Because of some unforeseen circumstances, (aka having a snow/sleet/ice storm knock the power out in my house Tuesday night) I wasn't able to blog last night, but it was a pretty big day for the Penn State football program.

Not only did Joe Paterno and the university agree on a deal until 2011, but the Lions picked up a big recruiting verbal commitment and some more hardware to add to the trophy case.

The Present

First, the awards, the Associated Press released its All-American team and four Penn Staters found their way onto the squad. Defensive end Aaron Maybin was named to the first team, center A.Q. Shipley to the second squad and guard Rich Ohrnberger and wide receiver/kick returner Derrick Williams to the third team.

Maybin and Shipley were also named second-team All-Americans by SI.com.

That makes 11 Penn State selections on various All-American teams so far this postseason.

The Future

Tuesday night also saw the Lions getting some much-needed help for the future of the program when Chesapeake, Va. quarterback Kevin Newsome verbally committed to suit up in blue and white.

The 6-foot-3, 213-pound Newsome, who played this last fall for the Hargrave Military Academy, is rated a four-star prospect and the eighth best prep quarterback in the country according to scout.com. A dual-threat signal caller, Newsome runs the forty yard dash in 4.5 seconds.

This was a big pickup for the Lions after Pat Devlin's transfer left Penn State without a scholarship backup quarterback for next season. Landing Newsome, who said he will enroll this January to get a start on spring practice, means the Lions can continue to run the Spread HD for the next four or five years (or however long Paterno plans to stick around).

Newsome originally committed to Michigan in April, but then changed his mind in August and reopened his recruiting.

-- Wible