William F. Yurasko

Penn State Football, PSU Football 2005

WWN PENN STATE POST-GAME #5

October 4, 2005

PENN STATE 44 Minnesota 14

So, did anyone see that coming? I did not and I know Minnesota didn’t. If you had told me that Penn State would dominate the Golden Gophers like that, I would have laughed at you. The Lions just dominated Minnesota like they were…Minnesota. All the talk about the Skunks’ powerful offense and Heisman candidate tailback had me thinking that Penn State would have to be lucky and good to win. I am so delighted to have been wrong.

This is what every Saturday afternoon was like in back in the ’90s, perhaps the balance is being restored. I am not ready to declare Penn State “back” though, because in the larger scheme of things, Penn State should beat Minnesota annually. Check back at the end of the month to see if Penn State is “back.”

PSU makes a statement – Patriot-News

Boxscore – ESPN.com

Also, the CDT Web site has gone crazy with Penn State coverage.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME

This one goes to Derrick Williams, because he changes everything. This week, he lined up at tailback, which caught Minnesota off guard. He had two scores.

If this was hockey, DWill would have the #1 star. The #2 star would be Mike Robinson, who despite having poor passing numbers, ran for over 100 yards. Robinson’s knockout of S Brandon Owens was a statement of purpose — get out of our way. Owens had to have his uniform removed piece by piece. Call that setting the tone.

RB Tony Hunt added another 100 yard performance to be the #3 star.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME

Looks like we have to go with Paul Posluszny again (the Walter Camp Foundation did), even though he had only nine tackles. Calvin Lowry was all over the place again too.

RANKED AGAIN…BUT FOR HOW LONG?

The vaulted the Lions into a #16 AP ranking. The ESPN/USA Today poll has us at #18. They can probably stay ranked even with a loss on Saturday, provided it is not too bad, but let’s not go there. A win would probably push them close to the top ten, if not in it.

THE BLIMP!

For the first time since I started going to games The Blimp came to State College. It was a long time coming, I used to wonder why we never got blimps for Penn State games.

In 2003, the Outback blimp flew above for the Ohio State game, but this was the REAL DEAL GOODYEAR BLIMP. We need it to come back more often, like when I remember my camera.

MORE NOTES

The new turf held up perfectly.

The featured twirler had a tough day, dropping the baton frequently. What do you want — she is only a freshman.

The Lions brought the Governor’s Victory Bell back to Happy Valley for the first time in seven years. It will keep the Land Grant Trophy company.

It was All-University Day meaning every Penn State campus got have their banner out on the field during halftime. Just by coincidence I sat two rows in front of the Dean of Student Affairs for Hazleton — the Old School.

The kickoff coverage still needs work.