Illinois Preview

Eight assistant coaches. Eight. That's how many guys Illinois head coach Tim Beckman had in State College shortly after the NCAA declared, in late July, that Penn State players could transfer immediately, without restriction, in light of the heavy NCAA sanctions imposed on Penn State. I bring this up because the two teams are now facing eachother opening up Big Ten play this weekend. Even though the Illini only landed one PSU third string lineman, I would bet Bill O'Brien and the Penn State players have not forgotten about it.  PSU's passing game generated seven plays of 20 or more yards in the 24-13 win over Temple, as the Lions got two each from wideout Allen Robinson and tight ends Kyle Carter and Matt Lehman. Matt McGloin is starting to stretch the field, a great sign, but the Lions don't have a rush of 20-plus yards yet. If Penn State can keep thier emotions in check the entire game I see this as a big win. With Illinois struggling to find an identity on offense, and a defense which hasn't lived up to expectations, I see Penn State scoring 3 times through the air grabbing the win 21-7.

How Will the Season Turn Out?

Don’t look now but the outlook for the 2012 Penn State football season looks a lot brighter.

That’s what back-to-back wins will do.

Yes, the wins were over Navy and Temple but tell that to the players, coaches and fans that marched out of Beaver Stadium Saturday. After losing the lead to Ohio in the opener and falling to Virginia in the worst possible way, any win would be a good one.

Combine that with the predictions such as Lee Corso’s, “they’ll be lucky to win three games all year,” and, well, back-to-back wins must feel pretty good.

But it’s more than just the final scores.

Look how this team has played. The Nittany Lions have dominated the last three games. No, they didn’t win at Virginia but they clearly should’ve. They were never threatened by Navy or Temple in games they were anything but perfect.

This team has been dominant while still showing room for improvement – and it would be surprising if it doesn’t continue to improve throughout the season.

The strides Penn State has made since Labor Day weekend are vast. Quarterback Matt McGloin continues to look better. The receiving corps is more impressive each week and the running game, amazingly, looked solid against the Owls.

That’s a running game without Bill Belton, without Derek Day and without Curtis Dukes.  Michael Zordich and Zach Zwinak combined to grind out yardage all day. The offensive line continually opened holes. Imagine when a healthy Belton returns to the lineup.

On the other side of the ball, the defense continues to excel. It’s hard to imagine this group falling apart.

Are there concerns in the secondary? Yes, but it will take a quality passing game to exploit them.

Which brings us to another reason for Penn  State fans to have significant hopes that their team will far exceed three wins.

Temple Re-Cap

Behind a strong defensive effort and efficient play from quarterback Matt McGloin, the Penn State Nittany Lions defeated the Temple Owls 24-13 in the team's final warm-up before opening Big Ten play next week.
The senior quarterback completed 24-of-36 passes for 318 yards while throwing both a touchdown and an interception. He looked poised in the pocket throughout the contest, especially on his 41-yard fourth-down touchdown strike to Allen Robinson in the first quarter.
The win gives the Lions their second-straight victory after beating Navy in Week 3 and should give the young roster confidence after a difficult start to the season.
Most importantly, it gave Penn State the perfect blueprint to sustaining success for the remainder of the season.
Considering all of the critical roster losses incurred by Penn State in wake of the NCAA sanctions on the university, it was always going to be an uphill battle in 2012. Gone are leading rusher Silas Redd and leading receivers Justin Brown and Devon Smith, and all are dearly missed.
The Lions saw firsthand how devastating those personnel losses were when kicker Sam Ficken, who replaced all Big Ten Kicker/Punter Anthony Fera, missed four field goals and an extra point in the team's 17-16 loss to Virginia in Week 2.
Despite that heartbreak, Penn State has persevered the last two weeks thanks to some inspired defensive play and critical adjustments from first-year head coach Bill O'Brien.
Most notable were the scheme changes involving McGloin. Though he has showed marked improvements as a quarterback, McGloin is never going to be able to lead a high-powered aerial assault. It seems that O'Brien has noticed this trend and has catered the offense around McGloin's strengths while never putting him in a position to single-handedly lose the game.
Saturday also saw the team's second-straight game heavily utilizing fullback Michael Zordich, who gained 75 yards on 15 carries against Temple. Always a fan favorite, Zordich is a hard-nosed, straight-line runner who fits perfectly into Penn State's conservative approach.
With scheming at least figured out for now, it could mean promising things for the Lions heading into next week's Big Ten season opener against Illinois in Champaign.

Recruiting

Penn State currently has 9 total players on their 2013 football commitment list, which ranks 24th nationally according to ESPN . On the top of the list is Christian Hackenberg the number one overall pocket quarterback in the 2013 recruiting class. Right behind Hackenberg on the list is the number one overall tight end Adam Breneman. The other seven commits are solid as well, all being rated above average by ESPN. Out of those other seven is a safety recruit from Florida, Neiko Robinson. Although Robinson isn't rated as highly as most other safeties in his class, he has a ton of athletic potential. It's important for coach O'Brien to maintain a recruiting presence in the South East to get athletic recruits like Robinson. If Penn State is to remain relevant in football it's key for coach O'Brien to bring in strong recruiting classes through the sanctions. Future recruits won't want to play for Penn State unless they are winning. To win, Penn State needs to keep getting these players year after year. When you see teams like USC and Ohio State coming out on top after their sanctions you know it's possible to persevere. Nobody knows what the future for sure holds for Penn State, but strong recruiting classes like this may be an indicator.

Billieve

In the short season Penn State has suffered thus far, there have been a few bright spots. The offense does look like it has made some strides since Bill O'Brien has taken the helm. The passing game looks very efficient at moving the ball, but has had some struggles finishing key scoring drives. The short intermediate passing game allows the team to control the possession of the ball. Allen Robinson has been a standout on the offensive side of the ball catching 24 passes through three games, and looks to be a promising receiver threat in the near future. The running game has been somewhat non-existent in the first three weeks of the season, but losing the starting running back to USC and Belton to injury in week one certainly doesn't help. The defense who played very poor in the opener against Ohio has began to mold and had some redemption forcing a few turnovers vs. Virginia, and holding Navy to only 7 points. If the team continues to improve and make strides in the right direction they could make a good run finishing the season somewhere in between 5 to 8 wins.

Temple Prediction

Penn State takes the field again this Saturday facing the Temple Owls. It's important that the Lions keep the pedal down this week against Temple, which looks for its first win at Beaver Stadium. Penn State should be favored at home to win by 10 or so points. If the team continues to improve on both sides of the ball they have the definite advantage over Temple who is still struggling to find a true identity. Temple, unlike recent years has a quarterback who can make some plays down feild, but remains mainly a team based on the run. Penn State continues the momentum and keeps their mojo rolling this week with a 21-7 win over the Owls.

Sweet Taste Of Victory

This weekend Penn State defeated Navy 34 to 7. The player of the game was Penn State's Allen Robinson who had three touchdown receptions, the first Penn State player to do so since Graham Zug in 2009 against Michigan. The team looked efficient on both offense and defense, stopping Navy's option attack and holding them to 0 points until the fourth quarter, and controlling the line of scrimmage on offense allowing for a decent running game and awesome pass protection. With the win Penn State may grab some much needed momentum after the two heartbreaking losses to start the season. If Penn State continues to make strides and play like they did Saturday they may just make some noise in the Big Ten.

Injury Update

Sophomore running back Bill Belton (ankle) and senior Derek Day (shoulder) are both day to day this week leading up to the Navy game. Coach O'Brien said on Tuesday that he is not sure either player will be available. If neither player is capable of playing on Saturday, Curtis Dukes and Zach Zwinak will see increased roles. Additionally, Coach O'Brien noted that senior fullback Michael Zordich could see more time at tailback.
"We've got six guys there that all can play and run the football and protect and catch the ball in the back field," O'Brien said. "So that's not a position that's lacking for depth, and I thought that on Saturday Derek Day ran very, very tough. Curtis Dukes went in there and ran tough. Zwinak did some good things. So that's a pretty solid position, and we just got to keep grinding away with those guys."

The Challenges of Playing Navy

Navy's offensive style is unique. The triple option attack requires a complete overhaul of defensive preparation for coordinator Ted Roof. Everything about preparations for Navy is different because of its style of offense. Playing well against Navy's offense comes down to being very disciplined on every play.
"Navy is so good at what they do, they're attacking your discipline, and they're attacking your toughness," O'Brien said. "Now, we've got a tough defense. In my opinion we have a tough football team. We have a tough defense. But what we've got to do defensively is we've got to play responsibility football. And these guys, what was good about the Virginia game is you saw guys playing responsibility football against Virginia. They've got to do that and up that another notch against the Naval Academy."

Preparation on the practice field is very challenging for Navy.

"It's very difficult to practice it because you're talking about cut blocks and triple option and triple option play action," O'Brien said. "What we do is we get our 'dirty show' offense team out there a little earlier and they run through the plays they're going to run with our defense. So hopefully it's executed when they come out for practice and they can see a picture of what they're doing. It's a difficult team to play against. I didn't schedule Navy.

Navy Prediction

 The Nittany Lions desperately need a win here no matter how it's done. Navy hasn't played since getting hammered in Dublin by Notre Dame. The Navy option attack meets a Penn State defense whose main weakness so far has been stopping the pass. So it lines up well for the Nittany Lions, strength vs. strength. If Penn State's offense continues to make some strides and finish drives I see it as a win. If Penn State fails to capitalize on oppurtunities once again and struggles to contain Navy's option attack, it could be just another ugly loss. Being a Penn State fan however I see the team coming together and getting a much needed win in front of the home crowd at Beaver Stadium. Prediction Penn State 27- Navy 14.

A Long Road Ahead

Penn State yet again suffered a devastating loss, coming up one point short in a 17-16 loss to the University of Virgina Cavaliers. Place kicker Sam Ficken missed a 42 yard field goal as time expired to add to the drama of an already dramatic season. If the sanctions handed down by the NCAA hadn't already affected the outcome of the team, they have now. Starting place kicker Anthony Fera transferred to Texas following the sanctions, it's not quite fair, but safe to say if he would have been the kicker this past Saturday Penn State would've won the game. Ficken made only 1 out of his 5 field goal attempts, the misses included a 20 yard field goal and an extra point that was blocked. It's very hard to watch the team you root for win on both sides of the ball for 58 minutes of the game, leave it all on the field, and yet still come up short. But it has been just that type of year and season for Penn State. The hard fought effort may demoralize the team for the remainder of the season. As Penn State fans, remember to always stay loyal and never stop cheering. A taste of some satisfaction may come this weekend as Penn State takes on Navy back home in Beaver Stadium.

A Tough Test in Virginia

Tomorrow afternoon Penn State takes on the University of Virginia Cavaliers. After a rocky start to the season, Penn State hopes to rebound in a positive way. Virginia won their first game defeating the University of Richmond Spiders 43-19. Penn State is currently a ten point underdog but has all the more to prove this week. If Penn State gets a win this week it could bring the momentum needed to win not only this game but the next two vs. Temple and Navy. A 3-1 start going into Big Ten play is the best case scenario for the team. A loss vs. Virginia could easily deflate the team enough to where they could drop either game vs. Temple or Navy. So in other words this game is a key piece in determining the fate of the 2012-13 Penn State Football season. My prediction for the game is that Penn State will win by scoring a touchdown late in the fourth quarter putting them up 21-14.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:8326938

An Emotional Experience

This Saturday Penn State fell to Ohio 24-14, the Nittany Lions played fast. Lord knows, they played hard. But they didn't follow the rest of O'Brien's script. It was not that they made mistakes, although they did. . It was that Penn State had this game in their grasp and let it get away. In the end, Penn State couldn't match Ohio's experience. The longer the game went on, the shorter yardage that Ohio had on third down. Ohio moved the chains, converting 11 of 12 third downs in the second half. Ohio strung plays together, keeping the ball for 18:08 of the second half. Even as the clock counted down on the Nittany Lions the loyal Penn State crowd stayed true. The crowd rose to their feet to support their team time after time in an emotional scene. The " We Are""Penn State" chants echoed throughout the stadium till the very last seconds of the game. Although disappointed with the results of the game I couldn't help but show a little smile. Penn State fans showed why they truly are some of the best in the country. Their unconditional love and support for their team was witnessed by an entire nation this Saturday. From the second the team took the field till the second they left, they had the support of a fan base, a community, a family like no other. They had the support of a Nittany Nation, which even after a loss to Ohio I am proud to be a part of.