The Penn State Football Show

I think Rudy summed up last week pretty well. But I want to expand on a few things he left out. I was very impressed with the poise Daryll Clark showed in the pocket. Pressure was coming and he stayed put until his receivers broke open, delivered a nice ball with defenders in his face, and paid the price a few times. That being said he did miss a couple of times. But that was only the first game and I'm confident we'll have a much better DC-17 this year. I'm worried about one thing though, for some reason good running quarterbacks don't want to be labeled as good running quarterbacks. So they spend their offseason trying to become Dan Marino. Why? Mobility by a quarterback at this level is such a plus. I love the play on third down and 5-7 yards to go of just sending the receivers deep and letting the qb scramble and create. I just don't want to see Clark stay in the pocket to prove himself to a couple of hack beatwriters and Mel Kiper.

Last week I called out Sean Lee and said he needed to prove himself on the first snap. I think he did that and then some. The play that comes to mind is on the first defensive series when he blitzed unblocked off the edge and had a clean shot at the quarterback. It was clear though that either by design or fluke Akron had their relief valve wide open and probably for good yardage. Sean Lee recognized this as well, broke off the sack, and closed in with blinding speed on Akron's tailback and broke up the pass. I can't think of too many NFL guys that would have the presence of mind to make that play. Most see a chance to plant to qb and never look back. He made hard hits all day and I'm very happy to have him back. I thought the D-line played excellent. I think Sukay is going to prove himself to be a great safety and you know my man-crush on Astorino.

The offense, as Rudy said, had pretty rough run blocking. They weren't pushing downfield much. I am glad I hung on to my #6 Aaron Harris jersey because Moye is a beast. I did not see that kid coming but I am loving the size of the targets Clark has to throw to. I also thought Joe Suhey showed some serious thump at fullback. Nice to see one of the famed Penn State families finally doing something for this team besides taking a scholarship. I was pretty unimpressed with Devon Smith but hopefully he gets a few more touches this week.

I never thought I'd say this, but i miss Kevin Kelley. You win this round God.

For this week what do you say about Syracuse? They were a once mighty team reduced to a 24 year old freshman winning the starting qb job in his first 5 weeks of football in 5 years. It sounds like the beginning of Necessary Roughness. Jim Brown is frowning somewhere. I don't think we "need" to do anything to win. I personally would just love to see Paulus planted a few times and I want a big game on the ground to give the offensive line an ego boost. I would also like to see some second half intensity. I'm not worried that we didn't score in the second half last week because we all know how you're attitude changes once you realize the other team can't beat you.

As for the Big Ten, I don't think Iowa will prove to be the stout test we thought. But then again they didn't appear all that great last year and I was dining on my foot for about a week after my rather boisterous post. In regards to Ohio State, Navy does that to everyone. That's why I picked it. I think they will get blown out this week but USC is a superior team. I thought Illinois was making strides to be back a-top the league and bring respect to the Big Ten but Zook has failed to capitalize on some great recruits. This probably will be a down year for the Big Ten. There's nothing you can do about that. All Penn State can do is win every game and continue to improve and let the chips fall as they may.

This weekend I will be in Atlantic City and will actually be laying money down on my gambling predictions. I like South Carolina over Georgia, Michigan State over Central Michigan, and you're insane if you don't take over 44 points in USC-OSU.

-Terelle Pryor's Philosophies