When I started classes at Penn State as a freshman in 2002, I didn't "get it." I was prepared for the academics and even the social life. However, I was a New York Giants fan expecting the Nittany Lions to be essentially the same thing as my favorite pro team but right on campus. I didn't have family members who had attended Penn State, and so I assumed the coach of the football team was just that: a coach, responsible for winning football games.

In the Fall of 2002, the "Joe Must Go" movement was gaining steam. Over the next two and a half years it snowballed into a crisis. I was young and didn't know too many Penn State alumni, so for a while I was an advocate of a new coach. As far as I knew, that's just what you do after a couple losing seasons.

I didn't get college football in the beginning, I didn't get what the team meant to the university at Penn State, and I certainly didn't get how Joe Paterno fit into it all. I'm happy to say that by the time I graduated in 2006, though, I did "get it." Somewhere between seeing the football program at both its depths and its heights, and watching one man negotiate those turbulent times, I understood that Joe Paterno was a lot more than just a coach.

The Sandusky scandal has complicated his legacy, dashing an impeccable record. But Penn State fans don't need to remember him as an infallible legend. To us, Joe Paterno will be remembered as an historically extraordinary man, the rare individual who stepped into our lives and made our community a family.

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Just about every sports information outlet is going with Bill O'Brien to Penn State as a done deal. Just about every analyst is surprised at the hire, and just about every Penn State [internet] fan is furious. The criticism is based on two things: 1) he has almost no name recognition, and if he has any it is from a sideline argument with Tom Brady; 2) he has almost no track record of success at the college level, and his success at the pro level is easily disregarded because Charlie Weis had the same job and failed as a college HC (or Brady/Bellichick, take your pick).

Ladies and gentlemen: this was never the post-Paterno hire that we fantasized about for decades. Succeeding an icon is only the second most difficult thing the new PSU coach has to address. For the next two or three years the Sandusky cloud will continue to hang heavy over this program, and anyone who took this job had to be willing to become associated (to a degree) with it and be willing to try and overcome it in the minds of all his stakeholders.

But maybe, maybe, immediate name recognition and the off-season buzz it brings is not the most important thing for Penn State right now. A demonstrated record of a success at the college level would makes all feel a lot better, but I'm not ready to say that just because Charlie Weis and Eric Mangini failed after leaving the Patriots that this guy will.

Did I want the new hire to have those calm- and excitement-inducing bullet points on his resume? Of course. Do I want to know something about the hire, like maybe even what he looks like/voice sounds like? Yes. But there are some job requirements particular to this hire, following Paterno and the Scandal, that just might be more important and that people are forgetting while they reasonably respond react with immediate hysteria.

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On Monday B1G fans will park in front of the couch to watch the annual make-or-break day for the conference. Most years this includes a couple matchups with second-tier SEC teams and culminates with a showdown against the Pac Ten's best in the Grandaddy. This year adds another matchup, and one that's a lot harder to prognosticate: the 9-3 Nittany Lions play the 12-1 Houston Cougars of Conference USA.

Entering the last game of the season each team was in pretty good position. Penn State sat at 9-2 and was playing for a bid to the inaugural Big Ten Championship. Houston was at 12-0 and playing to both win their conference title as well as a bid to their conference's first-ever BCS bowl. Two painful losses later, both teams precipitously tumbled through the bowl pairings to give the Ticket City Bowl a rare matchup between two ranked team

People consider player emotion to be a factor in college football moreso than most other sports, and that is probably most manifest in bowl games. The student-athletes that will suit up on Monday have gone through a rollercoaster of expectation vs. reality since August, and the amount of enthusiasm, disinterest, anxiety, or confidence they've brought to their preparation and practice in the last month has as much bearing on the outcome as their talent or coaching. Really, I think because the teams' competition and results are so hard to compare that taking a look at their mentality going into the game maybe a little more interesting than usual.

So I'll take a look at what each team has gone through this season and what they bring to the table on Monday, and we'll see who has the edge in the Ticket City Bowl in Dallas.

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On Saturday the 19th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions will travel to Madison to take on the #16 Wisconsin Badgers in what will be the first-ever Big Ten Semifinal.  The winner will ride the Leaders Division bid to take on Michigan State in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game, and the loser will roll the die and land somewhere in a wide range of second- or third-tier bowl games.

Wisconsin approaches the game as the heavy favorite (14.5 as of this writing), with the opening line of 18.5 only a half-point away from representing the biggest underdog Penn State has ever been in a Big Ten matchup.  

How much does making the first B16 Championship Game mean to each side?  Does Penn State have a chance to pull out a huge upset or are the Badgers sure to dominate, avenging the teams' last meeting, a 45-7 bludgeoning of the home team in Madison?

Hit the jump and myself and Hilary will take a look at the game from both the Penn State and Wisconsin perspectives.

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This Saturday the Penn State Nittany Lions will host the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Beaver Stadium.  It's the type of game that Penn State fans live for: both teams are ranked, the outcome is crucial for the Lions' chances at the Big Ten Championship, and the forecast is for a clear, beautiful autumn day in the low 50's.  It should be an ideal football day.

Sadly it will be anything but ideal.  For the first time in the modern era of Penn State football, Joe Paterno will not be representing the Nittany Lions.

It will be the first time the Penn State fan base congregates in Happy Valley and confronts the question:

What is Penn State without Joe Paterno?

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Happy Halloween weekend ladies and gentlemen. Should be a fun combination of watching football, drinking beer, wearing costumes, and for those of us on the east end of the B1G footprint, shoveling our driveways. Hit the jump and we'll take a look at how Penn State's season starts in earnest tomorrow against Illinois.

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The Iowa demons have been exercised.  This weekend Purdue comes to Happy Valley for Homecoming.  Last year PSU's Homecoming was Illinois' first-ever win in Beaver Stadium, will Purdue have the same good fortune?

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The Nittany Lion Turnaround is back after an UGLY one against the Temple Owls.  This week we take a look at where the PSU offense is in relation to the conference (and the nation) and preview the upcoming game against the Eastern Michigan Eagles.

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This is the first of what will become a new weekly Penn State article here on Off Tackle Empire.  Consider it a prototype, as I'm looking to refine it as the season progresses.  The general idea is to both take a look back at last week's game as well as forward to the one coming up, and not just comment on how the players and coaches did/will do, but to do so through the eyes of the Penn State fanbase (as measured by yours truly).  

For those of you Big Ten fans, hopefully you will get to learn a little about the Penn State games you didn't catch, as well as get a peek inside the Nittany Lion nation's psyche as the season unfolds.

This week:  looking back on the romp against Indiana State, and hunkering down for the Alabamocalypse.

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Guess what: I like the chipmunk logo

I. Case History/Opening Statement

A. Case History

In this same column last year, I went into the 2010 season with a strong sense of optimism.  From 2005-2009, PSU averaged over 10 wins per season, putting them into the top 7 in win percentage nationally.  The Nittany Lion faithful had become well re-acquainted with success, and 2009's 11-win season was considered somewhat of a disappointment to most.  Despite losing all three linebackers and a defensive lineman to the draft, many (myself included) felt that Penn State would be able to absorb the losses and field another top-15 defense as they consistently had done for almost a decade.  The question, it seemed, was whether Penn State had broken the cycle of building towards one great season in every three or four, and was going to be able to reload for another double-digit win year.

Well, we certainly didn't reload.  

The defense suffered an almost historic rash of injuries.  The depleted unit lead to PSU losing by 20+ points in four games, which if the BTN crew is to be believed, hasn't happened to the Lions since 1897.  A true freshman starting quarterback, poor line play, and an underwhelming farewell season by Evan Royster lead to an anemic attack through the first couple games on the season.  4-4 in the Big Ten, plus a beating by Alabama, a frightening near-loss to Temple, and a heartbreaking finale against Florida, has Penn State fans looking for some optimism heading into 2011.

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Penn State is on their opponent's 5 yard line line with 1:00 left in the game, needing a touchdown to take the lead.  At this point, however, panic has set in for Nittany Lions fans: just a second ago the team was driving the field, managed to get to 1st and 10 on the 12, and things were looking just swell.

In this late, high-pressure situation, what kind of play do you think the Penn State Offensive Braintrust* will trust to keep hope alive?

Two instances of a situation along these lines spring to mind from last year.  Both of them were a bit early in the season, when we were still unsure if this was going to be a Rose Bowl contending squad or a disappointing 8-or-so win team.  

The first time Penn State had to produce in the clutch was the end of the third quarter at home against Temple.  I was at the game, and it was one of the more frustrating games I have watched.  Temple's Bernard Peirce started off with two big touchdown runs to which Penn State replied with field goal, field goal, field goal, field goal, field goal.  Add in a Temple field goal at one point (yes this game was that exciting) and PSU was in position to lose to it's Philadelphia rival for the first time since the 1940's.    

Bolden saved his best stuff for the fourth quarter, where he helped rescue the Lions from danger and a dicey situation. PSU led by two midway through the fourth and was taking over at its own 4-yard line. Another three-and-out would mean solid field position and a shot at a field goal for the win for Temple.

But Bolden converted a rare third down with a tough throw to Graham Zug for 19 yards on third-and-8. He then used a pump fake to spring Justin Brown for an even bigger gain, and suddenly the Lions were off. Temple finally wore down as fullback Mike Zordich had an impressive run where he carried an entire crowd of players up the middle for a gain of 8. Three plays later Zordich scored on the goal line to put the game away. 

The birth of my man-crush on Mike Zordich began on the first play described; I was smitten when he tore through for a touchdown a few plays later.  He showed a lot of fire at a time when it seemed that Penn State was going to sleepwalk into a historic loss.  For our purposes, Penn State's choice to run the FB up the gut on a tired, out-talented and undersized defense worked out well.

Penn State faced a similar situation in a much more high profile game a few weeks later in the end of the third quarter at Iowa:

There was a moment during Iowa’s 24-3 win against Penn State when a different outcome could have meant a different game. It could have led to a closer finish at color-coordinated Kinnick Stadium, rather than a blowout. It could have been a chance for a freshman quarterback to take a step to the next level on a chilly Saturday night.

Trailing 17-3, Penn State took the second-half kickoff, put together its best drive of the night and moved to a first-and-goal at the 10-yard line. A shovel pass from Rob Bolden to Evan Royster moved the ball to the 5 and a 4-yard run by Royster put the ball on the 1.

But Michael Zordich was stuffed by Christian Ballard and Jeremiha Hunter trying to run up the middle on third-and-goal, and Bolden was stopped by the same two defenders barely short of the goal line on a run to the right on fourth-and-goal.

An official review revealed what everyone watching on television already knew  – the knee of the Nittany Lions’ freshman QB was on the ground before the ball reached the goal line.

Instead of cutting the lead to 17-10, it was Iowa’s ball … and, as it turned out, the ball game was over. Penn State never sniffed the Iowa end zone again while falling to 3-2.

Joe Paterno's offensive coaches went with Zordich up the middle on the 1-yard line but this time to no avail.  They let Bolden run it to the outside on the next play, a play fans have seen Michael Robinson and Darryl Clark pull off in 2005 and 2008 many times, but Bolden wasn't able to channel his predecessors.

A lot of familiar names are on the Penn State offense's two-deep this year.  In a decisive late game situation, which one of them will be called upon to make the big play?

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Get out your Yeunglings and Iron City's, boys: it is officially time to pass along the title of "new guy."

There are a lot of reasons for Penn State fans to be excited about adding Nebraska to the league.  For one, it's another traditional power with national appeal that will only help to put the days of the conference as the "Big Two Little Eight" even further in the past.  There has been a significant minority of Penn State fans that have always thought the Big Ten brain trust put the OSU-Michigan rivalry above all else, but I think as Nebraska becomes entrenched in the league that these tinfoil-hat-wearers will begin to dwindle. 

On the other hand, Nebraska is going to be our cross-division rival.  And unlike the Michigan State "rivalry" they forced upon us last time, there is already some built-in hate between the Cornhusker and Nittany Lion faithful.  We have a contentious MNC game in '82, a contentious MNC poll in '94, and if those weren't enough (and yes, they are), Penn State and Nebraska are the two Big Ten teams to have most recently played in one another's home stadiums in a series held from 2002-2003.  

Past Welcome Letters...

Dear Nebraska, Welcome to the Big Ten... From Minnesota

Dear Nebraska, Welcome to the Big Ten...From Michigan State

Dear Nebraska, Welcome to the Big Ten...From Indiana

Dear Nebraska, Welcome to the Big Ten...From Iowa

Dear Nebraska, Welcome to the Big Ten...From Wisconsin

Dear Nebraska, Welcome to the Big Ten...From Ohio State

Dear Nebraska, Welcome to the Big Ten...From Purdue

Dear Nebraska, Welcome to the Big Ten

Hit the jump and we'll take a look at a couple of the reasons the Penn State-Nebraska rivalry will be heated from the get-go as well as another reason Penn Staters should be happy to see another new guy in the league.

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This Saturday Penn State will face off against Florida in the 25th edition of the Outback Bowl.  Florida is favored to win the game, which is being played about two hours south of the Gators' home stadium.  For better or worse, it's a familiar story for Penn State: it is the third time in the past six seasons that the Lions will play in a bowl game that is located in the state that their opponent calls home.  They've gone 2-1 in those games, beating Florida State in Miami and Texas A&M in San Antonio and losing to Southern Cal in Los Angeles.

In the past few weeks leading up to the game a few storylines have emerged.  None of them directly deal with the players, units, or schemes that will decide the football game on New Year's Day.  Rather, the media have decided that the respective coaches are the more compelling aspect of the matchup.  The first major storyline is "Is Meyer really going to retire?" and the second "Is Paterno really not going to retire?".  Actually, that second one may be a little closer to "Dude, Paterno, you'd be 85 before next season ends: please retire now."  Speculation about Meyer eyeing a future spot in Denver and Paterno's rumored health issues abound.

Speculation regarding coaches may be fun for college football fans to talk about, but it's doubtful that it will have much of an effect on the game being played next Saturday.  In my mind, the mentality of each team over their few weeks of bowl prep will have the bigger effect on the game.   Don't worry, though - I've included a poll at the bottom of the post so that our Offtackle Empire community can put to a vote which is more likely: Meyer to un-retire (again) in the near future, or Paterno to hang it up before the 2011 season?

Hit the jump and we will go through each team's 2010 journey to the Outback Bowl and discuss what kind of attitude they are bringing to the game.  Check back later in the week and I'll take a closer look at how the game itself may unfold and some matchup issues for both teams.

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     Like Penn State's competence in the red zone, I've been missing for a few weeks.  PSU's season is now completely half over, and we're coming out of a much-needed bye week and looking forward to seeing how the team is going to perform down the stretch.  This post is mostly a look at where the PSU season is right now in light of the first half of the season, and then a look at Minnesota.  If you're sick of hearing about PSU's 2010 woes, hit the jump and get down to the Minnesota stuff.  If you're a a fan of another team (and a sadist) or a PSU fan (and a masochist), stick around (link NSFW unless your Boss is a geek for Arnold throwing knives through people...in that case you may be up for promotion).

     To put it mildly, things are not going well.  I've never been a very pessimistic fan or "doom and gloom" guy when things go sour.  However, while I don't think of myself as a huge kool-aid drinker, I will admit that my expectations are usually a shade optimistic.  I went into this season predicting (yikes) 10-3.  We would lose to Alabama and Ohio State, stun Iowa, and drop a game we should not have against Northwestern.  I thought the offensive line would be better (more later), and that our run game and solid defense would keep us in games.  I wasn't terribly far off from other people's predictions; the general consensus of the other writers on this blog was that PSU would go 9-4, with some others thinking 10-3.

     Unfortunately, I was far off from real world results.  We've gone 3-3 so far.  2 of the losses were generally expected, but no one can say they thought they'd both be 20+ point chokeslams.  And then Illinois showed up and really twisted the dagger.  

     Now we play a 1-6 Minnesota game days after their head coach has been fired...and it's a must-win.

     Penn State fans are worried about losing to this 1-6 Minnesota team.  Hell, I am one of the fans concerned about tomorrow.  Anything can happen on a given Saturday in college football.  If things go the wrong way tomorrow, Penn State will take it's place in dead last in the conference.  In that possible future, the [internet] sky starts falling.  "Joe Must Go" gets back into the [internet] mainstream.  [Internet] pigs will fly.  The last one doesn't really fit, but suffice to say things will get crazy.

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     So it's Friday afternoon and we are so very close to another college football Saturday.  We've touched on the various tailgating traditions you can find among schools in our conference many times on this site.  Last weekend, I had the opportunity to head down to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the showdown between my Nittany Lions and the Crimson Tide, and see how they do things down in the Yellowhammer State.

     I went in expecting constant SEC chants and chest-thumping, and was somewhat anxious about spending a long weekend deep in what I considered enemy territory.  I've always lived in the Northeast, so I can't comment too much on how Midwesterners treat the other team's fans, but between Boston and Philadelphia and everything in between you see some rough treatment.

Make sure to go back and submit your picks for Week 3 of the Obligatory Predictions Contest. Win the whole damn thing and we send you something amazing.

    Any thought of rough treatment was shattered within the first 24 hours of being in Tuscaloosa.  I can say that the Alabama fans were easily the friendliest, most hospitable group of people I have encountered in my life.  Being from northern New Jersey, it actually got kind of weird with people constantly coming up to us to ask us how we were doing, was everyone treating us alright, giving us advice, etc.  So while the game itself may have been pretty ugly, the trip was great.  Hit the jump below to get a run-down of three days in Tuscaloosa (with pictures!).

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This Saturday, the Penn State Nittany Lions will attempt college football's version of summiting Mount Everest: beating the defending national champion, #1-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide at home under the lights.  Before a climber can even attempt the heights of Everest, however, they first have to prepare for the journey.  A huge hurdle towards making the trek is just making it through base camp.  The name may not sound very intimidating, but make no mistake - at almost 18,000 feet above sea level, many climbers' assault on the summit ends right there.  Climbers' bodies are forced to acclimitize to the heights, and they get a chance to see what exotic maladies are going to begin to strike them as they begin the trip to the top.  What does it look like?

via upload.wikimedia.org

Yikes.  While the Youngstown State Penguins did not pose quite the same challenge as Everest Base Camp does, the game did give us fans a first real chance to see this Penn State team in action.  We now have a pretty good idea of what the Lions' strengths and weaknesses will be when they make their attempt on the summit this weekend.

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"It's the name on the front of the jersey that matters most,

not the one on the back."

- Joseph V. Paterno

I. Case History/Opening Statement

A. Case History

We Penn State fans know two histories.  When a conversation comes up about which program has more tradition (otherwise referred to as "better"), we invoke our place among that ten- to fifteen-team long list of college football royalty.  We can talk about national titles, undefeated seasons, being in the 800-win club, a hall of fame coach/patron saint, and having one of the few stadiums in the country to fit over 100,000 screaming lunatics fans. 

Make your picks in Off Tackle Empire's Annual Obligatory Predictions Competition...This weeks toughest pick? Michigan v. UConn...

However, when someone wants to talk about recent success, we have a very definite timeframe in mind: the past five years, also known as the post-"Dark Years."  Things were ugly from 2000-2004.  We know.  We have blacked it out, and do not understand why everyone else hasn't.  From 2005 through last season, however, things have brightened up.  We've assumed a position among the conference elite, occasionally capable of putting the local bully Ohio State in its place and trouncing lesser-talented opponents on a consistent basis.  I think the fanbase would agree when I say that we're still a step away from where we want to be, but being tied for 7th best winning percentage in the nation over the last five years is not too shabby.

In 2010, this Penn State team will make history in two categories.  First,  for the first time in Coach Joe's 45 seasons as coach at Penn State, a true freshman quarterback will start in the Nittany Lion's first game.  Second, this year's squad will be first team to face three BCS-bowl winners of the previous season...and is playing in enemy territory in all three instances.  Will the rest of the team provide the rookie QB with the help he needs to be successful?  Is Penn State going to start off with three losses on opening day because of how tough those opponents look on paper?  Take your seat in the jury box and hit the jump to find out.

 
More Closing Arguments:

Ohio State

Iowa

Indiana

Michigan State

Minnesota

Michigan
Northwestern

Wisconsin

Illinois

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So you haven't seen a game at Beaver Stadium?  My condolences.  The second-highest capacity football stadium in the world boasts one of the premier College Football Saturdays in the nation.  Follow along and we'll give you a glimpse at the stadium, the tailgating scene, and the gameday experience in State College, Pennsylvania.

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via blog.pennlive.com

Penn State's biggest mystery going into 2010 is not as simple as "quarterback."  Nor is it the new-look offensive line.  It's a little bit of both:  When Penn State's opponents inevitably begin to crowd the box, will the Nittany Lions be able to effectively deliver the ball through the air?

While Penn State returns a solid set of running backs, an offensive line that figured out how to get some good push towards the end of 2009, and will probably be starting quarterback that has a dangerous set of wheels, just how consistent is the passing game going to be?

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NINTH IN A SERIES: THE PENN STATE SPRING FIELD GUIDE

Has Penn State crossed the threshold and become one of the few programs that can say they "reload" and compete for a BCS game every year?  Or is the program a step or two away, needing to accept "rebuilding" for a year or two after every conference-title-run season?  The 2009 season was a step in the right direction, but it will probably be 2010 that Nittany Lion fans (and their rivals) will point to as dispositive evidence in the "rebuild-or-reload" debate.

Penn State at a glance...

First Season: 1877
Head Coach: Joseph Vincent Paterno (44th Year, 394-129-3, .752 winning percentage)
All-Time Record: 811-351-42 (.691)
2009 Record: 11-2 (6-2 Conference)

Offseason Cliff Notes:

The span from 2005-2008 was your typical Penn State "rebuilding" pattern:  A conference title season, two years of 9-4 records with a fair share of heartbreaking, turnover-filled losses, and then another conference title when the stars aligned/offensive line was experienced at the same time. 

2009 was, in that sense, a relief.  No inexplicable losses to lesser-talented teams.  The Iowa loss stung, but at least that Iowa team was a tough squad which matched up really well against Penn State, and ended the season with a convincing win in the Orange Bowl over the ACC champion.  A more talented Ohio State team came in and, in the words of Coach Joe, "punched us in the mouth" as Ohio State is likely to do to Penn State in its "rebuilding" years.  Fortunately the season ended on a high note, with a win over a top-15 SEC team down in their backyard (something Ohio State is not likely to do).

Jabs at conference rivals notwithstanding, I think 2010 is a very big year for Penn State fans.  No one really has aspirations of outright conference titles, but on the other hand if this team loses 4 games the shit is going to hit the fan (on the internet).  Jay Paterno needs to show the fans that he can prepare a young-but-talented quarterback for the big show.  The staff also has to figure out what to do on the offensive line and demonstrate improvement on special teams.  Questions on offense mean that the traditionally solid defense cannot regress if we want to win some big games.  And winning big games should not be written off in the Spring.

What happened this offseason?  The best news is that Penn State pulled in one of the best recruiting hauls in the country, and all three major outlets tabbed theirs as the best in the Big Ten.  Second, cross your fingers, we haven't had any big injuries (yet).  More troubling, and a much bigger story, has been the quarterback competition.  I agree with Mike at BSD that it's not as dire as the MSM and blogs have made it out to be, but it's dominated PSU's offseason as far as headlines go. 

2010 will be an important year for Penn State, and in my opinion it will be an exciting one.  I'm being uncharacteristically optimistic about the season, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun to see how a new QB fits in with a pretty experienced offense and to see to what degree the defense is able to reload the linebacking corps. and line.  We'll be an underdog against our big three opponents, all away, but if we can play solid football and some things go our way, it's not impossible that this year could offer one of Penn State's biggest wins in a while.

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This continues our series recapping the last ten seasons in the Big Ten.

via pennstategameday.com

I. Overview

The last ten years have been a tale of two programs for Penn State.  From 2000-2004 Penn State went through the worst stretch of the Paterno Era, widely regarded as "the Dark Years."  That five year span saw a record of 26-33, with just one bowl appearance (and a loss at that).  Calls for Paterno's retirement/head were loud.  In fact, Paterno felt compelled to publicly address the criticism:

Speaking first to a small table of media members, Paterno suggested that he would consider retirement if this [2005] season -- one he believes is filled with promise -- instead leads to disappointment.

"If we don't win some games, I've got to get my rear end out of here," Paterno said. "Simple as that."

The man delivered on his word: the 2005 season was a renaissance following the Dark Years, and the team posted a record of 51-13 in the second half of the decade with two Big Ten Championships and three top-10 finishes.

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Feel a little strange this week?  Weakness?  Headache?  You may even have symptoms of depression, anxiety, or craving according to Wikipedia's "withdrawal" article.  You're not alone: it's happens to most of us in the days following the first weekend without football since the beginning of August.  And no, the Nordic Combine and Women's Hockey are not going to scratch that itch.

There's good news and there's bad news.  The bad is that you still have about a month until the first days of spring practice in the Big Ten.  For Penn State fans like myself, you have to wait until March 26.  The good news?  For those of you interested in Penn State, I think I can help ease the pain by offering another opportunity to wildly reasonably speculate on our team's success next year on the defensive side of the ball.

My approach here is to to look at things in the macro, not contingent upon any hypothetical depth chart and without focusing on things like "individual players."  We'll have all spring and summer to examine starting lineups and specific team matchups.  For now, we'll take a broad, bird's eye view of Penn State's recent defensive performances and see how they may project into success on the field in 2010.

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