022 athletes a 5th season of eligibility, Josh Reed decided to return to Penn State for the 2026-27 season. A 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward, Reed spent last season in Happy Valley after spending his first three seasons at Cincinnati. With the Nittany Lions, Reed was one of the […]
Summer Summary: August 6th
Let’s continue talking about uniform patches, shall we? Can the Nittany Lions make it to the CFP this season? Going to the other side of the spectrum…is Penn State overrated? Some questions facing the football team as the season approaches. I’ll give you one guess which position has the biggest chip on their shoulder. Elsewhere […]
Only Christian Askew Until Penn State Football
It’s getting closer and closer…we are now within a month from Penn State’s first game of 2026! September 5, 2026, will also mark the date of Christian Askew’s first game as a Nittany Lion. Askew joins Penn State as part of Matt Campbell’s first recruiting class after taking over as head coach. The three-star prospect […]
Happy Valley Rewind: Penn State-Purdue 1999
Happy Hump Day, BSD-ers! While we don’t have a live YouTube Show for you tonight, we do have a brand new Happy Valley Rewind episode. Our latest rewind goes back to 1999 to talk about Penn State’s epic road showdown at a Drew Brees-led Purdue team, in a game that featured multiple defensive scores, multiple […]
Penn State Announces Stripe Out Game for Week 1
Beaver Stadium will be looking extra sharp for the 2026 season opener against Marshall. The week one contest, set for Saturday, September 5, 2026, will be the annual Stripe Out game, with each section decked out in white or blue. The Stripe Out seat map will be released in the near future, so fans can […]
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