TAMPA, Fla. – Breathe easy, Nittany Lions fans. Dan Connor isn't in the NFL.
"Not yet," he said with a laugh earlier today.
Since the end of the regular season, Connor has been mulling his future with Penn State. He said today he has submitted a draft evaluation to the NFL, which will use expert analysis to estimate what round he'll be taken in during April's NFL draft.
"I'm just waiting to hear back," Connor said. "I think in January they send it back."
Connor said earlier this month he'd consider testing the professional waters if he were projected to be a first-round or early second-round pick.
The junior linebacker said he is focused on the bowl game, and will wait till after the season to decide his future.
Connor was a finalist alongside fellow linebacker Paul Posluszny for the Bednarik Award, given to the country's top defensive player. Posluszny won the award for the second straight year.
Heading into the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day, Connor is second on the team with 103 total tackles. He also has five sacks.
He was named a first-team All-American by The Sporting News and a second-team All-American by The Associated Press.
Last crack
Penn State has yet to beat a ranked opponent this season.
That leaves senior defensive tackle Jay Alford eager for the Lions Outback Bowl tussle with the No. 17-ranked Tennessee Volunteers.
"I'm waiting to prove myself," he said. "I can't wait till the game because they have a high-powered offense and I think our defense is great. So I look forward to going in there and stopping 'em."
That may be tough, considering the Volunteers have All-America wide Robert Meachem (67 receptions, 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns) at their disposal.
Tennessee also a capable quarterback to throw to Meachem in junior Erik Ainge. He has thrown for 2,722 yards and 19 touchdowns thus far.
Bailing them out
Since being at Penn State, senior running back Tony Hunt can't remember a time that Penn State hasn't had a solid defense and this year is no exception.
This season, Penn State's defense has held No. 1 Ohio State to just 14 points, No. 3 Michigan to 17 and No. 6 Wisconsin to 13.
On the flip side, Penn State's offense has sputtered at times. Through 12 games, the Lions ranked ninth in the Big Ten in scoring offense at just 22.5 points per game.
That fact has also not been lost on Hunt.
"[The defense] definitely bailed us out of some situations," he said today. "They helped us out a lot."
Asked if the offense let the defense down at any time this year, Hunt responded, "I wouldn't say let 'em down, but I think our defense probably did play better than our offense."
That, he said, could be attributed to more experience on the defensive side of the ball and the fact Penn State was breaking in four new offensive linemen at the start of the season.
"The key was to get better every week," Hunt said. "As long as we did, I feel like we didn't let anybody down."
