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!

Although the road ahead is much easier than it was in 1999, let's at least acknowledge that there are still some tests ahead. Alabama and Texas are going to the BCS National Championship right now, and unless they lose, we will be left out. At the same time however, I have a feeling that we will win our three remaining games, and that either Texas, or Alabama will lose. If Texas loses to Texas Tech however, things could get pretty crazy and the Red Raiders could very well leave us at No. 3. I will admit that I have been looking at ticket prices and plane tickets for a month now. This team is good, and what they did on Saturday, although not what any of us expected, was a thing of beauty.

They altered their game, they adapted, and they went old school on us, and I liked it. That defense was unreal. The linebackers played phenomenally, and I was impressed by the way that Hull and Sales stepped up. Obviously Rubin and Bowman were out of their minds, but overall the team tackled extremely well against two players who are two of the toughest men in college football to bring down. Maybin had a huge sack, and Mo Evans played great at end as well. Evans was the man who punched the fumbled football back about 5 yards, allowing PSU defenders to pounce on it. Had he not done that, this football game may have a different ending. About Clark...yea he was very upset on the sidelines, but I don't think that he was all there either. After the hit he took, A.Q. Shipley went up to him holding up two fingers asking how many he was holding up. Minor concussion, and with this week off, he will undoubtedly be back and ready for Iowa. Devlin did his thing, and more importantly, when he came into the game, no one was scared. I was worried about Clark's health, but not worried about our offense. It is an extremely fortunate luxury for us to have two outstanding players at the most vital position on the football field. Teams like USC have great depth at places like running back, wide receiver, and on defense, but no one in the country has two better quarterbacks.

Kevin Kelly...yea he missed the FG, and it was makeable, but hey, it's a 45 yarder and he nailed the one at the end that put PSU up by 7. I have confidence in him. It's a tough position to play, and yes he has missed some FG's he could have made, but they weren't shanks, he just pushed them a little. He's fine. Scirrotto, the next item. He has missed some tackles, but again, I feel comfortable with him, and the rest of the secondary. They got beat a few times last night, but when you're selling out against the run like that, it's going to happen. Pryor did impress me though as he was able to complete a solid percentage of passes, but as I have said all along, he's a weak runner. He weighs 235 pounds but Jordan Norwood runs tougher than him.

From the very beginning of that game, you could just tell that the defense was going to make a statement. The penetration was unreal, they played with great speed, intelligence, and tackled well. They have gotten better every game, and I don't see them giving up more than 10 points in any other regular season game from here on out. They can win the shootouts, and they can win the defensive struggles. They can spread you out, or they can grind it out. No matter who this team comes up against in whatever bowl they play in, they won't see a defense akin to Ohio State's. If they do make it to the BCS Championship, they will most likely face either Texas or Texas Tech who have great offenses, but defenses that are suspect. People continue to ask if Penn State belongs in the same sentence as Texas and Alabama, but in my opinion Penn State is the best team in the country. I am truly proud of that program and could not be happier to say that I graduated from the Pennsylvania State University. Let's take it all way

Put it on the board, championship! If you read back to my last post there were two components to a national championship season that we were missing and we got them. The knock down drag out game and Rubin poking that ball away will be seen on every Penn State montage for the rest of the season. I can't say how big that play was. Ohio State had the ball and that clocked seemed like it was in fast-forward. I was worried. I went to my mom's liquor cabinet and saw a bottle of Jim Beam that had my name on it if we lost. One play and the entire game changes. We get great field position and Devlin steps in and does what he needs to do to get in the endzone.
Ya know, for as little as we actually know we are proven right an awful lot. Pete I believe it was you that lamented on Kevin Kelley's propensity for choking... spot on. That field goal he missed was make-able and could have put us up huge. He missed and Ohio State gets a big momentum swing. Poor. Also going way back when we talked about conservative play calling on the road. WTF? It became evidently clear that Ohio State's offense was not going to burn us for 35 points. We were also struggling because we were not doing what we normally do. Doug Flutie even noticed this at halftime and encourage Penn State to open it up. We never did and luckily we got it done running between the tackles. I'll take a win against the bucks anyway I can take it but I really think we could have gone to throw the ball more. Too many wide reciever screens and it was plainly obvious when the ball was going to Williams. I obviously don't have the stats but the passes where we went vertical usually resulted in a catch or a pass interference. Their D-line was applying good pressure but you can't rush 8 and cover 4. Get rid of the ball and make them pay.
But I'm doing an awful lot of complaining after such a game. This team has mettle and it was tested. That was a big win on the road and all but secured Penn State's undefeated season. I would have liked to see Darryl Clark be a little more supportive on the sidelines. I definitely understand how upset he was but it took him a little too long to get to the front of the sidelines and cheer on his team. Back to positives though, I thought the defensive line played absolutely outstanding. Wells was absolutely bottled up and they were getting penetration on almost every play. I'm wondering why we didn't see Mauti much though.
On a personal note, does anyone else get a little psyched up to see Larry Federhoff be the first man to the ball on every punt? Cuz I know I do.
This is a big season. We could end up getting screwed but thats out of our hands. I know I will go broke on a ticket for the Orange Bowl and will never allow myself to regret it. Also I would love to see a Penn State-Alabama national championship purely for the old film footage. I think we all need a bye week just as much as the players so I'll be thinking only of upsets for this next week.

You're better off with Fedrhoff.

What an incredible game. What a great win. After a game like that, I can't get my mind off of Penn State football for a few days, so I figured I'd write something up for the blog right away.

First of all, I must admit, that game did not go AT ALL like I had expected. I was completely wrong. Penn State's offense could not get anything going, but the defense was phenomenal. They completely shut down the run, which is what I said they needed to do. Bradley game-planned perfectly. Shut down Chris Wells and Penn State wins... they shut down Chris Wells and they won.

I'm surprised PSU couldn't put up more points. It seems like every time these two teams meet, points are at a premium and its a struggle to even get a field goal. I don't know why this is, but it happens almost every year. This defensive struggle was much like 05.

I think I will just throw out my thoughts in no particular order:

-There were at least 5 plays where OSU was blatantly holding and it was never called.

-PSU: No penalties, no turnovers. That's huge.

-Rubin tackled very well. Bowman played a great game.

- Scirotto still can not tackle.

- O-line really struggled in the first half. Clark saw more pressue in those 2 quarters than he saw all year. They picked it up in the second half.

- I was hoping for a double reverse all game. Could have been a big play.

- Devlin showed a lot of poise coming in like that.

- Clark showed tremendous strength running the ball.

- Pryor really really impressed me. Much better than I thought he would do. Found the open man (why were they so wide open all game?) He converted on many third down conversions. He handled himself well and he's going to be tough for the next three years. He still throws like a girl though. And just as I predicted, he could not beat PSU through the air. Holding the Buckeyes to just two field goals at home is a huge accomplishment for this defense. They really have played tremendously.

- Royster had a bad first half. Made some bad cuts. Redeemed himself in the fourth quarter though.

- Where was Jordan Norwood? Where was Andrew Quarless?

- Ty Sales played great, and Hull played a good game as well.

-Coverage by the secondary was not good. Guys were wide open all game and I saw Rubin, Davis, and Sargeant get turned around a few times. Not sure what was going on there.

-GREAT WIN. Iowa is next.