Penn State may have a bye, but I am still writing Volume #4, Issue #10

Stunned Penn State Fans:

That is exactly what all of us have become….truly. No one could have expected, predicted, hoped that the Nittany Cubs we have been watching for the past few years, would grow up and become such ferocious Lions so quickly!

This team, and most importantly the Senior class, deserves an enormous amount of praise…for they truly have earned it. Every sport writer has written in great detail about the challenges and tribulations of this Senior class. The “issue” list includes:
Living in Joe’s Dog House at some point for most of them
Football career threatening accidents, both on the field and the road
Trouble with the law, including criminal trials
Major family crisis

And the Senior class hung in there. They endured the negative words written and spoken about them and their football abilities. They survived the questioning of every aspect about the Football program: the coaching, the recruiting, the discipline and even the weight training.

From everything they experienced we all should learn the most important lesson: To live life with HEART!!

While we used analytics to determine what was wrong, they used emotion to drive what could be right. This class has proved their mettle. They have earned their Blue and White uniforms. Not in the number of wins they brought to the program, but in their ability to make us all believe. To remind us that if you set a vision, and you work tirelessly to follow your dreams, they can come true. Just ask the 25 Seniors who were introduced this past Saturday!


Let’s talk about the BCS:
Our Lions are up to #5 the BCS rankings and #6 in the popularity polls. Can you hear the whispers under everyone’s breathe??? “What if we were undefeated, we could play for the Championship!”

Let me be direct on this, and it will sound a bit crazy. Right now I am GLAD we lost to Mecheatagain. Why? Because IF we were undefeated, we would be left out of the Championship game anyway. We would have become the Auburn of 2005.

Why I am so sure that IF we had a chance to go undefeated in the regular season we would not leap over the Shorthorns or USC? Because the 4th version of the BCS system remains broken. It relies upon too much opinion. For instance, Dick Harmon of the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, one of the esteemed Harris Poll voters (which counts for one third of the BCS ranking) has our Lions ranked #17 this week!! http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635159398,00.html

Who are these other teams that Mr. Dick believes are better than the Lions??
- #11 TCU (lost to SMU by 11)
- #14 Ohio State (lost to Penn State)
- #15 Wisconsin (was crushed by Penn State)

Here is Dick’s e-mail if you would like to send him a little love note: dharmon@desnews.com

Face it Penn State fans, USC and the Shorthorns are NOT going to lose this year. And with this type of idiotic voting we would never have passed either one anyway.

So, in my mind I am glad we don’t have to suffer through another undefeated, yet unanointed National Championship team!!!

However, I WILL predict that Penn State will win TWO more games this year. And finish SECOND in the final National polls and BCS rankings!!


Was-a-Con-and-a-Sin Recap:

WOW!! These victories are beginning to look easy!!! We just destroyed Badgers on both sides of the ball. The Senior lead Lions flexed their muscles and had their way with the rodents!!

Keep in mind that Wiz was 8-1. The Badgers were clearly supposed to be much better than Illibad and Purdone. But Barry and his boys looked completely unprepared to match Penn State, and were taken behind the woodshed for their
failings.

How good is Penn State right now? Look at these stats:

In the Big 11 we have the #1 scoring Offense and #2 scoring Defense
Only the Texas Shorthorns and Penn State have a Top 25 Offense and Defense

The grades are going to be high, just like the level of play we witnessed!

Grades:
Coaching: A
The staff put together a gem of a game plan and clearly had the team prepared to execute.
To Joe: Please accept my mea culpa…once again you clearly show why you are and will always be the Grand Pooba of College football.

Offense: B
Mikey sets the single season Total Offense record of 2,687 yards and still has a game to go. Whose record did he break…the great Keary Collins!
Tony Hunt gets another 151 yards, over three times more than his media favorite opponent Cal-Who? And he is only 48 yards from reaching 1000 for the season.

Defense: A+
As a team they rushed for -11 yards. So basically they earned a NEGATIVE FIRST DOWN by running the ball.
Cal-Who?, the latest Heisman hopeful to be destroyed by the D, gained 38 yards on 20 carries. And -1 yard in the second half!!!
NO ONE has rushed for more than 78 yards on our filed. That is Protecting Your House!
19 Tackles for a loss, seven by Tami Hali. 9 Sacks, four by Tami Hali. These are obscene numbers for the team…and even more so for one player! Clearly Superman donned the #91 Penn State jersey.

Special Teams : B
Calvin is still killing me…as this week he has a huge punt return. Would have liked to see that performance for the past three years.
Bad snap on an easy Kevin Kelly FG attempt.


Michigan State Prediction:

Since we have an offer week, the analysis will come out next week. But here are some quick thoughts:

First, WHO is going to the game?? I will be there to see us win our second Big 11 title. We are staying TownePlace Suites in East Lansing. Please let me know if you are going!!

My initial take on this game is simple: Which Michigan State team is going to show up on their Senior Day?
The one that beat Notre Lame OR
The one that got shut out in the 2nd half by Purdue, who has the statistical worse defense in College Football, and lost the game.



Random Penn State Thoughts:

Over the next few weeks, I am going to tackle a variety of Penn State angles. Such as post season awards, team preview for 2006, issues still faced by our football program, and the all encompassing “What Ifs”!

What If?

M Rob was made the full time quarterback last season? How good of a passer could he be? How many more games could we have won with both his athletic and leadership abilities?

The Offensive line, which has played great this year, had become a strong unit two years ago? After all, it has essentially been the same personnel for the past three years!

Joe stopped calling the Offensive plays three years ago? Galen Hall is 100% in charge of the play selection. And it clearly shows. Sure, Joe is happy to see the I formation when inside the 5 yard line, but the rest of the play selection is coming from a different stage than the past.


The Black Athlete according to Joe:

Only one person tried to make a story of Joe’s comments; Mark May of ESPN and a Pitt grad. To summarize; Joe was asked about how the College game has changed. Joe said it is a new game due to; Spread offense, Indoor Practice facilities and black athletes.

In Joe’s world these are changes since he has been a part of the College game for over 60 years! While Joe may have many negative qualities, being prejudiced is NOT one of them. A Joe coached Penn State team was diverse before corporations and news organization created that word. Joe has always given opportunities to the best student athletes he could find, regardless of background. Black, Polish, Jewish, Steel working families…Joe never cared. He just wanted kids who wanted to excel the right way.

Joe has always done it the right way, as Penn State has never had the NCAA even sniff around his program. That is something Mark May and his Pitt brothers could learn.

Great article on Joe: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2215256


Bowl Game:
Who is going??? My friends will begin working on travel plans after we win next week. So, let me know if you are going and want to be part of our traveling caravan. Bowl selections will be announced on December 4th.


Key games and picks of the week:
Last week I was 2-1, which makes me 6-2 since the start of this segment:
Michigan State at Minnesota: The Spartans will lose the fight with the Rodents
Northwestern at Ohio State: The Crazy Nuts will poison these Wildcats
LSU at Bama: Lions will kill the slow, lack of offense Elephants
Florida at South Carolina: Spuerier shows his old team who is boss


Final Rant of the Week: The BCS dodged another bullet this past weekend, as two more previously undefeated teams fell apart. But how do we really know who is the best team in college football TODAY? Clearly the preseason polls are worthless, and you can look beyond the Big 10 to see that fact. But even the current polls are biased. Voters look out for THEIR local best interest. And while that is understandable and to be expected, it harms the people who really deserve fairness and equity…the football players.

Give us a playoff system or give me death!


Mulit-media specials of the week:
Here are links to TWO great Penn State videos sent by readers. Please keep sending the files and links to share with others!
I told you so: We all love this onehttp://www.personal.psu.edu/users/e/j/ejd160/back.wmv
Our fans are better than yours: What a great pre season predictor!http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/e/j/ejd160/speed.wmv

Enjoy the FREE weekend
Erik “Guess I can leave my house now” Rosenstrauch