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Black Shoe Diaries

https://www.blackshoediaries.com/ | 325 entries published

DOMINATE THE STATE

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So, You Want To Check Out That Wrestling Thing… (’25–‘26 edition)

Maybe you’ve heard that Penn State Wrestling is good. Really good. Record-settingly good. Again. And they are expected to dominate again this season. You’d really like to check it out, but you didn’t wrestle and have no idea how it works. It doesn’t look anything like that male-targeted soap opera where people leap from turnbuckles […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads

Big Ten Power Rankings – Week 11

Hello there and welcome to the Big Ten Power Rankings! Each week we’ll rank how the teams across the conference are playing, in the hopes of seeing just who is a contender, and who is a pretender over the course of the season. The rules are few, but resolute: Teams are ranked by how they’re […]

about 1 month ago | 1 read

Big Ten Superlatives: Week 10

It was a notable week in the Big Ten with a key upset and a couple of near upsets around the league. There are three weeks of regular season remaining, but let’s take a look at the happenings from this past weekend. Best Win of the Week: Wisconsin earns its first It’s been a miserable […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads

BSD MVP: Nicholas Singleton

Nicholas Singleton’s career is not ending the way that anyone envisioned it. Certainly not Singleton himself, who returned for his final year of eligibility with eyes on a title and the school’s record book. On Saturday, he moved into hallowed ground in that book in Penn State’s 27-24 loss to No. 2 Indiana, earning BSD […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads

MMQB – My Kingdom for a Stop

Penn State is 3-6 after suffering its latest heartbreaking loss of the season, this time to #2 Indiana who the Lions had on the ropes only to give up a late score after a hard fought game. Sound familiar? Let’s take a quick look at Penn State’s 6 losses this season and see if we […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads

Wrestling Writers Wroundup

Hey everybody, Bubba here. Wrestling season is upon us and I bring exciting news! In an effort to improve our coverage to something more befitting the best wrestling program in the nation, we have suckered elevated several additional people into full writer status. It’s a bunch of people you’re already familiar with who have been […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads

Penn State Drops Heartbreaker to Indiana: Post-Game Link Dump

Penn State’s offense finally found success in the vertical passing game thanks to a promising performance by Ethan Grunkemeyer. The Return of Nick “The Quick” Singleton propelled a second half rally that nearly toppled #2 Indiana. King Mack and Trebor Pena joined Singleton as MVPs of the day. The Beaver Stadium crowd came up big […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads

Poll Watch: Big Ten Still Tops the Rankings

Penn State completed their gauntlet of top-two teams in both the Coaches Poll and the Associated Press ranking, and three other conference foes remain in the polls. Ohio State widened their lead at No. 1 in both polls, with other conference teams Indiana (2nd in both polls after their narrow victory over the Nittany Lions) […]

about 1 month ago | 2 reads

Position Grades: Indiana

Just when I thought this team was done breaking my heart for the season…Perhaps some of these grades may seem generous, but I also had to factor in that this was the most spirited effort from the players and coaches in the Terry Smith era. With that being said, let’s see how this grades out: […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads

Penn State Opens as Favorite Over Michigan State

It was another week, another heartbreak for Nittany Lions. Penn State suffered its sixth consecutive defeat by giving up a late touchdown to Indiana to fall 27-24. However, their fortunates are predicted to finally change in week 12 as Penn State opened as an 8.5-point favorite over Michigan State, according to FanDuel. Both teams have […]

about 1 month ago | 4 reads

The Gauntlet Is Over

The Nittany Lions, with a new coach, and a new quarterback, just went through a gauntlet that would have been as difficult had the team not fallen apart two months ago. Against three of the four best teams on its schedule, back-to-back, they held a lead with seconds left in two of them, and gave […]

about 1 month ago | 3 reads

Michigan State 5, Penn State 0: Burn The Tape

After falling in overtime in Game 1, No. 3 Penn State was flat out embarrassed by No. 1 Michigan State 5-0 in Game 2. The Spartans jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. It was a wake-up call for a team that has been skating by (pun intended) on the efforts from […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads

Indiana 27, Penn State 24: Groundhog Day Again

The first four drives of this game all ended in punts, as the offenses struggled to find big plays early. On the first play of Indiana’s third drive, Fernando Mendoza found Charlie Becker for a 53-yard pass deep down the middle to set up the Hoosiers in the red zone. Two plays later, Mendoza rushed […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads

Penn State 87, New Haven 43: Lions Overwhelm Chargers

Penn State men’s basketball moved to 2-0 on the season with an 87-43 road win over New Haven. Penn State started slow in its first road game of the season. The Chargers were able to hang around early and even led for stretches of the first half. Trailing 10-9 midway through the half, Penn State […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads

YAY HOOPS(?): Penn State @ New Haven Open Thread

The Nittany Lions look to make it two wins in a row to start the season, heading on the road to take on the University of New Haven (which is not the same as Yale, apparently). The game is not televised, but you can listen to the Penn State Sports Network’s coverage of the game […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads

Penn State at New Haven: Preview/Open Thread

Happy Saturday. Sometime around the point that Indiana opens up a double digit lead, Penn State’s basketball team will be in action for the second time this season. In one of the year’s more oddly timed and scheduled games, the Lions (1-0) will be on the road to face the Chargers (0-2) today at 1 […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads

Michigan State 2, Penn State 1 (OT): Winning Streak Over

No. 3 Penn State fell to No. 1 Michigan State 2-1 in overtime on Friday night in the first of four regular season meetings between the two teams. A spectacular performance by Kevin Reidler was enough to net the Nittany Lions a standings point, but poor defense and an atrocious power play kept Penn State […]

about 1 month ago | 3 reads

The 5 College Football Games to Watch in Week 11

FRIDAY Tulane at Memphis9 p.m., ESPN A high-stakes game for your Friday night. Memphis was the playoff committee’s G5 pick in the first playoff rankings. Tulane will take their place with a road victory. Winner definitely has a leg up in a crowded G5 field.Prediction: Tulane-30, Memphis-28 SATURDAY (#7)BYU at (#8)Texas TechNoon, ABC Texas Tech […]

about 1 month ago | 0 reads