Big Ten Country

October 18 Game Summaries

Penn State 46 Michigan 17
It took longer then Nittany Lions were comfortable with, but after digging themselves a 17-7 hole, Penn State got rid of the Michigan jinx in grand fashion. The Wolverine passing game remains utterly appalling. They netted only 89 passing yards and even a Big Ten traditionalist like me isn't ready to see the days of that kind of offense return. It served to negate a nice game by Brandon Minor. The Lions exhibited a balanced attack, led up by Evan Royster who had 174 rushing yards and Darryl Clark again ran the offense with cool efficiency. From a defensive standpoint, Jeff Rice of The Centre Daily Times says the Lions unleashed the linebackers. Penn State is now set to go to the Horseshoe next week for the Big Ten's game of the year.

Ohio State 45 Michigan State 7
The Buckeyes will arrive for the showdown in great shape themselves. Jim Tressel's team played its most complete game of the year in a complete thrashing of a good MSU team. While Chris Wells had a big game, the OSU defense was the star of the show. They shut down Javon Ringer, ended the Spartan back's hopes for the Heisman and altered the course of the race for conference MVP along with it. It was the kind of game everyone expected from the Bucks back in August. Bob Hunter of The Columbus Dispatch declares they've arrived just where you would have expected.

Iowa 38 Wisconsin 16
The one team expected to challenge the OSU-PSU duo for supremacy back in August and September continued its implosion. The University of Wisconsin football program is now in a mad race with Wall Street to see who can have the most brutal autumn. The Badgers lost the turnover battle 3-0, and Shon Greene continued to be the league's most pleasant surprise for the Hawkeyes. Greene rushed for 217 yards and again carried the Iowa offense. It was a win that Kirk Ferentz needed to keep his bowl hopes on track. And to everyone's amazement, missing a bowl entirely is not only possible for the 3-4 Badgers, but likely given how they have regressed each of the last four weeks.

Northwestern 48 Purdue 26
One of the teams looking to take UW's place in the hiearchy is Northwestern. The Wildcats may not have beaten anyone good yet, but they took a significant step on Saturday in showing they could decisively handle a mediocre squad. The Boilers turned it over five times, negating a 168-yard effort by Kory Sheets. NU is at 6-1. Who would have thought that in mid-October we'd be looking at the Northwestern-Minnesota game as one that might have a January bowl game hanging in the balance?

Illinois 55 Indiana 13
The Juice was on the loose again in Bloomington. Both he and Aurelious Benn had big games in routing the Hoosiers. But the surprise in the Illinois attack was freshman running back Jason Ford, who racked up 172 yards. IU proved to be the salve Illinois needed after letting one slip away last week against Minnesota. As for Indiana, after making a bowl game last year, they are back to their normal state of affairs of welcoming the opening of basketball practice. Hoops isn't likely to bring the usual solace to Hoosier Nation, but Bob Kravitz of The Indianapolis Star opines that at least the hallowed program is clean again.

The Curse of '96 Still Haunts

It was November of 1996, and I was still living back in my old hometown of Milwaukee. I was coming out of the gym and stopped with my wealthier friend who had the club membership in the lounge to watch some football and relax. In November '96, Bill Clinton had just been re-elected and Monica Lewinsky was an unknown White House intern. Joe Torre had just finished leading the Yankees to their first World Series title in 18 years. Yup, it seems like ages ago. That football game we watched that November afternoon was a Penn State thrashing of Michigan. It was the last time the Nittany Lions have beaten the Wolverines. Can they end the curse this week with UM reeling and PSU smelling a national title?

Jo-Ann Barnas of The Detroit Free Press reports that Lion fans are still fearful. And the Penn State fan featured in the photo two posts below wrote on his Facebook profile that he's not optimistic (then again this particular fan was probably nervous they wouldn't get past Coastal Carolina). But there really can be no excuses. Even with Ohio State next week. Even coming off a trashing of Wisconsin on the road. This Penn State team is too superior to this edition of Michigan, the game is in Happy Valley (4:30 EST, ESPN) and the UM brand name is still worth getting fired up for. Especially when you haven't beaten them in 12 years.

A better game is Ohio State's visit to East Lansing (3:30 EST, ABC). The beef of the schedule is hitting for Michigan State, but it's also the opportunity part of the schedule. Javon Ringer can break out of the slew of Big 12 quarterbacks currently overshadowing him for the Heisman if he can have a big game. He certainly has the attention of the folks in Columbus, as reported by Bill Rabinowitz of The Columbus Dispatch. But OSU should be able to move the ball on the Spartans. I look for this to be tight into the third quarter, and then for the Buckeyes to start to pull away. I think Tressel's team is too motivated for a chance at redemption and paradoxically, MSU's sound play early in the year has probably removed the "trap" element from the matchup.

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In basketball news, Bob Knight told ESPN.com he'd be interested in coaching again given the right situation. Personally I'd love to see the General come back. Hard to see where he might fit into the Big Ten, but it would be great for college basketball if this legend, underappreciate for his soundness of character (as opposed to just his winning teams) got a chance to again coach at a school with a real shot at the Final Four.

Is Penn State Number One?

Is this optimistic Penn State fan that I attended their thrashing of Wisconsin with justified in flashing the index finger? Not yet, according to the polls, but the Nittany Lions are climbing fast. They are up to #3 and got some first-place votes in the coaches poll, the one that will count toward the BCS Standings. Only Alabama and Texas stand in the way of seeing Joe Paterno coach perhaps his final game for the national championship. (Well, there's the minor matter of Ohio State & Michigan State, but I refer only to matters Paterno can't control).

Here's a brief overview of how the race for the title is shaping up, conference-by-conference. I tried to be generous in who was a contender, as you will see, since the certain upsets ahead of us will provide opportunity for unlikely heroes.

Big East--They have four teams with one loss. Even I can't be so generous as to include Pitt and Cincinnati as contenders, but circle a November 23 game between UConn and South Florida. If both can win out until then and dominoes fall above them, that will be a game with impact.

ACC--Six teams have one loss and all are legit contenders for the league championship. Virginia Tech is the strongest contender for national honors, simply because of its reputation and they have a head-to-head win over fellow contender North Carolina. The Hokies play at BC, at Miami and at Florida State over the next four weeks. If they are still on only one loss then, we'll consider them seriously. The Tar Heels remain the stronger prospect, as their schedule makes a win-out very possible. Wake Forest is also on just one defeat, but needs to win road games at Maryland and Miami the next two weeks.

Big Ten--we talk about our home conference almost every day here, so we'll trust you know to circle October 25 and Penn State-Ohio State on the calendar. Here's a thought for you to kick around--Minnesota showed its bona fides in beating Illinois and could theoretically be favored in all but one of their remaining games. That one exception is at Wisconsin, and we have no idea how the Badgers are going to respond right now. Thinking the Gophs for the national title is on a par with my joking weekend prediction of Vandy-Northwestern in an all-academic showdown. But not having Penn State or Michigan State on the schedule is clearly paying Rick Brewster some big dividends.

SEC--every media person's favorite league is down to four teams, who will settle it head-to-head. Alabama and LSU will play in the West, Georgia-Florida in the East. Any of the four that win out should find themselves in Miami, and 'Bama can probably still lose a game, so long as its not a division-costing one to LSU.

Big 12--this one is just crazy. Six teams have one loss or fewer and are ranked. Four are in the Top 10. To give this the proper analysis I'd have to spend so much time on it that this site would need to be re-named Big Twelve Country. But let's start with this: Texas hosts Missouri next week. The Longhorns do *not* need to win this game. If they win out, they would bump fellow unbeatens Texas Tech & Oklahoma State and still win their division. Then they'd rematch with Missouri in the conference title game. There's no way they would be denied Miami if they were 12-1 with the only loss being this coming Saturday. The Tigers have everything on the line, but the 'Horns have some slack.

Pac-10: USC & Cal play in November. The Trojans will see enough teams ahead of them lose to get back in contention and only their habit of pulling unexpected clunkers can deny them an 11-1 season. The question is a political one--will the voters forgive their habit, in light of the fact its in its third year? Ohio State can testify how tough it can be to shed a bad rap. And unlike the Buckeyes, SC actually deserves the heat launched their way for a lack of concentration.

BCS Busters: Boise State and Ball State just don't have the schedule strength to make it even if they win out. They may get a major bowl bid, but not the top game. BYU & Utah are probably in the same boat, but at least they have each other. The Coogs and Utes tee it up on November 22 in a game that will get serious media attention if both are unbeaten, and BYU is already in the Top 10.

Overall? We should assume a Big 12 vs. SEC battle until something happens to rattle the applecart. The good news for the Nittany Lions is that winning in Columbus, along with the inevitable loss by either the Tide or Horns would be just such a rattling. The bigger question is whether PSU could survive a close loss in Columbus or the Buckeyes could get back in the picture at all. I think the Lions would have a 50/50 shot, while OSU's chances are more remote, because of an unjust political situation they face.

Another Opportunity In Madison

Once again, the lights of prime-time shine on Madison as Penn State comes into Camp Randall to play Wisconsin in 8 EST kickoff on ABC. While the Badgers have been consistently good for 15 years now, this type of prime-time exposure is unprecedented and Bret Bielama wants to be sure his program doesn't miss the opportunity.

Missed opportunities are the story of the Wisconsin season thus far. A horrible quarter at Michigan and failure to recover two Ohio State fumbles on the game's decisive drive have turned a dark-horse national championship run into a must-win situation just to stay in contention for a BCS bid.

The fact the Badgers played even-up with a Buckeye team that has superior talent is testimony to their abilty to overcome the disappointment from the previous week. If they can do it two weeks in a row, they can finally get a Big Ten win and put themselves in position for a strong finish to the season. Penn State is very good, but not appreciably better then Ohio State and if Wisconsin simply matches last week's effort the odds would say the ball has to eventually bounce their way. One big bright spot for UW is the play of strong safety of Jay Valai, says Jeff Potrykus of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Joe Paterno is having the kind of season he desperately needed, with a university president unwilling to grant him a contract extension. Regardless of what happens Saturday, PSU looks no worse then a 10-2 squad and that means Joe Pa will hold all the cards when it comes to the future of the program. The present is looking awfully sharp, with an offense that has real explosiveness and a defense that stepped up and made a statement against Purdue. It's important to keep a grip on national title hopes until the road trips Saturday night and to Columbus are out of the way. That's tough row to hoe for anyone. But Lion fans can't be blamed if they are having a hard time maintaining that grip, because this may be a game they can even afford to lose, provided a one-loss team will have a chance at the title game and the presumptive loss was very close. Penn State is the one team in the Big Ten that will get respect from voters. Jeff Rice of The Centre Daily Times reports on whether the old coach will still be in the press box for Saturday night.

Michigan State and Northwestern will be in the 3:30 EST slot on ESPN2. This will be a big game for both schools. NU is still undefeated and now has an opportunity to defeat a good team for the first time. MSU can continue to put itself in position for a tough late-season stretch run. C.J. Bacher added some fuel to the fire by saying that based on the last two shootouts the schools have played, this now qualifies as a rivalry. While you can't help but respect the Wildcats and what they've done, State is decidedly the better team in this one. Northwestern's offense hasn't been as explosive as in years past, and while the Spartans have to make some progress on defense, they are considerably more disciplined then previous teams were. And Javon Ringer should have no trouble keeping Bacher on the sidelines.

Notre Dame goes to North Carolina in another 3:30 ESTkick, this one on ABC. The Irish have come along nicely, but I think they are in over their heads in this one. The Tar Heels are one of the elite in the ACC, and in spite of their narrow loss to Virginia Tech, I'm sticking by my preseason pick of them to win their league and go to the Orange Bowl. The Heels are a little more complete, while the ND offense still comes and goes and Clausen is not yet adequately supported by enough of a running game. 

October 4 Game Summaries

Ohio State 20 Wisconsin 17
The prime-time battle in Camp Randall was everything it was supposed to be. This was a game as nearly even as you can get. Total yardage was a virtual dead heat, and neither team had an appreciable edge running or passing. Third down conversions were about 50 percent each way. And if Wisconsin would have had a few more seconds at the end of the first half to try another play or two after getting to the 3-yard line, they might have a touchdown instead of a field goal and had the margin of victory. The Badgers can also point to two OSU fumbles on the final game-winning drive that bounced safely back into Buckeye hands.

But it's Ohio State who got out of this one with a win because they had more playmakers. Terrell Pryor's final numbers aren't spectacular, but they don't reflect the way his speed changed the game, and the way he came through at every key point when the Bucks had to move the ball. A long touchdown drive just after UW had taken the lead with six minutes left answered any questions as to whether he was ready for high-pressure situations. And Chris Wells rushed for 168 yards on 22 carries and was another game-changing player that the tandem of P.J. Hill and John Clay wasn't for UW. Though the latter two played well, neither has Wells' explosiveness. Thus, Ohio State is on track in the Big Ten and hoping for a rejuvenation of national title hopes, while Wisconsin has to try and recover and see if they can play their way back into the New Year's Day bowl picture. Bob Hunter of The Columbus Dispatch writes about how OSU exorcised some demons in Madison with their winning drive.

Penn State 20 Purdue 6
It wasn't the kind of win that will reverberate through the college football establishment when they read through the scores. But it was exactly the kind of performance Penn State needed. They were efficient on offense, getting strong games from both Darryl Clark and Evan Royster. Most important, their defense stood up and shut down Purdue. The Lions' road tests get stricter the next two weeks in Madison and Columbus. But PSU fans can enter those games knowing they have a complete team. Jeff Rice of The Centre Daily Times says the D knows how to defend the Boilermaker spread.

Illinois 45 Michigan 20
Those of us who said Michigan's win over Wisconsin was no turning point, but the product of a Badger collapse were vindicated in the last three quarters on Saturday. The Illini spotted the Wolverines a 14-3 lead and then just exploded in UM's face. Juice Williams lit up the Michigan defense for 431 all-purpose yards. Even though Steven Threet had his most productive game at quarterback, he wasn't going to keep up with this onslaught.

Between this game and a near-miss at Penn State, Illinois has put itself back on the agenda as a player in the race for the January 1 bowl invites. As for Michigan, there is no excuse for the defensive performance. This is a veteran defense that is not learning a new system. This was the kind of game they were reasonably expected to carry the load in, and it's not happening. They've given up 60 points in two Big Ten games. Rich Rodriguez is right when he says that this is ridiculous.

Michigan State 16 Iowa 13
The Javon Ringer Express was slowed down in East Lansing. 91 yards on 25 carries isn't exactly shabby, but he was upstaged by Iowa's Shon Greene, who rushed for 157. MSU was still able to get out to a 16-3 lead and then hold on. It wasn't a statement win, but it kept the Spartans moving forward. It wasn't a bad loss, but it keeps the Hawkeyes struggling. Andy Hamilton of The Iowa Press-Citizen opines that the Hawks were their own worst enemy.

Minnesota 16 Indiana 7
Neither team had any running game to speak of, and both quarterbacks played a good game. But Gopher QB Adam Weber had Eric Decker to throw to and that was the difference. The Minnesota wide reciever hauled in 13 catches for 190 yards, and his team was able to get three second-half field goals to break up a 7-7 tie at intermission. It's been a long time coming, but more then two years after Glen Mason's firing, Minnesota has again won a conference game. Rachel Blount of The Minneapolis Star-Tribune gives credit to Decker and his toughness.

Notre Dame 28 Stanford 21
After each of the last three Notre Dame wins, I've had the same reaction. Nice win, but nothing to get too excited about. And taken individually, that's true. Michigan, Purdue and Stanford are nothing to get worked up about, especially given they were all in South Bend. But taken collectively, it's a mark of how ND is progressing. No one more so then Jimmy Clausen, who threw for 347 yards in a career-best day. The Irish will have to improve their running game as the schedule gets tougher, but at 4-1, there's again reason for hope under the Dome.

Lions & Buckeyes Look To Assert

Penn State will look to keep itself perfect when it travels to West Lafayette to face Purdue in a Noon EST game that will be televised by ESPN. This will be a good test for the Nittany Lion defense to show it can up to snuff. Whatever Purdue's flaws, moving the ball isn't one of them. While PSU's defense is certainly not a bad unit, it hasn't been championship level. As far as this game goes, Penn State isn't in serious danger of losing, as their offense is now good enough to win a track meet. But whether the Lion D can keep things under control will be a good barometer of how far they might go. One part of that defense, middle linebacker Josh Hull speaks to The Centre Daily Times about his performance so far.

Michigan hosts Illinois in the 3:30 EST ABC time slot. I'm not ready to buy the notion that UM's comeback against Wisconsin marked a huge turning point, not when the Badgers made nearly as many mistakes as the Wolverines. Illinois has hung around with legitimate national contenders in Missouri & Penn State, and has shown an ability to put points on the board. Sooner or later, Rich Rodriguez is going to have find get some production out of his offense. The winner of this game puts itself squarely in the mix for a New Year's Day bowl bid. The loser probably has to settle on playing sometime prior to January 1. Mark Snyder of The Detroit Free Press writes that just as the UM offensive line was getting healthy, they are hit by injuries in other places.

The prime-time show is Ohio State & Wisconsin, a game that had a lot of steam taken out of it by the Badger collapse in Ann Arbor. Wisconsin is now fighting to keep its season from spinning away. Ohio State looked ready to take advantage of the fresh start conference play offered them and keeping it up in Madison will get Big Ten eyes pointing toward their showdown with Penn State. Terrelle Prior will have to show he can handle the spotlight of prime-time in a hostile environment. Prior is just one example of what Ken Gordon at The Columbus Dispatch says is Jim Tressel's willingness to show his seniors that seniority does not guarantee playing time.

Game Summaries: Sept 27

Michigan 27 Wisconsin 25
In the span of one quarter, Rich Rodriguez went from having the hottest seat in the nation to his first big win in Ann Arbor. In that same span, Wisconsin went from being a darkhorse national title contender to staring a disaster in the face, as they now have to play Ohio State & Penn State right on the heels of a devastating loss. Both teams were sloppy, combining for nine turnovers. Wisconsin just did not get their usual production from the ground game, as P.J. Hill was held to 70 yards. Michigan doesn't look any closer to making the spread offense click, but they found a way to rally from 19-0 down and win. Mark Snyder of The Detroit Press writes that this historic comeback could be a program-defining moment.

Penn State 38 Illinois 24
The Nittany Lions got a number of strong offensive performances, including Derrick Williams who delivered a historic trifecta, becoming the first player in the Joe Paterno Era to score a touchdown rushing, receiving and returning. But Lion fans need to be concerned about the way the defense let Illinois move the ball up and down the field. The Illini got 372 total yards, including 189 on the ground. As the PSU offense began to click in non-conference, the common sentiment held by many (including me) was "as long as the offense is strong, you know Penn State will always play defense." But is that sentiment true? The Lion defense did fade at the end of last season, notably in a shootout loss at Michigan State that cost them a New Year's Day bid. They haven't been dominating yet this year and it's not going to get easier when they play at Ohio State. Right now, I don't think it's a problem big enough to keep them from having a big year and even making a BCS game. But it could cost them a championship, Big Ten or national.

Notre Dame 38 Purdue 21
Nice win for the Irish. The game was tied 14-14 at half and Notre Dame took over in the third quarter. Jimmy Clausen posted a solid 21/35, 275 yards/3TD line. Curtis Painter more then matched him, ringing up 359 yards in the air. But ND was stronger on the ground, as Armando Allen rushed for 134 yards, while counterpart Kory Sheets went for "only" 87. Al Lesar of The South Bend Tribune analyzes that the key was Charlie Weis exploiting Purdue's weakness at linebacker.

Ohio State 34 Minnesota 21
This one wasn't as close as the score makes it sound. It was 34-6 in the fourth quarter, before a pair of garbage-time Gopher touchdowns made it close. Nothing earth-shattering happened with Terrelle Pryor, good or bad, but the return of Chris Wells was an unqualified success. Wells delivered 106 yards on just 14 carries. It looks safe to attribute Ohio State's struggles against weak non-conference competition to be just fallout from before and after Southern Cal. As for Minnesota, next week's game with Indiana will be a decisive test as to whether the optimism that started to flourish in their run through non-conference was justified.

Michigan State 42 Indiana 29
Javon Ringer continued to dominate, racking up 198 yards on 44 carries. Even better for the MSU offense, he got help from the passing game. Brian Hoyer had a strong 261-yard outing in support, as the Spartans survived a shootout. But the defense was clearly a problem in Bloomington. The Hoosiers might have won, if not for a strange play in the third quarter. A 97-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Ben Chappell to Terrance Turner was not only called back, but turned into a safety, because of holding in the end zone. Instead of taking the lead, IU fell behind 36-29.

Northwestern 22 Iowa 17
A huge uplifting win for Pat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats and an equally devastating loss for Kirk Ferentz's Hawkeyes. Iowa led this one 17-3 in the second quarter, but did nothing afterward. The decisive factor was five Iowa turnovers. It served to negate good games from quarterback Ricky Stanzi (21/30, 238 yards), running back Shonn Greene (159 yards) and receiver Andy Brodell (8 catches, 126 yards). It all means that Iowa's back is to the wall, while NU is rolling along at 5-0.

Decisive Tests Waiting

The mid-afternoon 3:30 EST slot will be juicy this Saturday, as Wisconsin visits Michigan on ABC and Purdue renews its rivalry with Notre Dame on NBC. And then in prime-time Penn State-Illinois will be one of the regional games shown by ABC.

The UW-Michigan is going to be a decisive test for the Wolverines. For all the talk about the struggles they expected to encounter as they transitioned to Rich Rodriguez's spread offense, this is still a program that returned a good amount of defensive talent. This is still a program that is playing on its home field and should be able to compete with--and beat--all but the very best teams in the country when they're in Ann Arbor. As long as they are focused.

Which begs the question--will they be focused? Does Michigan believe in itself enough to embrace the new start conference play gives, just as Lloyd Carr got them to do last year. Do the players have the pride necessary to rise up and give a superior effort against a Wisconsin team that aspires to replace them in the conference hierarchy? If Michigan can't get up for this game, I can't imagine they'll be able to for too many others.

For Wisconsin, this game starts an unprecedented stretch of playing the Wolverines, Ohio State and Penn State in succession to open the conference schedule. Because of UM's struggles and the subsequent two games being under the lights in Camp Randall, there may be the tempation to write this game off as the least significant of the trifecta. But the opposite is the case. This is the game Wisconsin must win to be viable as BCS team if they don't win the conference championship. As far as national title aspirations, UW would best be served by simply putting off discussion of that until the trifecta is behind them. If they're still unbeaten at that time, then go for it. For now, they need to focus on just winning two of three and while the next two are at home, it would be preferable for Bret Bielama not to face must-win games against the Buckeyes & Lions. One thing Wisconsin is doing well right now is protecting the passer. Jeff Potrykus of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel extols the virtue of the O-Line's work.

Saturday afternoon will also provide a benchmark test for another proud Midwestern program. Notre Dame has to get its offense going eventually. I think Jimmy Clausen is progressing fairly well, but the sophomore QB has absolutely no support. I was having a conversation with my brother-in-law earlier this week about the Irish, and I just began to analyze the problems. After I had gone through piece-by-piece and just said well, they don't really come off the ball and make holes, the backs aren't that good, there's no playmakers among the receivers and the defense isn't that good. At which point he laughed and said "What else is there?" Good question. If Charlie Weis is an offensive guru, he needs to start showing it. If it's not going to be against Purdue and it's traditionally weak defense, where does it happen? Although Purdue defensive coordinator Brock Spack defends his unit against its poor standing in the national defensive rankings.

I think Spack might be a little carried away in how well the defense is playing, but the article linked to does bring up a fair point. Purdue's defense is on the field for a lot of plays. But what's true of the ND offense and the Michigan program also apply to the Purdue D--if they can't succeed this week, where pray tell, do they expect to in the weeks ahead?

The prime-time show in Happy Valley looks to be a changing of the guard at the top. Illinois has looked the part of a rebuilding team after its Rose Bowl run last year. Penn State has the look of a team ready to re-ascend to the top of the league and into the BCS. I'm staying cautious on the Nittany Lions because I did jump on their bandwagon too quickly at this time last year. And with the Illini rebuilding, I don't know that winning this game will prove much. But how decisively PSU can win will be a key indicator as to what we can expect the rest of the way. Jeff Rice of The Centre Daily Times reports that Illinois will be trying to contain the Lions offensive gamebreakers.

Lion Offense Must Pass Test

Penn State will get a good test on Saturday in the prime mid-afternoon ABC slot. Oregon State is coming to the Valley. The Beavers are coming off an 8-4 season that was capped by a win in the Emerald Bowl. Penn State should still be okay when it comes to winning this game. Oregon State has to replace most of its defense, and they opened the season with an eight-point loss to Stanford. None of it points to an upset in the making, but this is still an opportunity for the Lions.

Darryl Clark has been given the reigns of the offense and entrusted with the task of finally producing enough points and time of possession so the Lion defense can get support. The PSU offense hasn't been up to snuff since 2005, when Michael Robinson was at the helm and won the conference MVP. Clark is in the same mold as Robinson--a quarterback who can move and make things happen out of the pocket. He's got an experienced corps of receivers to work with and a veteran offensive line. One year ago at this time, the Lions blew out Notre Dame. But in retrospect, we can see that the offense did not play nearly as well as it should have against what was a lousy defense. Come Saturday, against an opponent with a weak D, but still from a BCS conference, PSU will have to show it can move the ball. Otherwise, a major bowl bid will remain an elusive goal. The Centre Daily Times has a game preview.

Notre Dame will get what they hope will be a comeback season started. There should be no difficulty in beating San Diego State. The Aztecs lost their opener to Cal Poly, a school whose principal claim to fame is having been the destination of Tom Cruise's character in the old football movie All The Right Moves. If nothing else, the Irish will start this year better then last. Eric Hansen of The South Bend Tribune reports that thus far, Charlie Weis has stifled the urge to return to play-calling. My own thoughts? That will last until the first three-and-out. Most veteran coaches are set in their ways, and its human nature for all people to default to natural instincts when a rough patch hit.   

Football Preview: Penn State

Joe Paterno is under the gun in Happy Valley this year, as he is coaching without a contract for 2009. The good news for Joe Pa is that the talent is on hand to give him all the success he needs to maintain his leverage when the offseason arrives.

Penn State has had problems moving the ball the last two years, and the quarterback position is not yet settled. Pat Devlin, a transfer from Miami is one option. But the favorite is Darryl Clark, a mobile QB more in the mold of 2005 Big Ten MVP Michael Robinson. Over at The Centre Daily Times, Walt Moody gives us the scoop on where this key positional battle stands.

Whomever wins the job is going to be well taken care of. The Lions return four starters up front, including three seniors. And while starting running back Austin Scott is gone, his stand-in, Evan Royster, was arguably more productive in 2007. Three talented receivers, Derrick Williams, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood are back in the fold. Penn State should able to produce points this year.

The defense looks to be its traditional nasty self. The front four will be fearsome, with Maurice Evans and Josh Gaines coming off the end, and stability on the interior as well. The secondary will also be very good, with both corners returning, along with talented free safety Anthony Scirrotto. The one area where inexperience looms is at linebacker, where Paterno must replace Dan Connor and Sean Lee, the latter being lost to season-ending knee surgery during spring practice. But when the one weakness on the team is an area where the program has become legendary for its ability to develop, it's a sign you're in pretty good shape.

The schedule is not too imposing, and PSU should win all four non-conference games. A difficult October, that includes road trips to West Lafayette, Madison and Columbus will be what keeps them out of the conference throne room, but on the plus side they should be able to end their long-running jinx with a home victory over Michigan.

Penn State looks similar to Wisconsin. A possible challenger to Ohio State's hegemony if everything goes right, and either way winning 9-10 games and being right on the bubble between an at-large BCS bid or an invitation to the Capital One Bowl. 2008 will show Paterno isn't finished yet.