Penn State Football: Week Eight Review and Week Nine Preview

Week Eight Review

The streak is finally over.

After 12 years of nine straight losses, Penn State finally defeated Michigan last Saturday.  And they did so very emphatically.

The Lions fell down early 17-7, but rebounded to outscore the Wolverines 32-0 in the second half, thereby demolishing Michigan 46-17.

I had originally predicted PSU to win this game by a score of 34-13 in my article at the beginning of the summer.  My prediction was fairly accurate, except that I didn’t account for enough of the PSU offensive explosion.  This has been a fairly common pattern throughout this season.  The Penn State offense continues to put up highly impressive numbers week in and week out.

This game got off to just about the worst start possible for the No. 3 ranked Nittany Lions.  On the very first play from scrimmage, center A.Q. Shipley snapped the ball over Darryl Clark’s head for a big loss.  Penn State was unable to recover and had to punt two plays later. 

The Michigan offense then proceeded to march down the field and score a touchdown on the heels of a balanced rushing attack from quarterback Steven Threet and running back Brandon Minor.  The Wolverine offense showed more of the same on its next two possessions, scoring a field goal and another touchdown. 

It wasn’t until the fourth Michiganpossession that the PSU defense began to show signs of life.  Penn State finally forced Michigan to punt, and they never looked back from there for the rest of the game.  Michigan never again threatened to score after this point.

I would like to give to game balls out this game.  The first goes to Evan Royster, whose 44-yard rush for a touchdown was the only thing that kept Penn State in the game in the first half. 

The other goes to the Penn State defense.  Their efforts, beginning in the second quarter, stopped the bleeding from the original Michigan onslaught, and gave the offense adequate time to get their barrage started.

Royster finished the game nearly averaging ten yards per carry, with 176 yards rushing and a touchdown.  Royster’s back-up, Stephfon Green, and quarterback Darryl Clark also contributed some to give the Penn State offense 250 yards on the ground.

Clark had one of his poorer performances this season, but still managed to throw for 171 yards and a touchdown and rush for two more touchdowns.

Deon Butler was the standout of the receivers, as he hauled in eight passes for 105 yards.  Jordan Norwood had the only receiving touchdown for the Lions, but it was a very important one as it pulled Penn State within three points of Michigan right before halftime on a third and goal play.

Another highlight for Penn Statewas a safety in the second half, recorded by Defensive Lineman Jared Odrick.

However, there were several instances of sloppy play on the part of Penn State.  In addition to the poor opening snap, PSU also had a snap bounce back to their punter deep in their own territory.  Clark had a fumble on a quarterback scramble that allowed Michigan to build an early advantage.  Penn State had a penalty for too many men on the field when Michigan was kicking a field goal that almost gave the Wolverines an opportunity to get a touchdown instead.  Penn State kicker, Kevin Kelly, also missed a field goal in the first half.

Week Nine Preview

Penn State’s game next Saturday is the game of the week nationally in College Football.  The No. 3-ranked Nittany Lions travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on the No. 9-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.

Ohio State has quietly turned in another very solid season to this point after enduring an embarrassing defeat to USC on national television.  The Buckeyes have not looked very impressive in most of their wins this season, but in their first major Big Ten of the season they looked very good in defeated the Michigan State Spartans last week.  Ohio State jumped on top of the Spartans in East Lansing by a score of 28-0 at halftime.

In my original article, I predicted Penn State to beat lose to Ohio State by a score of 27-12.  The basis for this prediction was mostly the game between Ohio State and Penn State last season in Happy Valley.

Last season Penn State played Ohio State at home in a night game, an environment where they normally thrive.  However, Ohio Stateran and passed all over PSU on their way to a convincing 37-17 victory.  In recent memory, no team has exploited the Penn State defense like the Buckeyes did last season.

Further, the holes that Jim Tressel found in the PSU defense still seem to be present, as the Michigan offense was able to find them at the beginning of the game last week.

After what happened last season, Ohio State knows that their national title hopes are still very much alive even with one loss.  And they also know that Penn State is their biggest obstacle right now.  Penn State realizes the same thing for their national title hopes.

That being said, I fully expect both teams to come out and play to the best of their ability on Saturday.  I am worried about Penn State’s potential for slow starts that they have shown in recent games, especially offensively.  PSU could find themselves in a much bigger deficit than 17-7 if they start the game against the Buckeyes the same way they started the game against the Wolverines this past week.

Back to my original prediction, I will start with the Penn State point total.  After seeing the Nittany Lions play eight games, there is no way that PSU will only put up 12 points against the Buckeyes.  The only thing that can really stop the Penn State defense is mistakes and turnovers.  As long as Penn State plays to their capability, which they should, then they will score at least 20 points.

On the other side of the ball, the Ohio State offense has been a weakness throughout much of the season.  However, Terrelle Pryor is a gifted athlete and Beanie Wells gives Ohio State a very formidable rushing attack.  Ohio State has yet to show a significant passing game with Pryor at quarterback, but if they have the same success as last year then their ground game will be enough. 

The one thing that has impressed me the most about the Penn State defense this year is their ability to adjust.  They were able to adjust to the quick-plays of Juice Williams and the Illinois offense and they were able to adjust after allowing three straight scores to Michigan at the beginning of the game last week.

Ohio Statewill put some points on the board, but the Nittany Lion defense has the ability and intelligence to adjust and come up with some big stops throughout the game.

Now, for a revised prediction, I think this will be a game that is close into the fourth quarter, but then Ohio State will pull away to win by a score of 31-27.  In the end, the game will most likely come down to a mistake not made by Ohio State and some mistakes that are made by Penn State. 

The atmosphere of this game will require a near-flawless performance from Penn State, and I am not confident that they can do this against a solid and experienced group from Ohio State.

I think Penn State will win if they can win the turnover battle by a significant margin (more than one net turnover in their favor).  This is what I’ll be looking for as the game moves on.  Again, I see this game playing out very evenly, but the edge has to go to Ohio State at home with their recent success over the last few years.

The loser of this game will be, for all intents and purposes, eliminated from the National Championship picture.  The winner, on the other hand, has a seemingly easy road to the National Title game with weak schedules for the rest of the season.