Blue & White roundtable

My fellow bloggers and I continue our little support group with the weekly B&W roundtable discussion. This week Mike from Black Shoe Diaries gets a turn at asking questions and he didn’t disappoint. Feel free to add your 2 cents in the comments section and stop by Black Shoe Diaries and Run Up The Score for their answers.

Fans have been very critical of the Penn State coaches and the more specifically the offensive play calling this season. Besides Joe’s ability to dodge the low hit, how would you rate the performance of the coaches against Wisconsin?

The fourth down and one sweep call was absolutely abysmal, but other then that I can’t say there were too many bad calls that I remember. A couple weeks ago Penn State fans were crying because the Nits wouldn’t pass to the Tight End or over the middle. Well the last couple of weeks that’s pretty much all the Lions tried to do and we still get the same result. Against Purdue the coaches knew they could run the ball and beat the Boilermakers so they went out with that exact gameplan and it worked. I think the problem with the offense is a matter of execution and not bad coaching. I get tired of saying it but until the offensive line figures out how to block consistently, the Lions won’t score many touchdowns.

Let’s go out on a limb and say the Lions beat Temple this week. What do you think our chances are of beating Michigan State and winning out?

As I stated earlier, the Wisconsin loss was a big disappointment to me but losing to either of these teams is completely unforgivable. Temple is one of the worst Div I teams and although Michigan State has a good offense, they have officially packed it in for the year and it will be John ELL’s last game. MSU will be looking to get the game over with, get on the plane and head home.

Next year we return this same offensive line except for Robert Price and All American Levi Brown. Please give me a glimmer of hope that things will be better next year.

I wish I could say things will be better but the offensive line has regressed as the year’s gone on so I have no evidence to point to anything better next season. Shipley will probably be pretty good but the right side of the line has been the problem this season and I don’t know who will do a better job next year. Maybe one of the redshirt freshmen will step up and take control but I’m not holding my breath.

Barring some major help, Penn State is most likely looking at playing in the Outback Bowl against the SEC #3 or #4. There is also a chance we may end up playing in the Alamo against a middle of the pack Big 12 team. Given the circumstances, what would be your dream matchup? On the flip side, what would be your nightmare matchup?

I certainly don’t have a dream matchup considering the way Penn State is playing, but I think playing Texas Tech sitting at 6-4 would be intriguing. Penn State has only played the Red Raiders one other time a 24-23 nail biter in 1995. Either team in the SEC at #3 or #4 would be a nightmare: could you imagine how bad PSU would matchup against LSU? Scary.

While football season is winding down, basketball season is about to start up. How excited are you about the Nittany Lion cagers this year? What are your expectations for the team following last years NIT appearance?

I’m more of a wrestling fan then a basketball fan but I’m excited about both sports this season. Ed Dechellis has done a fantastic job bringing this program from nothing into a .500 club last season with just about everyone returning. Many “microwave” fans wanted a “name” coach when the Penn State job became unceremoniously open but the Athletic department went with a known commodity as they always do and I think it was a great hire. You won’t find a harder worker then Ed Dechellis and he demands the same of his players. After he got through the first years and weeded out the people that didn’t share his vision, he now has “his” guys in the program and it’s starting to look good. With three consecutive years of players on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team including last year’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jamelle Cornley, this team is definitely on the rise. After a .500 year and with Penn State’s weak schedule, I would expect this team to make it to the Big Dance. Now is the time for Ed to put Penn State on the map in college basketball.

Everyone clamoring for a Big Ten championship game gets their wish when football Armageddon occurs on November 18th and Michigan meets Ohio State in Columbus. Who do you like in that game? Ok, maybe that was a poor choice of words. Obviously we don’t like either team. Who do you think will win and why?

After last week I think there are some kinks in the armor with both teams struggling against inferior opponents but I still like Ohio State. I think Michigan is the all around better team but I think they have some mental baggage in this game. These two teams hate each other with the intensity of a white dwarf and Ohio State has the psychological edge in the series right now. I think Michigan will implode on themselves and hand the game to Ohio State in a manner that has people hanging themselves in Ann Arbor. I’m thinking a big turnover at the most inopportune time that’s returned for a touchdown. But then again, I never was good at predictions; I leave that to the dog.