Linebacker U in Buffalo

One of our friends has been a Buffalo Bills fan his whole life and we constantly harass him for the ineptitude of the team's failure to win at least one of the four straight Super Bowls they were in. All of this is in obvious jest and used as a point of comparison and sports griping as the Eagles had a similar streak, albeit in the NFC Title games for three straight years.

As Penn State football fanatics, we were obviously interested in where the players who would be drafted this year would be going as they were part of our class of 2007. I was hoping that Paul Posluszny would fall to the Eagles in the draft and if the Eagles were smart, they would have done so and had the heir apparent to Jeremiah Trotter or the replacement to Dhani Jones who was eventually cut within a few weeks following the draft.

If there was one place I wished to see Poz go, it would be to Buffalo and they traded up to take him. They got a steal in my opinion as he should have been taken in the first round, but I'm sure plenty of organizations were hesitant due to his knee injury in the 2006 Orange Bowl and his "slow" start during his senior season (it should be noted that this was due to his move to the middle linebacking position as opposed to the weak/strong side. Offensive linemen were more keen to block him as the middle position is normally associated with stopping the run).

As you can see in this clip below, Paul is as fast as ever, if not faster than he was at Penn State. I would not even believe that he had ever injured his knee. Barring any sort of injury, I think it is safe to say that the Bills have locked up a star at the linebacking position and should reap the rewards of having such a unique, hard-working player for years to come.

This Is Absurd

I realize we are supposed to frown upon every sort of violence there is in the world, but I am not for changing the lyrics of a traditional song of my college alma mater based on one student-athlete round of fistacuffs. Changing the words of a fight song will not soften the image of any school. The song and its lyrics are meant purely in a sport sense as no one out on the field is trying to kill the opposing team. Yes, there is fighting, but it is to win, not to necessarily hurt (it happens every once and awhile, but it is normally never intentional--it is just a risk of playing the game).

I for one will not be singing these new lyrics, especially if they are shown on the big screen at football games. I think Plumpy would agree.

Update, 1:19 PM -- After checking back on the site where I found this blurb, it was indeed a hoax. Fight on, State!

Scirrotto's Slap on the Wrist

As a PSU football fan, this joyous news pertaining to Anthony Scirrotto returning to the secondary has me drooling. Our back seven is not only experienced, but it damn near the top in terms of talent. Everyone in the secondary now has a year of experience under their respective belts, and in Scrots, the Lions possess a hard-hitting play-maker.


As a person, I am always concerned when the punishment doesn’t always fit the crime. Scrots provoked enough of an incident, at least in my mind, to warrant a suspension well into the season. As I mentioned, I am glad he is back for football reasons, but that doesn’t mean he should be merely slapped on the wrist with a summer suspension. Sure there’s the punishment of the whole team cleaning up Beaver Stadium on Sunday, but is that enough for Scirritto? Not to me and I'm sure not to numerous others. Athletes will always seemingly be above the law (unless you’re Pacman Jones or Chris Henry), and this is just another incident to reinforce that idea.

A few items of note

Here's a really great article that was on ESPN recently. It talks about the 1987 Fiesta Bowl and how it changed college football. Nice to see how PSU kept it real even then.

Another interesting one... apparently Terry McAuliffe recently wrote a book about John Kerry and the 2004 presidential campaign. McAuliffe was in charge of the DNC at the time and while he was an unparalleled fundraiser, he was also a huge assclown. Nevertheless, he proves it takes one to know one and rips on Kerry for being not just a tool, but a Home Depot. It has lots of really funny quotes and might even make for a good read.

Check back soon because I've decided that matching Presidents to baseball players is worthy of a 43 part series. You might be wondering how I'm going to compare Warren G. Harding to a baseball player. Don't worry, we only have to get through 28 other Presidents before you find out.

Hail to the Lions

Here are a few links covering the impressive Penn State win over #17 Tennessee. I'm glad this senior class, unlike those in 2003 and 2004, were sent off on a high note. I'm going to miss Poz and Mr. Hunt sorely, as is this Penn State team, but they will have enough weapons, in my mind any way, to make a serious run at a national title.

PSU wins over Tennessee
Morelli's Best Game of the Season
Remember his name for the next two years: Anthony Scirrotto

Outback Bowl Preview: #17 Tennessee Volunteers vs. Penn State Nittany Lions

The Outback Bowl looks to be an intriguing match-up between the two storied programs of Penn State and Tennessee. Not only is it the first college game of the New Year, but it features two teams whose only losses have come against teams that are currently ranked in the top 11. Penn State lost 4 games to Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin while Tennessee dropped 3 to Florida, LSU and Arkansas.


The main focus of this game will be the play of the explosive Tennessee offense against the stingy Penn State defense. Tennessee’s passing offense is currently ranked in the top 15 due to the potent quarterback-wide receiver combo of juniors Erik Ainge and All-American Robert Meachem. Penn State’s secondary is still relatively young, despite inspiring play from speedy cornerback Justin King and All-Big Ten safety Anthony Scirritto. Penn State struggled against the pass when facing Notre Dame’s spread offense. It locked down on Ohio State’s wide-outs, but at times it has been burned in the middle and downfield. PSU’s pass defense is barely in the top 50 this year.

The Tennessee run offense, however, is almost non-existent. Freshman LaMarcus Coker has broken the 100 yard mark only three times this season, all of them coming against Marshall, Memphis, and Vanderbilt, all of whom have losing records and no respectable defenses. There should be little doubt, then, that Tennessee will be looking to spread out this Penn State defense in a similar manner to that of Notre Dame. Despite losing defensive tackle Ed Johnson for the bowl game, PSU’s defense relies heavily on its line-backing corps of Paul Pozluszny, Dan Connor and Sean Lee to make plays. If they are forced to spread out and cover, it places added pressure on the front four to get after Ainge. Tim Shaw, Jay Alford, and Josh Gaines have combined for 16 sacks, but steady pressure from the defensive front four has been absent for most of the season.

While the Tennessee offense vs. the Penn State defense will be at the center of attention, these teams’ counterparts on offense and defense will go a long way towards determining the winner of the game. Penn State’s offense has been inconsistent at best this past season. The passing game was not up at the same level it was a year ago, despite returning all of the freshmen wide-outs Derrick Williams, Deon Butler, and Jordan Norwood. Most of the blame falls on junior signal caller, Anthony Morelli, who stepped into the starting position after Michael Robinson graduated. Growing pains were frequent as Morelli struggled to put together decent drives that would result in points. The offensive play-calling has also performed a role into its erratic nature. Many plays were either repeated or simply too easy to read by opposing defenses, forcing Morelli essentially to make something out of nothing.

Tony Hunt, on the other hand, has quietly done his part to carry the offense as best he can. He quietly rushed for 1,000 yards for the second straight season and added over 250 yards receiving. Hunt is the player to watch in this game as the Tennessee run defense is one of the worst in the nation, giving up over 140 yards per game this season. Coincidently, Tony Hunt has rushed for 130 yards or more in 7 of the last 10 games. For Penn State to hang in this game, they must keep the Vols’ potent pass offense off of the field by sustaining long drives. The offense can control the clock by rushing Hunt up the middle against a questionable front seven. The SEC has always preached it is the fastest conference in the nation. Speed, though, does not help in tackling a power back who is notorious for running over smaller sized defenders. Tennessee is also at a lost because one their starting defensive tackles, Justin Harrell to a season ending injury and there has been a persistent failure of sacking the quaterback and forcing turnovers.

Penn State’s air attack may not have much success in this game not only due to the slow learning curve of Morelli. The strength of the Vols’s defense lies in their secondary, which ranks in the top 30 in the nation and is led by defensive backs Jonathon Hefney and Demtrice Morley. Hefney leads the team in both tackles (93) and interceptions (5). Morley is a solid D-back who was formerly named to the Sporting News’ All-SEC Freshmen team in 2005. If the secondary, though, is making most of the tackles, it would be a clear indication that Penn State is in control with their running game.

With all these factors in mind, I also have to include one more: the time between games. For both teams, it has been over a month since they have both played. After watching the Orange Bowl last year, I presume this lay-off time plays in favor of the Nittany Lions. Last year’s Penn State team had an explosive offense in the form of Michael Robinson, its wide receivers, and Tony Hunt, but Florida State came out and played an outstanding game defensively. Penn State’s defense has stepped up its level of play towards the end of the season, allowing only two touchdowns in its last five games while shutting out two opponents. Four out of those five games were won.

This aspect may not yield the same result, but it is important to note because with so much time off, each of these offensive and defensive units will be out-of-synch. The Tennessee offense may suffer a similar fate of the Penn State offense in the Orange Bowl—that team started fast, but struggled at times to move the ball against a good Florida State defense. The Lions’ defense should take advantage of this early by playing a physical style of football they have played late this season and hamper the speed of this SEC team early to get their offense on the field. If they can contain this Volunteer offense, especially when they are spread out, and rely on the offense to keep drives going, Penn State has the potential to end this season on a high note and gain some momentum going into next season.


Prediction:
Penn State 24 Tennessee 21:

A long shot, but I believe the PSU defense is capable of stopping this Volunteer offense and setting up the offense with short field by forcing a turnover or two. The offense hopefully will start clicking after all of the experience this season as well as the time off to study the Tennessee defense.

The State of Penn State Football

This past year, Penn State football came down from cloud 9. Once the victory at the Orange Bowl was secured, it was time to look ahead to a future without Michael Robinson, Alan Zemaitis, Tamba Hali, and all the other seniors that had contributed to such a magical season.

A let-down season was coming, and in my heart of hearts, I knew there was no shot at a national title because so much talent was lost. The O-line returned only one starter, All-American Levi Brown, but he does not have the capability to spread his athletic ability to everyone. The secondary was completely revamped as Zemaitis, Anwar Philips, Calvin Lowry, and Chris Harell all departed. The D-Line lost Hali, Scott Paxson, and Matt Rice to graduation as well. Most importantly, though, Robinson, the Big-Ten Player of the Year, would be replaced under center by back-up favorite Anthony Morelli.

With so much loss, there was still hope. The wide receivers Derrick Williams, Deon Butler, and Jordan Norwood, all of whom were freshmen in the previous year, were ready to return and continue to play at a high level, especially with a more traditional pocket passer in Morelli. Tony Hunt, coming off a quiet 1,000 season, had the potential to take pressure off of Morelli with his bone-jarring runs between the tackles. And the line-backing corps, which had re-established Penn State as "Linebacker U", was, bar none, the best in the country. Paul Pozluszny, the unquestioned leader of this defense, returned as did solid junior Dan Connor, and senior Tim Shaw, who moved to a defensive end/line-backer hybrid position to make room for sophomore sensation Sean Lee.

Even with these returning stars, this Penn State football team was thrust into the national spotlight within the first month, having to play two rough roadgames at Notre Dame and then Ohio State. Their inexperience showed in the Notre Dame game as Brady Quinn had a field day with the secondary and was hardly pressured. The offense had potential, but it could never sustain a drive that resulted in points when it mattered. A botched hold ruined any chance of putting three points on the board early, and Notre Dame had too many weapons that the team could not cover man-to-man.

The defense showed promise against Ohio State. It stood strong in the first half, shutting out an Ohio State offense led by eventual Heisman winner Troy Smith and the speedy Ted Ginn. In fact, Penn State was the first team to force Smith into turning the ball over all year, not once, but twice. Justin King picked off a poorly thrown ball to Ted Ginn while Dan Connor set up the offense at the beginning of the second half with a pick of his own. But the offense could not capitalize with such a short field. The Ohio State offense eventually woke up and scored 14 points, 7 of which were scored on an amazing scramble by Smith, who eluded Tim Shaw and found Brian Robiskie in the end zone. Penn State still had a chance to stay in the game as the offense moved down to the goal-line, but were turned away three times. They settled for a field goal, and with Morelli's two interceptions, both of which were returned for TDs, the game was put out of reach for good.

This was the theme of the season: one side of the ball could not complement the other. The defense rose to the occassion in each week while the play-calling on offense was as terrible as it was in the two losing seasons prior. It showed in the losses to other ranked teams, Michigan and Wisconsin. Against ranked teams, this team had serious trouble.

Against unranked teams, it was a mixed bag, but the team took care of business. The defense continued to play at it high level for the entire game, waiting for the moment for the offense to put together a sustained drive that resulted in points. Fortunately, this formula was a success against 8 of Penn State's opponents. I was quite pleased that this team did not succumb to a losing season similar to that of the 2003 team, which lost much talent as well from its 2002 team including Heisman candidate Larry Johnson. This team, despite the inconsistencies on offense, has been able to take care of business against the teams that they were supposed to beat.

All of this bodes well for next season. The wide-outs, whose production dropped due to a combination of bad play calling and the erratic ability of Morelli, should be in top form again having spent a year with their signal caller. The O-line will be returning more starters and should be much healthier and more experienced, which will likely result in more protection for the quaterback. Morelli's play should improve due to a year of experience, his growing chemistry with his receivers, and an O-line that will be more consistent. Austin Scott, the back-up for Tony Hunt, was red-shirted this past season, and he will become the workhorse of this offense between the tackles like Hunt.

There should be no drop-off in the play of the defense. They have too much talent despite losing Poz and possibly Dan Connor, who may leave early. If Connor does leave, Sean Lee will be the most experienced linebacker, but Penn State has been stocking some high talent on the bench. Jerome Hayes and Tyrell Sales have the potential to plug right into these vacated positions at LB. The D-line has just as much talent. Freshman Jared Odrick gained valuable experience this season as did Josh Gaines and Maurice Evans. The secondary will be just as stocked as the front seven as 3 out of the 4 starters will return. Justin King played very well for a second year player, giving the Lions a shut-down corner that will anchor the secondary for the next two years. Sophomore Anthony Scirrotto is a playmaker at safety as he had 5 interceptions for the season, which is tied for the most in the Big Ten. Speedy frosh A.J. Wallace may move into a starting CB spot while Tony Davis may shift back to safety. This secondary will not only be fast, but seasoned as well.

Next season could see the Nittany Lions rise in the rankings again after dropping out of the top 25 this season. A good starting point to show that potential would be to knock of No. 17 Tennessee in the Outback Bowl. I'll post my thoughts on this game within the next few days.