The Penn State Football Show

Its only been 5 weeks of college football, but the season has been off to an insane start. Top teams getting knocked off, a new #1 team almost every week, and Penn State off to a very good start. Everyone seems to be in love with the SEC lately...and yes they have some good teams, but Georgia? Number 1 team in the preseason polls...something I did not agree with, and they really have not had an impressive game thus far. They have a lot of talent, but Alabama made them look absolutely terrible. Who else looked terrible this Saturday? Wisconsin..AND Michigan. Each had their turn at bad halves of football, and in the end Michigan was able to come up with the big plays. Wisconsin could not get in an offensive rhythm similar to their game against Fresno, and Everidge was incapable of moving the football down the field. The running game is impressive, but without the serious threat of a pass, there is a simple formula for stopping Wisconsin's offense. They did play the game without two of their biggest playmakers (both TE's although Beckum courageously came in at the end of the game and made some plays), but given 5 turnovers in a single half, you need to score more than 19 points. After Penn State's solid victory, it seems that they will be easily moving into the top 10, and maybe even as high as 5th or 6th in the nation as they proved that their offense could produce against a legitimate opponent.

Penn State played well, and I was impressed at their ability to answer immediately after falling behind 7-0 with a beautiful 77 yard drive. Their offense was without star wide receiver Jordan Norwood who had hamstring issues earlier in the week, but all skill positions performed admirably. Derrick Williams had one of the biggest games of his career, Evan Royster produced another quiet 100 yard day and I cannot say enough about his consistent and powerful runs. Daryll Clark played superb football and not only displayed his abilities as a quarterback, but as a leader as well. His toughness and determination are skills that will spread to other members of the football team and help them to overcome adversity that they will see in the next few weeks. Overall the offense was superb, and the line did a fantastic job. The Lions were never in a big hole, and I feel that there is STILL more to the offense, but I feel very confident with them. They will only get better which is a scary thought.

The defense did a fairly impressive job as well, facing one of the most explosive offenses in the country, but they did give up 4.5 yards per carry and some big pass plays. I was surprised at how well the safeties played, and they tackled well and hit hard. Mark Rubin who I have been critical of in the past had 10 tackles and was a force against the run. Anthony Scirrotto had a nice pick and his fellow Italian Astorino, whose body reminds me more of a punter than a safety, is a rising star. Pete pointed this out as well, but this kid is just a good player with good instincts and no fear. It was nice to see Mo Evans back, and he looked better than I expected (also was in the game earlier than I expected). Navarro Bowman, my pick for player to watch, was all over the field in a breakout game. He forced a fumble were he played the option to perfection and will be an All-American next season. Josh Hull on the otherhand looked slow and out of place in the Penn State defense. He was unable to shed blocks and was unable to make a tackle upfield. I pray that when Oct. 25th comes around that we will have someone else playing in the middle of the defense because Pryor and Beanie Wells will make Hull look foolish yet again.

Special teams...something that many were worried about ended up being a strength for Penn State. As bad a Wallace looks on kick returns, Williams makes up for it. Derrick has turned into an amazing returner, and I admire his ability to run at a full sprint through his blocks instead of dancing around and trying to make people miss, something Wallace has a bad habit of doing now (although last year he did not have this issue). I have also criticized Williams in the past, especially in 2006 when he seemed to trip over his shoelaces every game, but he is electric. This team has a great attitude, always recognizing their teammates as Williams did in his postgame interview, and another strength of Paterno and his crew is that they will ALWAYS make sure that his team is mentally prepared, not cocky, well disciplined. PSU had only one penalty in the entire game, and that came late in the fourth quarter. They won the turnover battle, but still need to do a better job protecting the football. Overall, a solid win and I feel very confident going in against Purdue and Wisconsin. These two next opponents will present different challenges for PSU with the passing game of Purdue and running attack of Wisconsin, but the lack of a diverse offense in both teams will allow the Nittany Lion defense to key in on the one dimensional offenses.

Some things to think about...
There are a lot of changes being made to the top ten this week. The top team I think is going to be Oklahoma, who has the best quarterback in the country in my opinion, but there are some sleepers out there. TEXAS...no one is giving them the credit they deserve. Their defense is tenacious, and Colt McCoy is a Heisman candidate and much improved from last year. In two weeks they will have a make or break game with OU, but the Big 12 is tough, especially with the championship game at the end of the season. Between Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, I don't know who to go with, but I have a feeling that all three will have one loss before bowl season. So who goes undefeated? Alabama? I don't think so...the SEC is tough and I think Saban's team will get knocked off at some point. I won't say anything about Penn State, I think they have a good team, and we will just have to see, but my REAL sleeper....BALL STATE. Currently undefeated and their biggest tests left this season are Toledo and Western Kentucky (factoid...WKU is one of only 4 independent teams). This team will be undefeated in December. My heart goes out to Dante Love, who was a standout WR for Ball State who will never play football again. That is a tragedy, but hopefully he will be able to continue to live a successful life.

That's a lot of stuff there, but what a day of college football. I could go on, but I'll let it stop here. Purdue is not someone to be overlooked. They always give PSU a tough test, and it will be our first road test before heading to MadTown, Wisconsin where I will be in attendance.