A Roof Above Us

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. Swingman Ray Allen Jersey . -- James Franklin generally proceeds with caution, dialing back his teams practice regimens as football seasons grind on.But Penn States coach has never had to consider doing so this early.A rash of injuries had Franklin worrying aloud following his teams 49-10 loss to No. 4 Michigan on Saturday. He feared Penn State, with four linebackers hurt, might not be able to stage a competitive practice before another hard-running team in Minnesota (3-0, 0-0) this week. Its still a concern as he looks to avoid his first 0-2 Big Ten start.In my 22 years of doing this, Ive never been a part of a team thats lost all three of our starting linebackers, Franklin said. Ive been around teams that have lost this guy for a game or lost this guy for two games or lost this guy maybe for a season, but to lose all of them for a significant amount of time at the same time, Ive never been a part of that.The injury bugs bitten deeper, too.Backup linebacker Jan Johnson was felled with an unspecified season-ender on Saturday and Franklin said the team is dealing with other ailments not noticeable from watching Saturdays game. Star Nyeem Wartman-White is also out for the rest of the year and Franklin gave no strong indication fellow starters Brandon Bell and Jason Cabinda could return soon.Its all forced Franklin to consider scaling back practices much earlier than mid-October, when hes usually done so.He planned to meet with defensive coordinator Brent Pry in order to determine the best practice tempos to protect healthy bodies, whether or not to move more players to reserve linebacker roles or considering using Bell and Cabinda in minimal capacities if they can.Thats the decision you have to make. Is it holding them out of practice completely and going full speed with everybody else? Franklin said. Or is it modifying practice to allow them to get some quality work in practice as well when youre pretty confident that that guy is going to be able to play on Saturday?Franklin is hoping to improve his defenses versatility by moving linebackers around this week.Sophomores Jake Cooper and Manny Bowen are expected to drill at all three linebacker spots after starting on the outside the last two weeks. Middle man Brandon Smith will likely make his second career start after the former walk-on was ejected from the Michigan game for targeting on the first play of the second quarter. That ejection was detrimental to a group that hadnt played much together.Koa Farmer, who was recruited as a safety before he switched to linebacker and back to safety again, has worked with the linebackers this season. He played his most snaps on defense against Michigan as did true freshman Cam Brown who is also expected to see a bigger role.I havent been on a team thats been through so many injuries, Farmer said. But at this point its just the next man up mentality and getting young guys in the game, getting those guys experience for everyone so they can be ready.Penn State will have to be prepared for Minnesotas hard-charging run game or risk big problems. The Gophers are averaging just over 228 rushing yards per game with tailbacks Rodney Smith and Kobe McCrary. Due to injuries and inexperience up front, Penn State is allowing just over 213 rushing yards per game and continued struggles could potentially spell disaster for a team looking to turn around a disappointing start.These next two weeks are huge for our program and huge for where this weekend will take us, tight end Mike Gesicki said. I think that we all understand that and we all kind of see the big picture. Anthony Morrow Thunder Jersey . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Cameron Payne Thunder Jersey .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. http://www.prothundershop.com/kyle-singler-thunder-jersey/ . Just not the game. Kyle Palmieri scored two straight goals in the third period to rally the Anaheim Ducks past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night. DENVER -- ?? Sharp-shooting rookie Jamal Murray showed why he could one day become Denvers go-to guy late in games.Murray scored 16 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and the Nuggets closed out the Utah Jazz 105-91 on Sunday night in a matchup of struggling Western Conference teams.It certainly was a welcome sight for a Denver squad that is 1-4 in games decided by three points or fewer.Great to see Jamal Murray go off in the fourth quarter and make big shots, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. Jamal, he continues to grow up in front of our eyes. When he gets confident and puts the ball up, I think its going in every time he shoots it.Jusuf Nurkic had 16 points and 11 rebounds to help Denver improve to 2-4 at home. Wilson Chandler added 17 points, and Danilo Gallinari had 13 points, five rebounds and eight assists.Gordon Hayward had 25 points for Utah, and Dante Exum, Rodney Hood and Joe Johnson each scored 10. The Jazz have lost four straight.Its been a long two weeks, but thats no excuse, Hood said. Offensively, we started out real sluggish. Were not getting stops, thats the biggest thing. They played at a really good pace tonight and it had us on our heels.Will Barton started for the banged-up Nuggets after missing his previous nine games with an ankle injury. He made a 3-pointer on his teams first attempt from the field and finished with seven points.The Nuggets led by double digits most of the night and trailed only once, 2-0. Utah stayed within striking distance until the fourth quarter thanks to Denvers 13-for-30 free throw shooting.Murray got going late, making five of his six shots in the fourth. He finished 3 for 4 from 3-point range and has hit 11 of 20 from long distance in his last four games.I love playing with a shooter, said Nuggets point guard Emmanuuel Mudiay, who finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Swingman Mitch McGary Jersey. Hes playing with a lot more confidence. I think hes figuring out himself and things are slowing down for him as well.The Jazz struggled early and often in their fourth back-to-back of the season, shooting just 5 of 22 in the opening quarter. They trailed by 19 in the second before finding any consistency.TIP-INSJazz: PF Derrick Favors missed his third straight game with a bruised left knee, while PG George Hill missed his eighth consecutive game with a sprained thumb. Hopefully the band will be back, coach Quin Snyder said of his teams early-season injuries. We havent really established a band, so I dont even know what that sounds like. ... Veteran C Boris Diaw (rest) came off the bench after sitting out Saturday against Houston. He had two points.Nuggets: G Gary Harris missed his fourth consecutive game with a right foot injury and is not expected to return until mid-December.NO OFFENSEHappy about the win, Malone said he still addressed his teams season-low 43.3 percent free throw shooting after the game.I said, Great game, but no offense, we were like team Shaq tonight, Malone said. We got there a lot but I couldnt believe we were missing as many as we were missing.TIES THAT BINDA plethora of injuries have hindered early expectations for the Nuggets and Jazz, two teams looking to get back to the postseason. Snyder said he hopes injuries wont link the Northwest Division rivals for long.We dont really want to be cousins in that one, he said.UP NEXTJazz: Host the Nuggets on Wednesday night.Nuggets: End their four-game homestand Tuesday night against Chicago. Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '