Bleacher Report - Articles by Tim Musser

Worry Not Penn State, the BCS Hasn't Gotten it Wrong... Yet

Tim Musser — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:30:52 -0500

I know, fellow Penn State fans, that you are, to put it lightly, infuriated about getting the proverbial shaft by the BCS in getting jumped by previous number six, Texas Tech, after they squeaked by Texas this past week.

I'm not going to sit here and lie to you. I guarantee that I was just as irritated, if not more, than you.

I know you're probably wondering what my deal is because I said "was." I've come to terms with it and not just because I've acknowledged that the BCS is out of Penn State's hands and the end all be all in the FBS.

I'm content with the latest BCS rankings right now, and I'll let you in on my secret for reaching the nirvana that is complacency with the current rankings.

Get over it!

Before you begin constructing your crosses, gallows, and other instruments of torture and sending me invitations to let you know which one makes me look less fat, I want to say that, essentially, this week's standings are irrelevant.

Texas Tech, even if they jump to number three, moving Penn State up one spot to two, still faces number nine Oklahoma State, number six Oklahoma, and ends with an easy win against Baylor. Should Tech run the gauntlet, they will also have to win the Big XII Championship game.

With the exception of Baylor, of course, these are much tougher games than Penn State's remaining schedule of Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan State.

Penn State will run the table, and they have to. Fans have to admit that National Championship aspirations would be utterly unreasonable if the Nittany Lions lose one of their remaining games.

As painful as it is for me to say it, should Texas Tech end up with the Big XII Championship, they would deservedly jump Penn State anyway.

It's Texas Tech, and their schedule is too tough, therefore, they will likely lose, securing Penn State at number two, and Okie State won't jump that high, nor will the Sooners, should either of them be the one to knock off the Red Raiders.

This would be enough security for Penn State to reach the National Championship, but against whom?

Alabama heads to LSU this week and will likely play a conference championship against Florida, after their annual meeting with Auburn. Assuming they stay undefeated through these games, they may have a chance.

Do not fear fellow Penn State fans, our beloved Nittany Lions will be in the BCS Championship game in Miami this year, but they could end up facing Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, or USC, and if strange things lie ahead, there's a possibility for Oklahoma State and Utah to squeak in there.

Regardless, put down your hammers, nails, and tying nooses for dummies books, because I assure you that the BCS standings this week are nothing to lose sleep, or cease my existence, over and the Lions will rise again.

I must say, however, one scenario scares me. If Oklahoma would end as Texas Tech's only loss, we should watch out, because Oklahoma as number six is high enough to make the jump to number two with a high profile win over Texas Tech.

Penn State-Ohio State: Nittany Lions Move to 9-0 With Win in the Horseshoe

Tim Musser — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:46:47 -0400

Many commentators said that Penn State hadn't been tested by a real defense this year. They said that Ohio State's spread offense would be too great of a task for the Penn State front seven.

They said that the crowd (Ohio Stadium record 105,711) would be too much for Penn State to handle. They said that Penn State wouldn't be able to break an 0-7 mark in Columbus since joining the Big Ten.

They were wrong.

Penn State silenced all doubters Saturday night with their great 13-6 win in Columbus, what many prognosticators felt would be their greatest remaining test this season.

In what was supposed to be a somewhat high-scoring offensive battle, both defenses rose to the occasion and held the score to a 3-3 tie at the half. Ohio State did its job containing Penn State's great wide receiving corps, allowing only one big play, a 49-yard pass to Graham Zug. This led to a Kevin Kelly field goal, putting Penn State ahead 3-0.

Penn State did its job holding quarterback Terrelle Pryor and running back Chris "Beanie" Wells to minimal rushing yardage, obviously frustrating Wells.

The second half was nearly the same as the first in a game that appeared to be for the most part a field position battle, which appeared to have Penn State coming up with the slight advantage.

It was about this time that Ohio State seemed to be coming up with a few big pass plays and orchestrated a drive deep enough into Penn State territory for Ohio State to take a 6-3 lead.

Wind taken slightly out of Penn State's sails, the offense punted away and Ohio State had the ball. Penn State had nearly succeeded in stalling the Buckeyes' drive when Pryor was scrambling to avoid a sack...

That's when it happened.

Mark Rubin caused what was undeniably the biggest play of the night when he forced a fumble, which was eventually recovered by linebacker Navorro Bowman. With great field position inside the 50-yard line, backup quarterback Pat Devlin came in after Daryll Clark sustained a minor head injury on the previous drive.

Devlin led the Lions on a seven-play, 38-yard drive, capped by a quarterback keeper from one yard out to put Penn State up 10-6. The Nittany Lions would add a field goal later and hold the Buckeyes on the last drive to secure a 13-6 victory over No. 9 (BCS) Ohio State to keep their National Championship hopes alive.

Breaking Down Penn State's Keys to Victory

By far the major factor in Penn State's victory was its defensive play. The Nittany Lions held Beanie Wells to just 55 yards on the ground (2.5 ypc) and Terrelle Pryor to six yards on nine rushes (0.7 ypc).

Another major factor was that Penn State had zero penalties. Their only miscue was an offensive pass interference call early in the game on Deon Butler, which was declined by Ohio State since it occurred on a third down, opting to have Penn State punt.

Pat Devlin played a good two drives at the end of the game, leading Penn State down a short field to give Penn State the lead and scoring the lone touchdown of the game.

The Future

Penn State has their bye this week and then will travel to Kinnick Stadium in a "Greene Out" to take on the 5-3 Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa is 2-2 in the Big Ten with wins over Indiana and Wisconsin and losses to Michigan State and Northwestern. Iowa is 4-1 at home this year so far with a 22-17 loss to Northwestern being the only blemish.

Penn State will again have to stop the rush against the Hawkeyes, as they boast one of the nation's top rushers in Shonn Greene, who has 1,153 yards and 10 TDs on the season (6.5 ypc). Iowa must first travel to Illinois to face the Fighting Illini next week before their clash with Penn State.

I believe that Penn State may have some trouble early on, but as has been the case this season, they will get it together and come out on top by at least 10 points.

Home games with Indiana and Michigan State will follow. I expect Penn State to have no problem with Indiana (3-5, 1-4) whatsoever, but a Javon Ringer-led Michigan State team should be a good game to round out the season.

That being said, I still think that Penn State will defeat the Spartans and finish the season undefeated.

Nittany Lions Jump to 6th in White House After Slew of Upsets

Tim Musser — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:34:23 -0400

For years, the staple of the Penn State football program has been its defense. Linebacker U prides itself not only on its history of producing NFL quality linebackers, but also on great secondary and greater defensive line.

On Saturday night it was the offense, and more specifically Derrick Williams, that led the Nittany Lions to victory over No.22 Illinois in a wet Beaver Stadium.

The Penn State defense looked as though they were on their heels all night, trying desperately to keep up with Illinois's no-huddle spread offense that's led by senior quarterback Juice Williams. They still managed to hold the Fighting Illini to just 24 points.

The return of suspended defensive linemen Abe Koroma and Maurice Evans came just in time, as they provided quality relief when the defense got worn down by the quick Illinois no-huddle offense. The Nittany Lions surrendered a season high 372 yards of total offense, dividing them evenly between rushing and passing (183 yds each).

Sophomore standout wide receiver Arrelious Benn also had a career day against the Nittany Lions pulling in four catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns. Daniel Dufrene also had 93 yards on the ground for the Illini before getting injured in the fourth quarter. Despite these numbers, the Penn State defense did just enough to keep Illinois at bey while the offense did their job.

For as mediocre as the Penn State defense looked, the '08 Penn State offense again showed why they deserve to be compared to those of 1994 and 2005.

The new Spread HD mixed with some traditional Penn State "up-the-middle" rushing did the trick for the Nittany Lions, as Evan Royster again rolled up a 139 yard rushing performance. Royster, however, managed to lower his yards-per-carry average by nearly a yard, to 7.3 ypc.

By far the biggest story of the game though, was Derrick Williams's monster game, where he accrued 241 all purpose yards (133 of which were on kickoff returns) and three touchdowns (one of each rushing, receiving, and kick return). It was because of this strong offensive showing that the Nittany Lions are still generally considered the top of the Big Ten.

Around college football, there were many big goings on in and around the Top 10 in the polls that would affect Penn State's rankings for Week Six. One would have to be living in a cave if they didn't hear of No.1 ranked USC getting knocked off in Corvalis by Oregon State, and their orange-out at Reser Stadium.

Also, as the Penn State game was going on, the clash of the week in the SEC was occurring as No.3 Georgia was hosting No.8 Alabama. In that game, Alabama dominated the Dawgs in Georgia 41-30 and outscored Georgia 31-0 in the first half.

Ole Miss blocked an extra point with little time left on the clock to upset No.4 Florida.

Most importantly for Penn State was more than likely that No.9 Wisconsin blew a 19-0 lead over Michigan in Ann Arbor, to lose not only to an unranked opponent, but also to get that ever important loss in the Big Ten, and to solidify Penn State as the lone front-runner in the conference.

All four of these teams fell out of the Top Ten, and Penn State also jumped idle Texas Tech (No.10), and BYU (No.11), to jump all the way to No.6 behind Oklahoma, Alabama, LSU, Missouri, and Texas.

Predictions: Next week Penn State travels to West Lafayette to take on a Purdue team that got embarrassed by Notre Dame last week. It should be a relatively easy victory for the Blue and White.

1)Oklahoma(1) travels to Baylor next week, which should be an easy victory. Alabama (2-AP/4-USA Today) will host 4-0 Kentucky.

2)I expect Alabama(2-AP/4-USA Today) to have a little trouble with Kentucky, but not enough for them to win by less than 2 touchdowns.

3)LSU(3-AP/2-USA Today) travels to the Swamp to face now #12 Florida. I think Florida gets their act together after their upset loss, and I'm going to pick them by the slimmest of margins over the Bayou Bengals, but it will be a very close game.

4)Missouri(4-AP/3-USA Today) will go to Lincoln to face a tough 3-1 Nebraska team, who is really coming around under new coach Bo Pellini. I expect Missouri to win by 10, though, despite the stingy Black Shirts and the night game effect. Due to Nebraska's lack of scoring offense, only racking up 150 points on the season thus far, they will probably lose.

I'm also going to say that should Missouri win this, they will all but have the Big XII North locked up, as Kansas will more than likely lose to either Texas Tech or Texas, before they face the Tigers.

Should Kansas beat both of those teams, they face the Longhorns and Tigers back-to-back to close out the regular season, and I believe that Texas will most likely have softened them up enough for Missouri's passing game to take care of business.

5)Texas (5) travels to Boulder to take on Colorado, and I really honestly don't see why it shouldn't be a blowout in Texas's favor. I was high on the Buffs when they took down West Virginia, even though the Mountaineers had already lost at East Carolina.

Now, though, I believe that the Buffs are a bit of a joke due to their complete lack of defense against Florida State's laughable offense. I also believe that Colorado's offense leaves something to be desired, which is far from the case with Texas. Longhorns win big.

I see Penn State possibly jumping LSU and reaching five next week. If LSU wins, I could possibly see Alabama moving up in the USA Today Coaches' Poll, but really the top six should stay essentially the same, as I would find it very hard seeing Texas Tech or BYU jumping Penn State as well.

Oregon State's Win Over USC May Bolster Respect for Penn State

Tim Musser — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:42:32 -0400

It was bedlam in Corvalis and chances are that if you follow college football and aren't a USC fan, it would have been bedlam in your living room if you stayed up to watch the unranked Oregon State Beavers knock off the top ranked Trojans Thursday night.

Oregon State no doubt drew the support of legions of fans tonight. Be it those of Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida, or LSU, they were no doubt cheering on the Beavers as they were doing the unthinkable again as USC lost in Corvalis for the third time in their last four trips.

Even those who just like to watch a good "David vs. Goliath" game no doubt had a field day as they watched Oregon State easily recover the USC onside kick with a minute and sixteen seconds remaining in the game.

One team whose fans were perhaps even more jubilant than any other's as the Oregon State students charged the giant Beaver at midfield as the clock ticked to zero would have to be those of Penn State, as the Nittany Lions dismantled the Beavers not three weeks before. The upset of this young season may have finally quieted some critics and thrust Penn State into national championship talks.

One would be hard pressed to describe the Oregon State triumph without mentioning running back Jaquizz Rodgers who slashed his way through the USC defense to amass 186 yards and two touchdowns and certainly making quite a name for himself.

What was not mentioned until the end of the game however, was how Penn State man-handled Oregon State in Happy Valley allowing little more than half the yardage on the ground that the Beavers gained on USC (92 vs. Penn State, 176 vs. USC). The Nittany Lion defense also held Jaquizz Rodgers to similar statistics (99 yards vs. Penn State, 186 vs. USC).

To USC's credit they did hold the Beavers to 74 less receiving yards than the Nittany Lions; however, this may be accredited to Penn State's control of the rushing game, and USC's lack there of as the Beavers took to the air only 27 times against USC compared to 41 attempts versus the Nittany Lions. The Nittany Lions did also have two interceptions that the Trojans failed to achieve.

From these sheer statistics and the simple ease of execution of both offense and defense that the supposedly inferior Nittany Lions were able to achieve against Oregon State compared to that of USC, it should be a crime if Penn State is not mentioned in national championship talks, as they should crack the top 10 with a win over Illinois this weekend.

A major asset for the defense returns in that it was just announced Thursday that suspended defensive linemen Abe Koroma and Maurice Evans will more than likely play against Illinois. It was not announced as to whether they will start or not, but regardless their return will give the line some much needed depth for the rest of the season.

Now it is up to Penn State to control their own destiny depending on their performance in the Big Ten as several of the SEC teams ahead of the Nittany Lions will knock off one another, while the Wisconsin Badgers will host Penn State in two weeks.

Penn State Nittany Lions Pouncing on Weaker Big Ten

Tim Musser — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:48:27 -0400

It was the general consensus among forecasters that the Penn State Nittany Lions were going to finish fourth in the Big Ten following Illinois, Wisconsin, and a talent-laden Ohio State team that boasted the nation's top incoming freshman in Terrelle Pryor, one of the nation's top returning linebackers in James Laurinaitis, and a Heisman hopeful in running back Chris "Beanie" Wells.

Four weeks into the season, the conference picture appears to be more of a two-horse race pitting Penn State against Wisconsin for the conference crown, with Illinois following closely behind.

Ohio State is falling to a probable third or fourth place finish following their blowout loss to USC and poor performances against Ohio and Troy following the injury to Wells' foot in their opening win over Youngstown State.

Though the Lions haven't played any ranked teams yet, they have been very impressive thus far on both sides of the ball and have won their games by an average score of 52.8 to 10.

For the first time since the 1994 Rose Bowl team, which featured three first round draft picks, the Lions have an offense as exciting as their talent-laden defense.

Led by their veteran receiving corps featuring senior captain Derrick Williams and fellow seniors Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood, the Nittany Lions have amassed 1,057 yards in the air and 10 touchdowns.

While the lofty expectations on the receiving corps are being met, there was a big question mark on who the quarterback would be and how he would fare given the little playing time he had received in years past.

Daryll Clark has started all four games for the Nittany Lions and has looked rather impressive, going 48 for 78 for 715 yards and seven touchdowns with only one interception, all the while garnering far fewer jeers from the crowd than Anthony Morelli did last season.

Pat Devlin has also looked good under center, as he has completed 51.4 percent of his passes (18-35) and gathered 260 yards and two touchdowns to his credit.

The rushing game has been up to speed as Evan Royster returned for his sophomore season as the starter. Royster should begin to attain some national attention if he keeps his numbers up, as he has amassed 385 yards on the ground and averages a staggering 8.1 yards per carry. He is well on his way to a 1,000-yard rushing season.

Redshirt freshman Stephfon Green showed that he is also a valuable weapon for the Nittany Lions as he trails Royster by less than 100 yards rushing with 292 yards, averaging an impressive 7.3 yards per carry.

All of this comes behind a veteran offensive line, led by senior captain A.Q. Shipley, which contains three seniors, a junior, and sophomore Stefen Wisniewski.

The defense, while appearing not as strong as past years, has been very strong against the rush, as they will need to be to keep alive Penn State's hopes for a Big Ten title. They will need to keep their defensive line healthy and away from off-field trouble if they hope to stay strong this season.

Aaron Maybin, Josh Gaines, Jared Odrick, and Ollie Ogbu make up the defensive front, which lost much of its depth with the recent allegations against preseason All-American ends junior Maurice Evans and sophomore Abe Koroma.

At linebacker, the Lions took a major hit when they lost returning star and captain Sean Lee to an injury early in the spring. One wouldn't notice it as Tyrell Sales, Bani Gbadyu, and surprise stars Josh Hull and Navorro Bowman have filled in very nicely, with Bowman and Sales leading the team in tackles with 20 and 18 respectively and accounting for the team's two forced fumbles with one apiece.

The secondary is fairly solid but also quite obviously the weakest of the three main areas of the defense. Led by senior safety and captain Anthony Scirrotto, the secondary has finally, it appears, begun to deliver the jaw-rattling blows of defenses past.

However, given a good receiving corps they do appear to be somewhat beaten, which will be an interesting matchup when the Fighting Illini come to town with Arrelious Benn and Juice Williams.

In general, it appears as if Penn State has the tools to win the Big Ten title, but the road will not be easy. They will have to travel to the "Mad House" and the "Horseshoe" in Madison and Columbus respectively, which will more than likely prove to be the two most hostile environments they will see this year.

Hopefully the trip to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse will have helped prepare the Lions' offense for the noise level they will face. It really depends on whether the Nittany Lions who played Oregon State show up or the Nittany Lions who played Temple show up to determine whether they will have a chance in either of the two stadiums.

The Lions will also need to resolve the off-field issues that have been plaguing them the past few seasons and keep their players out of legal troubles.