The Penn State Football Show

Sitting in the stands at Beaver Stadium last Saturday, watching the crowd filter out before the end of the 3rd quarter, I started questioning the last time I saw a Penn State team play this bad. The answer I came up with was a few of the games in 2004. These two teams (2004 & 2010) have very similar features. They are young, inexperienced and lacking a leader/playmaker on both sides of the ball. The only problem is, I think this 2010 team has more talent. So to see a performance like the Illinois game, AT HOME, is extremely frustrating.

The attrition on defense is certainly a problem. Clearly, the defense looked uninspired and extremely lackluster, but I think you have to look at the personnel. For most of the second half, true freshman DT DaQuann Jones was playing DE and two freshman, Malcolm Willis and Stephon Ogben-Agyapong, who really have not seen much time, were shuffling in at Strong Safety and looked lost out there. The LB corp has bent to the point of a complete break so I'm wondering...where is the other stud LB recruit Mike Hull? The problem with all the injuries is the guys who are injured need to play for this team to get better. Sitting on the sidelines for the next 2 months is a wash and we are back at square one in the spring.

I was not aware of the rumors of dissension among the coaching staff, but I think there are some areas of concern. As Pete stated, I also noticed a few players celebrating big hits/tackles after significant Illinois gains. I too cannot stand this. Its like pimping a solo Home Run in the bottom of the 9th when you are losing 7-1. I saw Khairi Fortt make a nice tackle for about a 1-2 yard gain late in the 4th quarter and then come up and make a celebratory gesture. This looks bad and indicates we have a bunch of individual players rather than a cohesive unit. I expect these kind of things from the Florida States and Miamis...not Joe Paterno's Penn State.

Furthermore, what is going on with Derrick Thomas and Sean Stanley? Why are their absences going undisclosed? I mean, Joe is quick to tell us that true freshman Paul Jones is having academic inadequacies; Brandon Ware is in the doghouse for physical, mental and academic instabilities; and we all know about the documented legal issues of the recent past that Joe did not hesitate to comment on. So, why keep it quite with these guys?

Lastly, the problems with the run game are clearly a result of an offensive line who does not like to be physical and play trench-warfare football. And, there have been a few times this year when we fail to pick up 1 yard on 3rd and 4th down. I still think running Stephon Green up the middle on 3rd-and-short is a senseless play. So, my question is, where is Curtis Dukes? I thought this guy was supposed to be a stud? And he is the biggest, strongest back we have. Why not give him some touches?

Feel free to shed some insight and provide some answers to these questions. Hopefully the bye-week patches up some of the holes because this ship is taking on some serious water and heading under fast.

The loss last weekend to Illinois was one of the worst games I've ever seen Penn State play. They played four quarters of completely uninspired football. The team just did not come to play at all. I really can't think of any bright spots from the game. All facets of the team played lousy.

The thing that annoyed me most was there were a few instances where Illinois ran for a big gain, but then a PSU defender made a vicious hit to get him down, and the guy who made the tackle celebrated his big hit. The most glaring case of this was Drew Astorino after a run of about 40 yards. If the other team gains 40 yards on you in one play, you don't get up and celebrate. I don't care how hard you hit him. Especially when they are dominating the game! This happened a few times and this indicates to me that the mindset of the players is not in the right spot. That is the crap that Penn State usually does not do, but I saw it a few times on Saturday and it really bothered me. The coaches need to get this team on track or they may not win another game this season.

I've heard a lot of bad rumors regarding dissension among the coaching staff. I won't repeat them because at this time they are nothing more than rumors. But I think it is clear that Joe does not have control of this football team, and nobody else seems to either. Something needs to be done.

Wisconsin will beat #1 Ohio State this weekend.

I honestly was at a loss for words during most of the Illinois game. I'm used to seeing Penn State offenses play terrible, which they did. But I haven't seen a defense that bad since the Iraqi Royal Army in 2003. We made Nathan Scheelhaase look like Joe Montana. Our usually solid linebacking corps was easier to get through than panties on prom night. The lone bright spot was Nick Sukay getting yanked and never seeing the field again. That kid sucks at defense. He's a good athlete with great hands, and the way Zug is dropping passes like they're going to give him cooties I think we can work this kid in.