Thursday, January 16	Scores	Stream
7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT – Penn State @ [10] Nebraska	LINK	ESPN2

Gymnastics on a Thursday? What is this, a hog auction?

Despite the ranking disparity between the two, Penn State did go 195.750 the last time out, which was stronger than Nebraska’s opening-meet score when the Husker’s were understaffed on vault and 9.7y on bars. A similar scenario would be Penn State’s path into the competition because in general Nebraska has more 9.9ical presences than PSU, namely Houchin, to develop a higher scoring potential.

On that note, the scoring of Houchin’s vault will be interesting to watch if she sticks again considering the rightful uproar we created last week.

Well, there’s already an inflatable mascot bouncing upside down, so…same.

Rotation 1

Piringer – VT – getting into the vault lineup – really nice full – she should stay – pikes down at the end and lands chest down, secure landing and solid amplitude. 9.775

Verdeflor – UB – pretty first hs – 1/2 turn to jaeger, a bit of elbows on catch but lovely toes – small leg break on bail – perfect final handstand – 1/2 turn to front giant 1/2 to double tuck, hop back – super pretty handstands. 9.800

Verceles Carr – VT – hits her 1.5, short with a step back which will take away the score, but only a small leg break in the air and pretty good knees until the end. 9.775

Chinnery – UB – Hindorff to overshoot, huge amplitude – pretty solid casts but goes super crazy on a giant full into dismount, very late finish and loose back but keeps going, solid double tuck. 9.675

You know who’s looking fine tonight? Dallas Becerra. That’s it. That’s the live blog.

Dujakovich – VT – she also lands a bit short on her 1.5, a slide back, smaller than MVC’s step back – good distance. 9.825

Rushlow – UB – hits her jaeger to overshoot – first cast handstand was short but otherwise nice and clean, a couple casts here and there – giant full to a stuck double tuck. 9.800

De Jesus – VT – best of the bunch on her Y1.5 so far – medium hop forward, good distance, has a little more knee softness than the previous two, but should make it up. 9.900 is too high with that hop.

Bridgens – UB – Maloney to bail, good bail position – solid amplitude on shoot to high – great final cast hs and finishing position on her giant full – double tuck, small hop back. Good. 9.825 is a bit tight comparatively.

Houchin – VT – doesn’t get the stick this time – hops forward, otherwise perfect of course. That should be a one-tenth hop, but they already gave 9.900 to De Jesus and this one was better, but they didn’t really leave themselves anywhere to go.

Also 9.900, which you had to do but not enough comparative reward for her form there.

McCracken – UB – hit tkatchev, not as much height – bail, a bit of angle in catch – just does pull out her front giant 1/2 with an arch – double tuck, small hop. 9.725

Curtis – VT – full, probably the weak vault of the lineup – good distance but a pike down and a bounce back

They’re giving John the wrong scores for PSU’s bars.

Bonsall – UB – Maloney to pak, great height on the pak – late cast 1/2 on low bar, will get hit for finishing position – has to muscle final cast and comes up short – DLO, good stick. 9.825

After 1: Nebraska 49.175, Penn State 48.975

Houchin didn’t get her 10 moment there, but Nebraska still got the benefit of having those four 10.0 starts with a solid score despite not really having the preferred landing control on those Y1.5s. Pretty solid bars for Penn State there, I thought Bridgens was stronger than 9.825, some errors but nothing major in the rotation overall and nice handstands that should serve them well this season. Crisper verticals than we’re seeing from a lot of teams at this point.

Rotation 2

I really like the unspoken undercurrent of “Sarah has really done a good job of turning this turd of a program around” when talking about Penn State.

Bladon – VT – she hits her full, chest down, some legs, lunge back. 9.525

Thaler – UB – short first hs – Maloney to pak, pretty, small leg break on pak but basically imperceptible – a little short on cast 1/2 on low – up to high, great cast up there – full to double tuck, small step. Good. 9.700

Rushlow – VT – bounces back on her full, fairly large bounce but superior amplitude, a bit of feet. 9.750

Colombo – UB – 1/2 turn to very high piked jaeger – cast to pak, bit of legs on pak, and slightly awkward on grip change – a couple cast hs, but also good on her final cast – finishes higgins L grip giant 1/2 – double tuck. The higgins finishing positions will be a deduction point to watch. 9.750

Allen – VT – good distance on her full, a little bit more open – flexed feet and a leg separation on block – a little off line and a medium hop back. 9.750

Verceles Carr – 1/2 to piked jaeger to overshoot, solidly done – short final cast hs – giant full (late) to double tuck, good distance on the double tuck, small hop. 9.725

Chinnery – VT – good distance on her full and probably the most control in her bounce back, it’s smaller – piked shape throughout and some flexed feet 9.775

De Jesus – UB – good first hs – Ray to overshoot, huge height on Ray, does come in just a hair close on catch – good final cast – DLO, chest position with a small step forward.

Bonsall – VT – pretty solid full – step back and not quite the distance of some of the others, but she has the best body position so far in the air – comes in a touch deep. 9.700

Houchin – UB – good first hs – giant full a bit late to tkatchev even if it’s not the highest, great counter on her tkatchev – very clean bail – finds the stick on her DLO, some piking down to the landing. 9.875

Buds, we’re all Taylor Houchin hive, but you don’t have to pretend that one was perfect.

Bridgens – VT – full – strongest of the lineup – small slide back – just some feet, otherwise solid form. 9.850

Piringer – UB – very short first hs -toe on to maloney, hit into bail, leg break on bail – short final cast hs but not as short – giant full solid, double tuck dismount, two lunges back, that will be the drop score.

Presuming Piringer’s is the drop score, Penn State gains .025 on Nebraska in the second rotation. Penn State OK on vault but not the biggest cleanest fulls you’re going to see – for the most part Nebraska still looks a little January on bars but lots of potential in that lineup. Should be a strength…if they can find a six.

After 2: Nebraska 97.975, Penn State 97.800

“People don’t think that facility is that important.” Who are these people? There’s a lot of falling back on “people don’t think” “people don’t understand” “people don’t recognize” and it’s like, don’t they? Who are these people?

Rotation 3

De Jesus – BB – bhs loso with a lean check, looked like she was on but has to lean working out of it – straddle to sheep, some legs on the sheep – cat to side aerial, another check to the side with an arm wave – cartwheel 2/1, hit. 9.600.

Another “I don’t think people realize.” Which people?

McCracken – FX – 2.5, gets it around but struggles to control the landing on the mat with a hop and shuffle to the side – 1.5 to layout, just does pull it around, has to arch and tuck and loses her shape – switch 1/2 to wolf to wolf jump full, pretty good – rudi, secure landing, a bit of form. 9.650.

Curtis – BB – wolf jump to immediate front tuck (not my favorite series, because the wolf is always rushed for position) , check – bhs loso series is solid – full turn, small check – switch to split, OK – 1.5 with a bounce forward. 9.675

I like the scoring lens of this beam rotation, but it’s usually looser.

Rushlow – FX – good height on double tuck but can’t control it – major bounce backward and OOB with at least one foot – switch ring to switch full, lovely leaps – 1.5 to layout, good height on layout but again a bit out of control, lunge – attempts a rudi to split jump but didn’t get much at all into the split jump, not high enough and kind of out of control on landing. 9.500

Verceles Carr – BB – side aerial, secure – full turn, somewhat tentative – bhs loso, solidly done – split jump and split jump 3/4 were very high and the positions were strong but she made a meal of that combination – 1.5 dismount, some knees and a hop, dismount the largest issue in the routine there unless they don’t like the dance combo. 9.725

John calls this a rotation of base hits. Girl, these are pop outs.

Allen – FX – very high double pike but no control on landing, another huge stumble backward OOB – switch side to popa to wolf full, good amplitude again, positions were pretty close on the splits, wolf a little low for me – front tuck through to double tuck, solid landing – 9.450

Thaler – BB – aerial, keeps it moving to bhs bhs, good toes, a little bit of knees – full turn – switch with a check into back tuck, and falls on the back tuck. She was sort of in between checking after the switch and not, and it threw her off for the back tuck as the tried to keep the valuable combination going. 8.800

Bonsall – FX – double tuck, secure landing – 1/2 to front full, some knees but a secure landing – good lift into the second element on her dance series – double pike, another solid landing, just a bit of chest position – a good hit, much needed. 9.850

Houchin – BB – “here’s the situation” kind of thought John was going to try to make The Situation happen as a nickname for her – bhs loso series, step back to hold it – aerial, large break, bend at the hips and another little adjustment to hold it – switch to split, small lean – cat leap to side aerial and she’s off. Wow, second fall meet in a row for her and a counting fall in this rotation. 8.950

Astarita – FX – open double tuck, controlled landing – 1.5 to front layout, a bit of legs in 1.5 but good front layout – switch side to popa, good completion positions – double pike, her first lack of control landing, pretty large bounce back, stays in bounds, still strong. 9.850 a bit high for me for the final landing, but the rest was so clean.

Hassel – BB – bhs loso series, lovely form, check but minimizes it – aerial, solid – split jump to sheep, great split, some legs on sheep but looked like pretty good closure – full turn – 1.5, small hop. A necessary hit. 9.825

Bridgens – FX – double tuck, secure landing, some chest down – rudi to nice high loso – switch 1/2 to wolf jump full, solid – front full to front lay, nearrrly controls it, just a little movement – good. Final three routines saved it. 9.925. I’m more on the 9.900 side than the 9.950 side there.

After 3: Penn State 146.575, Nebraska 145.750

Well, that was a real stinker of a rotation. Penn State did have three good floors to end it and Hassel’s beam was pretty nice, but a lot of what happened there was a problem, most significantly Nebraska counting an 8. Penn State opens up a big lead, but beam scoring looks a lot tighter than floor scoring today, so we’ll see how it goes.

Rotation 4

Was there some sort of disruption? This touch warmup has been 85 minutes.

Verdeflor – BB – wolf turn a little tentative but hit – aerial with a larrrgee leg-up check but stays on – aerial to korbut, redid the aerial for the connection and I’d say it was still quite slow – split jump to double stag, lovely toes in split of course – attempts her side somi to dismount combo, but can’t dismount, falls on the side somi. And she’s just going to salute and take her dismount fall without a dismount, pommel horse style

Curtis – FX – double pike, solid – front full to layout, good extended leg position – switch 1/2 is pretty low – double tuck, small adjustment 9.850

Expect this Verdeflor beam score to take a while. 8.450.

Romagnano – BB – full turn, good – bhs loso and immediate fall. “This is her opportunity to show she isn’t phased…oh.” Cat to switch 1/2, tight position – side aerial to tuck full, holds the stick with a lean forward and bend at the hips. 8.875

De Jesus – FX – double tuck, pretty large bounce back but well in bounds still – back 1.5 to front loso prance out – switch side to popa, good lift – double pike, secure. 9.825

Bridgens – BB – kick to kickover front, secure, some feet but very solid – switch to side aerial combination, a tentative combo with a possible no credit CV, check on aerial – bhs loso with a huge leg-up check but stays on – 1.5, stuck landing. Fought for it but some major breaks. 9.350. That tells me they probably didn’t give that connection in there as well.

Dujakovich – FX – double pike, very high, some adjustment steps, mostly because of the mat – rudi with a bounce back, not the highest pass but fine – switch full to popa, short of split position there – 1.5 to front full, solidly done, secure final pass landing. 9.875

Bastardi – BB – aerial, small hesitation into bhs – kickover front with a check – switch to split jump 1/4 – cat leap to side aerial to full, stuck. Well, the best hit in the lineup so far. 9.675

The kind of meet this site was named for…

Houchin – FX – super high back 2.5 with lovely leg position – switch ring to switch full, a bit short – 1.5 to front full, takes that front full way out but keeps it in bounds – double pike, solid landing – 9.900

Rushlow – BB – beat to split jump 3/4, pretty split position – bhs loso series, good form, step back to control it – switch to split, lovely – side aerial is low with a check but she saved it – 1.5, short with a fake stick salute. Good. 9.750

Hassel – FX – music pause FUNNNN – front 2/1, good twisting position, lunge out – 1.5 to layout, again wonderful body position, not quite enough control on landing – switch and wolf, well done – rudi to straddle jump, solid. 9.875

9.800/9.950 split. Did 9.950 not see the landing control?

McCracken – BB – wolf turn single, good – aerial to bhs, a little slow but close enough and lovely form, small lean – split to double stag, lean to the side – cat leap to aerial – bhs gainer full, stuck. 9.825

Piringer – FX – double tuck, small movement, good height – 1.5 to layout, very strong body position – switch side to popa, good elevation and finishing position – double pike, secure landing, just a bit chest down.9.900

Penn State 194.000

Well, it all went rough there at the end for Penn State for what will be another score they hope to drop this season.

Nebraska 195.150

The victory will be a little comfort, but the disastrous beam rotation means this, too, is a drop-for-NQS kind of performance for Nebraska.

Balance beams. Whatcha gonna do?