WWN PENN STATE PREGAME #8 - William F. Yurasko

#12 Penn State at ILLINOIS

We no longer have the burden of wondering whether Penn State will get left out if there is a glut of undefeated teams on Jan. 1. That being said, there is still the chance of winning the Big11Ten, which the Lions are leading (with Wisconsin). The run for the conference title continues this Saturday at 7 p.m.

Nittany Lion Football Gameday Central – goPSUsports.com

LAST WEEK

Let’s face, the loss to Michigan had been beaten to death already by Monday morning. It stunk but life goes on. You can relive it (why?) if you would like with the Postgame.

THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT: ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI

is it just me or does Illinois seem to be the Big11Ten school that generates the least amount of interest as a matchup? Maybe it is because we did not play them the first two years of my college career, but I simply cannot find anything interesting about playing the Illini. I mean, even Indiana gets me a little excited because they have been dominated by the Lions all these years and the Northwestern series has had some exciting and meaningful games too. Keeping all this in mind, I am perfectly content for it to remain and unexciting matchup, if you get my drift.

The latest coach to try and turn around the Illini is Ron Zook, who was run out of Florida after chasing down some frat boys or something. Oh, and for not being Steve Spurrier. I wonder if he just chose the first school available with uniforms similar to the Gators. His new team is winless in the Big11Ten and 2 – 4 overall. They did beat a resurgent Rutgers in OT though, for whatever that is worth. Illinois is also coming off a bye-week.

Penn State leads the overall series 8-1. Hopefully they can get a rout going early so that they can get Anthony Morelli (remember him?) some snaps.

PRESS CONFERENCE RECAP

Joe Paterno was not too talkative during the press conference; still exhausted from arriving back in Happy Valley after 2 a.m. due to plane problems. The main point — he did not want to touch the officiating with a 10-foot pole. Good move, coach.

Here is the transcript from the Post-Gazette. Audio is available at FightOnState.com.

BEANO WATCH

It is now time for the real reason you are here — a recap of Carroll H. Cook’s (’54 Pitt) weekly ESPN SportsNation chat:

Mike, Michigan: hey Beano, How do you feel about the officiating in the Michigan vs PSU game this weekend? I am a big michigan fan and will take the win, but I feel we would have lost if it wasnt for multiple officiating mistakes that went our way(ie: the time being added to the clock, Hart’s fumble which they called down so it wasn’t reviewable, Avant’s catch that should have been reviewed). your thoughts?

Beano Cook: Penn State for years got all the calls at Happy Valley. Nebraska got the shaft in 1982 and without that win they don’t get the national title. Alabama in ’83 as well. One thing I learned over the years watching sports…the gods even things up. In many ways Penn State is getting paid back for what was done to many opponents over the years, Penn State once had the father of a former player working Penn State games as an official. The son played for the team and after the kid graduated, he officiated. Did you think the Big Ten was going for that?

Is it just me or is it not terribly believable that a Michigan fan could be so humble? I think it is a Penn State fan incognito. Either way, it gives Beano a chance to engage in his favorite hobby — complaining about officiating at Penn State games in the 1980s.

Travis (Norman, OK): How can the pollsters justify Colorado not being in the Top 25 of the BCS. They played at #2 Texas and at #6 Miami. Yet, ND is ranked #16 in the BCS. The voting is a joke. Why is voting now based on the short term feel good stories of the week by the media/pollsters? ND started out at #45 in the AP and CU started out at #32 in the 2005 AP Preseason Polls. Is there a distaste of the Big XII in the Media/Pollsters eyes? In the 19 years of religiously watching College Football, I have never seen a greater jump into the top 10. Notre Dame jumped 35 spots in the first two weeks. That is very unfair to more deserving programs.

Beano Cook: I don’t pay much attention to those until November.

Beano Cook: What is amazing is the Big Ten has seven teams within one game of each other, and only two teams really out of the race for the title. Penn State had a wonderful chance to distance itself and move closer to being BCS representative, but the game was one second too long.

This is a long way to go for Beano to point out a negative about Penn State. He is dead on though.

Mike (Harrisburg): Beano do you think PSU regroups after 2 tough losses (Michigan and Williams) and wins the rest of their games on route to a BCS bowl game for the first time ever?

Beano Cook: Penn State will beat Illinois, Purdue and Wisconsin. A lot will depend on the Michigan State game. Paterno cancelled practice Monday because it was a devastating defeat. I think Paterno felt that a win over Michigan would have led to them going unbeaten. Penn State can’t blame the officials or anyone else. They needed to make one more play and they didn’t do it.

Beano is right, the Lions cannot blame the refs, they DID need to make one more play and did not. I am concerned about him saying PSU will win the next three though, that is the kind of pronouncement that has been known to precede a losing streak.

paternoville: Paterno cancelled practice monday because they sat on a broken airplane after the michigan game and didn’t get home until 3 a.m., not because they were sad they lost!

Beano Cook: If they had won, they would have had practice.

Beano disagrees about Penn State calling off practice, even when presented with facts.

Beano Cook: Time for the pick. Penn State 26, Illinois 17. See you next week.

Wow, another Penn State game for pick of the week. Beano only hates us so much because he wants to love us even more. Anyhow, he is 2-0 so far picking PSU and hopefully his luck will continue.

TELEVISION

No worries about coverage maps this week since the game is on ESPN2. As long as you have cable TV you should be set. For those of us who gave it up, we will have to look elsewhere, just skip Rhino Bar in Georgetown.

PREDICTIONS

Coming off a tough stretch of games, Illinois comes at a perfect time for Penn State. As long as they do not get cocky they should be able to take care of the Illini. I expect to see more of Tony Hunt this week as well as more deep throws. In the end, I think Penn State wins 30 – 17.