Boilermakers Get Lions Back on Track

Get yours for Thanksgiving!

On a day which saw #1 Alabama come from behind in Death Valley to beat LSU 21-17, and a day when the referees gave Notre Dame a second win for this season, the game in West Lafayette may not have seemed very important. 

But many Penn State fans were worried about a let down against the Boilermakers.  While Purdue is not LSU or Notre Dame, they were capable of almost beating Ohio State (came closer than we did as a matter of fact) and almost beating ND, which apparently is the norm for this season.  Who am I kidding?!  That's the norm for every season.  Where do you think the phrase "luck of the Irish" came from?  A drunk referee no doubt!

And despite the refs, Pitt still had a chance to kick a fairly easy field goal in 2OT to upset the #3 ranked Irish, but failed to do so.  For years, the Pitt team has disappointed their own fans.  Now they are branching out and disappointing fans across the nation who do not want to see a mediocre Irish team in the national title game.  But I digress.

Penn State dominated Purdue just as they dominated Iowa two weeks ago, en route to a 34-9 victory that included a touchdown with no time left on the clock for Purdue.   Was Lloyd Carr in the stadium?  The win re-established the NASCAR offense which apparently was yellow flagged last week--it's as if last week never happened.  McGloin simply picked up where he left off--picking up the pace, throwing no picks, and picking apart the Boiler defense with surgical precision.

The one thing we didn't leave behind was poor refereeing, as Amos was called for a personal foul when he hit Marve too hard on what appeared to be a good, clean hit.  But the the fifteen yards was not enough to help Purdue, nor was a fourth down stop of Penn State at mid-field early in the game.

All in all, it was a satisfying victory and I feel better about the game in Lincoln next weekend.  There are very few times I wish I could go to an away game, but next weekend is one of those times.

BY THE NUMBERS:

From GoPSUsports:

The time of possession was nearly equal, so if you are looking for justification in the stats for Penn State's domination, you need to look defensively.  A late score not withstanding, the Lion's D nearly shut out Purdue.  The rushing attack of the Boilers was held to 87 yards.  Penn State averaged 6.7 yards per play to Purdue's 4.3.  Neither team did well on third down (about 33% for both) and Penn State, while still a gambling team on offense, failed to convert any fourth downs.  There was one turn-over in the game, but you can't really blame Purdue's woes on that.

INTANGIBLES:

The Lions dominated before an amazing crowd of 40,098, some of which came only to see the World's Largest Drum.

Penn State is 12-3-1 all-time against the Boilermakers.

Penn State won the toss and elected to defer.

Win #6 makes us bowl . . . oh, never mind.  WTF.

THE BIG (TEN) PICTURE:
Nebraska and THEM are tied at 4-1 atop the LEGENDS division, while the LEADERS division is led by two ineligble teams.  Wisconsin is currently "winning" the LEADER board at 3-2 in the conference.

Root for Perdue, or I'll hit you with this drumstick!

THEM beat Minnesota 35-13 behind quarterback Devin Gardner.  Why did Denard Robinson not play?  I don't know.  I don't care.  I'm too lazy to look it up.

The Buckeyes kicked Illi Silli, beating them 52-22.

Nebraska edged Michigan State late in the game, 28-24.  Michigan State fans are now issued barf bags before entering the stadium, and fans not able to ride roller coasters are cautioned not to enter.

The Hoosiers slipped by Iowa 24-21, and are the only "legitimate" team standing between Wisconsin and another trip to Indy for the Badgers.  Who woulda thought?!

SHEDDING TEARS:

1.  Holy Freaking Kick the Field Goal Batman, how could Pitt let that slip away????  I am still pissed!
2.  LSU--their defense folded faster than a poker player with a pair of threes. (Or the defense for MSU.  Or Pitt's D.)
3.  West Virginia--lost to TCU in OT 39-38.
4.  Temple lost to Louisville 45-17, the second biggest disappointment in PA
5.  Colorado lost 48-0 to the Cardinal.  I remember when Colorado used to have a football team.

LOOKING AHEAD:

O'Brien's Lions head to Lincoln next Saturday for a 3:30 contest against the Cornshuckers.

Nebraska has manged this record so far . . .

W  Southern Miss 49-20
L   UCLA 30-36
W  Arkansas St. 42-13
W  Idaho St. 73-7
W  Wisconsin 30-27
L   Ohio State 38-63
W  Northwestern 29-28
W  THEM 23-9
W  MSU  28-24

The two common opponents to date:  OSU and NW, the Huskers have fared comparatively well.  Both teams lost to the Buckeyes--Nebraska scored more points, but gave up almost twice as many as we did.  Northwestern had a chance to upset both teams and failed.

While the keys to any game include not making mistakes and scoring more points than your opponent, it is actually not a trivial thing in this instance.  These two teams are probably equally matched (I hope to look at the stats later in the week.)  Nebraska has the home field advantage (their only losses are on the road.)  But I don't get the sense that this is a good catch-up team, although they obviously managed that in East Lansing.  But even Iowa beat the Spartans.  I think the Huskers struggle more when you take them out of their game, but then, what team doesn't???  I hope we can score quickly and early--the formula which has served us well in every victory this season--and limit our mistakes.