The Penn State Football Show

I figured I'd add a little bit more now that I've had time to calm down and think about the events that unfolded Saturday night.

I still think it was a great win, but still truly believe Penn State is a superiour team than Ohio State and could have scored more points and won by more than they did. Clearly they went into the game with a conservative game-plan (similar to the way they did in 05). It worked, so I can't complain. A win is a win, and they did exactly what they had to do. But had the ball bounced the other way, we easily could have lost that game, and just imagine what we would be saying on this blog had that happened. We all would be complaining about the conservative offensive gameplan, certain that PSU could have scored more had they only tried. Like I said, the gameplan worked perfectly, but I really hope Penn State doesn't take a similar approach to future games -- especially a potential bowl game.

Drew, while I like your confidence and enthusiasm, I agree with Rudy. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and never forget the debacle that was 1999. I really trust the leadership of this team and don't see them falling apart like that, but you never know what's going to happen. Of course, if Alabama and Texas both win out, Penn State will not play in the national championship game. Everyone keeps saying one of them will lose, but I'm not so certain. Both teams have really impressed me. The fact tha Alabama has had some close games does not imply they are weak and are due to lose any day now. To me, it makes me fear them more, because it shows they know how to win the close games. I think Saban has done a great job with them, and I would not be surprised to see both teams win out. However, if Florida keeps playing the way they have been, Alabama will have a really really difficult opponent in the SEC Championship game.

I still think Ohio State will lose to Illinois. I believe I forgot to mention this in my post-game analysis, but it needs to be said: Jared Odrick played an incredible game against Ohio State. He made some great tackles, stuffing Beanie behind the line of scrimmage on a few different occasions. Also, I'm still surprised that Penn State's O-line performed so poorly in the first half. They came out strong in the second half, which was promising, but it's discouraging to see that a strong d-line can do that to an O-line that I thought was one of the best in the country.

I think the bye week comes at a perfect time for this team. That was a brutal three game stretch and the team can use some rest. Clark will be fine for the next game. Any guys that are banged up will have some time to heal. They will come into Iowa ready to go, and I don't anticipate a let down that I might have feared without the bye week. This will also give the coaches some time to take a look at some of the younger guys and see what they are capable of. I would not be surprised to see some younger guys get more involved after this bye week. Joe Pa mentioned this possibility at the press conference. Hopefully they can find some ways to get Powell the ball.

How about Big Game Pat Devlin!