Where were those Badgers who had made Thanksgiving mincemeat out of the Big Ten? Huh? Were they out in a field somewhere multiplying, along with the mushrooms and snakes? Where the hell were they yesterday when they wound up being throttled by the Nittany Lions 31-24? Man, they had everything going for them — home field, BCS opportunities, huge point spread (25 points???) — but somehow they managed to look more like a struggling underdog out there. With nothing to lose or to gain, Penn State outplayed them and emerged victorious. All hail the mighty Lions!
For a change, turnover margin was decidedly on Penn State’s side, with the good guys intercepting Joel Stave three times. Two of those picks led to touchdowns. And although erratic kicking and a veritable of plethora of motion penalties told the story of a less than perfect effort by the Lions, they were able to make the big plays and ultimately prevail.
Apparently overly impressed with themselves, with the point spread, and with the pre-game hype that marginalized the Nittany Lions, Wisconsin came out flat and stayed flat the entire game. They knew Penn State would try to stuff the run, loading up the box, but their attempts to find alternatives revealed a less than competent passing game. When Stave was not being intercepted or making just plain crappy throws, his receivers were dropping catchable balls. He made 29 of 52 passes for 339 yards, three TDs, and three INTs. Messrs. Gordon and White combined for 147 yards on the ground.
Christian Hackenberg had a much better day, his best so far as a Nittany Lion, completing 21 of 30, with four TDs and no INTs. He also had exactly 339 yards. Zach Zwinak was given the vast preponderance of the running chores, carrying 22 times for 115 yards. Bill “I Sick” Belton had only three carries for seven yards. Back to da passing, Hacky spread the ball around to his cadre of receivers, which by the way did not include the previously categorized as increasingly unreliable Brandon “Don’t Call Me Moseby” Felder, who is presently in this turkey’s doghouse. This time, the rookies did well, giving us some warm feelings about the Nittany Lions’ future, with Geno Lewis catching three for 91 yards and two TDs, and Adam Breneman catching three for 78 yards and a TD. Allen “Gimme da Damn Ball” Robinson got his contractually obligated eight receptions, once again matching his uniform number. That’s the way it has to be. It is so written. Amen.
This turkey is impressed with a team that doesn’t quit. With nothing to play for but pride, they marched into Camp Randall and dismantled the overstuffed, overrated Badgers, who looked off-kilter from the opening kickoff right on through the rest of the game. No one — and I mean no one — saw this coming! I personally did not believe that the Nittany Lions could pull off a winning record this year, and yet, here they are finishing up at 7-5. Great job, guys! Don’t let the Sanguinarians’ displeasure with anything less than an 11-1 season daunt your overachieving asses. And to the football superstitionalists and their numerologist cousins, I guess you were right about this one!
So does this mean that the Sanguinarians will be setting up unreal expectations for next season? Perhaps so, because that is the nature of a Sanguinarian, but so I won’t dwell on that for a while. So this is a win to feel good about, so let’s just feel good for a while, savor it, and enjoy the feeling, so… After all, it’s a lonnnnnnnng off-season, during which it is a helluva lot be’-er to walk around with a sweet taste of victory than a bi’-er pill of defeat. Good show, guys!
Given all they were up against again this year without even considering some devastating injuries, 7-5 is worthy of a celebration. Throw in the injuries and it’s damn near a miracle.
******
Crazy-ass games abounded during this rivalry week! FSU, as expected, manhandled the toothless Gators, who finished the season with their crappiest season since 1979. Hell, Charley Pell was the coach back then and they finished 0-10-1. The Seminoles will play for the ACC championship next week against a crazy-ass, unlikely opponent, Duke.
Then, there was the crazy-ass Ohio State vs Michigan game with the crazy-ass decision to go for two in the waning seconds when a kick would have tied it. Michigan, I suppose, had nothing to lose by going for the win, but Paul Somerville and the statgeeks will tell you that their odds would have been slightly better in overtime than going for two. So, they lost 42-41. Bummer, because that means OSU is undefeated and will likely get their asses kicked by FSU in the SSMNC game, if things play out as expected. However, Moo U. could be spoilers next week in the B1G championship game in Indianapolis. I’ll be rooting for them.
Of course, you all know about the crazy-ass finish to the Iron Bowl, with Nick Saban deciding to kick a long field goal instead of playing it safe on fourth down, and said crazy-ass long field goal missing and returned the length of the field by Auburn for the win. Yeah, earlier in the day Lee Corso had put on the elephant head but guest predictor Charles Barkley — the erstwhile Round Mound of Rebound of Auburn — correctly predicted that the Tigers would emerge victorious. They’ll face Mizzou in the SEC championship next week, after those other Tigers pissed off the vaunted asshole Johnny Manziel in their own crazy-ass game. The LSU Tigers, the Grambling Tigers and the Princeton Tigers can only sit home and watch, although the boys with the striped socks actually did win the Ivy League. The Clemson Tigers, who lost to South Carolina, will be wondering what might have been, as their season evaporated before their very eyes. So OK, enough already with the Tigers.
******
I want to thank youse guys, the readers, for bearing my bullshit for another great season of Penn State football. Every week I demonstrate how little I know about the subject. My job is to get the conversation started and you make me look good by taking that ball and running with it, making the world a better place. So, special thanks to those who write copious comments: BigAl, jd, Joe, K. John and others too numerous to mention; and equally special thanks to the silent readers who keep coming back for more. I know who some of you are, but from the hit counts I know there are more of you out there. Whether you join in the fray or just sit back and watch the action, I am flattered that you spend some of your valuable time here. Thank you all for a fine season and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you! (And Happy Hanukkah to you Landsmen and Happy Holidays to you atheists, etc., etc., political correctness, you know.)
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K. John says
I would like to wish a happy belated Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. Sadly, there is no internet (or cable) at the old homestead in beautiful Emporium, PA. To make matters worse, I missed the early games altogether as well as the first three quarters of the epic clash in Madison while driving home.
I for one always thought Penn State had a shot in this one largely because Wisconsin passing attack is subpar and DaQuan Jones was healthy, or as close to healthy as he was going to get. Fielding three healthy or mostly healthy linebackers helps as Mike Hull is now up to about 75% which puts him on par with Chris Borland but not his normal play making self.
Ultimately, I think this season is the ultimate shoulda woulda coulda season. Injuries were the big story of the season. Inconsistent play and the staff shuffling the lineup were right behind it. Having talked to some people in Happy Valley early last week, I firmly believe that Bill O’Brien was playing for next year while trying to win every game. A friend who played for Joe and knows football far better than I ever will threw some numbers at me regarding how many plays and formations Hackenberg had per game compared to what Moxie had last year. It wasn’t quite double but it was close.
I think the future is very bright with the move to the new division format next season. I expect Ohio State get be gutted by NFL defections. Michigan State is getting hit hard by graduation. The division should come down to Penn State and Ohio State with Michigan State making some noise. People are going to over-hype Michigan as usual but the Wolverines have real issues that can’t be fixed in one year.
K. John says
Looking ahead to next year, the team will be replacing a couple of linemen; The Professor, Ty Howle (whose play was responsible for the resurgent running game after struggling to adjust to starting early) and Adam Gress. They are very high on Nelson who apparently out-performed Gilliam and Gress in practice throughout the season, is likely to step right into a starting job with Laurent, Mangiro and Alosi battling for the other two positions.
In retrospect, the loss of Lehman and Carter’s injury situation which limited him and kept him in an out of the lineup all season where bigger hurdles than expected. This was compounded by the loss of Wilkerson for the season which turned a position of strength into a liability. James wasn’t ready to start full time and Breneman was slated to red-shirt. We’ll see what those vile folks over in Indy have to say about Lehman whose future is unknown. The eligibility folks are different from the compliance side. I think they will grant him a sixth year.
I for one think Alan Robinson is going to be back. The days of receivers going in the top fifteen are gone, unless you are named Calvin Johnson or AJ Green. Sammy Watkins appears to be the best of the bunch assuming he were to leave early. A&Ms Mike Evans would be a logical number two with SC’s Marquise Lee, Vandy’s Jordan Matthews, and ARob fighting it out with a few other underclassmen and seniors for third. None of these guys are Megatron or even Green. As I alluded to, the actual players are only half of the equation.
As the draft order stands now, the Oakland Raiders are the only team with a real need for receiver in the top half of the 1st but none of these guys are worthy of a top fifteen pick. Baltimore is sitting there around 16 or 17 and have a legit need. In the bottom half New England is the team that really sticks out. One can argue that all three of these teams have bigger more pressing needs than receiver. Denver has the luxury of taking a WR in the 1st. The numbers are greater in the second with the Jets and Chiefs in the mix. Regardless, unless there is a lot of movement, I can’t see a lot of receivers going until the bottom half of the second round into the third and that means rookie minimum salaries under the new CBA. Some may project him as a possible late first or second round pick but I don’t think the run on receivers starts until late second early third. This of course assumes a high level of underclassmen departures. If Watkins, Evans and a few others leave early, I think ARob is back.
In all, I like the offensive possibilities next year. I thought Hackenberg was the best QB in the Big Ten this season as a true freshman (Braxton Miller is a running back that can throw as opposed to a quarterback that can run). They might have the best collection of skills position players in the Big Ten and the offensive line should be adequate. More on the defense later.
jd says
my only critique to add: why did BOB have Ficken attempt a FG on 4th and 3 at the end.
If Zwinek was good to go, you put the game in his hands.
A good season. Am very proud of this team.
BigAl says
Saturday’s game was a great ending to a good year, regardless of what the Sanguinarians think. Hank finally lived up to his 5 star rating and showed some real improvement. It looked like the game slowed down for him and he could find his secondary receivers
We have to see whether that improvement carries over to next season. I remember when Morelli had a good bowl game against Tennessee and everyone thought he would be great the next season..
So, I’m sure the Sanguinarians will be expecting at least 10 wins next year. The BSD crowd was comparing this game to the Michigan State win in 2004 and they’re already expecting 2005 all over again.
However, Wisconsin would have won that game if they had had a competent quarterback – even somebody like Scheelhaas or Indiana’s quarterbacks. Next year, State will play only 5 teams that had a winning record this year, so its not unreasonable to expect a winning season.
But State’s really going to have to improve a lot to be competitive with OSU and Moo U or to beat Indiana and Central Florida (assuming Bortles returns).
K. John says
I was expecting a 10 win season this year and they almost certainly would have had it if they weren’t laid low by the injury bug from the get go. Next year, I am expecting a probably ten win year. Maybe better depending on the factors outlined above. Other than Ohio State, they don’t need to improve much to beat the rest of the field, all they have to do is stay healthy. On the same day with a full complement of players, I would pick them to beat every team they lost to with the exception of Ohio State.
I could see State running the table if Ohio State gets hit hard by early departures and graduation. They very likely would end up like the 2008 Alabama team. They ran the regular season table, lost to the fourth or fifth best team in the country (Florida) in the SEC title game and got shellacked by Utah in the Sugar Bowl. 2015 is the going to be the year to watch however.
Offensively Ohio State loses Carlos Hyde (their best player), Jordan Hill, Corey Brown, 4/5ths of their offensive line and Braxton Miller is still a running back that occasionally throws the ball. Defensively they aren’t in great shape to begin with and could be in trouble with early departures. We’ll have to see. Sparty graduates a ton.