Penn State Football: Week Seven Review and Week Eight Preview

Week Seven Review

Penn State has been making statement wins throughout the early part of the 2008 college football season.  But after their emphatic 48-7 thrashing of Wisconsin in Madison on Saturday night, it is impossible to overlook what the Nittany Lions are doing.

The only negative about the PSU victory is that it is the furthest my prediction has been off all season. 

I’ll take it.

I had originally predicted PSU to lose this game in my article at the beginning of the summer, but I changed my mind last week and said that PSU would win by a score of 30-20.  At least I got the victory predicted correctly.

In a pre-game interview that aired on ESPN, Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said that he expected a “Big Ten football game” with a smirk on his face.  Once the Wisconsin offense got the ball, it was clear what Bielema had intended by that comment. 

Wisconsin’s game plan was to run the ball right at the PSU defense—and he probably expected the PSU offense to do the same.

But Penn State didn’t play the “Big Ten football game” style of play Bielema was expecting.  They came out of the gates with some big pass plays, had a kick return for a touchdown, and consistently stopped the Badger running game despite having a severe size advantage in the trenches.

Once Wisconsin realized they weren’t going to be able to line up and run the ball, they had no response.

Wisconsin’s lone touchdown came on the heels of two quarterback scrambles and a long pass play to standout tight end Travis Beckum.  Cornerback Tony Davis seemed to be screened on the play.

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