What Will Really Happen

Say what you will:

Penn State isn't a basketball school.

-A 2009 NIT championship, a 1954 Final Four appearance, and my enrollment say otherwise.

Talor Battle is undersized.

-Bill Raftery says, "He's got a big ticker!"

Penn State is looking ahead in this game.

-One game at a time, we're just focused on beating San Diego State.

Ed DeChellis is God-awful.

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For those that haven't been keeping up with the blog here, Penn State is playing Temple University in the 7 vs 10 game this Thursday at 2:00 pm. Mattare, myself, Mikey and special contributor Yack are all from the Lehigh Valley area. That's eastern PA for the Notre Dame fans wondering why they're reading this. Yack is an Owl alumnus after tricking the university into giving him a diploma.

I know pretty much everything about Temple basketball from how they form a lather train in the shower to demonstrate team unity, to the little known fact that Lavoy Allen likes to use nicknames like "Scootie Pahootie" and Jimmy "Hat" McDonnell to get them super psyched before games.

But the lather train stops here. The heroes of the hardwood have showed up to the dance, and we're intoxicated. Only the experts noticed the way we pacified Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament, but soon the nation will know the sadistic brand of basketball Penn State has embraced as of late. No team can possibly have fun while playing the Nittany Lions. Just watching the games is as exhausting as running in sand. Couldn’t be more excited.

This game can’t really be described as the battle for Pennsylvania--Pitt has a #1 seed, and Bucknell has to be in that conversation too, no love for VillaNoFun (5 PA teams in the tourney, suck it Ohio.) When it boils down to it, this game is all about Yack and myself. Yack, The Eric Snow to my Allen Iverson, the Nate Dogg (RIP, you’re the greatest) to my Snoop Dogg, the hookers to my Charlie Sheen, wants to see his team step to MY team and win. Not going to happen.

Sorry buddy, but all the mini hot dogs, green bean casserole, burgers, cupcakes and cola that Mrs. Yack can conjure up won’t ease the pain of Talor Battle’s dagger three pointers from 25 feet. You might have to call in Mikey’s mom for some spaghetti pie after this one. We may have a pathetic fan base, but that’s because students are off enjoying all the cool free parties with dimes that Penn State has to offer. Unlike Temple where just to drink some keg beer, you have to first contribute to the house’s taquito fund. For shame!

Seriously if your Temple in this game don’t you ask the 5th graders that play at halftime if they want to switch opponents so they have a chance to win?

I propose that if Penn State wins, you will call Papa Johns in Orlando and have them deliver me a large supreme pizza. Pay with credit over the phone please. I look forward to Temple helping Penn State make history, and to signing the bill “Pete Lisicky.”

PENN STATE: 2010 SEASON RECAP

I culminate my season long masterpiece with a prompted yet free form analysis of Penn State's performance this year:

1. Offensive MVP

Derek Moye

He has 10 more catches, 300 more yards and 2 TDs more than the next guy on this team. It seemed like every time he was targeted he was open and made the catch. Plus he's the only receiver that stretched a defense for us this year.

2. What Grade would you give the offense?

C+

We were able to execute against lesser opponents which is something I try not to take for granted with Penn State. The flip side to that is always that against a good defense we get knocked off the line and don't make game changing plays.

3. Defensive MVP

No one.

Michael Mauti gets the runner up here because he hit hard for about 10 quarters this year. Yes he was injured for about half the year but he still doesn't deserve the award outright.

4. What Grade would you give the defense?

D-

Not an F because there were 20 minute stretches where we looked okay (2nd half against Michigan, 1st half against Ohio State), but that doesn't excuse the passive play we saw the rest of the year. As Penn State fans we watch our offense with tempered expectations because we know that defense is what we hang our hat on. We know it can keep us in games. Not this year.

5. Biggest Surprise (Positive)

Silas Redd

We're in much better shape next year with him getting (hopefully) 15+ carries a game in place of Royster. We haven't had a runner like him since Ki-Jana Carter.

6. Biggest Surprise (Disappointment)

Defensive Line

I saw 2 returning defensive ends that were poised to make the leap. A returning 2 year starter in Ollie Ogbu and a house of man in Devon Still that waited patiently behind a 1st round draft pick at defensive tackle. The result? No chaos! Calling a base defense with a 4 man rush this year was like calling an 8 yard completion for the other team. Once a possession you have to hurry a throw, I didn't see any of that this year.

7. Best Moment of the Season

35 Unanswered Against Northwestern

For 2 1/2 quarters the entire team looked like they appreciated every snap they played. No one took a play off. Everyone wanted Joe to get 400, even if they weren't alive for the first 200. Awesome to watch.

8. Worst Moment of the Season

Rob Bolden's Screen Pass Pick 6 Against Illinois

The first domino in the ugliest homecoming loss since 6-4.

9. Grade the Coaching Staff's Effort this season.

C

It's clear the staff hand their hands full picking up the slack of our senior head coach. However, that's just an excuse, and it doesn't excuse the recruiting dearth we're witnessing right now. The #4 and #6 players in the state don't even have OFFERS from PSU meanwhile we were busy signing Anthony Alosi whose impressive offer sheet includes Toledo and Richmond. I hope this season was a wake up call for everyone.

10. What are your thoughts on your bowl game and matchup? Excited, indifferent?

Very excited. We have to win. Urban Meyer just announced his resignation so you know the Gators will bring it. I also don't need to remind all my readers that I live in Orlando and this here is G8R N8N!! Can't wait to see all the Tebow jerseys dusted off. It's over! Go back to your pontoon boats!

11. Whole lot of quarterbacks and a whole lot of questions going into the spring (McGloin-Jones-Newsome-Bolden). How do you see it shaking out? Who do you think will be starting in September? Will that player be starting at the end of the season?

I still have high hopes for Bolden and he's my pick to win the starting job next year. The fact that he even got the nod this year is ridiculous. He got there in June! The only thing McGloin has over him is his attitude, which don't get me wrong I love, but I'm hoping a year in the locker room with his teammates will give Bolden more confidence so he can win over his teammates because to me his ability can't be ignored.

12. How do you feel about team is direction heading into next year? What are some way too early predictions for what your expectations for 2011 will be?

We're definitely trending up just based on our youth. The only units where there will be turnover is where we need it most: offensive and defensive line. I just want to be able to run the ball again. We have shown the ability at times to set up the run with the pass but that's not what we're best at. We need to get back to it being the other way around. That doesn't mean we need to abandon the Spread HD it just means we have to get 2 yards when we need 2 yards.

I think we go 10-3 next year. Paterno thinks next year is the year. As a part-time-seasonal blogger I'm here to say: sorry Joe but I think 2012 is the year. Won't be mad if you're not around to see it.

Kent St. Eve

Glad week 2 is over with. I have no further comments on Alabama. The game was deleted from our DVR the minute we got home. All my thoughts have been on this week's rebound game against the Golden Flashes, great name.

I'm aware that Lou Holtz has put us on upset alert, he even had some good points. We're a team that can't run the ball and they're a team with a great run defense. They gave BC a good game and BC is good, I guess. He then went on to say that we're going to have a hangover from last week? Does he realize we lost? I think you have a hangover after you win a big game (see: Iowa, 2008).

We're going to come out sharp, Troutman and the offensive line are going to maul Kent St, that's just how I feel anyway. I think Royster stops tripping in the backfield and performs like his old self against a bad team. Bolden has an even better game after facing Alabama speed last week, but I think the defense will still be a problem. I haven't been encouraged by much I've seen from them in the two games so far this year.

They haven't gotten pressure on the quarterback, they haven't disrupted any running plays, they haven't contested passes, they haven't tackled well, they haven't forced a single turnover. If one or two of those things was happening maybe I'd be more optimistic about the rest falling into place, but really no aspect of this year's D resembles a Penn State defense. So I'm skeptical. I think we need to tighten the rotation at LBer and I think Crawford and Latimore need to wake up and get in the backfield.

Despite all my concerns, I really like this team. If only because it's not what I'm used to. I get the feeling that this team might have an upset in them this season, but I can also see them dropping a gimme. I'm used to Penn State taking care of everyone they're supposed to and sometimes stealing the odd game against Ohio State. In the regular season that's really all we've done lately. It's far from a bad thing to be favored in most games you play, but this year I don't think we'll be favored against Iowa, Ohio St and maybe even Michigan, but I think we win at least one of those games.

Tomorrow, I think we win 40-17.

Big 10 Divisions Announced

The Big Ten conference revealed their division alignments today. You can watch the Big Ten Networks coverage of it above. Here are the things you need to know about the decision:

Conference Layout
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Division A (no names yet)
Illinois
Indiana
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue
Wisconsin

Division B
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Nebraska
Minnesota
Northwestern

No real knee-jerk reactions to this set up. They did the right thing in making sure Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan and Nebraska were split two and two. Putting three of those programs in one division would upset the competitive balance (Michigan has to be good again eventually, right?) The next "tier" in the conference has always been Wisky and Iowa, both are strong programs but not quite as nationally recognized as the top four, and I liked to see that they were separated as well. At first glance one would have to say that Division A is going to be stronger in the immediate future as Wisconsin is primed for a conference championship run and Michigan is still sitting on the Rod. Delany also confirmed that the name of the conference will remain the "Big Ten" despite having 12 teams and that they will reveal a new logo in the near future.

Scheduling
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*8 conference games per season, with one bye week.

*Each team plays everyone in their division every season

*Each team has one protected crossover from the other division that they will play every year

*Two teams from the other division will be on your schedule for two years at a time, and then rotate out. This is the only inconsistent aspect of the scheduling. After accounting for the protected crossover game, there are five conference opponents in the opposite division that need to rotate in and out of the schedule. Meaning that after a team is on your schedule for two years, they will be off the schedule for two or FOUR years depending on how the rotation is set up. More on this later.

*Michigan vs. Ohio State will still be the last regular season game for the next two years.

Protected Crossovers
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"Protected crossover" meaning each team has one team from the opposite division that they play every year.

Ohio State - Michigan
Everyone knew this was going to happen, this a move they had to make otherwise Michigan and Ohio State fans might have actually united to protest the move. Gross, no one wants to see that. For now, Ohio State is in a great position because they get to keep their coveted rivalry on their coveted weekend, but they also get to keep winning it.

Penn State - Nebraska
This is what I wanted. Penn State really doesn't have a true rival in the conference, and this one won't feel like a rivalry at first but if it proves to be competitive maybe we can drum up the "two newest members" angle? If not, there's always this, or this. Either way it's bound to be a good game more often than not and I'm already looking for an excuse to get out to Lincoln one year...

Wisconsin - Minnesota
This was another must have. The oldest and most played rivalry in college football and Minnesota actually seems to be turning their program around. We know it as the "Battle for Paul Bunyon's Axe" but they used to play for the "Slab of Bacon" which was actually a piece of wood with a carved "W" or "M" on it, depending on how you hung it. It was lost in the 1940s and found in a Wisconsin storage room in the 1990s. Wisconsin now has it in a glass case despite losing the series to Minny 11-3. Barry, put away the Axe and bring back the Bacon, fantastic trophy.

Illinois - Northwestern
No more "Sweet Sioux Tomahawk", as of last year they are playing for the "Land of Lincoln" trophy after the NCAA banned all Native American imagery from college athletics. Unless Illinois gets rid of Ron Zook I see this matchup heavily favoring Northwestern. Pat Fitzgerald is really starting something up there. Interesting side note: I recently read that if Penn State were to go outside the program for Joe's replacement, Fitzgerald is someone they would consider. Go Tom Bradley.

Indiana - Michigan State
Did anyone know this was a trophy game. No? Well here it is:

Now go ahead and forget all over again...

Purdue - Iowa
Attention Iowans! Let's let bygones be bygones, you have my sympathy. While this is a matchup you should be able to win consistently, you were part of a solid three way rivalry between Wisconsin and Minnesota that has just been disrupted. As the extreme northwest of the old Big 10, these three border rivals were able to maintain a competitive balance for over 100 years, and that is something that I am sad to see go. Not to mention with Minnesota's new TCF Bank stadium we were poised for some outstanding cold weather in future Novembers. There will be periods of four years when the Hawkeyes will not play Wisconsin. To me that's the biggest injustice with the new divisions.

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I like the divisions and I think that Penn State landed in the right spot. If there was one team I wanted to play every year it was the Buckeyes because although we'll never enter Michigan's circle of hell in their eyes, they are our only border state and now they won't be able to share conference championships with us after we beat them head to head. The conference has definitely gotten stronger with the addition of Nebraska and we should be hearing less Big Ten bashing now that the road to a Big Ten championship becomes much more difficult with the addition of a conference championship game. Anytime you have to see less of this you know it's been a successful offseason:

ROBERT BOLDEN NAMED STARTER

Look at how he leads with that elbow! Penn State, we have ourselves a quarterback. Robert Bolden will take the first snap on opening day, which actually makes my prediction last week a little conservative. The rumors built and built surrounding Bolden but I think most Nittany Lion fans were like myself: cautiously hopeful. Joe wouldn't really start a true freshman right off the bat would he? The circumstances were just right this time, and yes he f'in did. I think this is a decision that Joe was actively involved with. His biggest role these days is making personnel decisions, he has infinite knowledge of the position, and he played quarterback at Brown and although the position has evolved since he did play, it's nothing he hasn't witnessed while roaming the sidelines.

My buddy Ross - lifetime Penn State fan - just called to ask if I had read the news, "He's gonna start against Alabama and we're going to win 67-0, and he's going to throw for 25 touchdowns this year and only 7 interceptions."

Mark it.

Penn State QB Race Update

The Penn State quarterback battle is down to three candidates (from left): true sophomore Kevin Newsome, true freshman Robert Bolden, and redshirt sophomore Matt McGloin. Paul Jones was in the race until recently, when he was told that he would be redshirting for the 2010 season. As soon as Pat Devlin took his talents to Wilmington the starting quarterback position for Penn State this season became a question mark. Despite the fact that Penn State hasn't had terrific quarterback play in the last decade, save Daryll Clark and M-Rob, the empty depth chart enticed Robert Bolden and Paul Jones to commit.

All of a sudden we had three highly touted recruits (counting Newsome), all with at least three years eligibility left battling for the job. I became giddy, but I was almost more worried. Could I really count on Jay Paterno and the staff to get this right? These are the guys that shuffled Michael Robinson all over the field for four years before putting the ball in his hands, the same guys who never even gave Daryll Clark a shot while Morelli was leading us (Joe has admitted that mistake.) We need to show competence, we can't afford any more of this:



Yep, definitely no more of that.

My feelings on each candidate:

Matt McGloin
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Strengths: Decision making, accuracy, knowledge of the playbook.
Weaknesses: Athleticism, arm strength.

Projection: I think McGloin ends up 3rd on the depth chart. Coaches say he has demonstrated a knowledge of the playbook, but he's not exactly fit to run a portion of it. I've said before that the Spread HD (I've embraced the name by now) is most effective when defenses have to scheme against the QB read-option. I don't see defenses respecting McGloin's running ability, nor do I think he has the body to withstanding the pounding he would take if he lowered his helmet between the tackles.

I don't think the fact that he's a walk on hurts him, I think the coaches are throwing all that out the window on this one. McGloin sounds like a hard-working kid, but this situation reminds me of the QB race in 2008 where the coaching staff insisted that Paul Cianciolo was in the running and not everyone totally bought it because we all knew he would ultimately be trumped by the superior talent he was competing against.

Kevin Newsome
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Strengths: Size, strength, athleticism, knowledge of the playbook.
Weaknesses: Accuracy, decision making.

Projection: Newsome will take the first snap for us this year, but he won't take the most. From everything I've read, Newsome has not made the leap in the passing game that the coaches were hoping for. However, I've also read that he is far and away the best at running the option, which I think will earn him 6-10 snaps every game.

The kid stands 6'2" 225 lbs and has the best wheels of all three QBs. That's not something I want to see go to waste - or even worse, go to Wilmington. I think he could be very dangerous in Penn State's 5-wide goal line package they used in 2008 that helped Clark rush for 9 touchdowns.

Robert Bolden
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Strengths: Accuracy, arm strength, athleticism, "IT".
Weaknesses: Knowledge of the playbook.

Projection: I think this true freshman is our starting quarterback midway through the season and possibly in the second half at Alabama depending on how that game goes. There has to be something special about this kid. Obviously the depth chart is in his favor, but the Penn State coaching staff is never eager to hand the keys to the offense to a true freshman (hasn't happened since 1992 when Wally Richardson did.) For him to come in in August and impress as he's done speaks volumes to his ability and poise.

In scrimmages he has made the big plays, he has picked up the playbook quickly, which means he's got a high football IQ or working his ass off or both. He doesn't have the physique to take a pounding running the ball yet, so that's why I think Newsome still gets considerable time this season.

Needless to say I have a man-crush on Bolden. I don't see how you cannot be excited about him, not only does it appear we have a special talent on our hands, we might have him for four years as our starter! Going beyond that, we have an offensive coaching staff that has really found an identity in the last five years and I feel very confident that they will make the right choice and use that player effectively. I know the 2010 season hasn't started yet, but it's not too early to dream about what could be in the coming years.

Chalk up my swing in optimism to the Big Ten Network's stop at Penn State when they interviewed Jay Paterno and he didn't seem like the baby Huey I used to picture him as. I've also been following him on Twitter (@JayPaterno) and he offers some good stuff, practice photos, recaps, and early morning tweets just to let everyone in the college football world know that we are GRINDIN.

Twitter is the wave of the future follow us @WeNeverGraduate.

Lazy Summer Blogging 101

So while Mattare would have you believe that its important to know your school's history and to keep up to date on your team's recruiting, it is, but summer isn't about what's important. It's about not caring that your team only has two commits, one a 2 star tight end that only Bucknell and Delaware would have. It's about making beach plans at work. It's about reading blogs, not writing them.

Despite all this, I want my name to remain under "contributors" because I know that there's a 2010 football season ahead. I want to be here when Notre Dame fans will whip themselves into a frenzy over a new QB 1 and a new coach. I want to be here when excuses start to be made after they lose to a sneaky Michigan team. I want to be here when Tom Bradley's ever-stingy defense wills Penn State to a 9-4 record and I can know that that's as bad as it's going to get for the next 3 years, while Irish beat writers republish all the Charlie Weis articles from 2007 and just switch out the names.

Penn State Offseason Notes:

Recruiting has been terribly slow. As it stands now we only have Kyle Carter (2* TE) and Shawn Oakman (4* DE). Oakman says he wants to play basketball for us too. Standing 6'8" I say do it, but take it from a zero sport athlete: being a two sport athlete AND a student is taxing. He would be someone to get excited about until you realize Pitt snatched Marquise Wright, who was a hard Penn State lean. We continue to struggle locking up PA talent like a state powerhouse should. There was some speculation that Notre Dame commitment Ben Koyack was being recruited by Penn State, this is completely false as he is a goober and we don't recruit those.

Recruits we need to land: CBs Terrell Chestnut and Kyshoen Jarrett

WR Miles Shuler from NJ

OLs Angelo Mangiro and Cyrus Kouandjio

DEs Deion Barnes and and DT Shaun Underwood

Hey, the Big Ten expanded too. I didn't want to add the college football expansion internet saturation so I didn't write anything (nothing to do with anything I said in paragraph #1.) As you know Nebraska joined and we averted potential conference apocalypse. I'm happy about this, the next order of business is breaking down the league into divisions and I have to say that I like ESPN's Adam Rittenberg's take on this: http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/13285/my-proposal-for-big-ten-divisions

Go out and buy Big Boi's "Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty" for some funky southern hip hop to get you through the impossibly hot summer. Stay away from that Purp tho! You don't want to end up like JaMarcus Russell.

Penn State Spring Recap - Defense

Last week we looked at the Nittany Lion offensive outlook coming out of spring ball. Now we're going to look at how the defense is shaping up, starting from the line of scrimmage.

Defensive Line - Consistently my favorite group to write about. Our front four is always good and this year is no different. 1st stringers should look something like Jack Crawford and Eric Latimore at end, and Ollie Ogbu and Devon Still at defensive tackle. Last year Jared Odrick commanded double teams all season so we're certainly going to miss him, but now Crawford and Latimore have an entire year of starting experience under their belt. This experience coupled with his natural athleticism could transform Crawford into a polished quarterback equalizer. Ollie Ogbu is a steady performer inside and everything I'm reading is telling me that Devon Still is ready to step up and fill Odrick's role.

Linebackers - All three of Penn State's starting linebackers from 2009 were taken in this year's NFL draft. Obviously we have some holes to fill. One guy the coaches considered moving around this spring was Gerald Hodges. Hodges is the most athletic backer we have and there was some discussion about moving him to safety if Astorino was having trouble coming back from injury. Astorino's rehab is ahead of schedule (resilient little bugger) so Hodges stays at LB, and hopefully will see the field immediately at the "fritz" OLB position. . The other guys in the mix to earn starting jobs are Michael Mauti (after missing all of last year with an ACL injury) and Chris Colasanti at ILB, and Nate Stupar, Bani Gbadyu and Gerald Hodges competing for OLB jobs.

Secondary - The secondary is probably the biggest concern of the defense, and not because of players lost. Stephon Morris is going to start as our no. 1 corner as a true sophomore, the coaches absolutely love him. It looks like D'Anton Lynn will start opposite from him. Chaz Powell has been moved from WR to CB and probably won't start. Interestingly enough about Powell, he was our top CB recruit in 2007 and was immediately moved to offense and now as a senior he's going to have to work his way into the rotation as a defensive back. A little confusing if you ask me, I understand you want to get him on the field, but it's undeniable that his development as a corner was stunted by the move.

Derrick Thomas, who came in with Morris will also provide depth at CB, he's a very physical player. As far as safeties, it's the same old story. Nick Sukay is the strong safety and has played well as he recovered from injury last year. I hate to start the pot shots at Astorino 3 months before the season, but I really feel he has physical limitations that will prevent him from being an elite safety. In 2011 we are going to be primed for a run at a national title, and I don't know if we can achieve that with a 5'7" safety with average speed. Every effective passing team has targeted Astorino and had success. I just think we should give Malcom Willis or Lynn (he wanted the job) a shot at the position so they have time to develop. I digress, Andrew Dailey has made a move from linebacker to safety, apparently Bradley thinks he has the lateral movement to play there, we'll have to see how this all works out. I hope I eat my words.

JoePa + Lasik = HIDE THE CHILDREN

In this article on Penn State's Scout.com site they talk about the fact that fossilized coach Joe Paterno has gotten eye surgery so he can "read his watch" among other things.

Practical result? He doesn't have to wear his trademark glasses any more. Aesthetic result? He looks absolutely terrifying.

This is the definition of "lose-lose."

A 10 Win Regular Season??

So Penn State goes 10-2 this season, and all year you've been hearing that I "Still don't know how good we are." Considering it's the end of the season, I'll finally sit down and try to make some sense of this team.

CONS:

Safety Play

Drew Astorino looks like a bobble head on the field he's so small. Joe likes to talk about his instincts and the fact that he won the state high school basketball championship, but I care more about him getting trucked every time he makes a tackle and being helpless against anyone over 6"0. I've been critical of Nick Sukay this year as well, but there is hope for him, he seems to have some physical skills. He's 6'2" and was finally flying into plays full speed against Michigan State this past week. Sukay's problem this year has been knowing his assignments. If he works hard this offseason and stays in position next year I'll be happy, but I'd be disappointed if Drew Astorino doesn't lose his job to either Gerald Hodges or Derrick Thomas next year.

Home Losses

It has to be conceded that we were the lesser team in both home losses this season, but anyone could see that we didn't roll out our best performances when it really counted. Iowa springs to mind. We played terribly that night, couldn't block anyone, couldn't make throws, couldn't catch throws, couldn't find our tight end for some reason. Top that off with some uninspired play calling and you have a complete flop of a game, while Nittany Nation was hoping for a soaked-in-revenge beatdown. You need your team to show up for big games, otherwise your other 10 wins suddenly seem unimpressive.

Conservative Coaching

This could almost be filed under "Home Losses" because as usual, the most conservative coaching occurred in the two biggest games of the year. Taking the QB read option out of the playbook this year made Daryll Clark far less effective, it might have cost us a touchdown a game, but how do you measure a defense's tendencies against an offense with and without one single play? Study game film? I don't want to do that, this is a blog.


PROS

Jared Odrick

Our play at defensive end suffered more than I thought it would this year after the departure of Aaron Maybin. Considering he was drafted 10th overall maybe I should have suspected as much. Our ends lack the athleticism on one side in Eric Latimore and lack knowledge of the game on the other side in Jack Crawford, but it was tough to really see that all year because Jared Odrick was a BEAST. Every single play he was double teamed, and he still managed 6 sacks this year. Only Ohio State was really able to run the ball between the tackles on us, and I attribute 80% of that to Odrick. Best of luck in the NFL big fella.

Daryll Clark

I can't deny a guy who accounted for 30 touchdowns. He has yet to win a big game in my opinion, but his record as a starter is 21-4, and you could do a lot worse for a quarterback. With him we played to our potential 95% of the time, and we should never forget that Evan Royster and Stephfon Green each had costly fumbles against USC that negated drives, and Royster had a fumble AND a drop that went for a pick against Iowa this year. (Just unloading some blame in the spirit of singing DC's praises because I'm high on him right now after he torched Mich St and shut up the "My New Haircut" mofo in the Spartan jersey at the bar Saturday). With him we played to our potential 95% of the time. That Iowa game last year is the only time I've felt like we were the better team and still lost. Looking around the college football landscape this year and remembering not knowing if you were going to beat Indiana with Morelli really makes me appreciate that.

Chance for BCS Win

We still may land a BCS bowl, and I can't emphasize enough how much a win would do for us right now. It would rewrite some of Clark's history with big games, it would give the Big 10 an ounce of much needed clout, and it would save the season.

VERDICT:

We are a good team. Top 15. Much more good than bad this year. Going into the bowl game I am actually confident. The one thing about dialing back the play calling all year is that we pull out all the stops in the bowl game, hence Joe's G.O.A.T bowl record.

Recruiting News

Marcus Lattimore loved us when he came to Happy Valley for the game against Ohio State. Gave the visit a 10 out of 10. If we can land him and maintain Silas Redd we'll have the best RB class in the country. Combine that with Kevin Newsome, who showed off his speed this year, and I think we will have the tools to run the Spread HD as it was meant to be run, with two running threats in the backfield every play and no more than 25 pass attempts per game. However, it's not all good news right now for the Lions, PSU commit Adrian Coxson is taking visits to Florida and Georgia, and when asked about the status of his current commitment to us, he said "I'd rather not say." Translation: we aren't even his leader right now. This is a problem, we have two other wideout commitments in this class, but they are both State College locals annnnnd I don't trust them at all.


Note to 70 Something Coaches:

This year Bowden was the target for "Should he be asked to leave the program or should we let him die out there" conversations, and before 2005 Joe heard his fair share of it. My two cents? Bowden and Paterno should be allowed to leave whenever they want, because neither is truly the head coach anymore, just figureheads. The media acts as if either is still responsible for the majority of what goes on with their teams. Simply not true. They've already taken a backseat people, just let them enjoy it. It made me feel bad for Bowden when I saw him wearing a headset the week after the allegations started flying around. As if he has to prove anything to anybody.

Joe!

Stories like this puts all things Paterno in perspective. It's his program.

Pretty Good Saturday

"At 6:00 the next morning my future best friend Sharky and I left the dorm and walked over to library quad with some blankets wrapped around us for warmth..." - Notre Dame Bob

My mom wears blankets on gameday. I hope all that YouTubing was worth it. I propose a maximum of 5 for all future countdowns. If we're not careful we'll get a countdown from 200 from you in the offseason: "Robert Hughes is eating Froot Loops for breakfast, he's so focused..." "Today I woke up and farted and it smelled like a spring day in South Bend, SONS OF NOTRE DAME, ASSEMBLE!"

We got to see what happens to Penn State's D when Sean Lee and Navarro Bowman finally get on the field together. 0 points for Minnesota, a completely dominant performance by the Lions. We held them to 37 yards on the ground and 138 TOTAL yards. Eric Decker accounted for 1/3 of their offense with 1 catch for 42 yards. That one play in particular bothers me, not because of the pick up, only surrendering one big play that doesnt lead to a touchdown is still a great defensive performance, but the gain was a result of poor safety coverage. This has been going on all season, playing Big Ten teams hides this weakness a little bit, but trust me it's there. Eric Decker split Drew Astorino and Nick Sukay on that play because they both took poor angles because they overestimate their own athleticism. These guys cannot hang with elite recievers. Jared Odrick continues to wreak havoc, he pushes the line of scrimmage back half a yard every play. Look for him to be the 2nd Penn State lineman in as many years to be drafted in the first round this April.

The offense looked solid, the line is finally gelling! You all think I'm crazy but it's getting there. We've been shifting around personnel and Ako Poti - a former JUCO transfer - seems to have won the job at right tackle. DC had a very good day completing 21-32 for 287 and 1 TD to Derek Moye. We used Clark in the run game a little more, and while he only gained 8 yards on 8 carries it opened things up a little more downfield. When Galen Hall gets all caught up in the passing wrinkles of the Spread HD we end up trying to do too much, it was nice to see us keep them honest at the line of scrimmage. And finally Evan Royster, it's so good to see him efficiently chewing up yards for us again. He really makes everything go for us when we give him some room.

The Big Ten is terrrrrible, what are you doing Ohio State?? I hope they continue to start Pryor because at this point I've seen him lose games for his team and I'm convinced that Iowa is going to kill them, and I'm feeling way more confident about our chances against them. First we have to get through a good Michigan team, AT Michigan. Everyone knows the last time we beat Michigan at the big house was 1994. We almost ended that streak on that same day in 2005 that my opponent continually obsesses over, also on a last second play. A slant to Mario Manningham - whom I will never ever ever have on my fantasy team.

With the commitment of Khamrone Kolb Penn State has jumped to no. 2 nationally according to Rivals. This class has been so much fun. Sharrif Floyd, Marcus Lattimore, and Mike Thornton will all be on hand for the Ohio State game November 7th.

Facing the Music

I'm sitting here as PTI wraps up and the bottom border of ESPN flashes "COLLEGE FOOTBALL LIVE NEXT." I'm not going to watch it, I know Penn State will only be discussed in the context of Saturday evening's game, and I've had that conversation as honestly as I can with myself about 10 times since the game. Here's where I'm at:

There's really only one short bright stretch to this game, right? The first 10 minutes. 3 and out, first offensive play from scrimmage TD, tack on a field goal to that and we have a double digit lead. At this point, I'm thinking, "We look good," the coaches were thinking, "Let's slow this down," and Iowa was thinking, "This is familiar." From that point on we took the liberty of lowering the shotgun to the top of our foot and firing away. Not to say we didn't deserve to lose, we did, but the way we did made me sick to my stomach.

Firstly, before I proceed to make myself as miserable as possible with an in house analysis, Iowa is better than us. They abused us with the running game and capitalized off our turnovers and limited their own. When I say they deserved to win, I mean it.

Our offensive line is bad, every kind of bad. They were physically overmatched, communicated poorly, and they blew assignments. Iowa's D line had them for dinner, Clark had defenders in his face almost every time he dropped back and the run game looked like its 2009 familiar self. The 0 sacks surrendered is more of a testament to Daryll's mobility than to the line. About Daryll's mobility...

USE IT!!!! That 1st interception thrown absolutely killed me, it's 3rd and 2, hes rolling right, he weighs 245 and he has a good 5 yards of field in front of him. Tuck the ball and get it. Instead he opted to throw the short out (more on these later) and it got picked. He claims the ball slipped, and I might believe him, but the ball wouldn't have slipped if he had chosen to use his legs instead of forcing it. We are running Clark with more caution this year because of the absence of depth at QB, but if you can get a first down and then slide that's a play any QB should make, whether it's DC or Kerry Collins. The dual threat quarterback is DEADLY in college football and the "Spread HD" is at its best when we have a quarterback willing to run. Without one we are the predictable, containable offenses of 2006, 2007 and apparently 2009. That really showed on Saturday with all the passes to the sidelines, the "movement" of the pocket that looks fancy but doesn't fool anyone, the stubborn scheme that changes like the weather in Orlando. We did not challenge the middle of the field, we did little to impede Iowa's pass rush, and when we did Royster dropped the screen pass that would've gone for a first down. Shotgun! Clark has to throw the ball 20 yards laterally to gain 3 yards in this system. The safeties can cheat to the sidelines against this system. We can go 8-4 with this system.

This game was a nightmare from the past, a step backward. I wish we would've lost differently, all the usual gripes that went dormant last year resurfaced on Saturday. Last year we didn't know what we had in our offense and we played hungrier, calling whatever it took to win. This time we wanted to win on some bogus terms, we were determined to play a certain style of football and if that wasn't enough, so be it. I'm more upset with the coaches than anything here, we are so easy to play against in big regular season games. We have a few scripted plays and then we reel it in the rest of the game, trying to grind it out instead of going and getting the W. We ran a 3 back Power-I formation twice on Saturday, and both times we ran a counter with Chaz Powell. The first time it gained 8 yards and the second time it gained 0. That formation wasn't anywhere to be seen the rest of the game, the ONLY look the D had at it was the play that we ran twice. We could've play action passed, we could've faked the counter and ran Royster straight ahead, but we went with what was comfortable, what was familiar. That's the recurring theme that has killed me watching this team over the years. We won't always have the talent to comfortably beat teams the way that we want to, sometimes we have to adjust. And why wouldn't we? Why wouldn't we do everything in our power to win the game at hand and keep the title dream alive? I'm tired of playing not to lose. To show you how much this hurts I'm going to quote the original protagonist of this dressed up conservative offense Anthony Morelli when he said, "The defense isn't going to give us anything, we have to take it."

1-0

Just you, Gabby, and the cat huh? Awesome.

At halftime of Saturday's game vs. Akron you could've found me exclaiming all sorts of stats we would end up with if we kept producing at the rate we were. Clark: 500 yds and 6 TDs! 700 yds of total offense! 62-0! Akron -34 yds rushing? That's not how it played out unfortunately, as we scored 0 points in the 3rd and 4th quarter. The second half futility was a result of the coaching staff wanting to work on some weaknesses in our game, and I'm okay with that because we need it.

The first thing anyone watching this game had to notice was how DC was straight slingin it all over the place. He threw on his first read into coverage multiple times in that first half, balls that likely would have been picked off against better defenses. But he also made some throws that I doubt he would've attempted last year, especially the 22 yd TD to Derek Moye (my man). He seems to have more confidence in the ability of these younger guys to go up and get the ball, which could lead to us testing teams deep more often which I'm fine with. It could also lead to more picks which I don't really want to talk about. So Clark does need to look a little sharper and make better reads in the upcoming games, but it's hard to argue with his numbers for the day. After all, he did wipe out Morelli's school record for passing yards in a half. Anything to minimize evidence that he ever played football for us is a step in the right direction.

The receivers may have put on the strongest offensive performance of the day. The top three of Zug, Moye, and Powell combined for 18 catches for 260 yards and all 3 touchdowns. Chaz Powell looks fast, Graham Zug looks white boy fast, and Derek Moye looks like nothing we've seen at Penn State recently standing 6"5' and showing some shake on his first catch of the day.

The running backs looked fine, but they really didn't have any room to run because the offensive line is still trying to figure out what was going on. That was obvious. Longest run of the day was 12 yards?? Royster averaged 4.4 ypc, a full 2 yards less than last year. I just didn't see any body on Akron's D line getting knocked off the ball, and they were less than imposing.

Two possible scenarios for Colin Wagner:

(1) he is a big-game kicker that went 1-3 because those field goals didn't really matter.
(2) he is under qualified but made the team because he is a townie and probably mowed Joe's lawn at some point.

I'm pulling for scenario number 1, but in case I'm wrong, I
wouldn't mind if the staff let
freshman Anthony Fera get some kicks. The kid is supposed to be pretty awesome.

Seeing Lil Way- I mean Devon (pronounced DAY-von, hello world) Smith return kicks and get a couple touches on offense was exciting. 5'7" 155 lbs of speed... hot, nasty speed.

The defense played great the first half and then fell asleep in the
second. I believe it was just tough for these guys to stay motivated during this game. Not an excuse, but that's just what it looked like. They held Akron to 3-14 on third downs and didn't allow a first down until the third quarter. Nick Sukay blew an assignment on Akron's only TD of the day but looked okay other than that. Navarro Bowman going down in the first quarter is never a good sign, word is it was a pulled groin and he may miss this week but that's it. The rest of the linebackers looked great in the new 3-4 scheme, Sean Lee is so instinctive, hunter/gatherer instinctive. He always seems to beat the runner to spots, I expect double digit tackles for losses for him this year, easily. Nate Stupar actually had a team high 12 tackles, way to go State College High. I'm going to have to see a team that is in the weight class of our front seven before getting a better idea of how good the D is.