Penn State Football: Week 11 Review and Week 12 Preview

Week 11 Review

It was a sad weekend in Happy Valley as the No.3 Nittany Lions lost their first game of the season, effectively ending their hopes of a national title.  Penn State blew a 23-14 lead in the fourth quarter and lost 24-23 on the road to the Iowa Hawkeyes.  Iowa field goal kicker Daniel Murray connected on a 31-yard field goal with one second remaining to seal the upset.

In my article last week, I had predicted that Penn State would win this game by a score of 37-10, while I had picked them to win by a score of 24-20 in my original prediction article from the beginning of the summer.

Obviously, neither of these predictions was accurate.  The original one was very close to the correct score, but in the wrong team’s favor.

In a pregame interview, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz discussed how much he was impressed with Penn State this year.  He talked about the balance of the Penn State offense, and said that his team would have to play perfect and still need some help from Penn State in order to have a chance to win the game.

While those were nice sentiments, and I think generally correct, it turned out that Iowa did not need to play perfect to win this game.  Iowa, and particularly quarterback Ricky Stanzi, stepped up to make some big plays at the end of the game, but had several key mistakes throughout the game.

The Penn State team that played in this game was not the Penn State team we have watched all season.  It looked like most of the players didn’t even show up, and at the end the Lions played not to lose instead of going for the win. 

I have no real gripes with and PSU players on the seasons, but there were several players whose lack of performance comparable to their normal level really hurt the team in this one.  In no specific order, those “no-show” players were:

• The entire offense line—The run-blocking was satisfactory, but I think I might have counted two or three pass plays in the entire game where quarterback Daryll Clark actually had enough time to make a pass without taking a big hit.  When you’re quarterback is coming off a concussion, the line needs to put forth a much better effort.

• Free Safety Anthony Scirotto—The entire secondary had a poor game, but most of the blame rides with Scirotto.  The blown coverage that allowed a 27-yard touchdown pass, which subsequently vaulted the Iowa offense into a flurry of successful drives after being dormant for more than the first half of the game. 
  
• And obviously the pass-interference penalty that gave Iowa a first down on third-and-long in their own territory was a terrible mistake.  The Hawkeyes used that to make their game-winning field goal drive.                                                                                         The jump to make the interception on the play was incredibly ill-timed on the part of Scirotto.  For a senior that has been the main play-maker in the PSU secondary for the past three years, you would expect much more from Scirotto.

• Daryll Clark—As mentioned before, a lot of the blame for the ineffectiveness of the passing game has to go to the offensive line.  But Clark had only 86 yards passing, by far his lowest total on the season.  And he threw a very crucial interception in the second half when Penn State was in Iowa territory.                            
  
• The best looking pass of the day from PSU actually came from wide-receiver Derrick Williams.  Clark was also largely non-existent as a running threat in this game.  He has been the leader and play-maker that has really guided Penn State’s success all season long, and his performance in this game was atrocious.
  
• To finish the comparison he has received to Michael Robinson throughout the year, Clark showed that he falls short in one very important area.  Robinson always made big plays when his team needed it the most.  And when Penn State needed big plays the most in this game, Clark was nowhere to be found.  It is impossible to know how much the concussion was still affecting Clark in this game, but his performance certainly indicated that Pat Devlin should have started this game at quarterback. 

• Tight End Andrew Quarless—Quarless is incredibly talented physically, but has not played to his potential in most games this season.  This game was by far his most pathetic performance though, as he dropped two very easy short passes.

• Wide Receiver Jordan Norwood—Norwood has always been PSU’s go-to receiver in the intermediate passing game, over the middle of the field, and especially on third downs.  He is also usually thought of as the receiver with the surest hands.  Norwood had zero receptions on the game, and dropped a perfectly thrown pass over the middle of the field that would have been a big gain for the Nittany Lions.

• Defensive End Aaron Maybin—Ever since becoming a starter this season, Maybin’s name has been announced on seemingly every defensive play for the Nittany Lions this season.  He has been their energizer and source of pressure in the back-field.  I think I heard Maybin’s name called once in the entire game against Iowa.

The amazing thing to me is that Penn State still was in a great position to win this game despite bad games from so many players.  They found ways to have a fairly effective offense with only a running game.  Derrick Williams and Evan Royster had terrific games, and so did defensive lineman Jared Odrick. 

Even with most of their stars being non-existent, Penn State was still good enough to win this game.  But they needed some leadership at the end, and they got none.

As disappointed as I, along with the entire Penn State fan base, am after this game, I can accept this outcome much more easily than what may have happened otherwise. Even with a close win over Iowa, Penn State would have most likely been jumped by any number of one-loss teams in the rankings;  if not immediately, then after one of those teams posted a win over a ranked team.  

I wanted a national championship this year as much as anyone else, but Penn State ultimately did nothing to earn the victory in this game.  And now I can accept that they do not deserve to play in the national championship game.

Week 12 Preview

It will be interesting to see how the PSU players, coaches, and fans all react to the loss last week.  Luckily for Penn State, they will be hosting one of the worst Big Ten teams this week as they take on Indiana on Saturday.

Even if Penn State plays worse than they did last week (not sure that is possible), I still don’t think there is any way that the Lions can lose this game.  But it will be very important for PSU to regain their confidence and swagger by playing well and posting a decisive victory over the Hoosiers.

If Penn State comes out playing poorly and struggles with Indiana, then they will find it much more difficult to defeat Michigan State the following week to hold onto the Big Ten title.

In my article from the beginning of the summer, I had predicted Penn State to defeat Indiana by a score of 33-21.  Since I am unsure how Penn State will come out for this game, I will stick with this prediction.  My hope is that Penn State wins by a larger margin.

After a week off and the game last week, we can only hope that Daryll Clark will return to the form he has shown throughout most of the season.  Clark is the main difference in the PSU offense from last season to this season, so his play is undoubtedly one of the major factors in determining their success.  

Indiana is having an extremely disappointing season after playing in a bowl game the previous season.  The Hoosiers have had two very bad losses in both of their past two games.  Two weeks ago they lost to Central Michigan at home and then just last week they were clobbered by Wisconsin 55-20 at home.  Wisconsin, although talented, has underperformed incredibly this season.

If Penn State plays the way they have shown throughout the season, then they should score a lot of points in this game.  Indiana has allowed an average of 32.7 points per game this season.  

PSU needs to realize that they still have a very good chance to finish this off as a very successful season.  If Penn State wins their final two games, both at home, then they will represent the Big Ten in a BCS bowl game.  The Lions would most likely have to share the Big Ten title with Ohio State, but would hold the tiebreaker over the Buckeyes from their head-to-head victory.

There are actually a lot of similarities that look like they could continue to play out for this year’s PSU squad as compared to the 2005 team.  

In 2005 Penn State lost only one game on the season, which came on a last second play on the road.  It also came after a very emotional defeat of Ohio State.  The 2005 team also ended up co-champion of the Big Ten with Ohio State, but went on to the Fiesta Bowl from their head-to-head victory over the Buckeyes.  And of course the 2005 quarterback, Michael Robinson, has been very often compared to Daryll Clark.

A BCS bowl victory would still be a huge accomplishment for this year’s team. Depending how things shake out in the Pac 10, it would be a great opportunity for Penn State to be able to play USC in the Rose Bowl.