The Penn State Football Show

The Syracuse game was a little closer than I had expected, but it was not a result of the on-field talent, but caused by mental mistakes and turnovers by Penn State. Allen Robinson's fumble, Fergy's fumble, and some costly interceptions game Syracuse some great field position and a short field to work with against a defense that lost one of its top players early in the game. All in all, the defense played very well. There were some missed tackles by the defensive backs and a few long pass plays, but the rush defense was great overall and I really liked what I saw from Trevor Williams and Jordan Lucas at corner. These two played the most physical corner defense I have seen from PSU in a while, and these guys like to hit. The entire defense is full of head hunters, and they play very physically. This is why guys like Obeng-Agyapong are able to move up to LB from safety and make an impact. That was great to see, but it really outlined the depth issues at linebacker. Mike Hull was a huge loss during the game, but it appears that he will be good to go this week (though I do not expect him to get into the game unless something goes very wrong).

Although the Penn State running game did not produce much against the Orange, I really liked what I saw from Zwinak. I will admit, I was frustrated with him watching the game live, but after watching the replay on TV, he ran with a lot of power and got a lot of extra yards after contact. The Orange defense is stout and physical in their own right, and I feel like they are very underrated as a team. Expect them to make some noise this week against Northwestern....seriously...look at my upset special....and keep in mind, I picked Washington over Boise last week. I've got the magic touch.

In summary, the score and the turnovers tell a story that hides how well some of the Penn State players played last week. This team is going to be good as they get into the season. Hackenberg is the real deal, and he made some great throws last week, went through progressions, and improvised a few times. He also has a cannon. On one play that was supposed to be a screen to the left, he recognized that it wasn't there, rolled to his right, and while moving away from the line of scrimmage, threw a laser to Moseby-Felder on the right sideline. It was beautiful. He's going to start making better reads, his second interception was on a zone blitz, and the first one was just a bad decision throwing a corner against cover-2 off of play-action where the safety didn't bite on the run. I'm not concerned, and I expect him to get some serious confidence this week against a sub-par Eastern Michigan team. Allen Robinson should actually play in the first half (man-beast), and if EMU does what 'Cuse did, and force PSU to throw the ball by putting 8 and 9 guys in the box, it's going to be a air-attack field day.

Penn State rolls, 38-10