The Penn State Football Show

So Ohio State beats us at home again, although our series with them is fairly even it seems they always get the better of us. Which brings me back to something Jason said earlier in this season in regards to writers predicting Penn State's failure. This is not a time for I told you so but I think writers ultimately feel just like me, let down too many times. I think most PSU fans have been severely heart broken and a bit of a wall builds and its hard to have faith. Sounds a bit like a bad break up story but its true. Or as Rocky Balboa would say "It's a lot where you're almost guaranteed to end up a bum."

I think you guys hit most of the main points but I'd like to elaborate on a few. Any Lion fan who left early should be ashamed of themselves. It gives the visiting fans such a smug sense of accomplishment to see people head for the exits. It wasn't bad weather, keep your butt in the seat. I personally don't believe Beaver Stadium is a hostile place to play nine out of ten times. There is the rare game a la PSU-OSU 2005 where everyone just brings it. Most of the time it is the people behind me who yell louder for me to sit down on a crucial defensive stand than they do for the actual team. And lets sit during the game and stand up at halftime to watch they band. Is this bizarro world? At the Capitol One bowl in 2002 I saw an Auburn crowd one fourth our size absolutely put the mute button on us. I have trouble respecting people's opinions when they tell me Beaver Stadium is one of the toughest places to play. It tells me they haven't been to too many other stadiums.

This game was 100% lost in the trenches. Ohio State was collapsing on Clark with only 4 rushers and and I think all this negative talk getting thrown at DC-17 is not completely deserved. You can find gaps when 7 guys are dropping in coverage but not when you only have 3 seconds to throw. Our offensive line looked absolutely pitiful. I couldn't remember a first down in the second half. Looking at the drive charts later our most successful drive of the second half was our first which went for 12 yards on 6 plays. We wouldn't get another first down until the game was well in hand. That's despicable. Five punts, an interception, and a turnover on downs. I don't even know where to begin. And why in the world do you punt the ball away with the game still undecided at the 7 minutes mark then go for it on fourth down after its all over but the shouting? I'll tell you why, its a chickens*** cowardly move so someone in the media couldn't cram it down their throats for throwing in the towel. Well I saw right through as did most I think.

This is par for the course as PSU football goes, the defense did its job and the offense keeps putting them back on the field. I can't tell you how many games Penn State has lost over the years because the offense could not get one more first down. As much as I hate to pin this loss on Darryl Clarke, he has pretty much cemented his place as a pretty forgettable quarterback in PSU history. Not that he is a bad quarterback, but how much do you hear people talk about Kevin Thompson?

For this week, something scares me about Indiana. You kind of have to love a team with nothing to lose. They have played some close ones and I'm sure they are just as aware as anyone that they have never beaten the Lions after coming close a few times. This Penn State team has had notoriously slow starts and I fully expect Indiana to come out and smack us in the mouth before we begin to play. I would not be surprised to see Penn State behind in this game. But come back they shall. Penn State usually brings it on Senior Day and I think this will be no exception. I like the Lions in an ugly one.

I don't know where Penn State will end up for a bowl game but it will be pretty underwhelming. We have lost to two teams who are a shell of what they used to be. I don't buy into all the SEC hype but I certainly wouldn't be upset if we didn't have to prove it ourselves this year. So unless they are honoring the 86 national championship team at halftime, I'm watching it from the bar.
-DM3

I'm not really sure what to expect in this game. Penn State could come out angry after the loss and take it out on Indiana (a la 2005 when they destroyed Illinois the week after losing to Michigan). Or they could come out uninspired after last week's loss took the wind out of their sails. Neither one would really surprise me. What I do know is that, although their record is once again poor, Indiana is much improved this year and has been much more competitive. They have been in just about every game they have played. They just can't seem to finish teams off and they fall apart at the end. Maybe this is the week they finally get a hard-fought win over a strong opponent.

There is no doubt that Penn State is the physically superior team, but it will come down to which team comes out more inspired. I'll take the Lions at home on Senior Day, but no outcome would really surprise me.

And for those that have been waiting anxiously for my post about my biggest gripe from last week's game, you will have to wait a little bit longer. I haven't gotten to it yet, but should have it posted some time soon. Sorry Albright.

I've put off writing here for a while. The Ohio State game took a lot out of me, but I can't say that I was surprised by the way things turned out...it just makes me wonder how we won last year. I'm not going to talk about that game at all except to say that this team needs a cocky player that's got that walk. Stephon Morris is that kind of a guy, and hopefully Newsome or PJ Jones will provide this in the future. Michael Robinson knew that he could murder you if he wanted and there was nothing you could do about it. The only game he lost in his senior year (at Michigan) he actually led a game winning drive only to have it negated by poor kick coverage and a lapse in the secondary with 1 second left. No one could compare to MRob not because he was a great QB, but because he just had IT. Clark is a smart guy, good leader, good QB, but that's that. I think it's unfair to compare him to Robinson. This Penn State team just desperately needs someone like MRob, LaVar or even a Larry Johnson. Forget about LJ's recent troubles...he played hard at Penn State and wanted to run people over. Clark is pretty dainty and that has pissed me off a little with a guy that size. I never understood how he gets dinged up so much when a guy like Josh Nesbitt gets hit 40 times a game and still has all his limbs.

So on to Indiana. We have NEVER lost to Indiana. That's really all I have to say about this game. My sister is coming to visit later tonight and I need to get some work done. But Penn State will win. This will either be a complete "take out all my anger on you" type of game or it will be a slow start and then Penn State will get things figured out in the second half. Funny how we had depressing loses on the 10th game of the season in back to back years. Ouch

Indiana had its best shot to beat the Lions in 2004, but one of the most underrated defenses in Penn State history held them on a goalline stand. That defense didn't allow an opponent to score more than 21 points ALL season...and they were 3-9. Unreal. That's what happens when you lose games 6-4.

Lots of talk recently has addressed the possibility of Penn State going to a BCS bowl....still! I think this is a possibility and I think they have a 50-50 shot, and I honestly think that they have a better shot at winning a BCS bowl game than they do against LSU, who they would likely play in the CapitalOne Bowl. The BCS bowl would be either the Fiesta or Orange....so against teams like TCU, Georgia Tech, or whatever crap comes out of the Big East. Notice that these teams don't have great defenses (with the exception of TCU, but they can put their defense in a pipe and smoke it....they're crap...I take dumps bigger than Horned Frogs). Anyway, I hope this team can turn things around and really squash some inferior opponents and win their bowl game. An 11-2 season is incredibly successful despite the two disheartening loses. Plus it's senior day....come on. Let's get after it

What a dud of a performance in all facets of the game. Penn State came out and just laid an egg in this one, on national television. If I was a general college football fan and I watched the Penn State games against Iowa and Ohio State, I would think the Lions had one of the worst offenses in the country. The offense was atrocious, and so were the special teams. In my opinion, the defense really did not play well either. They gave up 24 points, they got no pressure on Pryor all game, and they let the Ohio State running backs loose for too many long gains. Ohio State clearly game-planned to limit the potential for Pryor to turn the ball over. He never threw over the middle, every throw he made, even the deep ones, were safe passes. I also thought they should have had Bowman spy Pryor all game to prevent him from scrambling for first downs on third and long, which he did a number of times. I don’t think Pryor is the type of quarterback that can carry a team to a victory, but he did what was asked of him, and with the team he has, that’s all he really needs to do against most teams.

Worst of all, Penn State just came out flat and completely unmotivated. It was the Iowa game all over again. How can the team not get up for the two biggest games of the year, at home?! I was not particularly impressed with the crowd either, not that we really had much to cheer about. When both teams came out for the start of the second half, Ohio State was pumped up and jumping up and down on the sidelines, anxious to get going. Penn State was just standing around looking like they just wanted the game to end. I knew right then and there that the game was over.

Many of the things I planned to put in my post were covered by Jason. He really hit the nail on the head on wit his analysis of the game. We knew coming into the game that the key match up would be the PSU o-line vs. the OSU d-line. Ohio State absolutely dominated this battle, and that was the main reason for the outcome of the game. But like Jason said, even though the Lions were over-matched in this area, that doesn’t mean they can’t make some adjustments to compensate! Throw some screens, maybe a trick play or two, maybe a fake punt or something. They clearly weren’t going to sustain long drives, so something else needed to be done, but they made no attempt at this. Instead, they just conceded the fact that they could not drop back and pass because Clark would not have enough time to throw. And I realize Penn State had poor field position all game, but all it takes is one first down and you are out of the jam. Having bad field position is no excuse, you can still move the ball down the field and score.

And there is no reason for Penn State’s offensive line to get dominated that bad by Ohio State. Both schools bring in top talent at these positions. Why is it that Penn State can only field a good offensive line once every three or four years? I realize the line is an area that gets better with time as the players get experience playing together as a unit, but it seems like Penn State struggles more than most when linemen graduate and new guys fill-in.

Clark once again failed to perform in the big game. Obviously he went against a tough defense, but he even missed some easy throws, which is unacceptable. You can’t completely blame him for struggling, though. Ohio State was getting pressure on him with only four rushers. So not only did he have guys in his face right away all game long, but they also had seven guys back in coverage. That is tough to beat. But with that being said, great players find a way to makes plays, and Clark has not proven he can do so. That’s the difference between him and Michael Robinson. No matter how unconventional he looked, MRob found a way to get things done. If you were a coach, and you compared the skill set of the two, it would be easy to say that you’d rather have Clark as your quarterback because he can make more throws and allows you to do more things. But Robinson was the ultimate leader, and I don’t think there are many Penn State fans that would really prefer to take Clark over Robinson, because Robinson always got the job done.

Other observations:

Graham Zug has been impressive. He has shown me that he has a lot more speed than I had initially thought.

Brandon Beachum may be Penn State’s best all around running back.

Astorino is really struggling. I read that he is playing with a dislocated shoulder. His tackling is poor.

The staff really loves Stephon Morris. It’s been said before, but rarely does Joe put a true freshman in such big games in crucial situations.

I actually liked the quarterback draw calls. I heard a lot of complaints about these play calls. I think the team just didn’t execute on these plays, but I don’t mind the calls.

I’ve done some research, and from what I’ve read, the call that was made on the punt that was kicked into the end zone and recovered by Ohio State for a touchback was the correct call by rule. I have a pretty good grasp on the rules of the game, but this was a rare instance where I was unfamiliar with the rule. I initially assumed that would be called a safety. But, in my opinion, that’s the way the rule should be. I think it should be treated like a regular fumble and live ball, which would have resulted in a safety and not a touchback. It just doesn’t make sense the way it currently is.

I am saving my biggest gripe for a separate post.

Sitting in the stands at Beaver Stadium as the clock wound down on another chapter in the Penn State-Ohio State saga, the only thing that came to my mind was utter disappointment. Like everyone else has stated, I was extremely pumped up for this game and it turned out to be a huge emotional letdown. Coming into this game, I really thought Penn State was the better team and figured Terrelle Pryor and the young Ohio State offense would have trouble playing composed football on the road in a big game. I figured the game to be similar to last year's with solid defense and limited scoring. I expected Penn State would come out with a victory behind the leadership and the poise of the defense and a few big plays by the offense. Boy was I wrong.

The toughest part about this game is the fact that Penn State flat out got beat. Overall, I still don't know whether Ohio State is a better team than Penn State but you have to tip your hats to them...they were the better team on the field Saturday afternoon. They had to come in and play a nearly flawless game...and they did. No turnovers, few penalties, control the field position, and make a big special teams play. Terrelle Pryor also had to play a very sound, fundamental game...and he did. He didn't make many great plays, but he made enough to sustain a few drives, and, more importantly, he didn't make any of the mistakes he is known for making. As much as it pains me to say this, he probably played the best game of his career thus far.

On the other side, Penn State also had to come out and play their A-game and play mistake-free football...and they did not. The offensive line was overmatched which was compensated by a few holding penalties which nullified some big plays. If TP2 played his best game as a Buckeye, Daryll Clark might have played his worst game as a Lion. He was off-the-mark on several of his passes and couldn't find a way to elude the rush of their DL. It is clear that Ohio State DE's Cameron Heyward and Thaddeus Gibson are among the Big Ten's best defensive linemen and the young PSU offensive line could not contain them. That being said, I think we did move the ball well on a few drives. I would have liked to see some more short pass plays. It looked like their LB's were often up on the line and I think these would have been effective. The swing to Zug in the first half went for 25 yards and we never went back to it. The short slant to Royster would have also went for 8-10 yards and maybe more if Clark hits him in stride.

Defensively, I thought Penn State played well and the game plan was valid. They contained Pryor for the most part and did a decent job stuffing the run. I think the numbers are a little misleading. Even though the rushing stats will suggest otherwise, I didn't get the feeling that Ohio State was moving the ball with ease. Yards were at a premium and they had quite a few 3-and-outs. A couple broken Ohio State plays lead to Pryor scampering for some yards, but that will happen with an athletic mobile QB like Pryor. Furthermore, Pryor only completed 8 passes and half of his 125 yards came on one play. I still don't know how Posey got behind the corner and safety on that TD pass. That's unusual for the Penn State secondary to get beat deep. I'm beginning to retract my early-season statements about Nick Sukay. If you took notice though, after that TD, Stephon Morris was matched up with Posey for the rest of the game. The coaches must be really high on this kid. Nevertheless, I am very excited to watch this secondary grow and get better over the next few years. I think they have some promise.

Unfortunately, if you're like me, you came away from this game with the feeling of disappointment focused in a few different areas...

1. Disappointment in the way our offense could not find a way to move the ball against the Ohio State defense. This was my biggest question mark and concern coming into the game and I left with several answers that I wasn't pleased with. True, the offensive line was getting overmatched but the coaches didn't make any adjustments, i.e. swing passes to the receivers, outside stretch runs (have we run a speed/power option all year???), screen passes to Royster/Green, short slants/outs, etc. Ohio State's defense is good but I don't think it should have been such a struggle to generate offense. I think our offense is as equally good. We never put any pressure on their secondary, a unit which might be their weak point. Again, Beachum is underused.

2. Disappointment in Daryll Clark. I like Daryll Clark and I have always supported him. I think he is one of the better QB's to play at PSU and, when he is on, one of the better QB's in college football. But, I really thought he would be better prepared for this game and put up a better showing. A football team lives and dies with the performance of the QB and Daryll was not on top of his game Saturday. You cant put this loss entirely on Clark's shoulders, but as a Senior leader/captain of this team, he has to play better and find ways to be successful. He was never really on point with his throws all day and some of those errant throws were not a result of the pressure. Chaz Powell had an inside step on their corner on the only long pass of the day and Daryll simply didn't get it to him. Royster was open on a quick slant and Clark missed him. Ryan's post last week said it best...this was DC17's break-out opportunity to make an everlasting impression on the Penn State football record books and show the country he is for real. Not only did he fail, he looked bad doing so.

3. Disappointment in the fact that we could not get the ball into the hands of our best receiver. 0 catches for Derek Moye is not a recipe for success against any team but the part that is the most discouraging is he was only thrown to ONCE (drew PI call in the endzone on PSU's lone TD drive). Thankfully, Graham Zug stepped up and carried the WR workload but there should have been adjustments made to get the ball to DM6. Moye had a few inches on OSU CB's Devon Torrence and Chimdi Chekwa...this should have been taken advantage of. Furthermore, if OSU was shutting down the outside and shadowing Moye with a Safety or OLB, this should have opened up things for Quarless and Shuler. I have said from the beginning of the year these guys need touches to make this offense tick. Aside from GZ5, the airial attack looked miserable.

4. Disappointment in our showing on a national level. For the second time, in a big game on National TV, Penn State looked like they didn't belong on the upper-tierd pedestol of college football. This was a chance to show people that they did belong in the National picture and they failed to do so. I think this team is good enough to be on that level but now, after a loss to an Ohio State team who is perceived as average for Ohio State standards, Penn State loses all credibility.

5. Disappointment in the Nittany Nation faithful. The toughest part of this season is the fact that we had the two biggest games of the season at home in front of the "Greatest Show in College Football" and we got smacked in the face in both contests. I am a very firm believer in the concept of "home field advantage," especially in college football, and I think Beaver Stadium can be a very intimidating place to play. For a little while there, I thought we had an edge when it came to this but I am beginning to sense some fair-weatherdness with the students, the fellow fans, and the masterminds behind the whole thing. Watching that place clear out with 9-and-something minutes left down 24-7 was very discouraging. I didn't necessarily think we were going to come back and win the game, but a quick score makes it a game again. All in all, it gives me the sense that the novelty behind the whole experience is wearing off.

This loss was a tough one to swallow but, despite what you might read in the papers and hear on TV/Radio, this season is not a wash. Moving forward, I think 10-2 would be a very respectable season. I would anxiously welcome a shot at a #3 SEC team (LSU???) in a bowl game to see where this team, and the Big Ten for that matter, stands on the national stage. The game at Michigan State will be a big game and a road win to seal a decent bowl game would be a good way to end the season.