The Penn State Football Show

That was the cheer that reverberated throughout Camp Randall Stadium in the 4th quarter. The game was well out of reach for the Badgers, but at least the fans had something to fall back on. I had the time of my life in Madison, and seeing my first live Penn State game of the year was thrilling, and the outcome very unexpected. I felt that PSU would come out and be very tentative as they had been against a less daunting foe in Purdue. This was not the case, however as Penn State's offense attacked down the field, taking advantage of a mediocre defensive backfield. Once again the defense improved, and was able to hone in on the one dimensional offense of Wisconsin, although it took a loooonng time for a Wisconsin QB to even complete a pass. As Pete said, this was a statement. Although this maybe didn't look that impressive to some due to Wisconsin's losing streak, that was still a very good football team with an enormous offensive line, powerful running backs and a solid defense led by three stout linebackers. But only seven points for them....and 48 for the good guys.

Penn State performed extremely well in all three phases of the game, and in particular special teams. Derrick Williams took another one to the house, and Kevin Kelly hit another 50+ yard field goal. He may be the best kicker in college football. He has great leg strength and his only miss of the season was on an attempt over 50 yards. This guy is money, and when Penn State plays teams like Ohio State and Michigan State later in the year, having someone so reliable is going to pay off. Lou Holtz has been praising this football team all year, and a few things that he pointed out that I completely agree with are: 1) This is the most balanced team in college football. PSU is averaging well over 200 yards a game on the ground and in the air, they allow only 11 points per game on defense, the special teams are top notch, and they have depth. 2) The team isn't a team relying on superstars. They know their individual roles and they go out there and execute. This is really a testament to the coaching staff, because in my mind that is an ideal TEAM(i.e. New England Patriots of 2001, 2003, 2004). These players demand to be respected and there are still people out there that are not recognizing them as a championship quality team. I realize that there is a very very long way to go, and that they may not have played the most grueling schedule, but Mark May (Pitt grad...figures) they just trounced Wisconsin who should have beat Ohio State, and here you are saying that Penn State has played no one? Then there is Bruce Feldman, one of the two men that does weekly Bowl predictions for ESPN. For all 7 weeks of the season he has not projected Penn State as going to a BCS bowl game. In my opinion, even if Penn State loses to Ohio State, but wins the rest of its games...they should be considered for a BCS game.

And while all of this may annoy me, it's almost better for this determined Nittany Lion team that continuously wants to prove themselves. Apparently the only way they are going to do that is by winning a National Championship. They are a smart group, and every week they will be motivated. This upcoming week they will not be looking ahead to OSU....because they know what happened in 2005. This Michigan team is a nuisance, and one that they will take pleasure in taking apart piece by piece. I am already going to announce one of my upsets for this coming weekend. Michigan State over Ohio State. Terrelle Pryor is a giant pussy that played teams akin to Groton School every weekend in high school. His team couldn't score a touchdown against Purdue and the road only gets tougher. He is going to get smacked around.

Finally, another thing that I noticed was the 4-4 defense that Penn State employed against Wisconsin, getting Bowman and Gbadyu on the field at the same time. These two are fast enough to cover tight ends, and allows Penn State to have 8 men in the box to stop the run. Look for more of this against Michigan's spread offense, and certainly a lot more of it versus Beanie Wells and Terrelle Cryor. Yea...Cryor.