Penn State Football: Week Seven Review and Week Eight Preview

Week Seven Review

Penn State has been making statement wins throughout the early part of the 2008 college football season.  But after their emphatic 48-7 thrashing of Wisconsin in Madison on Saturday night, it is impossible to overlook what the Nittany Lions are doing.

The only negative about the PSU victory is that it is the furthest my prediction has been off all season. 

I’ll take it.

I had originally predicted PSU to lose this game in my article at the beginning of the summer, but I changed my mind last week and said that PSU would win by a score of 30-20.  At least I got the victory predicted correctly.

In a pre-game interview that aired on ESPN, Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said that he expected a “Big Ten football game” with a smirk on his face.  Once the Wisconsin offense got the ball, it was clear what Bielema had intended by that comment. 

Wisconsin’s game plan was to run the ball right at the PSU defense—and he probably expected the PSU offense to do the same.

But Penn State didn’t play the “Big Ten football game” style of play Bielema was expecting.  They came out of the gates with some big pass plays, had a kick return for a touchdown, and consistently stopped the Badger running game despite having a severe size advantage in the trenches.

Once Wisconsin realized they weren’t going to be able to line up and run the ball, they had no response.

Wisconsin’s lone touchdown came on the heels of two quarterback scrambles and a long pass play to standout tight end Travis Beckum.  Cornerback Tony Davis seemed to be screened on the play.

The explosive Penn State offense revolved around Daryll Clark in this performance.  Clark had 244 yards passing, including a touchdown pass, and also had two rushing touchdowns.  He spread the ball around very evenly to seven different receivers and made good decisions throughout the game.

The one exception was an interception in the end zone, where the only explanation seems to be that Clark failed to see the linebacker who was dropped back in zone coverage.

Jordan Norwood had a solid return from his injury with 59 yards receiving on three catches.  Norwood was still wearing a special brace under his uniform to protect his strained hamstring, so I would venture a guess that he still was not 100 percent.

Deon Butler was the Lion’s leading receiver for the game with 70 yards receiving and a touchdown.

Evan Royster had his least productive game of the season by far, but also was not relied on very much for yardage.  Royster had 60 yards rushing, including a touchdown.

However, Royster had several seven or eight-yard rushes at the beginning of the game that helped move the PSU offense down the field and into scoring position.  The lack of a breakout run kept Royster’s stats from looking overly impressive.

In their impressive 48-point performance, the PSU offense also owes a lot to the defense and special teams.  The Penn State defense and special teams gave the offense great starting position all game long, especially at the beginning of the game.  Derrick William’s punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter also added to the point total.

Week Eight Preview

This Saturday the Michigan Wolverines will come to Beaver Stadium for an afternoon matchup.  Coming into this game, these teams are going in totally different directions. 

Michigan is coming off an embarrassing home loss to lowly Toledo, who held the Wolverines to 10 points despite giving up an average of 35 points per game in their previous five games this season.  Penn State is, of course, coming off a major victory that vaulted them to the No. 3 national ranking.

Nonetheless, this is the game that Penn State fans have been looking forward to ever since the schedule was released.  Not only is it homecoming and a later start, but Penn State has also lost to Michigan nine straight times.  The last time PSU defeated Michigan was in 1996.

In my original article, I predicted Penn State to beat Michigan by a score of 34-13—and that was back when I thought Michigan might be a good team this year.

For the sake of consistency, I will keep my original prediction for this game.  However, I truly believe that Penn State will win by a much wider margin than this.

Last season Penn State played their best game of the season by far on homecoming against Wisconsin, who is ordinarily a very tough opponent (although obviously not this year either).  Penn State beat the Badgers 38-7 on that day with an offense that can be generously described as pathetic.

There is no other environment like Happy Valley and Beaver Stadium for a home Penn State football game.  That environment will be magnified tenfold for homecoming, and in particular for Michigan.

At first glance this week could pose a potential trap for the Nittany Lions, coming off a big win and heading into a crucial showdown at Ohio State next week.  But Penn State, who seems generally inept to letdown performances throughout recent years, will definitely bring their best stuff on Saturday.

Rich Rodriguez will quickly find out how difficult a Big Ten road game can be, and I expect this victory to give the Nittany Lions a lot of confidence and momentum heading into next week.

The only game that I can really see Penn State losing for the rest of the season is their game at Ohio State coming up a week from this Saturday.

From their success in recent years, the Buckeyes still have a mystique that no other Big Ten team can match.  But as a fan, I now feel comfortable with the thought of an undefeated regular season and a potential national championship.

One worry for the rest of the season I have is if Penn State can handle the pressure and expectations of being a top-ranked team.  Major upsets seem to occur weekly in college football.

However, I think Penn State’s style of play and the “Joe Paterno mentality” should help them avoid upsets.  PSU has both a spectacular offense and defense, and on any given week one unit should be able to pick up the slack for the other.