Joe Paterno selected as AFCA Coach of the Year

Penn State coach Joe Paterno has been named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 3 Coach of the Year, giving him a record 11 all-time regional/district honors.

In his 40th season as head coach, Paterno has led the Nittany Lions to a 10-1 record, a share of the Big Ten Championship and the conference's automatic berth into the Bowl Championship Series after falling to only one team, Michigan, during the regular season.

Penn State will clash with ACC Champion Florida State in the 72nd FedEx Orange Bowl on January 3, 2006 in Dolphins Stadium. Penn State is No. 3 in the BCS rankings, as well as the AP, USA Today/Coaches and Harris Interactive polls.

The winner of an unprecedented four AFCA National Coach of the Year awards, Paterno becomes the first coach in any NCAA classification to be selected Region Coach of the Year 11 times. Larry Kehres of Division III Mount Union has won the regional honor 10 times.

Paterno is one of five candidates for the 2005 national honor, along with Larry Coker, Miami; Mike Shula, Alabama; Mack Brown, Texas and Pete Carroll, USC. The winner will be announced at the AFCA Convention on January 10 in Dallas.

The only other major college coaches to earn AFCA Coach of the Year more than once are Paul "Bear" Bryant (three), John McKay and Darrell Royal (twice).

Paterno also has produced more than 300 NFL players, 70 first team All-Americans, 32 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans (24 first team), 15 National Football Foundation Hall of Fame Scholar Athletes and 18 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners during his career.

Memorable PSU catch named Pontiac finalist

The polls are open and fans can cast their vote for the Nittany Lions. Penn State's game-winning connection from senior quarterback Michael Robinson to freshman receiver Derrick Williams at Northwestern is one of the four nominees for the "Pontiac Game Changing Performance of the Year."

The ESPN College GameDay staff, in addition to college football fans from across the country, played a hand in choosing the best four game changing plays of the year.

A popular vote will determine which school receives the $100,000 contribution to its general scholarship fund from Pontiac.

Penn State's reception, tabbed the "Lion's roar" by the site, is up against plays from Alabama, Auburn and Texas.

Sophomore earns honor after posting 34 points

Penn State's Kamela Gissendanner garnered co-Big Ten Player of the Week honors after averaging 19.7 points in three games last week for the Lady Lions. Gissendanner, a sophomore transfer, shared her first conference honor with Michigan State's Liz Shimek.

Gissendanner led Penn State to a 2-1 record this week, scoring a career-high 34 points that helped the Lady Lions to a thrilling 78-72 double-overtime win over No. 24/24 Texas Tech.

The sophomore guard took charge after halftime, scoring 11 points in the second half and 14 in the overtime periods to finish the game 11-of-25 (.440) from the floor and 12-of-15 (.800) from the line. Her 34 points are the most by a Lady Lion since 2002, when Kelly Mazzante scored 34 against Wisconsin in a Big Ten Tournament game.

Prior to her career performance, Gissendanner posted 10 points and seven rebounds in a road loss to Old Dominion, but bounced back to shoot 6-of-11 from the field for 15 points in 27 minutes at home in a 69-60 win over Pittsburgh.