Penn States most consequential hidden play from corse178's blog
WASHINGTON -- When Juan Martin del Potro is healthy, and his shots are on target, hes as dangerous as they come on the sort of hard courts used at the U. NFL Jerseys Store .S. Open. Getting his game in shape ahead of the years last Grand Slam tournament, the top-seeded del Potro solved John Isners big serve and pulled away for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory in the Citi Open final Sunday, winning his third championship and 14th consecutive match in Washington. "His forehand is widely regarded as maybe the best in the world," Isner said. "I couldnt do anything about it. I actually wasnt really surprised. Ive seen him do that a lot of times. Thats what he does. Hes got a lot of talent, and a lot of talent on that forehand side." Back in 2009, del Potro followed up a title in the nations capital with a trophy at the U.S. Open, which starts in three weeks. "Fantastic memories," the seventh-ranked del Potro told the crowd. When the Argentine arrived in Washington this time, he came with some questions about his body and his game. He hadnt played a hard-court match since the spring. He hadnt competed at all in nearly a month -- a five-set loss July 5 to No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the longest semifinal in Wimbledon history, more than 4 1/2 hours. And he hadnt fully tested the left knee he hyperextended in a tumble during a match at the All England Club. "Im surprised to win this tournament," del Potro said. He came through without any problems, other than that first-set hiccup, which might have been due to a short turnaround: His semifinal was delayed by rain Saturday night and ended after midnight. He didnt get to sleep until about 3 a.m., 12 hours before the final started, which he said was "a little frustrating." In the womens final, seventh-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia beat unseeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-4, 7-6 (2) to win the Citi Open for the second consecutive year. The 43rd-ranked Rybarikova is 10-0 in Washington, where shes won half of her four career titles. With wind whipping around at 15 mph and temperatures at 80 degrees, Isner got off to a terrific start Sunday -- thanks in part to his powerful and always effective serve, not surprisingly, but also with other aspects of his still-evolving game. It took Isner less than 10 minutes to create a cushion, breaking at love for a 3-1 edge and soon was up 5-2. Given that Isner never had won a set against del Potro in three previous meetings, it made sense that nothing would come easily this time, either. So Isner required five set points before eventually cashing in with a 137 mph service winner. And then, everything changed. Perhaps Isner was bound to falter after such impeccable serving all week. Perhaps the fatigue of playing his ninth match in 11 days -- the American won a hard-court title at Atlanta last week -- caught up to him. After all, Isner thanked his chiropractor during the trophy ceremony, drawing chuckles from fans. Del Potros take: "It was strange to hear that." While Isner acknowledged he was tired, del Potro had a lot to do with the way the match shifted. Starting off way behind the baseline to receive serves and using every bit of his considerable wingspan, Del Potro broke Isner four times in all, including three in a row while winning seven consecutive games to take control. Isner -- best known for winning the longest match in tennis history, 70-68 in the fifth set at Wimbledon in 2010 -- had not even faced a break point over any of his previous three matches. Del Potro also limited Isner to six aces after the eighth-seeded and 20th-ranked American pounded 29 in the semifinals. "Im sure that was his game plan, just to get my serve back and go from there," Isner observed. "He was standing so far back that the guy calling the sideline had to move out of the way." Del Potro added to his Washington titles from 2008 and 2009. He skipped the tournament for various reasons from 2010-12. He earned his first break point Sunday -- and the first Isner faced since his opening match -- 35 minutes into the final, in the second sets second game. But a 14-stroke point ended with del Potro sailing an easy forehand long for an unforced error. He hung his head, leaned over with hands on knees, then crouched down and stared at the net. Isner also took the next two points to hold for 1-1. But Isner wouldnt win another game for a substantial stretch. A bad drop shot into the net, a poor overhead smash right at del Potro that resulted in a cross-court forehand winner, a long forehand and a long backhand all added up to a break at love. That ended a run of 50 consecutive service games won by Isner across four matches and put del Potro up 3-1 in the second set. Clearly, he was in charge. After only 1 1/2 hours, the final was finished. Next for del Potro are hard-court tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati. Those lead up to the U.S. Open, where Isner said del Potro will be "certainly one of the top favourites." NFL Jerseys Discount . Terms of the deal were not immediately available. The 26-year-old finished last season with Clevelands Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after signing with the Indians in August. NFL Jerseys Shop . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. http://www.nflfans.us.com/ . LOUIS -- St. STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- As he walked off the field, Blake Gillikin glanced down at his left hand and shook his head in disgust. Thankfully, his feet hadnt let him down.The Penn State punter needed them to chase down a snap that glanced off his bandaged left thumb and bounced close to his teams goal line. With more than 550 pounds of Indiana defenders bearing down on him, Gillikin scooped up the loose ball, accelerated to the right and booted a neat, unreturnable punt past midfield. Although officially a 22-yard net punt, Gillikins long right leg sent the ball on a 47-yard trajectory, preventing a big loss.The hidden yardage or the hidden parts of the game, a lot of people dont see that, special teams coordinator Charles Huff said.Gillikins impacted those areas all season for the No. 9 Nittany Lions (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten, No. 8 CFP) who will face Rutgers (2-8, 0-7) and the nations busiest punter Michael Cintron on Saturday.Averaging 41 yards per punt, Gillikin has dropped 17 of his 47 punts inside opponents 20-yard lines, forced 15 fair catches and has seven kicks over 50 yards. More importantly, the Nittany Lions have won the field position battle in eight of their 10 games this season and are forcing opponents to drive at least 76 yards on average every time Gillikin punts.You see some of the punts he kicks and youre like, `Wow, defensive tackle Curtis Cothran said. You didnt expect it to go that far but the ball just keeps sailing and keeps sailing.Plays like Gillikins scramble punt helped Penn State wrestle field position back from Indiana and primed a fourth-quarter comeback. Theyre why James Franklin couldnt wait to recruit a vaunted punter. But he had to wait until the NCAA restored the Nittany Lions to 85 scholarships in 2015. The wait included a 2-16 record in games where Penn State lost the field position battle.Meanwhile, Franklin kept his eye on Gillikin, a three-sport athlete who was booting 50- and 60-yard punts in high school playoff games for Westminster High in Atlanta and had a twin brother who was a long snapper. Youth NFL Jerseys. e quickly won the starting job previously shared by Chris Gulla and former Australian-rules footballer Daniel Pasquariello. It didnt take long for Penn State players to notice Gillikins big leg. He usually warms up by lining his toes up on the goal line and blasting high, hanging punts out to the opposite 40.He was an outstanding soccer player, Tyler Gillikin said. And when we started football in high school, his leg was extremely strong. Blakes always been the kicker.Now a long snapper for Northwestern, Tyler took up the skill as a way to get more playing time alongside his twin during their sophomore year of high school. Theyve combined for countless snaps, and misfires, over the years. Their grandfather sent Tyler the video of Blake mishandling the snap against Indiana last week for a laugh, but also for pride.That pretty much is in a nutshell what kind of athlete he is, Tyler said.His situational awareness was evident on arguably Penn States most consequential hidden play so far this season.After a high snap whistled over his head against Ohio State, Gillikin hustled back across his goal line with Buckeyes in pursuit and collapsed on the ball to salvage a safety rather than let Ohio State score a touchdown. It was a 5-point swing in a game Penn State won by 4 to burst into Big Ten championship contention.You have an athlete where when in the game certain things dont always got the way you planned or maybe not exactly what you said is going to happen -- they dont panic in those situations, Huff said. They allow themselves to still be in the moment, still be able to play and what happens is, you take a bad play and you dont let it become a catastrophe.---This story has been corrected to reflect that Rutgers record is 2-8, not 8-2. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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