Covered the Spread

Penn State 56, Kent State 0

So, the Kotelnicki offense showed off its juggernautical capabilities on Saturday’s 56-0 rout of the hapless Golden Flashers, setting a school record in the process. After a quintessentially characteristic Penn State slow start, the Nittany Lions rolled up 718 yards of total offense and knocked two Kent quarterbacks out of the game.

Drew Allar had a terrific day 17-21 for 409 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Beau Pribula added a touchdown and was 6-9. However the best QB of the day was tight end Tyler Warren, who contributed a touchdown on a 17-yard passing play on a direct snap to him in a wildcat formation. That gave him a perfect quarterback rating.

I had been bitching about third-down efficiency, but Penn State was 8-10 today, nothing to bitch about. (I mean, why bother bitching? No one listens, anyway). But I’ll remind you that all this wonderfulness on offense was against the worst team in the FBS. The Nittany Lions led 28-0 at the half. Last Saturday, Tennessee led Kent 65-0 at the intermission. Penn State, notorious for its slow starts, waited until 2:38 in the first period to score its first of eight touchdowns. Compare this with Tennessee’s performance against the same opponents, in which they scored 38 in the first quarter. Jumping out to an early lead is the way to win. The Nittany Lions must stop farting around like this now that the Big Ten schedule is nigh.

Stifling Defense

Defensively, the Lions took care of business, allowing 67 total yards, of which 49 were on the ground. They allowed only six first downs, while their offensive compadres rang up 40, giving them long rests. For those who think this is hot shit, I’ll remind you that we’re talking about Kent State (0-4), who are headed once again for the MAC scrap heap.

Time to Stop Farting Around

It gets serious from here. The erstwhile pig farmer is bringing his revamped Illini to town with a 4-0 record, fresh off an overtime victory over formerly highly regarded Nebraska in Lincoln. Bielema and his boys would like nothing better than a big upset in Beaver Stadium to prove they are “for real.” I suspect that we’ll be looking at #10 vs. #20 or some similar meaningless rankings. I don’t know whether our friends, the Sanguinarians, are shaking in their boots, but they need to appeal to their diety to exhort PSU not to approach this one too casually.

PSU covered the spread and hit the over by the slimmest of margins. I was thinking that Franklin would miss again, but Beau Pribula sealed the deal for him with 1:25 left in the game.

I’ll be back mid-week with a better look at the Illinois game, which should be a telling mid-term exam.