The Penn State Football Show

Pete, I agree with you that Northwestern is incredibly dangerous. Their offense under Persa is very efficient. He's a good player and will create some problems, but he's also coming off of a major injury and isn't quite as mobile as he was last year when his team put up 21 points in the first half. The defense on the other hand is terrible. The fewest points they have given up all year was 17 in week one to a Boston College team that doesn't know their ass from their elbow. Since then they have lost to Army, Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa, where they surrendered 41 points...although one of the TDs was a TAINT (Touchdown-after-interception).

Iowa's offense came into Happy Valley as the best passing attack in the Big Ten. Shut down. Northwestern will be a different type of challenge, but when you look at games like this it's pretty simple: the PSU defense will give up somewhere around 17-21 points. Can the offense score more? That's it. Last year McGloin played hero to Joe's 400th victory en route to a total offensive output of 530 yards and a defensive effort that didn't give up a point in the second half. I think this might finally be the day we see Penn State put some points up against legitimate competition.

Silas Redd has been a godsend. He's 18th in the country in rushing yards and is the only person in the top 50 that doesn't have a rush over 25 yards. What does that mean? It means he's getting good yardage, but not quite breaking one. It tells me that the defenses are playing run, and having their secondary focusing on him. They don't have their backs turned covering a receiver...they are watching Silas, making sure he doesn't get past their last line of defense. Now, with how bad Northwestern's pass defense is, I expect PSU to come out winging it and I expect results. The run defense isn't much better. Army ran for 381 yards against them and completed 1-7 passes on the day for 6 yards. The moral of the story: Penn State could run the ball on every play and still beat this team. Playcalling and execution will win the game, and I think they've had enough time to figure out that reverses are stupid, and they should really just run off tackle and throw in some tosses and misdirection.

Getting to 7-1 would be huge before their final 2 game homestand against Illinois and Nebraska. Every game is winnable with a great defense, and although Penn State has faltered against some pretty inferior competition in Purdue and Indiana, I think they've learned their lessons and should be able to work over those purple-panted-poopball-players. Taking care of business - 31-17 good cats

I'll be going to the game this weekend in Evanston. Northwestern doesn't have the best record this year, but they are a very scary match up in my opinion. First of all, they have played better than their record indicates. They jumped out to a big lead over Michigan but ended up blowing the game, and they lost a close one to Iowa last weekend. They know they should have a better record and they might take out there frustrations on Penn State this weekend.

Secondly, I just don't think it's a very favorable match-up for Penn State. Northwestern always has very good, scrappy quarterbacks that scramble around and make plays. Penn State's defense has been excellent this year, but that has mostly been against pocket passers that Devon Still and company have been able to get pressure on and bring down. This year, the majority of Penn State's sacks have come from pressure up the middle from the two tackles, Still and Hill. The ends have had a minimal contribution to QB pressure this year, which has been a disappointment. Well, I think Persa is quick enough that he will be able to evade Still and Hill and get outside and possible be dangerous. Which is why it is so vital for a defensive end such as Crawford to step up and contain the QB, but he hasn't stepped up all year, so I'll be surprised if he finally does now.

Northwestern is a scrappy team that never quits and always gives teams a scare. I think they are angry with the way their season has gone, and they will play hard at home under the lights. I think the players like Coach Fitzgerald, who has taken some heat recently. They have his back and want to get this win for him. I see Northwestern taking this one 24-21.

This whole QB situation is just getting bizarre now. McGloin has proven himself to be head and shoulders above Bolden, and it’s clear the staff recognizes this because in close games, when the game is on the line, it’s McGloin that is on the field. The last two games McGloin has taken over 75% of the snaps, so it’s obvious the staff feels most comfortable with him running the offense. However, Rob Bolden continues to start every single game, and also take the field for the opening drive of the second half in every game. What’s the deal with this?

It really seems like the staff is starting Bolden just so they can say that he “got the start.” They don’t show any intention of letting him lead the offense all game. Rather, they stick him in there for the first series or two of each half, and then get him out of there for the rest of the half, just to get it out of the way. It’s almost seems like Paterno promised Bolden and/or Bolden’s father, that Rob would start every game if he didn’t transfer. And now that he stayed, he’s keeping his promise by giving him the “start” but nothing more. I don’t honestly think this is actually the case, but something fishy is going on here. I mean, what’s the point in playing him for those few series each game? He has been so inaccurate and inconsistent that it’s pretty much throwing away those series each game. Has Bolden ever completed three consecutive passes in his career? I wouldn’t be surprised if the answer is no. When you send him out there, it’s pretty much conceding that you aren’t really trying to score points.

I don’t think this is fair to the team, to McGloin, but most importantly, to Bolden. If you are going to throw him out there just so you can say he got in the game, but you aren’t going to really give him a chance, what good is that doing him? It’s not fair to the team, because it’s not giving the team the best chance to score points. And it’s not fair to McGloin, because he’s won the job fair and square.

But at this point you are probably wondering what the title of this post is referring to. Let me explain… Every so often, I will get a phone call, and my caller ID informs me that it’s Albright calling. Naturally, I press the “ignore” button so I don’t have to actually talk to him. Once I accumulate a few missed calls from Albright, I begin to feel a little bit guilty. So what I do is I will call him back at a time when he is known to be at work and therefore unable to answer his phone. This way he will see my missed call, and I get credit for returning his call, but I don’t have to actually talk to him. So I’m not calling Albright to speak with him, I’m calling him just so I can say that I called him back. Similarly, I think the coaching staff is playing Bolden, not because they want to or they think it’s best for the team, but rather they are starting him just so they can say that he “started.”

More on the game to come.