Penn State Football: Week Four Review and Week Five Preview

Week Four Review

Penn State continued their dominance of non-conference foes this season by routing Temple 45-3.

In my article from early on in the summer, I had predicted PSU to win this game by a score of 49-7, and last week I changed that predicted score to be 59-12.  It looks like I should have stuck with my first prediction, but the game was a blowout no matter how you look at it.

For readers that have read my other weekly articles, I predicted a slow start one game too early for the Nittany Lions.  I thought PSU would struggle at the beginning of the game at Syracuse last week, but it was this week against Temple that they struggled in the first quarter.

Penn State had zero points in the first quarter, and Daryl Clark also threw his first interception of the season.

The offensive drought did not last for long though.  I can’t think of a better way to respond to a sluggish first quarter than by putting up 31 points in the second quarter, which is exactly what the PSU offense did.

Daryll Clark finished the game with impressive numbers yet again, completing 13 of 20 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns.  Clark also had a rushing touchdown.  Evan Royster continued to maintain his 8.1 yards per carry average on the season with nine carries for 73 yards.

The PSU offense’s other star performer through the early part of the season, Jordan Norwood, did not have as much success in this game.  Norwood had only one catch for 15 yards and had a dropped pass on a potential third down conversion in the first quarter.

The whole Penn State receiving corps picked up the slack for Jordan Norwood.  Deon Butler and tight end Andrew Quarless were the only two with over 50 yards of receiving.  Graham Zug and Brett Brackett each had touchdown catches.

Second string running back Stephfon Green built on his success from last week, gaining 132 yards on only nine carries.  This included a 69-yard run for a touchdown where Green showed off his amazing speed.

This game was by far the most impressive one so far for the Penn State defense.  They only allowed three points and held the Temple offense on several occasions in the first quarter when they had good field position.

It’s difficult to tell how much they were really tested in this game, especially since Temple lost their starting quarterback to injury right away, but the confidence on defense has to be high going into a showdown with a potent Illinois offense.

Week Five Preview

This is the game Penn State fans have been looking forward to ever since the schedule was released for this season.  The Nittany Lions take on Illinois in a battle of two nationally ranked teams featured on prime time television.

In my prior article, I had predicted Penn State to win this game by a narrow margin of 27-24.  After seeing what Chase Daniel and the Missouri offense did to the Illinois defense in their Week One matchup, I believe that Penn State will score more than 24 in this game.  My new predicted score is for Penn State to win by a count of 37-20.

There is no possible way to describe the emotion that will be present throughout Beaver Stadium and on the Penn State sidelines this Saturday night.  The fans will be dressed in all white, and it is going to be louder than anything Juice Williams and the Illinois offense have dealt with before.

Illinois showed that they can play well in big games last season, defeating then-undefeated Ohio State.  But even if they play well in this one, I think that Penn State has too many weapons on offense and will make enough defensive stops to get the job done.

Look for the Nittany Lions to use a balanced rushing attack featuring Evan Royster, complimented by Stephfon Green and quarterback Daryll Clark.  They will also mix in the pass, but I expect the running game to be the focal point until Illinois starts to come up with some stops.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see some more deep throws to Deon Butler this game.

The Penn State defense has had good preparation for Juice Williams.  They faced a running quarterback from Temple last week and faced a passing quarterback from Oregon State three weeks ago.

Juice Williams will undoubtedly have some success this game, but I fully expect the PSU defense to limit his opportunities.  The Nittany Lion defense is very good at forcing offenses to go for short passes and make methodical drives down the field.  I don’t think that the Illinois offense will be able to sustain too many of these type of drives. 

This game could be very close for a while, but Penn State should pull ahead by a comfortable margin before the start of the fourth quarter.  If the Nittany Lions can put up another impressive showing in this game, chances are good that they could crack the top 10 in the rankings going into next week (Penn State is currently at No. 12).