The Nittany Line

All-Conference teams announced

2009-11-24T06:47:00.000-05:00

Penn State lands 6 first team All-Conference players according to the Coaches and four according to the media. The coaches named Jared Odrick defensive lineman of the year and defensive player of the year; the media had Odrick on their second team so go figure. Oh, and no sign of preseason offensive player of the year Terrelle Pryor. Someone must have made a mistake there.

At any rate, congrats guys!

Blogpoll: Week 12

2009-11-23T18:31:00.004-05:00

Damn, that's it? Now we just have 3 weeks to wait until finding out what bowl Penn State ends up in. Thanks to the Big Ten for wrapping up so early that I can forget who is even on the team anymore before they play again. It's not like I was planning on watching any football this weekend anyway, but whatever, it's fixed next year. Here's what I've got, questions, corrections, suggestions and objections are always welcome.

Games Watched: Central Michigan/Ball State, Colorado/Oklahoma State, Boise State/Utah State, Ohio State/Michigan, Minnesota/Iowa, UConn/Notre Dame, Penn State/Michigan State, LSU/Ole Miss, Kansas State/Nebraska and Oregon/Arizona.

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Florida
2	Texas
3	Alabama
4	TCU
5	Cincinnati
6	Boise State
7	Georgia Tech
8	Oregon	1
9	Ohio State	1
10	Iowa	1
11	Penn State	1
12	Pittsburgh	2
13	Utah	2
14	Oklahoma State	2
15	LSU	7
16	Virginia Tech	1
17	Oregon State	1
18	Wisconsin	5
19	Clemson
20	Miami (Florida)
21	Brigham Young
22	Southern Cal
23	Houston	1
24	California
25	Central Michigan
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Arizona (#23).

The Top 7 hold steady, LSU coaches its way to incompetence and a loss against Ole Miss who was just slightly less incompetent. Wisconsin clears up my internal debate in the Penn State/Wisconsin ranking question. Oregon State would be my Pac-10 Rose Bowl pick at the moment, C.J. Spiller could seal a Heisman leading an upset of Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship. Pitt's single loss is the worst of any in the top 15 (with the exception of maybe Purdue over Ohio State, but the Buckeyes have scalps of worth in their win column to brush it off) and really need a win against Cincinnati to leap over anyone ahead of them. Temple continues inching closer to getting ranked, winning the MAC would remove all doubt.

The Breakdown:
1. Florida
9/5 – Charleston Southern 62-3 (624/323)
9/12 – Troy 56-6 (663/139)
9/19 – Tennessee 23-13 (323/210)
9/26 – at Kentucky 41-7 (495/179)
10/10 – at LSU 13-3 (327/162)
10/17 – Arkansas 23-20 (391/357)
10/24 – at Mississippi St. 29-19 (376/237)
10/31 – Georgia 41-17 (374/286)
11/7 – Vanderbilt 27-3 (375/199)
11/14 – at South Carolina 24-14 (339/247)
11/21 – Florida International 62-3 (584/189)
11/27 – Florida St.

2. Texas
9/5 – Louisiana-Monroe 59-20 (562/298)
9/12- at Wyoming 41-10 (544/273)
9/19 – Texas Tech 34-24 (340/414)
9/26 – UTEP 64-7 (639/53)
10/10 – Colorado 38-14 (313/127)
10/17 – Oklahoma 16-13 (269/311)
10/24 – at Missouri 41-7 (400/173)
10/31 – at Oklahoma St. 41-14 (275/277)
11/7 – UCF 35-3 (537/151)
11/14 – at Baylor 47-14 (411/246)
11/21 – Kansas 51-20 (532/303)
11/26 – at Texas A&M

3. Alabama
9/5 – Virginia Tech (in Atlanta, GA) 34-24 (498/155)
9/12 – Florida International 40-14 (516/214)
9/19 – North Texas 53-7 (523/126)
9/26 – Arkansas 35-7 (425/254)
10/3 – at Kentucky 38-20 (352/301)
10/10 – at Ole Miss 22-3 (354/212)
10/17 – South Carolina 20-6 (356/278)
10/24 – Tennessee 12-10 (256/341)
11/7 – LSU 24-15 (452/253)
11/14 – at Mississippi St. 31-3 (444/213)
11/21 – Chattanooga 45-0 (422/84)
11/27 – at Auburn

4. TCU
9/12 – at Virginia 30-14 (380/177)
9/19 – Texas St. 56-21 (508/249)
9/26 – at Clemson 14-10 (388/309)
10/3 – at SMU 39-14 (418/224)
10/10 – at Air Force 20-17 (393/287)
10/17 – Colorado St. 44-6 (499/182)
10/24 – at BYU 38-7 (412/298)
10/31 – UNLV 41-0 (578/160)
11/7 – at San Diego St. 55-12 (551/279)
11/14 – Utah 55-28 (549/284)
11/21 – at Wyoming 45-10 (507/178)
11/28 – New Mexico

5. Cincinnati
9/7 – at Rutgers 47-15 (564/293)
9/12 – Southeast Missouri St. 70-3 (578/176)
9/19 – at Oregon St. 28-18 (408/344)
9/26 – Fresno St. 28-20 (357/443)
10/3 – at Miami(OH) 37-13 (434/316)
10/15 – at South Florida 34-17 (401/376)
10/24 – Louisville 41-10 (468/275)
10/31 – at Syracuse 28-7 (422-283)
11/7 – UConn 47-45 (711/462)
11/13 – West Virginia 24-21 (437/390)
11/27 – Illinois
12/5 – at Pittsburgh

6. Boise St.
9/3 – Oregon 19-8 (361/152)
9/12 – Miami(OH) 48-0 (441/194)
9/18 – at Fresno St. 51-34 (480/507)
9/26 – at Bowling Green 49-14 (529/282)
10/3 – UC Davis 34-16 (386/234)
10/14 – at Tulsa 28-21 (380/295)
10/24 – at Hawaii 54-9 (472/307)
10/31 – San Jose St. 45-7 (430/223)
11/6 – Louisiana Tech 45-35 (507/250)
11/14 – Idaho 63-25 (458/514)
11/20 – at Utah St. 52-21 (572/363)
11/27 – Nevada
12/5 – New Mexico St.

7. Georgia Tech
9/5 – Jacksonville St. 37-17 (497/291)
9/10 – Clemson 30-27 (418/386)
917 – at Miami 17-33 (228/454)
9/26 – North Carolina 24-7 (406/154)
10/3 – at Mississippi St. 42-31 (479/487)
10/10 – at Florida St.49-44 (532/539)
10/17 – Virginia Tech 28-23 (360/334)
10/24 – at Virginia 34-9 (447/198)
10/31 – at Vanderbilt 56-31 (597/397)
11/7 – Wake Forest 30-27 (463/291)
11/14 – at Duke 49-10 (519/281)
11/28 – Georgia

8. Oregon
9/3 – at Boise St. 8-19 (152/361)
9/12 – Purdue 38-36 (356/451)
9/19 – Utah 31-24 (312/297)
9/26 – Cal 42-3 (524/207)
10/3 – Washington St. 52-6 (514/158)
10/10 – at UCLA 24-10 (303/211)
10/24 – at Washington 43-19 (416/395)
10/31 – USC 47-20 (613/327)
11/7 – at Stanford 42-51 (570/505)
11/14 – Arizona St. 44-21 (388/211)
11/21 – at Arizona 44-41 (459/441)
12/3 – Oregon St.

9. Ohio St.
9/5 – Navy 31-27 (363/342)
9/12 – USC 15-18 (265/313)
9/19 – at Toledo 38-0 (522/210)
9/26 – Illinois 30-0 (318/170)
10/3 – at Indiana 33-14 (378/228)
10/10 – Wisconsin 31-13 (184/368)
10/17 – at Purdue 18-26 (287/361)
10/24 – Minnesota 38-7 (509/286)
10/31 – New Mexico St. 45-0 (559/62)
11/7 – at Penn St. 24-7 (353/201)
11/14 – Iowa 27-24 OT (322/300)
11/21 – at Michigan 21-10 (318/309)

10. Iowa
9/5 – Northern Iowa 17-16 (329/354)
9/12 – at Iowa St. 35-3 (426/303)
9/19- Arizona 27-17 (338/253)
9/26 – at Penn St. 21-10 (298/307)
10/3 – Arkansas St. 24-21 (420/296)
10/10 – Michigan 30-28 (367/319)
10/17 – at Wisconsin 20-10 (283/230)
10/24 – at Michigan St. 15-13 (276/310)
10/31 – Indiana 42-24 (480/306)
11/7 – Northwestern 10-17 (281/239)
11/14 – at Ohio St. 24-27 OT (300/322)
11/21 – Minnesota 12-0 (171/201)

11. Penn St.
9/5 – Akron 31-7 (515/186)
9/12 – Syracuse 28-7 (318/200)
9/19 – Temple 31-6 (359/251)
9/26 – Iowa 10-21 (307/298)
10/3 – at Illinois 35-17 (513/393)
10/10 – Eastern Illinois 52-3 (553/206)
10/17 – Minnesota 20-0 (464/138)
10/24 – at Michigan 35-10 (396/250)
10/31 – at Northwestern 34-13 (437/371)
11/7 – Ohio State 7-24 (201/353)
11/14 – Indiana 31-20 (375/346)
11/21 – at Michigan St. 42-14 (512/333)

12. Pittsburgh
9/5 – Youngstown St. 38-3 (390/159)
9/12 – at Buffalo 54-27 (381/500)
9/19 – Navy 27-14 (369/218)
9/26 – at NC State 31-38 (300/530)
10/2 – at Louisville 35-10 (404/305)
10/10 – UConn 24-21 (489/303)
10/16 – at Rutgers 24-17 (376/286)
10/24 – South Florida 41-14 (486/212)
11/7 – Syracuse 37-10 (481/285)
11/14 – Notre Dame 27-22 (429/349)
11/27 – at West Virginia
12/5 – Cincinnati

13. Utah
9/3 – Utah St. 35-17 (519/342)
9/12 – at San Jose St. 24-14 (499/264)
9/19 – at Oregon 24-31 (297/312)
9/26 – Louisville 30-14 (416/261)
10/10 – at Colorado St. 24/17 (457/334)
10/17 – at UNLV 35-15 (327/327)
10/24 – Air Force 23-16 OT (267/318)
10/31 – Wyoming 22-10 (363/202)
11/7 – New Mexico 45-14 (557/334)
11/14 – at TCU 28-55 (284/549)
11/21 – San Diego St. 38-7 (391/262)
11/28 – at BYU

14. Oklahoma State
9/5 – Georgia 24-10 (307/257)
9/12 – Houston 35-45 (434/512)
9/19 – Rice 41-24 (351/377)
9/26 – Grambling St. 56-6 (587/260)
10/10 – at Texas A&M 36-31 (448/382)
10/17 – Missouri 33-17 (351/393)
10/24 – Baylor 34-7 (445/284)
10/31 – Texas 14-41 (277/275)
11/7 – at Iowa St. 34-8 (473/242)
11/14 – Texas Tech 24-17 (333/357)
11/19 – Colorado 31-28 (400/251)
11/28 – at Oklahoma

15. LSU
9/5 – at Washington 31-23 (321/478)
9/12 – Vanderbilt 23-9 (326/210)
9/19 – Louisiana-Lafayette 31-3 (330/272)
9/26 – at Mississippi St. 30-26 (263/374)
10/3 – at Georgia 20-13 (368/274)
10/10 – Florida 3-13 (162/327)
10/24 – Auburn 31-10 (376/193)
10/31 – Tulane 42-0 (455/216)
11/7 – at Alabama 15-24 (253/454)
11/14 – Louisiana Tech 24-16 (246/322)
11/21 – at Mississippi 23-25 (290/426)
11/28 – Arkansas

16. Virginia Tech
9/5 – Alabama (in Atlanta, GA) 24-34 (155/498)
9/12 – Marshall 52-10 (605/252)
9/19 – Nebraska 16-15 (278/343)
9/26 – Miami 31-7 (370/209)
10/3 – at Duke 34-26 (477/397)
10/10 – Boston College 48-14 (441/163)
10/17 – at Georgia Tech 23-28 (334/360)
10/29 – North Carolina 17-20 (256/312)
11/5 – at East Carolina 16-3 (379/277)
11/14 – at Maryland 36-9 (484/236)
11/21 – NC State 38-10 (397/259)
11/28 – at Virginia

17. Oregon St.
9/5 – Portland St. 34-7 (433/351)
9/12 – at UNLV 23-21 (382/310)
9/19 – Cincinnati 18-28 (344/408)
9/26 – Arizona 32-37 (407/388)
10/3 – at Arizona St. 28-17 (295/406)
10/10 – Stanford 38-28 (463/375)
10/24 – at USC 36-42 (482/429)
10/31 – UCLA 26-19 (463/374)
11/7 – at Cal 31-14 (436/239)
11/14 – Washington 48-21 (372/274)
11/21 – at Washington St. 42-10 (567/192)
12/3 – at Oregon

18. Wisconsin
9/5 – Northern Illinois 28-20 (433/274)
9/12 – Fresno St. 34-31 OT (413/468)
9/19 – Wofford 44-14 (430/259)
9/26 – Michigan St. 38-30 (436/486)
10/3 – at Minnesota 31-28 (454/328)
10/10 – at Ohio St. 13-34 (368/184)
10/17 – Iowa 10-20 (230/283)
10/31 – Purdue 37-0 (381/141)
11/7 – at Indiana 31-28 (488/386)
11/14 – Michigan 45-24 (469/265)
11/21 – at Northwestern 31-33 (334/437)
12/5 – at Hawaii

19. Clemson
9/5 – Middle Tennessee St. 37-14 (361/299)
9/10 – at Georgia Tech 27-30 (386/418)
9/19 – Boston College 25-7 (253/54)
9/26 – TCU 10-14 (309/388)
10/3 – at Maryland 21-24 (274/284)
10/17 – Wake Forest 38-3 (382/178)
10/24 – at Miami 40-37 OT (410/433)
10/31 – Coastal Carolina 49-3 (400/170)
11/7 – Florida St. 40-24 (483/392)
11/14 – at NC State 43-23 (454/377)
11/21 – Virginia 34-21 (366/273)
11/28 – at South Carolina

20. Miami
9/7 – at Florida St. 38-34 (476/404)
9/17 – Georgia Tech 33-17 (454/228)
9/26 – at Virginia Tech 7-31 (209/370)
10/3 – Oklahoma 21-20 (342/341)
10/10 – Florida A&M 48-16 (470/262)
10/17 – at UCF 27-7 (363/229)
10/24 – Clemson 37-40 OT (433/410)
10/31 – at Wake Forest 28-27 (356/555)
11/7 – Virginia 52-17 (515/149)
11/14 – at North Carolina 24-33 (435/329)
11/21 – Duke 34-16 (496/358)
11/28 – at South Florida

21. BYU
9/5 – Oklahoma (in Arlington, TX) 14-13 (357/265)
9/12 – at Tulane 54-3 (527/162)
9/19 – Florida St. 28-54 (473/512)
9/26 – Colorado St. 42-23 (373/438)
10/2 – Utah St. 35-17 (431/322)
10/10 – at UNLV 59-21 (611/337)
10/17 – at San Diego St. 38-28 (512/342)
10/24 – TCU 7-38 (298/412)
11/7 – at Wyoming 52-0 (543/225)
11/14 – at New Mexico 24-19 (355/360)
11/21 – Air Force 38-21 (498/300)
11/28 – Utah

22. USC
9/5 – San Jose St. 56-3 (620/121)
9/12 – at Ohio St. 18-15 (313/265)
9/19 – at Washington 13-16 (360/293)
9/29 – Washington St. 27-6 (403/229)
10/3 – at Cal 30-3 (457/285)
10/17 – at Notre Dame 34-27 (501/367)
10/24 – Oregon St. 42-36 (429/482)
10/31 – at Oregon 20-47 (327/613)
11/7 – at Arizona St. 14-9 (258/347)
11/14 – Stanford 21-55 (469/334)
11/28 – UCLA
12/5 – Arizona

23. Houston
9/5 – Northwestern St. 55-7 (538/263)
9/12 – at Oklahoma St. 45-35 (512/434)
9/26 – Texas Tech 29-28 (579/484)
10/3 – at UTEP 41-58 (664/581)
10/10 – at Mississippi St. 31-24 (553/490)
10/17 – at Tulane 44-16 (516/437)
10/24 – SMU 38-15 (394/397)
10/31 – Southern Miss 50-43 (750/608)
11/7 – at Tulsa 46-45 (695/534)
11/14 – at UCF 32-37 (423/393)
11/21 – Memphis 55-14 (689/344)
11/28 – Rice

24. Cal
9/5 – Maryland 52-13 (542/303)
9/12 – Eastern Washington 59-7 (507/235)
9/19 – at Minnesota 35-21 (415/270)
9/26 – at Oregon 3-42 (207/524)
10/3 – USC 3-30 (285/457)
10/17 – at UCLA 45-26 (494/448)
10/24 – Washington St. 49-17 (559/440)
10/31 – at Arizona St. 23-21 (351/247)
11/7 – Oregon St. 14-31 (239/436)
11/14 – Arizona 24-16 (357/274)
11/21 – at Stanford 34-28 (477/345)
12/5 – at Washington

25. Central Michigan
9/5 – at Arizona 6-19 (182/448)
9/12 – at Michigan St. 29-27 (418/316)
9/19 – Alcorn St. 48-0 (319/136)
9/26 – Akron 48-21 (523/196)
10/3 – at Buffalo 20-13 (412/433)
10/10 – Eastern Michigan 56-8 (521/255)
10/17 – at Western Michigan 34-23 (426/497)
10/24 – at Bowling Green 24-10 (406/363)
10/31 – at Boston College 10-31 (311/412)
11/11 – Toledo 56-28 (507/353)
11/18 – at Ball St. 35-3 (512/231)
11/27 – Northern Illinois

Dropped Out:
23. Arizona
9/5 – Central Michigan 19-6 (448/182)
9/12 – Northern Arizona 34-17 (559/226)
9/19 – at Iowa 17-27 (253/338)
9/26 – at Oregon St. 37-32 (388/407)
10/10 – at Washington 33-36 (461/256)
10/17 – Stanford 43-38 (553/584)
10/24 – UCLA 27-13 (456/211)
11/7 – Washington St. 48-7 (471/185)
11/14 – at Cal 16-24 (274/357)
11/21 – Oregon 41-44 OT (441/459)
11/28 – at Arizona St.
12/5 – at USC

PSU Review: Michigan State

2009-11-23T07:06:00.000-05:00

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.

Sparty sucks! The return of Farkin’ Friday

2009-11-20T07:21:00.001-05:00

It's been a very, very long time since I've flexed my Photoshop muscles and I was board the other night, and hey… it's rivalry week! Ok, it may be a manufactured rivalry but if it walks like a steroid freak, talks like a steroid freak, and gets angry for seemingly random reasons, it's probably a steroid enhanced freak of a mascot, and guess what, he can't dance. Oh he'll try…

*Click on to any to embiggen

But football fields aren't the venue for breakdancin' no, Sparty needs the big stage.

Or even a bigger stage…

Or even a video, and not just any video mind you, with a dancer like Sparty you need someone with similar awesome dance skills and who better than one of the best dancers of all time!

STOP! Spartytime.

Go STATE!

Beat Sparty!

Wrestling Wreport: Cael gets win #1

2009-11-19T06:51:00.001-05:00

I wanted to post this earlier in the week but… you know the whole "rivalry" week just takes precedence.

Anyway, last weekend Cael Sanderson and his Nittany Lions opened up the dual meet season traveling to take on old time rival Lehigh and back home to take on Bloomsburg in Sanderson's PSU home debut. The results were mixed, Penn State lost 23 – 14 at Lehigh but gave the home fans something to cheer about besting Bloom 23-15. Penn State, formerly ranked 15^th dropped to 19^th in this week's NWCA Coaches Poll. At the time of the duals Lehigh was ranked 17^th and Bloom was unranked. For the record here are the scores:

#15 Penn State 14, #17 Lehigh 23
125: #8 Brad PatakyPSU maj. dec. John McDonald LU, 14-4
133: #12 Matt Fisk LU maj. dec. Tyler Saltsman PSU, 14-1
141: #18 Seth Ciauslli LU pinned Adam Lynch PSU, WBF (2:42)
149: #6 Frank Molinaro PSU maj. dec. Brian Tanen LU, 12-3
157: #5 Cyler Sanderson PSU dec. Sean Bilodeau LU, 5-2
165: #9 Dan Vallimont PSU dec. #12 Mike Galante LU, 5-2
174: Robert Hamlin LU maj. dec. David Erwin PSU, 17-8
184: #12 David Craig LU dec. Justin Ortega PSU, 3-1
197: Joe Kennedy LU dec. Clay Steadman PSU, 4-2
HWT: #6 Zach Rey LU dec. #20 Cameron Wade PSU, 5-2

#15 Penn State 23, Bloomsburg 15
125: #8 Brad Pataky PSU tech. fall Jason Guffey BU, 22-7 (7:00, 4-pt) 4-0
133: Dan Gaylord BU pinned Bryan Pearsall PSU, WBF (5:28) 4-6
141: Frank Hickman BU dec. Colby Pisani PSU, 19-12 4-9
149: #6 Frank MolinaroPSU maj. dec. Josh Roosa, 12-3 8-9157: #5 Cyler SandersonPSU dec. #2 Matt Moley BU, 3-2 11-9
165: #9 Dan Vallimont PSU dec. #19 Rick Schmelyun, 2-1 14-9
174: Nate Graham BU dec. Nick Fischer PSU, 11-5 14-12
184: Derek Coffey BU dec. Justin Ortega PSU, 4-0 14-15
197: Clay Steadman PSU dec. Jake Dabashinky BU, 3-1 17-15
>HWT: #20 Cameron Wade PSU pinned Zach Walsh BU, WBF (4:42) 23-15

The bad news: as expected Penn State has holes to fill at 133, 141, 184, and 197. Justin Ortega may be the answer at 184 although he's a natural 174 pounder or even less, I'm not sure what weight he's certified at. He'll need some time to adjust to bigger wrestlers and he's only a redshirt freshman.

The good news: Pataky was an absolute takedown machine last weekend. Granted it was against unranked competition but he did what good wrestlers are supposed to do against worse competition: own them. Dan Vallimont started the season strong beating two ranked wrestlers. Like Pataky, Frank Molinaro destroyed both unranked wrestlers he faced, posting identical 12-3 major decisions. Cameron Wade looks improved from last season, although he did lose it was to the 6^th ranked wrestler and the score was 2-2 late in the third, Wade was trying for the takedown and got reversed for the final 5-2 score. But the big news is Sanderson's little brother Cyler who electrified the Penn State home crowd with a thrilling upset win over #2 Matt Moley of Bloom. For his efforts Sanderson was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week.

Smile Cyler Sanderson, you're Big Ten Wrestler of the Week!!

Initial Thoughts

After seeing the team in person here's my first impressions:

Again with some holes in the lineup, this team is going to take some dual meet lumps in the Big Ten. Six teams are ranked ahead of Penn State and two more are ranked. To pull off some upsets the ranked guys will have to score some serious bonus points.

Sanderson and his coaching staff certainly don't subscribe to the rah-rah style of coaching. In fact they really didn't seem to say much during matches. Don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, just something I observed.

I was a little concerned that some of the wrestler wouldn't accept Sanderson's up tempo, aggressive style he preaches but pretty much the whole team was aggressive, which is definitely a great sign. Even the guys that were getting beat were, at least, still going after it.

Penn State wrestling fans have been ready for this for a while. The crowd was big and loud and it was only Bloom on a Sunday. Wait till Iowa or Minnesota come to town.

At one point Quentin Wright was standing in the middle of the floor leading the "We are…" cheer. Even redshirted he's still awesome.

Penn State unveiled their new "Premium Seating" and although it's a great thought it shoves both teams into the corners. Here's a picture from the crappy camera on my iPhone:

Premium Seats

It's a bit cramped for the wrestlers but what are you gonna do? It's capitalism at its best.

...and through the miracle of Photoshop, here's the layout (at least in my mind)

An obligatory look at Michigan State (The Rivalry edition)

2009-11-18T09:21:00.003-05:00

About the University

Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act….February 12, 1855 Michigan Governor Kinsley S. Bingham signed a bill establishing the United States' first agriculture college, the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan…Abraham Lincoln signed the First Morrill Act of 1862, making the Michigan school a national model.

Cool Fact

National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) is located on the campus of Michigan State University and is the leading rare isotope research facility in the United States. Established in 1963, the cyclotron laboratory is the nation's largest nuclear science facility on a university campus.[1] Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation and MSU, the NSCL operates two superconducting cyclotrons. The lab's scientists investigate the properties of rare isotopes and nuclear reactions. In nature, these reactions would take place in stars and exploding stellar environments such as novae and supernovae. The K1200 cyclotron is the highest-energy continuous beam accelerator in the world.

After all that buildup it's rather unimpressive, no?

Football related datum

Current Record: 6 – 5
Last year's Record: 9 – 4: lost to Georgia in the Capital One Bowl

The scary side of things

Time to beat the dead horse!

Special Teams – until the coaches prove they can fix the monumental problems on special teams I'm going to continue to bring this up over and over. Michigan State is the best team in the Big Ten and seventh best in the nation on Kickoff Returns. Be afraid, be very fucking afraid. Keshawn Martin is 5^th in the country averaging 31.71 yards per return. Might want to kick it away from him, but you know, not our coaching staff. I'm putting special teams at the top of the list because I think it's the most important thing to worry about if PSU wants to win Saturday. Don't think special teams are that important, check this out:

And the secret to having a national title contender this year is … excellence on kickoff return?
The six unbeaten teams in Division I-A have navigated the first 11 weeks of the season with different strategies and strengths. But they find common ground in gaining good field position after their opponents score. All six squads rank among the top 20 nationally in kickoff return average, with everybody except Alabama (No. 19) squeezing into the top 10.

Yeah, it's that important.

A four man rush isn't going to cut it – like Indiana Sparty is great at protecting the QB, unlike Indiana, Sparty has an offense to take advantage of it. Michigan State is best in the Big Ten and 18^th in the nation in sacks allowed. Mark my words here's how things will happen Saturday. Bradley will have the team come out in the Bend and Then Break Our Hearts soft zone defense and bring only the four down lineman. Unless Kirk Cousins implodes he will have all the time in the world and will pick apart the middle just like every other decent passing offense has against this atrocious defensive scheme. Like every other game PSU will come out slow and fall behind by oh… 10 or 14 points before the coaching staff decides: "hey… this crappy defensive scheme isn't working, maybe we should try something else." Mark it down, I'll be happy to eat my words later but I've heard this tune before; many, many times before.

Speaking of passing, might want to be worried about that – MSU has the best offense in the Big Ten because they are the best team in passing offense and passing Efficiency. Kirk Cousins leads the Big Ten with a rating of 149.71 and is completing almost 62% of his passes. Blair White and B.J. Cunningham are his main targets and have caught 61 and 44 catches respectively. That's more than anyone on PSU's roster. Cousins has 17 touchdowns and only 5 picks. If Penn State doesn't pressure him it's going to be a looooooonnnnnnnngggggggg day.

The not-so-scary side of things

Passing Defense – Michigan State has to have a lot of offense because their passing defense suuuuucks. Sparty is giving up 245 yards per game and they don't pressure very well coming in 10^th in the conference in tackles for loss. Amazingly they are 2^nd in the conference in sacks so go figure. In fact if you take a quick look at their schedule, the least amount of points given up in Big Ten play has been 14 points, and they gave up 30 or more points to Purdue, Minnesota, and Wisconsin (two of them losses).

Turnover Margin – While Sparty takes care of the ball on offense they really don't force anything on D. They only have five picks all year, less than half of Penn State's total. They've put the ball on the ground 14 times and lost 8 which accounts for most of their turnovers. Penn State may get a chance at a fumble, hopefully they can capitalize.

Game Outlook

Hey its rivalry week bitches!! I'm expecting a high paced, hate filled game! Lots of intensity and both teams playing at high levels, Hell we're playing for the magnificent land grant trophy.

I want it so bad I can taste it!

It's a week like this that makes you feel alive going against your bitter rival.

Beat Michigan SCHHHTTTAAAAAAAATTEEE!!

Ok, that's all bullshit. Honestly after watching Penn State play the last two weeks I'm thinking this is a loss. I expect them to come out flat, not give a shit and play from behind all game long. The defensive coaches will use the same shitacular schemes that have frustrated fans for years and it will get ugly. This game will come down to whether or not Daryll Clark can take this offense on his shoulders and after the game last week don't look for that to happen. Michigan State's leading sack man is Greg Jones which means Sparty likes to blitz and we all know how well Penn State's offensive line handles pressure. The same problems Penn State has been having all season will come back to haunt them in this game: special teams, horrible blocking, and a passive defensive. There's really nothing to play for and I don't expect the team to be ready. Why should I, they weren't ready to play Ohio State at home.

TNL's Prediction

Penn State 21
Michigan State 27

Blogpoll: Week 11

2009-11-17T19:16:00.005-05:00

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Florida
2	Texas
3	Alabama
4	TCU	1
5	Cincinnati	1
6	Boise State
7	Georgia Tech
8	LSU	4
9	Oregon	4
10	Ohio State	5
11	Iowa	3
12	Penn State	4
13	Wisconsin	4
14	Pittsburgh	4
15	Utah	4
16	Oklahoma State	3
17	Virginia Tech	4
18	Oregon State	4
19	Clemson	5
20	Miami (Florida)	11
21	Brigham Young	4
22	Southern Cal	8
23	Arizona	3
24	Houston	14
25	Central Michigan
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Auburn (#23).

Seriously, does anyone want to win the championship this year? This has got to be the sloppiest season of college football I can ever remember. I'd really like to post the clip of the inept fire drill from The Simpsons as an analogy, but its been pulled from anywhere I found it in searches. No one really stands out week to week and it seems to get worse the longer the year goes. I'm real close to bumping TCU ahead of Alabama, I don't buy LSU at 8 at all, but not given much of a choice at the moment and, I'm not kidding about this, I'm was this close to sliding Temple in at 25 if that gives you any idea how this season is shaping up. Anyways, questions, corrections, suggestions and objections are always welcome. Fire away.

The Breakdown:
1. Florida
9/5 – Charleston Southern 62-3 (624/323)
9/12 – Troy 56-6 (663/139)
9/19 – Tennessee 23-13 (323/210)
9/26 – at Kentucky 41-7 (495/179)
10/10 – at LSU 13-3 (327/162)
10/17 – Arkansas 23-20 (391/357)
10/24 – at Mississippi St. 29-19 (376/237)
10/31 – Georgia 41-17 (374/286)
11/7 – Vanderbilt 27-3 (375/199)
11/14 – at South Carolina 24-14 (339/247)
11/21 – Florida International
11/27 – Florida St.

2. Texas
9/5 – Louisiana-Monroe 59-20 (562/298)
9/12- at Wyoming 41-10 (544/273)
9/19 – Texas Tech 34-24 (340/414)
9/26 – UTEP 64-7 (639/53)
10/10 – Colorado 38-14 (313/127)
10/17 – Oklahoma 16-13 (269/311)
10/24 – at Missouri 41-7 (400/173)
10/31 – at Oklahoma St. 41-14 (275/277)
11/7 – UCF 35-3 (537/151)
11/14 – at Baylor 47-14 (411/246)
11/21 – Kansas
11/26 – at Texas A&M

3. Alabama
9/5 – Virginia Tech (in Atlanta, GA) 34-24 (498/155)
9/12 – Florida International 40-14 (516/214)
9/19 – North Texas 53-7 (523/126)
9/26 – Arkansas 35-7 (425/254)
10/3 – at Kentucky 38-20 (352/301)
10/10 – at Ole Miss 22-3 (354/212)
10/17 – South Carolina 20-6 (356/278)
10/24 – Tennessee 12-10 (256/341)
11/7 – LSU 24-15 (452/253)
11/14 – at Mississippi St. 31-3 (444/213)
11/21 – Chattanooga
11/27 – at Auburn

4. TCU
9/12 – at Virginia 30-14 (380/177)
9/19 – Texas St. 56-21 (508/249)
9/26 – at Clemson 14-10 (388/309)
10/3 – at SMU 39-14 (418/224)
10/10 – at Air Force 20-17 (393/287)
10/17 – Colorado St. 44-6 (499/182)
10/24 – at BYU 38-7 (412/298)
10/31 – UNLV 41-0 (578/160)
11/7 – at San Diego St. 55-12 (551/279)
11/14 – Utah 55-28 (549/284)
11/21 – at Wyoming
11/28 – New Mexico

5. Cincinnati
9/7 – at Rutgers 47-15 (564/293)
9/12 – Southeast Missouri St. 70-3 (578/176)
9/19 – at Oregon St. 28-18 (408/344)
9/26 – Fresno St. 28-20 (357/443)
10/3 – at Miami(OH) 37-13 (434/316)
10/15 – at South Florida 34-17 (401/376)
10/24 – Louisville 41-10 (468/275)
10/31 – at Syracuse 28-7 (422-283)
11/7 – UConn 47-45 (711/462)
11/13 – West Virginia 24-21 (437/390)
11/27 – Illinois
12/5 – at Pittsburgh

6. Boise St.
9/3 – Oregon 19-8 (361/152)
9/12 – Miami(OH) 48-0 (441/194)
9/18 – at Fresno St. 51-34 (480/507)
9/26 – at Bowling Green 49-14 (529/282)
10/3 – UC Davis 34-16 (386/234)
10/14 – at Tulsa 28-21 (380/295)
10/24 – at Hawaii 54-9 (472/307)
10/31 – San Jose St. 45-7 (430/223)
11/6 – Louisiana Tech 45-35 (507/250)
11/14 – Idaho 63-25 (458/514)
11/20 – at Utah St.
11/27 – Nevada
12/5 – New Mexico St.

7. Georgia Tech
9/5 – Jacksonville St. 37-17 (497/291)
9/10 – Clemson 30-27 (418/386)
917 – at Miami 17-33 (228/454)
9/26 – North Carolina 24-7 (406/154)
10/3 – at Mississippi St. 42-31 (479/487)
10/10 – at Florida St.49-44 (532/539)
10/17 – Virginia Tech 28-23 (360/334)
10/24 – at Virginia 34-9 (447/198)
10/31 – at Vanderbilt 56-31 (597/397)
11/7 – Wake Forest 30-27 (463/291)
11/14 – at Duke 49-10 (519/281)
11/28 – Georgia

8. LSU
9/5 – at Washington 31-23 (321/478)
9/12 – Vanderbilt 23-9 (326/210)
9/19 – Louisiana-Lafayette 31-3 (330/272)
9/26 – at Mississippi St. 30-26 (263/374)
10/3 – at Georgia 20-13 (368/274)
10/10 – Florida 3-13 (162/327)
10/24 – Auburn 31-10 (376/193)
10/31 – Tulane 42-0 (455/216)
11/7 – at Alabama 15-24 (253/454)
11/14 – Louisiana Tech 24-16 (246/322)
11/21 – at Mississippi
11/28 - Arkansas

9. Oregon
9/3 – at Boise St. 8-19 (152/361)
9/12 – Purdue 38-36 (356/451)
9/19 – Utah 31-24 (312/297)
9/26 – Cal 42-3 (524/207)
10/3 – Washington St. 52-6 (514/158)
10/10 – at UCLA 24-10 (303/211)
10/24 – at Washington 43-19 (416/395)
10/31 – USC 47-20 (613/327)
11/7 – at Stanford 42-51 (570/505)
11/14 – Arizona St. 44-21 (388/211)
11/21 – at Arizona
12/3 – Oregon St.

10. Ohio St.
9/5 – Navy 31-27 (363/342)
9/12 – USC 15-18 (265/313)
9/19 – at Toledo 38-0 (522/210)
9/26 – Illinois 30-0 (318/170)
10/3 – at Indiana 33-14 (378/228)
10/10 – Wisconsin 31-13 (184/368)
10/17 – at Purdue 18-26 (287/361)
10/24 – Minnesota 38-7 (509/286)
10/31 – New Mexico St. 45-0 (559/62)
11/7 – at Penn St. 24-7 (353/201)
11/14 – Iowa 27-24 OT (322/300)
11/21 – at Michigan

11. Iowa
9/5 – Northern Iowa 17-16 (329/354)
9/12 – at Iowa St. 35-3 (426/303)
9/19- Arizona 27-17 (338/253)
9/26 – at Penn St. 21-10 (298/307)
10/3 – Arkansas St. 24-21 (420/296)
10/10 – Michigan 30-28 (367/319)
10/17 – at Wisconsin 20-10 (283/230)
10/24 – at Michigan St. 15-13 (276/310)
10/31 – Indiana 42-24 (480/306)
11/7 – Northwestern 10-17 (281/239)
11/14 – at Ohio St. 24-27 OT (300/322)
11/21 – Minnesota

12. Penn St.
9/5 – Akron 31-7 (515/186)
9/12 – Syracuse 28-7 (318/200)
9/19 – Temple 31-6 (359/251)
9/26 – Iowa 10-21 (307/298)
10/3 – at Illinois 35-17 (513/393)
10/10 – Eastern Illinois 52-3 (553/206)
10/17 – Minnesota 20-0 (464/138)
10/24 – at Michigan 35-10 (396/250)
10/31 – at Northwestern 34-13 (437/371)
11/7 – Ohio State 7-24 (201/353)
11/14 – Indiana 31-20 (375/346)
11/21 – at Michigan St.

13. Wisconsin
9/5 – Northern Illinois 28-20 (433/274)
9/12 – Fresno St. 34-31 OT (413/468)
9/19 – Wofford 44-14 (430/259)
9/26 – Michigan St. 38-30 (436/486)
10/3 – at Minnesota 31-28 (454/328)
10/10 – at Ohio St. 13-34 (368/184)
10/17 – Iowa 10-20 (230/283)
10/31 – Purdue 37-0 (381/141)
11/7 – at Indiana 31-28 (488/386)
11/14 – Michigan 45-24 (469/265)
11/21 – at Northwestern
12/5 – at Hawaii

14. Pittsburgh
9/5 – Youngstown St. 38-3 (390/159)
9/12 – at Buffalo 54-27 (381/500)
9/19 – Navy 27-14 (369/218)
9/26 – at NC State 31-38 (300/530)
10/2 – at Louisville 35-10 (404/305)
10/10 – UConn 24-21 (489/303)
10/16 – at Rutgers 24-17 (376/286)
10/24 – South Florida 41-14 (486/212)
11/7 – Syracuse 37-10 (481/285)
11/14 – Notre Dame 27-22 (429/349)
11/27 – at West Virginia
12/5 – Cincinnati

15. Utah
9/3 – Utah St. 35-17 (519/342)
9/12 – at San Jose St. 24-14 (499/264)
9/19 – at Oregon 24-31 (297/312)
9/26 – Louisville 30-14 (416/261)
10/10 – at Colorado St. 24/17 (457/334)
10/17 – at UNLV 35-15 (327/327)
10/24 – Air Force 23-16 OT (267/318)
10/31 – Wyoming 22-10 (363/202)
11/7 – New Mexico 45-14 (557/334)
11/14 – at TCU 28-55 (284/549)
11/21 – San Diego St.
11/28 – at BYU

16. Oklahoma State
9/5 – Georgia 24-10 (307/257)
9/12 – Houston 35-45 (434/512)
9/19 – Rice 41-24 (351/377)
9/26 – Grambling St. 56-6 (587/260)
10/10 – at Texas A&M 36-31 (448/382)
10/17 – Missouri 33-17 (351/393)
10/24 – Baylor 34-7 (445/284)
10/31 – Texas 14-41 (277/275)
11/7 – at Iowa St. 34-8 (473/242)
11/14 – Texas Tech 24-17 (333/357)
11/19 – Colorado
11/28 – at Oklahoma

17. Virginia Tech
9/5 – Alabama (in Atlanta, GA) 24-34 (155/498)
9/12 – Marshall 52-10 (605/252)
9/19 – Nebraska 16-15 (278/343)
9/26 – Miami 31-7 (370/209)
10/3 – at Duke 34-26 (477/397)
10/10 – Boston College 48-14 (441/163)
10/17 – at Georgia Tech 23-28 (334/360)
10/29 – North Carolina 17-20 (256/312)
11/5 – at East Carolina 16-3 (379/277)
11/14 – at Maryland 36-9 (484/236)
11/21 – NC State
11/28 – at Virginia

18. Oregon St.
9/5 – Portland St. 34-7 (433/351)
9/12 – at UNLV 23-21 (382/310)
9/19 – Cincinnati 18-28 (344/408)
9/26 – Arizona 32-37 (407/388)
10/3 – at Arizona St. 28-17 (295/406)
10/10 – Stanford 38-28 (463/375)
10/24 – at USC 36-42 (482/429)
10/31 – UCLA 26-19 (463/374)
11/7 – at Cal 31-14 (436/239)
11/14 – Washington 48-21 (372/274)
11/21 – at Washington St.
12/3 – at Oregon

19. Clemson
9/5 – Middle Tennessee St. 37-14 (361/299)
9/10 – at Georgia Tech 27-30 (386/418)
9/19 – Boston College 25-7 (253/54)
9/26 – TCU 10-14 (309/388)
10/3 – at Maryland 21-24 (274/284)
10/17 – Wake Forest 38-3 (382/178)
10/24 – at Miami 40-37 OT (410/433)
10/31 – Coastal Carolina 49-3 (400/170)
11/7 – Florida St. 40-24 (483/392)
11/14 – at NC State 43-23 (454/377)
11/21 – Virginia
11/28 – at South Carolina

20. Miami
9/7 – at Florida St. 38-34 (476/404)
9/17 – Georgia Tech 33-17 (454/228)
9/26 – at Virginia Tech 7-31 (209/370)
10/3 – Oklahoma 21-20 (342/341)
10/10 – Florida A&M 48-16 (470/262)
10/17 – at UCF 27-7 (363/229)
10/24 – Clemson 37-40 OT (433/410)
10/31 – at Wake Forest 28-27 (356/555)
11/7 – Virginia 52-17 (515/149)
11/14 – at North Carolina 24-33 (435/329)
11/21 – Duke
11/28 – at South Florida

21. BYU
9/5 – Oklahoma (in Arlington, TX) 14-13 (357/265)
9/12 – at Tulane 54-3 (527/162)
9/19 – Florida St. 28-54 (473/512)
9/26 – Colorado St. 42-23 (373/438)
10/2 – Utah St. 35-17 (431/322)
10/10 – at UNLV 59-21 (611/337)
10/17 – at San Diego St. 38-28 (512/342)
10/24 – TCU 7-38 (298/412)
11/7 – at Wyoming 52-0 (543/225)
11/14 – at New Mexico 24-19 (355/360)
11/21 – Air Force
11/28 – Utah

22. USC
9/5 – San Jose St. 56-3 (620/121)
9/12 – at Ohio St. 18-15 (313/265)
9/19 – at Washington 13-16 (360/293)
9/29 – Washington St. 27-6 (403/229)
10/3 – at Cal 30-3 (457/285)
10/17 – at Notre Dame 34-27 (501/367)
10/24 – Oregon St. 42-36 (429/482)
10/31 – at Oregon 20-47 (327/613)
11/7 – at Arizona St. 14-9 (258/347)
11/14 – Stanford 21-55 (469/334)
11/28 – UCLA
12/5 – Arizona

23. Arizona
9/5 – Central Michigan 19-6 (448/182)
9/12 – Northern Arizona 34-17 (559/226)
9/19 – at Iowa 17-27 (253/338)
9/26 – at Oregon St. 37-32 (388/407)
10/10 – at Washington 33-36 (461/256)
10/17 – Stanford 43-38 (553/584)
10/24 – UCLA 27-13 (456/211)
11/7 – Washington St. 48-7 (471/185)
11/14 – at Cal 16-24 (274/357)
11/21 – Oregon
11/28 – at Arizona St.
12/5 – at USC

24. Houston
9/5 – Northwestern St. 55-7 (538/263)
9/12 – at Oklahoma St. 45-35 (512/434)
9/26 – Texas Tech 29-28 (579/484)
10/3 – at UTEP 41-58 (664/581)
10/10 – at Mississippi St. 31-24 (553/490)
10/17 – at Tulane 44-16 (516/437)
10/24 – SMU 38-15 (394/397)
10/31 – Southern Miss 50-43 (750/608)
11/7 – at Tulsa 46-45 (695/534)
11/14 – at UCF 32-37 (423/393)
11/21 – Memphis
11/28 – Rice

25. Central Michigan
9/5 – at Arizona 6-19 (182/448)
9/12 – at Michigan St. 29-27 (418/316)
9/19 – Alcorn St. 48-0 (319/136)
9/26 – Akron 48-21 (523/196)
10/3 – at Buffalo 20-13 (412/433)
10/10 – Eastern Michigan 56-8 (521/255)
10/17 – at Western Michigan 34-23 (426/497)
10/24 – at Bowling Green 24-10 (406/363)
10/31 – at Boston College 10-31 (311/412)
11/11 – Toledo 56-28 (507/353)
11/18 – at Ball St.
11/27 – Northern Illinois

Dropped Out:
23. Auburn
9/5 – Louisiana Tech 37-13 (556/245)
9/12 – Mississippi St. 49-24 (589/297)
9/19 – West Virginia 41-30 (400/509)
9/26 – Ball St. 54-30 (560/260)
10/3 – at Tennessee 26-22 (449/410)
10/10 – at Arkansas 23-44 (375/495)
10/17 – Kentucky 14-21(315/357)
10/24 – at LSU 10-31 (193/376)
10/31 – Mississippi 33-20 (401/394)
11/7 – Furman 63-31 (655/266)
11/14 – at Georgia 24-31 (353/342)
11/27 - Alabama

Former Foes: week 11

2009-11-17T12:48:00.000-05:00

Time to take a weekly look back at Penn State's past competition. So how bad is Michigan anyway?

Akron (2-8)

Got destroyed by Temple (56-17)

Akron was the latest victim of the "get Al Golden a hefty raise" tour as Temple beat the Zips for their 8^th straight victory. Akron actually had an early 17-7 first quarter lead but the Owls ripped off 49 unanswered points on the legs of freshman wunderkind Bernard Pierce (19 carries, 97 yards, 1 TD). Pierce tied another Temple record rushing for his 15^th TD on the season. Temple rolled up 403 total yards with 258 of that coming on the ground. Don't look now but Temple has the same record as Penn State, how does that make ya feel?

Next up: Bowling Green (5-5)

Syracuse (3-7)

Lost to lowly Louisville (10-9)

'Cuse runningback Delone Carter rushed for 129 yards and a score and the Orange outgained Louisville 266-151 but Cardinals QB Adam Froman hit Josh Chichester for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 1:24 remaining for the go ahead touchdown. Syracuse dominated Louisville at nearly every aspect of the game, they won time of possession by nearly 10 minutes, but they couldn't stop returner Trent Guy. Guy had a 53 yard kickoff return and a 44 yard punt return to setup the final scoring drive at the Syracuse 45 yard line.

Next up: Rutgers (7-2)

Temple (7-2)

Waylaid Akron

Next up: Kent State (5-5)

Iowa (9-2)

Lost to justaOSU (27-24)

Marvin McNutt's two touchdown catches and a stellar performance by Iowa freshman QB James Vandenberg wasn't enough as the Hawkeyes lost to the Buckeyes in overtime. Erstwhile pro soccer player Devin Barclay gave Ohio State the victory when he connected on a 39-yard field goal in overtime after Iowa turned the ball over. On their possession in overtime, Iowa lost 16 yards on three plays forcing them out of field goal range on 4^th down. Vandenberg threw an INT on 4^th and 26 and all OSU had to do was run the ball up the middle and set up for Barclay's heroics. It was another typical day for Terrelle "preseason Big Ten offensive player of the year" Pryor; he completed 14 of 17 for 93 yards. But as is usually the case, Pryor didn't need to be a hero he relied on a strong defense and the running of Brandon Saine (103 yards and 2 TD's) and Dan Herron (97 yards and a TD).

Next Up: Minnesota (6-5)

Illinois (3-7)

Lost to Northwestern (21-16)

The Fighting Zookers scored two 4^th quarter TD's but it wasn't enough to overcome the 21-3 hole they fell into. NU QB Mike Kafka threw for 305 yards and scored 2 TD's (one throwing and one running). Illinois had a chance for the victory but redshirt freshman QB Jacob Charest threw an interception with 32 seconds left on the Illini 35 yard line to seal the game. The Illini did manage 374 yards of offense but only 162 yards of that came through the air. The aforementioned Charest was benched at halftime for McGee who didn't perform much better.

Next Up: Cincinnati (10-0) – good luck with that Zooker

Eastern Illinois (8-2)

Beat Tennessee-Martin (49-13)

Jake Christensen threw for 322 yards and 4! touchdowns as EIU amassed 457 yards of offense. The victory gave Eastern a share of the conference championship. Now all they need is a victory against lowly Tennessee State (3-7) to get the league's automatic postseason bid.

Next Up: Tennessee State (3-7)

Minnesota (6-5)

Beat South Dakota State (16-13)

Yeah, Minnesota needed a 25 yard field goal with 2:22 to go to beat South Dakota State. It was a battle of field goals until each team scored TD's in the second quarter when Minnesota took a 13-10 lead. The score remained the same as both teams bored the crowd through three quarters and 13 punts until SDSU kicked the game tying field goal half way through the 4^th. Adam Weber and the Minnesota offense stunk it up again as Weber threw for 94 yards and the two teams combined for roughly 450 yards.

Next up: Iowa (9-2)

Michigan (5-6)

Got cheese grated by Wisconsin (45-24)

Wisconsin totaled a very balanced 240 yards through the air and 229 yards on the ground against the Wolverines Swiss Cheese defense (ok, ok I'll stop with the cheese references). Badger QB Scott Tolzien threw for 240 yards scored 4 td's through the air and added one on the ground. Runningback John Clay chipped in 155 yards rushing and a TD. Michigan lost its sixth straight Big Ten game for the first time since the 1958-59 seasons and they've now given up 35 plus points in four straight games for the first time in school history. Ohio State can now send Michigan home for the Holidays with a victory against their bitter rival. Oh by the way the news doesn't get any better in Ann Arbor. How's that Rich Rodriguez hire looking now Michigan fans?

Next up: justa Ohio State University (9-2)

Northwestern (7-4)

Beat Illinois (21-16)

Next up: Wisconsin (8-2)

justa Ohio State University (9-2)

Beat Iowa(27-24)

Next up: Michigan (5-6)

PSU Review: Indiana

2009-11-16T06:44:00.000-05:00

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

Wrestling Wreport: the inaugural 2009 edition

2009-11-13T06:28:00.000-05:00

We interrupt our normally intense football coverage (ha!) to bring you a quick look at wrestling. The 2009-10 dual meet season starts tonight when the good guys from PSU travel to take on long time wrestling wrival Lehigh. For the record here is Penn State's "official" lineup:

#14 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Wt. Name
125 #8 Brad Pataky
133 Tyler Saltsman OR Bryan Pearsall
141 Colby Pisani OR Adam Lynch
149 #6 (@ 141) Frank Molinaro
157 #5 Cyler Sanderson
165 #9 Dan Vallimont
174 David Erwin OR Justin Ortega
184 J.R. Brown
197 Clay Steadman
285 #20 Cameron Wade

Quite a few "OR's" in there and I doubt we will have a lineup set in stone at all this season. Head coach Cael Sanderson has decided to redshirt pretty much all of his young talent in setting up for a title run starting next season (at least that's the plan). So with all the shiny new toys safely locked away for a year Penn State's lineup will be more of a hodgepodge. Fans will have to be patient as we transition into the Sanderson era, and it's going to be difficult because anticipation is at an all time high for this program.

Over 2,000 season tickets have been sold as Penn State prepares for the season-opening weekend. Last season, Penn State sold a respectable 1,058 season tickets.

So all those throngs of hungry fans will just have to wait until Sanderson gets his guys in the program but that doesn't mean this is a throw-away year by any means.

What we know

For Cyler Sanderson, Vallimont, and Erwin it's their last chance as all three will run out of eligibility at the end of the season. Sanderson seems to be Penn State's best chance at a national champion but if the wrestlers end up ranked where they are now we would be looking at three All-Americans.

The intense Sanderson stare

Vallimont has a tough road, his weight class is ridiculously stacked. Pataky just missed out last season and although Molinaro has moved up to 149, he's certified at 141 and I wouldn't rule out the chance that he wrestles himself back to that weight before the season ends. I will say this much about Frank after seeing him wrestle in the Intrasquad match last week, he's definitely hit the weight room in the offseason. Cameron Wade came on late in the season last year and hopefully with the tutelage of Sanderson he will at the least make it out of the Big Ten's and qualify for nationals.

What we don't know

Sanderson preaches an up tempo aggressive style of wrestling, how long will it take for the "old guys" or the guys that have been around Sunderland's system to adapt to it, or for that matter will they adjust to it? The holes in the lineup are obvious, 133, 141, 184, and 197 are going to be brutal at times this season but will we see improvement?

What to expect

Sanderson has the hand he was dealt, can he get the best out of them. The main thing that I'm looking for from this unit is steady improvement. This isn't going to be a national champion team but do they improve over the course of the season. If Sanderson can have this team peaking around the Big Ten championships in March, I'll consider it a very successful season. Penn State should have no less than four guys in the nationals with six a distinct possibility. Any more than that and I'll be shocked.

An obligatory look at Indiana

2009-11-12T08:44:00.002-05:00

About the University

Indiana's state government in Corydon founded Indiana University in 1820 as the State Seminary." It was originally located at what is now called Seminary Square Park near the intersection of Second Street and College Avenue….The hiring of Andrew Wylie, its first president, in 1829 signified the school's growing professionalism. The General Assembly changed the school's name to "Indiana College" in the same year. In 1838 the legislature changed the school's name for a final time to Indiana University.

Cool Fact

In 1999, the Indiana University School of Informatics was established as an environment for research professors and students to develop new uses for information technology in order to solve specific problems in areas as diverse as biology, fine arts, and economics. Informatics is also interested in "how people transform technology, and how technology transforms us."
The School is one of a handful which offer degrees in Human-Computer Interaction. The School is the only one in the country to offer a formal degree which combines Human-Computer Interaction and Computer Security.

Ok then, I have no idea what that means.

Football related datum

Current Record: 4 – 6
Last year's Record: 3 – 9

The scary side of things

Indiana QB Ben Chappell has completed more passes and thrown for more yards than Daryll Clark. He has 2377 yards on the season good enough for 4^th best in the conference. Indiana is the best team in the conference when it comes to giving up sacks, so Penn State may need to bring more than their front four to get pressure (which you know they won't). Indiana is second in the conference in turnover margin and in the dreaded kickoff returns (but you know the coaches will have that whole special teams debacle fixed by Saturday. Right.) Indiana has played it very close to a lot of conference foes. Three of the Hoosiers' five conference losses have been by three points or fewer.

The not-so-scary side of things

Ok, it's Indiana. They're averaging a paltry 116 yards per game on the ground and they're dead last in the conference in pass efficiency defense, total defense and pass defense. They also give up over 28 points per game. If Penn State can't move the ball in this game they better pack it up for the rest of the season. While Chappell's passing numbers are fairly impressive he has thrown 12 picks this season. Indiana's "signature" win came against Illinois, outside of that they've beat Directional Kentucky, Directional Michigan and Akron.

Game Outlook

Indiana has an outside shot at a bowl game if they pull off the upset and then beat Purdue, but I don't think that's going to happen. 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. Hopefully Penn State comes out pissed off after getting their asses handed to them on a shiny plate, but I'm not holding my breath.

TNL's Prediction

Penn State 27
Indiana 10

Former Foes

2009-11-10T06:54:00.000-05:00

Time to take a weekly look back at Penn State's past competition. So how bad is Akron anyway?

Akron (2-7)

BEAT Kent State 28-20

Holly crap, Akron won a game! And they did it with an offensive explosion that saw the Zips score a TD in every quarter. Patrick "throws the ball" Nicely had a good game completing 19 of his 34 passes for 261 yards and 2 TD's as Akron rolled up 429 yards of offense. Problem was they gave up 415 as Golden Flashes QB Spencer Keith completed 30 of his 59!!! attempts for 377 yards. But Keith's big day wasn't quite enough as the Zips beat Kent State for the ninth time in ten tries.

Next up: That juggernaut from the east - Temple (7-2, bitches)

Syracuse (3-6)

Got demolished by Shitsburgh 37-10

Pitt's Greg Williams returned a 51-yard interception for a TD with 1:20 left in the first half to start the Panthers rout, a play that blew open a slim 6-3 lead. Pitt woke up and scored 24 unanswered points in the second half mostly on the back of freshman RB Dion Lewis who ran for 110 yards and a TD, his sixth 100 yard game. 'Cuse QB Greg Paulus was ineffective throwing for only 120 yards with 2 picks. It didn't help that Syracuse was without their best receiver Mike Williams, who quit the team on Monday after averaging 106.6 yards receiving per game. The Orange came into the game with the 106^th ranked offense in the nation.

Next up: Equally unimpressive Louisville (3-6)

Temple (7-2)

Beat Miami (of the Ohio variety) 34-32

Matt Hayes had this to say in his Big Ten Conference call yesterday:

Penn State: Go down the schedule and find a marquee win for the Nittany Lions this fall. The best so far: Northwestern. Yet somehow, this team will win 10 games.

Ok, his brutal honesty aside (he is absolutely right, PSU has beat no one of any substance), I would argue that Penn State's best victory is Temple. They've won seven in a row, are undefeated in the MAC in first place in their conference and get Akron and Kent State, whom Akron just beat, before the final showdown with Ohio. Temple is going to be 9-2 going into the Ohio game and will most certainly be bowling this year. What an improvement for Coach Al Golden.

As for the game it wasn't easy, Temple blew a 31-13 fourth quarter lead when they gave up three unanswered TD's to the RedHawks to fall behind 32-31, but Brandon McManus kicked an 18-yard field goal with 3 seconds left to give the Owls the lead for good. RB Bernard Pierce ran for 178 yards and three touchdowns as Temple outgained Miami 224-52 on the ground. Let's put this all in perspective here people: Temple hasn't had a winning streak like this since they won 8 straight way back in 1973… the year I was born. They won seven games total from 2002-05. Winning is contagious and I'll let Coach Golden say it best:

"Three years ago, our team couldn't win these games, and if they did it was an anomaly," coach Al Golden said. "Now the team has some toughness, some mental toughness and character."

Temple is actually thinking MAC championship. Amazing.

Next up: Akron (2-7)

Iowa (9-1)

Lost to Northwestern 17-10

All the close victories, all the fourth quarter comebacks, all the Stanzi-ball miracles all came crumbling down on Iowa. Stanzi was knocked out of the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury and Iowa could not recover. After Stanzi went down, Freshman James Vandenberg took over and could not muster a single point the rest of the game. Northwestern scored two TD's in the second quarter off of two Iowa turnovers: a recovered fumble in the endzone on the play where Stanzi was hurt and a 4 yard TD pass after an interception on Vandenberg's first pass attempt. It was finally too much of a hole for Iowa to climb out of. Stanzi's injury is most likely a severe sprain after X-ray's came back negative but he'll probably be out of the big showdown next week at the Shoe. With all the injuries mounting, the showdown for the Big Ten title against Ohio State, who is playing the best ball of their season, looks like a one-sided romp.

Next Up: Ohio State (8-2)

Illinois (3-6)

Beat Minnesota 35-32

Juice Williams' nightmare senior season continues as he sprained his ankle after starting the game on fire completing all five of his passes, one for a TD. His replacement, Jacob Charest, came in and threw for 185 yards and a touchdown as the Fighting Zookers used a furious pass rush and some bad decisions by Gophers QB Adam Webber for the victory. Webber, after throwing for 415 yards against Sparty, threw a pick six, fumbled, missed open wide receivers, and held the ball too long on his way to dreadful first half. Webber completed just 5 of 17 passes for 174 yards in the opening two quarters and finished just 14 of 31 for 221 yards.

Next Up: Northwestern (6-4)

Eastern Illinois (7-2)

BYE

Next Up: UT Martin (4-5)

Minnesota (5-5)

Lost to Illinois 35-32

Next up: South Dakota State (7-2)

Michigan (5-5)

Lost to Purdue 38-36

Talk about your teams going in different directions, after starting 4-0 Michigan is looking at 5-7 with games against Wisconsin and Ohio State while Purdue, after starting 1-5, could squeak into a bowl if the beat Michigan State and Indiana. Purdue QB Joey Elliott threw for a career-high 367 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another. Purdue overcame a 24-10 halftime deficit when they scored on the aforementioned Joey Elliott TD run with 10:28 to play to take a 38-30 lead. Michigan answered with a Brandon Minor TD run, who finished with 154 yards and 3 touchdowns, but Michigan's two point conversion was no good and Purdue recovered the onside kick. It was a game of offense as the two teams combined for 921 yards of total offense. Michigan's defense has been a total wreck lately, in the past three games, the Wolverines have been outscored 75-12 in the second half by Purdue, Illinois and Penn State.

Next up: Wisconsin(7-2)

Northwestern(6-4)

Beat Iowa 17-10

Next up: Illinois (3-6)

Blogpoll Draft: A Whole Lot Of Meh Going On

2009-11-09T18:35:00.003-05:00

Another ugly week of upsets makes for another ugly poll. No one is separating themselves from the pack, which leaves us with a huddled mass of blah. I painted myself into a corner with Oregon, USC, Ohio State and Penn State so it was settled with the transitive property. I know, I see Utah there, but they'll stick around another week and we'll see how that TCU game shakes out. Iowa finally gave in after spending the season being poisoned, shot, beaten, castrated, tied up and thrown into an icy river. The loss of Stanzi couldn't come at a worse time, he's got the mystical powers they need heading into Columbus. I have a bad feeling that a collapse might be imminent and that's unfortunate to see after the season they've had. Oregon State, on the other hand, might be getting itself in shape at the right time to deliver a rematch of USC and Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, thanks in part to Penn State's non-appearance and Stanford's gotcha game. It's a mess, have at it. Corrections, suggestions and objections are always welcome.

Games Watched: Virginia Tech/East Carolina, Louisiana Tech/Boise State, Ohio State/Penn State, Florida State/Clemson and UConn/Cincinnati.

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Florida
2	Texas	1
3	Alabama	1
4	Cincinnati	1
5	TCU	1
6	Boise State	1
7	Georgia Tech	2
8	Iowa	6
9	Miami (Florida)	3
10	Houston	3
11	Utah	3
12	LSU	2
13	Oregon	5
14	Southern Cal	1
15	Ohio State	1
16	Penn State	5
17	Wisconsin
18	Pittsburgh
19	Oklahoma State
20	Arizona
21	Virginia Tech	1
22	Oregon State
23	Auburn	1
24	Clemson
25	Brigham Young
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Notre Dame (#21), California (#23), Oklahoma (#25).

The Breakdown:

1. Florida
9/5 – Charleston Southern 62-3 (624/323)
9/12 – Troy 56-6 (663/139)
9/19 – Tennessee 23-13 (323/210)
9/26 – at Kentucky 41-7 (495/179)
10/10 – at LSU 13-3 (327/162)
10/17 – Arkansas 23-20 (391/357)
10/24 – at Mississippi St. 29-19 (376/237)
10/31 – Georgia 41-17 (374/286)
11/7 – Vanderbilt 27-3 (375/199)
11/14 – at South Carolina
11/21 – Florida International
11/27 – Florida St.

2. Texas
9/5 – Louisiana-Monroe 59-20 (562/298)
9/12- at Wyoming 41-10 (544/273)
9/19 – Texas Tech 34-24 (340/414)
9/26 – UTEP 64-7 (639/53)
10/10 – Colorado 38-14 (313/127)
10/17 – Oklahoma 16-13 (269/311)
10/24 – at Missouri 41-7 (400/173)
10/31 – at Oklahoma St. 41-14 (275/277)
11/7 – UCF 35-3 (537/151)
11/14 – at Baylor
11/21 – Kansas
11/26 – at Texas A&M

3. Alabama
9/5 – Virginia Tech (in Atlanta, GA) 34-24 (498/155)
9/12 – Florida International 40-14 (516/214)
9/19 – North Texas 53-7 (523/126)
9/26 – Arkansas 35-7 (425/254)
10/3 – at Kentucky 38-20 (352/301)
10/10 – at Ole Miss 22-3 (354/212)
10/17 – South Carolina 20-6 (356/278)
10/24 – Tennessee 12-10 (256/341)
11/7 – LSU 24-15 (452/253)
11/14 – at Mississippi St.
11/21 – Chattanooga
11/27 – at Auburn

4. Cincinnati
9/7 – at Rutgers 47-15 (564/293)
9/12 – Southeast Missouri St. 70-3 (578/176)
9/19 – at Oregon St. 28-18 (408/344)
9/26 – Fresno St. 28-20 (357/443)
10/3 – at Miami(OH) 37-13 (434/316)
10/15 – at South Florida 34-17 (401/376)
10/24 – Louisville 41-10 (468/275)
10/31 – at Syracuse 28-7 (422-283)
11/7 – UConn 47-45 (711/462)
11/13 – West Virginia
11/27 – Illinois
12/5 – at Pittsburgh

5. TCU
9/12 – at Virginia 30-14 (380/177)
9/19 – Texas St. 56-21 (508/249)
9/26 – at Clemson 14-10 (388/309)
10/3 – at SMU 39-14 (418/224)
10/10 – at Air Force 20-17 (393/287)
10/17 – Colorado St. 44-6 (499/182)
10/24 – at BYU 38-7 (412/298)
10/31 – UNLV 41-0 (578/160)
11/7 – at San Diego St. 55-12 (551/279)
11/14 – Utah
11/21 – at Wyoming
11/28 – New Mexico

6. Boise St.
9/3 – Oregon 19-8 (361/152)
9/12 – Miami(OH) 48-0 (441/194)
9/18 – at Fresno St. 51-34 (480/507)
9/26 – at Bowling Green 49-14 (529/282)
10/3 – UC Davis 34-16 (386/234)
10/14 – at Tulsa 28-21 (380/295)
10/24 – at Hawaii 54-9 (472/307)
10/31 – San Jose St. 45-7 (430/223)
11/6 – Louisiana Tech 45-35 (507/250)
11/14 – Idaho
11/20 – at Utah St.
11/27 – Nevada
12/5 – New Mexico St.

7. Georgia Tech
9/5 – Jacksonville St. 37-17 (497/291)
9/10 – Clemson 30-27 (418/386)
917 – at Miami 17-33 (228/454)
9/26 – North Carolina 24-7 (406/154)
10/3 – at Mississippi St. 42-31 (479/487)
10/10 – at Florida St.49-44 (532/539)
10/17 – Virginia Tech 28-23 (360/334)
10/24 – at Virginia 34-9 (447/198)
10/31 – at Vanderbilt 56-31 (597/397)
11/7 – Wake Forest 30-27 (463/291)
11/14 – at Duke
11/28 – Georgia

8. Iowa
9/5 – Northern Iowa 17-16 (329/354)
9/12 – at Iowa St. 35-3 (426/303)
9/19- Arizona 27-17 (338/253)
9/26 – at Penn St. 21-10 (298/307)
10/3 – Arkansas St. 24-21 (420/296)
10/10 – Michigan 30-28 (367/319)
10/17 – at Wisconsin 20-10 (283/230)
10/24 – at Michigan St. 15-13 (276/310)
10/31 – Indiana 42-24 (480/306)
11/7 – Northwestern 10-17 (281/239)
11/14 – at Ohio St.
11/21 – Minnesota

9. Miami
9/7 – at Florida St. 38-34 (476/404)
9/17 – Georgia Tech 33-17 (454/228)
9/26 – at Virginia Tech 7-31 (209/370)
10/3 – Oklahoma 21-20 (342/341)
10/10 – Florida A&M 48-16 (470/262)
10/17 – at UCF 27-7 (363/229)
10/24 – Clemson 37-40 OT (433/410)
10/31 – at Wake Forest 28-27 (356/555)
11/7 – Virginia 52-17 (515/149)
11/14 – at North Carolina
11/21 – Duke
11/28 – at South Florida

10. Houston
9/5 – Northwestern St. 55-7 (538/263)
9/12 – at Oklahoma St. 45-35 (512/434)
9/26 – Texas Tech 29-28 (579/484)
10/3 – at UTEP 41-58 (664/581)
10/10 – at Mississippi St. 31-24 (553/490)
10/17 – at Tulane 44-16 (516/437)
10/24 – SMU 38-15 (394/397)
10/31 – Southern Miss 50-43 (750/608)
11/7 – at Tulsa 46-45 (695/534)
11/14 – at UCF
11/21 – Memphis
11/28 – Rice

11. Utah
9/3 – Utah St. 35-17 (519/342)
9/12 – at San Jose St. 24-14 (499/264)
9/19 – at Oregon 24-31 (297/312)
9/26 – Louisville 30-14 (416/261)
10/10 – at Colorado St. 24/17 (457/334)
10/17 – at UNLV 35-15 (327/327)
10/24 – Air Force 23-16 OT (267/318)
10/31 – Wyoming 22-10 (363/202)
11/7 – New Mexico 45-14 (557/334)
11/14 – at TCU
11/21 – San Diego St.
11/28 – at BYU

12. LSU
9/5 – at Washington 31-23 (321/478)
9/12 – Vanderbilt 23-9 (326/210)
9/19 – Louisiana-Lafayette 31-3 (330/272)
9/26 – at Mississippi St. 30-26 (263/374)
10/3 – at Georgia 20-13 (368/274)
10/10 – Florida 3-13 (162/327)
10/24 – Auburn 31-10 (376/193)
10/31 – Tulane 42-0 (455/216)
11/7 – at Alabama 15-24 (253/454)
11/14 – Louisiana Tech
11/21 – at Mississippi
11/28 - Arkansas

13. Oregon
9/3 – at Boise St. 8-19 (152/361)
9/12 – Purdue 38-36 (356/451)
9/19 – Utah 31-24 (312/297)
9/26 – Cal 42-3 (524/207)
10/3 – Washington St. 52-6 (514/158)
10/10 – at UCLA 24-10 (303/211)
10/24 – at Washington 43-19 (416/395)
10/31 – USC 47-20 (613/327)
11/7 – at Stanford 42-51 (570/505)
11/14 – Arizona St.
11/21 – at Arizona
12/3 – Oregon St.

14. USC
9/5 – San Jose St. 56-3 (620/121)
9/12 – at Ohio St. 18-15 (313/265)
9/19 – at Washington 13-16 (360/293)
9/29 – Washington St. 27-6 (403/229)
10/3 – at Cal 30-3 (457/285)
10/17 – at Notre Dame 34-27 (501/367)
10/24 – Oregon St. 42-36 (429/482)
10/31 – at Oregon 20-47 (327/613)
11/7 – at Arizona St. 14-9 (258/347)
11/14 – Stanford
11/28 – UCLA
12/5 – Arizona

15. Ohio St.
9/5 – Navy 31-27 (363/342)
9/12 – USC 15-18 (265/313)
9/19 – at Toledo 38-0 (522/210)
9/26 – Illinois 30-0 (318/170)
10/3 – at Indiana 33-14 (378/228)
10/10 – Wisconsin 31-13 (184/368)
10/17 – at Purdue 18-26 (287/361)
10/24 – Minnesota 38-7 (509/286)
10/31 – New Mexico St. 45-0 (559/62)
11/7 – at Penn St. 24-7 (353/201)
11/14 – Iowa
11/21 – at Michigan

16. Penn St.
9/5 – Akron 31-7 (515/186)
9/12 – Syracuse 28-7 (318/200)
9/19 – Temple 31-6 (359/251)
9/26 – Iowa 10-21 (307/298)
10/3 – at Illinois 35-17 (513/393)
10/10 – Eastern Illinois 52-3 (553/206)
10/17 – Minnesota 20-0 (464/138)
10/24 – at Michigan 35-10 (396/250)
10/31 – at Northwestern 34-13 (437/371)
11/7 – Ohio State 7-24 (201/353)
11/14 – Indiana
11/21 – at Michigan St.

17. Wisconsin
9/5 – Northern Illinois 28-20 (433/274)
9/12 – Fresno St. 34-31 OT (413/468)
9/19 – Wofford 44-14 (430/259)
9/26 – Michigan St. 38-30 (436/486)
10/3 – at Minnesota 31-28 (454/328)
10/10 – at Ohio St. 13-34 (368/184)
10/17 – Iowa 10-20 (230/283)
10/31 – Purdue 37-0 (381/141)
11/7 – at Indiana 31-28 (488/386)
11/14 – Michigan
11/21 – at Northwestern
12/5 – at Hawaii

18. Pittsburgh
9/5 – Youngstown St. 38-3 (390/159)
9/12 – at Buffalo 54-27 (381/500)
9/19 – Navy 27-14 (369/218)
9/26 – at NC State 31-38 (300/530)
10/2 – at Louisville 35-10 (404/305)
10/10 – UConn 24-21 (489/303)
10/16 – at Rutgers 24-17 (376/286)
10/24 – South Florida 41-14 (486/212)
11/7 – Syracuse 37-10 (481/285)
11/14 – Notre Dame
11/27 – at West Virginia
12/5 – Cincinnati

19. Oklahoma State
9/5 – Georgia 24-10 (307/257)
9/12 – Houston 35-45 (434/512)
9/19 – Rice 41-24 (351/377)
9/26 – Grambling St. 56-6 (587/260)
10/10 – at Texas A&M 36-31 (448/382)
10/17 – Missouri 33-17 (351/393)
10/24 – Baylor 34-7 (445/284)
10/31 – Texas 14-41 (277/275)
11/7 – at Iowa St. 34-8 (473/242)
11/14 – Texas Tech
11/19 – Colorado
11/28 – at Oklahoma

20. Arizona
9/5 – Central Michigan 19-6 (448/182)
9/12 – Northern Arizona 34-17 (559/226)
9/19 – at Iowa 17-27 (253/338)
9/26 – at Oregon St. 37-32 (388/407)
10/10 – at Washington 33-36 (461/256)
10/17 – Stanford 43-38 (553/584)
10/24 – UCLA 27-13 (456/211)
11/7 – Washington St. 48-7 (471/185)
11/14 – at Cal
11/21 – Oregon
11/28 – at Arizona St.
12/5 – at USC

21. Virginia Tech
9/5 – Alabama (in Atlanta, GA) 24-34 (155/498)
9/12 – Marshall 52-10 (605/252)
9/19 – Nebraska 16-15 (278/343)
9/26 – Miami 31-7 (370/209)
10/3 – at Duke 34-26 (477/397)
10/10 – Boston College 48-14 (441/163)
10/17 – at Georgia Tech 23-28 (334/360)
10/29 – North Carolina 17-20 (256/312)
11/5 – at East Carolina 16-3 (379/277)
11/14 – at Maryland
11/21 – NC State
11/28 – at Virginia

22. Oregon St.
9/5 – Portland St. 34-7 (433/351)
9/12 – at UNLV 23-21 (382/310)
9/19 – Cincinnati 18-28 (344/408)
9/26 – Arizona 32-37 (407/388)
10/3 – at Arizona St. 28-17 (295/406)
10/10 – Stanford 38-28 (463/375)
10/24 – at USC 36-42 (482/429)
10/31 – UCLA 26-19 (463/374)
11/7 – at Cal 31-14 (436/239)
11/14 – Washington
11/21 – at Washington St.
12/3 – at Oregon

23. Auburn
9/5 – Louisiana Tech 37-13 (556/245)
9/12 – Mississippi St. 49-24 (589/297)
9/19 – West Virginia 41-30 (400/509)
9/26 – Ball St. 54-30 (560/260)
10/3 – at Tennessee 26-22 (449/410)
10/10 – at Arkansas 23-44 (375/495)
10/17 – Kentucky 14-21(315/357)
10/24 – at LSU 10-31 (193/376)
10/31 – Mississippi 33-20 (401/394)
11/7 – Furman 63-31 (655/266)
11/14 – at Georgia
11/27 - Alabama

24. Clemson
9/5 – Middle Tennessee St. 37-14 (361/299)
9/10 – at Georgia Tech 27-30 (386/418)
9/19 – Boston College 25-7 (253/54)
9/26 – TCU 10-14 (309/388)
10/3 – at Maryland 21-24 (274/284)
10/17 – Wake Forest 38-3 (382/178)
10/24 – at Miami 40-37 OT (410/433)
10/31 – Coastal Carolina 49-3 (400/170)
11/7 – Florida St. 40-24 (483/392)
11/14 – at NC State
11/21 – Virginia
11/28 – at South Carolina

25. BYU
9/5 – Oklahoma (in Arlington, TX) 14-13 (357/265)
9/12 – at Tulane 54-3 (527/162)
9/19 – Florida St. 28-54 (473/512)
9/26 – Colorado St. 42-23 (373/438)
10/2 – Utah St. 35-17 (431/322)
10/10 – at UNLV 59-21 (611/337)
10/17 – at San Diego St. 38-28 (512/342)
10/24 – TCU 7-38 (298/412)
11/7 – at Wyoming 52-0 (543/225)
11/14 – at New Mexico
11/21 – Air Force
11/28 – Utah

Dropped Out:
21. Notre Dame
9/5 – Nevada 35-0 (510/307)
9/12 – at Michigan 34-38 (490/430)
9/19 – Michigan St. 33-30 (304/354)
9/26 – at Purdue 24-21 (383/363)
10/3 – Washington 37-30 OT (530/457)
10/17 – USC 27-34 (367/501)
10/24 – Boston College 20-16 (352/349)
10/31 – Washington St. 40-14 (592/206)
11/7 – Navy 21-23 (512/404)
11/14 – at Pittsburgh
11/21 – UConn
11/28 – at Stanford

23. Cal
9/5 – Maryland 52-13 (542/303)
9/12 – Eastern Washington 59-7 (507/235)
9/19 – at Minnesota 35-21 (415/270)
9/26 – at Oregon 3-42 (207/524)
10/3 – USC 3-30 (285/457)
10/17 – at UCLA 45-26 (494/448)
10/24 – Washington St. 49-17 (559/440)
10/31 – at Arizona St. 23-21 (351/247)
11/7 – Oregon St. 14-31 (239/436)
11/14 – Arizona
11/21 – at Stanford
12/5 – at Washington

25. Oklahoma
9/5 – BYU (in Arlington, TX) 13-14 (265/357)
9/12 – Idaho St. 64-0 (564/44)
9/19 – Tulsa 45-0 (529/269)
10/3 – at Miami 20-21 (341/342)
10/10 – Baylor 33-7 (592/268)
10/17 – Texas 13-16 (311/269)
10/24 – at Kansas 35-13 (337/305)
10/31 – Kansas St. 42-30 (458/364)
11/7 – at Nebraska 3-10 (325/180)
11/14 – Texas A&M
11/21 – at Texas Tech
11/28 – Oklahoma St.

PSU Review: Ohio State

2009-11-09T07:11:00.000-05:00

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.

Penn State Unveils “Doomsday Machine”

2009-11-09T01:36:00.003-05:00

(University Park, PA) Scientists around the world are excited by the news coming out of central Pennsylvania yesterday. Coaches designed an offense went so far into a shell it actually collapsed in on itself temporarily creating black holes repeatedly throughout Saturday’s contest against Ohio State. A CERN spokesman was quoted as saying, “we’re left feeling a bit silly actually, we had thought that we needed to build large devices such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to observe such small phenomena, when, it seems, the same results could have been produced on the much smaller scale of an American Football field.”

Asked after the game why there was not a concerted effort to push the ball down the field, even when trailing by more than one score late in the third quarter, Jay Paterno responded, “I think we mesmerized by the scientific breakthroughs we were achieving out there. That’s the kind of thing you work your whole life to see just once and we did it almost every time the offense lined up. The possibilities of what could be uncovered in the future by our discovery are limitless” For his part, Jim Tressel seemed gracious, “I’m jealous, I’ve been on the verge of that achievement so many times and darn it they beat me to it, but I’m really happy for Joe. If I couldn’t do it, I’m glad he’s the one that beat me. I'll just have to settle for a victory in the game this year.”

The crowd seemed less enthused as they began streaming out early in the second half. “I came to watch a football game, not participate in an experiment,” claimed an unnamed spectator, “you’re playing God, I’d prefer not to be witness to Armageddon if they inadvertently end up creating a black hole large enough to consume the solar system. It’s just wrong, you’re messing with powers you don’t fully comprehend.” Early review of the data indicates no such threat exists, but the staff is still awaiting endorsement by the American Physical Society. Regardless, Police are expecting throngs of protesters to flood the area this Saturday for Penn State’s contest against Indiana.

It’s officially Cael’s team

2009-11-06T07:03:00.000-05:00

Cael Sanderson's squad took the first step in the 2009-2010 season last night, competing in the Intrasquad Dual in Rec Hall in front of approximately 2400 fans. I can remember regular season dual meets that didn't draw that many fans but I digress. It was great to see Cael roaming the gym floor of Rec Hall and even better to hear his name announced as the coach of the Nittany Lions. There is a serious buzz around Penn State Wrestling, so much so you can almost feel it.

But enough about that, there was actual wrestling to report on even though it was just a glorified scrimmage that may (or may not) determine who wrestles at each weight. Sanderson believes most or all of his incoming freshman class and a couple current wrestlers will redshirt this season. So we got a chance to see a sneak peek at the future and things are looking good. While the future is bright, the present is… not so much. First the results:

174: Justin Ortega dec. David Erwin, 6-2
184: Ed Ruth maj. dec. J.R. Brown, 10-1
Exhib 184: Quentin Wright dec. David Crowell, 8-2
197: Luke Macchiaroli dec. Clay Steadman, 5-3
285: #20 Cameron Wade tech. fall Brendan Herlihy, 15-0 (7:00)
125: #8 Brad Pataky tech. fall Tom Reynolds, 16-1 (3:17)
133: Tyler Saltsman dec. Bryan Pearsall, 6-4 (SV)
141: Adam Lynch inj. def. Colby Pisani, (Pisani cramping)
149: #6 Frank Molinaro maj. dec. James English, 12-4
157: #5 Cyler Sanderson dec. David Taylor, 11-4
165: Jake Kemerer dec. #9 Dan Vallimont, 4-3

Ed Ruth, Luke Macchiaroli, and Jake Kemerer are all incoming freshman expected to redshirt which is unfortunate because they would all be wrestling at their respective weight classes. David Taylor is another of the incoming freshman, he and Quentin Wright are also expected to redshirt. While Taylor didn't win he wrestled extremely well for a true freshman wrestling against the fifth ranked wrestler in the nation. Taylor showed why he was ranked the top recruit in the nation by riding Sanderson out the entire third period. Give him a year to adjust to college wrestling and David Taylor is going to be something special.

As for the guys that remain, Ortega was a big surprise beating out David Erwin and Dan Vallimont needs to step things up. Vallimont has definitely not bought into Sanderson's offensive style of wrestling. Vallimont has always been a defensive wrestler that wins close matches even against far less talented wrestlers and Kemerer showed what happens when you let someone hang around. Jake got the winning takedown with just 5 seconds left.

David Crowell is a transfer from Pitt and won't be eligible until January and when he is he will probably have the spot at 184, until then J.R. Brown is the only option. Expect big gaping holes at 197, 133, and 141. Sanderson has said that the core team of returning ranked wrestlers could still make a run but referring to this team as a "real strong tournament team" as he has in the past is just another way of saying PSU is in bad shape in dual meets because of the holes in the lineup.

It's going to be an interesting year nonetheless, and the Sanderson era has just begun. Great things come to those that wait and for Penn State Wrestling fans, we've been waiting for greatness a long, long time; what's another year or two?

PSU-OSU without rain?!?

2009-11-05T14:12:00.002-05:00

For once it's looking more and more like it's going to be a beautiful day Saturday.

Take that with a grain of salt, I got the forecast from not-so-AccuWeather who I'm losing faith in at an alarming rate. At the very least it won't be bitterly cold.

An obligatory look at Ohio State

2009-11-04T06:45:00.001-05:00

About the University

The Ohio State University was founded in 1870 as a land-grant university in accordance with the Morrill Act of 1862 under the name of the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. The school was originally situated within a farming community located on the northern edge of Columbus. While some interests in the state had hoped that the new university would focus on matriculating students of various agricultural and mechanical disciplines, Governor Rutherford B. Hayes foresaw a more classic, comprehensive university, and manipulated both the university's location and its initial board of trustees towards that end. Later that year, the university welcomed its first class of 24 students. In 1878, and in light of its expanded focus, the college permanently changed its name to the now-familiar "The Ohio State University" (with the article "The" as part of its official name).

So the "The" is officially part of the name, and you thought it was just arrogance.

Cool Fact

Ohio State's "Buckeye Bullet" electric car broke the world record for the fastest speed by an electric vehicle on October 3, 2004 with a speed of 271.737 mph (437.3 km/h) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The vehicle also holds the US record for fastest electric vehicle with a speed of 314.958 mph (506.9 km/h), and peak timed mile speed of 321.834 mph (517.9 km/h). The vehicle was designed, built and managed by a team of engineering students at the university's "Center for Automotive Research-Intelligent Transportation" (CAR-IT).

Football related datum

Current Record: 7 – 2
Last year's Record: 10 – 3: lost to Texas in the Fiesta Bowl

The scary side of things

Sorry, I'm contractually obligated to post this picture

Terrelle Pryor's legs: Pryor leads the team in rushing with 554 yards and 6 touchdowns but in the Buckeyes two losses he was held for a combined 70 yards on 31 carries or just over 2 yards per attempt while being sacked 5 times. Running back Brandon Saine also has 439 yards and Dan Herron leads the team with 6 TD's. Ohio State can run the ball and score coming in 4^th in the conference in rushing offense and 2^nd only to Michigan in scoring.

Defense, defense, defense: Ohio State's recipe for success has been a simple one: play strong defense, control the game and wait for the offense to grind out some points. justaOSU is stingy when they get a lead: the Buckeyes are second in the conference to Penn State in rushing, passing, total, and scoring defense. DL Thaddeus Gibson leads the Buckeyes with 4 sacks and 9.5 TFL and the Buckeyes as a team are 3^rd in the conference with 25 sacks, the offensive line will have their work cut out for them.

The not-so-scary side of things

Terrelle Pryor's arm: while he has improved since last season, TP isn't going to blow teams away throwing the ball. justaOSU is 10^th in the conference and 94^th in the nation in passing offense and that's all on Pryor. When Pryor is on he becomes a multi-dimensional threat that's hard to stop, the thing is, he's seldom on and when you get pressure on him he falls apart fast. While he has thrown 13 TD's he's also thrown 9 picks.

Not so special teams: Normally an injury doesn't make "an obligatory look" but there's a very big one for the Suckeyes. Kicker Aaron Pettrey tore his MCL in the game against New Mexico State.

Pettrey leads the Big Ten in kicker scoring with 8 points per game and has converted 13 of 17 field-goal attempts and 28 of 29 extra-point attempts. He's a weapon from long distance, connecting on 6 of 8 field-goal attempts from beyond 40 yards.

That's a huge loss, one that will affect the offensive game plan. Without its proven long range kicker OSU will probably be going for it if they get inside Penn State territory.

Game Outlook

Earlier in the season I thought the justaOSU game was a definite loss but after watching the shocking Purdue debacle I'm swinging the other way (it's a figure of speech, spare me the jokes). For Ohio State the game plan is the same as it has been all season: control Penn State's offense, force a turnover or two and hope the OSU running game can score a couple times. For Penn State, they have to control the strong defensive line especially in passing downs and hold onto the ball. Pressure Pryor and make him beat them with his arm. For the love of God, please throw away the Bend and then Break Our Hearts defense and bring some controlled pressure, don't let Pryor sit back in the pocket and get comfortable. TP has the propensity to heave the ball in the general direction of the defense without any particular target in mind. When he does, pounce on it.

TNL's Prediction

Penn State 24
justa Ohio State U 14

Penn State fans are ‘fierce’

2009-11-03T06:42:00.001-05:00

I guess all those rumors about the way Penn State fans treat Ohio State (fans, band, and football players) must have some merit to them. At least that's what OSU offensive tackle Jim Cordle would have you believe.

"The term we use around here is black flag city. You obviously have to keep your head on a swivel, close ranks and just focus in. On the bus ride there, you come up a hill, then down by the stadium, and our bus is getting rocked. We're getting all kinds of beers thrown at us.

"Then you get to the locker room, and it's pretty bad. It's this old little shack under the bleachers. When you're walking out to the field, they have old steel bleachers you can see through, and people just line up and let you have it.
"Then, on the field, you see the whiteout. They get 'Zombie Nation' going, and obviously, that's the most feared stadium to play in. There's a lot of fierceness in those fans."

For the life of me, I've been going to Penn State football games for 20 years and I've watched the opposing teams come into the stadium and I've never seen this kind of thing happen. I'm not saying it doesn't, I'm saying I've never personally witnessed it. Honestly, if you're reading this and you're one of the one's throwing beer at OSU's bus shame on you for two reasons: 1) you're making Penn State fans look like assholes and 2) you're wasting perfectly good beer. You should be shot for #2. Being fierce and intimidating in the stadium is one thing, being a dick outside is something completely different, and anyone that is needs to take a long look in the mirror.

PSU Review: Northwestern

2009-11-02T06:52:00.000-05:00

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.

Blogpoll Draft: Back In The Swing Of It

2009-10-26T20:00:00.003-04:00

Nothing refreshes like a full Saturday watching every game you can get your eyes on. It's especially sweet when your team is ripping it up. Not sure what to do with Oregon and USC, so I'll let this week take of it for me. Any other curiosities, throw in the comments. Corrections, suggestions and objections are always welcome.

Games Watched: Florida St./North Carolina, Rutgers/Army, Minnesota/Ohio St., South Florida/Pitt, Penn St./Michigan, Boston College/Notre Dame, Tennessee/Alabama, Clemson/Miami, Iowa/Michigan St., Florida/Mississippi St., Auburn/LSU, Texas/Missouri and Oregon St./USC.

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Florida
2	Alabama
3	Iowa
4	Texas
5	Cincinnati
6	TCU	3
7	Boise State	1
8	Oregon	1
9	Southern Cal	1
10	Georgia Tech	1
11	LSU	1
12	Penn State	1
13	Virginia Tech	1
14	Miami (Florida)	4
15	Houston
16	Oklahoma State
17	Utah
18	Ohio State	2
19	Wisconsin	4
20	Pittsburgh	4
21	West Virginia
22	Arizona
23	Notre Dame
24	Central Michigan
25	South Carolina
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Brigham Young (#18), Nebraska (#19), Kansas (#21), Missouri (#22), Auburn (#25).

Moving Up:
TCU - The cream of the Non-BCS schools. Still have a game against Utah that could be trouble but appears to be clear sailing otherwise at this point.

Big East - Meh, someone had to fill slots I previous filled with atrocious Big 12 North schools. Hey, look Central Michigan popped up there too.

Moving Down:

Boise State - The slide continues. Oregon and then what? Maybe the AD should be looking for a Mountain West invitation.

Big 12 North - Do they really need to have a representative in the Big 12 Championship? Will the winner even be bowl eligible?

11/7 – at Indiana
11/14 – Michigan
11/21 – at Northwestern
12/5 – at Hawaii

20. Pittsburgh
9/5 – Youngstown St. 38-3 (390/159)
9/12 – at Buffalo 54-27 (381/500)
9/19 – Navy 27-14 (369/218)
9/26 – at NC State 31-38 (300/530)
10/2 – at Louisville 35-10 (404/305)
10/10 – UConn 24-21 (489/303)
10/16 – at Rutgers 24-17 (376/286)
10/24 – South Florida 41-14 (486/212)
11/7 – Syracuse
11/14 – Notre Dame
11/27 – at West Virginia
12/5 – Cincinnati

21. West Virginia
9/5 – Liberty 33-20 (438/299)
9/12 – East Carolina 35-20 (509/237)
9/19 – at Auburn 30-41 (509/400)
10/1 – Colorado 35-24 (405/392)
10/10 – at Syracuse 34-13 (385/222)
10/17 – Marshall 24-7 (313/207)
10/24 – UConn 28-24 (387/501)
10/30 – at South Florida
11/7 – Louisville
11/13 – at Cincinnati
11/27 – Pittsburgh
12/5 – at Rutgers

22. Arizona
9/5 – Central Michigan 19-6 (448/182)
9/12 – Northern Arizona 34-17 (559/226)
9/19 – at Iowa 17-27 (253/338)
9/26 – at Oregon St. 37-32 (388/407)
10/10 – at Washington 33-36 (461/256)
10/17 – Stanford 43-38 (553/584)
10/24 – UCLA 27-13 (456/211)
11/7 – Washington St.
11/14 – at Cal
11/21 – Oregon
11/28 – at Arizona St.
12/5 – at USC

23. Notre Dame
9/5 – Nevada 35-0 (510/307)
9/12 – at Michigan 34-38 (490/430)
9/19 – Michigan St. 33-30 (304/354)
9/26 – at Purdue 24-21 (383/363)
10/3 – Washington 37-30 OT (530/457)
10/17 – USC 27-34 (367/501)
10/24 – Boston College 20-16 (352/349)
10/31 – Washington St.
11/7 – Navy
11/14 – at Pittsburgh
11/21 – UConn
11/28 – at Stanford

24. Central Michigan
9/5 – at Arizona 6-19 (182/448)
9/12 – at Michigan St. 29-27 (418/316)
9/19 – Alcorn St. 48-0 (319/136)
9/26 – Akron 48-21 (523/196)
10/3 – at Buffalo 20-13 (412/433)
10/10 – Eastern Michigan 56-8 (521/255)
10/17 – at Western Michigan 34-23 (426/497)
10/24 – at Bowling Green 24-10 (406/363)
10/31 – at Boston College
11/11 – Toledo
11/18 – at Ball St.
11/27 – Northern Illinois

25. South Carolina
9/3 – at NC State 7-3 (256/133)
9/12 – at Georgia 37-41 (427/308)
9/19 – Florida Atlantic 38-16 (516/307)
9/24 – Ole Miss 16-10 (285/248)
10/3 – South Carolina St. 38-14 (377/326)
10/10 – Kentucky 28-26 (361/360)
10/17 – at Alabama 6-20 (378/356)
10/24 – Vanderbilt 14-10 (431/273)
10/31 – at Tennessee
11/7 – at Arkansas
11/14 – Florida
11/28 – Clemson

Dropped Out:
18. BYU
9/5 – Oklahoma (in Arlington, TX) 14-13 (357/265)
9/12 – at Tulane 54-3 (527/162)
9/19 – Florida St. 28-54 (473/512)
9/26 – Colorado St. 42-23 (373/438)
10/2 – Utah St. 35-17 (431/322)
10/10 – at UNLV 59-21 (611/337)
10/17 – at San Diego St. 38-28 (512/342)
10/24 – TCU 7-38 (298/412)
11/7 – at Wyoming
11/14 – at New Mexico
11/21 – Air Force
11/28 – Utah

19. Nebraska
9/5 – Florida Atlantic 49-3 (490/358)
9/12 Arkansas St. 38-9 (494/274)
9/19 – at Virginia Tech 15-16 (343/278)
9/26 – Louisiana-Lafayette 55-0 (433/222)
10/8 – at Missouri 27-12 (263/225)
10/17 – Texas Tech 10-31 (285/259)
10/24 – Iowa St. 7-9 (362/239)
10/31 – at Baylor
11/7 – Oklahoma
11/14 – at Kansas
11/21 – Kansas St.
11/28 – at Colorado

22. Missouri
9/5 – Illinois (in St. Louis, MO) 37-9 (442/325)
9/12 – Bowling Green 27-20 (353/320)
9/19 – Furman 52-12 (525/398)
9/25 – at Nevada 31-21 (492/364)
10/8 – Nebraska 12-27 (225/263)
10/17 – at Oklahoma St. 17-31 (393/351)
10/24 – Texas 7-41 (173/400)
10/31 – at Colorado
11/7 – Baylor
11/14 – at Kansas St.
11/21 – Iowa St.
11/28 – Kansas

21. Kansas
9/5 – North Colorado 49-3 (547/246)
9/12 – at UTEP 34-7 (576/208)
9/19 – Duke 44-16 (490/394)
9/26 – Southern Miss 35-28 (433/395)
10/10 – Iowa St. 41-36 (551/512)
10/17 – at Colorado 30-34 (423/322)
10/24 – Oklahoma 13-35 (305/337)
10/31 – at Texas Tech
11/7 – at Kansas St.
11/14 – Nebraska
11/21 – at Texas
11/28 – Missouri

25. Auburn
9/5 – Louisiana Tech 37-13 (556/245)
9/12 – Mississippi St. 49-24 (589/297)
9/19 – West Virginia 41-30 (400/509)
9/26 – Ball St. 54-30 (560/260)
10/3 – at Tennessee 26-22 (449/410)
10/10 – at Arkansas 23-44 (375/495)
10/17 – Kentucky 14-21(315/357)
10/24 – at LSU 10-31 (193/376)
10/31 – Mississippi
11/7 – Furman
11/14 – at Georgia
11/27 - Alabama

Pardon the disruption

2009-10-26T06:56:00.000-04:00

This is one of those weeks that real life is dropping the hammer on me so I promise nothing this week I'm crazy busy. Suffice it to say Penn State played the best game of the year (for the second week in a row). After a shaky start allowing Michigan to march right down the field (and causing me great anguish… with swearing) they turned things on and dominated from there. The only complaint I have is the incredibly stupid coaching right before half. Penn State gets the ball back with enough time to drive the length of the field, Daryll Clark is in total destruction mode and the coaches pucker up and run the ball. Sorry, when your QB is lighting things up you have to take an aggressive attitude.

Other than that, no worries mate. Penn State is playing lights out right now and they probably can cruise until OSU in a couple weeks. Oh, one more thing, can we finally put all the "Michigan has our number" BS behind us now? Two dominating wins, one at home and one on the road, should be enough to quiet any critics. Now if we can just do something about Iowa.

Former Foes

2009-10-23T10:37:00.002-04:00

Time to take a weekly look back at Penn State's past competition. So how is Temple doing anyway?

Akron (1-5)
Lost to Buffalo 21-17

Akron was so close to getting off the "pile of suck" but their 3^rd quarter 17-14 lead was nullified by a touchdown run by Buffalo running back Mario Henry with 6 minutes to play. Zip quarterback Patrick "not so" Nicely threw two interceptions and competed only half his passes (17/34). Buffalo WR Naaman Roosevelt became the Bulls all-time career receptions leader with 12 catches for an even 100 yards. Akron now gets another Former Foe when they travel to take on Syracuse.

Next up: Syracuse (2-4)

Syracuse (2-4)

Bye

Next up: Akron (1-5)

Temple (4-2)
Beat Army 27-13

Woo Hooo!! Temple is helping the strength of schedule baby! Ok, not really but they are getting ever so close to bowl eligible, a big step for coach Al Golden. Temple has won 4 straight, their longest winning streak since 1985. Think about that for a minute, that's a long time on the "pile of suck" that Akron now resides. It wasn't easy either, Temple stopped Army on fourth down, then had an interception overturned by replay, and then scored the go-ahead touchdown three plays later. Owl QB Vaughn Charlton was picked off but a flag that was thrown for pass interference was picked up because the ball was tipped, or so the officials thought. After review it was determined that the ball wasn't tipped and the penalty stood. Charlton then found TE Steve Maneri for a 6-yard touchdown pass with 7:25 left to take the lead after the game was tied in the third quarter. Charlton only completed 8 passes for 115 yards but two of them were TD's. Temple used the good luck and good defense for their fourth victory.

Next up: Toledo (4-3)

Iowa (7-0)
Beat Wisconsin 20-10

Hey, another game another come from behind victory for the Hawkeyes. It's getting to be a broken record for Iowa. Tight End Tony Moeaki, who was held without a catch in the first half, caught the game tying score and anther long pass to set up a field goal. The Iowa defense, who let Wisconsin score 10 first half points, held the Badgers scoreless in the second half to take their record to 7-0. Stanzi was his usual efficient self completing 17 of 23 passes for 218 yards and the Moeaki TD. WR Derrell Johnson-Koulianos caught 8 of those passes for 113 yards.

Next Up: Michigan State (4-3)

Illinois (1-4)
Lost to Indiana 27-14

Maybe that Penn State victory over Illinois isn't looking so good anymore. Hoosier QB Ben Chappell had a career night against the Fighting Zooker defense throwing for 333 yards and 3 TD's. Indiana scored 4 times in a row (3 TD's, 1 FG) in the second and fourth quarters to take a 27-7 lead before cruising to the final. WR's Tandon Doss and Damarlo Belcher each had TD catches and combined for 221 yards receiving. Juice Williams returned to the starting lineup but fumbled twice in the second half.

Next Up: Purdue (2-5)

Eastern Illinois

Played somebody, don't really care.

Next Up: somebody else (some record)

Blue & White Roundtable: The Stinking Weasel Edition

2009-10-23T07:12:00.001-04:00

Its hate the Weasel week and several Roundtablers have fielded questions, as a matter of fact each question is from a different blog. Since it's a collaborated effort, be sure to check out all the other answers.

W. F. Yurasko
Happy Hour Valley
Zombie Nation
Nittany Whiteout
Penn State Clips
2 The Lion

(1) The Penn State offensive line looked awful against a very good Iowa defense. They looked pretty good over the last three games, against the Big Ten's two worst defenses and a I-AA scrimmage. This week they face a decent, but not great, Michigan defense. Is the O-line up to the challenge and can they block Brandon Graham?

I think it's safe to say that at this point the line has officially come together. Against Iowa they had not found cohesion yet and the coaches were still juggling people around. Despite some injuries the line has come along very well and is starting to open up some big holes. Last week was Royster's best game of the season, part of which must be attributed to the line. We can talk about how bad Minnesota's defense is, and they are, but they are a Big Ten defense and they do have athletes, some credit must be given to the line. Having said that, the Michigan line isn't a world beater, the offensive line should have success against them. The Wolverine defense isn't one of the Big Ten's best, if Penn State can't move the ball on them, especially in the second half there's something seriously wrong.

(2) Eric Decker was (for the most part) not a factor in the Minnesota game. Was this due to the weather, his being "over rated" or has PSU's secondary, primarily AJ Wallace, benefitted from the extra practice and challenges from the coaches?

I don't think anyone with half a brain would consider Eric Decker "overrated," he's basically the entire offense for Minnesota and he's done that all year, except last week. Eventually you have to give Penn State's secondary, and particularly A.J. Wallace, some credit. Wallace did a fine job against Decker and Paterno noted that in his press conference this week. But that was one threat that Penn State neutralized, this week is a different problem altogether. Michigan really spreads the ball around so pass coverage will be a team effort. Not only will the defense have to worry about the spread pass but Michigan leads the Big Ten in rushing so they will have to worry about a multi-dimensional offense. It's definitely a bigger challenge this week.

3) Tate Forcier captured the eyes of America with some phenomenal late play in some of Michigan's earlier games, with his last-second touchdown drive against Notre Dame drawing enormous praise to the true freshman. However, he found himself riding the bench in the fourth quarter last week against Iowa, and Penn State has been strong against the pass all year. How will the Penn State defense fair at containing Forcier, who is a true dual-threat quarterback?

Well, Forcier is really a pass first kind of dual-threat quarterback but Penn State will most certainly have to respect his running abilities. Although he's done extremely well for a true freshman he has made his share of mistakes and he didn't look good against Iowa who had the best defense he's faced all year. Penn State will give him problems but I don't expect the kind of performance he had against Iowa. Look, it's Michigan – Penn State, can you remember a game in this series that Michigan didn't play well? Michigan always, always, always brings their A-game against Penn State. Don't ask me why, I have no idea, they'll lay an egg against the team they play the following week but they'll play like national champs against Penn State.

Blog Chips hearts JoePa

2009-10-22T06:46:00.000-04:00

I was going to do my Former Foes post today because I know all of you are waiting with bated breath for my Akron – Buffalo analysis but there are some good things in these here intertubes today. Let's start with the on the field stuff.

OMG!! I didn't even know he was hurt!

File this under "I didn't know and I'm glad I didn't":

Penn State linebacker Sean Lee is practicing and expects to play this weekend against Michigan despite tweaking his sprained left knee last week… Lee played mostly on passing downs, finishing with two tackles.
Lee said Wednesday he "felt a little twinge" in the knee on his last play against the Gophers. Lee has felt some soreness, though he hopes to ease into more playing time as the season progresses.

So he was hurt worse than I thought but seems to be ok, good. Now is not the time to "ease" into anything, it's Michigan and Penn State will need everyone to win.

Confidence is good - QUIET Confidence!!!

Of all people to make a comment that would make the Michigan bulletin board, I would least expect Evan Royster:

"We have to go there with a confident attitude," Royster said Tuesday. "It's not to make anybody mad or anything like that. We feel we are the better team, and we want to show we're one of the better teams in the country. We have to beat Michigan to do that."

Ok, not the "I guarantee a win" type of trash talk but could he have chose his words a little more carefully, it definitely got some attention.

When he was told of Royster's remarks, Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham responded sternly.
"Oh, he's just going to have to show it," Graham said. "They better come hard because we're coming. I just don't think they really know how much we've prepared and how much we've been waiting for this game since last year.
"If he feels pretty confident, he better prepare. That's all I can say."

Greeeaaaaattttttt. That's what Michigan needs in a series they won 90000 in a row: motivation.

All those years of yelling at the TV have finally paid off

On any given Saturday my friends have told me time and time again that the officials that are blowing easy calls working the game I'm watching can, in fact, not hear my screaming lines of incoherent expletives, but apparently SEC commissioner Mike Slive heard me.

The Southeastern Conference has suspended officials from last weekend's Arkansas-Florida game after the crew was involved in its second controversial call of the year.
Referee Marc Curles' crew called a personal foul on Arkansas defensive lineman Malcolm Sheppard in the fourth quarter as the Gators were rallying for a 23-20 victory. The league said there was no video evidence to support the call.
The same group of officials called the LSU-Georgia game earlier this month, which included a late unsportsmanlike conduct penalty the league said shouldn't have been called.

FUCKING A!!! It's about time SOMEONE steps up and says enough is enough. This was the first time the SEC has publicly suspended a crew. So why?

"I believe our officiating program is the best in the country. However, there are times when these actions must be taken….The entire crew shoulders responsibility for each play. I have taken this action because there must be accountability in our officiating program," Slive said. "Our institutions expect the highest level of officiating in all of our sports and it is the duty of the conference office to uphold that expectation."

This is a giant chocolate covered sundae of awesomeness and there's a big ass, sweet as pure sugar cherry on top of this baby:

The league said the crew's bowl assignments could also be impacted.

That's right motherfuckers you're doing the Petro Sun Independence Bowl in Shreveport Louisiana, bitches!

Suck…

on….

that!!!

Geeeee, could you see the Big Ten doing this? No fucking way, not with our worthless commissioner, no Mr. Delaney turns his head closes his eyes and says everything's fine.

God, this puts a smile on my face and makes my week, THANK YOU Mike Slive! For your efforts Mr. Slive, you are now the proud owner of the TNL Balls of Steel award. We salute you.

Molder of men

Joe Paterno has been a hero of mine since I was a small lad, not because he's a football coach but because he's a great football coach who seriously cares for his kids. He's always put the lives of his football players first and I've been a critic of his in the past but every now and then it's a good idea to take a step back away from the wins and losses and remember how much he means to Penn State. Sports Illustrated has a fantastic article on Joe Paterno you simply must read (got the link through Penn State's Facebook page btw). Case in point:

In 2000, something changed. In the fifth game of that season—a struggle of a season for Penn State—a gifted freshman cornerback named Adam Taliaferro dived headfirst to make a tackle against Ohio State. He broke his neck and bruised his spinal cord. He was paralyzed. Doctors said he had almost no chance of walking again.
Joe was heartbroken. He realized that in many ways he had lived a charmed life: A loving wife. Five healthy children. A job that did not feel like a job. And, feeling charmed, he drove his players, pushed them, demanded more from them on the field. Hit harder! Ignore pain! Be tougher! "The first time I ever saw my father cry was when his mother died," Jay Paterno says. "Then there was the time Adam got hurt."

God bless you Joe.

One great coach on the way out, another just getting started

Wrestling season is fast approaching, in fact the Intrasquad match (formerly the wrestle-offs) are on Nov 5^th. You'll start to see a lot more focus on wrestling here at TNL as the season gets closer. The excitement is building to a feverous pitch right now and if you are a wrestling fan I suggest you get your season tickets now, I suspect a lot of tickets will be sold this year and next, and I also have a sneaking suspicion this will be the last year we watch the Nittany Lions in Rec Hall.

Cael Sanderson starts his inaugural season and there's definitely a feeling of change in the air.

Bubba Jenkins admits he wasn't even in shape at this point last season.
Each practice, even though the season has not started, has been harder than last year's most difficult practice, redshirt sophomore Clay Steadman said.

Sanderson is not only pushing the limits in the wrestling room he's also demanding discipline outside it.

The wrestlers were used to training for an extended period of time in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex, but not spending a Friday night there for breaking a team rule.
Welcome to the Penn State wrestling team's version of Friday Night Lights.
The itinerary entails sweeping the filth off the practice mats with a broom, cleaning with a mop and running up and down the length of the four giant practice mats, paper towel in hand, to dry the floor.
After cleaning, wrestlers study in the bleachers of the facility, without any conversation, cell phones or iPods.

Sounds like you have to break some serious rules to get something as grueling as Friday Night Lights, right? Wrong.

It's something you don't want to get, but it's really easy to get," freshman wrestler Ed Ruth said. "As soon as you get it, you're like, 'I've got Friday Night Lights.'
Jenkins had to attend Friday Night Lights for arriving at a meeting two minutes before it started. Under Sanderson, wrestlers must show up five minutes before any team meeting.

That's right you get in trouble for showing up to a meeting EARLY, but not early enough. One thing is for sure, there will be discipline in this wrestling team.