Penn State’s Bowman considers early leap

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — It’s decision time for Navorro Bowman.

Return to Penn State next season and the athletic linebacker will be the star attraction at Linebacker U.

Skip his final year of eligibility for the NFL and the Nittany Lions will have another big hole to fill in what already figured to be a rebuilding campaign in 2010 — not that coach Joe Paterno likes to use such labels.

“Yeah, it’s always a rebuilding year,” Paterno said. “It isn’t always what you think it’s going to be ... It’s a day in, day out operation.”

It sure would be easier if Bowman and tailback Evan Royster, both juniors, are back in blue and white. Both players said last week they would hold off on a decision until after the Capital One Bowl.

After home losses to Ohio State and Iowa dropped them to a third-place finish in the conference, this Nittany Lions squashed criticism that they couldn’t win a big game.

The 19-17 win over LSU in the mud at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium put a sloppy and memorable cap on the careers of Daryll Clark, Sean Lee and the rest of a senior class that won 40 games while at No. 11 Penn State (11-2, 6-2 Big Ten).

Bowman and Royster could join the seniors out the door, too.

Royster finished with his second straight 1,100-yard campaign. His 2,918 career rushing yards are 480 shy of the school record set by Curt Warner.

After family tragedies and off-field problems for much of the previous season, Bowman stayed out of trouble in 2009 and combined with Lee and Josh Hull to form one of the nation’s best linebacking units. Bowman also became a father this year.

Lee, returning from a right knee injury that forced him to miss all of 2008, played well but was hampered by an injury to his other knee that kept him out for three games.

Likewise, Bowman missed most of the first three games because of a sore right groin but returned to become the Nittany Lions’ most explosive defender. He added two impressive highlights to his list of big plays — a 73-yard interception return for a touchdown, and a 91-yard return on a fumble recovery for a score.

No wonder he wears No. 11, the same jersey that his mentor and former Penn State linebacker LaVar Arrington wore. Bowman also is good friends with Aaron Maybin, the Buffalo Bills defensive end who departed Penn State after his sophomore season in 2008.

Defensive tackle Jared Odrick, the Big Ten coaches’ choice for the league’s top defensive player, also leaves a huge void after consistently drawing double teams that helped free up the linebackers behind him.

They were huge components to a unit that didn’t allow a 100-yard rusher all season.

For now, Paterno can pencil in five returning starters for the 2010 defense, though that number could rise if Bowman surprises prognosticators and decides to stay in school. Starting DE Jerome Hayes, a senior, also is weighing whether to apply for a sixth year of eligibility after missing so much time earlier in his career to injuries.

Tackle Ollie Ogbu and end Jack Crawford return on what should be the defense’s best unit.

“I think it was big for us because it kind of builds momentum on next year,” Lee said about the bowl win. “It’s not about a specific player, coach — it’s about the program.”

On offense, star quarterback Clark set the school record for career passing yards (3,003), most TD passes in one season (24 in 2009) and in a career with 43.

Touted freshman Kevin Newsome was thought to be the next starter at QB, though Paterno hesitated to give anyone a head start in the quarterback race for 2010.