SB Nation - Dennis Landolt

We're All Americans, But We're Not All All-Americans

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:51:28 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Iowa's Pat Angerer (43) celebrates with teammates Allen Reisner and Dace Richardson, right, after Iowa blocked a Northern Iowa field goal on the final play. Iowa won 17-16. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

View full size photo »

As is usually the case after a 10-win season, the accolades are beginning to pour in for the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Everyone and their mom has an all-conference or All-American team, but the two that actually matter--Walter Camp and the AP--are now out. And for the 33th year in a row, the unanimous selection for player of the year is Frank Stallone*.

More importantly, the AP named three Hawkeyes to their All-American teams. While nobody made it onto the first team, thanks to Ricky Stanzi's ankle injury--come on, you know if he stays healthy and Iowa goes 11-1 and finishes at #5 or so, even the guys on defense get a little bit more of a bump--both Bryan Bulaga and Pat Angerer made it to the second team, while Tyler Sash made third-team AA as a sophomore. A fine moment for all three players (two of whom, as we insular and provincial types are quick to point out, are native Iowans).

Meanwhile, the Walter Camp Foundation agreed with the AP, naming Bulaga and Angerer to their second team as well and effectively establishing the two as the de facto MVPs of their respective sides of the ball. We have a little beef with each designation, but for wholly different reasons.

First, though Bulaga is by far the best pro prospect on the line as of right now and was utterly dominant in 2008, the reality is that even notwithstanding the 3-week absence as he recovered from thyroid issues, he struggled in 2009. Brandon Graham and O'Brien Schofield manhandled Bulaga. And while those are two very good defensive ends, so was Aaron Maybin, the 11th pick of the 2009 by the Buffalo Bills and Bryan Bulaga's personal prison bitch after Iowa-PSU 2008. There was a substantial dropoff in play by Bulaga in 2009, and voters just didn't notice it when it came time to hand out awards.

Meanwhile, Dace Richardson was actually very good in his return to the line, and he got a fair amount of media attention when mid-season awards were being handed out. Then his ankle was rolled up on against Michigan State, and he disappeared from both the depth chart and voters' attention. But why should he have been punished for an ankle injury while voters looked past Bulaga's absence of a similar length? It's all past reputation, and that's not really fair to guys who come from nowhere and work their butts off--especially in their senior year, where there's no chance for any payoff in the "rewarded in Year X for play in Year X-minus-1" system that's come to be when it comes to honoring offensive linemen.

What this comes down to is that if the AP were to select an Iowa lineman for All-American this season, we'd have preferred it be Dace--though we'll certainly "settle for" Bulaga instead. If both men are playing their last game for Iowa next month, as lots of speculation suggests, then they've both had stellar careers in the black and gold and we wish them well.

On defense, on the other hand, Pat Angerer didn't really establish himself as the most dominant player for that Iowa defense, but that's hardly through any fault of his own. After all, one usually does so by being simply better than his teammates, and the talent level on the Iowa defense this year was both so high and so consistent that it was hard to see Angerer as someone who was the best player on defense. After all, you could always come back with, "well why not Sash? Or Adrian Clayborn? Or Amari Spievey? Or A.J. Edds? Or, hell, Jeremiha Hunter?" We're not saying that Angerer was the 6th best player on the Iowa defense by any means--just that ranking the top 5 or 6 or so would be impossible, because the gaps would be so miniscule that personal preference could easily mean a 3- or 4-spot swing here or there and it wouldn't even be objectionable.

Angerer's accolades, then, come from two areas: 1) his name, which is everything you could ever hope for times infinity; 2) and his stats, which sort of sneak up on you for the same reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph. As mentioned before, he was 5th in the nation in tackles at 11.3 a game. That's pretty outstanding, especially since--as TRE noticed during the season--Angerer's real strength might have been in pass coverage, not run support.

Still, absent game-changing plays, it's somewhat difficult to notice the overall impact a player has on a game. And all of those game-changing plays seemed to happen to other players--most notably Sash and Clayborn, and to a lesser extent Spievey.

Thus we have a weird ambiguity about how we look at Angerer's standing as the most highly-lauded member of the 2009 Iowa defense. It's not that he didn't deserve it--far from it--but with a defense like Iowa's, you could basically pick a name out of a hat and feel relatively confident that you made a good choice. It was that kind of year. Effectively singling out Angerer for praise, then, seems unusual and almost a little unfair. Oh well. There are worse problems to have.

Full AP All-American teams are after the break.

First team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Colt McCoy, senior, 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Texas.
	   Running backs -- Toby Gerhart, senior, 6-1, 235, Stanford; Mark Ingram, sophomore, 5-10, 212, Alabama.
	   Tackles -- Russell Okung, senior, 6-5, 301, Oklahoma State; Trent Williams, senior, 6-5, 318, Oklahoma.
	   Guards -- Michael Johnson, senior, 6-6, 305, Alabama; Mike Iupati, senior, 6-6, 330, Idaho.
	   Center -- J.D. Walton, senior, 6-3, 305, Baylor.
	   Tight end -- Aaron Hernandez, junior, 6-2, 250, Florida.
	   Wide receivers -- Golden Tate, junior, 5-11, 195, Notre Dame; Jordan Shipley, senior, 6-0, 190, Texas.
	   All-purpose player -- C.J. Spiller, senior, 5-11, 195, Clemson.
	   Kicker -- Leigh Tiffin, senior, 6-2, 212, Alabama.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jerry Hughes, senior, 6-3, 257, TCU; Derrick Morgan, junior, 6-4, 272, Georgia Tech.
	   Tackles -- Ndamukong Suh, senior, 6-4, 300, Nebraska; Terrence Cody, senior, 6-5, 365, Alabama.
	   Linebackers -- Rolando McClain, junior, 6-4, 258, Alabama; Greg Jones, junior, 6-1, 228, Michigan State; Eric Norwood, senior, 6-1, 252, South Carolina.
	   Cornerbacks -- Joe Haden, junior, 5-11, 190, Florida; Javier Arenas, senior, 5-9, 198, Alabama.
	   Safeties -- Eric Berry, junior, 5-11, 203, Tennessee; Earl Thomas, sophomore, 5-10, 197, Texas.
	   Punter -- Drew Butler, sophomore, 6-2, 201, Georgia.
Second team
	   Quarterback -- Tim Tebow, senior, Florida.
	   Running backs -- Ryan Mathews, junior, Fresno State; Dion Lewis, freshman, Pittsburgh.
	   Tackles -- Bryan Bulaga, junior, Iowa; Chris Marinelli, senior, Stanford.
	   Guards -- Rodney Hudson, junior, Florida State; Mike Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Center -- Maurkice Pouncey, junior, Florida.
	   Tight end -- Dennis Pitta, senior, BYU.
	   Wide receivers -- Mardy Gilyard, senior, Cincinnati; Danario Alexander, senior, Missouri.
	   All-purpose player -- James Rodgers, junior, Oregon State.
	   Kicker -- Kai Forbath, junior, UCLA.
Defense
	   Ends -- Von Miller, junior, Texas A&M; Brandon Graham, senior, Michigan.
	   Tackles -- Gerald McCoy, junior, Oklahoma; Jared Odrick, senior, Penn State.
	   Linebackers -- Pat Angerer, senior, Iowa; Brandon Spikes, senior, Florida; Sean Weatherspoon, senior, Missouri.
	   Cornerbacks -- Perrish Cox, senior, Oklahoma State; Kyle Wilson, senior, Boise State.
	   Safeties -- Taylor Mays, senior, Southern California; Rahim Moore, sophomore, UCLA.
	   Punter -- Zoltan Mesko, senior, Michigan.
Third team
Offense
	   Quarterback -- Kellen Moore, sophomore, Boise State
	   Running backs -- LaMichael James, redshirt freshman, Oregon; Jacquizz Rodgers, sophomore, Oregon State.
	   Tackles -- Dennis Landolt, senior, Penn State; Ciron Black, senior, LSU.
	   Guards -- Brandon Carter, senior, Texas Tech; Jeff Byers, senior, Southern California.
	   Center -- Chris Hall, senior, Texas.
	   Tight end -- Dorin Dickerson, senior, Pittsburgh.
	   Wide receivers -- Freddie Barnes, senior, Bowling Green; Demaryius Thomas, junior, Georgia Tech.
	   All-purpose player -- Dexter McCluster, senior, Mississippi.
	   Kicker -- Hunter Lawrence, senior, Texas.
Defense
	   Ends -- Jeremy Beal, junior, Oklahoma; Brandon Sharpe, senior, Texas Tech.
	   Tackles -- Brian Price, junior, UCLA; Dan Williams, senior, Tennessee.
	   Linebackers -- Sergio Kindle, senior, Texas; Cody Grimm, senior, Virginia Tech; Navorro Bowman, junior, Penn State.
	   Cornerbacks -- Brandon Harris, sophomore, Miami; Alterraun Verner, senior, UCLA.
	   Safeties -- Tyler Sash, sophomore, Iowa; Mark Barron, sophomore, Alabama.
	   Punter -- Matt Reagan, senior, Memphis.

*Did you know he was in Tombstone, a.k.a. the SINGLE GREATEST MOVIE IN HISTORY? And in a phenomenal scene, to boot.

All-Big Ten Awards Announced, Swept Once Again By Toto

Oops Pow Surprise — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:00:45 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

about 1 month ago: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz looks on during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Northwestern, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, in Iowa City, Iowa. Northwestern won 17-10. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

View full size photo »

Good news, everyone!* The Big Ten announced its picks for the all-conference teams. Naturally, the offensive and defensive player of the year are both Terrelle Pryor. Okay, not true; he's not even honorable mention.

But there's plenty of actual good news. First, the devil media named Kirk Ferentz coach of the year, and here he is reminding them that they can go suck it and he hasn't forgiven them for the slights of the regular season.

Such language, Kirk!

As for the players, here's the link to the voting results. The media named Bryan Bulaga to the first team on offense, while the second team featured four of his friends from the line: Rafael Eubanks, Dace Richardson, Kyle Calloway, and Tony Moeaki.

On defense, the first team had a little more Iowa representation; Adrian Clayborn, Pat Angerer, and Tyler Sash all received their no-brainer merits. On the second team, Brett Greenwood and Amari Spievey. Iowa put eight players on the media's honorable mention team: Ryan Donahue, Broderick Binns, A.J. Edds, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Karl Klug, Daniel Murray, Adam Robinson, and Ricky Stanzi.

Not surprisingly, the coaches had a slightly higher opinion of the Hawkeyes; here's the link to their voting results. Bryan Bulaga was named their offensive lineman of the year(!!!), an award the media doesn't give out. Bulaga is joined on the first team by Moeaki and Richardson, both of which are worthy selections. Calloway and Eubanks didn't make the second team--not sure why on Calloway--but Derrell Johnson-Koulianos snuck in on a three-player tie for second-team WR.

On defense, the coaches agreed with the media in putting Sash, Clayborn, and Angerer on the first team roster. They also added Amari Spievey; as coaches, they're more likely to know that the reason Spievey didn't have a ton of picks wasn't that he's not good at football, but that there's just no hope in throwing at him; Spievey was a machine this season, and we're starting to lose hope that he's got more than one game left in an Iowa uniform. A.J. Edds is the lone Hawkeye on the defensive second team.

For honorable mention, it's as follows:Christian Ballard, Kyle Calloway, Ryan Donahue, Brent Greenwood, Karl Klug, and Adam Robinson.

Full All-BXI teams and a few thoughts are after the break.

MEDIA

POS.	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
QB	Daryll Clark, Penn State	Mike Kafka, Northwestern
RB	Evan Royster, Penn State	Brandon Saine, Ohio State
RB	JOHN CLAY, Wisconsin	Ralph Bolden, Purdue
WR	Tandon Doss, Indiana	Blair White, Michigan State
WR	Keith Smith, Purdue	Zeke Markshausen, Northwestern
C	Stefen Wisniewski, Penn State	Rafael Eubanks, Iowa
G	Justin Boren, Ohio State	Jon Asamoah, Illinois
G	John Moffitt, Wisconsin	Dace Richardson, Iowa
T	Bryan Bulaga, Iowa	Kyle Calloway, Iowa
T	Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin	Dennis Landolt, Penn State
TE	Garrett Graham, Wisconsin	Tony Moeaki, Iowa
PK	Brett Swenson, Michigan State	Stefan Demos, Northwestern

POS.	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
DL	Adrian Clayborn, Iowa	Jammie Kirlew, Indiana
DL	Brandon Graham, Michigan	Thaddeus Gibson, Ohio State
DL	Ryan Kerrigan, Purdue	Cameron Heyward, Ohio State
DL	O'Brien Schofield, Wisconsin	Jared Odrick, Penn State
LB	Pat Angerer, Iowa	Ross Homan, Ohio State
LB	GREG JONES, Michigan State	Josh Hull, Penn State
LB	Navorro Bowman, Penn State	Sean Lee, Penn State
DB	Tyler Sash, Iowa	Brent Greenwood, Iowa
DB	Donovan Warren, Michigan	Amari Spievey, Iowa
DB	Sherrick McManis, Northwestern	Brad Phillips, Northwestern
DB	Kurt Coleman, Ohio State	David Pender, Purdue
P	Zoltan Mesko, Michigan	Jeremy Boone, Penn State

COACHES

POS.	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
QB	Daryll Clark, Penn State	Mike Kafka, Northwestern
RB	Evan Royster, Penn State	Brandon Saine, Ohio State
RB	John Clay, Wisconsin	Ralph Bolden, Purdue
WR	Eric Decker, Minnesota	Tandon Doss, Indiana*
WR	Blair White, Michigan State	Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, Iowa* Keith Smith, Purdue*
C	Stefen Wisniewski, Penn State	Rafael Eubanks, Iowa* Joel Nitchman, Michigan State*
G	Dace Richardson, Iowa	Jon Asamoah, Illinois
G	John Moffitt, Wisconsin	Justin Boren, Ohio State
T	Bryan Bulaga, Iowa	Rodger Saffold, Indiana
T	Dennis Landolt, Penn State	Gabe Carimi, Wisconsin
TE	Tony Moeaki, Iowa	Garrett Graham, Wisconsin
PK	Brett Swenson, Michigan	Stefan Demos, Northwestern

POS.	FIRST TEAM	SECOND TEAM
DL	Adrian Clayborn, Iowa	Jammie Kirlew, Indiana
DL	Brandon Graham, Michigan	Thaddeus Gibson, Ohio State
DL	Jared Odrick, Penn State	Cameron Heyward, Ohio State
DL	O'Brien Schofield, Wisconsin	Ryan Kerrigan, Purdue
LB	Pat Angerer, Iowa Linebacker	A.J. Edds, Iowa
LB	Greg Jones, Michigan State	Ross Homan, Ohio State
LB	Navorro Bowman, Penn State	Sean Lee, Penn State
DB	Tyler Sash, Iowa	Donovan Warren, Michigan*
DB	Amari Spievey, Iowa	Sherrick McManis, Northwestern*
DB	Brad Phillips, Northwestern	Brandon King, Purdue*
DB	Kurt Coleman, Ohio State	David Pender, Purdue* Jay Valai, Wisconsin*
P	Zoltan Mesko, Michigan	Jeremy Boone, Penn State

Okay. While we're quite happy that Bulaga got such high accolades for the season, we can't be alone in thinking that he was hardly the best lineman in Iowa City, much less the Big Ten. He was either on the sidelines or out of sorts for the majority of the season, and we still haven't seen the elephant-tusk-covered road grader from last season on display. He totally would have deserved a preseason OL of the year, but his performance over 2009 didn't merit such superlatives.

This is hardly a new development from these postseason lists, however; generally, the lists are crafted off of the preseason lists, and anybody whose knee blew out with more than four games left was excised and replaced by someone else. After all, Bulaga was only a second-team All-BXI player last season, even though he was by far the best lineman on the team in 2008. Seth Olsen, meanwhile, had the good fortune to be a first-teamer to start the year, so he was on the first team after 2008, despite a relatively blah senior campaign; we'd have put him about fourth on the list of Iowa linemen for 2009, behind the two bookends at tackle and Rob Bruggeman at center.

Essentially, Bulaga won the award in 2009 for his play in 2008.

At the end of the day, this comes down to stats; there aren't any for linemen, despite the ill-fated attempt to get the "pancake" introduced about a decade ago (for this, we blame Orlando Pace). It's assumed that linemen are sure things, and that as long as they stay healthy, the narrative has stayed true. After all, without stats, most scribes have no time (or no idea) how to watch linemen individually.

Frankly, though it's a subjective stat, we'd love to see how linemen grade out per play (remember that Blake Larsen famously graded at 100% during his senior season at Atlantic; lord, had those knees survived...) Without having the means to undertake such an activity ourselves, we'd imagine that if you graded each Iowa offensive lineman, Kyle Calloway or Dace Richardson would probably be at the top.

If they're not, which is possible, then it would probably be the guy who didn't even get an honorable mention: Riley Reiff. He was stout in relief of Bulaga--hell, we're pretty sure O'Brien Schofield would not have batted Reiff around like a catnip mouse, unlike some Iowa linemen--and he basically forced his way into the starting lineup even before Big Dace went down. But since he wasn't even a projected starter, to say nothing of a preseason honoree, Reiff didn't have much of a chance for postseason mention. Shame, really; dude is legit, and he hasn't even filled out his frame yet.

As for the skill players, it's a little disappointing that Stanzi only made one honorable mention team. But we get how that can happen. Spievey only making second team in the media is flatly ridiculous. If he'd put together that same season in an Ohio State uniform, he'd be getting All-American talk.

Other than that, we don't have a ton of beef; Stanzi killed himself by leading the conference in interceptions when he went down to injury, and the rest of the offensive skill players were far too inconsistent or hurt to merit much consideration. Jeremiha Hunter not getting any honorable mention love is a little disconcerting, but the BXI was lo-ho-hoaded at linebacker this season; we're not quite sure whom we'd place him above. He'll get some love in 2010 if he stays healthy. Also--given the play of Jeff Tarpinian in relief--if Hunter stays healthy between now and next September, there's no position battle at weakside backer next season, right?

So, all in all, a fair list, even if the voting on offensive linemen is basically a year behind schedule. It's a year behind for everyone else, after all. Anybody else that you folks think got shafted? Did Marvin McNutt deserve a nod, or is he still a year away from recognition?

*/Farnsworth'd

Senior Day Haiku

BSD — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:00:33 -0000

by Carlos Osorio - AP

View full size photo »

This Saturday will mark the fourth senior day in the history of this fine blog. Tomorrow afternoon 18 seniors will run out of the tunnel for the last time wearing the Blue and White. Some of them will go on to try to earn a roster spot in the NFL. Others will go on to lead successful careers in business and life. Some are stars. Some are little known walk ons. They got up every day at 5 AM for four years to lift weights and run sprints so they could put on a show for us twelve Saturdays a year. They are heroes. They are legends. They are Penn State football.

If you're new to BSD this season, we have a tradition where we honor all of the senior players, from the All Americans to the third string long snapper, with a little ditty we call Senior Day Haiku. Feel free to add your own Haiku in the comments. We'll go in alphabetical order.

P - Jeremy Boone

He must hate the ball
Holy Cow did you see that?
He just hit the moon!

QB - Daryll Clark

Roll out and go deep
Never good enough for some
Just short of legend

TE - Brennan Coakley

You might have been good
Just too many injuries
We will never know

DE - Tom Golarz

Did you notice that
Golarz rhymes with solarz?
That is all I got

DE - Jerome Hayes

I still remember
You sacking Jimmy Clausen
Man, that was awesome

LB - Josh Hull

Went from suck to good
It must have been the mustache
Bow-chicka-bow-bow

OL - Dennis Landolt

Quiet performer
Right or left doesn't matter
I got your back, Clark

LB - Sean Lee

Your torn ACL
Brought you back another year
We're thankful for that

WR - Patrick Mauti

Sorry ‘bout the knee
Wait, you're not the linebacker?
Your brother is good

OL - Nerraw McCormack

You waited your turn
Got your chance but hurt yourself
Wasn't meant to be

CB - Shelton McCullough

Ran out the tunnel
I would kill to do that once
Gradulations, dude

DT - Jared Odrick

You know I own you
Double team? Doesn't matter
Running back is mine

LS - Andrew Pitz

The unheralded
Long snappers are people too
You did a good job

OL - Ako Poti

Please don't let Clark die
Nightmares of Heyward haunt me
Please, God, make it stop

TE - Andrew Quarless

Crossing the middle
Missed a block and dropped a pass
Joe's dog house must suck

TE - Mickey Shuler

Like father like son
All you did was play steady
Paterno likes that

CB - Knowledge Timmons

What was that blue streak?
Knowledge gunning the sideline
Look out return man

CB - A.J. Wallace

High expectations
Joe says too loosey goosey
Cover-3 just blows

And Here Come The Pretzels

Run Up The Score — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:42:59 -0000

On yesterday's ESPN GameDay show, Chris Fowler and the crew passed along information that Penn State coaches indicated their offensive playbook would be uncharacteristically open against Ohio State. The coaching staff trusted the improved offensive line, and especially trusted Daryll Clark to win the game for Penn State. If such a strategy was ever in place for the Penn State offense, it was scrapped after their first offensive play of the game as defensive end Cameron Heyward bolted through Dennis Landolt and Evan Royster, defensive tackle Todd Denlinger spun around Johnnie Troutman, and defensive end Thaddeus Gibson hopped over a weak chop attempt by Ako Poti. The result, 2nd and 16, and 59 minutes of puckering.

And shame on you for not fighting through your doubleteam, Doug Worthington!

Sifting through the rubble this morning, and nothing has changed. Yesterday's game was an absolute owning of the home team -- coaches, players, fans, offense, defense, special teams -- from beginning to end. Cameron Heyward is an unblockable monster. No matter which Penn State offensive lineman he lined up against, they were quickly and embarrassingly thrown aside. Daryll Clark was hit and hurried, and again unable to carry the team in those circumstances.

Clark will take some justified heat for this loss. Fair or not, his place in Penn State quarterbacking history will be roughly alongside Wally Richardson's 1995-1996 run -- fondly remembered, but nowhere approaching legendary. Daryll will leave Penn State with a shared Big Ten title, love and respect from a vast majority of the fanbase, and gaudy stats against awful teams. People will be happy to see him when he returns to campus in 5, 10, 20 years. But he won't be a Penn State legend or anything close to it.

I suspect the coaching staff feels embarrassed this morning. There's absolutely zero excuse for the ongoing clusterfrick that is Penn State's special teams unit. If Joe Paterno expects to win games with defense and special teams, it's probably a fine idea to actually have good special teams. Given the athletes on this team, are we supposed to believe that Drew Astorino is our best ~~punt returner~~ designated fair catcher? Penn State's punt team practically handed Ohio State their first touchdown and took the life out of the crowd. And it's clearly not a matter of putting bad athletes on the field for kicking plays -- the players chasing Ray Small down the field on his first punt return are A.J. Wallace, Knowledge Timmons, Josh Hull, Chris Colasanti, Navorro Bowman, Brandon Beachum, and Andrew Quarless. And they were put in a bad position by an awful Jeremy Boone punt.

The playcalling was atrocious. If you don't have enough confidence to throw the ball on 3rd and 5, do us all a favor and kneel on the ball three straight plays and punt. Your defense will get the same amount of rest, and there's no risk at all! Beats the hell out of running the same tired crap right at Ohio State's strengths, or letting your quarterback get battered play after play.

Tom Bradley and the defense don't get a pass for this either -- they let the team down repeatedly on some crucial third downs. D'anton Lynn blew a coverage that led to DeVier Posey's long touchdown. On Pryor's rushing touchdown, Bowman had him dead in the backfield and was shaken off. They had their chances to turn the game around, or even just get off the damned field, and failed.

Finally, man up and give credit to Terrelle Pryor and Ohio State. This can't be stressed enough: they dominated every single aspect of the game. As for Penn State, they had their two toughest opponents at home and blew it. While 10-2 is still within reach and sounds great, this season has already been cast upon the disappointment heap. Penn State will end up in some middle-tier bowl with a cheesy sponsor. Don't worry. We'll pretend to care about it.

Grading the Penn State Offense Against Northwestern

BSD — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:15:14 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

about 1 month ago: Penn State's Evan Royster(22) runs for a touchdown during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009. Penn State won 34-13. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Browse more photos »

It was slow to get started, but eventually the Penn State offense came to life in the fourth quarter and scored three touchdowns on three consecutive offensive snaps.

Quarterbacks

Another fantastic stat line for the senior captain.

vs Northwestern / 10.31.09	Passing					Rushing
	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	Rush	Yds	Avg	TD
Daryll Clark	22	31	70.0	274	1	6	16	2.7	1

It shocks me to see commentary on some of the Penn State message boards about Daryll Clark not looking very impressive. Excuse me, but, what else do you want? He's on pace to smash just about every single season passing record in Penn State history. He's about to take the career passing touchdown record. He's leading the conference in passing efficiency, and he's No. 14 in the nation. He has now gone three games without throwing an interception, and he's only thrown one interception in his past five games. I don't see how he can play much better than this.

On Saturday, I can't think of any glaring mistakes. He made good decisions. His throws were right on time with the pattern. He tucked the ball and ran when he needed to. He spread the ball around completing passes to ten different recievers. Even his fakes score points. Royster's long touchdown run was set up by a pump fake to a wide receiver in the flat. It froze the linebackers and pulled the safeties out of position opening up the middle for Royster's scamper. Clark is just playing at an incredibly high level right now.

Final Grade: A

Receivers

It's hard to believe that Derek Moye is just a sophomore. Saturday was his third 100 yard receiving game of the season. He and Daryll Clark appear to be completely in sync right now. Take a look at his stats for the season.

	Receiving
G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	TD
9	39	648	72.0	16.6	5

With three games and a bowl game, he only needs 88 yards per game to eclipse 1000 yards on the year. He can pass the mark in the regular season with 117 yards per game. If you're counting at home, Bobby Engram has the school record for single season receiving yards with 1084. It's a difficult mark to reach from here, but it's achievable.

Graham Zug had an off day. He had four catches for 34 yards, but he also dropped a wide open pass that would have gone for a big gain, and dropped an easy touchdown in the endzone. Also, what's up with fair catching a punt at the six yard line?

Eight other guys caught passes in the game. It was a really good team effort.

Final Grade: B+

Running Backs

Royster had trouble finding room to run through much of the game. Northwestern was stuffing the box with eight defenders to slow him down. Many of his early yards came when he ran away from the designed direction of the play. But the deep pass to Moye loosened things up. Northwestern was paying a ton of attention to the flankers, so when Clark pump faked a bubble screen and handed Royster the ball on a draw play, there was nothing but 69 yards of grass between him and the endzone.

vs Northwestern / 10.31.09	Rushing				Receiving
	Rush	Yards	Avg	TD	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
Evan Royster	15	118	7.9	1	1	7	7	0

Brandon Beachumeven got in the game for a few carries to give Royster a rest. He finished with an impressive 25 yards and a touchdown on only four carries.

Final Grade: A

Offensive Line

Once again I was not impressed. I mentioned that many of Roysters yards came on his own. They did a lot of pulling with Landolt and Troutman, but Wisniewski and Eliades weren't getting much push so the end effect was Landolt and Troutman just getting in Royster's way. But then Northwestern only recorded three TFL and one sack, and the Wildcats were stuffing the box, and Penn State did manage 163 yards rushing, so maybe it's not as bad as I think it is. But I'm scared as Hell thinking about the Buckeye defensive line this Saturday.

Final Grade: B

Offensive Coaching

I wasn't impressed with the play calling in the early going. It was a lot of running into the eight man brick wall and short passes designed to pick up six or seven yards. This was partly due to Penn State's poor starting position on the field the entire first half. We all know Joe Paterno hates to take chances on his 20 yard line.

But the key drive started with just under seven minutes to go in the second quarter. That's when Penn State said, "Screw it. We're done trying to run the ball." They took over at their own 7 yard line and tried to pass the ball on every play of a 93 yard drive that ended in a touchdown. They came out and tried to pass on three straight plays of their next drive. Though that drive went three and out, the message was sent loud and clear to Northwestern. If you are going to stack the box, we will throw on every single down if we have to. Penn State found the Northwestern defense much easier to work with in the second half because of it.

The touchdown pass to Moye and the draw play to Royster were brilliantly set up and executed.

Final Grade: B

Joe Paterno Press Conference Recap

BSD — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:15:17 -0000

More photos » by Pat Little - AP

Browse more photos »

Here are some nuggets from Joe Paterno's press conference today.

Joe called Sean Lee "Day-to-day" and isn't sure if he will play on Saturday. He was on the field yesterday, but didn't do anything.
Bowman practiced for about 1/3 of Monday's practice. They will evaluate him as the week goes on.
Joe says Daryll Clark is important to the team, and they are not going to run him if they don't have to. But they will do what they have to do to win the football game.
Joe is worried about the linebackers with all the injuries. Mauti, Lee, and Bowman were supposed to be the top three linebackers. Right now all three are injured. Says Stupar can be good, but he is irratic at times. Same with Bani Gbadyu. Josh Hull has to hold the thing all together.
Graham Zug will practice today and Joe thinks he will be ok for Saturday.
A couple guys up front on the kick return team are missing their blocks which is causing the problems on the return game. It's not the timing with the wedge being too close to the return man.
Joe does not like the word "revenge" in reference to this game with Iowa. Iowa licked us last year. "It's not like they sneaked up on us and stabbed us in the back with a knife" They're just approaching this game as they would prepare for a good football team.
Ricky Stanzi is a good football player. He's not flashy. Not one of those kids who calls attention to himself. He's a coach's quarterback. Knows what's going on. Looks a little shaky in the beginning of games, but puts it together in the second half.
Says Iowa has some good running backs. He thought they might be shaky without Shonn Greene, but doesn't look that way.
Dennis Landolt is a solid tackle. Didn't have a great game against Temple which is unusual for him. He's not an emotional kid, but he comes to work every day and pays attention to the little things.
Jared Odrick is a little more of a free spirit that the kids that have played at tackle. Spends a lot of time looking at blocking schemes so he can take advantage. He's a fine football player.
Joe didn't want to get into Kirk Ferentz's 6-1 record against Penn State. Says he's just worried about this year.
Joe doesn't know if the flu is still hanging around the team. Everyone was in practice yesterday. One or two kids are still getting over it. He thinks they're ok this week, but tomorrow they might have five or six kids say they came down with it.
Joe says they haven't run everything in the play book yet. Doesn't know how much they have or haven't run yet. They did hold some stuff back. They went into the Temple game determined to run it more.
The linebackers will be Hull, Stupar, and Gbadyu if Lee and Bowman can't go.
He's not comfortable with the goal line offense yet. But they will get better as the offensive line gets more experience. They probably haven't spent enough time on the goal line yet.
The first team and second team on offense and defense get the same amount of practice reps because you never know when you are going to need a backup player to step in. That may be different from what other schools do.
Joe isn't aware of any problems with Sean Lee's ankle. Says he has a sprained knee.
The kickoff coverage is not very good. He seems to think it's a personnel problem more than anything. They've had to put some guys in there that haven't played a lot of football.
Joe tries to pace the day so the players can rest up for these late games. The toughest part is the kids have friends and family that want to hang out before the game. He has to keep them focused.
Jack Crawford will be good when he gets more confidence in himself.
The Whiteout is a great place to play a football game. To have games here with our crowd has been an advantage for us. It's a bringing together of the whole institution. It's fun, and it's great to be a part of it. The kids look forward to it. They enjoy the rallies the night before. Joe made a little dig at Bobby Bowden and Florida State at the end when he said, "What do you do when you're in college? How many things do you do where you are involved with 110,000 other people on the same page? Unless you're in an English class cheating with 30 other guys."

Zing!

Grading the Penn State Offense Against Syracuse

BSD — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:00:38 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

3 months ago: Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark, left, hands off to running back Evan Royster during the first half of an college football game against Syracuse, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009, in State College, Pa. Penn State won 28-7. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Browse more photos »

Reading the Sunday papers and listening to the post game reactions you would never know that Penn State won by 21 points and held their opponent to just one score. Maybe it's a good sign when you don't play your best and still win by three touchdowns. Or maybe it's a sign that this season is going to be harder than we thought once we get into the meat of the schedule. Let's look at how the offense performed this week.

Quarterback

You wouldn't know it by all the love for Tate Forcier this week, but Daryll Clark had another solid game. He did have one interception where the defender stole the ball away from Derek Moye as Moye was hitting the ground. You could say that one wasn't Clark's fault, but he would probably tell you he underthrew that ball. If he leads Moye by another two or three steps that's a huge play and maybe even a score. Clark seemed to struggle on his deep throws all day. Earlier in the game he overthrew Graham Zug who had beaten his man deep by several steps.

There were a few misfires here and there where Clark would heave one to Canolipants, but for the most part he looked sharp on hitting anything under 15 yards. The 49 yard slant pass to Royster was a risky throw into coverage that paid off. Really, Clark only had one terrible throw all day when he hit a Syracuse linebacker standing in space by himself right in the hands. Fortunately it was dropped.

vs Syracuse / 9.12.09	Passing					Rushing
	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	Rush	Yds	Avg	TD
Daryll Clark	20	31	60.0	240	3	2	-1	-0.5	0

Kevin Newsome got in the game late and looked horrible. He stared down his receivers and took two sacks. The second sack resulted in a fumble that gave Syracuse impeccable field position allowing their only score.

Final Grade: B

Offensive Line

Much of the frustration with this offense is centered around the offensive line for the second week in a row. Penn State had some success running the ball to the outside. Their two best runs went outside left tackle behind Dennis Landolt. Those were Royster's touchdown run and Stephfon Green's near touchdown run (that should have at least been reviewed, because it looked to this blogger like he got in). But every attempt to run between the tackles was like trying to run through a brick wall.

Fortunately, for the second week in a row the pass protection looks solid. Lou Elaides missed his assignment a few times letting the pressure get through to Clark. He, along with Matt Stankiewitch, was pulled in the second half in favor of Johnnie Troutman and Quinn Barham. The results were pretty much the same. After the game Paterno admitted that both guard spots are basically up for grabs. This is an upsetting thing to hear after week two of the season. We could be in for a bumpy road.

Like I said in the game recap, the tell-tale sign of the frustration with the running game came with 11 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Holding a comfortable 21 point lead this is normally the time when Paterno elects to hand the ball off to Evan Royster who gains yards in four and five yard chunks while running out the remainder of the clock. But on this possession, Clark came out throwing on first down. The first play went to Moye for 13 yards and a first down. So do you think they would pass on the next first down? Nope. They came out throwing, and the result was the almost-pick where Clark hit the linebacker in the hands. On the next play, they tried to pull Barham on a sweep to the left, but Barham was slow getting down the line and Royster got stuffed. Clark overthrew Brackett on 3rd and 10 and Syracuse got the ball back.

The sad fact is we are starting a redshirt freshman at left guard and a true sophomore at right tackle. And our center was playing guard last year. There are growing pains we are going to have to work through. But if Penn State can't solidify the ground game soon, they are going to give some team a shot to make a comeback.

Final Grade: C

Running Backs

vs Syracuse / 9.12.09	Rushing				Receiving
	Rush	Yards	Avg	TD	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
Evan Royster	12	41	3.4	1	2	61	30.5	1
Stephfon Green	8	26	3.3	0	0	0	0	0

It's tough to imagine they could have done any better given the blocking they had to work with. There was just nothing between the tackles all day. The big thing is there were no fumbles. But they did have some success running outside, most notably to the left behind Landolt. I remember one run in particular by Green that gained about nine yards up the middle. I remember he made a cut inside at the end of the play right into the defense. I think if he had cut that outside he probably would have scored.

The intriguing part of the performance of the running backs was how well Evan Royster did running passing routes. His 49 yard touchdown run featured a juke like something you would see on Playstation. And Joe Suhey once again proved to be a sneaky option slipping out of the backfield. Right now if Penn State needs eight yards, that naked bootleg toss to Suhey in the flat is about as money as it gets.

Final Grade: B

Receivers

vs Syracuse / 9.12.09	Receiving
	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
Graham Zug	6	79	13.2	1
Derek Moye	3	35	11.7	0
Andrew Quarless	4	35	8.8	0
Chaz Powell	1	12	12.0	0
Mickey Shuler	1	1	1.0	1

For the second week in a row it seemed like Clark had no problem finding targets to throw at. Graham Zug had a career day, and he could have gone over 100 yards on the day if Clark hadn't overthrown him on a deep pass down the seam. The deep middle post touchdown pass was a thing of beauty. Derek Moye could have also easily added on another 40 yards if Clark hadn't underthrown him on his deep pass.

The big news is Hello Mr. Quarless! It was nice of Joe to let you out of your two year exile to the doghouse. It might have been No. 10's best day since his freshman year. He looked like a real football player out there making blocks and catching passes. If he can keep this up he will be a welcome addition to the passing game.

I would also like to point out that Zug and Brackett each threw key blocks on Evan Royster's touchdown run. But something isn't right with Brackett. Last week he fumbled after making his only catch. This week he let his best chance to catch a pass go right through his hands.

Final Grade: B+

Offensive Coaching

It's tough to evaluate the playcalling in this game. At times I just wanted them to go shotgun, abandon the running game, and let 'er rip. Other times I wanted them to stick with it to see if they could get SOMETHING going. I think the coaches opted to go with toughing it out to try to establish something good they could point at. But you have to be careful in how far you are willing to take this. Getting stuffed on four straight plays at the goal line can be more demoralizing than productive. It's worth noting that after getting stuffed on four plays after first and goal in the first quarter, when faced with first and goal in the fourth quarter the Lions went another route. After Stephfon Green came up short on first and second down, the coaches called a play action bootleg toss to Mickey Shuler in the back of the endzone.

I was intrigued to see Devon Smith and Curtis Drake out on the field on the first drive. I was looking forward to seeing what these guys could do given considerable playing time, but they were virtually non-existant after that play. I'm thinking when Paterno senses the offense is struggling he's going to stick with the upperclassmen.

I have no complaints with the way the offensive coaches handled this game, but they're not off the hook. This week these guys need to earn their money on Monday through Friday.

Final Grade: B

Potential Penn State Problem #2: Musical Chairs For Dancing Bears

Run Up The Score — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:00:12 -0000

We're down to the last two possible pitfalls for Penn State in 2009, and neither will be a surprise to anybody. It's the offensive line and the secondary, and based upon the fact that the secondary will have all new starters and, you know, the Rose Bowl, the shuffling and replacing along Penn State's offensive line lands that unit at #2 on the list.

Okay, take a look at this picture of last year's offensive line. That would be, from left to right, Dennis Landolt, Stefen Wisniewski, A.Q. Shipley, Rich Ohrnberger, and Gerald Cadogan.

Photo credit: readingeagle.com

Now realize what has been done in the offseason. Landolt switches from RT to LT, Wisniewski moves from RG to C. The other three guys are currently in NFL training camps. Consequently, Penn State's 2009 offensive line will feature five players who are either starters for the first time or starters learning a new position in 2009. This...this is not good.

Truth be told, Landolt and Wiz should be just fine. Landolt (Sr., 6'4" 303) has practiced at LT in the past (as Levi Brown's backup), and Wisniewski (Jr. 6'3", 302) is acknowledged as being so damned good that he's showing up on pre-season All-American and All-Conference teams as a center. So let's take a look at the new guys.

Right Tackle: DeOn'tae Pannell (So. 6'5" 313) is the starter. He was originally penciled in as the left tackle until the coaching staff decided that moving the more experienced Landolt to LT was a better insurance policy for Daryll Clark's blindside. The coaches like his footwork, but obviously don't trust him that much yet.

Right Guard: Lou Eliades (Jr. 6'4" 305) appears to have nailed this one down. Just when it looked like he might make a run at a starting position on the offensive line in 2007, injuries held him back. He's healthy now, and gained experience in last year's Rose Bowl, when he played 31 snaps in place of an injured Landolt (knee sprain)

Left Guard: Most people expected Johnnie Troutman (So. 6'4" 322) to win this position, but Joe Paterno was less than impressed with Troutman's conditioning and rehab of a hamstring injury. Consequently, it seems that redshirt freshman Matt Stankiewitch (6'3" 290) is the guy.

The concerns about the offensive line aren't just with respect to the relative inexperience and lack of familiarity. There is an alarming lack of depth, as well. The primary backups appear to be the aforementioned Troutman, along with...well, not much. And we don't really even know if Troutman can play. Ako Poti (Sr. 6'3" 303) and Nerraw McCormack (Sr. 6'5" 279) were junior college transfers a few years ago. They appear to be the emergency plan at tackle barring any hasty rearrangments such as sliding Eliades out to tackle and inserting Troutman at guard (unless true freshman Eric Shrive (6'6" 298) is ready to go). The backup at center is...Quinn Barham (So. 6'3" 290), maybe?

So, yeah. Depth and inexperience are issues here. Penn State was lucky with a general lack of injuries along the line last year, and had an experienced, versatile guy like Mike Lucian to step in when necessary. They'll need to be even luckier this season.

I'm The Luckiest Man Here. My Hearing Aid Doesn't Work.

Run Up The Score — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:45:38 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

4 months ago: Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, center, laughs with quarterback Daryll Clark, left, and linebacker Sean Lee, right, during Penn State Football Media Day in State College, Pa, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Browse more photos »

That quote is from former Penn State football radio broadcaster Fran Fisher, as he sat in the back of the media room inside Beaver Stadium yesterday. Yeah, I miss Frannie too:

Enis scores the game winner in the '97 PSU vs. OSU game (via BeltwayLandLion)

Anyway, Fisher's quote could not have been more appropriate for a Joe Paterno preseason press conference. If you've paid attention to these things at any point during the last 25 years, you already know Paterno's answers. We're not very good right now. I'm just worried about [name of first opponent]. They have a [totally obscure skill position player] who can really give us trouble. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't coaching. I don't know why you guys care about this stuff. I'm just happy to not be dead. You shut up.

Okay, okay, here's the actual quote:

Nothing excites me yet. I'll be honest with you, we're lousy. I have nothing to be excited about right now as a team. I'm serious about that. We got too many things we got to get accomplished. I mean, we got a lot of work ahead of us to be a good football team. So I'm excited to be alive. That's about it.

If you really care, FOS provides a handy audio file of Paterno's presser.

As for actual news, there was some:

A.J. Wallace -- Supposedly could be suspended by Paterno for a few games to start the season for cutting classes:

"Yeah, I told A.J. I might not play him in a game or two because he cut classes," Paterno said. "If he cuts any more classes, he won’t play. I think you gotta send a message. No sense sending a message if somebody isn’t a player. He’s obviously one of our better players.

"I think he’ll be all right. Now, when I’ll play him will depend on what I hear back from our academic advisors, and find out whether he’s going to class and he’s doing what he’s supposed to do academically. If he does, then we’ll think about when we want to play him."

In my view, Wallace is the most important player to the defense this season. If he plays up to his potential -- and haven't we been saying that since he arrived? -- he could be a tremendous asset to a Nittany Lion secondary which is rightfully perceived as a weakness in 2009, and spent a good portion of 2008 doing this:

Suck! Suck! Suck! (via 3Honks)

Whatever A.J. Wallace's issues are (and I'm afraid to even guess at this point), if Penn State is going to be even remotely competent in the secondary, he needs to get on the field and be productive. To this point in his career as a defensive back, he hasn't done much of either. And he's supposed to be our good cornerback.

Daryll Clark -- Supposedly has "more swagger". Hard to know what the hell that even means, because he wasn't exactly a shrinking violet last year. Every Clark article inevitably includes the required "must not get another concussion" warning, but the York Daily Record article gets to the heart of his other big problem in 2008:

So what can Clark do better, do differently?

One is limiting his knack for fumbling. He said carrying the ball higher and tighter against his chest should help.

Isn't "oh crap, you better not get hit" a bad thing to endlessly drill into the head of a quarterback?

The Offensive Line -- Rightfully has Paterno worried. DeOnt'ae Pannell is your starter at right tackle, due to the coaches' desire to have Dennis Landolt protect Clark's blind side:

The Pannell-Landolt switch leads one to believe that the staff is not entirely comfortable yet with more than just the instability at left guard, where Johnnie Troutman and his sore hamstring had a summer of training that underwhelmed Paterno and thrust redshirt freshman Matt Stankiewitch onto the first team as of Wednesday.

Pannell needs time and work to acquire what football players always call "game speed."
"He's already used to the speed of the game," admitted Pannell of Landolt. "I'm still getting comfortable with it. I think that's the main reason they're doing it."

Navarro Bowman -- I'll just lift this from Mark Wogenrich's excellent Morning Call blog entry this morning:

The linebacker said his offseason trouble is behind him and he’s doing the community service that was an issue at his parole violation hearing last spring. "I think that he realized that he's wasting a great opportunity in his life," Paterno said.

Bowman said he and Paterno met, with each explaining his side. Bowman said he wanted the coach to understand how the recent deaths of his father and high school coach affected him. Asked if Paterno did, Bowman said, "I’m still here, so I think he did understand."

And while we're on that Morning Call blog, a bit about Brandon Ware:

Every time someone brings up the intriguing redshirt freshman defensive end from Harrisburg, Paterno mentions his weight. "Brandon Ware is 20 pounds away from even coming close to being a football player," Paterno said Thursday. "He’s just too heavy."

Ware checks in at 340, about 45 pounds lighter than last year. Defensive line coach Larry Johnson Sr. pegged Ware’s weight closer to 5-10 pounds too much. But Paterno’s point went more to discipline than to size.

Poor guy. I hope we see him on the field this season, because he apparently has a ton of skill and quickness for a big boy (and his Twitter/Facebook pages are hilarious -- he's truly a legend in waiting).

Wide receivers -- Not causing Paterno nearly as much worry because most of them have playing experience, as opposed to the offensive linemen. We know that Graham Zug, Brett Brackett, Chaz Powell, and Derek Moye return for Penn State, but that hasn't stopped the coaching staff from trying some formations with Stephfon Green at running back and Evan Royster in the slot.

If the guys moving up the depth chart stumble, and if Royster's occasionally sliding over to slotback proves to be more of a gimmick than a staple of the offense, Paterno and McQueary could take longer looks at a couple of true freshmen who could work their way into the rotation. [Justin] Brown, a 6-3, 210-pounder from Wilmington, was widely considered the best prep player in Delaware a year ago, and it'll be interesting to see whether super-quick Devon Smith, just 5-7 and 153 pounds, can find his way onto the field in some capacity. Smith, from Waldorf, Md., ran the fastest 55- and 60-meter dashes in the nation during the 2009 high school indoor season and he won the 60-meter national title in March in a time of 6.63 seconds.

That's not a misprint, of course: 5'7", 153 pounds. To see this in action, just do yourself a favor and skip to 2:15 of this video:

Devon Smith Returns Kickoff for Touchdown (via allinbroadcasting)

Finally, the guys over at the Patriot-News would like to know, what's up with Joe Paterno's tooth?

Nitt Picks is Slow Out of the Gate This Morning

BSD — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:46:44 -0000

Ok lots of stuff for you today. Let's just get to it without the sugar coating.

Cory Giger points out in the Altoona Mirror that Evan Royster has an outside chance of setting two distinctions this season.

Evan Royster is on pace to leave Penn State holding two noteworthy distinctions, one relating to the other.

Royster has a chance to not just set, but to blow away the Nittany Lions' career rushing record. The redshirt junior tailback has gained 1,749 yards his first two seasons and needs only 1,650 yards over the next two years to surpass Curt Warner's mark of 3,398.

The other distinction? Royster might end up owning one of the school's most prestigious records yet may go down as one of the most underrated players in program history.

As I pointed out in the running back breakdown in We Are Penn State 2009, Royster has an outside chance of breaking the school's career rushing mark if he can top 1,650 yards this season. And if he doesn't pass the mark this year he will certainly pass it next year. Giger is correct that it's unbelievable Royster hasn't gotten more publicity than he has to date. A big reason for that is the fact Royster was overshadowed last season by players like Beanie Wells, P.J. Hill, and Shonn Greene. The other problem was the talent that surrounded him in the Spread HD and the bumps and bruises that limited his carries. When you only carry the ball 12-15 times per game it's hard to dominate the highlight reel of the game.

Giger also pointed out this weekend that there may be some changes on the offensive line.

Starters: Sr. Dennis Landolt (6-4, 303) said he moved to LT this summer; that means So. DeOn'tae Pannell (6-5, 313), the projected starter there, would move to RT; nothing is finalized, however, though it would make sense to have the more experienced Landolt protecting QB Daryll Clark's blindside.

This is something to keep an eye on, but don't take it too seriously at this point. Coaches often juggle positions in the offseason to cross train players and see what they have to work with. The important thing is they settle on a lineup when camp starts and stick with it to develop the right chemistry. If we see a different starting lineup against Syracuse than we see against Akron, it might be time to hit the panic button in regards to the offensive line.

More Evidence Mark Dantonio is a Jerk

If you recall, around the time Robert Bolden committed to Penn State there was a lot of commotion about Michigan State shutting the door on him a week or two before then. Nobody really had a good explanation at the time, but MSU blog Jolly Green Giants offers one now.

In reality, Robert Bolden was looking to wear the #1 jersey at Michigan State. Now, there would usually be no issue with a pretty simple request. However, Mark Dantonio’s policy would state that a player has to earn the #1 jersey with All-Big Ten selection.

I don't know. I find it hard to believe even Dantonio could turn his back on a top ten quarterback over a jersey number issue. Doesn't really affect anything, but it's a curious piece of information to discuss.

This Week In Schadenfreude

Ohio State kicked off their fall camp this weekend, but as opening days go it was pretty much a downer. This from Eleven Warriors.

Unfortunately, all anyone wanted to talk about were the players not at camp. Rumored academic casualties Ray Small and Robert Rose did not report, but the biggest news of the day was the surprise announcement that Tyler Moeller was in the hospital.

Moeller and Small are expected to be major contributors this fall. Small may not make the grade in the class room while Moeller is is dealing with a potential season or career ending head injury.

And our friends in Ann Arbor are quick to point out it is they who dump their girlfriends and not the other way around. MGoBlog offers this commentary on the information released about the departure of quarterback Justin Feagin.

Feagin was a last-minute addition to Michigan's first class under Rodriguez when it became clear that Rodriguez wasn't likely to acquire a higher-rated quarterback recruit. He did not work out, obviously. The Freep article dryly notes that Feagin "struggled to learn the playbook" mere paragraphs after describing Feagin's extensive marijuana habit.
The onfield impact of Feagin's departure remains nil; the off-field stuff… well, at least when a Michigan player violates team rules he actually violates them. Woo spin!

In Scores of Other Games

The Courier Post has an article on Jack Crawford
Several Penn State players are thankful for a second (or third) chance. Some of them even put on a carnival for charity this weekend.
Jay Paterno's blog is becoming just as popular as his twitter account. Here is a must read for any Nittany Lion fan on the pride of playing for Penn State.
Coquese Washington picked up a major commitment for the womens basketball team with Ariel Edwards from New York.
Finally, a preseason camp kickoff article from the Post Gazette. Nothing earth shattering or anything.