The Penn State Football Show

Are you guys kidding me? Solid Team? Very good offense? Road trap? Purdue sucks. They're choke artists. They always have been. Have you guys been watching both these teams this year? They don't belong on the same field as us. I agree to the slow start mainly because it's tough to get excited about being in Indiana at 11 in the morning. So a close first half maybe. Penn State blows them away though. The score when the Penn State first teamers leave the field will be 59-14. Purdue may tack on a late one when we put in the State College High crew.
Curtis Painter will wake up bruised and wishing he was born a woman after at least 5 hard sacks. At least 2 by Mo Evans. Three picks by the Penn State secondary. I would like to see Clark run the ball more this week though. Not because we need him too but because I enjoy watching it. You will find a slightly rowdy yet under filled arena that remains vocal until Penn State goes up two scores then it will be quieter than a woman's basketball game.

I would like to take this time to point out this will be Penn State's last contest against Joe Tiller. I have always liked him as a coach. His players are disciplined and he has run a good program. I usually dislike everyone not associated with Penn State but only a select few such as Tiller, Kirk Ferentz, and Barry Alvarez have always sat well with me. Tiller is an all around class act and the Big Ten is worse off without him.

Big win for the Lions but I do worry about the players hearing too much of how good they are.

On to upsets: Alot of people are talking them this weekend but I can only find one that agrees with me. It seems UK over Bama is a big one and I have been burned by not picking the Cats in the past but I feel Nick Saban is too strong of a coach for that. I don't buy the Huskers. Colorado Buffaloes athletic trainer Corey "All Day" Gildea has assured me that the Buffs stand no chance against UT and I believe him. So my one and only upset special this week is Kansas State over Texas Tech. Neither of them have played anyone worth anything but Kansas State is at home and should be pumped to take out and undefeated and top ten team with a Heisman hopeful at quarterback. While we're on the subject I'd like to take this time to challenge the rest of the bloggers to make upset picks that actually matter. Maryland over Clemson? Let me check my give-a-shit meter... Still on zero.

p.s. Peter, it was so nice to get to hang out with you so much while you were an hour away. Good times.

If Penn State has a "trap game" on it's schedule, this is it. The game is on the road and has an early start, and Penn State has struggled with both of these factors in the past. Beyond that, it would be easy for players to be looking ahead to Wisconsin, Michigan and OSU. Finally, Purdue is a good offensive team coming off of a disappointing loss to Notre Dame, and is determined to prove they are a better football team than they showed last weekend.

With that being said, I believe this year's squad has the leadership to prevent the team from falling into this trap. Darryl Clark, Derrick Williams, Sean Lee, Anthony Scirrotto and Josh Gaines will not allow for a let-up this weekend. As long as the Lions take care of the football and don't commit costly turnovers, they should not have a hard time putting up points on Saturday. I expect Evan Royster to have a big day on the ground for Penn State. Watch for Quarless to once again be a large part of the offensive game-plan. Defensively, I think A.J. Wallace will continue to see more time at corner, and will make the most of it. Look for the secondary to force one or more interceptions.

Curtis Painter is a solid pro-style quarterback and Joe Tiller always provides defensive coordinators with a difficult task of stopping his spread attack. Don't be surprised to see Purdue score some points this weekend. With the defense looking for the pass, I think Sheets may break off a few nice runs as well.

Penn State may get off to a slow start, but should wake up some time before the half. Turnovers will be the key, and as long as Penn State takes care of the ball, they should be able to handle this under-rated Purdue team. However, a sluggish performance on the road by Penn State would not shock me, and I have included Purdue on my list of upset teams for this weekend.

Penn State heads on the road to West Lafayette, Indiana to face Purdue at 12pm. You may think that it would be 11am Indiana time, but if that's what you thought, then you obviously don't know that Indianians are crazy and refuse to take part in daylight savings time. Rebels. This is a team that should be 4-0, and at least 3-1 right now. They were beating Oregon, but screwed around and lost in OT due to horrendous coaching decisions. Last week they lost at Notre Dame and were dominated by the Irish offense. They gave up over 200 yards rushing and 275 through the air (basically equaling the averages that Purdue has given up so far this year). Penn State should not have a problem scoring as long as they can execute well and hold on to the football. Like Illinois, however, the key will be to come up with big stops on defense. This is another potent offense with a prolific passing game.
Purdue will throw a lot, right now they average over 40 passes per game. Kory Sheets, their running back who seems to have been on the team for 10 years, averages over 100 yards a game via a variety of draw and delay plays. He is not a powerful back, but with all of the drop backs that Painter will be doing, there will be a lot of room at times for this quick back to pick up some big yards. With a solid pass rush and attentive linebackers, Penn State's defense should be able to withstand the predictable Purdue offense. Josh Hull has continually received criticism for his MLB play, even from me, but I feel like this week he will be in a comfort zone with a pocket passer, and an offensive line that zone blocks. It will be easier for him and the other linebackers to get off of blocks and make tackles.
On offense, Penn State needs to be efficient. This should not be a difficult game, but they play the games for a reason. An early score should get the butterflies out of the Lions on this first road test (Syracuse doesn't count!). These players undoubtedly are looking a little ahead at the three games that will make or break the season (@Wisconsin, vs. Michigan, @Ohio State), and it will be important to stay focused, but even JoePa feels that this team has great leadership and with the diversity that they have already been through, they will listen to their coaches and should be ready for the Choo-Choo Trains.
Look for Jordan Norwood to sit another one out as he deals with a hamstring issue, and also watch for Maurice Evans who should have a field day. Last week the DE's could not utilize their full pass rush abilities since they had to contain the pocket and not allow Juice to scramble, but with Painter, the DE's will be off the leash and I expect at least 5 sacks. Navarro Bowman has been used as the primary blitzing linebacker for PSU, and he will certainly have a few cracks at the quarterback. Purdue can be dangerous, but this could be a blowout.

Last Saturdays game against Illinois showed the entire country why Penn State's stadium experience continues to be greatest show on earth. I challenge anyone to name a better and more entertaining sporting event. For those people who could not be there in person, the following video shows just a little sample of the night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrXGrFP9vrU

I think you guys hit the nail on the head with a few exceptions so I'll try not to repeat. I do want to mention one guy who played great and usually fails to impress, Mark Rubin. He improved his tackling tremendously and is doing all the things a safety needs to do. On to D-Will, I think he is assembling a great resume for the Heisman Trophy but I'm not ready to give it to him yet. He pulled one of his old stunts that is an absolute pet peeve of mine, that little "everyone get away from the punt" maneuver. Luckily we caught a break and were able to keep the ball after it hit off an Illini player inches away from a Penn State player. He has been doing that for years and it has to stop. His blockers can't see him, the ball, and their block all at the same time. That could have been a game changing turnover and could happen at an inopportune time if he does it again. Fair catch the ball. You should only pull that on an absolute shank.
I didn't notice Josh Hull playing that terrible but I also didn't notice him do anything great either so I'll have to watch him next week. I had big fears about special teams and they did a great job. I think now the biggest question is the secondary. Good thing no one in the Big Ten has a really strong passing attack. On that note I want to give A.J. Wallace a little respect for that play he made in the endzone. Very nice play.
Not to look ahead too much but I think Penn State has a real shot at something great here. Ohio State will be tough as always. And don't worry boys I gave myself a pat on the back for those upset picks. Thanks for the praise jagoffs.
More on Friday.

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.