Penn State (3-0) 63, Kent State (1-2) 10
Sleepy, hung-over, almost full Penndot-St. Joe Memorial stadium was the scene of the nooner showdown between these two powerhouses. Such an air of anticipation, already! No one had any idea how this tense contest would play out. Never mind. I had a brief, delusional moment, probably due to memory loss associated with the two year-old’s birthday party last night, including fighting our way through 300,000 baby stroller laden British tourists who don’t know which side of the street to walk on at Disney Springs. The highlight of that event, though was watching the conclusion of a hotly contested LSU-Auburn game, won by LSU with a last-second field goal. Good stuff, and got to watch it with the two year-old’s grandpa, who is a fanatical LSU alum. A good time was had by all! The two year-old didn’t give a crap, sleeping through most of it, but the adults were suitably entertained.
Very Cold Mimosas at Mike’s Garage
Mike (Jackstand) wanted us to bring some ingredients for mimosas, and he wanted them kept very cold. Dry ice to the rescue!
Now, back to the mundane PSU-KSU game and, well, let’s see how well my distant memory works. As you know, while PSU drew first blood, the touchdown pass was called back due to penalty, which would happen twice during the game. OK, one time at noon because they’re so sleepy they put their jockstraps on backward — that’s understandable. But three friggin’ times? After the proverbial cobwebs were Swiffered-out, the Nittany Lions settled down to a sloppy, 63-10 rout, outclassing the upstart Golden Flashers.
Who da man?
This week’s Nittany Turkey Prognostication Poobah Award goes to the Nittany Turkey himself, who predicted the final score precisely. However, this turkey was so certain of the prediction that he advised a stay-away posture on betting the game. So, ain’t it peculiar that with that admonition, he nails the prediction. Ploo!
Stats are for losers.
But we need to look into the stats just a bit. Penalties’ll killya. Penn State’s nine penalties for 85 yards, including the aforementioned three called-back touchdown plays simply suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks! And what’s with the three offsides penalties by the definsive (that’s how we pronounce it in the South) line? They had ample opportunity to watch game videos and practice against a simulated Kent State tempo offense. WTF? Andandadn what about dropped passes and coughed up balls? Although they didn’t lose any of the fumbles, they should be doing better with one-fourth of the season behind them. The one actual turnover was a quirky interception that involved a hot throw to Miles Sanders that was muffed right into the waiting arms of a defender.
Dropped passes — hey! I’m have no idea what is cooking with Juwan Johnson, but to me he looks rather statuesque out there. He had all zeroes on the stat line, except for targets. However, Juwan’s lack of performance was offset by the trio of Deandre Thompkins, Brandon Polk, and K.J. Hamler — and, of course, freshman Daniel George who combined with freshman QB Sean Clifford late in the game to complete a record-setting 95-yard TD completion in Garbage Time (GT) with 6:55 left in the game. (The record that was broken — the longest play from scrimmage — was set in 1919, a 99-year record). Very cool.
As one would expect, PSU was dominant in the stats overall, but I wanted them to hold KSU to 150 yards total offense, and they failed to do so. The Flashers wound up with 221 yards, including 180 yards passing, completing over half their attempted passes, a credit to them, but mute testimony to the fact that this defense needs work. They showed up, though, recording seven sacks and 15 TFLs. Superstud Shareef Miller led the way with two sacks and three TFLs himself. Linebacker Cam Brown had seven tackles including two TFLs.
Penn State’s high-powered, juggernaut, quick-strike offense under the direction of Trace McSorley (11-22, 2 TD, 1 INT) rung up 643 yards total offense, 346 passing and 297 on the ground. McSorley also had 54 yards and three TDs rushing.
What conclusions can we draw?
One conclusion is that the team still needs to work on ball handling and discipline. Going into the Big Ten schedule, they need to become more sure-handed and attentive. Although it won’t take a fully awake team to beat Illinois on Friday night, tOSU looms in two weeks. (Last night the Buckeyes showed some vulnerabilities in the 40-28 win over TCU, but they also showed they know how to overcome them. But what do I know? I fell asleep during that game, due to too much beer at the two year-old party.).
Are we ready for the Big Ten? You tell me.
I’ll be back with some highly unintelligent (and perhaps unintelligible) comments and predictions for the Illiniwek game.
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Big Al says
My Conclusion: The B1G (particularly the West) is hot garbage this year and Penn State is definitely ready to roll in the trash. This is a year that the B1G champion could go 13-0 and still be a 4 touchdown dog to Alabama. Except for tO$U, State should be favored in all its remaining games. Their sloppiness will result in losing a game that should have been won, but a 7-2 B1G record is well within reach for this team.
The Nittany Turkey says
Wisconsin sure as hell got its comeuppance at the behest of BYU. The sports know-it-alls dropped them out of the top ten all the way to #18, which allowed Penn State to slide up to a tie with Washington for #10. PSU has beaten nobody, so #10 is as phony as it gets. Aside from polls meaning shit three games into the season, I just had to have something to say.
Everyone will be an underdog to Alabama, but there’s always the Iron Bowl to deflate their egos from time to time. Ya nevah know! And Clemson is there waiting for them in the playoffs, seemingly perennially. Anyone south of ‘Bama and Clemson is a longshot. (Somehow, Georgia sublimated to #2, but who have they beaten? South Carolina, Middle Tennessee, and Austin Peay, that’s who. They’re pretenders. But I digress. Once again, the SEC is looking mighty tough, with four teams in the top 10, three of them from the best division in the country, the SEC West. (Georgia should waltz into the SEC championship game undefeated, given that the East looks like it’s going to completely suck this year).
Then, we look at the Big Ten, and so-called #4 tOSU needing luck to get by #15 TCU. The B1G now has but two teams in the top ten, tOSU and Dear Olde State, setting up the B1GGGGG SHOWDOWN in two weeks, after tOSU dispatches Tulane and PSU merely has to show up and not break a sweat to blow away the Illiniweks. (I’ll write a boring column about Illinois later in the week. The only interesting thing is how the NCAA political correctness police address their use of Native American symbology). Then well have the 132nd GAME OF THE CENTURY!!! Unless it is a one-sided blowout rout, it won’t prove anything except which one gets to pretend a little longer.
I don’t think the Kitties will get by tOSU, though, and I think Moo U. in E. Lansing will be a more formidable obstacle than UM in Ann Arbor. Iowa is surely a team that can capitalize on opponents’ sloppiness. Unless I’m wrong about UM, I still see three potential losses in the B1G. The PSU defense just isn’t there yet, IMHO. Still hanging with a 9-3 season.
—TNT
Big Al says
Lewerke is certainly the type of quarterback who can torch the Kitties’ defense. But they play Moo U in the Beav, they don’t have much of a running game, and the Moo defense hasn’t been that impressive. Wisconsin has one competent receiver, a mediocre quarterback, and their defensive secondary sucks big time. Meatchicken’s qb is also mediocre and their defense hasn’t looked that great either – SMU gained more yardage against the Weasels than they did against either North Texas or TCU. Rutgers and Maryland were curb stomped by Kansas and Temple respectively – so there’s little chance of losing there.
That leaves Indiana and Iowa. Both are still unbeaten but they haven’t played anybody yet. Iowa plays Wisconsin this weekend and that game could decide the the B1G West title – particularly if Iowa wins. With an Iowa win, the Kitties would be the only major obstacle to a 12-0 season for Iowa since they don’t have to play tO$U, UM, or Moo U. Indiana plays Moo U this weekend, so that game should go a long way toward deciding whether Indiana or Moo U are for real.
tO$U is flat out better than the Kitties, but Urbz’ sphincter snaps shut every time he plays in the Beav and his offensive play calling is way too conservative. So, you could make a case for State running the table and finishing the regular season 12-0. I don’t think that will happen – even if the Kitties upset tO$U – they will lose at least one game to UM, Iowa, Indiana, or Moo U. I don’t see a loss to Bucky – they are too slow on defense and too one dimensional on offense.