Penn State Hosts Rutgers in Homecoming Clash
Well, it’s been a tough stretch for the Nittany Lions, having lost the past two games. But now Rutgers comes to town. Time for a laugher to elevate the mood.
#14 Penn State (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten) hosts the unranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-5, 3-3 Big Ten) at St. Joe Stadium at Beaver on Saturday at high noon. (It’s hard to get high by noon, but when I was at PSU, we were high from the night before. But I digress.)
No Prisoners Will Be Taken
Hard to believe that Rutgers is only a game behind PSU in the East Division. Their signature wins have been over Morgan State, and conference wins over Illinois, Purdue, and Maryland, while Nebraska, Ohio State, and Michigan cleaned their clocks by a combined total of 118-31. The most lopsided loss was a 56-0 rout by tOSU.
Beyond Penn State, they have to play Indiana and then their contrived rotating rivalry game with Moo U. Things aren’t looking good for bowl eligibility for Rutgers.
Saquon’s Last Stand
Once everybody’s favorite for the Heisman Trophy, Saquon Barkley is now on the outside looking in. I would suspect that Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma has a firm grip on the statuette at the moment. If we do not see a strong all-around performance by Barkley in this game, he’ll sadly be an also-ran.
It is a shame that the Nittany Lions have not been able to put any semblance of a competent offensive line on the field in front of Barkley. This creates frustration instead of joy for fans. I feel as if I’ve been denied the pleasure of watching a master at his game, at least one major facet of it. Saquon Barkley is comparable to Pro Bowler LeVeon Bell of the Steelers, without the greed and the big mouth.
Rutgers Rushing Defense Bites the Big One
Anyhow, given that Rutgers’ rushing defense is the second-crappiest in the conference, it’s now or never for Saquon. I doubt that even a great performance would place him with the top contender, but three excellent games from him will get him an invitation to the stage at the NYAC event, anyhow.
I’ve said it here before and I’ll say it again. If Barkley had a decent offensive line, he’d be putting up numbers like Larry Johnson, Jr. in 2002.
Da Wedda
The Central Pennsylvania weather gets an IS rating. (IS = It suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks) Snowed yesterday and it’s going to be cold on Saturday, with a couple of clouds, but no significant precipitation or wind. High of 36°F, low of 24°F. Ew!
Da Bottom Line
I’m not doing a huge amount of analysis for this game, because that usually leads me to the wrong conclusion. Besides, I haven’t had a lot of time. So this one will be straight out of left field (a euphemism for my ass).
Gambling line opened at PSU – 28-1/2 and promptly sailed to -31. Over/under is 52-1/2. This suggests that da wise guys are expecting a 42-10 rout by the Nittany Lions.
Well, I think that if tOSU can score 56 on Rutgers, so can PSU! Yeah, take that! Dumb decisions by the Penn State coaching brain trust will give Rutgers an opportunity, so they’ll score a field goal in the second quarter, and that will be the last we will hear from the Rutgers offense. Penn State 56, Rutgers 3. Take the over.
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Big Al says
Turkey, I think you’re misunderestimating Rutgers. They’re much improved from last season and the Ohio State game was an outlier. Nevertheless, they do have some “issues” – their offense is pretty pedestrian and their run defense has been poor. (the latter weakness shouldn’t hurt them too much since State can’t run anyway)
So, I’m taking Rutgers getting the 31 points. Penn State 35 Rutgers 17. As Rutgers has its best passing day of their B1G season.
BTW I re-watched the Moo U game on Youtube (thank you the Russian copyright thieves) and I’m not buying into the prevailing Sanguinarian narrative that State played a bad game against an inferior team and lost a game they SHOULD have won. Penn State played decent game against a team with roughly equal talent. And they lost because they didn’t make a couple of key plays in the 2nd half and Moo U did. It wasn’t really an “upset”. When you play an opponent with similar talent, winning or losing is USUALLY determined by a handful of plays. IMO, if State plays Moo U 10 times on a neutral field, Moo U would win 4 games.
Joe says
Well, it’s going to be cold, which I think will keep attendance down and prevent a much needed raucous atmosphere from materializing. It’s Military Appreciation Day, which is pretty cool in that I understand 7500+ tickets were donated to military personnel and their families (how many brave the cold central PA weather tomorrow and show up may be a different story, but it’s still a neat idea). It’s a noon kick so I’m not expecting the student section to be completely full, and I guess I’m not sure if our boys will be spitting fire or just spitting when they hit the field. So with that being said, we’re playing a pretty crappy Rutgers team who, yes I’m fully aware has beaten Illinois, Purdue and Maryland of late and also obliterated the mighty Morgan State Bears earlier this year. And as weird as it seems, two wins against either PS, Indiana or Moo U would make them bowl eligible! So I guess we should be expecting their “A” game, right?
With no Eastern Division title, no spot in the B1G title game, no CFP slot or not even a decent first tier bowl game to play for, it will be interesting to see if CJF and the staff can get them motivated to play for a 10-2 season. As a long shot, I did read that we should be pulling for an ND loss to Miami tonight as that could get the networks drooling for a PS-ND ratings bonanza match-up somewhere.
Even with all of that, this game will be hard to watch through the first few series. I have no clue whether the O-line will provide any opportunities for Barkley to rush for 100+ or give McSorely any opportunity to take advantage of a pretty shitty Rutgers secondary, but I think regardless we slog through this one, and I think at some point the talent advantage kicks in and we win a pretty bland game, 31-10.
Joe says
Duh-ND & Miami play Saturday night, not tonight as I stated above. The vaunted Wyomissing Spartans open the District 3, 3A playoffs tonight against Littlestown and with temps around 20 degrees at kick-off, I’ll be parked in the comfort of my house!