Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Jason – I’ve noticed you and I make a lot of the same observations when it comes to in game-analysis of Penn State football. I find myself agreeing with most of what you write in your posts. And the same holds true for some of the points you made in this last one. But there are also some comments that I think you went a little overboard on:
“That sound you just heard was all the Penn State naysayers and critics, some of which are relative to this blog, slowly prying their feet out of their mouths. Once again, Penn State defies all odds and proves everybody WRONG, just like they have continued to do over the past several years. Pretty soon, all the Monday-Morning-Quarterbacks will have to dig deep to find any relevant statistics that will predict a Penn State demise, because this team seems to overcome 95% of the ridiculous challenges everyone throws at them.”
First of all, I don’t think beating an unranked two-loss Michigan team really qualifies for “defying all odds.” Yes, many people, including myself, picked against Penn State in this one. But you’re a long-time Penn State fan, can’t you see why? I mean, losing to one team nine times in a row is just insane. And I know I’m repeating myself, but the fact of the matter is that in many of those game, Penn State had a better team and should have one. Now, I was like you and Rudy up until the 2007 loss to the Mallett-led Wolverines. As a Penn State fan, I always saw the potential of the team and knew they were capable of beating Michigan. After the heartbreaking loss in 05, I was extremely discouraged. Then, in 07 there was absolutely zero reason to lose that game. NONE. Like Drew said, it was like the twilight zone. That was the worst display of coaching I have ever witnessed in any sport.
As a result, that game scarred me. Basically I decided I could not legitimately expect to see Penn State beat Michigan until the team actually went out there and did so on the field. Even last year, when Michigan went 3-8, I didn’t know what to expect in the game. Now that Penn State has beaten Michigan twice in a row, hopefully that will be enough for me to get over the past. But my point is, I don’t think you can blame any Penn State fan that has been following this team for the last 15 years for having been very skeptical heading into that game.
Believe me I am far from a “naysayer.” I know the type you are talking about, and they annoy me as well. Dating back to when I started the show my freshman year, I have only predicted Penn State to lose a handful of times. But I would be doing this blogs’ enormous fan base an incredible disservice if I just blindly predicted Penn State to win every game. The number one rule of a journalist is to be impartial.
“Maybe it's because I hate how Ohio State is somehow the poster child for the Big Ten.”
They have had a share of each of the last four Big Ten Titles. The last three times a Big Ten team has played for a national championship, it has been Ohio State. I think it’s pretty easy to see why they are the poster child for the Big Ten. Only USC can match Ohio State’s dominance over their respective conference in the last five years. However, it looks like that is starting to change, which will surely please you.
I agree that Forcier looked pretty bad in the game. But I think that had more to do with Penn State’s defense than his inability to play the position. If you saw some of the things he did against Indiana and Notre Dame, I think you would retract your statement that he doesn’t have control over the offense.
I really think that our struggles with punts getting blocked has more to do with Boone taking too long than anything else. He’s got to get rid of the ball quicker. On both blocked punts, I thought the protection should have been good enough to allow the kick to get off. Both guys that blocked the punts were impeded enough on their way to Boone that he should have had enough time.
7 Comments:
Pete,
Dont get the wrong idea about my post...my disgust with sportswriters was mainly focused at the people at the Harrisburg Patriot-News, a group who continually bashes Penn State and likes to tell you that Penn State and Joe Paterno are no good. They have told us for the last 2 years that this team is really not as good as they look, even after then go 11-1. After the Rose Bowl loss they all said, "See, Penn State cant compete on that level. We said it all along."
As far as Ohio State...you think they deserve the respect and credit they get? My beef is that the sportswriters seem to think the Big Ten is dominated by one team. Ohio State's losses in the Title Games automatically gave the Big Ten a black eye, despite the fact other Big Teams were winning Bowl games. Im not sure of the exact numbers, but, since 2005, Penn State and Ohio State have nearly the same amount of wins. And in there were a few years there where Michigan was legit too. Wasnt this kind of preferential treatment evident in naming Terelle Pryor as the preason player of the year? I can think of three or four guys would deserved that more than him.
All valid points. And you are right about the Patriot-News. They seem to be out to get Joe, and I don't really know why. Especially Flounders. A lot of the crap that comes out of that publication is completely unjustified.
I also agree that Pryor should not have received pre-season Big Ten POY, but I also don't really care. That's not really an award, I don't even know why they give that out. I would have put a few guys ahead of him, but let's just wait and see when the sesaon is over who wins the actual award, because that is all that matters.
But I do think Ohio State deserves respect. That type of consistency and dominance is hard to find. They got beat pretty good in both Championship games, but that doesn't take away from the fact that they got there.
I think the lack of respect for the Big Ten is a result of much more than OSU's poor performances in those games. I also think the lack of respect for the Big Ten over the last two years is completely warranted.
To go along with Pete in saying that the Big Ten deserves its abuse, I liken this situation to the movie "Dirty Work" where Norm McDonald gets yelled at by Kathy. Artie Lange then states "I wish a girl would talk to me like that". Norm is puzzled by this and then Artie Lange explains that she doesn't hate Norm, she's just mad at him because she likes him.
Basically what I'm saying is that the world wants to see the Big Ten back where it belongs, hence all the criticism. Is the ACC and Big East worse? Of course, but no one cares about them, and so they don't get yelled at. Hopefully this year we can turn the tide, but until then, we can keep playing with a chip on our shoulder.
Although I can understand both sides of the debate here, I think there is one underlying issue that irritated PSU fans entering this past weekend's games. Penn State was a far superior team in all aspects of the game in comparison to Michigan. You could argue that Michigan entered with a high-scoring offense, but let's be real, they really hadn't shown they were capable of scoring points like that on a weekly basis against a fundamentally solid defense.
What I think annoyed PSU fans most is the fact that we were so much better than them, that we STILL bought into the "Ann Arbor Struggles". And most importantly, many media outlets used this as an avenue to once again be critical of Penn State, rather than turn the pressure at Michigan and say "What are you guys going to do to show us you can play with a team like Penn State". Instead, the media bought into the hype and talked themselves into the fact that we were really going to blow this game.
Say what you want about being favored in 2007 against an average Michigan team, but let's not forget who was under center for the Lions. The coaching may have played a role, but the team lacked a strong leader in their QB. Even more reason why Darryl Clark deserves much more credit than he has received. Despite two bad games against Iowa, he has proven himself as a competitor and a solid quarterback, but we continue to question him based off his poor performances.
Peter,
This Ohio State dominance and consistency you speak of...
In the Past 10 years, Ohio State has won the Big Ten outright just twice (2006 and 2007). They shared the title with Penn State in 2005 and 2008, but lost to PSU head-to-head both years, in which case I grant them no share of the title.
I think it is fair to say they have been receiving credit in both the media and in the rankings that is simply not justified by their performance but also by their reputation.
2005 through 10/27/2009...
Ohio State 49-10 (1-3 Bowls) 1 BCS win
Penn State 48-12 (3-1 Bowls) 1 BCS win
Dominance???
Gotta love the commotion on this site thought. Means PSU football is in full effect! As far as I am concerned, the Big Ten playoffs start next Saturday!
...INTO MEN, INTO MEN
I was just thinking how great it is that there is so much action on the blog this week. See what a big win over Michigan can do? I love it when there is this much excitement over Penn State football during the week!
I don't know how anyone can argue that Ohio State has not dominated the Big Ten over the past four years. Jason, those statistics you provided are somewhat misleading, because they include non-conference games.
For example, those records include Ohio State’s two losses in the National Championship games to Florida and LSU. During those years, Penn State had bowl wins over Tennessee and Texas A & M. So you are comparing apples and oranges.
Additionally, two of Ohio State’s losses came at the hands of USC in tough regular season non-conference games. During those weeks, Penn State beat up on Syracuse both years.
So, if you just take a look at Big Ten records, you will see the dominance that I was referring to. From 2005-2008, Ohio State lost only THREE Big Ten games. Two to PSU, and one to Illinois. They also took home a share of the Big Ten Title in each of those four seasons.
Comparatively, the second best team in the Big Ten during that time span has been Penn State. From 2005-2008, Penn State has NINE Big Ten losses. That’s three times as many as Ohio State. And that’s the second best team in the conference over the course of those four years.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying OSU has dominated Penn State, because they haven’t. The teams have split 2-2 over the last four seasons. But Penn State is the only team in the entire conference that can claim any sort of success against the Buckeyes.
To me, that’s dominance. But, like I said before, it looks like their reign is coming to an end. I see them losing at least one or two more games this season.
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