We Are... Still #6!

I awoke this morning to find that Penn St. held steady at #6 in both polls, as was expected (I know, I know, I could have found this out last night). However, given that I only started this thing yesterday, I feel that this is a perfect opportunity (excuse?) to talk about Penn State football.

The Lions have been dominant this season... thus far. With the biggest test of the year, thus far, looming on the horizon, Penn State still hasn't had to really fight for anything, thus far. That could mean one of two things: A) We are incredibly nasty this year or B) Our schedule has really sucked up to this point. My conclusion is that it's a combination of the two. This team is not much different than the teams of the last two seasons with one glaring exception and he's lining up under center. Daryll Clark is much more well suited to run this offense with these weapons than Anthony Morelli ever was. Why he didn't get a chance to play in some games when the offense bogged down (cough, cough, MICHIGAN, cough, cough) last year I'll never know and always wonder. The receivers seem to respond to Clark because they finally know what angle the ball is coming at them from, and even better, Clark hasn't turned possessions into his own, personal, real-life game of Madden, launching deep balls at his every whim. Defenses who key in on stopping the pass get burned by Royster/Clark/Green/DWill running the ball, pick your poison. If a defense puts eight in the box, the next play is simple: play-action, Deon Butler, fly pattern, touchdown, in that order. Offensively, I haven't seen a Penn State team like this since'94 and that's no exaggeration. While you could argue that the 2003 and 2005 offenses were jauggernauts in their own right, they weren't this complete or this experienced. Even this last week against Purdue, the offense looked great even though they only put up 20. That 20 could easily have been 28 if the Lions had 3/4 inch spikes on instead of 1/2 inch ones, and even more if Purdue had put any pressure on Penn State to score more than that. The fact of the matter is that the game was essentially over after Penn State's first score, given Purdue's offensive and special team woes.

That brings me to the defense. Tom Bradley deserves to succeed Joe Paterno as head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions. Why? The defense this year has been great despite the injuries and suspensions, a trend that Lions fans have grown accustomed to since Bradley took over for the legendary Jerry Sandusky. Keep in mind that the defense on the field is missing a preseason All-America candidate in Sean Lee. My brother dared to imagine how good we would look if he were healthy and I didn't even know what to say. People pointed out that Illinois moved the ball pretty effectively against Penn State in their clash 2 weeks ago as reason to be concerned, but I think people forget that Illinois put up 42 on Missouri, another top-5 team, and 45 on Michigan this weekend, a team that nearly held Wisconsin scoreless in the second half of their upset win 2 weeks ago. Penn State was one garbage time possession from hanging only the second shut-out ever recorded on a Joe Tiller/Purdue squad (yes, we recorded the other). Basically, Penn State's defense is being overlooked this year thanks to all the accolades being thrown upon the offense and that's fine with me.

If you asked me for my only legitimate concern regarding this Penn State squad, I would have to respond with play-calling. Granted, so far, so good this year, but in years past it almost seemed like Penn State wasn't entirely sure how to use their playmakers when the going got tough in Big Ten play (and it always does, no matter how good you are). They became prone to forcing the issue and made costly mistakes (Illinois and Michigan last year are great examples). Now, whether that was a play-calling issue or a quarterbacking issue isn't entirely clear, however, it is the coaching staff's responsibility to call the plays that best correspond with the personnel on the field. With so many weapons at their disposal, you would hope that the familiar pitfalls won't be an issue this year, but you never know.

Going forward, I love this team's chances. Obviously, huge landmines lie in the road ahead, namely night games at both Wisconsin and Ohio State. If my memory serves me right, and my memory is pretty hazy when it comes to night games, the home crowd is always a little more fierce, a little more wild when the game starts after5 pm. Even those who got a full night's sleep the night before had at least 5 hours to properly lubricate themselves in time for the game, and with the target placed squarely on Penn State's back, the question becomes how will they respond to a "Code Red" or "Scarlet Fever" (I just made up those names for color coordination at Wisconsin and Ohio State and I hereby trademark them now)? This Saturday night's showdown will go a long way in determining where exactly Penn State stands not only in the Big Ten, but in the National Title picture as well. In the words of a good friend of mine, Let's Go State!