I know it's just IOWA, but it's still cool.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Bolden Boys
It was mano a mano. Bolden a Bolden. Rob a Ralph. Penn State a Purdue.
And in the end, Penn State prevailed, 23-18. But in the Battle of the Boldens, Purdue's may have made a bigger difference in the game. Ralph had 99 all-purpose yards, 97 rushing. Rob had 10 rushing and 40 passing, and twice it looked like he should have made a first down but slid early and came up short.
Penn State seemed to dominate the game, yet the Boilermakers always seemed to be a score away. In the end, there was no domination, although there could have been.
On a partially sunny, really windy Homecoming weekend, Penn State did just about everything possible to lose this game, without actually losing the game.
In our darkest years, Paterno always insisted we were a "play or two" away from being good. Well, we are 6-1, and these are not the dark years, but the reality is this: we are a play or two or three away from 2-5. Three games have been decided by less than a score (Temple, Indiana and Purdue) and even Iowa was within a score in the fourth quarter a week ago. Give a play to those teams, and maybe an onsides kick to Iowa, and this season could be drastically reversed.
We are simply not executing well, and it is becoming rather tedious to try and separate the blame from the tight ends who drop touchdown passes in the end zone to a quarterback that plays like a deer in the headlights, to a dual quarterback system that appears to have all the logic and consistency of a groin pull, to playcalling in the red zone with time running out (was that really a reverse we ran?), to a head coach that can no longer safely be on the playing field, to an unsportsmanlike penalty after a great return, to the STEP program that is ultimately responsible for the lowest homecoming attendance I have ever been to . . .
It just doesn't end--just like that last sentence.
Matt McGloin is a free-wheeling gunslinger who is just as apt to shoot himself in the foot as he is to kill the enemy. He is the Inspector Clouseau of quarterbacking. He always seems to come out on top, but you're just never sure he's going to make it till the end of the game. He threw another pick in the end zone and we are fortunate it was only returned to midfield. Granted, it was a freakish tip, but it was a ball that should never have been thrown in the first place. And despite Bolden leading the team on one touchdown drive yesterday (the phrase every blind squirrel finds an acorn comes to mind) I still think most of his appearances are a waste of a possession for Penn State.
I really liked the fourth down call late in the game that allowed us to keep possession and end the game by kneeling. A field goal would have only put us up by 8, and there is no guarantee that the kick would be good. It could be blocked and run back the other way. If Purdue gains possession, a defender could fall down or miss a tackle. If you don't think bad things could happen then you haven't been watching this team at all this season. And don't forget, Witovet was on the field as well.
And despite all this crap, we are bowl eligible, six and one (and no one really expected any better at this point even if we were beating opponents by two touchdowns) and leading our division at 3-0 in the conference.
Northwestern lost to the Iowa team we dominated a week ago. Illinois lost to a struggling Buckeye team. Nebraska is beatable. If we can stop making so damned many goofy mistakes and figure out a way to score in the red zone, I think we could be facing the Badgers with one loss in our pockets. Of course, there's no reason to think that anything will change, and we might lose the rest of our games.
Six and one shouldn't be so frustrating.
BY THE NUMBERS:
From GoPSUsports:
Penn State won time of possession, and the turnover battle, although our lone INT set up a 14 point swing on the scoreboard. But Purdue surprised me a bit being able to move the ball against our defense. Of course, both touchdowns were set up by short fields (one on the kick-off return and one on the interception return.) But the pesky Purduers managed 344 yards total offense, just 23 shy of the mark set by our patented Paterno prevent offense. TOO MUCH! As one lady behind us yelled, "that's unacceptable!" We'll blame it on the emotional let down after the big win against Iowa.
INTANGIBLES:
The Drum Major stuck both flips. The Alumni Band was incomparable as usual.
Penn State won the toss and deferred.
Paterno notches win #407. I wonder if someone will eventually put an asterisk beside that, noting the number of games he was NOT on the sideline.
Penn State leads this series 11-3-1 all-time.
Attendance was reported as 100,820. Someone doesn't count well. And it's a shame. Unfortunately, it's all about money; not about the fans. Maybe we need to OCCUPY BEAVER STADIUM!
Penn State is ranked 22nd in the USA Today poll. We are 21st. in the BCS standings.
THE BIG (TEN) PICTURE:
Wisconsin badgered all over Indiana, 59-7. I don't know any details, but unlike Paterno, Bielema never passes up a chance to run up the score.
The Cheateyes recovered some dignity over Illinois, 17-7.
MSU beat Little Brother 28-14.
Iowa hung on to defeat Northwestern 41-31
Nebraska was idle. So was Minnesota, but no one noticed.
Penn State leads the Leaders division. MSU leads the Legends.
SHEDDING TEARS:
1. Pitt--lost to Utah 26-14. All 14 points were scored by the defense/special teams.
2. Illinois--your best start in half a century and their worst in years, and you still couldn't seal the deal.
3. Indiana--maybe you guys need to find another sport. Maybe basketball?
4. Georgia Tech--ranked 12th and lost to Virginia.
5. Boise State--rolling along after defeating Colorado State 63-13. And a snowball's chance in hell of making it to the BCS title game. Can you believe that? Beating a team 63-13 and NOT winning a title??? Unfortunately, I have felt that pain.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Penn State travels to Evanston for a 7PM game on BTN against the Wildcats, who have lost four in a row. Some worried that Purdue might be a trap game. It almost was. Could this be Trap II?
So far, Northwestern's season has shaken out like this:
W Boston College 24-17
W Eastern Illinois 42-21
L Army 14-21
L Illinois 35-38
L THEM 24-42
L Iowa 31-41
They still have Indiana and Minnesota on their schedule for a couple of wins. Maybe a win against Rice on Nov. 12th. That's five. To be bowl eligible, they need to come up with at least one win against Nebraska, Penn State, or Michigan State. Strictly looking at the rankings, their best bet is to upset the Lions next Saturday.
That makes them even more dangerous. Can McGloin find Lions instead of Wildcats on a dark night in Evanston? Can our defense rattle the Prince of Persa?
Tune in next week for yet another cliffhanger of a game, the Penn State way.
And in the end, Penn State prevailed, 23-18. But in the Battle of the Boldens, Purdue's may have made a bigger difference in the game. Ralph had 99 all-purpose yards, 97 rushing. Rob had 10 rushing and 40 passing, and twice it looked like he should have made a first down but slid early and came up short.
Penn State seemed to dominate the game, yet the Boilermakers always seemed to be a score away. In the end, there was no domination, although there could have been.
On a partially sunny, really windy Homecoming weekend, Penn State did just about everything possible to lose this game, without actually losing the game.
In our darkest years, Paterno always insisted we were a "play or two" away from being good. Well, we are 6-1, and these are not the dark years, but the reality is this: we are a play or two or three away from 2-5. Three games have been decided by less than a score (Temple, Indiana and Purdue) and even Iowa was within a score in the fourth quarter a week ago. Give a play to those teams, and maybe an onsides kick to Iowa, and this season could be drastically reversed.
We are simply not executing well, and it is becoming rather tedious to try and separate the blame from the tight ends who drop touchdown passes in the end zone to a quarterback that plays like a deer in the headlights, to a dual quarterback system that appears to have all the logic and consistency of a groin pull, to playcalling in the red zone with time running out (was that really a reverse we ran?), to a head coach that can no longer safely be on the playing field, to an unsportsmanlike penalty after a great return, to the STEP program that is ultimately responsible for the lowest homecoming attendance I have ever been to . . .
It just doesn't end--just like that last sentence.
Matt McGloin is a free-wheeling gunslinger who is just as apt to shoot himself in the foot as he is to kill the enemy. He is the Inspector Clouseau of quarterbacking. He always seems to come out on top, but you're just never sure he's going to make it till the end of the game. He threw another pick in the end zone and we are fortunate it was only returned to midfield. Granted, it was a freakish tip, but it was a ball that should never have been thrown in the first place. And despite Bolden leading the team on one touchdown drive yesterday (the phrase every blind squirrel finds an acorn comes to mind) I still think most of his appearances are a waste of a possession for Penn State.
I really liked the fourth down call late in the game that allowed us to keep possession and end the game by kneeling. A field goal would have only put us up by 8, and there is no guarantee that the kick would be good. It could be blocked and run back the other way. If Purdue gains possession, a defender could fall down or miss a tackle. If you don't think bad things could happen then you haven't been watching this team at all this season. And don't forget, Witovet was on the field as well.
And despite all this crap, we are bowl eligible, six and one (and no one really expected any better at this point even if we were beating opponents by two touchdowns) and leading our division at 3-0 in the conference.Northwestern lost to the Iowa team we dominated a week ago. Illinois lost to a struggling Buckeye team. Nebraska is beatable. If we can stop making so damned many goofy mistakes and figure out a way to score in the red zone, I think we could be facing the Badgers with one loss in our pockets. Of course, there's no reason to think that anything will change, and we might lose the rest of our games.
Six and one shouldn't be so frustrating.
BY THE NUMBERS:
From GoPSUsports:
| Team Totals | PUR | PSU |
|---|---|---|
| FIRST DOWNS | 15 | 21 |
| Rushing | 6 | 11 |
| Passing | 9 | 9 |
| Penalty | 0 | 1 |
| NET YARDS RUSHING | 162 | 182 |
| Rushing Attempts | 33 | 48 |
| Average Per Rush | 4.9 | 3.8 |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 1 | 2 |
| Yards Gained Rushing | 169 | 199 |
| Yards Lost Rushing | 7 | 17 |
| NET YARDS PASSING | 182 | 185 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int | 14-30-3 | 10-23-1 |
| Average Per Attempt | 6.1 | 8.0 |
| Average Per Completion | 13 | 18.5 |
| Passing Touchdowns | 1 | 0 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS | 344 | 367 |
| Total offense plays | 63 | 71 |
| Average Gain Per Play | 5.5 | 5.2 |
| Fumbles: Number-Lost | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Penalties: Number-Yards | 6-33 | 5-43 |
| PUNTS-YARDS | 4-175 | 6-267 |
| Average Yards Per Punt | 43.8 | 44.5 |
| Net Yards Per Punt | 35.5 | 37.3 |
| Inside 20 | 1 | 3 |
| 50+ Yards | 1 | 1 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 1 |
| Fair catch | 1 | 0 |
| KICKOFFS-YARDS | 5-330 | 5-328 |
| Average Yards Per Kickoff | 66.0 | 65.6 |
| Net Yards Per Kickoff | 35.6 | 34.4 |
| Touchbacks | 3 | 1 |
| Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD | 2-23-0 | 3-33-0 |
| Average Per Return | 11.5 | 11.0 |
| Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD | 4-136-0 | 1-92-0 |
| Average Per Return | 34 | 92 |
| Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD | 1-55-0 | 3-24-0 |
| Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Miscellaneous Yards | 0 | 0 |
| Possession Time | 26:09 | 33:51 |
| 1st Quarter | 8:42 | 6:18 |
| 2nd Quarter | 5:28 | 9:32 |
| 3rd Quarter | 5:49 | 9:11 |
| 4th Quarter | 6:10 | 8:50 |
| Third-Down Conversions | 4 of 14 | 6 of 15 |
| Fourth-Down Conversions | 0 of 1 | 1 of 1 |
| Red-Zone Scores-Chances | 4-4 | 4-5 |
| Touchdowns | 2-4 | 2-5 |
| Field goals | 2-4 | 2-5 |
| Sacks By: Number-Yards | 1-9 | 1-4 |
| PAT Kicks | 0-1 | 2-2 |
| Field Goals | 2-3 | 3-3 |
Penn State won time of possession, and the turnover battle, although our lone INT set up a 14 point swing on the scoreboard. But Purdue surprised me a bit being able to move the ball against our defense. Of course, both touchdowns were set up by short fields (one on the kick-off return and one on the interception return.) But the pesky Purduers managed 344 yards total offense, just 23 shy of the mark set by our patented Paterno prevent offense. TOO MUCH! As one lady behind us yelled, "that's unacceptable!" We'll blame it on the emotional let down after the big win against Iowa.
INTANGIBLES:
The Drum Major stuck both flips. The Alumni Band was incomparable as usual.
Penn State won the toss and deferred.
Paterno notches win #407. I wonder if someone will eventually put an asterisk beside that, noting the number of games he was NOT on the sideline.
Penn State leads this series 11-3-1 all-time.
Attendance was reported as 100,820. Someone doesn't count well. And it's a shame. Unfortunately, it's all about money; not about the fans. Maybe we need to OCCUPY BEAVER STADIUM!
Penn State is ranked 22nd in the USA Today poll. We are 21st. in the BCS standings.
THE BIG (TEN) PICTURE:
Wisconsin badgered all over Indiana, 59-7. I don't know any details, but unlike Paterno, Bielema never passes up a chance to run up the score.
The Cheateyes recovered some dignity over Illinois, 17-7.
MSU beat Little Brother 28-14.
Iowa hung on to defeat Northwestern 41-31
Nebraska was idle. So was Minnesota, but no one noticed.
Penn State leads the Leaders division. MSU leads the Legends.
SHEDDING TEARS:
1. Pitt--lost to Utah 26-14. All 14 points were scored by the defense/special teams.
2. Illinois--your best start in half a century and their worst in years, and you still couldn't seal the deal.
3. Indiana--maybe you guys need to find another sport. Maybe basketball?
4. Georgia Tech--ranked 12th and lost to Virginia.
5. Boise State--rolling along after defeating Colorado State 63-13. And a snowball's chance in hell of making it to the BCS title game. Can you believe that? Beating a team 63-13 and NOT winning a title??? Unfortunately, I have felt that pain.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Penn State travels to Evanston for a 7PM game on BTN against the Wildcats, who have lost four in a row. Some worried that Purdue might be a trap game. It almost was. Could this be Trap II?
So far, Northwestern's season has shaken out like this:
W Boston College 24-17
W Eastern Illinois 42-21
L Army 14-21
L Illinois 35-38
L THEM 24-42
L Iowa 31-41
They still have Indiana and Minnesota on their schedule for a couple of wins. Maybe a win against Rice on Nov. 12th. That's five. To be bowl eligible, they need to come up with at least one win against Nebraska, Penn State, or Michigan State. Strictly looking at the rankings, their best bet is to upset the Lions next Saturday.
That makes them even more dangerous. Can McGloin find Lions instead of Wildcats on a dark night in Evanston? Can our defense rattle the Prince of Persa?
Tune in next week for yet another cliffhanger of a game, the Penn State way.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Statistically Speaking: Boilermaker Edition
Here are the NCAA stats for Penn State and Purdue:
The stats this week show an interesting reversal. When you just look at the straight up average NCAA rank (add each rank for each category and then divide by the number of categories) Penn State ranks better than Purdue. But when you look at the weighted ranking (i.e. give more weight to categories like total offense, total defense, and less emphasis on first downs allowed or yards penalized per game) and Purdue actually appears to have the edge.
Our ranking is inflated by the uniformly bad numbers on the offensive side of the ball. Purdue is simply an average team--neither offense or defense is outstanding. The Boilers are good at net punting (6th), passes had intercepted (6th) and turnovers lost (5th.) They are ranked 11th in the country in fumbles lost, and after that, most of their rankings are above 25.
On the other side of the ball, Penn State is ranked in the top 25 (if not the top 10) in practically every defensive category except for red zone defense. Fortunately for us, Purdue is almost as bad in red zone defense, so maybe we have a chance of scoring some TDs this week.
| NCAA Stats Comparison | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category: | Penn St. | Purdue |
| Rushing | 53 | 20 |
| Passing Offense | 82 | 93 |
| Total Offense | 81 | 50 |
| Scoring Offense | 93 | 42 |
| Rushing Defense | 17 | 59 |
| Turnovers Gained | 15 | 99 |
| Passes Had Intercepted | 60 | 6 |
| Pass Defense | 5 | 32 |
| Net Punting | 102 | 6 |
| Punt Returns | 79 | 49 |
| Kickoff Returns | 92 | 34 |
| Turnover Margin | 36 | 43 |
| Fumbles Recovered | 24 | 78 |
| Passes Intercepted | 13 | 92 |
| Fumbles Lost | 83 | 11 |
| Turnovers Lost | 84 | 5 |
| Passing Efficiency | 101 | 74 |
| Pass Efficiency Defense | 4 | 33 |
| Total Defense | 4 | 36 |
| Scoring Defense | 5 | 30 |
| Fewest Penalties Per Game | 30 | 113 |
| Fewest Yards Penalized Per Game | 33 | 114 |
| Punt Return Yardage Defense | 63 | 55 |
| Kickoff Return Yardage Defense | 54 | 113 |
| Offense Third-down Efficiency | 77 | 50 |
| Offense Fourth-down Efficiency | 5 | 22 |
| Defense Third-down Efficiency | 35 | 49 |
| Defense Fourth-down Efficiency | 100 | 71 |
| Tackles for Loss | 22 | 44 |
| Offense Tackles for Loss | 8 | 99 |
| Pass Sacks | 42 | 107 |
| Pass Sacks Allowed | 19 | 100 |
| Time of Possession | 39 | 51 |
| First Downs | 74 | 34 |
| First Downs Allowed | 7 | 67 |
| Red Zone Efficiency | 95 | 37 |
| Red Zone Efficiency - Defense | 119 | 106 |
| Average NCAA Rank: | 50.14 | 57.41 |
| Weighted Avg. Rank: | 48.58 | 43.17 |
The stats this week show an interesting reversal. When you just look at the straight up average NCAA rank (add each rank for each category and then divide by the number of categories) Penn State ranks better than Purdue. But when you look at the weighted ranking (i.e. give more weight to categories like total offense, total defense, and less emphasis on first downs allowed or yards penalized per game) and Purdue actually appears to have the edge.
Our ranking is inflated by the uniformly bad numbers on the offensive side of the ball. Purdue is simply an average team--neither offense or defense is outstanding. The Boilers are good at net punting (6th), passes had intercepted (6th) and turnovers lost (5th.) They are ranked 11th in the country in fumbles lost, and after that, most of their rankings are above 25.
On the other side of the ball, Penn State is ranked in the top 25 (if not the top 10) in practically every defensive category except for red zone defense. Fortunately for us, Purdue is almost as bad in red zone defense, so maybe we have a chance of scoring some TDs this week.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Iowa Pics
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| Iowa Fan(s) spotted near out tailgate. |
 |
| Nice flag! Not. |
 |
| Almost got the flip. |
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| Blue Band marches by our car as we head out after the game. |
Poll Position
Penn State cracks the USA Today Poll, but is still dissed by the AP.
The first BCS poll comes outtonight next week--oops.
The first BCS poll comes out
Defense Den-eyes Hawks
In a battle that went into the final quarter at 6-3, the Penn State defense shut down the Hawkeye offense as Penn State pulled out a 13-3 victory over the pesky Hawkeyes in front of a crowd of 103,497 appreciative fans.
Oy vey! I'm starting to sound like the Penn State Football Letter.
The Hawkeye's featured the Big Ten's third best quarterback in the conference and an offense that was averaging 37.75 points per game. The PSU defense was going to have none of that.
The Lions held the Hawks to just 84 rushing yards and almost 35 points below their average, despite the Hawkeyes coming off a bye week and nearly owning Penn State for the past decade.
Granted, this is somewhat of a rebuilding year for the Hawkeyes, and they really have faced no team of any consequence except possibly ISU to whom they lost (sorry Pitt, but it's true), and this win does not atone for the loss in 2008 when the Hawks upset us when we were ranked third, or the 2009 loss when they duplicated that effort against a 5th ranked PSU team, or even the spanking they gave us last year. Oy vey again! Double Oy! Was that one rambling sentence or what?! Maybe not full revenge, but it is a start. A good start.
I was far from confident that we could win this game, but I knew that we could. We still made mistakes, but our guys played like they wanted to win. Even Ferentz commented after the game about the intensity of the Penn State players.
In a series where the ball always seems to bounce in Iowa's favor, the opposite rang true on this gorgeous Saturday in Happy Valley. Passes bounced from one PSU receiver to another. We dribbled a kick-off return but retained possession. Silas Redd recovered his own fumble. And Penn State forced three turnovers, while only throwing one INT, albeit a painful one in the end zone that left points on the field and not on the scoreboard. It's like a pick six, but it's a pick minus six. A negative pick six. Pick Six anti-matter. You get the idea.
That's McGloin. He's a gunslinger. He's going to make big plays. He's going to make big mistakes. You've got to take the good with the bad. I wish we didn't have to but Kerry Collins is long gone and we're scraping the bottom of the quarterback barrel. Bolden, bless his heart, still looks like a deer in the headlights out there. The quarterback controversy is slowly turning in favor of McGloin, who played all but two series despite not starting.
BY THE NUMBERS:
From GoPSUsports:
Penn State won time of possession convincingly. The yards rushing was the key to this game. Despite not putting a ton of points on the board, the Lions kept the ball moving, kept the clock running, kept Vandenberg off the field, and dominated this game. I wonder: when was the last time Iowa didn't sack our QB? I'll have to wait for the AFLAC duck on that one.
INTANGIBLES:
The Drum Major missed the second flip but nailed the important one.
Iowa won the toss and elected to receive, presumably hoping to put points on the board early. Nice try.
And in what was one of the most classless, high school league moves I have seen in a while, the Hawkeye team waited until Penn State emerged from the tunnel to come out on the field at the same time. Really lame and bush league, Hawks. Why don't you just flock in the end zone and peck the 'Penn State' lettering?
Of course, the BEAT IOWA cheer was a little silly. I don't know about you, but it seemed lame. Maybe it's because it sounds too much like EAT IOWA. Too many vowels. It just doesn't roll off the tongue. I hope we don't do that again.
The Penn State-Iowa series is now even at 12-12.
Joe Paterno notched win number 406 as the Lions move to 5-1 (2-0). He only spent one half on the sidelines, apparently suffering a little pain after getting out of the way of a play. The message boards across Nittany Nation spent most of the week dreaming of Urban Renewal at Penn State. This was fueled in part by Meyer's presence on the TV crew, but also by Jeff Rapp who wrote about a source claiming that Urban would love the Penn State job.
Even John Eichelberger threw his opinion into the ring by saying that it was time for Joe to move on. In his blog, the Senator applauded a Mirror article by Cory Giger calling for Paterno's resignation, if not in so many words.
And according to this Scout.com messageboard post, Urban Meyer referred to the Penn State quarterbacks as "our" quarterbacks before correcting himself. I was at the game and did not hear this. Those who remembered to DVR this can do their own sleuthing and draw their own conclusions.
While Penn State could do worse than Urban Meyer, I'd really like to see Boise State's head coach come to Penn State.
THE BIG (TEN) PICTURE:
Denard Robinson beat Northwestern 42-24, scoring 21 unanswered points.
The Cornhuskers notch their first conference victory and set a record for the biggest comeback in school history to defeat the Columbus Cheateyes 34-27, after trailing 27-6.
Illinois took care of business over Indiana, 41-20.
Purdue rolled over the pathetic gophers, 45-17. Will Minnesota even win a game in the Big Ten? Do they play Indiana? No they don't. Doesn't look good for the golden varmints.
Wisconsin and Michigan State took the week off.
SHEDDING TEARS:
1. Dick Faust--Sleepless inColumbus Troy, OH.
2. Pitt--chopped down by Buttgers.
3. The Service Academies--all three lost yesterday
4. F$U--lost to Wake Forest
5. The Longhorns, crushed by Oklahoma 55-17.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Homecoming. Noon kick-off. Drink a boilermaker or two. Roast somePerdue Purdue chicken. Does it get any better than this?
Here's the Boiler's season to date:
W Middle Tennessee State 27-24
L Rice 22-24
W Southeast Missouri State 59-0
L Notre Dame 10-38
W Minnesota 45-17
To keep the pattern going, the next game has to be a loss for them.
Basically, any team with a pulse has beaten Purdue. That Southeast Missouri State victory was impressive, though. Not.
PSU is 65-21-5 in Homecoming games, 39-6 under Paterno. Look for #66 next week, which will put Paterno one behind Eddie Robinson's record of 408.
The Hawkeye's featured the Big Ten's third best quarterback in the conference and an offense that was averaging 37.75 points per game. The PSU defense was going to have none of that.
The Lions held the Hawks to just 84 rushing yards and almost 35 points below their average, despite the Hawkeyes coming off a bye week and nearly owning Penn State for the past decade.
Granted, this is somewhat of a rebuilding year for the Hawkeyes, and they really have faced no team of any consequence except possibly ISU to whom they lost (sorry Pitt, but it's true), and this win does not atone for the loss in 2008 when the Hawks upset us when we were ranked third, or the 2009 loss when they duplicated that effort against a 5th ranked PSU team, or even the spanking they gave us last year. Oy vey again! Double Oy! Was that one rambling sentence or what?! Maybe not full revenge, but it is a start. A good start.
I was far from confident that we could win this game, but I knew that we could. We still made mistakes, but our guys played like they wanted to win. Even Ferentz commented after the game about the intensity of the Penn State players.
In a series where the ball always seems to bounce in Iowa's favor, the opposite rang true on this gorgeous Saturday in Happy Valley. Passes bounced from one PSU receiver to another. We dribbled a kick-off return but retained possession. Silas Redd recovered his own fumble. And Penn State forced three turnovers, while only throwing one INT, albeit a painful one in the end zone that left points on the field and not on the scoreboard. It's like a pick six, but it's a pick minus six. A negative pick six. Pick Six anti-matter. You get the idea.
That's McGloin. He's a gunslinger. He's going to make big plays. He's going to make big mistakes. You've got to take the good with the bad. I wish we didn't have to but Kerry Collins is long gone and we're scraping the bottom of the quarterback barrel. Bolden, bless his heart, still looks like a deer in the headlights out there. The quarterback controversy is slowly turning in favor of McGloin, who played all but two series despite not starting.
BY THE NUMBERS:
From GoPSUsports:
| Team Totals | IOWA | PSU |
|---|---|---|
| FIRST DOWNS | 16 | 21 |
| Rushing | 6 | 12 |
| Passing | 9 | 9 |
| Penalty | 1 | 0 |
| NET YARDS RUSHING | 84 | 231 |
| Rushing Attempts | 30 | 46 |
| Average Per Rush | 2.8 | 5 |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 0 | 0 |
| Yards Gained Rushing | 126 | 240 |
| Yards Lost Rushing | 42 | 9 |
| NET YARDS PASSING | 169 | 164 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int | 17-34-2 | 15-26-1 |
| Average Per Attempt | 5 | 6.3 |
| Average Per Completion | 9.9 | 10.9 |
| Passing Touchdowns | 0 | 1 |
| TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS | 253 | 395 |
| Total offense plays | 64 | 72 |
| Average Gain Per Play | 4 | 5.5 |
| Fumbles: Number-Lost | 2-1 | 2-0 |
| Penalties: Number-Yards | 3-15 | 5-50 |
| PUNTS-YARDS | 4-158 | 5-219 |
| Average Yards Per Punt | 39.5 | 43.8 |
| Net Yards Per Punt | 39.5 | 32.6 |
| Inside 20 | 2 | 1 |
| 50+ Yards | 0 | 1 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 3 |
| Fair catch | 2 | 1 |
| KICKOFFS-YARDS | 2-120 | 4-277 |
| Average Yards Per Kickoff | 60 | 69.2 |
| Net Yards Per Kickoff | 47.5 | 49.2 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 2 |
| Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD | 1-4-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Average Per Return | -4 | 0 |
| Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD | 2-40-0 | 2-25-0 |
| Average Per Return | 20 | 12.5 |
| Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD | 1-0-0 | 2-4-0 |
| Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Miscellaneous Yards | 0 | 0 |
| Possession Time | 24:06 | 35:54 |
| 1st Quarter | 6:44 | 8:16 |
| 2nd Quarter | 6:18 | 8:42 |
| 3rd Quarter | 6:03 | 8:57 |
| 4th Quarter | 5:01 | 9:59 |
| Third-Down Conversions | 7 of 16 | 5 of 14 |
| Fourth-Down Conversions | 1 of 3 | 1 of 1 |
| Red-Zone Scores-Chances | 1-1 | 3-4 |
| Touchdowns | 0-1 | 1-4 |
| Field goals | 1-1 | 2-4 |
| Sacks By: Number-Yards | 0-0 | 5-40 |
| PAT Kicks | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Field Goals | 1-1 | 2-2 |
Penn State won time of possession convincingly. The yards rushing was the key to this game. Despite not putting a ton of points on the board, the Lions kept the ball moving, kept the clock running, kept Vandenberg off the field, and dominated this game. I wonder: when was the last time Iowa didn't sack our QB? I'll have to wait for the AFLAC duck on that one.
INTANGIBLES:
The Drum Major missed the second flip but nailed the important one.
Iowa won the toss and elected to receive, presumably hoping to put points on the board early. Nice try.
And in what was one of the most classless, high school league moves I have seen in a while, the Hawkeye team waited until Penn State emerged from the tunnel to come out on the field at the same time. Really lame and bush league, Hawks. Why don't you just flock in the end zone and peck the 'Penn State' lettering?
Of course, the BEAT IOWA cheer was a little silly. I don't know about you, but it seemed lame. Maybe it's because it sounds too much like EAT IOWA. Too many vowels. It just doesn't roll off the tongue. I hope we don't do that again.
The Penn State-Iowa series is now even at 12-12.
Joe Paterno notched win number 406 as the Lions move to 5-1 (2-0). He only spent one half on the sidelines, apparently suffering a little pain after getting out of the way of a play. The message boards across Nittany Nation spent most of the week dreaming of Urban Renewal at Penn State. This was fueled in part by Meyer's presence on the TV crew, but also by Jeff Rapp who wrote about a source claiming that Urban would love the Penn State job.
Even John Eichelberger threw his opinion into the ring by saying that it was time for Joe to move on. In his blog, the Senator applauded a Mirror article by Cory Giger calling for Paterno's resignation, if not in so many words.
And according to this Scout.com messageboard post, Urban Meyer referred to the Penn State quarterbacks as "our" quarterbacks before correcting himself. I was at the game and did not hear this. Those who remembered to DVR this can do their own sleuthing and draw their own conclusions.
While Penn State could do worse than Urban Meyer, I'd really like to see Boise State's head coach come to Penn State.
THE BIG (TEN) PICTURE:
Denard Robinson beat Northwestern 42-24, scoring 21 unanswered points.
The Cornhuskers notch their first conference victory and set a record for the biggest comeback in school history to defeat the Columbus Cheateyes 34-27, after trailing 27-6.
Illinois took care of business over Indiana, 41-20.
Purdue rolled over the pathetic gophers, 45-17. Will Minnesota even win a game in the Big Ten? Do they play Indiana? No they don't. Doesn't look good for the golden varmints.
Wisconsin and Michigan State took the week off.
SHEDDING TEARS:
1. Dick Faust--Sleepless in
2. Pitt--chopped down by Buttgers.
3. The Service Academies--all three lost yesterday
4. F$U--lost to Wake Forest
5. The Longhorns, crushed by Oklahoma 55-17.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Homecoming. Noon kick-off. Drink a boilermaker or two. Roast some
Here's the Boiler's season to date:
W Middle Tennessee State 27-24
L Rice 22-24
W Southeast Missouri State 59-0
L Notre Dame 10-38
W Minnesota 45-17
To keep the pattern going, the next game has to be a loss for them.
Basically, any team with a pulse has beaten Purdue. That Southeast Missouri State victory was impressive, though. Not.
PSU is 65-21-5 in Homecoming games, 39-6 under Paterno. Look for #66 next week, which will put Paterno one behind Eddie Robinson's record of 408.
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