The Penn State Football Show

You hear certain catch phrases from college analysts and sports writers over and over again. Some things make more sense than others. One of those catch phrases I always heard growing up was "senior leadership" and how important it was to a team. And I always thought "Bullshit, talent is important to a team." Then I was on a team that had no leadership and I saw how important it actually was. So Penn State will win this game and the rest of their schedule because of one word, and it isn't leadership. The word is another one of those catch phrases thrown around that I also thought was bullshit until I played on a team that had it and reaped the benefits. In a word gentlemen... swagger. Penn State has it and there is no taking it away. Very similar to a certain team known as the PSBC. There was no reason that Kent State shouldn't have grabbed one game from us over four years other than the fact that we had swagger and we knew we weren't going to lose. The Lions know they are going to win, and that decides many contests already.
I don't want to confuse cockiness with swagger because there is a difference. This team is still humble compared to past teams like USC. Nick Lachey is not calling Darryl Clark to hit the clubs. Michael Jordan doesn't have Deon Butler on speed dial. The tonight show isn't calling Aaron Maybin. We play in a secluded spot known for football only slightly more than agriculture. This team can stay grounded because we don't have a permanent ESPN reported stationed outside Holuba Hall. Swagger boys, swagger.
As for the comments of Mr. Hottel, while I would definitely give a nod to JoePa for coach of the year honors, I'm not ready to give him a contract extension. I don't think he is worried about it either. Contract extension worries are for second string linebackers and relief pitchers. Also, there is no way of knowing who is actually coaching this team. I mean say it is Tom Bradley doing everything and we keep Joe around for a figure head for 3 more years. Bradley has interviewed for other positions before. I don't want to lose Bradley so Paterno can keep up this battle with Boddy Bowden. After we win it all this year it will be a perfect time for Paterno to step down much as the legendary Bear Bryant did. Although I hope Joe lives longer in to retirement than the Bear did simply for the enormous ovation he will get when he returns to Beaver Stadium the next year.
As for you Mr. Chalfin, I somewhat agree and somewhat don't. I know its Michigan and I know the history. But this team is bad. No player on this team has beaten Michigan and they know that just as well as we do. I would be more concerned if we were playing Indiana this week in the sense of complacency or look-ahead. These guys want to tear Michigan apart and they will. Penn State rolls big time and doesn't let up. 45-6.
On to upsets: Glad to see BYU go down last night. Jesus or football folks, can't have both. Peter Chalfin made that decision a long time ago and has never looked back. It seems I have been beaten to the punch for this week. I like Sparty big time. Pryor is only one bad game away before they pull him for Boeckman and he starts fighting with coaches and crying on the sidelines. He's only heard how great he is for the past 10 years and now people are going to tell him he sucks. Messes with the psyche. I also like the Gamecocks at home. Les Miles is a douche.

We'll hit the line roll up the score, fight on to victory forever more...

Let me go to one of the most storied football programs in the country and decide what offense we're going to run before I even get there, before I even see who in fact is on the team. I am going to do that because it worked at West Virginia, but I don't care why it worked (Steve Slaton, Pat White, other crazy fast people). Even if all I've got is pocket passers...I'll make them run the option. We might turn the ball over 7 times a game and lose to Toledo, but it'll work. NO. No Rich, it doesn't work. When you come into a program you have to first look at your personnel. What can you do with that? You don't just throw an offense on a bunch of guys that can't run it! Look at Penn State. Over the past 4 years they have run 3 different offenses based on the quarterbacks that have been behind center. They adapted to who they had. And it's worked. And for PSU it will work again this week as they should slaughter Michigan and hopefully start getting more people on Rich Rod's case.

Michigan's offense has players. They really are quite talented...but once again, the way that they are used makes them prone to errors and specifically fumbles as they have put the ball on the turf 20 times in six games, losing 11 of them. In total they have 19 turnover is six games, where PSU has just 7 in 7 games. Good teams make a living off of holding on to the ball, and if that can be done by Penn State, this game should be a breeze. McGuffie is a good back and I have seen many of his recruiting tapes from high school where he was ridiculous, but so far in college he doesn't seem as nimble as he did on Friday nights last year. He will get better, he's just a frosh, and he does have terrific speed. In Michigan's defense, they lost a lot of guys from last year that went in the draft, transferred, and many just wanted to get out of there before Richy got in there (wise move). This doesn't excuse them from losing to a MAC team for the first time in school history.

Going in to this game, I feel Penn State is expected to win by more points than they ever have before against Michigan. The Vegas lines have PSU as the 24 point favorite. Outrageous. The funny thing is that Toledo is a 9 point underdog to Northern Illinois. Apparently beating Michigan didn't get them any more respect, as I doubt PSU would get much more after a victory over the Wolverines. But what does any of that matter? That lack of respect is driving these players, giving them determination, and a victory over Michigan isn't about getting respect from anyone...it's about beating Michigan. It's about time, and I can't wait for the satisfaction. They need to execute, but I have a lot of confidence in this team to really go for the throat as they did on the road in Wisconsin. This team has some attitude and they're not here to squeak one out, they want to score and score and score.

Homecoming weekend, white out, probably one of the largest crowds in Beaver Stadium history....all there to witness something that hasn't been done in 12 years. Although I will be watching from the confines of Atlanta, GA, I hope everyone has a great time watching Rich Rodriguez's team fall to 2-5. That's a decent day at the plate, but at Michigan, that should get you fired. Penn State romps, 45-10

I have already voiced a lot of my feelings on this game in my Wisconsin recap post. No matter how crazy it sounds, I will state with honsety that I fear Michigan at home more than Ohio State on the road next weekend. Can you blame me? The last time Penn State beat Michigan I was eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that my mom made me for lunch, which came right after recess.

Yes, I have seen Michigan play this year. And there is no denying that they are bad. In fact, they have been really bad; especially on offense. But they are still Michigan, so you know they have talent. You've heard a lot of people say that they can turn it around any one of these weeks. I'm hoping it's not this week.

For Michigan to win this game, they would have to make drastic improvements over their pathetic performance last week against Akron. They would have to play by far their best game of the season, and Penn State would have to play by far its worst game of the season. But, this is definitely possible.

The fact that Penn State has lost nine straight to the Wolverines has been well documented and publicized. This can work in Penn State's favor, or it can hurt them. The benefit to Penn State is that there is certainly no chance that the players will be looking past this game. You can be sure that the players are focused 100% on Michigan and are not looking ahead to Ohio State just because they are facing a 2-4 team.

The way in which the losing streak can hurt Penn State is if Michigan manages to keep this game close into the fourth quarter. While Coach Paterno year in and year out denies that the losing streak to Michigan has a mental effect on Penn State players, I have a hard time buying that. I have seen seasons where Penn State had a strong squad while Michigan was having a down year, and the Nittany Lions still managed to find a way to lose to the Wolverines. You can bet that if the fourth quarter rolls around, and Michigan is still in the game, there will be players on Penn State that are thinking to themselves "Oh my God it's happening again!" Likewise, Michigan players will gain more and more confidence the longer they can hang with the number three team in the country.

I've said it before, I have a lot of confidence in the leadership of this team. So I don't think Penn State will dissapoint on Saturday. As long as they go out and perform like they are capable of, they should have no problem defeating an over-matched Michigan team. PSU's defense has been playing great, and they don't even need to play that great to stop an atrocious Wolverine offense. In a rare turn of events, Michigan is actually struggling at the quarterback position, as neither Stephen Threet nor Nick Sheridan has had much success. Threet is a better runner, but may not even be healthy enoough to play on Saturday. Sam McGuffie, the true freshman running back has been their lone bright spot on offense this year. Look for Michigan's passing game to struggle, and expect Penn State to disrupt the quarterback with pressure, which may lead to a few turnovers.

Anthony Scirotto tends to turn in one monster game each season, and I'm predicting this will be the game. I think he will have at least one interception, and is my pick for impact player of the game.

It's tough when you enter a game where anything but a lopsided victory is considered a dissapointment, but, personally, I will be out at the bars on College Avenue celebrating even a narrow one-point win. I will gladly take any win against this team, no matter how ugly it is, as long as this awful streak does not reach double digits. However, it would certainly be nice to take out all those years of frustration on this team by opening a giant can of whoopin on them, especially in an upset fashion as I predict. PENN STATE 34, MEEEEEECHAGIN 0.

Gene Wojciechowski wrote a great column in espn the other day.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3641055&sportCat=ncf

It is embarrassing that Coach Paterno has not been extended a contract offer by the University. Joe should be able to leave on his terms. Might this be that Paterno plans on retiring at seasons end? Even if Paterno coaches the remaining games from the press box, he would still get my vote for coach of the year. No one was talking about Penn State at the start of the season. All the talk shows and "experts" covering college football said this was Wisconsin or Ohio States year.

As for player misconduct issues at Penn State, don't blame Joe. As long as the players are not taking stupid penalties on the field, he still has a firm grip on his team. These players are under the microscope and every problem that comes up gets extremely exaggerated. Anyone who watched the Outside the Lines program on the player misconduct should just remember this; if you want to compete with the elite teams on a year in year out basis you need to recruit players with, sometimes, a troubled past i.e. Maurice Clarett. I didn’t see programs calling for Jim Tressel's job.

Here’s to Joe Paterno for another 4 years!

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2008/10/14/arrington_tutors_protege_bowma.aspx

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.

Penn State made a statement in that game. A big one. That's a huge road win, and now I am much more confident in the team going on the road to the horse-shoe in two weeks (as I'm sure so are the players.) It is clear that PSU is the best team in the Big Ten, and the only thing that can get in their way is themselves.

The defense really exceeded my expectations in this game. Completely dominant. Wisconsin couldn't get anything going at all on offense. It looks like they are a better unit than I had thought. They completely contained the run all game, and made a few nice interceptions. (Still have no clue how Rubin's got overturned. Yet another example of anti-semitism among Big Ten referees). Drew- great call on Maybin. He had a MONSTER game. He was flying all over the field.

Michigan is terrible this year, there is no denyinig that. Penn State will be favored heavily against them as they should be. With that being said, they have defeated Penn State the last nine times the two have faced off (even in years when they were down and PSU was good). I have a giant fear/hatred/skepticism/doubt/etc. when it comes to playing Michigan instilled into my brain from years and years of defeat, and this will not change until Penn State finally beats them. (The hatred will always remain). For this moment, I can not wait. Should Penn State prevail next Saturday over the Wolverines, I can't even express the emotion I anticipate feeling. I can say, it is far far greater than anyone would expect for a win over a 2-4 team, because every Penn State fan knows that it is much more than that. Much much more.

More on Michigan to come. But for now, I will bask in the glory of an incredibly impressive road win over Wisconsin that left no doubt when it comes to this Nittany Lion team. One game at a time gentlemen. One game at a time.

What can you say after a game like that? It was god damned poetry. It's now Sunday and I'm still at a loss for words which doesn't happen to me often. So this isn't going to be a post of who played well and what we could have done better. I'm going to get emotional, and it's going to get weird. I'm going to talk about the religious experience I had last night.
I had to work during the day yesterday, and while periodically checking scores I could only really think about Penn State. Is this the year? Or do they break my heart again? We've all been there. In 94 having one of the best teams in college football history and being denied the title. In 99 losing to Minnesota then dropping two more because the offense couldn't get a first down. And then 1 second and one referee blunder in 2005. "Will they break my heart again?" is all I could think. Upsets were happening all around and it was a great day for college football, but the Lions were the only thing that could hold my focus.
Arriving at the bar and seeing all the blue and white put a feeling on me I can't quite describe. It was like being home but it meant so much more because I'm so far from home. The first half was outstanding. When I saw that punt return setting up I started jumping and screaming 20 yards before he actually broke lose. Poetry lads, poetry. I couldn't stop blathering to anyone who would listen about how good we are. I mean we are really good.
Then the third quarter, watching Darryl Clark shine under the lights in the all whites and float that beautiful ball to Deon Butler for a throat slicing touchdown left me paralyzed. I was the only one in the bar not jumping and yelling... because I was fucking crying. I cried boys. It was one of the most beautiful moments in my life. Second to Ohio State in 2005 and ranking just ahead of losing my virginity. That pass will be burned in to my mind forever.
Here is where I have my awakening. The lovely Ms. Kelley Clark turns to me and says "Why can't we be there for that?" Not in Wisconsin, but why can't we be students while all this is happening. So I started to explain that we had our time there and being an alum is different. Because it's easy to follow the team when you're there, so loving them this much after you leave means more. Then right there my connection to Penn State became stronger than ever because I finally understood what I had been mindlessly chanting since I could talk, we are Penn State. I am Penn State. I couldn't be me without it. It means too much to me.
So will this team break my heart? I still don't know. But I think what makes this feel so great is knowing I was still waking up early to be one of 105,000 screaming for a team that finished 4-7. We're not bandwagon fans. I will love that team if they go 0-12. I've been in attendance at Beaver Stadium since I was in the womb and every year since then. But this team, oh do I feel something special about this team. I don't know how it's going to play out this year, but I think the stars are aligning to give Happy Valley the trophy its been screwed out of too many times now.
For the Glory Gentlemen