Idaho Vandals (4-7, 3-5 Big Sky) vs. #15 Penn State (9-4, 6-3 Big Ten)
This will be a lame post for a few reasons. Primarily, I have much more going on in my life than I know how to handle. On top of that, Category 4 Hurricane Dorian is targeting this area on Monday. Therefore, writing is a temporary therapeutic distraction for me, but I do not expect this piece to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Besides, the outcome of this game is hardly in doubt.
Who are the Idaho Vandals?
The Vandals, winners of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl as recently as 2016, have had losing records since then. After the 2017 season, Idaho and New Mexico State were dropped by the Sun Belt Conference, who picked up Coastal Carolina. Meanwhile Idaho joined the Big Sky Conference and New Mexico State became an Independent. The Vandals finished ninth of thirteen teams in the Big Sky Conference in 2018, resuming their losing ways.
The Idaho Vandals are coached by Bobby Petrino’s younger brother Paul, who has run the team since 2013, when the final record was 1-11. Since that time, Idaho has enjoyed only one winning season. That was the aforementioned 2016 9-4 season culminated by a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl victory over the Colorado State Rams, 60-51. Definitely not a pitchers’ duel!
Do not confuse Idaho with the two better teams in the Potato State, who both are coming off winning seasons. Last year, the Idaho State Bengals finished fourth in the Big Sky Conference while the #23 Boise State Broncos were first in the Mountain West. (They lost the championship to Fresno State, then played in the First Responders Bowl, which was aborted due to lightning).
Do I expect Penn State to show up?
It is good that the first game of the year is such a softy. The boys need a confidence-builder. Idaho gives them the opportunity to hone some skills and prepare their mindset for future endeavors. So, yeah, they show up, but they’ll be rough around the edges. Idaho might catch them off-guard once or twice, but I think the outcome is pretty well assured.
Passing Game
One thing I’ll be looking for if I even watch this game is the offensive line play of Penn State. Sean Clifford must have decent protection. His predecessor used his swift feet to get him out of jams, but Clifford is slower and as yet untried under pressure. He has a couple of decent receivers to target led by K.J. Hamler and Pat Friermuth, but how will he handle being hurried?
This game won’t tell us much. If I watch the game, I’ll expect to see a couple of long, score producing passing plays and maybe a long punt return or two from Hamler. However, seeing that kind of thing happen against Idaho will in no way clarify my outlook for the season.
Running Game
Everybody is looking for a big year for Ricky Slade but we’re also likely to see Journey Brown and Devyn Ford. Given the new NCAA rules regarding red-shirting, true freshmen will be able to get more reps this year before donning the vermillion jersey. That includes Noah Cain.
Idaho has no defense, so no matter which members of the running back committee play, they will likely look good. Again, we have to keep an eye on the offensive line for clues to the season beyond Idaho.
Defense
I think this might be the bright spot, but again I will take a wait and see attitude. Micah Parsons is back, as is Yetur Gross-Matos. Cam Brown is back but won’t play the first half of Saturday’s game because of a targeting penalty in the bowl game against Kentucky. The secondary has lost some significant talent, so keep an eye on the new guys for a portent of what is to come later in the season. It is this turkey’s hope that they start strong and grow stronger as the season progresses.
Name the Player
Taking a break from the Idaho game for a moment, gaze intently at the photo you see here. Who are those guys? Hint: they played for Penn State and were co-captains of a Nittany Lions team. Which team was that and what positions did they play?
Extra points if you can respond without using search engines, other than the one in your brain.
Da Wedda
I’m extremely worried about the weather here in Central Florida; I’m not worried at all about State College. Nevertheless, for the record, it appears that we’ll have a nice late-summer day at the Big Beave, partly cloudy with a forecast high of 75.
By the way, Accuweather changed its policy with respect to free widgets. I will seek a new weather widget for the front page of The Nittany Turkey when other priorities allow.
Da Bottom Line — Idaho Loses
(Big surprise)
Hell, most sports books are not touching this one with the proverbial fork! For grins, though, the consensus money line on Vegas Insider is 66,000 to 24,000 in favor of Penn State. You just don’t see 2-1 odds like that in serious games. Anyhow, the spread is PSU – 40 and the over/under is 58.5. That would portend a 49-9 Penn State victory. Giving up 40 points is something I would never do, in spite of Idaho’s literally being in a different league (and division). I could see this one ending 66-10, but I can just as easily see it being a sloppy game that winds up 35-3. I’m all over the map in my thoughts, which are mainly encumbered elsewhere, so I won’t make a prediction.
(I’ll be back after the game with another lame post!)
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K. John says
Take care TNT. Hopefully the storm stays away.
Big Al says
This game is pretty meaningless and I’m not motivated to even watch it. The Blue-White game provided better competition for State’s 1st team offense than Idaho will. In fairness to the AD, they thought they were scheduling a 2nd division MAC team but wound up scheduling the equivalent of Bucknell (who got snapped up by Temple.)
More importantly for you, the spaghetti models are slowly moving Dorian’s storm track further to the east. Hopefully, you’ll wind up on the NW quadrant and avoid its worst effects.
Big Al says
Forgot to add that I have no idea who #80 and #22 are. The uniforms are from the Rip Engle era – probably sometime in the 1950s
The Nittany Turkey says
Thanks for the good wishes, gentlemen. I got a bunch of sandbags this morning and deployed them, so here’s hoping they do the job.
And now, the answer to our mystery photo. The gentlemen sportsmen in the picture are E Don Malinak (80) and QB Tony Rados (22), who were were co-captains of the 6-3 1953 Nittany Lions under Head Coach Rip Engle. That team also featured HB Lenny Moore (42), who would go on to star with the NFL Baltimore Colts and eventually be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.(Class of 1975).
Speaking of sandbagging, Al, I think you were sandbagging, at least about Rados!
—TNT
Jackstand says
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!” (Famous Chinese proverb).
I agree with Big Al that the game is essentially meaningless, but if Franklin takes advantage of the opportunity to give some field time to some of the underclassmen that we rarely get to see, it will be worth watching to see how deep the talent runs. UCF took advantage of this same circumstance in their game on Thursday against Florida A&M and it kept the game very interesting even though UCF rolled over A&M.
Being the season opener, and noting the Turkey’s comment about expecting Penn State to “show up,” I expect the Lions to score over 49 points and less than 60. Put me down for 54. Late in the game, I would expect Idaho to get on the board, particularly if Franklin takes advantage of his bench, so put me down for 6, which is pretty close to the middle between a field goal and a touchdown with extra point.
Regardless of the score, it’ll be nice to get momentum moving for the season. Hopefully the PSU field will stay in great shape for the following two games that will also be at home.
The Nittany Turkey says
Oh, yeah? Well, Zeno’s Paradox says they’ll never get there. Like Franklin, Achilles flapped his jaw a lot.
What is the relevance? Damned if I know.
The fourth quarter is going to be one of those “When are we going to see Tommy Stevens?” kinds of quarters. Oops, Tommy flew the coop. Never mind.
I actually expect a half-hearted performance by both the team and the coaching staff. No one wants to get hurt in a season opener against a FCS middle-of-the pack squad, and the brain trust sure as hell doesn’t want to give away any of their big, secret weapons on either side of the ball. Cam Brown won’t be playing the first half, and by the second half, he’ll be unnecessary.
Someone, I think it was Big Al, said special teams will improve for the simple reason that they can’t get much worse. That’s one area where any improvement might be seen in a game like this. If they can’t cover kickoffs or punts against these guys, god help they sorry asses. And I hope not to see K.J. Hamler returning any punts if I watch the game. Save Mr. Electric Mickey Mouse for the big games; in the meanwhile, don’t get him hurt on special teams.
I do think the O-Line is worth a look. Yeah.
No worries about the field being in shape at the Big Beave. The grounds-keeping crew there is second to none (at least that is what I keep hearing from the Sanguinarians).
Hope to see you for the Big Buffalo Game! Fare thee well through the mighty storm Dorian.
—TNT
The Nittany Turkey says
Going into the first big weekend, I see my feelings about Purdue were as lame as my Vandals post! They got upset by Nevada 34-31. The rest of the B10 has fared well so far, with Moo U., Bucky, and Rutgers all winning. Today, tOSU is favored over FAU by four touchdowns, Big Red over South Alabama by five touchdowns, and even Illinois over Akron by more than two touchdowns. Oh, and no line on Maryland over Howard, but ESPN’s matchup predictor gives the Terps the edge by 98.9% to 1.1%, which is not quite as ludicrous as the prediction for PSU-Idaho, which favors the Nittany Lions by 99.6%.
I’d say the most interesting game on today’s slate is Northwestern-Stanford, in which the Cardinal is favored by 6.5.
Just sayin’…
Better’n thinking about Dorian.
I know, right?
—TNT