Penn Stater Checking In

Greetings!

I found your board after doing some searches for discussion on the upcoming PSU-LSU match-up. Some good football discussion here along with the expected partisan posts I'd expect from a loyal fanbase that loves their Alma Mater and football program. Can't fault that. I feel the same about Penn State.

Allow me to share some insights about this year's Penn State squad and what I think may happen on 1 Jan. Per my name, I'm a '95 PSU grad. So I've seen some great seasons in person (one in particular) and watched some dismal ones, too.

What do I think about this year? In a word, letdown. It sounds like LSU feels the same about their season. Which does say a lot about our respective programs. You know you're top-tier when you have 2 and 3 loss seaons and consider them to be disappointments.

We started out with a lot of wins, but I never felt satisfied with them. Early on, I saw a lot of O-line weakness. We couldn't run the ball effectively against weak opponents despite having a solid group of backs. After the coaches tried a number of combinations, they did find a group they liked. Rushing was looking better by the Temple game, which is a dubious statement. Temple is bowling against UCLA this year on a 3 loss season, but it's still kind of like bragging about the ugly chick you took home.

Anyway, the one unexpected bright spot was the receiver corp. We had to replace three good seniors. Remarkably, we found some quality guys that can catch the ball in traffic. Frankly, I think they made our QB look a lot better than he is. Which brings me to the QB and the contiuing O-line saga. What's the deal with our QB? Is he good or not? Yes, he is. And no, he isn't. Yes, when he has adequate protection his teammates make him look great. When the protection breaks down he makes terrible decisions. Quite a few interceptions this year because he tried to force something when under pressure. Why he didn't scramble I'm still not sure. I suspect the coaches were not comfortable with his backups in case of injury. So, LSU...there's your first objective. Get to our QB and let him see you coming. Frankly I think he cracks more easily when he sees the pressure rather than simply coming in off the left side of the line to blindside him.

Defense. They're not too bad. In order, opponents scores this yeare were 7, 7, 6, 21, 17, 3, 0, 10, 13, 24, 20, and 14. And the 21 in that home loss to Iowa was really just 14 on the Defense. Iowa was held to under 300 yards on the game. Seven points came off a blocked punt. OSU tagged us the worst...and even 24 points isn't terrible. The OSU game saw the line gave up a lot 245 yards rushing. Heck, Temple put up 251 yards rushing.

So, cue LSU again. Got a strong front O-line that can open up running lanes? If you do I expect you'll have success on the ground. We got great linebackers but the D-line hasn't looked great at times and they've let themselves be pushed around.

Bottom line, what do I think about PSU-LSU? It depends which Penn State shows up. If the team I saw play Michigan State to end the season shows up, I expect a close game. Edge? Wellllll....probably LSU due to our nonSpecial Teams play. We've been killed on Special Teams this year. If we're locked in a close game it's going to spell trouble if it comes down to field position and punting.

The key to a PSU win is to keep the pressure off Clark. If we can manage that I think we have a shot. Realistic prediction if our team shows up and the O-line protects? 31-27 LSU wins.

And if the Iowa/OSU team shows up? Cripes, I don't know...I could envision 38-10 LSU.

In truth, Penn State has been a paper dragon this year. We were over-ranked at the start of the season, climbed by attrition, and stumbled like I thought we would after watching the first three games. Frankly, I thought we'd beat Iowa, lose to OSU, and then implode and lose to Michigan, possible Northwestern, and then Michigan State. The first loss came sooner than I thought. The OSU loss was not a surprise. The end of year recovery *was* a surprise. Perfect on the road. Didn't expect that.

Anyway, those are my honest thoughts. I'd like to tell all of you that we're going to smack LSU up like a b---ch, but I don't see it. Not this year. I'm cautiously optimistic about next season and see promise the year after. Until then, I'm hoping for a good game and a solid performance...and a win.

That is all. :)