PSU Review: Michigan State

TNL Said: 21-17 (Sparty)
Actual Score: 42-14 (PSU)

Wow, this is one time I am happy to be completely wrong. For a half it looked like the offense was left back in Happy Valley but then WR Curtis Drake took an end around pitch and lobbed a 14 yard touchdown pass to TE Andrew Quarless and Penn State blew up. Graham Zug and Quarless each had two touchdowns as Daryll Clark had a career day throwing for 310 yards, 4 TD's and no picks. With the lone exception of the Bend and then Break Our Hearts defense right before half, allowing for a then game tying score, the defense was aggressive and held Kirk Cousins to only 155 yards in the air and picked him off twice. Navorro Bowman had a huge day making 10 tackles, 3.5 behind the line of scrimmage a sack and a pass breakup. For their efforts, Clark and Bowman were named Big Ten Player(s) of the Week.

Offense

Sluggish for most of the first half, the offense made adjustments at halftime and routed Michigan State in the second half. Penn State scored touchdowns on three straight possessions in the middle of the 3^rd quarter as they pulled away from Sparty. Evan Royster got things going in the second half as he eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark for the season. For the game he rushed for 114 yards on just 13 carries for an eye-popping 8.8 yards per carry. Freshman Curtis Drake caught a pass, threw a pass, and ran the ball for an 18 yard gain. 8 different Penn State receivers caught a pass as Clark spread the ball around. Rushed for most of the first half the offensive line came together in the second half and at least held serve and gave Clark enough time to throw and opened up some nice holes for Royster.

Defense

If not for the awful prevent defense just before half, the defense would have shut Sparty out for the first half. Once Penn State got its offense rolling, the defense helped by setting the Lions up with good field position as they hauled in 2 picks on back to back possessions. The linebacker combo of Lee, Bowman, and 'The Stache' combined for 24 tackles 4.5 TFL, a pick, and a sack. For the most part, the defense kept things in front of them, and made the big plays when they needed to. Unlike the previous week (and for that matter every other previous away game) the defense came out ready to go from the start and played tough for four quarters.

Special Teams

Whatever personnel adjustments the coaches made in the punt and kick coverage teams it worked, Penn State was at least able to contain MSU's kick return. Jeremy Boone didn't have a great average but he landed all five of his punts inside the 20 with a long of 54. The kick return team got a boost from Stephfon Green who at least made it respectable. The punt return is nothing more than a fair catch on this team and as long as they don't fumble, I'm content. It wasn't all rosy though; Collin Wagner missed both field goal attempts, although one would have been a career long. Wagner's kicking is a crap shoot anymore.

Overall

We'll definitely take a win like that any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Penn State now gets to play the waiting game as the rest of the college football world actually plays for another couple weeks. We know that Ohio State won an outright Big Ten title with their victory over Michigan, but we will have to wait and see if the BCS takes Penn State, Iowa, or neither of the two. Remember, there can only be two BCS teams from any one conference and OSU has the automatic big for the Rose Bowl.

PSU Review: Indiana

TNL Said: 27-10
Actual Score: 31-20

Take away the garbage TD for Indiana at the end of the game and I pretty much nailed that score, but more importantly I said this last week in my preview:

Expect Penn State to have a hangover and play poorly, particularly early in the contest, but the defense will keep the Lions in it until the offense decides to wake up. I expect Indiana to move the ball on Penn State but not get it in the endzone too often.

Wow, I'm like a prognosticator or something, actually anyone that has watched Penn State over the years would have seen that shittacular of an effort coming from a mile away. This was by far the worst effort of the season. It was a complete EPIC FAIL and had it been a team with a pulse PSU would have lost miserably.

But it was Indiana and they are so bad that Penn State can turn the ball over 4 times in the first half and still go to the locker room with a 10-10 tie. Thank God for really crappy schedules!

Offense

In a word: GARBAGE!

Clark threw two picks early and the offensive brain trust turned Beaver Stadium into a no-fly zone. They totally handcuffed Clark and started the brute force offense yet again. And yet again, it wasn't very effective but it was Indiana and they eked out enough offense to win. Evan Royster did manage 95 yards rushing but when your top two leading receivers are your running back and, worse yet, your fullback things have gone seriously, seriously wrong. A couple weeks ago people were actually using Heisman and Clark in the same sentence* how's that working out now? It certainly didn't help that Derek Moye played 'bouncy chesty' twice inside the five yard line dropping two easily catchable balls. It was a total team effort of suck.

Defense

In a word: GARBAGE!

Sure the defense kept Penn State in the game and sure Bowman scored on an interception return which vaulted him into Big Ten Defensive player of the week status but it was a half hearted effort and some really poor schemes. If Indiana would have kept attacking the middle of the field at about the 8 yard area where Penn State's defense feels it's totally unnecessary to cover they could have moved the ball all day. When PSU blitzes it's obvious, when Penn State fakes a blitz it's even more obvious and again, I'm one of them there bloggers that don't know nothin' about football so if I can call it imagine what the guys getting paid a million dollars can see. Again, I hate to "beat a dead dog**" but if it was anyone but Indiana they probably would have scored a lot more. But kudos to Bowman for taking the whole scoring thing into his own hands, hey if the offense isn't going to do it, you might as well.

Special Teams

In a word: GARBAGE!

The special teams get worse as the year goes on but it's just personnel, right? If Penn State is going to fumble every other punt return perhaps they shouldn't even put someone back there to field the punt. At least then we'll KNOW there's no chance for a turnover, in fact just put 11 guys at the line of scrimmage and make sure they don't fake. If you go after the punt I'm sure we'll get a running into the kicker penalty for a first down so don't even chance that. On kickoffs just catch it and take a knee at the 15 or 20. Is there a Div I football team in the country with worse special teams then Penn State? If there is, I'd like to see it.

Overall

This was one of the worst efforts I've seen and it was a complete failure in every aspect except the scoreboard. Offense, defense, special teams, coaching and I'm sure the cheerleaders messed some things up at halftime. Complete team lack of effort. Thank God it was Indiana.

*which made me literally laugh out loud

** NOT my quote that's what the geniuses on the Big Ten Network said

PSU Review: Ohio State

Allow me to start this rant off by stating for the record that Ohio State deserves all the credit in the world. They outplayed Penn State in every aspect of the game and I don't want to take anything away from that. Having said that, I'm officially done rooting for this team as long as all or part of this coaching staff is still in place. I'm tired of the same conservative play calling on both offense and defense against any team with a pulse. Spread HD? Sure against the likes of Akron and Temple, but against Iowa and OSU: PUCKER. Let me put it to you this way, Paterno likes to say that the people in the media (including bloggers) have no idea what we're talking about. Fine, I'll admit most of us may not but tell me this then, how can someone with such a vacuum of football knowledge predict not only a total breakdown in philosophy but entire series of plays. I won a bet Saturday when I correctly called a three and out on one of Penn State's series. Not a single play mind you, three in a row. It's so fucking obvious what's coming that anybody that has watched more than a handful of football games can see it. If I can successfully predict what the offense is going to do (remember I'm one of them dumb bloggers) what do you think opposing defensive coordinators are going to do? See: Saturday.

Penn State opened up on their first play by not blocking anybody and the coaches went into their play calling shell. Game over before it started. For 10 weeks now we've watched horrible special teams get worse as the season goes on. They put return men back on punts whose job is to fair catch and they don't even do that well, forget about putting someone back there with some athletic ability, just fair catch the ball and get the mash-the-ball-up-the-middle offense on the field. There is absolutely no excuse for the horrid special teams coverage that has cost Penn State time and time again. That, my friends, is coaching (or lack thereof). The defense doesn't get a pass either, there was plenty of whiff tackles and boneheaded breakdowns to make any fan's head explode. (Hey, did you know Terrelle Pryor likes to run? Yeah? Might want to cover that next time, you know… Purdue did).

In the end, give credit to Ohio State for being prepared and executing but know this, this was a complete FAIL by the entire coaching staff. This team wasn't prepared to play, had a remarkably stupid game plan, and executed said retarded game plan horribly. This season Penn State has beat Akron, Syracuse, Temple, Eastern Somebody, and Minnesota at home. The two teams with a pulse beat Penn State badly. All criticism of their schedule is TOTALLY warranted. Let me put it this way: if you purchased two season tickets you dumped roughly a grand for you and a friend to watch that crap. Hope you feel you got your money's worth. Me… I took the $1000 and put it to good use… like beer.

Totally made the right choice.

PSU Review: Northwestern

On Penn State's opening possession Daryll Clark hit Graham Zug over the middle for what would have been an easy PSU score, unfortunately Zug dropped it. That would pretty much set the tone for Penn State the rest of the way. PSU forgot to turn their clocks back, didn't show up until sometime in the second half and let Northwestern march up and down the field by throwing short passes over the middle to a very, very soft zone as the Bend and then Break Our Hearts defense reared its ugly head yet again. Like always the coaches took the stubborn roll and tried to mash Evan Royster time and time again on offense and played extremely soft zone on defense and although neither was A) a good game plan to start or B) actually worked during the game, they stuck to their guns like the stubborn coaches that they are and the game wasn't decided until the fourth quarter.

Offense

When the offensive brain trust finally let Clark throw the ball, like he should have been all game, Penn State took a fourth quarter 13-13 tie and scored three unanswered TD's to run away with it. Not only did the passing help the offense altogether but it loosened up the D and Royster ripped off a 69 yard TD run. Clark threw for 274 yards and a touchdown but his receivers (I'm looking in your direction Zug) dropped several good passes. Derek Moye continues his hot hand leading all receivers with 6 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown. Moye gets better every game. 11 different receivers caught passes as Clark spread the ball around. Had the coaches decided to open things up from the beginning, the game probably wouldn't have been close.

The aforementioned Zug dropped several passes that hit him in the numbers. Had I been the coach he wouldn't have saw the light of day after the first series until garbage time late in the fourth. Inexcusable.

Defense

It's hard to actually blame the players for the horrible defense, they played hard and can only play in the God-awful system the coaches put them in. From what I can tell, the defensive game plan was: let them throw for 8 or 10 yards over the middle over, and over, and over, and over, and over. Hopefully they'll just make a LOT of mistakes. Great plan, worked to perfection. Penn State gave up 371 yards of offense with 252 of that through the air. In comparison, Penn State is the best team in the league against the pass giving up only 170 yards through the air and 255ish total. But when you're put in a terrible defensive scheme against a team that can throw well, you get what you saw Saturday.

Luckily in the second half when they finally realized they weren't going to get pressure with only their down four they started to blitz more and that's when the D shut the Wildcats out.

Individually, Sean Lee returned to old form leading the team with 12 tackles. Navorro Bowman was all over the field again and 9 different players were in on tackles for loss and six sacks.

Special Teams

At this point the punt return team's goal should be A) fair catch the ball and B) don't allow a fake for a first down. Oh, and don't get a stupid penalty to give the ball back either… like they did Saturday. It was easily the worst special team's effort all season and if they continue, they will lose a game for the Nittany Lions.

Jeremy Boone averaged 42 yards per punt but launched two into the endzone. That could have been a product of the swirling winds at Northwestern and not so much bad punts. Collin Wagner did salvage two drives and nailed the two easy field goals he attempted. As long as Wagner can convert the 30-something yard tries everything will be fine.

Overall

Penn State wasn't ready to play but still managed to cover the 17 point spread with the offensive explosion in the 4^th. I'll take that against jNW but that game plan is horrible against j(ust)aOSU. If Penn State lets Terrelle Pryor sit back with time he will pick them apart, as bad of a passer that he is, you can't let Pryor have time. Penn State needs to pressure him into mistakes because he makes a boat load of them. The lack of containing the QB is also quite disturbing. While jNW had decent running QB's none of them even come close to comparing to Pryor's ability to run. PSU will probably need a spy against jaOSU.

PSU Review: Minnesota

TNL said 24-14 (PSU)
Actual Score: 20-0 (PSU)

I didn't see a shutout coming and I have to say, I'm not giving this defense enough credit. They have yet to be scored on in the first half of any game and they continue to pass every test thrown their way. I don't care who you blame the Iowa loss on it's definitely not the defenses' fault. This game was by far the most complete game Penn State has played all season. Penn State was nearly flawless in all aspects of the game.

Offense

Derek Moye is turning into Clark's big play maker and he's getting better and better as the season goes on. Moye's tip toe touchdown catch at the side of the endzone was a thing of beauty (even if the refs didn't think so at first). Moye finished the day with 6 catches for 120 yards and the aforementioned circus TD catch. It was Moye's second 100 yard game and he gives opposing defenses something to worry about. Clark was decisive, made good decisions and often threw the ball where only his receivers could get to it. His timing with the receivers was spot on.

The big offensive splash though was the return of the 'old' Evan Royster. Royster ran for 137 yards on 23 carries and looked brutal at times. It was the Royster we all expected at the beginning of the season but has been absent at times. He ran with patience, authority, and an urgency that was lacking up until this point. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come because we need that kind of effort if this offense is going to be effective against the meat of the schedule.

Defense

The return of Sean Lee was a welcomed addition to a unit that did fine without him. He had a bit of a 'quiet' day only recording 2 tackles but his presence did not go unnoticed. Josh Hull continues his steady, workmanlike season getting 6 tackles and his second interception. In a very short time Hull has gone from lost walk on to a dependable player even in passing situations, something I thought I would never say. Bowman led the team with 8 tackles 2 for loss and one spine-adjusting crunch on Minnesota running back Duane Bennett, a tackle Bennett did not recover from. I'll say this, I'll put these three guys up against any linebacking corpse in major college football, if there's a better one, I haven't seen them yet.

The secondary did a fantastic job on super stud Eric Decker holding him to 1 long catch for 42 yards.* At this point in the season if anyone is still worried about the secondary please file your worries under "not an issue."

The defense held Minnesota to 7 first downs, 138 total yards and no points. Sometimes statistics can be misleading, not in this case.

Special Teams

Hey, even the special teams decided to get in on the fun. Collin Wagner hit a career-long 47 yard field goal and was 2-3 on the day with his only miss an excusable 49 yarder. Jeremy Boone had an off day but he's allowed one of those every now and then considering his entire body of work this season. Most importantly though, the coverage team did a fantastic job keeping Stoudermire bottled up , his longest kickoff return was 19 yards. Wagner had two touchbacks on his 5 kickoff attempts.

Overall

Simply put this was a total team effort and it's hard to find any nits to pick in this game. When you shut out an opponent, don't turn the ball over at all (for the first time this year) and you hold your opponent to 138 yards of offense you end with this kind of result. Penn State is peaking at the right time, now it's on to Michigan and hopefully an effort like this.

*I blame myself for that catch, right before that play I said (like a moron) "Wow, the defense is doing a great job against Decker he doesn't have a catch yet." If I only kept my mouth shut!

PSU Review: Eastern Illinois

TNL said 45-6 (PSU)
Actual Score: 52-03 (PSU)

I'm not going there, make up your own captions.

I was amazingly close to the final score so I'll take that as a WIN! I also said the following in my preview:

I would love to see PSU score early and often on Eastern Illinois and get some of the younger guys some game experience, especially Kevin Newsome.

Score early and often: check.

Get a lot of younger guys playing time: check.

Get Newsome significant time under center: check.

Not much really to cover, this was total domination of every sort so really it's going to be a short review, just like the game was.

Offense

Clark's interception aside, everything was coming up Lions on offense. They doubled EIU in almost every statistical category: first downs, rushing and total offense as they outgained EIU 206–553. Average gain per play: EIU 3.3 – PSU 8.9! That's almost 9 yards per freaking play. Penn State scored on the first five possessions (4 TD's, 1 FG) to take a 31-0 lead and never looked back.

Royster rushed 8 times for 94 yards for an 11.8 yard average and Stephon Greene had 7.2 per attempt on his 8 carries. Chaz Powell led the team with 4 catches for 79 yards and a TD and even true freshman Justin Brown made his first career receptions (3 for 45 yards).

The aforementioned Newsome completed 4-5 for 34 yards and rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown. As far as Newsome is concerned he's one hell of an athlete, let's just hope Clark stays healthy for the rest of the season and I'll leave it at that.

Defense

Penn State had 11 tackles for loss, an INT, and a fumble returned by Navorro Bowman for a TD.

Josh Hull was steady yet again leading the team with 11 tackles but EIU had no answer for Jared Odrick who led the team with 3.5 tackles for loss including 2 sacks. It was the kind of carnage on the defense that everyone expected.

Special Teams

Even the special teams did an admirable job which is not something I say too often this year. Collin Wagner made good on his only field goal attempt and Ryan Breen got a chance to punt for Jeremy Boone and made good pinning EIU inside the 20 on a 43 yard punt. Justin Brown even chipped in on punt return with a nice 20 yarder which is sadly, the longest one of the year so far.

Overall

With all that said, this game was less competitive than the Blue-White game and you can't come away felling anything but "yeah, but… it was a Div I-AA team." It's nice and all but it was a boring beatdown over an overmatched opponent. Now that we're past that God-awful OOC schedule let us never speak of this again. For those of you that spent good money for the game Saturday, good for you I hope you got what you paid for. For me, I took a nap somewhere in the 3^rd quarter.

PSU Review: Illinois

TNL said 17-10 (PSU)
Actual Score: 35-17 (PSU)

I thought Penn State would fall back to their usually overly conservative road offense which they did but I didn't think it would work as well as it did. Penn State amassed 513 yards of total offense but more importantly 338 on the ground. For the first time the offensive line looked confident and actually dominated an opponent in the second half. When the Illini started to get gassed the line bullied them around and put the game out of reach.

Offense

Both Evan Royster and Stephon Green eclipsed the century mark and PSU finally broke out the QB draw that was so effective last year as Clark chipped in 83 yards on the ground. While Royster did get over the 100 yard mark he looked tentative and unsure early but Green picked up the slack and had easily his most complete day as a Nittany Lion. Stephon managed some tough yards between the tackles and reminded us all that if you give him an opening he has the blazing speed to take it to the house on a 2^nd quarter TD run of 52 yards. Green is quietly making himself more of an offensive option then just a 3^rd down back.

Daryll Clark didn't have eye-catching numbers throwing the ball but he was effective and took care of the ball for the most part. Andrew Quarless led all receivers with 5 catches, none of which were more than 9 yards but he was a reliable target for Clark especially when he got some pressure. Derek Moye continues to be the deep threat for Penn State leading the team with 57 yards and hauling in the longest (a 22 yarder).

The story of the game though was the offensive line. The line pass blocked very well from the get go (Clark was not sacked) and got better and better as the game went on. Early in the 3^rd quarter with Penn State clinging to a 7 to 3 lead, PSU got the ball on their own 31 and took the game over marching 69 yards for a touchdown. The drive was mostly on the ground and included a 51 yard QB draw play by Clark to the Illinois 5 yard line. Penn State never looked back and the line led the way. It's amazing how much better the line plays when they play real competition huh?

Defense

Another game another complete effort by the defense. Illinois didn't really score until the game was all but decided after Penn State took a 28-3 lead in the 4^th quarter. Juice did throw for 263 yards and Arrelious Benn did some harm catching 5 balls for 96 yards but PSU did a good job of minimizing the damage. The defensive line played particularly well against Williams, staying in their lanes and keeping him bottled up for most of the day.

Josh Hull had another steady day leading the team with 11 tackles and Bowman had 7. It seemed as if the Illini wanted nothing to do with Bowman, often running away from his side of the D. When PSU gets Lee back to flank Bowman, teams will have a tough time scheming against this defense.

Eric Latimore and Jack Crawford each had sacks and the ends were particularly menacing for most of the afternoon. It seems that our fears about the secondary may have been unfounded, they have been playing well. Freshman Stephon Morris continues to impress hauling in the only interception of the day.

Special Teams

We are going to have to admit that the punt and kick return for PSU just plain sucks. The punt return is nothing more than a fair catch and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of improvement for the kick return team. Kick coverage seems to be heading in the right direction, at least for one game anyway.

Then there's Jeremy Boone. Boone averaged 49.5 yards on four punts and completely changed field position early in the 1^st when he boomed a 66 yarder down to the Illinois 1. He earned Big Ten Special Teams player of the week for his effort and would be 2^nd in the nation with his 48.8 yard average but he hasn't kicked enough to qualify.

Overall

Penn State did what it had to do, they went on the road against a team desperate for a win and dominated especially late in the game. The offensive line seems to be getting better and we finally saw the return of Clark's legs. Teams will have to respect that aspect of his game from this point forward.

Now we get another tune up game before getting to the meat of the Big Ten schedule. I would love to see PSU score early and often on Eastern Illinois and get some of the younger guys some game experience, especially Kevin Newsome.

Where do we go from here?

Monday's finally over now and I can stop answering questions about Penn State from my coworkers. Honestly, when PSU loses I should just set aside vacation days so I don't have to deal with all the idle chatter from people that know what a football looks like and not much else. It's painful sometimes.

If anything, the Iowa game proved what many of us feared: Penn State was a fraud as a top 10 team.

The Good

Considering the offense and special teams gave up 9 points the defense has to be commended for their efforts. When Sean Lee and Navarro Bowman are finally healthy once again this unit will keep Penn State in just about any Big Ten game for the simple fact that no team in the Big Ten has the offensive firepower (read good passing game) to overpower the Lions.

The Bad

The coaches have not found the right combo on the line yet and that's scary. Hell Penn State's best offensive lineman (supposedly) even looked horrible Saturday. This coaching staff had, what amounts to, three scrimmages and they are not any closer to having five competent lineman. Unless something changes very quickly there are going to be a lot of growing pains for the rest of the season.

The Ugly

Special teams are just absolutely unbearable (with the noted exception of Jeremy Boone). Penn State doesn't have a kicker that can make a field goal or get it deep enough to cover. Oh and we don't cover either. Or block. On punts and returns. The coaches might want to fix that… like soon.

Speaking of coaching, does anyone notice that teams like to… kinda… sorta… blitz a little bit? Our offensive line can't block straight up without a blitz but when teams come with extra men it's OMG!! CHINESE FIRE DRILL!!!!1!1! in the backfield. Now I know I'm no coach but anyone want to bet me that every single Big Ten team will blitz every extra man available until Penn State proves they can handle it? There has been no adjustment at all by the players or coaches to slow the blitz down. A well timed* screen would go a long way to make teams think twice about bringing the heat every down but that hasn't happened.

Expectations, what expectations?

Clearly with the loses coming into the season, especially on the offensive line, no one had serious expectations of an undefeated season. Having said that, when you looked at the schedule you couldn't come up with a sure-fire "L" anywhere. So yeah, the optimist had to think that Penn State could win any game on the schedule but we knew in the back of our minds that, while possible, it wasn't probable. The disheartening thing about this is, as Nick points out, this offense suffers from collective narcolepsy and has underachieved in just about every game. Blame who you want but that falls on coaching, this team has yet come to play and considering the energy and passion from a Whiteout, that's scary.

Not to harp on the schedule but it bears repeating again, and I've been saying this from the beginning (I'll also love when I can point out when I'm right because that happens so little these days).

But again, Dave misses (or chooses to ignore) the most important thing about Penn State's shitty schedule: playing crappy teams doesn't get you ready to play the good teams on your schedule… Do you think any of those three teams will have the skill position players that Iowa has? We will have no idea how good Penn State is until the play Iowa, let's just hope we don't set ourselves up for a huge letdown.

So yeah, kinda nailed that one and not to toot my own horn but toot, toot.

With three straight cupcake games against Akron, Temple and Syracuse, the Lions were subject to subpar competition that did not provide them the necessary experience needed for a confrontation with a strong Big Ten foe.

And…

No one knew what to expect from the Penn State team which began its 2009 Big Ten Conference schedule Saturday night at soggy Beaver Stadium against Iowa. Not after ho-hum tune-ups against Akron, Syracuse and Temple, three programs that barely crack Division I-A's top 100.

What we now know, however, is that the Nittany Lions' Top 5 rankings were mere illusions, and that those three games did absolutely nothing to prepare the Nittany Lions for the meat of the schedule.

The powers that be can talk all about funding the athletic department, 8 home games… blah, blah, blah but it does the team a great disservice to play terrible competition. Moreover, if you want to treat it like an economics problem then by all means let's do that. I'm a consumer and you're selling a product, a premium product that I have to pay top dollar for. I pity the people that shelled out 55 bucks to stand in the rain for several hours tailgating then sit in the rain for 3 ½ hours watching this mess of a team. I really pity someone that paid 220 bucks (to this point) for season tickets to watch the team sleepwalk through three cupcakes and then shit their pants against the first good team they played. Premium product my ass. The problem is Penn State subscribes to the Pittsburgh Pirates business model: as long as they can turn a profit the product placed on the field doesn't matter at all. In Pittsburgh's case, they get enough fans in to turn the profit by not paying their players and in PSU's case they know that for every season ticket holder that drops out there are three waiting in the wings. Why go out of your way to schedule good teams when no one demands that they do?

Trying to predict how the rest of the season unfolds is an act of utter futility because we just don't know where this team is going from here. Again the Big Ten is so down right now it's hard to predict certain loses. Ohio State will most definitely be a loss, but what about the rest? Illinois will get it all together one of these days but they are in utter chaos right now [HT: BSD].

"It's like a nightmare," [QB Juice] Williams said of the offensive woes. "A nightmare from which you can't wake up."

Preseason dark horse Michigan State has yet to find a quarterback and a defense for that matter, Michigan is barely winning with offense and Northwestern and Minnesota are well… Northwestern and Minnesota. Penn State could go anywhere from pushing for the Big Ten title to 4^th or 5^th, it's just a crap shoot at this point.

The one positive thing to come out of this week around the Big Ten is that there are no more serious undefeated teams in the Big Ten and the conference will be largely ignored until the end of the season. This is a good thing from the perspective that for the first year in a long time the Big Ten won't get a second BCS team and will get better matchups in the bowl games. Big Ten hate will subside now that the two highly ranked teams have fallen and the conference as a whole will remain an afterthought.

*third and long is not "well timed" we need one of the jailbreak screens that puts our running backs behind 3 or 4 road graders with only some scared secondary in the path to pay dirt.

PSU Review: Temple

TNL said: Nothing. (I spent Friday chasing a little white ball around and therefore did not get my preview done)

Actual Score: 31-6 (PSU)

Ok, so the craptastic part of the schedule is over and it's time to start playing for real. Temple served a purpose and that was to get Penn State's confidence back in the running game. Royster looked like the back of old and the defense kept things under wraps yet again.

You can't help but walk away from this game with a very uneasy feeling, though. The offense can't get things in synch. One week the passing game is on fire and the running game sucks and then the next week the opposite's true. What do we really know about the defense after playing three cupcakes? We know nothing about the secondary yet. Freshman cornerback Stephon Morris received a lot of playing time but that might be due to necessity (flu) more than anything else. One thing's for sure, they better play a lot better this week or things won't be pretty.

Offense

While the passing game took a break this week it was Royster's day. Evan ran for 134 yards on 19 carries for an impressive 7.1 yards per carry. While not needed Daryll Clark did chip in with 167 yards passing and two touchdowns. What would you call his day? Workmanlike I guess? He did spread the ball around to 8 different receivers during his 16 completions.

Graham Zug left the game after taking a shot in the head fielding a punt in the second quarter which left room for true freshman receiver Curtis Drake. Drake did catch one ball for 10 yards but he also fumbled and lost 17 on a reverse, threw an incomplete pass on a trick play, and got called for a blocking in the back penalty that nullified a long touchdown pass. Let's just say it really wasn't his day. The offensive line did ok, run blocking well but Clark did get sacked twice. Johnnie Troutman started at left guard and did a good job for his first start.

Defense

We had one of those OH MY GOD THE SKY IS FALLING!!!11!! moments when Sean Lee was sidelined with an apparent minor injury. Everything seems to be ok and even though Lee came into the game with the flu it didn't stop him from putting up Big Ten Defensive player of the week numbers.

In the win over the Owls, he tallied his 14th career double figure tackle game. A co-captain, Lee recorded 2.5 tackles for losses (minus-12), including his second sack of the season in the first quarter.

Josh Hull had another steady game recording 13 tackles, 1.5 TFL and broke up a pass. I'm very impressed with Hull's play this year he's somewhat of a pleasant surprise.

The defensive line did its normal terrorizing thing, both Odrick and Crawford picked up sacks and Ogbu forced a fumble. Crawford was pretty much mayhem the entire day even if the numbers didn't show it. He's getting better and better with time. Temple did manage 251 yards of offense but only 46 of that was on the ground.

Special Teams

That brings us to the not-so-special, special teams. Kick coverage is pretty bad against crappy competition and blocking is worse. As mentioned before, Graham Zug got knocked out returning a punt and Devon Smith didn't fare much better on his only kickoff return. The blocking is just not there.

On the bright side Collin Wagner converted his only field goal attempt and Jeremy Boone averaged 47.8 yards per punt on his four punts but the kick coverage just stinks. Right now PSU is 118^th in the nation on kickoff returns. That's not going to get it done.

Overall

So now the cupcakes are done and it's time to get to the real meat and potatoes of the schedule. Iowa has a very tough defense and they come into the game with an identical 3-0 record. They had a slight scare against UNI in week one but they blew out their next two opponents. There will be some revenge on Penn State's mind so I would think that motivation won't be a problem. Oh by the way it's an 8:00 primetime start and College GameDay will be there, not that it's a big deal or anything. I would expect this to be a very hard fought close Big Ten slugfest. Even without their best running back, Iowa will be a very dangerous team. Hopefully, the Lions will be ready.

PSU Review: Syracuse

TNL said: 38-10 (PSU)
Actual Score: 28-7 (PSU)
So I thought we would see a little more offense from Penn State but a three touchdown win is ok in my book. Syracuse was just a replay of Akron: good passing, great defense and horrible ground game. As a team, Penn State averaged just 2.2 yards rushing. The secondary did another admirable job as the defense held the 'Cuse to just one first down in their first three drives.

Offense
It was the Daryll Clark show once again as the QB threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns.
Just like last week Penn State came out of the gate fast converting the opening kickoff into seven points on a 49 yard touchdown pass from Clark to Evan Royster who was used as a wide receiver on the play. It looked as if PSU was going to maul Syracuse when they took the ball on their next drive on their own 4 and drove 94 yards in 8:57 but could not punch the ball in from the 2 yard line. Daryll Clark fumbled the ball on fourth down on the one and Penn State's running problems looked even worse.

Graham Zug led the Lions hauling in 6 catches for 70 yards with a touchdown. The coaches seem to be trying to get Andrew Quarless in the game plan as the tight end caught four passes but none more than 11 yards.

The running game? Green and Royster combined for 69 yards on 20 carries. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Defense
Sean Lee doesn't prefer spread offenses.

"Last week I was out in (pass) coverage a lot against a spread offense," Lee said. "I like being in the box. I like grinding it out. This was a little bit more of my type of game.

Yes he really likes being in the box, so much so that he led the team with 13 tackles with 3 TFL and a sack. Josh Hull had another steady game getting 11 tackles and an interception and Nate Stupar filled in for an injured Navarro Bowman admirably pulling down the D's other INT.

The defensive line pretty much had a repeat performance from a week ago contributing to 2 TFL and a sack. Not much else to be said here, for the second straight week the defense held an opponent to seven points and no one is talking about the secondary right now, and that's a good thing.

Special Teams
The kick coverage still leaves much to be desired. Mike Jones returned a third quarter kickoff 39 yards to the Orange 41. Part of that is the kickoff itself and part of it is poor coverage, in fact Jones averaged nearly 29 yards per return. Meanwhile Penn State cannot seem to block for Devon Smith when they get the opportunity for a return. PSU has yet to find a return man that can scare opposing special teams' coaches. Collin Wagner's services were not needed (other than kickoffs), he didn't have to attempt a field goal all day.

On the bright side, the few times Penn State had to punt Boone made the most of it averaging 50 yards per punt with two of his three landing inside the 20. Boone will save Penn State's ass one of these days, you mark my words.

Overall
Look, it's fashionable to bag on the running game and by extension the offensive line right now and there still are problems but I'm not worried… yet. I've read some pretty stupid things about Penn State recently.

Falling

No. 7 Penn State. Despite easy wins over Akron and Syracuse, the Nittany Lions don't look like a top-10 team. How about shutting out Temple next week, fellas?

Really, this is what college football has come to, not only are three touchdown victories not enough but it has to happen with style? So holding two overmatched opponents to 7 points and under 200 yards of total offense isn't enough, PSU has to shut them out too? Bullshit.

The running game will take time to develop and the coaches rotated in Johnnie Troutman and Quinn Barham at guard to try and get the right combination, it will come they just need some more experience. Also the defenses have been stacking extra guys in the box and they've been doing a lot of stunting and scheming, not everyone on the schedule is going to let Daryll Clark have man coverage while they try to stop the run. The opportunities will eventually be there it's just going to take some patience. If this team does come together they could be something great, let's hope that happens before they get fat on cupcakes.

PSU Review: It’s-only-Akron

TNL said: 45-17 (PSU)
Actual Score: 31-7 (PSU)

My beer soaked initial reaction to Penn State's 31-7 drubbing of Akron was one of glee. After all, the defense looked great, Clark was connecting with his new receivers like they've been working together for years, and there were some new toys in the offensive playbook. Then I sat down and watched the replay with a more sober eye Sunday and was less than impressed. The offensive line did an admirable job pass blocking but was somewhere in the suck-to-less-than-average area run blocking. The secondary made it through test number 1 but there should have been a couple more interceptions (I'm looking in your direction A.J. Wallace). The wide receivers did a good job most of the time but there were some balls that should have been caught (and not tipped in the air for interceptions on the goal line Chaz Powell). Having said all that, most of the problems can and will be fixed, and Penn State did handle the Zips like they were supposed to.

Offense

Daryll Clark has moved himself into the take the offense on his shoulders category. Last year he was part of a great offense, this year I think he can do it single-handed if need be. The Zips set out to stop the run and force Clark to beat them and he obliged to the tune of a career-record 353 yards on 29 of 40 passing and three TD's. His performance was enough to earn Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.

We had heard rumblings that Derek Moye may be the man this year at wide receiver and he certainly looked that way Saturday. Moye had 6 receptions for 138 yards and a touchdown in his first career start. He definitely looked the part, getting wide open on several occasions including a 36 yard grab over the middle on the first drive on a third and five. That play set up Evan Royster's 5 yard TD run and gave Penn State a seven point lead out of the gate and lots of momentum. It was the fast start that PSU needs as they scored twice on their first three drives.

Like I said, the offensive line did really well pass protecting giving up only one sack but the run blocking was just not there. If Penn State was playing Iowa this week I would be worried but the offensive line will have two more weeks to gel before getting into the real meat of the schedule. Offensive line cohesion takes some time, I think they will get there.

The play calling was rather creative in the first half and the coaches sprinkled in some wrinkles including true freshman Devon Smith. What Smith lacks in size he more than makes up for in the wheels department. Smith had an end-around run for seven yards and two catches for 25 yards on the day. As he gets better acclimated to the offense he will give PSU a serious home run threat. In the second half the coaches decided to just take the foot off the gas and play straight up smash mouth and really couldn't overpower Akron. I guess that's ok, but I really wish Kevin Newsome would have got more playing time, he needs game experience now.

Defense

I thought Akron would come out and try to throw the ball against Penn State's green secondary but to my surprise they tried to run the ball right into the teeth of the defense. Yeah, how'd that work out for ya?

AKRON
FIRST DOWNS................... 8

The Zips didn't get a first down in the first half as the defensive line and linebackers had their way with them. Ollie Ogbu and Jared Odrick combined for 4.5 TFL and totally blew up the Akron backfield. When they weren't making the tackles Sean Lee was cleaning things up. Let's just say it does my heart good to see Sean terrorizing unsuspecting running backs again.

The real surprise was the emergence of Nate Stupar who filled in for a slightly injured Navorro Bowman early. Stupar made the most of his playing time racking up 12 tackles and a sack. Suddenly, depth at linebacker isn't much of a concern.

The secondary held serve but they weren't really challenged early. Andrew Dailey was Johnny on the spot pulling down the only interception for Penn State on a woefully overthrown ball. A.J. Wallace climbed out of Joe's doghouse long enough to contribute two pass breakups but should have intercepted the one. Let's just say that the secondary passes the quiz but the test is yet to come.

Special Teams

Collin Wagner scares the bejesus out of me. He missed an excusable 49 yarder but whiffed badly on a 28 yard chip shot. He did convert another 29 yarder to go 1 for 3 on the day but he definitely lacks confidence yet. He did look ok getting 2 of his 6 kickoffs in the endzone for touchbacks.

Jeremy Boone? 2 punts for a 43 yard average with one inside the 20. Nothing to see here, move along.

Kick coverage was mehh, nothing to write home about and no reason to hit the panic button.

Overall

Penn State came out and did what they were supposed to: throttle a lesser opponent. Clark and company looked good and so did the front seven on defense. Special teams are a bit shaky yet but, like I said, they have a couple more games to iron that stuff out.

Now Penn State gets a Syracuse team that looks better than we first thought as they took Minnesota into overtime before giving up a soul-crushing interception in a 23-20 overtime loss.

Blue White Redux

A record crowd of 76,500 sun-drenched fans watched as the White team beat the hated Blue team 21-16. Yours truly was in attendance (at least for the first half) and here are some of the impressions I came away with.

-The offensive line will be fine.

Fear numero uno was the development of the offensive line, but things seem to be coming along nicely. With three new starters it seemed like Clark's life was in extreme danger but the line blocked well both in the passing and running game. Granted, the defense didn't throw anything at the offense in the forms of blitzes but the offensive lines blocked the defensive lines quite well which is a good sign. If Penn State is going to have any success the offensive line will have to jell quickly.

-Penn State at least has a couple serviceable backups at quarterback

PSU used Clark sparingly to protect him from injury and to get the backups some much needed playing time. All three backups played well combining to throw 23 – 33 for 265 yards and four touchdowns. Newsome showed some very quick feet in avoiding the rush and looks to be the real deal. McGloin even had a decent day throwing 2 touchdowns.

-Having said that the secondary looks a bit on the scary side.

Yes it was nice that all the quarterbacks had a nice day, but was that because our QB's are good or just that the secondary sucks? Let's look at the numbers.

PASSING (Cmp-Att) Yds
Daryll Clark (10-13) 123
Newsome (9-13) 71
McGloin (9-13) 111
Shane McGregor (5-7) 83

When someone named Shane McGregor is throwing touchdowns on your defense it's time to get a little concerned. Sure it was a basic defense but wide receivers were running free. Be very afraid.

-BSD fans can rejoice.

For whatever reason BSD has some sort of man-crush on Graham Zug and he returned the love by leading both teams in receiving catching 4 passes for 62 yards with a TD. Zug is apparently going to be a very important cog in the Spread HD machine. It also appears that Andrew Quarless has finally had his head removed from his ass. Only time will tell if that's permanent or not.

Not much more to report it was a typical scrimmage. Numbers and stuff can be found here.

PSU Review: Michigan State

Ok, it wasn't the national championship birth that we were all so hoping for but it is the Rose bowl and it is a Big Ten Championship… that's at least good enough to break out the dancin' monkey!

Before we move on to the game let me just pass along that Mr. Joseph Vincent Paterno had successful hip replacement surgery Sunday.

"Dr. Sebastianelli reports that all objectives were accomplished and that Paterno is resting comfortably and anxious to get home," the statement said.

By "anxious" I'm sure he means grumpy and a pain in the ass to the nurses but I digress. Good luck Joe, hopefully you'll be back on your feet for the bowl game.

On to the game: really is there anything we can say negatively about the smack down Penn State put on Michigan State Saturday? Ok, the kick coverage wasn't very good but at this point I'm just nitpicking. Penn State played solid on offense, defense, and most of the special teams. Daryll Clark had a career day and Penn State played "seniors get a touchdown" all day long as fullback D. Lawlor, Deon Butler, and Derrick Williams all scored in their final regular season game.

Offense

16 of 26 for a career high 341 yards and 4 touchdowns… now there's the Daryll Clark fans were hoping for. It was a good enough performance to land Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors for Clark. All three of Deon Butler's receptions went for touchdowns as he averaged an Xbox-like average of 44.3 yards per catch. The offensive line was a complete wall for Clark and he used that protection well, standing tall in the picket and waiting for a receiver to get open, and open they were.

Pardon us but there's approximately 600 pounds of human coming your way and they’re not very happy

Evan Royster had another workmanlike day rushing for 79 yards on 12 carries for a decent 6.6 yards per carry average. It was especially great to see Lawlor get his touchdown as a reward for all the great blocking he's done this season. Penn State pushed out to a 28 point lead and every time it appeared that Michigan State was regaining momentum the offense kept the foot on the gas and demoralized Sparty. It was one of those games that Penn State could have scored 100 if they needed to but not with this defense, which brings me to:

Defense

With the exception of the touchdown drive right before half, all of Michigan State's scores came late in the fourth quarter with Penn State heavily substituting players (I think some of the seniors on the band got to play). The touchdown drive before half was another example of the wonderful "bend and then break our hearts" prevent defense. God I love the prevent.

Javon Ringer was held to just 42 yards and averaged a mere 2.5 yards per carry thanks in large part to a defensive line that dominated Michigan State all day. MSU right tackle Jesse Miller was abused by Aaron Maybin and Mo Evans, getting called for false starts on several occasions trying to get a jump to match the speed of the ends. Jared Odrick was, once again, a force on the inside and Lydell Sargeant had one of his better days at corner intercepting a pass and breaking up 2 others, one in the end zone. Penn State's plan was simple and effective crowd the box, stop Ringer, and make Hoyer beat them. The team's two leading tacklers were Rubin and Astorino which is indicative of the focus against the run. No one player's stats jump out at you because this was truly a team effort.

Special Teams

Kick coverage is still sporadic at best. Jeremy Boone had a solid day downing two of his punts inside the 20 and averaged 46.7 yards on three punts. Kevin Kelly was bored all day with the exception of the 8 kickoffs he had to trot out to do, he didn't attempt a field goal all day because the offense was 4-4 in the red zone all of which went for TD's.

Overall

It was a great day and it was wonderful to see most of the seniors contribute in big ways. Penn State came out on fire and never let the foot off the gas. Lord knows I was disappointed with the loss to Iowa but I'm over it now and if Penn State can pull out a win in the Rose Bowl this will be a very memorable season in my mind. It's a great way to end a lot of great careers for the seniors on the way out. When they came to Penn State they were at the tail end of the "dark years" and these seniors are responsible for bringing Penn State back into the conscience of college football. Penn State wasn't picked to finish in the top three in the Big Ten by most of the AP writers, how'd that work for ya guys? This team definitely overachieved with huge wins on the road at Wisconsin and Ohio State and knocked that gigantic Michigan monkey off their backs.

Thank you Seniors

Go State beat [insert Pac-10 champ here]!!

PSU Review: Indiana

TNL said: 45-10 (PSU)
Actual Score: 34-7 (PSU)

Kinda like I envisioned it, rainy slow start, and trouble shaking off last week's loss. I certainly didn't expect the halftime score to be 10-7 but Penn State really started off slow. The defense had a great game with the lone exception of a broken touchdown run by Marcus Thigpen which was Bani Gbadyu's fault. I still have no idea what Gbadyu was doing on that play. He crashed down the line and put himself completely out of position when it should have been a routine tackle at the line of scrimmage. Other than that solitary mess up, the defense held Indiana to just 6 first downs all day with only 1 coming after halftime.

Offense

The offense was stagnant due mostly to the play of Darryl Clark. Clark fumbled on the Indiana 1-yard line and only managed a TD pass to D.W. in the second quarter. The fumble is very disconcerting because you could see that he was making a conscientious effort to protect the ball but it still got knocked loose in traffic.

The butter fingers don't seem to be going away for Clark and that's bad news for a team that wants to run the quarterback out of the spread.

Evan Royster got going in the second half and so did Penn State's offense. When this team is struggling they seem to forget that Royster is there. When this offense needs to get going they need more of Royster and not less. They did try to put in Stephon Green but they, once again, ran him between the tackles with little success. While Royster was averaging 5.2 yards on 12 carries Green was sputtering along at 3 yards per carry on 10. I still don't know what the coaches are thinking with Green, it's almost like they want to prove he can run inside and it's not working. His speed is his M.O. so get him the ball in space and let him do his thing, save the tough middle runs for Royster who is more suited for the between the tackles stuff.

Derrick Williams had another solid day rushing for 61 yards with a touchdown and catching 4 passes for 62 yards with another TD through the air. They are starting to get the ball in Derrick's hands in space with blockers out in front and it's paying off, but I'm not so sure the formation with him in the backfield will work too well against Michigan State.

Defense

It's hard to argue with six first downs the defense was lights out. Josh Hull had a good game with a team-leading 7 tackles and a sack. Navarro Bowman is still a force to be reckoned with as is Aaron Maybin who upped his Big Ten leading sack total to 12 with a sack in this game. Another guy that has really come on the last couple games is Jared Odrick who is causing headaches for the interior of opposing lines. I don't like to be one of 'those Penn State guys' who endlessly complain about the Big Ten officials but if they ever get their heads out of their asses Odrick would be setting records for holding calls because he is getting down right mugged all game long. Basically Penn State's lineman have to get tackled from behind for a hold to be called.

Special Teams

Kelly had another bad miss early on but he converted from 32 and 36 yards. He did have a pretty impressive pooch punt in the first quarter that was downed on the Indiana 2 a play that I knew wasn't a field goal attempt, I'm surprised Indiana wasn't ready for that. Speaking of punting Boone had a great day averaging 51 yards per punt and had to make a tackle on a play that he out-punted his coverage. Teams are kicking away from D.W. which is a good thing; it's been giving Penn State good field position.

Overall

A win is a win and they'll take it. Fans were a little leery at first but Penn State turned on the jets in the second half. The offensive line isn't blocking like they were in the first half of the season and Daryll Clark's woes continue, they will have to play much better against Michigan State. Now it's a one game playoff for at least a share of the Big Ten championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl, if the players can't get excited about that they shouldn't be on the field.

PSU Review: who gives a crap anymore?

My wonderful company gave me Veterans Day off so I took vacation on Monday to make it a four day weekend. I'm just now waking up from one of the worst four day benders I've been on in a long time. I remember about 5 hours out of the last 96 thanks in large part to the team that is now dead to me. It could have been an awesome weekend of Jager bombs and chasing loose women but instead it was just a weekend of Jager bombs and deep depression. I could pick through the pieces of this train wreck of a football game but really what does that accomplish? Nothing. I've totally given up on what is left of the 2008 Penn State [team that is dead to me].

Penn State 2008

This wasn't an ordinary loss. This wasn't just a team overlooking an overmatched opponent. This was history. This was Paterno's last chance at an undefeated team and a national championship and the players couldn't get up for three last games. Totally fucking inexcusable. Each and every one of the players should look at themselves in the mirror every morning and say to themselves "I'm personally responsible for screwing up a national championship for the greatest coach of all time. I did it. I'm responsible." I'm not saying this team would have definitely won a national championship, hell they may have been passed over again but they DEFINITELY have no chance now. You can blame the officials, you can blame the play calling, you can point the finger in many directions but in the end it was the players' inability to execute that caused the debacle in Iowa. Don't get me wrong, I'm not taking anything away from Iowa, they played tough, made few mistakes and deserved the win, but it was the horrific execution by the Penn State players that was their downfall. Jordan Norwood and Andrew Quarless, you two specifically have a major role in this loss. If I were coaching both of you would be picking splinters out of your ass for the rest of the season from riding the bench. You would never see the field again. You're dropped passes at the most inexplicable times are completely unfathomable and utterly inexcusable. You not only dropped away a pass you dropped away a drive and a season. You two make those catches the drive continues and the [team that is dead to me] scores and wins. I officially hate both of you.

So where do we go from here? "We" don't. What's left of this shell of a team moves on to try and win a Big Ten championship and I move on to other things. I'm done covering this team I haven't the energy or the desire to watch a bunch of players that couldn't beat a team that lost to Illinois (who lost to directional Michigan this weekend by the way). If you want your [team that is dead to me] fix go on over to BSD or TINNOMJ or any one of the other great Penn State blogs because I quit. I'm moving on to wrestling season which begins in earnest this Sunday. I've been saying for some time now that this Iowa team is very good and much better than their record and if [team that is dead to me] doesn't take them serious and doesn't come to play they would lose, and they did.

Now PSU gets a week off to rest and get ready for Iowa. Some morons are predicting that Penn State is going to run the table and that is dangerous thinking. The popular notion right now is that Michigan State is Penn State's toughest opponent left and I've been saying this for about a month now, that's not true, Iowa is. Iowa has a great defense and the best back in the Big Ten (yes I said that). Shonn Greene is very tough and if Penn State isn't ready for him they're going to lose. Iowa is much better than their 5-3 record shows…

So there you have it. This is one time I hate being right. If the [team that is dead to me] was playing anybody but lowly Indiana they would lose this week. Look for them to lose to Michigan State next week and not even get a share of the Big Ten. I'm so fucking angry words cannot describe it.

PSU Review: Ohio State

Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. Last Friday my cable internet went down and I wasn't able to get someone in until yesterday… and I had to take half a day off work… and it was the cable company's fault (they put an RF trap on my line probably because they thought I was stealing cable and it shut down my internet). Thanks Comcast, you guys are comcastic! By the way, I'm not stealing cable if that thought crossed your mind. So that meant I had no source for stats and pictures and whatnot so I was in the dark but I did get a chance to watch the game again yesterday while waiting from 1pm to 3pm for the service guy (yes he came at 10 till 3, thanks again Comcast!). Really the Ohio State game simply came down to Terrelle Pryor.

TNL said: 24-21 (PSU)
Actual Score: 13-6 (PSU)

Offense

Ohio State's defense did a really good job of disrupting the Spread HD's timing by bringing a lot of pressure early on. The offensive line did a poor job of blocking in the first half but rebounded nicely in the second and particularly in the 4^th quarter. Daryll Clark had a bad day; if you take away the Graham Zug 50 yarder he throws for only 72 yards. Part of that can be blamed on the pressure he had to avoid but part of the blame can be placed on Clark, he made some bad throws a couple of which should have been intercepted. Clark did a good job running the ball getting almost 5 yards a clip and some important first downs. Evan Royster had a below average day rushing for only 77 yards but he turned it on late in the game to mount the go-ahead scoring drive.

The real disappointment for me was the play of the wide receivers, not so much in the passing game but more so in the running game. Deon Butler had a dreadful day blocking and on two occasions had he made his block the play would have turned into a big game but instead, in both instances, the play resulted in a loss. Butler wasn't the only receiver with blocking difficulties, on one occasion they lined Derrick Williams in the backfield in their version of a power I and ran with him lead blocking and he completely whiffed on his block and his guy made the tackle. Penn State relies heavily on their wide receivers ability to block downfield and it wasn't there against Ohio State. This is one of the reasons Royster's five yard runs weren't going for ten or fifteen yards. I'm not worried though, I think this was more of an aberration than a trend and I'm sure they'll bounce back next week against Iowa.

Defense

Absolute lights out. Great game in every aspect of the defense. The coaches came in with the game plan to make Terrelle Pryor beat them with his arm and it worked to perfection. Sure Pryor had his best statistical day passing (226 yards) but in the end his two mistakes, a fumble and horrible interception to end the game, were the difference. The coaches walked Mark Rubin up from his safety spot to basically a fourth linebacker position on nearly every play making it a bastardized 4-4 and it was a thing of beauty. While Rubin isn't the best cover safety he supports the run well and his alignment let him crash the line and stop the run and shadow Pryor when he was flushed out of the pocket. How good did it work? It got Mark Big Ten Defensive Player of the week honors. He led the team with 11 tackles and the crucial forced fumble on third and 1 that turned into the game changing play.

Navorro Bowman also had a huge day with 10 tackles, 1 for a loss and he was the guy that recovered the aforementioned fumble. Bowman gets better every game and teams will start scheming against him because he just blows plays up. The thought of him and Sean Lee together on the same field gives me chills.

Ohio State offensive right tackle Bryant Browning probably had nightmares when he went to bed Saturday night because of Aaron Maybin. Maybin blew by him so fast on the only sack of the game for Penn State that he barely got a hand on him. Maybin was causing headaches all game long especially on known passing plays. The entire defensive line did a great job keeping Pryor in the pocket and getting pressure without the need of a blitz.

Special Teams

With the lone exception of Kelly's 45 yard miss the special teams did a great job. Kelly only had one touchback but it was at the most opportune time – to start off OSU's last drive of the game. Three of Jeremy Boone's four punts landed inside the 20 and only one went for a touchback. Penn State was doing a good job of winning the field position battle, or at least making it a stalemate. Lamaar Thomas did have a 37 yard kickoff return but other than that the coverage teams were great.

Overall

Terrelle Pryor may someday be a great quarterback he's just not one now. He can run and is a great athlete but his ability to read a defense sucks. Kirk Herbstreit was saying all night long that if Pryor's first read isn't there he tucks and runs and I couldn't agree more. There were a couple plays that Pryor had guys running down field wide open and he didn't see them. He also has a bad tendency to float his passes and it hurt him on the INT. Penn State came in with the plan to make him beat them with his arm and he couldn't.

Now PSU gets a week off to rest and get ready for Iowa. Some morons are predicting that Penn State is going to run the table and that is dangerous thinking. The popular notion right now is that Michigan State is Penn State's toughest opponent left and I've been saying this for about a month now, that's not true, Iowa is. Iowa has a great defense and the best back in the Big Ten (yes I said that). Shonn Greene is very tough and if Penn State isn't ready for him they're going to lose. Iowa is much better than their 5-3 record shows, they lost three heartbreakers and could very easily be undefeated right now. You'll see how good they are when they beat Juice Williams and Illinois this week. They are getting better each week and just got done dismantling Wisconsin 38-16. Be very afraid.

PSU Review: Michigan

TNL said: 42-10 (PSU)
Actual Score: 46-17 (PSU)

So it turned out close to what I thought but I never thought Michigan would put up more than 10 points but Penn State's defense had a hard time stopping the ground game. I have to be honest, I didn't watch from the end of the first quarter till about half way through the third because I couldn't take it. I could not sit there and watch Penn State lose to a team as horrible as Michigan. I could not sit there and watch Michigan (a team that came in worst in the nation in turnover ratio) bring their fucking 'A' game against Penn State… AGAIN. I walked away from the tailgate and basically just walked around. If you were in the parking lot during the game and saw a very perturbed, irritated person walking around aimlessly and mumbling to himself it was probably me. Let me just say this, if they play like that at Ohio State next Saturday they will get their asses handed to them on a plate. If you thought stopping Brandon Minor (125 yards) and Steven Threet (62 yards) from running the ball was tough wait till they have to stop someone good like say…. Terrelle Pryor and Beanie Wells.

Offense

Two words: Evan Royster. Royster ran for 176 yards on 18 carries for an eye-popping 9.7 yards per carry. He broke tackles all day and his 44 yard touchdown run in the first stopped the bleeding as Michigan jumped out to a 10-0 lead. Daryll Clark had an average day only throwing for 171 yards but he didn't get sacked and he didn't throw any Int's so we'll take it. Michigan's D couldn't contain Deon Butler, he had a great day catching 8 for 105 yards.

Defense

Looking at the stats, one would think that the defense had a great day; they held Michigan to 89 yards passing and to 291 total yards but this was a horrible effort. They gave up 202 yards on the ground and Michigan exposed Penn State by going with a no-huddle which seemed to confuse them. I don't know why it took PSU so long to make adjustments but by the time they started taking control of the game Michigan had 17 points. Like I said, this is Michigan, one of the worst offenses in the Big Ten; if Penn State played Ohio State Saturday they would have been down by 4 or 5 scores. Penn State will have to do a much better job if they want to win in Columbus.

Special Teams

Kevin Kelly was 3 of 4 but his lone miss was at the most inopportune time. It was a 45 yarder with 6:00 to go in the second that would have given Penn State some momentum. Jeremy Boone actually outkicked Zoltan Mesko averaging 44.7 yards per punt with one inside the 20. Chaz Powell had a 43 yard kickoff return and the coverage team did their part although Michigan doesn't really scare anybody in the return department.

Overall

It was a 29 point win but it was ugly at the start. If Penn State wants to be in the discussion for a MNC they will have to play much better than they did Saturday. Now they get the toughest game on their schedule when they travel to Columbus to take on an Ohio State team that just got done dismantling a very good Michigan State team. If they play sloppy defense like they did against Michigan the OSU game will be over before halftime. I'm officially in the 'scared as Hell' department.

PSU Review: Wisconsin

TNL said: 24-17 (PSU)
Actual Score: 48-7 (PSU)

PSU-Wisconsin could be summed up in one sentence: total and unequivocal domination in every aspect of the game. No one and I mean no one saw a beatdown of this magnitude. Sure, many of us secretly fantasized about Penn State rolling into Camp Randall with a wide open offensive attack but most of us didn't believe it would happen. Past experiences have dictated a completely different scenario, but not only did Jay and Co. open things up, they also played flawlessly on defense and special teams to a tune of a 48-7 rout. I've kept my expectations grounded up until this week but the blue-colored kool-aid is beginning to look more and more enticing and I'm starting to believe.

Offense

Evan Royster was stymied by a run-blitzing Wisconsin defense and he only managed 60 yards on 14 carries. Wisconsin dared Penn State to throw the ball and they obliged which brings us to quarterback Daryll Clark who had another spectacular day completing 16 of his 25 passes for 244 yards. He threw for a TD and ran two more in and his option pitch to Royster on the goal line was a thing of beauty. Clark will never get mentioned in the Heisman race because he doesn't have the gaudy numbers some of the quarterbacks in the Big 12 are pumping out but I'd take him over any quarterback in the country, and I mean that. Clark is an amazing combination of size, speed and poise. He makes smart decisions and he can single handedly carry this team if need be.

The offensive line had a tough time run blocking but they kept Clark clean and when there was a breakdown Daryll used his elusiveness to buy time and wait for an open receiver. The receivers did a fantastic job of getting open and adjusting when Clark scrambled. No one receiver stood out but eight different guys caught a pass. The only knock I have is on Williams drop early in the first that would have set up a touchdown but we'll forgive that if he's going to return punts for touchdowns.

Defense

When you first glance at the stats it looks like this should have been a pretty close game. Wisconsin was close to Penn State statistically with 313 yards of total offense compared to PSU's 377. But this is one of those games that the statistics lie as Penn State did more with their yards and turned Wisconsin's mistakes into points. The defense created 4 turnovers (2 fumbles and 2 int's) and the offense held onto the ball.

Navarro Bowman and Anthony Scirrotto led the defense with 8 tackles each and Lydell Sargeant had two interceptions, but the guy that stood out was defensive end Aaron Maybin. We all had to hear over and over again about how big the Wisconsin line was but Maybin's speed was just too much for the bigger guys to handle.

Dude doesn't even need a helmet to make a tackle

Aaron had six tackles, 3.5 for loss, one sack, a pass breakup and two forced fumbles. Needless to say, he's damn good. Bowman continues to improve game by game and is quickly becoming Penn State's next great linebacker at Linebacker U. At this point we've watched Penn State take on a very good passing team in Purdue and a very good running team in Wisconsin and they shut both down. There are no real questions left to be asked about this defense they are damn good.

Special Teams

If teams don't start taking Derrick Williams seriously he's going to continue torching opposing special teams. His punt return in the second quarter made the score 17-0 and put Wisconsin in catch up mode which they really can't do. It was the perfect scenario for Penn State fans who were clamoring for the Nittany Lions to get a two touchdown lead and make Wisconsin play our game.

Like I suspected Jeremy Boone bounced back from a less than stellar performance against Purdue to average almost 45 yards per punt and placed 3 inside the 20. Don't look now but Kevin Kelley is quietly having an All-Big Ten year. His 50 yard field goal to open the scoring salvaged a drive and he made good on his other attempt, a 30-yarder late in the 3^rd quarter. But more importantly, his kickoffs were point on, while he may not have the leg to get a touchback every time his directional kicks were pinning Wisconsin on either side of the field which is what you want from your kicker. It makes returning a whole lot harder and Penn State's coverage teams did their part.

Overall

You can't help but feel giddy about a win like this. Penn State when into a Big Ten road game with lots of questions swirling around how good this team really is and they answered every one with an exclamation point. At the beginning of the season I used past year's tendencies to draw conclusions about this team and it's apparent that was a big mistake. This team is its own team and the past means nothing. I'm actually starting to believe they may make Michigan pay for 9 years of frustration this week. Dare I dream?

PSU Review: Purdue

TNL said: 56-35 (PSU)
Actual Score: 20–6 (PSU)

Yikes, I was way off the score this time around like I said; I was hitting them with regularity so I was due to be completely wrong eventually. I made two failed assumptions: 1) Penn State's defense is a better than I gave them credit for and 2) I didn't think Paterno and company would go into their conservative 'offense on the road' shell which they did. So there were a lot fewer points scored than I thought there would be.

Offense

Penn State played its usual slow start, conservative play calling, road game plan. It didn't help that players had a very difficult time with footing and that was never addressed by the equipment managers. Early in the first Royster slipped on a 3^rd and 1 run that would have easily been a first down had he not lost his footing. In fact the Lions failed twice on 3^rd and 1's early in the game which is part of the reason why they went in at halftime with only a 10-0 lead. But they did go up 17-0 on an Evan Royster 4-yard touchdown run midway through the 3^rd and held on for the 20-6 win.

The offensive player of the game would have to be Royster and his 143 yards on 18 carries.

He also caught 4 balls for 53 yards to lead the team in receiving yardage as well. Even with Purdue bringing heat to try and slow down the running game, Royster still managed to run at a 7.8 yards-per-attempt pace. While the offensive line did its usual stellar job of blocking a lot of praise should be heaped on fullback Dan Lawlor who had a great day lead blocking for the Penn State running backs. Lawlor doesn't get much attention or praise but he's always picking off the last man allowing the backs to get to the second level untouched. Dan has grown into a great lead-blocking fullback.

Miscellaneous tidbits from the game:

• Daryll Clark had a decent game statistically speaking but he continues to throw high when he's off but he's still a great game manager and makes great decisions.
• Early in the third quarter, Penn State drove to the Purdue 37 and was facing a 4^th and four. In typical Paterno conservative play calling style they punted. Jeremy Boone proceeded to nail the ball to the endzone for a touchback. It was a stupid call at one of the most inopportune times, Penn State was only up by 10 and their defense was playing particularly well. The 17 yards they gained on the punt did nothing but a first down on a manageable 4^th and 4 would have been a great shot in the arm but no it's Penn State and we're on the road let's not take any chances. Dumb.
• If Penn State goes to Wisconsin with this type of game plan in mind they will lose, plain and simple. The Nittany Lions will not be able to bludgeon the Badgers like they did to the Boilermakers.

Defense

Ok we must give credit where credit is due: Josh Hull had the best game of his career and he played great. While Hull chipped in 11 solo tackles they weren't the 5 yard down field types of tackles, he had 2 TFL and was meeting running back Kory Sheets at the point of attack. Hull took a lot of criticism last week (myself included) and he responded with a stellar performance against a good running back and proved a lot of doubters wrong (myself included). If he continues to play at that level the defense will be fine.

What more can be said about this defensive line, they continue to wreak havoc on opposing offenses. Unlike the PSU offense that has yet to face a decent defense, the PSU defense has faced some very good offenses in Illinois and Purdue and has basically shut them down. Penn State out gained Purdue 422 to 241. Drew Astorino continues to get better and better snagging the teams' only interception late in the 3^rd quarter.

Special Teams

Kevin Kelly continues his rock-steady performance this year as he nailed a 25 yarder at the end of the first half and converted a 20-yarder to put Penn State up by three scores late in the game after the Astorino interception. Of his four kickoffs one landed in the endzone for a touchback but Purdue's longest return was 21 yards and they have a pretty dangerous return game. Jeremy Boone didn't have such a great day, he only averaged 36.5 yards per punt and he booted two into the endzone. Still, I'm not too concerned about Boone he hasn't been needed much this season and he'll bounce back next week. The return game was average and the kick coverage was good, the only complaint I have is Derrick Williams fair caught a punt when he clearly had plenty of room to return it, but as I've said before, the punt returners #1 job is to catch the ball and get it into the hands of the offense.

Overall

It's a 14 point win over a Big Ten school on the road, I'll take it. This gives "experts" plenty of room to criticize Penn State given they didn't blow Purdue out but you simply can't destroy every team every week you're bound to have an off week every now and then. I'm beginning to rethink my assessment of the defense, they really impressed me against a good Purdue offense and basically held a very good running back to 3.3 yards per carry and almost half of the yardage he averages. Penn State now gets a Badger team that has lost two straight and given up 47 points in those games, the Lions may just be getting Wisconsin at the right time.

PSU Review: Illinois

TNL said: 34-20 (PSU)
Actual Score: 38–24 (PSU)

I just about nailed that score, I'm getting good at this. Realistically, my assumptions turned out right: A) the offense is good and Illinois' defense isn't, and B) Penn State's defense is not as good as it looked against cupcake offenses.

Offense

After five games of tearing through opposing defenses I'm more than ready to jump on the 'Penn State's offense is awesome' bandwagon. Daryll Clark is a fantastic quarterback plain and simple. He makes good decisions, throws with a lot of confidence and leads the team with a lot of poise. Oh, and he can really run to, did I mention that. His stat line won't win him any Heisman trophies (14-20 for 181 yards and 2 TD's) but he's scary efficient and does a lot when he has to pass. The thing is they don't need to pass to score. Evan Royster churned out 139 yards on the ground at a 7.3 yards per carry clip. Oh and Clark himself ran for 62 yards and a score. Derrick Williams even chipped in 33 yards and a score on the ground.

Speaking of D.W., is this finally the game that Derrick comes into his own? With Jordan Norwood sidelined with a hamstring injury the offense relied heavily on the capable legs of Williams and he didn't disappoint. Derrick was the first player in Joe Paterno's coaching career to run for a touchdown, catch a touchdown and return a kick for a T.D. in a game. That says a lot. His kickoff return to start of the 4^th quarter drove a steak through the heart of the Illini at a time when they had momentum as they just kicked a field goal to make it 24-17 but Williams return all but ended any hope for the fighting Zookers. Can you say "Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week?"

Penn State's offense racked up 422 yards was 5 of 10 on third down and converted on all four of their red-zone chances. The only bad thing we can say about the offense is they continue to put the ball on the ground. PSU fumbled twice, giving the ball up once. If they continue that trend it's going to bite them in the ass somewhere down the line.

Defense

Just like I had feared, the Penn State defense is not nearly as good as it looked against teams with crappy offenses. Juice Williams and Arrelious Benn carved Penn State up. Williams threw for 183 yards, two touchdowns, and ran for another 76. Benn caught 110 of those yards and both touchdowns including a 54 yarder. It seemed like the defense was just barely holding on. When your safety (Mark Rubin) is tied for the lead in tackles for the game you know you're defense isn't getting it done. The return of Maurice Evans helped (he had the team's only sack) and Navorro Bowman had another big day (10 tackles and a forced fumble) but Josh Hull continues to be the reincarnation of Geno Capone. Penn State has notoriously been bad against running quarterbacks and Saturday was no different. Against a more traditional offense (Wisconsin and Purdue to some degree) I think the defense will be all right but against the Ohio State's of the Big Ten, it could be a long day for the men in Blue & White.

Special Teams

Gold stars all around boys. The aforementioned return by Derrick was a great individual play but more importantly, it was well blocked – he really only got touched by one guy. The kickoff team did an admirable job, the longest return they allowed was 27 yards. Kevin Kelly continues to convert his chances and he kicked the ball deep enough on kickoffs to get two touchbacks. Side Note: Kelly continues a school-record streak for consecutive games with a field goal at 25 – not too shabby.

Overall

You have to walk away from this game feeling the offense can keep pace with anyone but you also have to be worried about the defense especially the middle of the D. Against good running teams and teams with running quarterbacks the offense will have to be good because the defense looks vulnerable. Coming up Penn State gets Purdue and Wisconsin at opportune times; the boilermakers looked horrid against Notre Dame and Wisconsin's 4^th quarter meltdown against Michigan was a loss that legends are made of.