Happy Senior Day! Saturday is the last appearance for a whole lot of Nittany Lions (Post Gazette) in Beaver Stadium including most of the lines, all of the secondary, the starting quarterback and the special team standout and underachiever. It should be a heck of a crowd; tents are already going up at Gate A (Front Row/CDT) and the student section will be having another White Out and pep rally.
Football vs. Wisconsin Game Notes (PDF)
TAILGATE
For the last time in 2005, we will be in Lot 11 or 12. Look for the Yurasko flag. Expect the usual assortment of delights as well as more cider and hot chocolate.
LAST WEEK
Penn State came out a little flat (as did the crowd) and generally played a little sloppy in a 33-15 win over Purdue. Mike Robinson was not sharp and was getting blitzed frequently. Calvin Lowry continued his assault on the art of returning punts with another stupefying performance. The big bright spot was the ground attack, which had over 300 yards on the day against a previously tough Boilermaker defense. Tony Hunt was the player of the game with 129 yards. WWN Recap
THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT: WISCONSIN BADGERS
Okay everyone, say it with me:
In addition to Penn State’s return to the upper echelon of the Big11Ten, Wisconsin’s 8-1 season is one of the bigger surprises in the conference this year. This is Barry Alvarez’s last season as head coach there, which is probably good for the Lions. Under him, the Badgers are 3-1 at Beaver Stadium. This is far from all that Alvarez did though, he led Wisconsin to three Rose Bowl victories and heights not reached in Madison in generations (if ever). He is a class act, but I am not going to say that we will miss him.
*Drinks on me for the first person to get me that sound file. Offer expires 12:00 p.m. Friday. We have a winner — my brother Christopher found the file. Thanks!
His final team was expected to be in the middle of the pack of the Big11Ten, so this season is already a success for them. However, I am sure the squad will not be content to just have an above average year, they want the conference title and are going to play hard for it.
This week, as a special to WWN, Wisconsin grad David I. Leavitt offers an assessment of the Badgers:
Wisconsin’s defense is beat up. Their entire front four (literally) from last year went to the NFL. So they started the season with some new guys. And since then, it’s gone downhill. Three out of the four new starters have suffered season-ending injuries. So our defensive line play has been TERRIBLE.
At defensive back, Brett Bell is a senior. But he’s been benched recently in favor of a platoon of freshman and sophomores who haven’t done much better.
In short, the defense — which used to be our strength — doesn’t do very much. That is, they get no pressure on the QB and they can’t tackle people coming right at them. (This is great news, as last year’s Badgers took out two QBs in the first quarter)
On the other hand, the offense is one of the best in school history. Brian Calhoun has better per-game numbers at this point in the season than Ron Dayne had during his Heisman year. He’s a little guy, but he makes good reads and his hard to tackle. Best of all, he’s a great receiver. Look for them to dump the ball off to him or get the ball to him via screen plays. To be honest, he’s pretty much the whole offense. If he’s in the game, they hand the ball to him or they throw it to him nearly every play.
Wisconsin runs a lot of screen plays. In obvious passing downs, watch for it. Especially the middle screen to TE Owen Daniels.
Our starting WRs are both seniors. Orr is the so-called deep threat, although his size makes him a better possession receiver in my opinion. Brandon Williams, who also returns kicks and punts, is the No. 1 receiver.
Our starting fullback, Matt Bernstein (I remember what Matt Bernstein did to us after the sun went down last year. He will not be missed by Lions fans!), is out for the year with an injury (see a pattern here?). As a result, the blocking hasn’t been great. But our backup FBs, including Pressley, seem to be doing pretty well.
So far, Wisconsin has won games based on its offense and special teams. (Our punter seems to get one of his kicks downed inside the 5 yard line each game.) (Hmmm, a good punter is bad news for the Nittany Lions with Calvin Lowry still inexplicably returning punts.)
My fear is that Penn State will be able to run on Wisconsin, given our poor tackling, and that’s going to be bad news, since it seems like the only way to beat Penn State is to force Robinson to beat you through the air.(Robinson has shown he is capable of this but is historically inconsistent).
Last week, the Illinois QB broke a school record by scrambling for 140 yards against us. (I think he had 120 total, but that was due to a couple sacks.) And we all know how bad Illinois is.(Ouch!)
So, there you go. I’m afraid to say I think this is Penn State’s game to lose. If you give Wisconsin a lead based on, say an early turnover or something, I have confidence that Calhoun and our offense can do some things. But since our defense hasn’t really been able to stop anyone (just look at the scores of some of our games), I don’t see any other way we can do it.
Still, I’ll be there wearing red and hoping Wisconsin pulls it out.
Thanks for the analysis, David, have a good time in Happy Valley.
PRESS CONFERENCE RECAP
Here is the transcript from goPSUsports.com, I guess the Post-Gazette never got around to it this week. Audio is available at FightOnState.com. Paterno’s main point — we are only looking at Purdue and not ahead of them. Also, he acknowledges the similarities between the ’05 Boilermakers and the ’04 Nittany Lions but says that Purdue is the better of the two.
BOWL SCENARIOS AND OTHER ARTICLES
David Jones has another rundown on bowl scenarios for the Nittany Lions and it looks positive, even so much so that he thinks a win vs. Wisky and a loss vs. Michigan State could still mean BCS. Pittsburgh’s Tribune-Review also notes that Fiesta Bowl could be in Lions’ future.
Posluszny hasn’t ruled out leaving school early – Tribune-Review
I think the chances of Paul Posluszny leaving early for the NFL draft are slim and he would be better served by another season at PSU. Don’t do it Poz!
THE HOT LIST – Patriot-News
OFF WISCONSIN!
There is yet another Wisconsin connection this week. For the second consecutive year, my friend Brenda, a MPA/JD student in Madison, and I are doing a blog bet on the game. Regrettably, she won last year and I had to post “On Wisconsin” on the blog and give her a concession speech. We talked about doing the mayor’s bet (wagering regional foodstuffs) but came to the conclusion that the universal currency of respect/admiration or humiliation would be sufficient.
BEANO WATCH
Well, you certainly had to wade through a lot to get to this point, the review Carroll H. Cook’s (’54 Pitt) weekly ESPN SportsNation chat.
Rob (Detroit): Answering your question about the Big Ten. If either Wisconsin or Penn State win out, they’ll go. If Penn State and Iowa beat Wisconsin then PSU loses one of their final two games and if Michigan can win out, they’ll go. If Ohio State wins out and Penn State loses, they’ll likely go over Wisconsin.
Beano Cook: Let’s wait and see. I guess I made a mistake asking the question this early, but that would be a wild scenario. If I had to bet on one team right now to go, it would be Penn State. Though facing Brian Calhoun of the Badgers won’t be easy.
What Rob is saying makes little sense according to what we have read elsewhere. Beano is right that Wisconsin will not be easy.
Ken (New York, NY): Beano, Is this the best job Joe Paterno has done at Penn State? Do you think Paul Posluszny wins the Butkus award?
Beano Cook: I think he has a very good chance. He, AJ Hawk, Spencer Havner and DeMeco Ryans could be the top four right now. Paterno has done a great job and I don’t know why people are surprised…they will be good for the next few years. It should be pointed out that against Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin, Paterno is 11-21. That is a stat that can’t be ignored.
I cannot disagree with anything Beano says here, though someone else does…
Derek (Switzerland): I hate to burst your bubble, Beano, but you said Penn State will be good the next few years. I am a huge Nittany Lion fan, but they are losing 4 DB’s to the NFL, their WHOLE O-line, Michael Robinson, one of the best scrambling QBs, and Tamba Hali, who should be a top 10-20 pick in the NFL draft. So how will they be good next year?
Beano Cook: If they don’t play well, I hope people will forget what I said.
I think the Lions will be good, but not “great” like they *might* be this year. Let’s think about next year, next year and focus on Wisconsin.
Funny, non-Penn State quote:
Joe, Metairie, LA: beano, what are your thoughts on florida and va tech’s HORRID uniforms? What’s with the mismatched orange shoulder? Are they Stormtroopers out looking for droids on Tattooine?
Beano Cook: You are talking to a person whom Howard Cosell once said I would come back as an unmade bed…you are asking the wrong person.
Hmmm, there are probably a few ways you could deconstruct that Cosell line, but it is probably for the best that we do not. As for the orange sleeves, Nike (the designer) should have to appear at The Hague for this crime against humanity.
I was expecting Beano to make PSU vs. UW his weekly prediction, but he went with Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M instead.
WEATHER
The forecast looks good, even better than last week. Highs will be in the lower sixties with lows in the 50s, which means that one university administrator I have been sitting near will be able to wear his PSU Hawaiian shirt. Even more important than Dr. Hilton’s choice of attire is the fact that the weather will be dry.
TELEVISION
Maryland Bureau Chief Sam Basile tipped us off that the game is televised regionally by ABC and this week and thankfully that includes Washington’s WJLA Channel 7. Hopefully, we will have a better result than the last time the Lions were shown on 7. If you happen to go to Rhino Bar (I don’t know why you would) make sure you don’t chant CHANNEL SEVEN because the wussy bartenders can’t handle it.
Baltimore’s WMAR Channel 2 is NOT televising the game though — no word if Peter Angelo$ had anything to do with that decision.
Here is the coverage map (PDF) to find out if it is available in your neck of the woods.
PREDICTIONS
Well, the Badger contributor is saying that it is Penn State’s game to lose which is a little stronger than I would put it, but I think Brenda will be calling me with a concession speech. Penn State will be victorious, 28 – 17, but it won’t be easy. Penn State is good enough on both sides of the ball to win, the crowd will be jumping, and the seniors, especially Michael Robinson will be very determined to get it done. Now, we just need a prediction from the Maryland Bureau Chief and we will be set.
MORE COVERAGE
IN CLOSING
GO STATE, beat BADGERS!