The Penn State Football Show

So I'm sure many readers are in the same boat as I was today with work colleagues just tearing at themselves to make a joke at Penn State's expense. All I could do is just sit there and take it because this is just about the worst thing to happen to an athletic program that I can remember. Jerseys for tattoos sort of seems like small potatoes compared to what is going on as Penn State. I have no defense for Sandusky. Since I believe in America so much I'd like to think I could abide by innocent until proven guilty but at my core I truly wish Jerry Sandusky would hang himself and put an end to all this. The truth is if he's guilty he deserves much worse. Where I did stand tall is in my defense of Joe Paterno.

This is where it gets tricky for non-PSU people to follow. Growing up as Penn State fan I absolutely revered Jerry Sandusky. I've heard my father's re-telling of the championship game against Miami so many times I feel like I were there. To listen to him and many others give their recap, all praise was due to Sandusky for the scheme he put out against Testaverde. His stout defenses were the pride of my early years as a Penn State fan. While Fran Ganter consistently put out the worst offense of any major program, Sandusky's side of the ball kept us in the national spotlight. Until a year ago, when I first heard of these allegations, his name rang as holy as Cappiletti, Warner, and Conlon. Now imagine turning that guy over to the cops and the papers based on a second hand account that lacked any detail. Tough to do.

So now everyone is calling for Paterno to step down. To them I say simply, Fuck you. What gives you the right you self-righteous little pricks? Paterno has done so much good for to countless young players, the university, and the sport. And all the Neil Rudells and David Jones'es can't change that for all their efforts. They don't get to win. Not like this. Paterno has done too much to be brought down for the wrong-doings of a former assistant.

The truth of the matter is, who with any sort of power can make Paterno step down? The athletic director has just been indicted himself and the last thing Spanier or the board of directors needs is to force out the one symbol of Penn State more recognizable than Old Main or the logo? So for me the media can make all the noise they want. My coach fucking stays.

By now, everyone and their mother has heard about the scandal that has erupted in State College regarding former Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky. This is obviously a very troubling and disturbing story for many reasons, and you have to feel terrible for the victims and their families. It is too early to comment on what actions need to be taken by the University. More facts need to come out first.

But I do want to point out two things:

First, I am very concerned about how Joe Paterno’s press conference goes tomorrow. For the last 20 years, Joe has been in control of every press conference he’s attended. I went to almost every press conference between 2004 and 2007. There is not a single member of the local media that covers PSU football that has enough courage to ask Joe any tough questions, even when they obviously need to be asked. Every so often someone would try, or some national media member would come in for a big game and ask a tough question, and inevitably they would always leave with their tail between their legs after getting chewed out by Joe for challenging him. Make no mistake about it, the man has an enormous ego whether you realize it or not. If you have seen him interact with the media in the last 10 years, it’s clear he feels he has earned the right to answer whatever questions he wants and avoid any he’d rather avoid. And he won’t hesitate to let you know if he feels you are out of line for asking a question… Most of the time the questions are perfectly legitimate too.

Anyway, the point I am trying to get to is that Joe will not get away with this tomorrow. This is not something he can shy away from and use his stature to intimidate reporters and get out of. If he tries to boss the media around tomorrow like he’s grown accustomed to, it’s going to be really ugly and make him look very bad to what has turned into an unimaginably large national audience. Hopefully the PR people at Penn State are explaining all of this to Joe and letting him know how to respond tomorrow. The truth is, he probably can get away with not answering a lot of questions tomorrow since there is a legal issue at hand here. But it’s important he goes about it the right way and responds appropriately, instead of lashing out at reporters for asking him questions he feels he’s immune to. I’m sure there are PR people prepping Joe for the press conference. I just hope he’s not too stubborn to listen.

People have been questioning how mentally sharp Joe is this days. I think we will find out in the coming weeks, if not tomorrow.

The second point I want to make seems relatively unimportant compared to everything else that is at stake, but it’s unfortunate nonetheless. And that is that there is a 8-1 Penn State football team in the midst of a great season that is in the driver’s seat to win the Big Ten, and this whole scandal has undoubtedly created an enormous distraction for the team. Probably not for the players as much as the coaches, but there is no way Coach Paterno and Coach McQueary are focused on Nebraska right now. I don’t see how effectively the coaching staff can prepare the team for this game on Saturday with this whole mess hanging over their heads.

Given the bye week and nothing, aside from gaining an extra hour of sleep, really to get excited about, I felt it necessary to reflect on this oddly unfolding 2011 football season. Penn State is off, the college football slate is rather dull, and the only thing that could get me truly jacked about the LSU-Bama game is if somebody could assure me that Chuck Norris will run out of the tunnel at Bryant-Denny Stadium chasing six midgets wearing full football equipment! So here I sit, watching the overblown hype of this game mixed with ridiculous anticipatory interview questions by Erin Andrews, just hoping the next 7 days will pass quickly.

You want a college football playoff system? Well, it starts next Saturday in the B10 and Penn State drew a shitty seed. These next three weeks will show what this team really is made of. If they come out 2-1, they deserve a spot on the turf in Indy. And, if they get there, a B10 championship is very likely because I like our chances against a Michigan or Michigan State over a Nebraska-Ohio State-Wisconsin.

As Penn State teams go, this team is certainly not one the best, even of the last 10 years. It might not even rank in the top 5 (i.e. ’02,’05,’08,’09). Ok, maybe in the top 5, but this team has one of those intangible abilities to just find ways to win. They have won with defense, they have won with offense, and they have won with 57 minutes of pure slop and 3 minutes of brilliance. I do believe that, for what ever reason, Rob Bolden has regressed and maybe you can put that on the coaches. But, you do have to give some credit to the coaching staff and the senior leaders on this team’s ability to get the most out of all of their players.

Some of my observations to this point…

• Sure he was missed, but I don’t think anybody really realized how intrigal Derek Moye is to this offense until last week. His route running and his ability to find those seams in the defense often go unnoticed. I think big things are coming from DM6 down this stretch run.
  


• Finally, Gerald Hodges breaks out and does what we have been waiting for for a year now. GH6 is the next real thing at Linebacker U. Now, can Khairi Fortt follow in Hodges lead???



• I agree with Pete…I wasn’t sure Silas Redd could handle the workload of a B10 tailback, given his size. But, he put on some weight/jacked-ness over the summer and is now the real deal. Maybe a little premature, but Heisman watchers need to begin to take notice. Certainly, the Student Book Store better start planning a staircase makeover, because Royster’s rushing record WILL be broken…the real question is…will it happen in 2012?



• I’m not ruling out Devon Smith…I think he can be a valuable part of the offense and if he can do what he did at Northwestern 2 or 3 times a season, I’ll take it. But…why is he running 5 yard slants on 2nd and 3rd and goal? There are too many other options (taller and wider) to put in the slot in these situations.



• It’s funny how we went from Kicking team nightmares to a Kicker/Punter who is nearly a lock on FG’s inside 40 and consistently blasts punts.



• I don’t think we will see Rob Bolden take another meaningful snap this season and, as far as I’m concerned, Joe can sign his transfer papers right now. I think McGloin can continue to develop into a serviceable QB and, from what I hear, Paul Jones is getting his act together in the classroom and should be on the field in the spring/next fall with three years of eligibility remaining.
  

Get pumped for the run!

The fact that Jordan Norwood made an NFL roster at his size was impressive. The fact that he's been climbing up their depth chart has been impressive as well. Now, the Browns, needing to make room for a running back after Hardesty's injury, have released former Ohio State Buckeye and former second round pick Brian Robiskie. Norwood is their #3 wide receiver and had 5 receptions this past weekend against the 49ers.

While the first 57 minutes were completely uneventful, those last 3 minutes certainly made up for that! What an exciting finish. It really is impressive how Moye's return sparked the entire offense and made McGloin a much better QB on that last drive. You gotta give him credit for coming in cold, without having practiced in three weeks, and performing in the clutch (despite the one drop that could have cost them the game). Having him back for the next three games is huge. I said before the game, the loss of Moye would be a much bigger problem against Illinois than it was against Purdue and Northwestern, and that proved to be the case. I think everyone would agree, if he didn't come back on that last drive, Penn State would not have won. This team keeps finding ways to win. Nobody is giving them any credit. Not just the media, but even Penn State fans still don't believe this team is really that good. But they keep finding ways to win, and their defense is good enough to keep them in games, so you never know. I can't wait for the remainder of this season.

Two other notes:

Zordich is awesome. Go back and watch him drive the defender back into the end zone on that game winning TD by Redd. Zordich is the reason that play scored a TD.

On a related note, Silas Redd has really turned out to be an excellent running back. His talent was obvious last year. He broke a lot of big runs where he displayed great moves, elite speed and good vision. So everyone was already high on the kid ability-wise. But I had my doubts that he could be a 25 carry per game running back in the Big Ten, mainly because of his size. I thought perhaps he'd be better suited as a change of pace back from Beachum and get like 15 carries per game. But he has more than proven he can be an every down back. He runs was surprisingly great power, often carrying defenders for a few extra yards at the end of plays. He really has learned how to play the position, how to get up field and gain the tough yards that are needed. He's a stud. I'm still waiting for him to break a long TD run though. It has to happen soon!

This should be a great game as I see these two teams as very evenly matched. I think it will be a close game and there are a few key factors: The snow will impact the game just as Rudy already mentioned. Secondly, Illinois is coming off of back to back losses. How will that affect them? Will they come out angry and take it out on PSU? Or has their bubble been burst and the team is now deflated? We will probably find out the answer to that question early.

Last year, Penn State did not have very good team, but playing Illinois at home was a game everyone thought would amount to an easy win. The Illini promptly came in and gave Penn State as sound of a beating as the Lions have seen in recent years. I don't think Penn State has forgotten about this. Maybe it will be the Lions that come into this game angry and take it out on Illinois. Like I said, I think this should be a good game since the teams are evenly match, but, if PSU comes in with the right attitude, and Illinois comes in with the wrong attitude, this game could end up being lopsided in Penn State's favor.

I'm hoping for a good game with both team's best efforts. Not having Moye will hurt in this game more than it did in the last two. Will Penn State still be able to throw the ball effectively? I'm still waiting for Redd to break an 80 yard TD run. Maybe today will be the day. PSU takes this one 20-13

Illinois started the season 6-0, the first time they had done that in 60 years. The last two games they have lost because of a poorly functioning offense and a defense that couldn't make the big plays. Penn State has had similar issues with their offense as we all know, but what has been consistent is their phenomenal defense. It is anyone's guess as to which Illinois team shows up this afternoon, and what kind of offense for Penn State comes out to play in the snowy conditions.

The snow will play a huge factor in the game. It will be difficult to throw the ball and big plays will be at a premium. Who does this benefit? Illinois has several big play guys in Nathan Scheelhaase (QB) and A.J. Jenkins (WR) who will be slowed by the snow, but the awful special teams of the Illini should be neutralized with the poor weather (kick and punt returns will be easier to cover with the snow), and for Penn State I think the snow should give them the opportunity to stress running the ball more, something that Ohio State did every single offensive play except for four (they completed only one). If the offensive line shows up to play, Penn State should be able to win this game with the snow on their side.

Last week the offense seemed to click in the first half with Silas Redd running rampant and setting up some big plays on play-action. The receivers have stepped up and have done a good job of actually catching the ball in Moye's absence. We also all noticed that McGloin went the distance. I clearly expect this to happen again today, but I have a bad feeling that Bolden will get some significant playing time.

All in all things are looking up for the Nittany Lions; something we certainly did not expect only a few weeks ago. Sitting alone atop the Leaders division of the Big Ten, Penn State has a legitimate shot of earning a trip to the first ever Big Ten Championship game. I see them taking care of business against Illinois as they have all season in typical Joe Paterno fashion. No bells and whistles, just getting a lead and holding on with solid defense. PSU 17 Illinois 10