The Penn State Football Show

As Pete stated, the loss wasn't a huge surprise. The surprise was the terrible defensive play. Penn State was clearly outmatched in almost every area on defense. The receivers were too fast and big, the running back was too powerful, the offensive line too stout. Where is the pass rush? Everyone says that Crawford is going to be a great pro prospect, but he's got nothing. Sure he's fast and strong and big, but he isn't a football player. He doesn't have the instincts and moves that we are accustomed to out of the defensive end position. Sean Stanley has really impressed me in this area. He's got great quickness, chases plays down, tackles well....he's just a little small, but in a year or two he is going to be some kind of player. Stephon Morris and Lynn played relatively well, and I thought Lynn was the best tackler on the defense. He wouldn't be a bad solution to the safety problem (Sukay...ugh). If Derrick Thomas can progress as a corner, I think this can happen. Thomas is another physical guy that I like (had a great tackle on kickoff against YSU) and expect will get more playing time as he gets more experience (he's a RS FR).

I also agree that the playcalling was actually pretty good and that the offense executed well. They just shot themselves in the foot every time they had a chance. They really utilized their speed well by getting Devon Smith the ball in space. I hope they continue to do that since it will create openings for Bolden to throw some deep balls off of that motion. Justin Brown and Shawney Kersey need to play more. We saw Kersey's speed, and Brown looks like he could be a Bryant Johnson type of guy. For all the ripping that has been done on Royster, he has shown more power this year and actually ran over Hightower, Alabama's best linebacker. My only beef with him is that he seems very selfish and refuses to take a leadership stance. I still like what I see out of Green, not only as a running back but as a leader. Redd is a freak. We knew he was fast, but he has shown that he can be a physical runner against one of the best defenses in the country. All in all it was painful to watch (I actually pulled off the record-the-game-watch-it-later-without-knowing-what-happened thing) but we saw flashes of what this team can do, and I still believe that next year Penn State will turn the tables on an Alabama team that will be in a similar situation to where Penn State is right now.

Kent State supposedly leads the FBS in run defense thanks to a -65 yard Oscar nominated performance by Murray State. What horse-hockey. There is no motivation quite as powerful as getting humiliated on national television. I expect Penn State to come out and murder Kent State. They have a lot to prove with their run game, and they won't be able to compete in the Big Ten if they do not improve. What the hell is going on with this anyway? Why is it so hard for a team like Penn State to recruit some monster offensive linemen? Are they all just going to Wisconsin or something? Ugh. I'll never take a solid line for granted again. Khairi Fortt will probably see some legit playing time tomorrow. Let's see what the other Connecticut stud can do.

Hey buddy, I'll give you a Golden Flash

I think Drew hit most of the big issues. The tackling was by far the worst of the issues, with the red zone turnovers not far behind, and yes, Fera really struggled punting the ball. Some other thoughts:

-Offensive Line needs to do a better job. There was minimal room to run, and the first interception was completely on the OL. Blitzers went straight through to Bolden untouched, hitting him just when he was releasing the ball.

-Pass rush is non-existent. They need to pressure the quarterback but have not been able to. Crawford has done nothing this year, and the linebackers haven't done much either in terms of rushing the passer. This is the main reason PSU has yet to force a turnover this season.

- I was surprised at how upset a lot of PSU fans were after this game. Like I said before, I would have been absolutely shocked if Penn State won. It was a real longshot, but there were some positives to take away from the game for sure. I was very impressed/surprised with how well Penn State moved the ball on Alabama. I was really encouraged with the playcalling. I thought Galen Hall did a great job of mixing things up. They weren't nearly as conservative and predictable as I had expected, and they had a lot of success moving the ball. They just always turned it over in the red zone. Bolden is going to be very good.

-Silas Red has been the Lion's most impressive running back so far this season. He needs to be on the field more.

-Nick Sukay looks like he has no idea what he's doing out there. He started all last year and both games this year and has yet to do a single thing to show me why he deserves to be on the field. They have to have someone better than this kid. To tell you the truth, I can't figure out what it is that Penn State is trying to get out of the safety position for the past 10 years. Guys like Guman, Sukay, Mayer, Scirotto... These guys are not very fast or athletic. I think Hodges should have been left at safety, but they never seem to put top athletes at safety. They just throw them all at linebacker and have them sit the bench. Doesn't make sense to me.

-Now that Penn State's poor tackling was exposed, I expect them to fix that problem at practice this week, and I think they will improve in that area.

-Graham Zug has got to make that catch. Period.

-Linebackers are too tentative and need to play more aggressive. On Richardson's TD run, Colasanti had a clear shot at him. Instead of going after him and blowing him up, he sat back and let Richardson carry him into the end zone. Hopefully the coaches fix this as well.

- The loss of Hodges hurts, but at least it's at a potition that Penn State has some depth... even though you couldn't really tell that on Saturday.

I thought a few days would calm me down about the game but after re-hashing the game with Travis "T-Bone" Merritts, my anger is renewed. I can't be mad at the boys, most of them anyways. They played hard and despite what the scoreboard showed, really hung with a high-caliber team. So here, in no particular order are things that pissed me off about the game.

1) The Punter. Who is this kid? He has no business playing for Penn State. He gave Alabama great field position several times when the game was still possibly in reach for PSU.

2) The tackling was horrendous. Some of this I will accredit to PSU because tackles were missed on several players. Not just Trent Richardson, who is a freakin beast and would break the attempted tackles of Ray Nitcshke.

3) Turnovers in the red zone. Nuff said.

4) The field goal call in the fourth quarter. Excuse my language but what kind of vagina bullshit call is that? A shutout still counts the same in the loss column as a loss where you scored 3. And that's not me saying this now, four days later. A time stamped text message can prove I instantly hated this decision. Further proving my point, why kick the field goal then try the onside kick? Terrible.

5) The SEC will remain the conference of choice even though they are soft this year and the Big Ten, having some its strongest teams in years, will not garner respect because in the only regular season marquee match up, Penn State gets whipped by Alabama. No one can challenge Alabama in the SEC this year since it looks like the normal powerhouses of Florida, Georgia, and LSU are soft. They will most likely stay number 1 all year and a one loss team out of the Big Ten will get shafted again.

One thing I am not mad about, the hustle on the fumble play by Derek Moye, Brett Bracket, and Robert Bolden. Not sure how I feel about the ref's call but if they punch that in the game is out of our hands a lot earlier.