Penn State Football: Week Five Review and Week Six Preview

Week Five Review

Penn State moved up to the No. 6 ranking in both polls after their 38-24 victory over Illinois last Saturday night.  The win served as a statement for this year’s squad, letting the national media know that they can win in impressive fashion over a good team as well.

Penn State’s national image was also helped out a lot by Oregon State’s 27-21 upset of No. 1-ranked USC.  Penn State demolished Oregon State 45-14 in Week Two.

I had originally predicted Penn State to defeat Illinois by a score of 27-24 in my article from the beginning of the summer.  While I had the defense tabbed perfectly, the offense was better than expected.  This has been a trend throughout the season thus far.

I had actually changed my score prediction last week to be 37-20 in favor of Penn State.  This prediction was much closer to the actual score.

The Penn State offense played the entire game without the services of their best receiver, Jordan Norwood, who was out with a strained hamstring.  The Penn State offense has thrived on the success of Norwood, along with quarterback Daryll Clark and tailback Evan Royster, all season long.  

Penn State needed a player to step up in Norwood’s absence—and they got one. 

Derrick Williams scored three touchdowns in the game.  He had a 21-yard TD reception in the first quarter, a five-yard TD run in the second quarter, and a 94-yard kickoff return for a TD to seal the game for the Nittany Lions in the fourth quarter.

D-Will’s 33 yards of rushing and 75 yards of receiving, along with the enormous kickoff return, was just what the offense needed.

With D-Will and others picking up the slack in the receiving game, Clark and Royster were able to enjoy the same success they have had for the whole season.  Clark threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 62 yards and a touchdown.  Royster ran for 139 yards on 19 carries, maintaining his season yard-per-carry average at an impressive 7.8.

The Penn State defense played well overall and made some key stops throughout the game.  They gave up two early touchdowns as they had difficulty getting ready for several quick snaps from the Illinois offense.  They also had difficulty stopping the option from Illinois at points in the second half but were able to come up with the big plays when they needed them.

Playing against an Illinois offense that put up 42 points against the No. 3-ranked team in the country (Missouri), giving up 24 points is not so bad.

While the Nittany Lions did what they needed to to earn a victory and had fairly good statistics, it was not one of their better executed games this season.

Penn State started the game on offense and proceeded to look completely inept by going three-and-out right away.  The Penn State offense then proceeded to have several near-turnovers.

Daryll Clark fumbled the ball deep in PSU territory on a play that was then reviewed and determined not to be a fumble.  The Nittany Lions then appeared to have turned the ball over on a punt when the ball contacted a PSU player in the back and Illinois recovered, but the play was reviewed and determined to have hit the Illinois player before the PSU player.

After surviving these scares, Penn State finally did turn the ball over in the second half when Stephfon Green fumbled the ball in PSU territory.

This was a great win for Penn State, but they will have to play better if they really want to contend for a national title.

Week Six Preview

This Saturday, Penn State plays their first Big Ten road game of the season at noon against Purdue.  This is the first Big Ten game for Purdue this season, who has a record of only 2-2.  However, Purdue did look impressive in a near upset of Oregon in the second week of the season.

In my prior article, I had predicted for Penn State win this game by a margin of 16-9.  While it seems unlikely that PSU, whose 38-point effort was their low for the season last week, would only score 16 points against a relatively weak Purdue defense, I still think this prediction is relatively valid.

This is a dangerous game for the Nittany Lions.  They are coming off of a very emotional win and could be looking ahead to a big game in Madison against the Wisconsin Badgers next weekend.  Penn State also has not played a competent team yet on the road this season and may find it more difficult to score points.  

I believe that Penn State should score more than 16 points, but not much more, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t eclipse that mark.  For the record, I will alter my prediction slightly to be 24-9 in favor of Penn State.

The Purdue offense is built around their passing attack, and the Penn State secondary will again have to show they can consistently stop the pass.  With the return of Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma last week, I don’t expect the Lions to have much trouble stopping the Purdue running attack.  There will be no Juice Williams this week to provide a running option from the quarterback position.

Look for the Nittany Lions to continue to use Daryll Clark’s running ability more in this game, especially if they start finding themselves in tough situations.

The news on injured receiver Jordan Norwood is day to day for now, but his return would make me feel a lot better about the offense.  I’m not entirely confident that Derrick Williams can repeat his spectacular performance from last Saturday.  

In the end, the rushing attack from Royster, Green, and Clark, along with enough big pass plays to the likes of Williams, Deon Butler, Andrew Quarless, and hopefully Norwood, should be enough to give the Nittany Lions a win in this one.

After getting down early last week against Illinois, Penn State has proven that they can also play well from behind.  They may need to show that ability again this week if they get off to another slow start, as they have in the past two weeks.