Penn State Is One of the Most Boring Teams in the Country, but It Works

Most college football fans are accustomed to epic shootouts, where defense is an afterthought.  The offensive talent in the NCAA usually dwarfs their defensive counterparts.

Penn State is the antithesis of this notion. 

The offense is awful this year—mostly as a result of the coaching staff's unwillingness to install one quarterback as the leader of the team.  This indecision manifests itself on the scoreboard every week.

Even the broadcasters are calling out Penn State for this.  They are equally praising the Nittany Lion defense, which is the SOLE reason that Penn State finds themselves with a 5-1 record at this point in this season.

Tom Bradley continues to prove why he is one of the finer coaching minds in the country, and it continues to astound me why he is never getting the call to take over as a head coach of a program.  

It's scary to think how good this team could be if the offense could just get on track.  They held Alabama to 27 points, which is below average by the Crimson Tide's standards. 

This week they held the nation's 28th-ranked passing attack to 169 yards and two interceptions.  This was the same Iowa team that shredded Pitt for 399 yards passing and a 21-point comeback.  PSU made that same offense look like a bunch of high schoolers.

It's not pretty, but it's effective.  There's no telling just how far PSU can go behind this defense.  Things will get trickier as the opponents' talent level builds up, but again, this was a solid passing team that PSU held in check today. 

They'll face another solid test next week in the form of the 19th-ranked rushing attack of the Purdue Boilermakers.  This might test the linebackers, who are without Michael Mauti for the remainder of the season. 

Sure—it might be boring to some of you, but in the words of the recently departed Al Davis, "Just win, baby."

That's all that matters in the end.