The Penn State Football Show

Barry Switzer used to say, "In an 11 or 12 game season, I can only get my team to play their absolute best three, maybe four times." I believe this statement to be true across all sports, although I think the number can vary based on the team and the sport. The fact of the matter is teams and players will play games when they are not at their very best...it's human nature. As a result, you have to know how to win when you might not be at your best. Any baseball pitcher will tell you this is the key to success...being able to win when you don't have your best "stuff." Maybe this is where the "experience" factor comes into play that coaches, analysts, and writers constantly talk about. Either way, good teams/players find a way.

Thus was the case for Penn State in this "trap" game against Northwestern. They did not come out of the gates looking very sharp like they did against Michigan. The offense was a step or two out of sync, the run game/offensive line resembled that of the early-September woes, and the defense looked baffled by the different spread looks that Northwestern was throwing at them. Defensively, I think even the coaches were not on top of their game. 12 men on the field penalty? Give credit to Northwestern in the first half for taking advantage of some lucky bounces and Penn State mistakes (12 men penalty, botched punt that resulted in a Northwestern 1st down, and GZ5's drops). The defense could not get off the field a few times and Northwestern turned that into points.

Going into halftime, I was nervous about how this game was going to play out. I wasn't quite sure how we were going to stop their offense. I thought our offense would put up points once they got on the field, but I was envisioning a 35-34, possibly OT, type of game where we were playing catch-up all afternoon. Thankfully, Penn State made some adjustments at half time and came out and dominated both sides of the ball in the second half.

Specific Game Thoughts...

• It would have been interesting to see how this game would have played out without the injury to Northwestern QB Mike Kafka. I think Bradley and Co. would have figured out a way to contain him better, but Northwestern would have put up some points. Kafka looked like a solid QB who had command of their offense...reminded me a lot of Zach Mills...nothing flashy but consistently moved the ball whether with his arm or his feet. He controlled the offense well and continued to make play after play. Looks like the way to attack this Penn State defense is to get them out of their base defense, spread them out and not let the front 7 do their thing. Luckily for Penn State, Kafka will be the most polished QB that this defense will face from here on out.
• Did anybody notice Sean Lee occasionally running frantically across the field before the snap to match up with the wide flanker? Was this a result of Penn State being out coached and unprepared for Northwestern's formations? Why is a LB covering a player out on the edge? The defense, most notably the secondary and LB's, looked confused in the first half at Northwestern's schemes. Was this coaching or was the youth of the secondary beginning to show?
• It is evident that you cannot run against this Penn State defense. The front seven is too strong. But, the weakness in pass protection by all of the LB's showed in the first half. They couldn't keep up with that short reciever across the middle. I thought Bowman and Lee would do a better job in this area.
• Gotta love the Beachum TD run up the middle in the 3rd quarter. Something we all have been begging for for weeks. However, where was this in the 1st quarter on a few of the 3rd-and-shorts that we did not convert? To expand, I don't think Evan Royster is the gritty, tough yardage, "3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust" runner. Royster runs well in space, but, many times, he doesn't create space for himself when there are openings. I almost feel like he has regressed a little bit in this aspect...maybe he is hitting the leg press too hard of late. I think he could do a better job turning some of those 2-3 yard runs into 5-6 yard runs. As a result, we need to see more of BB3 in these situations. Don't get me wrong...I like ER22. I think he's a good college running back. But, I don't think he will get the kind of NFL evaluation he is hoping for. Look for him to be in the PSU backfield again in 2010.
• I don't want to keep bashing Royster and I don't want to take anything away from his performance against Northwestern, but, how can they give him the Player-of-the-Game award? Aside from his 70-yard TD run, his numbers weren't that great. Again, Daryll Clark gets no credit for Penn State's second half offensive dominance. Even the lone TD in the first half was ALL Clark, running and throwing. I usually don't care too much about the Player-of-the-Game award, but Evan Royster didn't win this game for Penn State, Daryll Clark did. Just another notch on Clark's belt.
• I like the swing passes to Moye and Powell. These are essentially run plays and I think they help out the run game when the inside stuff isn't working.
• How bout a few of those catches by true Freshmen Curtis Drake (#7) and Justin Brown (#19) to set up TD's??? Bright future ahead for WR corp.
• I SPY...Graham Zug's DROPS. Typically in this section I like to make note of a player who is flying under the radar and/or doing big things on the field and not getting much recognition. (Yes, Josh Hull's mustache is great, on or off the field!) But, for this week, I have to report the contrary. The Zugster, usually fundamentally sound and a sure handed "possession receiver," had two very big dropped passes against Northwestern. As a result, Zug's drops took 4 points off the board on the initial offensive series and gave Northwestern 3 points right before half...a swing of 7 points, which, at halftime, seemed to play a huge role. Hopefully GZ5 learns his lesson in film session this week!

Let's hope next week will be one of those 3 or 4 games where Penn State plays their absolute best. Ohio State has an outstanding defense and I think it will be a traditional Big Ten showdown, much like the PSU-OSU games of recent...defense and a chess match battle for field position. A big defensive play or special teams play could prove to be the difference in the game. I am interested to see how this Penn State defense handles Pryor and their inside running game and I am interested to see how Penn State's offense moves the ball against their defense. If Penn State shuts down the OSU running game and forces Pryor to throw the ball 30+ times, Penn State wins. Should be a doozy...