The Penn State Football Show

Pete, I could not agree more. Rudy, your incredibly sound logic and in depth analysis has no purpose here. Its like trying to tell a blind man about a rainbow. Its a fruitless effort. Penn State-Michigan games are played in the twilight zone, where all rules governing the rest of the world cease to exist; and Penn State is the perennial Sisyphus, pushing that large boulder to the crest of the hill, only to have it fall back down again.

There is absolutely no reason Penn State will lose this game. But just as I have seen since I was 9 years old, they probably will. The stigma is still there. Rudy I think you're wrong if you don't think Chaz Powell cares about 2005. This is his team now and he's seen all the tape and heard all the stories about us getting jobbed. Did you guys hate your high school rival on your first game in uniform? I know I did. But then again I hate almost everybody so who knows maybe you're right.

I think the real bottom line of why Penn State loses to inferior teams comes down to coaching. We can prepare teams, put schemes together, and study film all we want, we are inferior in the punch-counter punch game of adapting to what's happening on the field. The quote I remember most after losing to Michigan the year of the Appalachian State debacle was maybe one of the most concise explanations I ever heard and it came from Peter Chalfin. "We knew there was a clear way to beat Michigan, by spreading the field and throwing the ball, and we knew Penn State wasn't going to do it." I don't think the same formula applies as far as a proven way to beat the Wolverines, but it still rings true in Penn State's unwillingness to change their game plan.

I hope to God we can go in and win tomorrow because the rest of our schedule is winnable and an at large BCS bid is easily attainable. But truth be told, we are not a great team on the road. Which is shocking because how can any team lose looking that good? I think it will end just as Pete says, with a last minute miracle drive the burns a Penn State D playing too conservative with help from a hometown officiating crew.

-Mandie Reed