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Preview: Michigan State vs. Penn State

LVS — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:20:02 -0000

about 1 month ago: Michigan State's Keshawn Martin (82) scores a touchdown on a 48-yard pass reception during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Western Michigan, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State won 49-14. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

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Your MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS vs. the PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS

SPARTAN STADIUM, EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN

3:30 (ET), ABC (coverage map)

WEATHER: 52 DEGREES AT KICKOFF, TEMPERATURE FALLING AFTER DUSK.

Hey, a game that's not the most important of the season! Your Spartans obviously did the heavy lifting last week against Purdue; in all likelihood, this game is not about whether MSU will make a bowl, but rather, about whether we're going to San Antonio or Orlando or, of course, rollin' down Woodward to Ford Field (!). Penn State, after a season that has to be characterized as quite disappointing, amazingly still has a shot at a BCS berth. You know the backstory: last season, PSU absolutely demolished us; the season before, however, was good times:

It appears that the play-by-play guy attended the Joe Buck school of announcing excitement. Also, I miss Devin Thomas.

So, here cometh TEH GREATEST RIVALRY GAME IN ALL TEH LAND, and the opportunity to beat a team with a pulse for the first time this season. (Says the guy whose team's best win is against Temple. w00t.) The 8-million member PSU blogosphere and commentariat seems surprisingly reticent about this game. But, after last week's defensive fiasco I'm simply not comfortable picking us to win against teams with competent offenses. Penn State is such a team. I'd love to be proven wrong.

More, after the jump.

Big game plz, Colin.

WHEN MICHIGAN STATE IS ON DEFENSE: At this point, I think the secondary is probably going to suck no matter what we do, so we might as well stack the box to try to stop the run and get as much pressure on Darryl Clark as possible. Indeed, as RUTS told us, this is what you want to do with Clark:

He's like about any other good, but not great, quarterback. If he has a clean pocket and can set his feet, he's as good as anyone in the country. If he gets hit too much, he gets rattled and starts making bad decisions with the ball. In that sense, he can be knocked back into looking like a talented quarterback in his second or third start -- he thinks he can make throws that he can't actually pull off.

Clark struggled mightily in the Iowa and Ohio State games--and even in the Illinois game--because he was under pressure (ding ding ding da da ding ding). Pressuring him may allow Clark some opportunities to scramble (as Brian said earlier this year, he's "not Michael Vick but isn't John Navarre, either."), but it's probably the best chance to contain the PSU offense. PSU partisans seem to think that our defensive line will have success against their offensive line, and pressure Clark heavily; I'm not so certain. Many anticipated that Penn State's offensive line was going to be the downfall of the team this year, as it was the most inexperienced group in the conference. PSU has allowed only 12 sacks on the season, although it looked overmatched against Adrian Clayborn and Cameron Heyward, among others. But, uh, we don't have Clayborn or Heyward; we've got a defensive line which failed to pressure Joey Elliott (until the last play, of course), and hasn't proven the ability to apply pressure on its own. My suspicion is that, if PSU is content to throw from three-step drops, they'll have a lot of success: we won't have the ability to get to Clark that quickly, and our secondary is obviously vulnerable. Bottom line: stack the box, try to get pressure, hope for the best.

And, about those guys Clark will be throwing to: RUTS sez . . .

Starting WR Chaz Powell is out for the game with a shoulder injury. In his place, you'll see a rotating group including the very tall Brett Brackett and the very quick Curtis Drake. Maybe true freshman Justin Brown gets in the game, but I doubt it. Graham Zug had a nightmare game against Indiana last week, but that was mostly due to fumbling punts. He runs good routes and gets open against passive zone coverages. Really, that goes for the whole group -- if you can press and bump them, they become ineffective quickly. [ . . . ]

Derek Moye is probably our best receiver, but he was totally shut out by Ohio State's press coverage and only had two catches for 28 yards against Indiana. Because of that, I suspect PSU will make an effort to get him involved quickly.

Moye is indeed good: 41 catches for 676 yards and 5 touchdowns this season. He's 6'5", 195 pounds . . . and if you're thinking, "holy hell, he's Mike Floyd in disguise," well, yeah, me too. He's not quite there, talent-wise, but, erm, I wouldn't want to be fighting for a jump ball against him. I suspect that our cornerbacks wouldn't want to be, either. And, yeah, about that Quarless guy: he reminds me a lot of Kellen Davis in that he's ludicrous athletically, but the results don't quite meet the expectations. But, the same could be said of Garrett Graham, and that didn't end so well for us earlier this year.

This is probably Evan Royster's last regular season game for Penn State, as most expect him to jump to the NFL.
Last year, he only carried the ball 12 times against MSU, but those carries were relatively successful, as he averaged 6.6 yards per game. This season, he's been a bit up-and-down: he had big games against Northwestern and Minnesota, but not-so-good efforts against Iowa and Ohio State. MSU's rush defense has been mostly a positive this season, although last week was a bit of a regression. I suspect that Royster will approach 100 yards but not be the deciding factor in this game. His backup, Stephfon Green, has intermittently battled injuries and hasn't played much or well since the Illinois game much earlier this season.

Safe to say at this point: one of my all-time favorite Spartan football players.

WHEN MICHIGAN STATE IS ON OFFENSE: . . . we need for Kirk Cousins to have the best game of his career. As a preliminary matter, let's stipulate that we're going to get basically nothing against Penn State on the ground: the Lions are 8th nationally against the run, and our rushing offense is not good. The goal in this game should be to do just enough to semi-effectively set up play action.

Ah, so the main event: MSU's passing offense vs. Penn State's pass defense. It starts wtih the offensive line, obviously. Penn State doesn't have Tamba Hali or Courtney Brown or anyone of similar fear-producing ability, but the stats are certainly there: they lead the conference in sacks, and while Brian noted that:

[t]he numbers are impressive—PSU is 11th nationally with three sacks per game—but there is the whole schedule thing to take into account. Jack Crawford has four sacks, all of which come against the Akrons and Temples on the schedule. In Penn State's three real-ish games, they acquired one sack (Odrick) against Minnesota, three (Crawford, Latimore, Stanley) against Illinois, and two (Hull and Crawford/Lynn) against Iowa.

. . . Penn State sacked Forcier/Robinson 5 times, and then, the next week, sacked Mike Kafka 6 times. Since then, things have cooled down a bit: they weren't able to sack Terrelle Pryor (although Pryor is surely one of the most difficult sacks in the country), and were only able to get to Ben Chappell twice last week. Nonetheless, this is an impressive line; they're led by scary beast Jared Odrick, who has 6 sacks, and the aforementioned Jack Crawford, who now has 5.5. RUTS says that:

Penn State loves to just send the defensive line if they can get away with it. The defensive scheme actually depends on it, but PSU's defensive ends have been several notches below their predecessors. There's no Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans, or Tamba Hali on this defensive line, so they'll send linebackers on occasion, and maybe mix in a corner blitz once or twice per game, but that's it.

We can't let them get tons of pressure from the front four alone. I know it's tempting disaster to say that I *want* Navorro Bowman, Sean Lee, and the corners to blitz, but Penn State blitzing and leaving the secondary exposed is how Cousins will be able to throw for lots of yards.

Penn State's defense is statistically impressive against the pass: 16th nationally in pass efficiency defense, and 17th nationally in pass defense. Once again, I'll let RUTS write my preview for me:

Penn State can be thrown on, but they do their best to protect any obvious liabilities in the secondary. Free Safety Nick Sukay has steadily improved throughout the year. Drew Astorino (#28) plays the other safety position, and it's no secret that he's trying to fight through a shoulder injury. CB A.J. Wallace sustained a concussion last week, he's listed as "possible" for Sparty. So there may be opportunities for you in the passing game.

So, PSU is good, but they're not scary in the way that Iowa is: this season, the Lions have allowed 252 yards passing to Northwestern, 263 to Illinois (!), and 298 last week to Indiana. (Note that they won all three of those games, however.) Quite frankly, our passing offense is better than any of those teams'. I think Cousins has a big day, and throws for at least 250 yards; look for B.J. Cunningham to play the Devin Thomas role this time around. If he's able to deliver, Cousins stands in line for first team all-conference honors, so there should be some personal motivation, too.

FINAL PREDICTION: Cut and paste, for starters:

Clark picked our defense apart last year, and while you don't have Derrick Williams anymore, our pass defense is even worse this time around. Also, I have distressing visions of Jared Odrick pwning whoever's blocking him and not giving Cousins enough time to be comfortable.

More generally, Dantonio has done a lot of good things during his time at MSU, but beating teams with appreciably more talent certainly hasn't been one of those things. So, I'll remain skeptical until we finally win one of these games. It's at home, which is good, and I could definitely see the special teams stats ending up very lopsided in our favor. But PSU is the better team, and you're playing for more: a win for us would upgrade our bowl game slightly, but a win for PSU might send you guys to the BCS. So, an upset isn't out of the possibility, but I'm not particularly optimistic.

I wrote that yesterday morning, and honestly, I'm a bit more optimistic now. Penn State fans seem quite worried about this game, and one columnist even questions whether Penn State's players even have their hearts into the game anymore. Which, like, what? Even if that's true, you're playing for the BCS! I'd dismiss it out of hand if the sentiment didn't seem to be a common one across the PSU internets.

One thing that doesn't fit into my normal preview format: if you've been reading previews of this game anywhere else, you'll know that PSU's special teams have been an unmitigated disaster this year, and ours have been very good. I'm normally skeptical that special teams play has any predictive value, but here the discrepancy between the teams seems so great that it may indeed be relevant this week. Keshawn Martin, Brett Swenson, Aaron Bates: keep on doing what you do so well. kthx.

Nonetheless, this is a pretty talented football team we're playing. PSU is excellent on defense, and the offense -- with many of the same players -- ripped us apart last year. It seems that I'm saying this every week now, but truly, our defense will determine whether we win this game. If they show up, we have a chance. If they play like they did last week, we don't. It's awfully tempting to say that MSU wins this game on the strength of the passing game and special teams play. But, visions of Quarless and Zug running rampant across the middle of the field prevent me from tempting fate, for now. Penn State 31, Michigan State 27.

Your thoughts welcome, of course.

Joe Paterno Press Conference Notes

BSD — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:00:40 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

about 1 month ago: Penn State head coach Joe Paterno watches from the sidelines during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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Here are your bullet points from Joe Paterno's weekly press conference.

Joe thinks they are a pretty good football team. He wouldn't say if they're as good as they thought he would be at this point. He's not pleased with the block punts, but considering the things they had to overcome with injuries and inexperience, he thinks they're doing a good job.
Joe called Navorro Bowman "one of the better linebackers in the country". But he also knocked him a bit on his conditioning.
He remembered Pat Fitzgerald when he was a linebacker at Northwestern. Called him "aheckuvaplayer". Also noted that Ron Vanderlinden was his coach at Northwestern. That was when he first noticed Ron and why Joe went after him after he got let go at Maryland.
Joe called the Iowa block a "fluke" because it was a blown assignment by a blocker. But the block against Michigan should not have happened. He called out Boone for being too long in his steps. He's scared about Northwestern because they blocked a punt against Indiana last week. They are going to spend a lot of time on the punting game this week.
Joe doesn't think they will get caught looking past Northwestern.
Joe is impressed with the job Fitzgerald has done at Northwestern considering the circumstances in which he inherited the job.
He had a lot of praise for Odrick saying he's not getting the credit he deserves. In fact, Joe spent a lot of this press conference talking up his players and team. If I didn't know better, I would say Joe is lobbying for a better ranking and recognition.

Some idiot reporter asked Joe if he though Northwestern would focus on defending the run or the pass. He got a predictable, "I haven't got the slightest idea" in response. Way to waste your question, doofus.

Pannell is still not 100%. McCormack is ok, and he will battle Poti for the starting right tackle spot this week. Pannell is now practicing at left tackle as Landolt's backup.

Joe seemed really insulted about Daryll Clark getting snubbed by the media. He pointed out that the focus in the media leading up to the game last week was all about the freshman quarterbacks at Michigan, and Clark had to show how he could compare to them. I'm glad to see Joe sticking up for his players like this. It truly is a rare sight.

Joe said walk ons have always been a big part of the program. He's pleased with Graham Zug, but he wasn't sure in the beginning of his career. Joe thought he was a step slow, but he works hard and he's tough.

Though Joe didn't come out and say it, it sounds like Stephfon Green is out again this week. Brent Carter and Brandon Beachum will back up Royster again.

Joe seemed concerned about Northwesterns pace of the game. He noted they run about 90 plays per game while Penn State only runs about 70. Said they will spread you out and pick you apart with their passing game.

A lot of praise for Brandon Beachum. Said he's a smart and tough football player. Reminds him a lot of Mike Archie. Personally, I don't see that. Mike Archie couldn't play fullback or linebacker.

Joe said traveling in back-to-back road games isn't that tiring. He got home by 9:30 on Saturday night (and I'll bet he was in bed by 10). This week he's worried about tiring them out because he wants to do some extra work on the kicking game, but they still have to work on all the normal stuff too.

Joe called the 4th and 3 punt decision a "no-brainer". Michigan had the wind at their back so Joe didn't want to give them the ball at the 30 yard line. Their center got injured earlier in the game and they were playing a guard in his place. Joe thought they might make a mistake down there and they did.

Sukay is doing well, but he needs to turn those breakups into interceptions.

Joe said the team had a nice mix of senior leadership that coached the younger players into a solid football team. He said it has really come together.

Finally, a reporter asked about the Northwestern game in 2005 which gives us our pwnage of the week.

Your last trip to Northwestern, you had the big drive at the end with Smolko on fourth down and the touchdown to Derrick Williams. That was early in that season. How much of a turning point do you think winning the game the way you did late helped turn around that season and maybe, even larger perspective, the 2005 season?

I don't even know what you're talking about.

You had fourth down and Michael Robinson hit Smolko.

Was that at Northwestern?

Yes, then you had the late touchdown.

I'm glad Smolko caught it. I probably didn't know he was in the game.

It was early in the season.

Geez, you guys, when I write my book I'll put all that stuff in it. I don't know. That's 100 years ago to me. I don't go to bed thinking about what we did 20 years ago. I go to bed thinking what we've got to do this Saturday. All right. Hope it doesn't come down to the fourth. But it might. It might come down we're just trying to hang on for our lives.

Michigan Penn State Question and Answer with Black Shoe Diaries

Maize n Brew Dave — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:39:40 -0000

We're two days away from the Michigan Penn State Game, and dammit, we're excited here at Maize n Brew. In the interest of gaining as much inside information as possible, we tracked down Mike from Black Shoe Diaries at his bunker in northern Siberia and forced him to answer some questions. Well. Not really. Mike tracked me down and roused me from my two week slumber and forced me to talk about Michigan. He also had me sign all sorts of papers, including something in hindsight I'm certain was a power of attorney. I'll deal with that later...

Mike's posted my answers over at Black Shoe Diaries for the Penn State crazies to pick apart. So now's my turn. Here's all you intel on Penn State.

On to the Questioning!!

Maize n Brew Dave: Injuries are going to play a big part in this game. Is Sean Lee actually going to play on Saturday? Who else is banged up for Penn State and who, if anyone, is out for the game?

Black Shoe Diaries: The word is that Sean Lee is going to play. Last week against Minnesota he saw the field for about 15 snaps before he felt a "twinge" in his knee and they shut him down. On Monday he said the knee is sore, but he's practicing this week so that's a good sign.

Stephfon Green is most likely out with an ankle injury. So there will be no repeat of last year's 80 yard screen pass. This probably means more carries for Evan Royster in the game. Penn State likes to limit him to about 15 touches, but now he'll probably get over 20. Durability has been an issue with him in the past, but he has held up pretty good this year.

My big concern is at right tackle where Penn State is basically down to the ham sandwich. DeOn'tae "Insert Random Punctuation and Capitalization Wherever You Want" Pannell and Nerraw McCormack are both trying to recover from ankle injuries. Last week Penn State had to start junior college transfer Ako Poti in their place. I'm sure Poti was just thrilled to see Evan Royster getting Brandon Graham fired up in the media this week.

MnB Dave: How good a feel do you have for this year's Nittany Lion Squad? We all knew there'd be turnover this year, but I've seen so many different things out of PSU (good and bad) that I really don't know how to gauge them. At 6-1, Penn State has only one marquee game on the resume and that was a loss at home. Minnesota and Temple are arguably your best wins (both at 4-2). Are you satisfied that you know what to expect game in, game out from this squad?

BSD: So far the season has pretty much gone like I expected. I knew there were going to be games where the offensive line didn't look so good. That's just part of replacing four starters. I was hoping they would use this soft schedule in the beginning of the year to come together, and for the most part they have done that. They're playing well now and Evan Royster has averaged 112 yards his last three games. He only managed 102 yards against Akron and Syracuse combined.

I did not expect the receivers and secondary to perform as well as they have. Derek Moye has been a pleasant surprise. He's fifth in the conference in receiving yardage and he has become Daryll Clark's favorite target. The secondary is leading the conference in pass defense and held Eric Decker to just one catch last week. D'Anton Lynn and Stephon Morris have played really well at cornerback which was the position I most worried about on this team before the season.

Penn State has used the soft schedule to play themselves into a good team, but unfortunately they weren't ready in time to play Iowa.

MnB Dave: I have to do this. Why do Penn State fans call one win a "streak"?

BSD: I agree with you. That's ridiculous. That's why I prefer to call it 761 days since Michigan last beat Penn State.

(more questioning after the jump....)

MnB Dave: As much as I fear Royster, Clark seems to consistently be the PSU player most responsible for Penn State's wins and losses. Whether this premise is right or wrong, give us a brief look at Clark's positives and negatives. Where does he excel and where does he come up short?

BSD: First and foremost, I love Clark's leadership. The team really responds to him and believes in him. It's completely evident in their play. He's tough. He'll lower his shoulder and fight for that extra yard, or he'll run down field and throw a block if the play comes back his way. Players love that in their quarterback. On top of that, he's just a good quarterback. His mechanics are sound and for the most part he makes the right decisions.

But he does have some flaws. He's a really emotional player. In big games he tends to come out a little too amped up and he'll overthrow some guys until he gets settled down. And sometimes he will have a mental breakdown if you can get him frustrated. Teams that can get pressure on him can force him into making some unadvised throws. Iowa did this very well as did USC and Ohio State last year. The manual for defensing Daryll Clark should say "GET TO THE QUARTERBACK" in big bold letters at the top.

MnB Dave: What game this season is most representative of this PSU team, good and bad? Why?

BSD: That's a tough question to answer because this team is so different than they were at the beginning of the season. They're playing much more like a unit than they did against Akron and Syracuse. But at the same time, their best games have come against Illinois and Minnesota...not exactly World beaters, so I'm a bit hesitant to get too excited. So I'll cop out and answer in cliche. You're only as good as your last game, which happens to be a 20-0 shutout over Minnesota.

MnB Dave: I'm gonna turn the tables on you, what part of the Michigan offense and defense do you think you can take advantage of?

BSD: On offense I think Penn State should be able to pass the ball against the Michigan secondary. Clark is good at spreading the ball around and finding the open man. If Evan Royster can get going in the running game, Penn State could get some big plays off of play action.

On defense, I think Penn State should be able to get to Tate Forcier and pressure him into making some quick decisions. They have a good pass rush, and the linebackers are always active in their blitzing. Penn State has even been mixing in some corner blitzes here and there which is new for a Tom Bradley defense. If they can fluster Forcier, I think the defense can come away with a few turnovers.

MnB Dave: Let's go the other way, what part of the Michigan offense and defense causes you consternation and heart palpitations?

BSD: I'm worried about the Michigan running game. I must admit I did not realize how good they were until I looked at the stats this week. The zone read options are going to test the linebackers and defensive ends. If Sean Lee is healthy, I'm not one bit worried about he and Navorro Bowman defending the edges. But our defensive ends are still pretty green and haven't seen a lot of zone read option offenses. They did a good job against Juice Williams and Illinois, but Michigan is more athletic with their running backs.

And on offense, like I said before, as long as the offensive line keeps Daryll Clark upright and gives him time to throw, they'll be fine. The offense is balanced enough that they can take advantage of whatever the defense is trying to do.

MnB Dave: I've made my prediction, now it's your turn. Make your prediction.

BSD: Well, I have to go with Penn State. On paper they have more talent, more depth, and more experience than Michigan. I feel good about this game, but then I felt good going into Ann Arbor in 2005 and 2007. Something about Maize and Blue makes Joe Paterno pucker up. I think this game will be close, but like I said, I have to go with the good guys. Penn State wins 27-24.

Special thanks to Mike at Black Shoe Diaries for putting this together and for his great answers. I hope his whole team comes down with swine flu prior to the game.

Joe Paterno Press Conference Notes

BSD — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:00:21 -0000

More photos » by Pat Little - AP

about 1 month ago: Penn State football coach Joe Paterno laughs with reporters during his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009 in State College, Pa. Penn State plays at Michigan in an NCAA college football game on Saturday. (AP Photo/Pat Little)

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Here are the quick bullet points from Joe's press conference today.

The presser got off on an odd note today when a reporter asked Joe about his recruitment of Tate Forcier and Joe acted like he didn't know what the reporter was talking about.

Joe, you and your staff recruited Tate Forcier. Can you talk about the adjustment he's made from high school to college football?

Joe Paterno: You said our staff recruited him? Is that right?

Yes.

Joe Paterno: We knew about him; we didn't really recruit him. He really didn't have a lot of interest in us, I don't think. But anyway he's --

I found this a little shocking since Forcier made an UNOFFICIAL VISIT FROM CALIFORNIA. If a kid pays his own way to fly across the country to visit you're school it's safe to say he's interested. Given Joe's ability to run into a guy that played for him but never started in 70's and ask him if his mom still makes that spaghetti he liked so much, I find it hard to believe Joe doesn't remember recruiting Tate Forcier. I hope this doesn't give Tate any bulletin board material.

Ako Poti is going to get the start at right tackle again this week. McCormack still "has an ankle".

Stephfon Green is still uncertain. They considered playing plugging Powell in at running back but decided against it. They'll play Beachum and Royster. They can even play Suhey at running back if they have to. Dukes is going to redshirt.

Brent Carter will probably be okay to play.

Joe insists they are not looking to past disappointments in Ann Arbor for "extra motivation". He also said they were not looking at the Iowa game as revenge for last year.

When asked about the inordinate amount of penalties last week Joe kind of brushed it off. Says they preach no penalties all the time, and then he kind of jabbed the officials saying they were "bang-bang" plays, but two or three of them were "justifiable calls". Then he added, "But they were close."

Joe once again defended Collin Wagner saying he's doing "very well".

Joe compared Rich Rodriguez's situation in his second year to his own second year. Reminded people he went 5-5 his first year and feared for his job.

When asked about his health, Joe says he's holding up well this season. Hasn't missed a minute of practice yet.

Ugh...more bulletin board material for Michigan.

Joe, what's made Michigan stadium such a tough place to play in and win for you guys?

Joe Paterno: I don't think Michigan stadium is a tough place to play.

Do they really need more motivation?

There must have been four questions trying to get Paterno to comment on Tate Forcier's greatness as a freshman quarterback. Seriously, can't the Michigan reporters come up with anything else? Finally Joe took the bait and said Forcier reminded him of Tim Tebow, so get ready to read those articles the rest of the week.
Joe mentioned he thinks the team has made "decent progress" in recent weeks.
Says the tackles are going to have their hands full with Brandon Graham.
Joe had no comment on Ohio State and Terrelle Pryor losing to Purdue. He claimed he didn't watch the game.
When asked about the kickoff game he mentioned they haven't had many opportunities to return kicks due to the fact other teams haven't scored on them much. Then he added on he thinks their doing a good job.
Joe is not in favor of kids enrolling in January of their senior year in high school. He thinks kids should enjoy their time in high school. But he understands kids want to do that because it gives them a better chance to play their freshman year. It's hard to resist the temptation to bring a kid in early.
Chaz Powell wasn't thrilled with switching from defense last year, but he has adjusted well.
Wallace got the start over Timmons last week because his height matched up better with Eric Decker. This week Joe is not sure who will start. (Interestingly, the possibility of Lynn not getting the start doesn't appear to be on the table. Safe to say that spot is locked down for the next two years.)
They are preparing to see both Robinson and Forcier at quarterback.
Some of you may recall the story of Elijah Robinson. He was an offensive lineman a few years ago who had to give up the game because he had an abnormally narrow spinal cord that left him susceptible to neck injuries. Apparently, Joe offered him a position as one of two Penn State graduate assistant coaches. I wasn't aware of this, but I think it's a great story. Joe says Robinson relates to the players well and has the makings of a fine football coach. Maybe they are grooming a replacement for Dick Anderson who has been rumored to be retiring soon?

Grading The Penn State Offense Against Minnesota

BSD — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:22 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

about 1 month ago: Penn State running back Evan Royster (22) runs for a gain after taking the hand off from quarterback Daryll Clark (17) as Minnesota tackle Brandon Kirksey (96) dives during the second half of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Penn State won 20-0. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Though 20 points may not look like much against a pedestrian defense like the Golden Gophers, further drilling down into the stats shows just how much Penn State dominated this game. The Nittany Lions amassed 464 yards of total offense to Minnesota's 138. They accumulated 21 first downs to Minnesota's 7. They held the ball for just shy of 42 minutes with no turnovers and no sacks. The only thing keeping the score down on Saturday was the weather, lousy field position, and some inopportune penalties that stopped some drives just short. But overall it was a solid performance by the offense. Let's grade them out.

Quarterbacks

Daryll Clark started a little slow and had trouble connecting with his receivers in the early going. He only hit one of his first four passes for just six yards to Graham Zug in the first two drives, and both of them stalled. But then he got things going and led Penn State on drives of 12 plays, 10 plays, 12 plays, 6 plays, 13 plays, and 10 plays. He showed terrific pocket awareness and he checked down to the open man instead of trying to take deep passes that weren't there. At the end of the day his stat line looked like this.

vs Minnesota / 10.17.09	Passing					Rushing
	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	Rush	Yds	Avg	TD
Daryll Clark	21	32	70.0	287	1	8	8	1.0	1

I can't really complain about that. Maybe it's not appropriate after the poor game he played against Iowa, but it's not unrealistic in this year with no clear front runner to think that Daryll Clark might have a chance to climb back in the Heisman race. He'll have to keep performing on this level through tough games against Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State coming up.

Final Grade: A

Running Backs

I thought Evan Royster looked as good as he has all year. He was decisive and patient in using his blocks well. After the game Joe said Royster had a tough time shaking the flu which drained his energy. This week he finally looked like the Royster of old effortlessly ripping off some nice runs. It's good to have him back.

vs Minnesota / 10.17.09	Rushing				Receiving
	Rush	Yards	Avg	TD	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
Evan Royster	23	137	6	0	2	23	11.5	0

Stephfon Green left the game with yet another ankle injury. No word yet on how serious it is. Of course this meant more carries for Royster who had a season high 23 on Saturday. With 641 yards on the season he's on pace to finish around 1100 yards before the bowl season, but if Green can't go you have to figure Royster's carries are going to go up so we may have to revise that total upward.

Final Grade: A

Receivers

Who's the best wide receiver in the Big Ten? I would say Eric Decker. But right after him it might be Derek Moye. Moye is fifth in the conference in receiving yards despite having nearly 20 catches less than the guys around him in the standings. He's averaging less than four catches per game, but a whopping 17.5 yards per catch. He is clearly Clark's favorite target and it's easy to see why. He's got speed to get open deep. He has the size to outjump most defenders. He has great field awareness as shown on that touchdown catch where he dragged the foot to stay in bounds. And he makes tremendous adjustments to the ball. It's time Moye start getting the recognition he deserves.

Zug and Quarless were also key to the game making several grabs for first downs to keep the sticks moving.

Final Grade: A

Offensive Line

I'm really impressed with the progress the offensive line has made in the weeks since the Iowa debacle. It looked like it was going to be a long season, but they came together and have played really well since. Ako Poti did an ok job, but he did look overmatched at times. It'll be interesting to see what happens when DeOn'tae Pannell and Nerraw McCormack come back from their ankle injuries. It looks like we still don't have the right tackle position nailed down yet.

One bad thing, there were entirely too many penalties this week. Some of them killed promising scoring drives. I'm not too worried though as Penn State came into this game one of the least penalized teams in the country. It was uncharacteristic to see that many holding and false start penalties by this team. For whatever reason they lacked focus, but unless I see a performance like that two weeks in a row I won't get worried yet.

I still see too many slow snaps from Wisniewski out of the shotgun. Paterno was asked about this the other week and he brushed it off, but I do think this is a problem. It's throwing off the timing of the offense. There was one play in particular I remember where Clark was going to fake a handoff to Royster cutting in front of him. Royster could have almost grabbed the snap himself, but he had to duck out of the way of it so Clark could catch it. Then on other plays it seems awkward for Clark to have to step up to catch the snap before he takes his drop. It throws off his timing and he shouldn't have to do that. I noticed last week it looks like Clark has taken a step forward to receive these snaps sooner. I wish Wiz would just fire it back there.

Grade: B

Offensive Coaching

I can't think of too much to complain about here. Penn State pretty much did what they wanted to do on offense. I didn't like the call to go for a 49 yard field goal in the second quarter. Wagner barely hit one from 47 yards in the opposite end of the stadium in the first quarter. With a 4th and 4 at the Minnesota 32 yard line, your quarterback in a bit of a rhythm and your defense controlling the game, I thought it made sense to go for the first down there instead. The chances of Wagner making that kick were slim, and Minnesota ended up getting the ball back there anyway. Why not take a shot with a screen pass or a dump off to Quarless over the middle?

Final Grade: B

A little help from my friends - Black Shoe Diaries helps us understand Penn State a little bit

GopherNation — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:40:44 -0000

I have asked Mike over at Black Shoe Diaries to help us out a little bit by answering a few questions about his favorite team.

TDG - I am kind of fascinated with expectations. Minnesota, record-wise, is about where people had thought they would be yet I'm hearing plenty of grumblings about how terrible we are. Clearly the Gophers are not a perfect team. Penn State is halfway through the season sits at 5-1 having beaten nobody significant. Factoring in preseason expectations and how people currently feel about the Nittany Lions, how has the season gone so far?

BSD - The Iowa loss was a tough pill to swallow, but I can't say there was a lot of shock on the Penn State side over it. Going into the season I think everyone knew that going undefeated would be difficult when you have to rebuild the offensive line as well as replace all of the wide receivers and the entire secondary. Iowa did a good job of exploiting the offensive line, and they capitalized on opportunities presented by the special teams and turnovers. Most people, including myself, predicted a 10-2 season and so far I think that record is still achievable. I had hoped that Penn State could sneak through the first half of the schedule and use the lesser competition to make themselves into a really good football team. I think they did that, but unfortunately they had the hiccup against Iowa.

In a way I think the program overall will be better because of the loss. I think it served to wake up some of the younger players on the team and made them realize they are going to have to work hard and show up to every game and every practice because nobody is going to lay down and take a loss just because the game is played at 8 PM in Beaver Stadium and everybody is wearing white. The team seems more focused now and has made some significant progress the past two weeks. I'm really pleased with the way they used to loss as motivation.

TDG - First in total offense, first in total defense, first in points allowed, first in third down conversions, first in 3rd down conversions allowed, first in sacks, first in sacks allowed...is there a weakness on this Penn State team? Or are these guady stats a function of their opponents.

BSD - I think to some degree you have to say the level of competition helps pads the stats, but they are very good. Ask yourself this: If any Big Ten team other than Ohio State played Penn State's schedule, would they also be ranked first in all of those categories? Probably not.

Penn State is a very good football team, but they're not really a great football team yet. They're getting there though. I already mentioned the concerns I had at wide receiver, offensive line, and secondary before the season. I think the wide receivers are fine. Chaz Powell and Derek Moye have exceeded my expectations. The jury is still out on the offensive line. They seem to be doing better since the Iowa game, but until I see them do well against a decent defense I'm still skeptical. And I'm still not 100% sold on the secondary. They have played well to this point, but they get a lot of help from the defensive line which doesn't give quarterbacks much time to throw. I think this week will be their first real test against Eric Decker. If they can hold him to just five or six catches and 60 or 70 yards I'll be pretty pleased.

TDG - Which is more dominant the Penn State offense led by Royster and Clark or the defense?

BSD - So far you have to say the defense. They have been more consistent than the offense to this point. The defensive line led by tackles Jared Odrick and Ollie Ogbu has been just nasty. They're a little thin at linebacker until Sean Lee comes back from tweaking his knee, but Navorro Bowman and Josh Hull do a fine job. I already mentioned the secondary is doing well, even though I'm not sure they are as good as their stats suggest.

The performance of the offense centers around the offensive line. Royster and Clark are proven commodities at this point, and like I said, I'm pleased with the way the wide receivers have stepped up. When the offensive line can open up holes for Royster and Stephfon Green while keeping Daryll Clark upright, the offense is unstoppable. But Iowa showed that teams that get pressure on Clark can force him into turnovers. So it's important for the offensive line to do well. One thing that worries me about the game this week is that Penn State may be down to their third option at right tackle as DeOn'tae Pannell and Nerraw McCormack are both nursing sprained ankles. Last week they had to start Ako Poti who was a junior college transfer a few years ago.

TDG - Special Teams is maybe the one area that Penn State hasn't completely dominated this year (see the Iowa game!). And conversely the Gopher special forces have been very good this year. Can this actually be an advantage for Minnesota? And if so can it translate into a win?

BSD - Penn State is playing a lot of young players on special teams this year. Normally your coverage teams consist of a lot of second string linebackers and safeties...or in other words, guys who know how to tackle. But Penn State is thin in the secondary due to years of poor recruiting, and they are thin at linebacker due to injuries. So now when I look at the coverage teams I see a lot of backup running backs and true freshmen. So early in the year it took a few shoe string tackles to keep Temple and Syracuse from returning kickoffs for touchdowns. They've made a lot of improvement since then, but they're still not great. They're good at filtering the play inside and stopping it, but not before they give up a 30 yard return. Minnesota should be able to get some good returns on kickoffs.

Jeremy Boone is a fantastic punter, so he will hopefully pin Minnesota deep a few times. Place kicking is an issue though. I'm not happy with Colin Wagner. His kickoffs are short and I don't think he's made a field goal over 35 yards yet. That could be a problem they haven't really been faced with yet.

TDG - So the Gophers actually have a little recent history of pulling out big wins in Happy Valley. Does Saturday's game concern you a little? What will have to go right for Minnesota and wrong for Penn State for the Gophers to pick up their 5th win in the last 7 meetings between these two clubs?

BSD - I like how you spun that stat around to suggest Minnesota has won four out of the last six games between our two clubs. I could also ask you what the Gophers plan to do to break the two game losing streak against Penn State? If you consider three wins against some of the worst Penn State teams of the Paterno era to be "big wins", more power to you. (Granted, 1999 was a big win. I'll give you that.)

Kidding aside, I'm not too worried about this game. No disrespect intended to Minnesota or yourself, but Penn State is on a different talent level from the Gophers. I see an offense that is not just one dimensional, it's one-player dimensional. And the Gopher's are ranked 83rd in rushing defense and 77th in total defense. This is a game, in Beaver Stadium on homecoming, that Penn State should handle easily. If they don't I will be extremely disappointed.

Excellent stuff as always from the premier Penn State blog (that is saying a lot because there are about 346 PSU blogs out there). Thanks Mike.

Grading the Penn State Offense Against Eastern Illinois

BSD — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:05:49 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

2 months ago: Penn State quarterback Kevin Newsome (12) runs for a gain through Eastern Illinois defenders Nathan Galan (95) and Sean Campbell (49) during the second half of their NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. Penn State won 52-3. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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You all get lucky today. My kid's soccer game got cancelled, so I watched the Penn State game. So you all get a review today. Let's get to it.

Quarterbacks

Daryll Clark was sensational completing 13 of 19 passes for 234 yards and 3 TD. But then I would be worried if he were anything less than sensational against Eastern Illinois. Other than being a little erratic in the redzone on Penn State's second possession, his lone mistake was the interception, and it was an ugly play. He recognized the blitz was coming and looked at Quarless for the short outlet. And he looked. And he looked. And he looked some more. Then I think he even pointed at Quarless and yelled, "Hey, I'm going to throw it there!" Then he threw it and it was intercepted. Let's try not to do that next time, mmmkay?

But let's talk about Mr. Newsome who saw his most extended action of the year. Saturday was more confirmation about some things we already suspected. Newsome is an electrifying runner. It seems like he can go from standing still to top speed in about two steps. And he's a big kid that's tough to bring down. I must admit, when I see him running in that No. 12 jersey, I see a lot of Michael Robinson. Having him in the backfield next year with Evan Royster and Stephfon Green with an experienced offensive line just might be unstoppable. That's the good part.

On the flip side, I saw something else that reminded me of Michael Robinson, but this isn't a good thing. Newsome has a long way to go in refining his mechanics. He throws off his back foot a lot, and he's a little partial to doing the sidearm wrist-flick-thing. And yes, I saw a lot of arm punts. The other thing that bothered me is the way he carries the ball. He had two fumbles in his short time on the field, and there were a few other carries where he let ball separate from his body leaving him susceptible to another fumble. Just looking at the picture to the right makes me nervous with the way he's carrying the ball. He's got to tighten that up, or else that electrifying running ability will be quickly negated.

Final Grade: B

Running Backs

I can't think of anything particularly spectacular the running backs did. They didn't fumble, so that's good. I think Royster did a good job of reading his blocks and making the right cuts this week. He looked more like 2008 Royster than 2009 Royster. It looks like he's starting to gain confidence in his offensive line again. He finished the day with 94 yards on 8 carries for a whopping 11.8 yards per carry.

Stephfon Green and Brandon Beachum looked equally impressive averaging 7.2 and 7.0 yards per carry respectively. I still don't know what to think about Green though. It just seems like he either gets impatient and runs past his blockers or he gets too patient and just dances until somebody tackles him. But when he times it correctly and puts it all together it almost seems like he's going to take it to the house on every play. More of that, please.

Final Grade: A

Wide Receivers

Unquestionably, the most pleasant surprise for me this year has been Chaz Powell. I must admit, I was not expecting much from him when the season began. My estimation was based on his performance last year when all I saw was a kid that ran end arounds and dropped half the passes thrown his way. But he has made a lot of progress and he's looking like a regular Derrick Williams out there. Saturday he had four catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. I was really impressed with his 51 yard touchdown pass. The throw from Clark was short, but Powell did a good job of adjusting to the ball and shielding the defender with his body. Then he showed some great concentration to catch the ball while the defender was hanging on him. And does anyone think Deon Butler or Derrick Williams could have fended off that contact and remained on their feet to walk in the endzone? I don't.

From what I saw Saturday, Justin Brown is going to be a star before his career is over. He caught everything thrown his way including a nice diving catch out of bounds. He threw a key block on Stephfon Green's 26 yard touchdown, and he even had Penn State's biggest punt return of the season for 18 yards. I think he has definitely earned the right to see more playing time going forward.

I felt great for Brett Brackett. After struggling to see the field and break out of his slump all season, he finally caught a touchdown pass. But then I felt bad for him because the announcer credited it to Mickey Shuler.

Final Grade: A

Offensive Line

Nothing special here. You expect a Div. IA offensive line to dominate an FCS team, and that's what Penn State did. But there were a couple of false starts, including one that killed the second drive forcing State to kick a field goal. So no perfect grade this week, guys.

Final Grade: B

Offensive Coaching

Eh, it's Eastern Illinois. But I was impressed with the motivation. It would have been easy for the team to pack it in and just go through the motions against this team. Credit the coaches for getting them motivated and focused to play this team. It looks like the team did a good job of shaking off the Iowa loss and coming together.

I was glad to see a lot of younger players get in the game, but I felt like they could have got Newsome in there earlier. He really should have started the second half, but Paterno went with Clark. The offense went 3-and-out, and I think Paterno didn't want them ending on a bad note like that, so Clark took the next series. I kind of predicted this was going to happen somewhere in the comments. Clark took a nasty shot on that last drive which pretty much infuriated me. There was no need to have him in there when they were up 38-3. It's not like Eastern Illinois was coming back.

Final Grade: B

Joe Paterno Press Conference Notes

BSD — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:15:09 -0000

More photos » by Pat Little - AP

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Here are the bullet points from Joe Paterno's weekly press conference.

Joe wasn't ready to say the running game has turned the corner yet. He says it takes more than one game. Illinois was more concerned about the pass which opened some things up, but they did a better job of holding their blocks this week. Joe expects more blitzing from Eastern Illinois so we'll see what happens.
Not surprisingly, Joe did not want to discuss the Bobby Bowden situation.
Joe has been pleased with the performance of Jack Crawford and Eric Latimore. Overall, he thinks the defense played well against Illinois.
There was a somewhat heated discussion about scheduling. You can hear the unedited version here.
Joe gave a rambling answer in reference to the defensive tackle rotation. Basically he has been pleased with the depth at defensive tackle and defensive end. He's still worried about depth at linebacker, and he would like to see the secondary get a little quicker at reacting to the ball.
Joe is very pleased with Jeremy Boone. Says Boone has made things a lot easier on the defense by giving them good field position.
Injury Update: Devon Smith is probably out. Nerraw McCormack is doubtful with a bum ankle. Brent Carter, Stephfon Green, and Chris Colasanti are all "banged up", and DeOn'tae Pannell "has an ankle". Most likely they will all play except for McCormack and Smith. Also, Sean Lee is out.
Chaz Powell will play. There were rumors he had the flu or something last week.
Quarless and Shuler have been doing a good job. They have been blocking well, and they felt they were going to be able to get them involved in the passing game against Illinois.
Not surprisingly, Joe calls Eastern Illinois a "good solid football team."
Joe was really impressed with Stephfon Green. Says he's come a long way and credits Galen Hall for coaching him up.
Joe isn't thrilled with running Clark as much as they did against Illinois, but he feels that some of the younger quarterbacks are coming along, so they can take some chances with Clark. Illinois opened up some things that lended themself to running Clark more. Going forward they may not do that.
Joe wishes they could have found more time for Newsome to play. But they want to put him in situations where he can succeed, because if they put him in there and he struggles they worry it may set him back.
Lou Eliades is coming along. He's learning how to play hurt and getting better.
Stephon Morris is playing cornerback in the nickle package and D'Anton Lynn is moving over to the nickle back. He's playing well and the staff is pleased

Blogpoll Ballot: Week 5

Sam @ WWAHT — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:00:23 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

2 months ago: Southern California's Joe McKnight (4) runs against California during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

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Rank	Team	Delta

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

Dropped Out: Houston (#11), Georgia (#20), Michigan (#22), California (#23).

Bullets?

Bullets!

Another week of upsets brings another week of top-10 shuffling. Bama's defense showed some vulnerability against a previously-moribund Kentucky offense, and the Tide offense (mostly) underwhelmed in a 38-20 win over Kentucky in Lexington. Thus, I drop them a spot, purely from the eyeball test. I'm going to go out on the mother of all limbs here - don't come out, it's shaky! - and say that we won't know how good Bama is until it's playing Florida in the SEC championship game.

The Cincinnati lovefest is grating, but I'll move them into the top ten for lack of a better alternative.

Iowa would have made it to the cusp of top-10 if hadn't slept-walked (sleepwalked?) through four quarters at home against an OOC patsy (wait, what? Hypocrisy? Not at all!). The Hawkeyes are guaranteed a spot in the top ten if they make quick work of Michigan, which they should, but probably won't.

Didn't I say USC would be just fine, thank you?

So Oklahoma, you're losing in medium games too now? Backlash from the national press that would assuredly come if, say, tOSU had fallen in Miami? Non-existent.

3-8 remains unchanged, but it's looking more and more like the Tigers are in for a rude home awakening against the Gators this coming week, which will move Ohio State that much closer to the top 5.

I have next-to-no idea what to make of Miami. They were just barely good enough to beat 2-3 Florida State, they got routed in Blacksburg, and were good enough top an Okie squad that, previously, looked like it hadn't missed a beat with Sam Bradford on the sidelines. I still think they're far too wonky of a team to merit a top-10 ranking, but they've got get some love for navigating what had looked like a brutal opening stretch.

How is Auburn this good? 5-0, with a respectable OOC opponent scalp in West Virginia? Their offense hasn't been held under 26 points all season.

Someone give Jevan Snead his talent back.

I thought USF was on a decided downward trend after the breakout 2007 season, but they're undefeated, and they intercepted Greg Paulus 5 times in a 34-20 win over Syracuse.

Penn State finally got its rushing attack going, and it look genuinely scary: going over 300 yards for the first time all season, with both Stephfon Green and Evan Royster topping 100 with ease.

Hello, Wisconsin! You're here because you're one of two Big Ten unbeatens, even if you've yet to beat an FBS opponent by more than 8 points.

Wha Happened? Week Five

RossWB — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:11:24 -0000

There were a few other games involving Big Ten teams while you were wondering when Arkansas State switched uniforms with Arkansas (dirty pool, man!), so Wha Happened?

Be prepared when JoePa leads the inevitable Zombie Revolution.

Penn State 35, Illinois 17
Worried about Daryll Clark after his utterly atrocious game against Iowa last week? Solution: don't let him throw the ball much. Clark went an efficient 17/25 for 175 through the air, but the Nittany Lions really did their damage on the ground: Stephfon Green led the way with 120 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, Evan Royster added 105 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, and even Clark chipped in with 83 yards and two touchdowns on 7 carries. Shit, even someone named Brent Carter scored a touchdown for PSU. They stomped a mudhole in the Illini's not-so-Fightin' defense. The final score doesn't do justice to the Illini's offensive incompetence for much of the game, either -- it was 28-3 before they were able to tack on two late scores to make the scoreline look more respectable. Meanwhile, it was the third consecutive ugly loss to an FBS team to start the season for Illinois, and while all three losses occurred against ranked (or soon-to-be-ranked) teams, they've barely been competitive in any of the games and the possibility of a bounceback season after last year's 5-7 mess is looking less and less likely. Is the sun setting on the Zooker Era at Illinois? For obvious reasons, BHGP hopes not.

The greatest Tate of them all.

Michigan State 26, Michigan 20 (OT)
Tate Forcier taketh (17/32, 223 yards, and a pair of touchdowns on scoring drives in the final four-plus minutes to tie up the game), but he also giveth (a crucial interception in overtime). In other words, SuperTate the freshman wonder boy may have one hell of a knack for clutch play down the stretch... but he's not infallible either. The real story was the way Sparty's defense completely stifled Michigan's previously unstoppable rushing attack (28 yards on 28 carries yesterday) and completely dominated the game in terms of time of possession (39:46 to 20:14) and total offensive yardage (417 to 251). Mind you, they weren't exactly a paragon of offensive efficiency -- they only mustered 20 points in regulation with those considerable advantages -- but simply keeping Forcier and Michigan's high-powered offense off the field is an effective way of slowing them down, too. Hopefully the Iowa offense can find some semblance of consistency and do the same next week, but if not Adrian Clayborn and the Iowa defense will be salivating at the prospect of rending Forcier in two.

I have this strange feeling like I've seen this before...

justNorthwestern 27, Purdue 21
Hmm. justNorthwestern goes into an opposing team's field on Homecoming, gets outgained, racks up a massive advantage in the turnover department (6 to 1 yesterday), and escapes with a win after the home team failed to score a touchdown after reaching first and goal in the final minute. Now where have I seen that before? Purdue jumped out to a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter and appeared to be cruising to an easy win... then apparently forgot how to hold onto the ball, fumbling six times (and losing five of them) and throwing one interception. Despite the near-constant torrent of giveaways, jNWU couldn't take the lead in the game until two minutes remained in the fourth quarter. The jNWU running game was again a non-entity (87 yards on 43 carries) and Mike Kafka didn't contribute too much, either (28/44, 224 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions). The cliche says that good teams make their own luck... but sometimes you're just fucking lucky.

BADGER BADGER BADGER

Wisconsin 31, Minnesota 28
Hopefully Minnesota didn't spend too much on a new trophy case to hold their rivalry trophies at TCF Bank Stadium, because it sure as shit won't be getting much use. The Badgers kept Paul Bunyan's Axe (by far one of the coolest rivalry trophies in college football) for the sixth straight year and they did it with Scott Tolzien (the story of the year so far for the Badgers) having a pretty ho-hum day (16/26, 159 yards, one touchdown, one interception). No, they did it the old-school Wisconsin way: with pure cro-mag football, pounding the ball 49 times for 295 yards, led by John Clay with 184 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries. Minnesota's own rushing game went back into hibernation (57 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries) one week after a breakthrough performance against jNWU, meaning they were back down to The Eric Decker Show (who contributed 140 yards and a touchdown on eight catches). Up next for the Badgers: their toughest two-game stretch of the season, away to Ohio State and home to Iowa. They passed their first test (win on the road), but we'll soon find out how good their bona fides for being a Big Ten contender truly are. Meanwhile, Minnesota gets a one-week chance to rebound against Purdue before heading on the road to take on Penn State and Ohio State in back-to-back weeks (also known as "getting assraped by the Big Ten computers").

So much more interesting than Indiana football.

Ohio State 33, Indiana 14
Like the residents of Bloomington, Indiana, and the students at the University of Indiana, Wha Happened? cares only about Indiana football out of a sense of obligation, which is why Indiana has returned to its position at the bottom of this feature. Just about the only thing interesting about this game is the fact that Ohio State gave up a touchdown on the last play of the game that allowed this game to hit the over (on one set of lines; it was a push on others), which was TOTALLY NOT COOL AND NOPE WE'RE NOT BITTER ABOUT IT AT ALL. Ahem. Terrelle Pryor threw for three touchdowns but went an otherwise unremarkable 16/27 for 159 yards (and an interception), to go along with 63 yards rushing and a touchdown on 16 carries. Brandon Saine, filling in for "Boom" Herron, added 113 yards on 17 carries for the Buckeyes. On defense, OSU squeezed the life out of the Indiana rushing game (18 yards on 26 carries) and Ben Chappell couldn't do nearly enough in the passing game to compensate (20/34, 210 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions).

BETTER KNOW A NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENT CORNER:

There are obviously no more non-conference games on the slate this year, so why not check in on some of our past vanquished foes? The mighty UNI wrecking machine continued its Sherman-esque march of terror and flaming annihilation through the FCS ranks with a 62-7 bludgeoning over Indiana State. Since falling to Iowa in Week One, UNI has won their next four games 66-7, 30-0, 35-7, and 62-7. The next two months look like a mere prelude to their real season: the FCS playoffs and their hunt for that elusive national championship.

But isn't there some other in-state school? Didn't they have a game on Saturday too? Wha Happened in that little Farmageddon tussle? Oh, nothing much. I mean, anytime you can give up a home game to play in a half-full pro football stadium in a pro sports town on a channel barely anyone gets and suffer a potentially bowl bid-crippling loss... well, shit, how can you say "no" to that? But, hey, on the bright side, thank god they got rid of that loser coach they had, right? Uh, about that... Chizik won yesterday to move to 5-0 on the season. Five wins would also be the grand total that Chizik had in his two years in Ames. And, hey, now he's got one more road win than he ever had at Iowa State, too. As always: