Tide Ruins White Out

I will be the first to admit it.  I really thought we had a chance to win the game Saturday.  Call me a Kool Aid Drinker, a Happy Jack, an optimist, or an idiot (just don't call me late for dinner!) but I honestly had a feeling that we would win this game. 

Good Feeling Gone.

And by extrapolation, if this was our game to win, then this would be our season.  The one we have been waiting for since 1986.  (1994 was one of the best season's I ever experienced as a PSU football fan, but the sportswriters had to go and ruin it by picking Nebraska.)  This season wouldn't be ruined by sportwriters.  This season wouldn't be ruined by a trip to Ann Arbor in 2005.  Or a last second field goal by Iowa in 2008.

No.  This was going to be our year.  This was going to be the coming out game.

But a day later, we're still in the closet.  We're not a dark horse, but a dead horse.

And no, the sky is not falling.  Penn State still has a chance for a good season.  Maybe even a great season, as this loss is out of conference.  But not THE SEASON.  And let's face it, if we can't figure out how to score some points, it is NOT going to be a good season, and it will never be a GREAT season.

Granted, there is no shame in losing to the #2 (or 3) ranked team in the country.  No one outside of Nittany Nation--and few of those inside--really expected us to win.  I am not ashamed that we lost.  I think the team played their best.  Unfortunately, that is just not very good right now.

I am frustrated at how we lost.

I am baffled that we blew all three timeouts in the first five minutes of the game--we didn't even have a time-out left to challenge the spot of the ball after the fake punt by Bama.  That's one point per time-out.  Not good.

I am dismayed that outside of a garbage touchdown in the last couple minutes of the game, we were outscored 27-3.  We lost a year ago 24-3.  I think we have stepped backward, although the experts could argue that Bama is better this year.  Let's revisit that one at the end of the season and see where this Crimson Tide team ends up.  I don't think they will end up in the title game based on what I saw on Saturday.

I was disappointed in the white out.  There were more visiting fans in our House than I can ever remember, but perhaps they just stood out because of the red on white.  Say what you will about the STEP program, but it will destroy the greatest fan base in college football.  There are no longer whole sections of fans who are there because they want to see the game.  Instead, we have fans who paid enough money to get seats, and are willing to make a buck selling them to anyone--even the other team--to recoup their losses.  I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that.  They are not fans.  They are financiers.  Ticket scalpers.  Opportunists.  Traitors.

There is no amount of alcohol analysis that can rationalize this loss.  We were simply not the better team.  The fiasco with the timeouts and McQueary screaming on the sideline are just symptoms of a much deeper disease.  It's always there.  Sometimes it flares up, like a painful hemorrhoid, and you bleed all over the toilet paper--just like Tide fans sticking out like droplets of blood in our stadium.

We needed to protect the ball.  We did not do that.  In fact, we are very fortunate there weren't more turn-overs.  Two INTs were over-turned on further review.  The fumble by our tight end (I don't know how to spell his name and I really don't feel like looking it up) not only killed a promising drive, but gave Bama a short field which they capitalized on.  That was potentially a fourteen point turn around, if we had been able to score.  Oh, who am I kidding.  But it was a 7 point change regardless.

We needed to rattle their inexperienced quarterback.  We did not do that.  In fact, our quarterbacks looked more rattled.  The best PSU quarterback in the stadium yesterday was Todd Blackledge--even at his current age, but he lacks the eligibility.  I really wonder if this platoon system isn't a cancer that will kill this season if allowed to fester unchecked.  Are they trying too hard to outdo the other?  Neither one is in there long enough to get with the flow of the game.  Both look worse than they did a year ago, if that is even possible.

We needed to make some plays.  We did not do that.  I can't bring myself to watch the replay of the game, but my friend and I commented the entire game about how every pass was to the sideline, except for the one to the tight end that was fumbled (but he was open and caught it and would have had a first down!) and maybe one other pass.

The Bama defenders were ALWAYS in position to defend that pass--hence the picks and near picks.  How can you compete at that level and not use the entire field?  If the opposing defense plays well and takes something away from you, so be it.  But if you take it away yourself, you are only helping the other team.

I think that's why Paterno got hit in practice.  He was in the middle of the field and NEVER expected a reciever to be there.

Alabama's defense played as if every pass was going to the sideline.


On the upside, we did not give up a sack.

On the downside--we did not get to their quarterback either.

Our defense played a game that was good enough to beat most of the teams we will face until November.

Our offense played poorly enough to lose a few of those.

At least I don't have to bother posting a poll this week.

BY THE NUMBERS:

From GoPSUsports.com:

Key statistics are the turn-overs.  Even without them, we still would not have won this game, but we might have come closer to the point spread of 10.

Time of possession hurt us--the defense was on the field a lot in relatively hot weather.  Even the rain forsook us (assuming that inclement weather favors the underdog.)

We gave up too many yards, but neither offense had a good conversion ratio.

INTANGIBLES:

Penn State won the toss and elected to receive.

The Drum Major stuck both his flips.  The pre-game cheers seemed a bit out of sync.  Maybe that was a bad omen.

Attendance was 107,846.  Too.  Much.  Red.

THE BIG (TEN) PICTURE:

It was a tough week for some Big Ten Teams.

The Contenders:

Wisconsin rolled Oregon State 35-0.  (Oregon State lost to Sacramento last week!)
THEM survived a wild one in the Big House against the Irish, 35-31.  I feel your pain ND as that last 30-second drive for a TD brought back nightmares of 2005.
Sparty crushed Florida Atlantic 44-0.
Illinois pasted South Dakota State 56-3.
Nebraska pulled away from a pesky Fresno State team, 42-29.
The Buckeyes outlasted Toledo 27-22.

The Pretenders:

Virginia beat the Hoosiers 34-31.
Iowa lost to Iowa State 44-41 in 3 OTs.  Neither team wanted that trophy!
New Mexico State beat Minnesota 28-21.
Purdue got Riced, 24-22.
Yup.  Penn State is listed down here, losing 27-11 to the Tide.

SHEDDING TEARS:

1.  The Irish.  The Big House is an evil place.
2.  Mizzou - lost to Arizona State 37-30.
3.  Miss State - Au-burned 41-31.
4.  Georgia - starting out 0-2.  How bad is that on the Mark Richt-er scale?

LOOKING AHEAD:

Temple.  Away.  Whatever.

The Final Pre-Season Countdown: #1

So here is the season, counting down from the game we are most likely to win (#12) to the game we are most likely to lose (#1):

12. Indiana State University
11. Eastern Michigan University
10. Temple
9. Indiana
8. Purdue
7. Illinois
6. Northwestern
5. Iowa
4. Ohio State
3. Nebraska
2. Wisconsin
1. ALABAMA

How many teams can lose a trio of playmakers like Greg McElroy, Mark Ingram and Julio Jones and still be ranked second in the nation?  Maybe USC.  But apparently the Alabama Republicans from the Crimson State are in that minority as well..

Returning 18 starters from last years squad which handled Penn State easily at home, 24-3, but lost critical games to South Carolina , LSU and hated rival Auburn, Alabama looks to improve on their record of 10-3 from a year ago.

Maybe it's some solace to know that Alabama dominated Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl, beating Sparty 49-7.  Maybe not.

The Bama defense was ranked 5th in the nation in total defense and third in scoring defense, allowing opponents 13.5 points per game.  They return nine starters on a formidable unit that will be crucial to Alabama's success this season, especially given the uncertainty at QB.

As of the time of this writing, Saban has not named either A.J. McCarron or Phillip Sims, who are apparently neck and neck for the starting QB job.  Both are described as pocket passers.  But they will fortunately have a veteran line as 4 of the 5 starters are back.  Two senior starters return at wide receiver--Marquis Maze and Darius Hanks--but it remains to be seen if they can fill the shoes of the departed Jones.  Neither is very tall, listed at 5-11 and 6-0.

Tide Fans . . . ready for any crap you can throw at them.

I think pollsters are putting a lot of faith in the Bama defense to carry this team, or they feel the new quarterback has enough talent around him to perform well regardless.  In this day and age of football, you have to be able to score points.  Their schedule is littered with potential land mines, with games against ranked (Coaches Poll) opponents being LSU (4), South Carolina (12) Arkansas (14), Auburn (19), Misissippi State (20), Florida (23),  and PSU (25).  They also host unranked Tennessee and travel to Ole Miss.

The Tide will open with Kent State, and they follow our game hosting North Texas.  Our game is sandwiched between Indiana State and Temple, so neither team should be physically or emotionally tired coming in, or looking forward to a marquee opponent.  This is the marquee game.

For Penn State, it will be a white out game, starting at 3:30.  None of the players was even born when Joe Paterno battled Bear Bryant, and the 1979 Sugar Bowl is a historical curiosity.  Recent fans likewise may not appreciate the history of this match-up.  And this home and home series may never occur again as conferences swell to superconferences and OOC games dwindle to just low budget competition willing to fill home game slots.

This likely could be Paterno's last chance to beat the Tide.  JoePa is 4-9 versus the Tide.  (Penn State is 5-9 all time.) 

On paper, the only real advantages we have is more experience at QB, and home field advantage.  That's not much to work with.

But that is not to say there isn't a chance.  On any given Saturday . . . blah, blah, blah.  But with an inexperienced QB, the atmosphere at Beaver Stadium could rattle him.  If our defense can apply some pressure early in the game, throw the QB off his rhythm, and create a turn-over setting up field position for our offense, this game could be won.

If Bama comes out of the gate, marches down the field and scores, this will be a long late afternoon in Happy Valley.

Prediction:  We lose.  You'd have to be a bit crazy to seriously predict an upset.  This would be an upset of elephant-sized proportions.  But stranger things have happened, and it is early in the season, and success last year doesn't always mean a team will return with the same level of emotion and skill and chemistry.  Their weakness is quarterback.  If we can exploit that, we have a chance.  If we can't, then the Tide will Roll.   Of course, we will somehow have to find a way to score touchdowns against the Bama defense, and I don't know if we can.  Our quarterback will have to have a flawless night and it would help to have some great plays by Moye.  Even if we lose, I don't think the game will be as lop-sided as last year.

We Got Your Links Here

Browsing around the web . . .

The Detroit Free Press is annoyed that Penn State doesn't see either THEM or Michigan State as worthy of a WhiteHouse this year. 

I'm not sure why the THEM game isn't a WhiteHouse (granted they are down) but the powers that be must want to keep the event special.  Either that or the late dates (Oct 30 and Nov. 27) may be too cold for a successful whiteout.  Sorry Sparty.  BTW, there was an error printing tickets designating the Temple game as a WhiteHouse.  How's that for a slap in the face?!  Wolverines are't good enough but the Owl's are!

Penn State has announced a home game with Navy in 2012.

Alabama defensive lineman Marcell Dareus is being investigated for attending a party hosted by an NFL agent.  A ruling might affect whether he can play against the Nittany Lions on September 11th.  There are two ways to looking at this:  1) Any advantage that gives us a chance to win is great, especially if rules were broken, or 2) if we're going to beat Alabama, it's best to beat them at their best so that there are no excuses.  Personally, I'd like to win this game and I'm sure Gator fans don't lose any sleep over their bowl victory when PSU played without Enis and Jurevicius.  If he's suspended, I can live with that.

And that's the news that's fit to pawprint.

WEAR WHITE

According to the football advisory I got from Penn State, fans are to wear white for the Ohio State game. I was not aware of this, so I am passing this on . . .

RALLY IN THE VALLEY
Pep Rally at Bryce Jordan Center Friday, November 6th
Rally to start approx. 8:00 PM after Men's Basketball Exhibition Game vs. Slippery Rock
Coach Paterno and team/Blue Band/Cheerleaders/Dance Team to participate.

PENN STATE vs. OHIO STATE , Nov. 7: WEAR WHITE
The Nittany Lions get ready for Big Ten Conference competition by hosting Ohio State for a prime time national TV clash. All Nittany Lion fans are encouraged to wear white.

COME CELEBRATE BEAVER STADIUMS 300th GAME

Scary Places to Play

From RealClearSports . . . Beaver Stadium is #6.

Beaver Stadium started with a capacity just under 50,000 but kept growing with expansion after expansion until it more than doubled its size. With a capacity of 107,282, it is, for the 2009 season, the largest stadium in the United States. It’s so enormous that on game day, University Park becomes, in essence, the third largest city in Pennsylvania, behind only Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Every home game is special, but a night game at Beaver Stadium is unlike any other experience. In 2004, a tradition of "WhiteOut” began, where the fans in the entire stadium wears white and it becomes brighter than a day game. The only part not covered in white is a small sections where seniors wear blue shirts that form an outline of the letter ‘S’ around others in white shirts.

Between the call and response of “We Are … Penn State," jumping up and down during “Zombie Nation” and “WhiteOut," Penn State is full of traditions that make Beaver Stadium an atmosphere like no other.

WE ARE . . . PENN STATE!

The only other college football stadium on the list is Death Valley, LSU's Tiger Stadium, which logged in at the #2 scariest venue.

Post Game Video

Revenge?

As I read through the hype leading up to this week, I was surprised by the number of fans veiwing this game as a revenge game. I'm not sure I agree.

The 2008 Hawkeyes were a team that couldn't even manage to beat Pitt, yet somehow came up with enough emotion and lucky breaks to knock off the #3 team in the country and deny Paterno a chance at a third national championship . . . chances that are few and far between and considerably more rare and valuable when you are 82 years of age.

How will a win tonight atone for that disaster? If anything, the stage is set for a repeat performance. We are #4 instead of #3, still dreaming of national title hopes, and Iowa is . . . .

UNRANKED.

Will this game spoil their season? Possibly. But I don't think anyone outside the corny state of Iowa is seriously penciling in the Hawkeyes for a BCS title game appearance. Maybe not to many folks are doing that for PSU--yet--but some are. And after tonight, more will be.

I was going to wax philosophical over this game, but then I read a post by demlion that pretty much said everything I could say about this game and probably better than I could in my rambling, stream of unconsciousness kind of way.

Penn State fans far and wide, if you are coming to the game, you are going to get a wet a$$. There is no escaping it. Your feet are going to be muddy, your car interior is going to be trashed, you may get sick for a week, and all of that is quite distressing until you think of this:

Our university has assembled a game day program, the whiteout, which actually can make a difference in the game. Some of you may recall that I am a longtime skeptic of the notion that what the fans think makes any difference. Whether I root for UM to beat Indiana today will make zero difference, so strategic or tactical cheering of that remote sort is a waste of time. I go with a gut level analysis of who I hate the most--in this case Michigan; Go Hoosiers!--but I know it makes no difference.

But today in the rain and slop and the stink of cowshit from the dairy barns, my usual rule is void. When Iowa has the ball and their QB feels his femurs hum because 110,000 fools are screaming at him to fumble, slip, throw a pick, or in some extreme cases, die (I am not recommending this), the fans can and will make a difference in this football game. We can escape the usual ironclad rules, and make Iowa seek out a way to have their next game with us at Fedex Field or some other neutral site. The word will go out--you do not want to come to the Beaver.

What was once mythology will become a self-fulfilling prophecy--a prophecy of DOOM for the Outsider.I want Iowa to have prepared to go on some sort of hand-signal snap count because one set of human vocal cords will not make itself heard from the QB to the tackle a few yards away. Our D goes on the movement of the ball, their O has to figure out a way to act in unison without verbal communication. Every time it does not work and they either false start or get run over because one of their lineman is crouching in his stance after the ball is snapped, we break the rules of the game and the fans hand our defense an advantage. They get more frustrated. They forget assignments or make other mistakes. The advantage grows.

Haul your rain gear into the ballpark with you and sit there for so long as there is any doubt. You paid good money for these tickets and drove long hours to get there. You will not sleep worth a damn in your hotel room or RV if we lose, anyway. If we lose a close game and you can speak above a whisper by Tuesday, then unfortunately this loss gets chalked up to YOU.

I sat in the stands for Nebraska 2002 when Gardner picked off Lord and coasted 75 untouched to drive the final nail in the coffin of the Cornhuskers. The guttural, raging roar of the crowd was one of the loudest things I have ever heard. I had reverb in my ears like when you are standing in the open air at a jet show. On that day I saw the power of this-- an intimidating, brutal, merciless assault on consciousness. It disturbs one's equilibrium. That game was O-V-E-R.

WE DECIDE WHETHER YOU HEAR THE SNAP COUNT.

Amen.

The Nebraska game was a sort of revenge game. We didn't actually play the Huskers in 1994, but they stole our crown nonetheless. One of the best teams in college football EVER went uncrowned because we didn't play them. In 2002, the Huskers were ranked 8th I believe, although they wouldn't end the season ranked if memory serves me. But we took out 8 years of what ifs and could have beens on that team that had no resemblance to the 1994 squad.

I don't think a single season removed from Iowa is in the same category ("revenge is dish best served cold"), but I must admit, I will be more than ecstatic if our team pounds them tonight and defeats them soundly. There will be a sense of redemption. But for what they did last season, it would only be a downpayment on any revenge. Maybe someday we will race onto the field screaming and celbrating as we knock off the Top Ranked Hawkeyes in a game they should have won, but watched slip away like a withered leaf blowing in the cold November wind. That would be revenge. Till then . . .

GO STATE! CRUSH HAWKS!

Bring on Iowa

NEVER FORGET . . .

!*w@ is a four-letter word. (Just like Ohio and THEM.)

Coming This Fall

Thanks to Alex Cohen!

WhiteHouse Invitation