Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Blue & White Roundtable: the ‘picking up the pieces’ edition

It's Wednesday and I've officially killed the section of my brain that cares for Penn State football with beer.

Apathy has truly set in but lucky for you Nick still cares. With that, here are Nick's answers to this week's Blue and White Roundtable brought to you by Alex Grier. Don't forget to check out the rest of the Roundtable.

Black Shoe Diaries
Run Up the Score
There Is No Name on My Jersey
William Yurasko

1. The offense looked pathetic against Michigan. Is there any hope that Penn State's offense can at least play respectably the rest of the season?

Yeah, the offense looked terrible, that was honestly the worst play calling I have ever seen. Hands down, no contest. An empty backfield? with Morelli? 5 to 7-step drops? What the fuck? And yet in spite of it all, Penn State had the opportunities to win. The offense will be fine in spite of itself. People are throwing away the season after Michigan, that's just ridiculous. When I looked at the season over the summer, I thought we would lose to Michigan and possibly Wisconsin. The way the season began, I thought well maybe…but our season isn't off track yet. How they respond to this loss will be the difference between a great season and a disappointment.

[editor’s note: looking at that last sentence - truer words have not been spoken. Okay so I’m not totally apathetic yet -G]

2. You can lay the blame for the loss to Michigan on one person. Who gets it?

Galen Hall/Jay Paterno – if they did any prep work going into Ann Arbor, that game was won easily. We did nothing to exploit their weaknesses. I want Bell, Golden, and Quarless on the field the majority of the time. Mix in Norwood, Butler, and Derrick Williams as you want.

3. Penn State plays Illinois in a tough road test this weekend. What kind of performance do you expect from Penn State on Saturday?

I expect this team to respond strongly. If they have any self-respect they will be more determined than ever and bury the Illini. Playtime is over, they weren't prepared for Michigan and that is a behavior that better end now.

Lightning Round:

After that performance against Michigan what is your new record prediction and bowl game for Penn State?

Maybe one more loss, I'm not ready to give up on the season yet. Like I said, this week will speak volumes.

Who starts at tailback against the Illini?

Kinlaw, but Scott sees action, since he's the better blocking back. He'll probably get some carries in the 2nd half too. I'm not sure how he fumbled against Michigan since he had both hands on the ball, my guess is he thought he was down. Who knows, just karma?

Score prediction for the Illinois game.

36-14 – game might be closer than the score indicates, but Penn State should have gotten the hint last week.

When does A.J. Wallace finally supplant Lydell Sargeant as the other starting CB?

Hard to say. After the tapes have been looked over and technique discussed. If he doesn't seem to be getting it, Wallace could come in any time.

9 comments:

Nick said...

Beerfest! Bring on Das Boot

PSUgirl said...

C'mon Galen, we don't blame you for the play calling - we know that Jay and Joe are impossible to work with and that any chance you get is foiled by poor execution.

Oktoberfest starts this week - I have a friend who is going to Germany for business next week and conveniently scheduled a side trip to Munich. We'll be having our annual Oktoberfest! tailgate at the iowa game.

Galen said...

Oktoberfest tailgate!! Why didn't I think of that, great idea PSUGirl. At this point the only friend I have left is beer so I might as well celebrate it.

Scrappled said...

Das Boot! Das Boot! Das Boot!

I just ordered two more beer ingredient kits for my homebrewing project -- Holiday Ale (pumpkinish) and another wheat beer which I plan to divide into one case of Peach Wheat and one case of Cherry Wheat.

Stupid me, I wanted to make an Oktoberfest beer but it's too late. Should've done that last month.

PSUgirl said...

Galen, you have no idea just how great an Oktoberfest tailgate can be. The Germans would create a 36 letter word just to describe it. Beer brats, roast pork and sauerkraut, german potato salad, strudel, streusel, schnitzel and beer, lots of beer.

Last season the boys made up a calling card - wacky engineers

Galen said...

From the pictures on your website PSUGirl I know where you park it's where I used to tailgate at.

Unfortunately, I broke up with my girlfriend this year and lost the tailgate with it. That’s life.

It looks like you guys put a crapload of effort into your tailgates. Awesome.

Anonymous said...

Re: #2.... FWIW, there is rumor floating around the 'net that PSU practiced all week with a focus on the passing game only to have Joe call a meeting ON SATURDAY MORNING, and scrap what they practiced all week in favor of concentrating on establishing the running game. The Offensive coaches protested, Joe overruled them.

Nick said...

Galen, you tailgate in some obscure location. Where the hell were you?

Galen said...

Nick,

Right down from the new baseball field - I'll send you a map.