The Penn State Football Show

Penn State fans commonly complain about starting off the season against weak non-BCS conference teams like Akron, but in my opinion it is essential. Not only does the team enjoy the money that they get from maxing out their home games, but it also gives the team some confidence going into the rest of the season. Tomorrow we will get to see a lot of new faces on the field for the Lions including completely new corps of wide receivers and defensive backs. Akron has arguably the best passing attack in the MAC conference and will provide a stout test for the green secondary of Penn State. Many are concerned about these areas as well as the offensive line, but personally I feel very confident with the players on the team.

Secondary:
Anthony Scirrotto will be replaced by Drew Astorino (Merritts' boy) who has the ability to be a better safety since he is a solid tackler and has very good instincts in the passing game. Mark Rubin, who will forever be remembered for his game altering forced fumble against Ohio State, will be replaced by Nick Sukay who we really know very little about. He had some foot issues last year, but is now 100%. He was highly touted out of high school and is a capable run support player and has more speed than Rubin, who was not known for his coverage skills. At the corners the trio of Knowledge Timmons, D'Anton Lynn, and AJ Wallace (who will not be playing vs Akron as part of his punishment for cutting class) will fill in for the graduated Lydell Sargeant and Tony Davis. Lydell had a solid year, but lacked physicality and really is not as athletic as the three guys this year. Wallace has the ability to play in the NFL, but needs to get tougher and focus. At times he can be dominant. Timmons has terrific speed and is an aggressive player and has made an impact of special teams for a few years, but now he needs to use some of that "knowledge" and make better decisions from the corner position. Lastly, Lynn...I think he is going to be the best of the bunch. His father is a running back coach for the Jets and during the offseason Lynn often works out with the NFL team. He has the best decision making skills of the bunch and should be a solid player. All-in-all, after getting three relatively easy games under their belt, this unit should be better in better pass coverage shape than the secondary from last year. Last years starters were great in run support, but with the terrific set of linebackers this year, that will not be a big concern.

Wide Receivers:
Clearly Penn State lost a lot of talent here with Butler, Williams and Norwood all graduating and playing for NFL teams (Bulter in particular has really proven himself with the Seattle Seahawks), but what encourages me about this year is that the new starters are COMPLETELY different than the trio from last year. Brackett (6-6 232 lbs) is a red zone dream. Last year the passing game relied on speed, this year size will be a huge factor. Williams was a great player and I love the guy, but he didnt have particularly good hands. These new set, Brackett, Moye (6-5), and Zug (6-2), may have better hands and certainly have more height and they will be tough matchups for any team Penn State plays. Imagine having two receivers on the field at the same time over 6'5"! That's not even including the tight ends (Quarless is 6-5, Shuler 6-4). Certainly Clark will have bigger targets to throw to, but some speed for sure will be lost. Ultimately, however, I see the passing game being different, but still potent.

Offensive Line:
This is what I feel to be the biggest concern this fall. Losing Shipley, Cadogan, and Ohrnberger certainly hurts, but since the Zack Mills era to which Drew mentioned, Penn State has seemed able to solidify at least one side of the line. This year Stefen Wisniewski moves from guard to center and should be very effective. Dennis Landolt moves from right to left tackle and he will be the anchor of the offensive line. The other three are new starters this year with the predicted guards being Lou Eliades and Matt Stankiewitch. Both are capable and I'm not too concerned. The right tackle position is the biggest question mark. Right now DeOn'tae Pannell is slated to start. He is a big boy and has all the tools to be a good player, he just needs some experience. That's where these cupcakes come in, and should be a benefit to the team before it starts its Big Ten competition.

Ohio State has always proven that it can reload. This is the year that Penn State (with only 9 returning starters) proves that they too can fill holes and be successful. It will be a new look to the team, but guys like Clark, Royster, Lee, and Bowman will lead this team to another Big Ten title.

College Football has begun

To answer Pete's question its hard to avoid all the talk surrounding Jack Crawford. The only problem he has is that anything less than 5 sacks, 10 solo tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and a interception returned for a td will be disappointing.

I'm want to start by addressing my biggest concern going in to this weekend that I feel has been overlooked. I know we lost our big play wide receivers, but it starts and ends with the offensive line. Only two starters returning. If you look at the good years we've had over the past 10, a solid O-line is at the center of it all. Its no secret that Big Ten football is won and lost in the trenches, and I'm concerned. I think we can all agree the worst season we had in our years at Penn State was Zach Mills's senior year. The man had no protection at all. Linebackers were in the backfield faster than the snap was and its pretty tough to run an offense that way. Luckily Darryl Clark is more mobile than Zach Mills but we need good protection because God knows we're the only team in college football that can't execute a screen to save our lives. I am honestly not worried about the big play guys, I think we have enough. But that leads me to...

Guys That Need to Step Up this Year:
1) Sean Lee- The captain coming off an injury needs to show on the first snap that he hasn't lost a step.
2)Andrew Quarless-Flashes of brilliance stacked against a myriad of on and off the field issues. If he can get his head on right I think we could have one of the most solid two tight end sets in the Nation coupled with Mickey Shuler.
3) Josh Hull-Solid player and he filled in okay for Sean Lee last year. Was a slightly better version of the much maligned Gino Capone, made all the tackles but just too far off the line of scrimmage. With Mike Mauti out our depth at OLB was hurt pretty bad.
4) Graham Zug- He seemed always a finger tip away from hauling in those deep balls. He needs that fingertip this year with the departure of Williams, Norwood, and Butler.
5) Knowledge Timmons and AJ Wallace- Three years of underachieving for guys with lighting in their shoes, gotta show me something this year.

I'm excited to see Jerome Hayes get back out there. He's a great ballplayer and I felt terrible for him when he went down. And put this on the board right now, Drew Astorino will be the defensive MVP of this team by year's end. That kid is an absolute ballhawk and can just flat out play the game. I'm really excited to see what he can do.

On an issue unrelated to Penn State, I want to say Florida winning the national championship will be the worst thing imaginable for college football. Lord knows I hate Tim Tebow, but now the rest of sports fans around the country are getting pretty sick of this Tebow Holier than Thou BS we are being forcefed everytime we watch SportsCenter. The guy likes Jesus, I get it, great. He is not the messiah. I think everyone outside of the state of Florida is rooting for this team to fail. And I personally hope they find child porn on Tebow's computer.

I've been looking forward to this weekend ever since the Penguins won the Cup and I knew the Pirates weren't going to provide much excitement. I think we have a solid team and an exciting year ahead of us.

On the gambling side, its tough to call this early in the year, but you always count on the Midshipmen to make it close. I like Navy catching 21 against the Buckeyes.

1. I want to see how good Jack Crawford really is. I've heard nothing but great things.

2. I want to see how Sean Lee and Jerome Hayes bounce back from their injuries. Lee has had almost two full years to recover, so he should be close to 100%. Hayes has torn two ACL's in the last two years, so I don't expect him to be anywhere close to 100%. But he is listed as first string, so he must be showing something at practice.

3. I want to see how fast Devon Smith really is.

I think the rest of the question marks on this team won't really be answered until we face a quality team. That doesn't occur until game 4 against Iowa. I'm not going to really put too much thought into how the O-line, secondary and wide receivers look in these first three games.

Who are you guys most looking forward to seeing on Saturday?

Check out some plays and short commentary from the Penn State football scrimmage held today (Aug 20)

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=102293476448435&saved

Although preseason polls are about as meaningful as my New Year's resolutions, it gives people something to talk about during the hot, humid, football-less months that we have to endure. Not surprising is Florida at #1, Texas #2, and Oklahoma #3 where all three are returning their quarterbacks who placed 2nd, 1st, and 3rd respectively in the Heisman race. Ohio State somehow sneaks in at #6 and PSU is right behind at #8. OSU could make a statement early when they play USC at home, a game they very well could win. USC will be starting a quarterback with almost no experience, though Ohio State's defense lost a lot of star power to the NFL draft. Similar to the top three teams, Penn State returns its star quarterback, always a key contributor to these preseason ranks. Are they deserving of #8 even though they are replacing an entire secondary and their top three wideouts? I think it's a valid spot for them, and judging by their schedule, the worst they are likely to do (with everyone staying healthy) is 10-2. I don't want to jinx them, but teams like Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan should not be able to defeat Penn State. Again, these preseason ranks mean absolutely nothing, but at least have more significance than preseason all-conference awards (let's award players for what we THINK they will accomplish this season!). Whatever, only two more weeks until the season is underway, although still over a month before a competitive PSU game. Can't wait

It has been reported that Sophomore linebacker Michael Mauti tore an ACL during a scrimmage. Mauti was expected by most to be a started in the linebacking core (if not at the start of the season then certainly by the end). Last year Josh Hull started at MLB in place of the injured Lee, and was competing with Mauti for the weak side OLB position. It appears now that Hull will be a starting OLB for the season opener. This is a tough break for the lions since Mauti is a gifted athlete and the next in line of great linebackers, but luckily the position has a lot of depth and the team can "fall back" on a starter from a year ago. Hull isn't as athletic as Mauti, but he has a great deal of experience and made great strides as the season progressed last year. Look for Stupar to get some reps on the weak side (currently is a strong side LB) and Bani Gbadyu as well. Most believe Lee will take over in the middle with Bowman as the strong side OLB leaving this competition for the weak side. All in all, not a lethal blow to the team. An injury to the secondary or the offensive line would have had more repercussions and fortunately Mauti can use a redshirt for this season and still play three more years if he chooses.

Despite my hatred for Notre Dame and USC, the two schools have always been able to pull in kids from around the country simply due to their prestige and name. Now it appears as if Penn State is cracking its head into this category, albeit not quite as powerfully as ND and USC. Not only does Penn State have an already stellar class of 2010 recruiting class, but it appears that it could be one of the best ever with possible commitments from superb talents like Connecticut linebacker Khairi Fortt (rivals.com's 2nd ranked OLB) and South Carolina's Marcus Lattimore (rivals' 7th best overall prospect). These two have no bloodlines through Penn State, they didn't grow up in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, and they have offers from all over the country. These two just like what Penn State is about. Marcus has stated how he loves the way Penn State runs the football, and Fortt expressed how he felt a great relationship with not only the team and coaches, but the student body as well.
Headlining the 2010 class are two of the most highly rated quarterbacks in the class, an athletic running back (who has been a PSU fan his whole life), a sensational central PA linebacker, massive linemen, and a wide receiver I expect to become an All-Big Ten performer. This however is only half of the class already committed to Penn State, and several of these high schoolers are on the phone and at camps helping their future college recruit, namely Sials Redd the before-mentioned running back from CT. He has close ties with Khairi Fortt whom I believe will be a Nittany Lion next fall.
Not only are the players in this class superb athletes, but they are from regions outside of the typical PA/NJ/MD that PSU recruits so heavily. Interest from a stud RB in South Carolina? He has named a final 5 schools, Penn State, Oregon, South Carolina, North Carolina and Auburn. Is there a chance to steal one from SEC country? If so, this recursive cycle that is recruiting will continue. This Penn State program has gone leaps and bounds from where it was only 5 years ago thanks to coaches like Larry Johnson and Tom Bradley, players like Derrick Williams, and fans that make Penn State the party school/packed stadium captial of the college world.