Foe Pause: Doing the Hoke-y Pokey Edition

THEM.

As in The-M.  A big block letter, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.  (Apologies to William Shakespeare and The Nittany Turkey.)

Since entering the Big Ten, it has been us against THEM.  In their first match-up at Beaver stadium, the Lions were penalized for "crowd noise."  Are you kidding me????  This was before Guido D'Elia and piped in music, mind you.  And it only went down hill from there.

A bad call on Tony Johnson in 2002.  (Replay appeared the next season, I believe.)

Two seconds and the infamous heel-toe in 2005.

At one point, they defeated Penn State 9 consecutive times over 11 seasons (as they rotated off the schedule for two years.)  They still lead the all-time series 7-10, but Penn State has won the last four meetings, and has not lost to THEM since 2007.

Ann Arbor University is still the only Division I school that I know of that honored a retiring referee, Dick Honig, who coincidentally has/had a shrine to UM in his office.

We could go on and on, but rehashing the past doesn't affect the match-up this weekend between these two traditional powerhouses.  There is no Lloyd Carr or Joe Paterno on the sideline.  No Chad Henne or Mario Manningham.  No Daryll Clark or Matt McGloin either.

Penn State opened as a two point favorite, but the line has fluctuated since then, with THEM being a two-point fave at one point, but currently nursing a one point favorite at home as of the time I type this.  The oddshark power ratings have PSU at 37 and the wolverines at 69.  They still have PSU as a two-point favorite.

The outcome of this game will hinge on the answers to the following questions:

1) Can Hoke save his job, and does he think by winning, that will change the outcome?  Let's face it, if Hoke has given up, all bets are off.

2)  Can Penn State rebound from the loss to Northwestern, and show improvement on the offensive line?  Even a modicum of improvement will go a long way.

3)  Can Gardner play without being a turn-over machine?

4)  Can Hackenberg regain his confidence?

Here is the wolverines season in a nutshell:

They avenged their loss to Appalachian State in the home opener, defeating the Mountaineers 52-14.  Of course, Appalachian State is only 1-4 this season so far, while the 2007 unit that upset THEM in Ann Arbor went on to a 13-2 record and won the FCS Championship that year.  Interesting that although Appalachian State beat THEM in 2007, the wolverines still managed to beat us.  This year, THEM won the Appalachian State game . . . does that bode a WIN for us?

Unfortunately for wolverine fans, that one game was not a season.  Any good feelings were gone the next week as the Irish drubbed the wolverines 31-0.

Miami (OH) gave the wolverines another chance to feel good about themselves, and they beat the Redhawks 34-10.  Of course, the Redhawks are now 1-5 on the season.

THEM then lost to Utah in a rain-delayed game, 26-10.

Minnesota then spoiled the conference opener in Ann Arbor, handing the Brady Hokies a 30-14 loss.

And last week, the mighty Scarlet Knights of New Jersey defeated the wolverines 26-24 in Piscataway.  In case you forgot, or Brady Hoke played you with a concussion, PSU beat Rutgers on the same field 13-10.

So at 2-4, and accusations of playing a player with a concussion, the wolverines are a team in apparent disarray.  The opponents they are victorious over are a combined 2-9 (0.182).  Contrast that to Penn State, whose defeated opponents are 10-11 (0.476) and is skewed lower because UMass is 0-6!  UCF is currently losing to BYU 24-17 in the third quarter.

But a team in disarray can be a dangerous beast.  Hoke has nothing to lose at this point.  His job is in all likelihood lost, unless he can somehow figure out a way to beat Ohio State and/or win the Big Ten title.  Neither are likely, and the issue isn't if he will be fired, but when.

We cannot discount the referine factor.

This game will be anything but a cakewalk, but I hope that Penn State learned something from the loss to NW.  Hopefully they answer that wake up call with some inspired play on Saturday.

I predict a Penn State win, 27-20 with the defense making a stand late in the game to seal the victory.  But I have been wrong before.

In the Big Ten:

Maryland, Rutgers, Ohio State, and Nebraska are off.

Michigan State takes on Purdue in West Lafayette.  GO SPARTANS!

Indiana travels to Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes.  GO HOOSIERS!

The Illini travel to Madison to take on the Badgers.  ON WISCONSIN!

Northwestern travels to Minnesota to attack the gophers.  GO WILDCATS!

In games featuring past opponents:

UCF is taking on BYU tonight.  GO KNIGHTS!

UMass looks for their first win against Kent State, which happens to be looking for their first win.  Good luck with that guys!  GO MINUTEMEN!

Akron takes on Miami (OH).  GO ZIPS!

GO STATE!  BEAT THEM!

Knightmare Nova

Gary "turNova" threw five interceptions while the Penn State defense shut out the Scarlet Knights in the second half, to key a 13-10 win over our newest "rival."  This game is probably the most hyped, yet unimportant game outside of these two programs, that I have seen in a while.  (The Ohio State-THEM game is the perennial over-hyped game which generally most other fans could care less about.)  But I digress.

Hackenberg passed for over 300 yards, setting a new school record of 7 games in his career of 300+ yards.  Despite a 10 to nothing deficit at the half, this Penn State team did not give up.  They may not have the best team.  They may not have the biggest stars.  We may not have the "best" coach.  But this team gives 110% of itself for a full 60 minutes of every game.

It would appear that Mr. Hackenberg operates best under pressure.  And I'm not talking about defensive pressure, because he saw a lot of that in the first half from the Scarlet Knights.  They were stunting, blitzing, and magically appearing in the backfield to help with the hand-off on nearly every down.  Credit Penn State with making second half adjustments that allowed Hack to have more time.

We still have an annoying problem.  No running game.  Yes, but that is not the annoying problem to which I allude.  We seem to amass large quantities of yardage--mostly through the air, but fail to convert said yardage into points on the scoreboard.  We are totally smashing the stats sheet (and the win column!!!!) but we can't seem to light up the scoreboard.  Granted, at 3-0, it's an annoyance.  But with BIGger prizes to play for now, it could become a real pain in the loss column later on.

We can nitt-pick all day about having Hackenberg punt (did not work) and running the wild cat with Hackenberg out as a receiver (which hasn't worked).  Are we trying too hard to be gimmicky?  I don't know.  I kind of like seeing new wrinkles.  And with a little better execution, these plays could catch some people by surprise (such as the toss back to Hack at wide receiver for a pass.)  Had we lost, well, then these things might be more important.  But for now, they are just more nuances that other defenses have to prepare for.

What was the deal with Witvoet's mike?  They didn't replace it at half time.  He looks like he's a hundred years old.  Maybe that's his natural voice!  And to his credit, he and his merry band of misfit zebras called a great game--perhaps the fairest game I have ever seen a Big Ten crew officiate.  Okay, the two holding penalties that called back big plays annoyed me, but I have to admit, they were correct calls.  Now, it's not like holds like that always get called in our conference, but in the final analysis, they were correct calls.

I've seen various estimates of the Penn State crowd (8-10,000) and one poster went so far as to guesstimate 25%.  I think that's a bit over the top, but it sounds like we were well represented.

Post by Penn State Football.

I will also give the Scarlet Knight fans some credit.  They sold out their puny little stadium for this "rivalry."  And the game noise sounded loud and might have contributed to one false start penalty.  I doubt Beaver Stadium would have been full had this game been played there on this weekend, but I could be wrong.  But when your highest sell-out is still around what the other team pulls in for a spring scrimmage, I wouldn't spend so much time crowing about it.  That don't impress me much!

I will also give the Scarlet Knight players kudos.  The emotion in the first half was unbelievable.  You actually played hard enough to win.  But in the end, emotion only carries you so far, and your best just wasn't good enough.

Some reports have trickled in about bad experiences from RU fans.  These things will happen.  Late start.  Lotsa alcohol.  Every fan base has their black sheep.  People say things.  People throw bags of urine.  Whatever.  But at the very heart of the matter, I understand your pain.  You thought this was YOUR YEAR.  Penn State is perhaps at it's worst because of the residual of the sanctions.  I saw this in the eyes of Temple fans two years ago when they came to Beaver Stadium in 2012 to face a struggling 1-2 Lion team led by new head coach Bill O'Brien.  You (the opposition) have one of your better teams.  It looks like the stars are aligning.  Then it blasts apart in a super-gary-nova of interceptions and blown opportunities.  And at the end of the knight, you are no closer to that Holy Grail than you ever were before.  Oh well.

BY THE NUMBERS:

From the GoPSUsports site:


Team Statistics (Final)

Team Totals	PSU	RU
FIRST DOWNS	19	15
Rushing	4	7
Passing	13	8
Penalty	2	0
NET YARDS RUSHING	64	102
Rushing Attempts	33	31
Average Per Rush	1.9	3.3
Rushing Touchdowns	1	1
Yards Gained Rushing	91	126
Yards Lost Rushing	27	24
NET YARDS PASSING	309	192
Completions-Attempts-Int	25-44-1	15-31-5
Average Per Attempt	7.0	6.2
Average Per Completion	12.4	12.8
Passing Touchdowns	0	0
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS	373	294
Total offense plays	77	62
Average Gain Per Play	4.8	4.7
Fumbles: Number-Lost	1-0	1-0
Penalties: Number-Yards	5-40	9-75
PUNTS-YARDS	8-217	7-272
Average Yards Per Punt	27.1	38.9
Net Yards Per Punt	27.1	36.0
Inside 20	3	1
50+ Yards	0	1
Touchbacks	0	1
Fair catch	2	4
KICKOFFS-YARDS	4-246	3-173
Average Yards Per Kickoff	61.5	57.7
Net Yards Per Kickoff	38.5	45.7
Touchbacks	2	0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD	1-0-0	0-0-0
Average Per Return	0.0	0.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD	2-36-0	2-42-0
Average Per Return	18.0	21.0
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD	5-3-0	1-26-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD	0-0-0	0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards	0	0
Possession Time	33:23	26:37
1st Quarter	9:17	5:43
2nd Quarter	5:37	9:23
3rd Quarter	9:28	5:32
4th Quarter	9:01	5:59
Third-Down Conversions	9 of 20	5 of 14
Fourth-Down Conversions	0 of 0	0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances	3-4	2-2
Touchdowns	1-4	1-2
Field goals	2-4	1-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards	3-19	5-17
PAT Kicks	1-1	1-1
Field Goals	2-3	1-1
Points off turnovers	6	0

Our third down conversions rate was about 50%, compared to about 33% for RU.  The turn-overs are, without a doubt the key.  Poor QB?  Better D?  I lean to the latter.  Rutgers fans might disagree.

Another interesting number--  1:13.  UCF scored their go-ahead touchdown with 1:13 left on the clock.  They ultimately lost.  Penn State scored leaving 1:13 on the clock.  Rutgers ultimately lost.  Nothing special happened in the Akron game at 1:13.  Penn State ran out the clock and ultimately won.


INTANGIBLES:

Rutgers won the toss and deferred.

Is that you, Octavius?

Rutgers filled their stadium--53,744.

Franklin is the first Penn State coach to go 3-0 in his first season since 1930.

Penn State leads the all-time rivalry 23-2.  PSU has never lost to Rutgers in New Jersey.

THE BIG (10) PICTURE:

THE LOSERS:

Purdue lost to Notre Dame 30-14.
Indiana lost to Bowling Green 45-42.
Maryland lost on a last second, 47 yard field goal to West-By-God-Virginia, 40-37.
Iowa lost their requisite non-com game to Iowa State 20-17.
Minnesota was horn-frogged by TCU, 30-7.
Washington embarrassed Illinois 44-19.  Not really that hard to shame them, though.

THE NON-LOSERS:

Urban Meyer made himself feel better by rolling up the score on Kent State, 66-0.  He overcompensated his teams weakness by taking advantage of a team with greater weaknesses!  Brilliant!

THEM beat Miami(OH) 34-10.

Nebraska bull-dozed the Fresno Bulldogs 55-19.

Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Michigan State were off this week.  I heard Northwestern still lost.  And oh look, Gary Nova just threw another interception!

2014-15 Football Standings

EAST DIVISION
	Overall		Conference		Division
	W-L	%	W-L	%	W-L	%
Penn State	3-0	1.000	1-0	1.000	1-0	1.000
Maryland	2-1	.667	0-0	.000	0-0	.000
Michigan	2-1	.667	0-0	.000	0-0	.000
Ohio State	2-1	.667	0-0	.000	0-0	.000
Indiana	1-1	.500	0-0	.000	0-0	.000
Michigan State	1-1	.500	0-0	.000	0-0	.000
Rutgers	2-1	.667	0-1	.000	0-1	.000
WEST DIVISION
	Overall		Conference		Division
	W-L	%	W-L	%	W-L	%
Nebraska	3-0	1.000	0-0	.000	0-0	.000
Illinois	2-1	.667	0-0	.000	0-0	.000
Iowa	2-1	.667	0-0	.000	0-0	.000
Minnesota	2-1	.667	0-0	.000	0-0	.000
Wisconsin	1-1	.500	0-0	.000	0-0	.000
Purdue	1-2	.333	0-0	.000	0-0	.000
Northwestern	0-2	.000	0-0	.000	0-0	.000

Through all games of September 13.

Penn State and Nebraska are the only undefeated teams in the conference!

SHEDDING TEARS:

1.  Georgia--is there ever a more over-rated SEC team year in and year out?
2.  USC--lost to BC 37-31.
3.  Hokies--after beating the Buckeyes, they fall to unranked East Carolina 28-21.

4.  MD--last second loss on a long field goal.
5.  Texas--lost to UCLA 20-17.  They apparently screwed up the coin toss, giving UCLA opening possession in BOTH halves.

LOOKING AHEAD:

Penn State returns to Beaver Stadium next week to face the UMass Minutemen with a 4 PM kick-off.  Coverage will be the Big Ten Network (BTN.)

The Minutemen are 0-3 coming off a loss to Vanderbilt, who scored 14 in the final quarter to pull out the win.

The season to date:

L  30-7 vs. Boston College
L  41-38  vs.  Colorado
L  34-31 vs. Vanderbilt

Priorities:  WIN!  Work on the running game.  Some reps for the back-up QB.

GO STATE!  BEAT MINUTEMEN!

Quotable Quotes

Civil Celebration

Here are some assorted comments in the aftermath of yesterday's announcement that the bowl band and scholarship sanctions would be lifted immediately:

Bill O'Brien:

"I think that’s great news for Penn State," said O'Brien, who spent the last two football seasons as the Nittany Lions' head coach. "Penn State is a fantastic place. It’s a great education, great football program, a lot of good people who have done a lot of great things over there over the last couple of years to make sure that they’ve learned from the past mistakes and understood that that’s a special place.
"And so I feel very happy for Penn State and, mostly, I feel happy for the players and the coaching staff that’s there now."

Some have focused on the latter comment as an intentional snub of administration and perhaps even the fan base, but I'm not going to nitt-pick here.

James Franklin:

"We are very appreciative of the opportunities the NCAA and Big Ten have provided with today's announcement," Franklin said. "This team plays for each other. We play for Penn State, our families, the former players, our students, alumni, fans and the community. We are so proud to represent Penn State and the Big Ten Conference and are working hard to prepare for our Big Ten opener at Rutgers." 

Can this be the spark that takes the level of play of this team to the NEXT level?  This could go either way--having something to play for may put more pressure on the players/coaches to win.  Or it might just fire them up!  We shall see this Saturday in prime time!

PS4RS:

"We are very happy that some of the sanctions have been rescinded. This is great news for the football team, and the entire unfairly punished Penn State community. However, there are still wrongs to be righted. The Freeh conclusions are not supported by evidence, and they never should have been used as a pretext for sanctioning Penn State. We are disheartened by false rationalizations that Penn State has somehow changed or atoned to deserve this “reward.” Penn State athletics programs have ALWAYS demonstrated the highest level of integrity. Three years after their indictment, the three Penn State administrators have yet to have their day in court due to mysterious appeals by Penn State and clandestine document sealing by the PA court system. Prosecutor Frank Fina has publicly stated that there was no evidence to support the Freeh Report’s conclusion that Joe Paterno was aware of or participated in a cover up. Further, the NCAA’s new sexual assault reporting handbook instructs coaches around the country to do exactly what Paterno did in 2001. There is no basis for ANY of the sanctions and they must be entirely rescinded.”

AMEN!

And last but not least, Admiral Yamamoto:

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

Shoop! There It Is!

Having been blogging about Penn State football since the mid 1990's, you'd think I would finally be able to post a game recap without forgetting something.  As if!

But while thinking back over the game notes, I realized I hadn't mentioned how great a job Bob Shoop did as defensive coordinator.  The second half was tarnished a bit by the performance of Holman at QB, but then those things happen.  When you prepare for one type of QB, and then suddenly face another, it's not always easy to adjust for that.  And Holman certainly looked like a better passer.

So here are some more thoughts that I forgot to hit yesterday:

* Zettle is a FORCE.

* Penn State played the 1st quarter with no headset communication.  Maybe that contributed to the disparity between the stats and the points.  Apparently, the NCAA doesn't have rules like the NFL, which would have equalized the situation by not allowing UCF to use their headsets.  Despite the set back, we prevailed.

* Penn State had TWO receivers over 150 yards on the day.  That's the first time in school history!

* Ficken Kickin Good--we all know he hit the game winner, but he was 4-4 on the day!

* Forgot to mention the parachutists--the PSU guy hit the stadium, but the UCF rep landed along some train tracks off the mark!  Talk about your omens from the sky!

* Did anyone notice how well we did on first downs?  I meant to look back on this but forgot.  Especially in the first half, we kicked butt on first down, leaving a LOT of 2nd and short situations.  If you look at the second down situations in the first half, Penn State had 5 second and one's, 2 second and two's, and was second and six or less 11 out of 14 second downs.  (One second and six was actually a second and one that became a second and six after a five yard penalty.)  In the second half, there were 11 second down opportunities, and PSU was 2nd and five or less 5 of those times with three second and one's.

* The running game didn't generate much yardage, but as you can see above, it didn't have to in order to keep the sticks moving.

* Hamilton and Ficken pulled in Big Ten Players of the Week Honors--not something I forgot, but worth noting at this juncture.

Some great articles were written across the pond.  Johnny Watterson of The Irish Times writes:

But first the cast and inventory: two parachutists, one on the pitch the other on the railway track; a choir of 17; two three-storey sized flags; two marching bands; three Irish Army soldiers and four marines, all bearing flags; a team of Penn State dancers and two teams of cheerleaders; soft drinks engineers; chair arranging executives; four lieutenants of the tape measure; two team rosters of 100 players each; eight team captains; 24-ish coaches and two F16s drowning out the Star Spangled Banner. Gridiron loves its hardware.   

But Penn State had a quarterback called Christian Hackenberg. “Hack”, a young man in just his second season, threw for 454 yards on Saturday, breaking Zack Mills’s single-game school record of 399 yards. 

The most important of those yards came in the run-up to Ficken’s winning field goal as “Hack”, with composure beyond his years, engineered the territory and kept the ball in Penn [State] hands.  

As it sailed over the posts at the Hill end on a trajectory towards Nally, Croke Park became the Bull Run in Pamp lona. The Penn State bench burst on to the pitch and cheerleaders were thrown in the air.

Aisling Crowe describes it as theater and sport colliding:

It was a jaw dropping, awe inspiring sight when first glimpsing the transformed interior of the stadium before the University of Central Florida clashed with the Penn State University. It was Croke Park but not as we know it. The surreal panorama spread out before your eyes. A shrunken pitch surrounded by athletic cheerleaders, acrobatically somersaulting into dangerous positions, marching bands putting a brass spin on some classics including the theme tune to The Sunday Game and flagbearers, mascots and whatever else was needed in the way of support.
The truly awesome scene was in the middle of the pitch where 200 athletes prepared to begin their college season, hopes and dreams spread out before them and the glory of last season behind champions University of Central Florida. 

The clock counted down the minutes to kick off, and a parachutist clad in the Penn State blue and white landed in the middle of the pitch. The UCF Knights parachutist went missing in action, his radar slightly wonky. He came up a little short of the pitch and landed on the train line behind Hill 16. Saturday afternoon shoppers suffered the convenience that shadows the commuter daily as trains were delayed while the errant knight was rescued.  

The NFL may be America's game but the college version is giving it a run for its money.
This may have been a spectacle but it was also a serious sport. Every tackle, every intercept, every pass that found a runner was greeted with a roar the like of which is usually only heard when the referee blows the final whistle in an All-Ireland final. 

Anyone with dismissive attitudes towards American football would have had their prejudices seriously challenged by the on-pitch action. The first collision from the opening kick off saw the helmet of one of the Nittany Lions fly through the air, knocked from a head with the force of the impact. 

They followed Flynn's advice to the letter in Croke Park with razzle dazzle to beat Banagher but the sequins were not some frippery tacked on as a distraction. Sport and theatre collide with spectacular results in American football. The sparkle and the show are an integral part of the spectacle but there is real steel behind the stardust that was sprinkled on Dublin yesterday. 

The author had Sam Franklin kicking the winning field goal, but otherwise it was a good report.

And if you are really bored, here is an Irish message board with some locals regaling their thoughts such as these:

That's was a great game! My first time ever seeing live football, only got sucked in in the last few years. Now I reeeeeally want to see if I can get tickets to one of the Wembley games! The Penn State support was great, really cool to be in the thick of it. 

Fantastic game. Made a converted out of my brother who begrudgingly came along, moaning right up to the start about how ****e AF is. He was screaming at the pitch at the end and has just called me to find out when the next one is.. 

The Penn State head coach stayed for a little while by the tunnel to start up chants with the fans as he left the field, crazy guy  [He's a WILD and CRAZY guy!]

Just home from a thoroughly enjoyable day. Went with Penn State in all our bets, all came in, Outright win, 1st Touchdown and over 43.5. Some show, great entertainment and at least the rain stayed off. Managed to get a vid of the National anthem and the F-16's too. 

Fecking savage day. 8th game I've been to (3 college, 5 NFL) and first I've seen settled by the final play. Had the over backed too so happy out. Pity it wasn't in the Aviva, looked silly looking down on an empty hill all day, mind you, the ESPN crew did a great job of avoiding that. Jesse James is a legend, plus that WR, thing he was number 7 for Penn. Great day out. Penn state fans were a credit. Really, really great day. 

Apart from the empty stand and rip off programme, great day. Sat with some Penn State fans amongst the UCF hoarde in a great spot. Wife very pregnant and we had planned to ship a few mins before the end. Glad I didn't, what a finish! Super atmosphere, some slick game play from QB#14 and WR#7 for Penn. The Wife got right into it too but was puzzled why the game, apart from stoppages, just seem to pause quite often? When I told her it was for commercial breaks she cracked up 😁 The noise was cool, the F16s very cool, mexican wave fun and I cannot wait for the NFL reg season to K.O!!! 

Really enjoyed that yesterday. Penn State fans were great even if I was cheering for UCF. Great second half of football. Not sure what it looked like on TV but looking around, it felt quite cavernous. My mate was more interested in the gargle but I really got into it.  [Gotta love the gargle!]

Great day out - great game. First time to go to a game "in the flesh" - absolutely loved it. First two qrts I thought Penn State were gonna walk away it (despite only leading by a single score). UCF's rushing game was poor and the passing game was non-existant - only for their defence , they would have been buried. 3rd & 4th Qrt's - UCF's Qrtback remembered he could throw and the drama went up a notch. To have the game decided on the final play with 3 secs left on the clock - just brilliant (even if I was a tiny bit gutted for UCF).   Will definitely go to the next one (if/when it happens). 

Good day. One of the closest games I've seen live, score wise. Atmosphere was okay were I was sitting . Wish I had a chance to do this every week. 

Great game. Really enjoyed it, and was a bargain for e20. My seats were great. Very happy that it was close, as it was a good way to show my friends from here the sport. A blowout would have sucked. . . .A few small things about it did bother me though. The quality of the replays was shocking. I remember a big important offensive PI call happened, and I looked up to see the replay of it, but all they showed was the QB throwing the ball... Hill 16 being closed was also odd and looked awful behind the goal. That last field goal was one of the most exciting finishes to a game this weekend, and will have been all over sports highlight reels in the states last night, and the backdrop is an awful, empty terrace, which is a little embarrassing. The PA system was also terrible, especially for the ref. Could barely make out what was being said half the time. [Sounds like a "true" PSU fan--c/o replays, empty seats and the sound system!]

I have yet to read any reports of "bad" PSU fans.  And the reports from Penn Stater's sound like they were treated exceptionally well by the locals.

Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue

The Old.

The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same.  I saw several pundits predicting a close game between PSU and UCF--even going so far as to say the difference could come down to a field goal.  Freaking psychotics psychics!

My first thought--God I hope it doesn't come down to a Sam Ficken field goal.

I know it was James Franklin on the sideline, but seeing what happened on the field--a clearly better team missing and wasting opportunities, letting an under-matched opponent hang around to take advantage of mistakes and penalties, and then depending on a last second field goal to pull out a win in a game that you led for all but 1:13 on the clock--made me think JOE PATERNO.  Somewhere, he is smiling at the old school outcome of this Croke Park Classic.

I know it gets old--Penn State fans bitching about the refs and bad calls, but for the love of God, can you stop giving us so much fodder to chew on????  And the worst part?  This wasn't even a crew of inept Big Ten refs.  Offensive PI?  Give me a break.  You know it's bad when even the inept and anti-PSU biased announcers don't think there was a penalty.  Granted, the roughing the kicker penalty was probably a gift for PSU, but YOU KNOW that call goes either way, and I personally think it was a make-up call for the unsportsmanlike conduct on the kick-off.  Yeah, mouthing off after your helmet was torn off was definitely in poor taste and a bad decision, but a 15-yarder?  How about a warning, officer?

"That ain't holdin.  I just giving you a big ole hug.  I love you man!"

The New.

James Franklin's debut was not illustrious or overly impressive, but we must temper our criticism against the back-drop.  It was the first game of the season.  Mistakes will be made.  He seemed to mismanage the time clock at the ends of both halves, but the final result was still a win.  And while the gaffe at the end of the first half didn't cost us any points, you would like to believe that had we been playing Ohio State or Michigan State, that he would have chosen to punt.  But given that UCF was offensively inept (at that point), and he had a chance to put some more points on the board, I don't know that his decision was actually a bad one.  Could have been.  Wasn't in the final analysis.

None of Franklin's bad choices were as bad as O'Leary's decision to start de novo with DiNovo at quarterback.  Thank God for that!  It was a tale of two different halves, as Holman came in and almost stole this game away from Christian Hackenberg.

Speaking of Hack, he notched a new PSU record with 454 yards, going 32 for 47 on the day.  Part of this was due to the lack of a running game.  But defense was supposed to be a strength of this UCF team, with most of the D back from last year and almost the entire secondary intact.  Our offensive line looked shaky in the early going, but seemed to get better as the game progressed.  Hack was a little gimpy late in the game, and hopefully those are just minor growing pains.

We seemed to have some trouble maintaining footing.  I blame this on Spider retiring.  Not sure who replaced him, but that dude has some work cut out for him.

The Lions won the Dan Rooney Trophy . . . a new piece of hardware to add to our collection, and much nicer than the hideous Land Grant Monstrosity that will up for grabs at the end of the season.

The Borrowed.

Thank you Dublin for allowing us to desecrate your hallowed "football" sod with our American form of soccer.  I liked the use of pitchforks to replace our divots.

The Blue.

Although they sported the away game white unis, the BLUE and WHITE prevailed in a 26-24 thriller that was much closer than it should have been.  Penn State really dominated the first half, but had only a 7 point lead to show for it.  Poor refereeing, players tripping on divots, and turnovers seemed to keep the knights in the game.  Holman sparked their offense in the second half, and that may also hint to the lack of depth we have due to sanctions.  This game could have been a disaster had we played in the heat and humidity of Orlando.

James Franklin sported a blue ball cap on and off, early in the game.  I've never seen a picture of him wearing a hat on the sidelines, but come November, he may need that.

The PSU website has this quote:

"There was only a minute or so left in the game, and I looked across the sideline and there wasn't doubt in anybody's eye. Everybody believed. They believed in Hack. They believed in Ficken," Franklin said.

I have to admit I teared up when he kicked that final field goal.  Way to go, Sam!

BY THE NUMBERS:

Team Statistics

Team Totals	PSU	UCF
FIRST DOWNS	24	11
Rushing	7	1
Passing	14	8
Penalty	3	2
NET YARDS RUSHING	57	24
Rushing Attempts	28	29
Average Per Rush	2.0	0.8
Rushing Touchdowns	1	2
Yards Gained Rushing	86	51
Yards Lost Rushing	29	27
NET YARDS PASSING	454	222
Completions-Attempts-Int	32-47-2	12-22-0
Average Per Attempt	9.7	10.1
Average Per Completion	14.2	18.5
Passing Touchdowns	1	1
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS	511	246
Total offense plays	75	51
Average Gain Per Play	6.8	4.8
Fumbles: Number-Lost	1-1	1-1
Penalties: Number-Yards	9-90	8-47
PUNTS-YARDS	1-41	4-185
Average Yards Per Punt	41.0	46.2
Net Yards Per Punt	21.0	44.0
Inside 20	0	0
50+ Yards	0	2
Touchbacks	1	0
Fair catch	0	2
KICKOFFS-YARDS	6-366	5-306
Average Yards Per Kickoff	61.0	61.2
Net Yards Per Kickoff	33.2	35.4
Touchbacks	1	0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD	2-9-0	0-0-0
Average Per Return	4.5	0.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD	5-129-0	5-142-0
Average Per Return	25.8	28.4
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD	0-0-0	2-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD	0-0-0	0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards	0	0
Possession Time	34:07	25:53
1st Quarter	9:49	5:11
2nd Quarter	8:02	6:58
3rd Quarter	8:04	6:56
4th Quarter	8:12	6:48
Third-Down Conversions	10 of 18	5 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions	1 of 2	1 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances	5-5	4-5
Touchdowns	1-5	3-5
Field goals	4-5	1-5
Sacks By: Number-Yards	2-17	2-17
PAT Kicks	2-2	3-3
Field Goals	4-4	1-1
Points off turnovers	0	9

As you can see, PSU clearly dominated the stats, more than doubling the total yardage of the Knights, winning time of possession by 9 minutes, and better third down conversion percentages.  What kept the Knights in the game was the 9 points off turnovers, and the two INTs.  Both teams exchanged fumbles.

Neither team did well in the first half, and the Knights had under 100 yards total in the first half, with most of their production and points coming after the switch to Holman.

INTANGIBLES:

The crowd of 53,304 was heavily in favor of the Nittany Lions--I heard by as much as 7-1 or more.

James Franklin is 1-0 as coach at Penn State, 25-15 overall.

Penn State won the toss and deferred.

"I'm not so fast, you know!"

THE BIG (TEN) PICTURE:

Rutgers came from behind to defeat Washington State 41-38.

Indiana defeated Indiana State 28-10.

Purdue overwhelmed Western Michigan 43-34.

THEM managed to win and avoid pulling a second Appalachian State, defeating the Mountaineers 52-14.  So take that!

The Buckeyes were down to the midshipmen 7-6 at the half, but managed to pull away with a 34-17 win.

Illinois beat Youngstown State 28-17.

The Hawkeyes beat Northern Hawkeyes 31-23.

The Maryland Twerps dominated James Madison (and a couple of other old presidents) 52-7.

Meanwhile the Cornhuskers stormed the beaches of Florida Atlantic 55-7.

The Spartans spanked Jacksonville State 45-7.

Minnesota beat Eastern Illinois 42-20.

The Wildcats lost to Cal 31-24.

Wisconsin, not wanting Northwestern to be the only loser, fell apart against LSU, losing 28-24 after a 17 point rally by the Tigers.

SHEDDING TEARS:

1.  South Carolina--#9 taken to the woodshed by the Texas Aggies, even without Johnny Football.
2.  Delaware--lost to Pitt 62-0.  Maybe Pitt can schedule Rhode Island and Alaska too!
3.  Vanderbilt--lost 37-7 to Temple.  I do feel bad.  Just not THAT bad.
4.  Clemson--bitten by the Bulldogs 45-21.
5.  Okie State--Cowpokes come up 6 short against #1 F$U.

LOOKING AHEAD:

The Akron Zips come to Beaver Stadium next week for a NOON kick-off.  The Zips pasted Howard 41-0 this past weekend.

The Lions opened around an 18 point favorite but that line has already dropped a few points depending on which betting service you look at, but I imagine will stay somewhere just north of a two score margin.

The Zips were ranked preseason by USA Today at #94.

Did you know that Terry Bowden is their coach?  I did not know that!  Unfortunately for him, he ain't in Auburn anymore.

This should be another good day for Hack, and perhaps a chance for his back-up to get some reps.

GO STATE!  BEAT ZIPS!

The Game Will Love You Back

Maybe THIS is why I'm really looking forward to this season!