PSU Preview: Indiana

Game 11

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***This week’s write-up will be a bit different. It will not only be an Indiana preview, but also a smallish rest-of-the-season preview…all sprinkled with comments regarding last Saturday’s heartbreaker. If you don’t want to read, I understand because it was hard to write.

After arguably the most painful loss in Penn State Football history, the 7/8th ranked Nittany Lions return to action on Saturday at home against a pitiful Indiana squad. All bullshit and roundabout-speak aside, this game should be a blowout, and the Hoosiers should become the whipping boys for PSU frustration. However, the last time something like that was supposed to happen was 1999, and things didn’t turn out as planned.

Let’s take a stroll down hellish memory lane, shall we? During that unforgettable ’99 season, PSU was 9-0 and climbed to #2 in the country. On a sunny Homecoming afternoon in early November, PSU faced a terrible Minnesota team and was a huge favorite. At the end of that unforgettable game, Minnesota kicker Dan Nystrom kicked a field goal with no time remaining. The Gophers shocked the Nittany Lions 24-23, and swiftly ended PSU’s title hopes in the quietest Beaver Stadium any of us have ever experienced. The next 2 games were supposed to be games that involved PSU flexing its frustrated muscles, but instead they lost focus, lost confidence, lost leadership, and lost both games. In the end, PSU dropped their final 3 contests and went to the Alamo Bowl.

Fast forward to this year, and to last Saturday. Similar situation, eerily similar game, and the exact same result…a 24-23 heart-breaking loss. So, it begs the question: In which direction will this team go? The same tailspin 1999 path? Or, will they regroup, refocus, and kick some ass like they should have in the days of Arrington and Brown, and like they should have last weekend in Iowa City?

Let’s see…

When PSU is on offense: We should kill Indiana’s horrible defense. The Hoosiers gave up 52 points and over 600 yards of offense to Wisconsin last weekend, so this one shouldn’t be tough at all. Additionally, Indiana has given up 40 or more points in 5 of their 10 games. But no matter how easy this game looks, our offensive success depends (and the rest of offensive season depends) on two things: Daryll Clark’s health and our playcalling/gameplan. In fact, the two are very closely related. There’s no denying that Clark isn’t 100% and/or the coaches don’t think he is. Therefore, they aren’t allowing him to take too many hits, which in turn effects EVERYTHING that we do in the spread. Clark’s two strengths are his leadership and his ability to make plays with his legs. If you take the latter away from him (because you don’t want him to get hit), then our offense becomes less dynamic and dangerous. This, clearly, affects our play-calling. Although I’d love to run Royster 50 times a game, you can’t do that for a variety of reasons. Although I’d love to run Derrick Williams “wildcat” plays all day, you can’t do that either. Our offense has been successful because of its ability to be a unpredictable, multi-faceted machine, and Clark is a huge variable in that. However, when you can’t utilize him to his fullest, and you run the same plays, then it doesn’t work as well. Exhibit A: PSU vs. Iowa on Saturday. In short, we need Clark for our offense to be effective, and we can’t afford predictable, bad play-calling. The only other alternative (and it’s a good one) is to play Devlin more.

When PSU is on defense: Our defense did not play well when it mattered last week in Iowa City. Our soft zone killed us at the end (again!), primarily because our D linemen were gassed, our pass rush disappeared, and our D backs didn’t react to things well/fast enough. Personally, I don’t think the cover 2 soft zone at that time puts you in a position to win, but that’s beside the point. In essence, we picked the wrong time and the wrong game for our defense to suck. Compound that with the fact that 2 of our starting linebackers just aren’t that good, 2 of our more-heady players were injured (Gaines and Astorino), and the fact that our defensive backs are becoming a liability, and what you have is a defense that can get battered at times. Although Indiana doesn’t light the world on fire on offense, we still need to execute. After all, we allowed a seemingly high school QB named Ricky Stanzi to drive 60+ yards in 3+ minutes to beat us last weekend. It really wasn’t anything he did, but everything we didn’t do. We need to be better on Saturday and for the rest of the season.

When, oh when: we will ever get ours?

Bottom line: I still haven’t recovered from the Iowa game, and I’m not sure I ever will. I never thought I would be upset over a very possible Rose Bowl berth, but somehow it seems like a cruel consolation to what could have been. I am, however, very positive that this team will do everything it can to make amends for what happened last weekend. I’m positive they will learn from their errors, I’m positive they will be more focused, and I’m positive that the leaders on this team will step up. I’m positive Penn State will kill Indiana, and start to smell the roses.

KNIT’S Pick…

Indiana: 3

PSU: 52

Game Notes…

1. Lime Green Vest Returns

LET’S GO STATE!