The Penn State Football Show

Yes MSU will be a top 15 team when we play them in Happy Valley, but that game will not be close. With a possible National Championship appearance on the line, at home against a one dimensional team...not as dangerous as Iowa. With all that said, Iowa is not that much of a danger. As has been said, PSU is coming off a bye week and have had ample time to prepare for the Hawkeyes who are always very stout on defense, and as always very marginal offensively. The do have a terrific running back in Shonn Greene, but their other skill positions are fairly weak. At quarterback Stanzi is having a decent year, but he is nothing special and neither are the wide receivers. Penn State should be able to focus on stopping the run without much concern for the passing game. I do remember times when I was afraid when Penn State played in Iowa City, and I can see how people perceive it to be a tough place to play, but not now, not this year, and to have the nerve to say that it's harder to play there than in State College, Madison, and Columbus is just ludicrous.

I've always respected Iowa and think very highly of Kirk Ferentz, the Iowa head coach, and like the typical Penn State team, they are very defense oriented. It will be a good test for the Lion's offense and I will be paying very close attention to the offensive line to see how they respond to a talented group of linebackers and a top-end defensive line. They came out slow against OSU two weeks ago against a group that may not be as good as they see on Saturday. Now that all the formalities are complete, I truly think that Penn State is going to send a message with this game. Yet again the Nittany Lions have been disrespected, this time at the hands of the BCS Poll, and although these rankings mean nothing at this point, don't tell that to the Blue and White.

Week after week commentators and analysts criticize Penn State and the Big Ten saying that we aren't as good as the SEC or Big 12, blah blah blah. Well I don't care. The SEC is a disgrace this year and the Big 12 decided not to play defense this year. In my opinion, Big Ten football is real football. Teams that can score and more importantly, teams that can hit you in the mouth and stop you from scoring. I am tired of this nonsense where people look at a conference as a whole and then say that a specific team doesn't deserve a shot at a National Championship because some other team from that conference had a poor showing the past two seasons. That's like judging the Red Sox based on the performance of the Baltimore Orioles. Give me a break. Iowa, Indiana, Michigan State...they're going to lose, but they should know that their losses will not be in vain. This is the year that Penn State rights the ship, not just for themselves, but for the conference as a whole. This team is destined for great things and with a little help from LSU and Oklahoma State, that destiny came come into fruition. Even if PSU wins by 40 points the next three weeks, they will continually be looked down upon by these media types, and that disrespect will continue to fuel the fire. I have never in my life been so excited about Penn State football, but I also realize there is a long way to go, and a lot of things have to happen. These players will be prepared Saturday afternoon, and the week after that and the week after that. Disciplined football from a team that is physically one of the best in the business. You can't go wrong. In my next piece I will elaborate on the lack of discipline in some other teams that may end up costing them a National Championship appearance.

I'm surprised by the number of times in the past week that I have heard people refer to this game as a really tough test for Penn State and their most difficult game remaining. I'm not sure why people think the Iowa game is more difficult than a top 20 MSU team. I guess it's because Iowa is away and MSU is at home, but this team has proven that it doesn't have a problem playing on the road this year.

There is something else I heard a few times this week that I almost thought was a joke because it is so ridiculous. I heard TWO Big Ten Network commentators state that Iowa is the toughest place to play in the Big Ten. Are you kidding me? Tougher than Beaver Stadium, The Horse Shoe and Camp Randall? Not even close. I heard it again this morning on the radio. , No clue where that came from.

Anyway, Drew, in response to your post: Trust me, I know this team is good. Real good. I have more confidence in this team than any other Penn State team I've ever watched. But this blog would be pointless if we all just came on it each week and said how the Nittany Lions were going to dismantle every team that comes in their way. Plus, if there is any lesson learned from college football in the past two years, its that any given team can beat any other team on any given day. (A lesson that was instilled into my brain at a very young age by my father.) So, to completely dismiss the possibility of an upset would be foolish, and quite poor journalism might I add. So, what Rudy and I attempt to do, is outline the strengths and weaknesses of each opponent so our many listeners/readers have a good idea what to expect.

With that being said, Iowa is as good of a candidate as any to pull of an upset of this Penn State team. Iowa likes to play a good old-fashioned style of football: strong defense, good running game, ball control, control time of posession. So, if they can somehow find a way to play their game, and keep Penn State's explosive offense off the field by maintaining long scoring drives, they have a shot.

All of their losses have come by seven points or less, so they always keep it close. On the other hand, if you exclude Ohio State, all of Penn State's wins are by 14 points or more. So they tend to make sure it's not close. Clearly something has to give. In my opinion, it will be Iowa's streak that will come to an end.

Penn State is too focused, too determined, too rested, and simply too good to lose this game -- or even keep it close. They haven't played in two weeks, so they will be anxious to get out there and play. I say Penn State comes out fired up and takes it to Iowa -- which would be a great statement to all of the analysts who have predicted an upset. Personally I'm glad that people are making this game out to be a challenge for Penn State rather than just chalking it up as a guaranteed win. This way when the Lions come out on top, it looks more impressive.

Like I said, the only way I think Iowa wins this game is if they are able to dominate time of possession and keep Clark and Co. off the field. They do have a strong defense, so if they can force a few three-and-outs early, sustain a few long drives, and get on top and get the crowd into it, it could turn into a game. I haven't seen much of Iowa this year, but from the highlights of Shonne Green, he looks like a good back and I'm excited to see what he can do. The key for Penn State is for the defensive line to continue playing like it has been and keep Green under control. I think Maybin will continue to have success rushing the passer, and Royster will pick up some big yardage in the fourth quarter.

Elsewhere: Alabama will take care of LSU. Oklahoma State will hang with Texas Tech, and maybe even knock them off. They played well at Missouri, so they are capable of going on the road and beating a good team. They shut down Missouri's high powered offense in that game, so they might be able to do the same to the Red Raiders.

Chaz Powell takes a kick to the house. Penn State 34 Iowa 10

I'm honestly getting pretty frustrated reading this thing every week. When will you guys just come to terms with the fact that we're good? Every week its the same thing "Yeah we played well last week but we're playing Purdue on the road and it's at like 11 am", "Oh I don't know, Camp Randall is such a hard place to play", "Oooohh I'm so scared of that pink visitors locker room at Iowa." CAN IT ALREADY! We've had two weeks to prepare for a 5-4 team that just lost to Illinois. What else can we ask for? Iowa is a team with a decent ground attack and a respectable defense. It is a shell of the Iowa teams of the past few years.

And yet all I hear from everyone is "Well I'm still worried about Iowa." Of course you're still worried about Iowa. Its a football game. If you didn't have some degree of worry you're an idiot. We are just fans and we're concerned, imagine how the players feel. They know what is at stake. They are not going to slip up. We've had two weeks to come down from a big road win, get healthy, and prepare for this game. There is no look ahead left. It's not like we're looking past Iowa because we're afraid of the Hoosiers. We can focus one game at a time, take care of business and let the cards fall as they may. As for you Mr. Chalfin, I am going to have to disagree when it comes to margin of victory. While we could win every game left by a combined three points and still get to the championship provided Alabama or TT loses, it will go a long way in the writers votes if we dismantle everyone left. Penn State rolls 35-13. Odrick and Mayben continue to impress stopping Shonn Greene and forcing many three and outs. After a few quiet weeks I'm expecting a big game out of D-Will in the form of some special teams magic.

On to the rest of the college football world, I actually did some research for this part and am not shooting straight from the hip. Bama goes down. Writers want to to talk about Penn State having an easy schedule and not playing anybody but they fail to note that Alabama has only played three teams with a current winning record: Georgia(7-2), Kentucky (6-3), and Ole Miss (5-4). Georgia is the only team they have played that is currently ranked. Of those three teams with winning records that they played, they beat UK 17-14 and should have lost had that UK d-back not booted that fumble out of bounds. They beat Ole Miss 24-20, and Georgia 41-30. Do these numbers impress you guys because I am not amazed. I think this game would have been best played at 8 p.m. but things can happen at LSU. I like the Bayou Bengals. As for TT I'm not sure which game you guys watched. While the Texas defense should be downright embarrassed of their play especially their pass rush, I don't see Tech losing with the way defense is played in the Big 12. I see a Lions-Raiders championship looming. Also UK takes down the Bulldogs.

On another note, did anyone see college football live the other night where they had clips from Pete Carrol's press conference and Joe Paterno's press conference? Talk about one guy looking like a class act and another guy looking like a schmuck. JoePa resounded how he was focused on Iowa and come the end of the season he is going to whatever bowl they tell him to and Pete Carrol basically cried that he should be ranked number one because he has the best team right now. I am so sick of this guy and his freaking arrogance. And screw Will Ferrel too and their dumb little pranks, its getting tiresome. This team does anything and everything to get media coverage and I hope they all die in a hotel fire.
Chad Greenway is a punk...

Penn State didn't play, but there were a lot of great games this weekend, especially in the Big Ten. All Big Ten games were decided by seven points or fewer, and the Michigan-Purdue game and the Northwestern-Minnesota game both had unbelievable finishes with the winning touchdown coming on a big play in the last few seconds. Michigan State also won on a last second field goal.

Outside of the Big Ten, the Texas vs. Texas Tech game was won of the most exciting college football games I have ever seen. I will be honest, I did not thing Texas Tech had a chance to win this game, but they came out and dominated the Longhorns. Michael Crabtree is probably the best wide receiver in the country, and Harrel is a great QB. I was really impressed with thep lay of their defense. With that being said, I don't think they will win out. In fact, Oklahoma State is a very very good team that is underrated and I expect them to beat Texas Tech this weekend.

The fact that Texas Tech won was very very good for Penn State. Rudy hit the nail on the head. Tech still has OK State and Oklahoma, so there is a very good chance they could lose won of those games. Texas is unlikely to lose again.

For those of you upset about Penn State being ranked third in the BCS: relax. To tell you the truth, the fact that TT is ahead of Penn State right now means absolutely nothing. It means nothing. They have to face two top 10 teams in Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the next few weeks. So either they will lose one of those games, and Penn State will pass them (as long as PSU wins), OR they will win both of those games, in which case they would have eventually jumped Penn State in the standings anyway. So the BCS standings right now really aren't important. And to tell you the truth, I personally don't have much of a problem with TT being ahead of PSU. After all, they did just beat the #1 team in the country. If I had to make a ballot I'd probably have 1. Alabama 2. PSU 3 Texas Tech, but if Tech wins out, I would definitely move them ahead of Penn State after a win over Oklahoma.

So, all we can do is sit back and watch. Given the way things have gone the past two years, I would say it is very likely that one or maybe both of the top two teams will lose a game this month. In fact, both could lose this weekend. I really don't see Texas Tech wining their next two games, but I didn't think they would beat Texas either. Playing at LSU is always tough, so Alabama could lose. However, LSU is down this year, and I think Alabama is better than most people give them credit for. That will be an interesting game to watch.

I will write my Iowa preview in the next few days. Iowa is a dangerous team with a great defense and an excellent running back. So, it will be a challenge for Penn State. I think the bye week will help though, and the Lions should come out ready to play.

One final note: I disagree with anyone who says that Penn State needs to blow out their opponents in their remaining three games. All they have to do is win them. No style points are needed. Either Bama and/or TT will lose, or they won't. If they don't Penn State won't go the Championship. If they do, an undefeated Penn State will go. It's as simple as that. Just take care of their business and they will be fine.

This past Saturday Penn State had an off week, so most would figure that I would jaunt over to Bobby Dodd Stadium and see my first Georgia Tech game. But no. Georgia Tech was even playing Florida State (in the top three of schools that I despise the most). But here I sat, in my apartment, watching every college football game that I could, not because I liked the teams, but because every game could feasibly help Penn State secure a National Championship bid.

Michigan State - Wisconsin....if MSU keeps winning, by the time we play them, they very well could be in the top 15. A victory over them would provide Penn State with another legitimate win, and in the event that Florida beats Alabama in the SEC Championship, it would also protect against a one loss team jumping ahead of PSU.

Texas - Texas Tech....I was very confused watching this game. Texas I would have to say is my second favorite college football team, and I have great respect for them ever since 2005 when Mack Brown and the boys got together with the Penn State coaching staff and basically told us how to run the spread. A couple months later, Penn State won the Orange Bowl, and Texas the National Championship. Fast forward to here and now. Texas' remaining schedule is about as difficult as Penn State's. They will not lose another game. Had they beaten Texas Tech, the only chance we would get to play for a national title would be if Alabama lost, which is very possible, but not as possible as Texas Tech's chances of losing. Texas Tech will face two more top ten opponents in the next two weeks, Oklahoma State and then at Oklahoma. They are very likely to slip up in one of these two games, and thus propelling PSU to Miami, Florida (of course PSU would need to win its games).

So that is what college football has become for me. It's no longer about which team I "want" to win; it's about which scenario betters Penn State. In the case of the Texas game, I found myself wanting Texas to win, but had to remind myself that a Texas Tech win would be far better for my Alma Mater. And so, that is how the rest of the season will go. It feels like fantasy football where I have Peyton Manning on my team. I hate the Colts, but hey, I need the points.

There are still some games on Saturday where I was able to root for the team I wanted to win since the outcome didn't affect Penn State at all. Florida State, Michigan, and Notre Dame all lost, and for Michigan, that means that they won't be going to a bowl for the first time in 34 years. Keep in mind as well that the last time they didn't go to a bowl, they had a 10-1 record (the Big Ten only sent one team to a bowl back then).