#4 Penn State 33, USC 30
Beautiful day for football in SoCal. Penn State starts slow; a goal-line stand by USC makes me think this will go the usual way. Then they’re suddenly down 14-3; I think “loss”. But our favorite “second-half team” pulled it out in the end, in overtime, with a little help from laissez-faire officiating.
Final score, Penn State 33, USC 30, in overtime. Penn State’s #4 ranking will improve to #3 and live to see another day. PSU has now started two seasons in a row winning six and losing none. Although the second half of the season might yield some comeuppances, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s just savor this victory for a couple weeks.
Do you need anybody? I want somebody to love.
That would be Tyler Warren, whose performance was crucial to this game and to the offense in general this year, had an amazing day, so we’ll forgive him for one significant drop. His seventeen receptions for 224 yards and a touchdown were enough in themselves, but he also ran for four yards and was 1-1 as a passer.
Could it be anybody?
One must acknowledge the fine contribution of Drew Allar, who remained calm and unperturbed throughout despite throwing two ugly interceptions and a third on an up-for-grabs Hail Mary. His passes were more accurate than in recent outings, and although we thought the keys to the game would include lots of rushing, it turned out to be a passing dominated offense. Allar completed 30 of 43 for 391 yards, including the 224 yards gained by Warren. Of Penn State’s 518 yards total offense, only 118 were on the ground.
What would you think if I sang out of tune?
Our kicking game, particularly field goal production, had been out of tune through the first four games, but walk-on kicker Ryan Barker got the job and has been perfect ever since. In the USC game, Penn State’s new starting kicker kicked five field goals and three extra points. All split the uprights down the middle. After the game, in earshot of the microphone, James Franklin embraced Barker and declared his performance, which included the walk-off game winner, as “fucking awesome.”
What do you see when you turn out the light?
I see a need for a more competent defense. Ours allowed some pretty ridiculous chunk plays when they were caught with their pants down. They allowed 409 yards in a balanced effort by USC. Their saving grace was that the Trojans are incompetent in converting third downs, just 2-11 in that category–about on par with Penn State’s 4-13. The stat that stands out is the Prophylactics’ 7.9 yard per rush average.
I get high with a little help from my friends.
Nobody who saw the last few plays of regulation time will dispute the fact that the officials missed a couple of obvious calls. The non-calls went to the advantage of the Nittany Lions. One of them denied Southern Cal the opportunity for a makeable, game-winning field goal.
These are the breaks of the game. Penn State is getting more of them this year, leading me to advance a conspiracy theory. The Big Ten wants Penn State in the CFP playoffs because Penn State fans always spend a lot of money and travel better than, say, Oregon Ducks fans. However, Oregon beat tOSU, so they’re now probably stuck with both those two, which might preclude PSU. Doesn’t make much sense, but neither does partisan grousing about bad calls. They’re part of the game.
Since most of my readers picked USC, these calls are convenient redemption. I picked Penn State, and I was right, so don’t fuck with my bragging rights!
Can it be? Number Three?
Between #2 Ohio State and #3 Oregon, one had to lose. The AP voters have now placed Penn State at #3. Alas, I feel that either the Ducks or the Schmucks would mop up the field with the Nittany Kitties. Plus, the #3 puts a target on Penn State’s back for the Wisconsin game in two weeks.
How do I feel at the end of the day?
The Beatles and Joe Cocker notwithstanding, I feel pretty good about the happenings in the Big Ten. Penn State won. THE Ohio State University went down, always a good thing. Illinois, my wife’s alma mater, now 5-1, prevailed over lowly 1-5 Purdue in an 50-49 overtime shootout. Northwestern, another family favorite, demolished Maryland. Similarly, Iowa demolished Washington, 40-16. The Huskies are our big white-out opponents who suck big time. Our next game is with Wisconsin, who exacted their torturous revenge by spreading scarlet billows in Piscataway, 42-7. On the west coast, Minnesota dispatched UCLA 21-17.
Worthy of mention, #16 Indiana, who did not play, is among the three Big Ten teams with perfect 6-0, 3-0 (Big Ten) records, along with Oregon and Penn State. The Hoosiers minus Tom Allen are the big surprise Big Ten program this year.
Wrapping it all up and tying a bow on it, I’m thrilled that Penn State surmounted a 20-6 deficit and pulled it out in overtime. I will say that a struggling win over USC (3-3, 1-3 Big Ten) is no indication that the Nittany Lions will fare well against Wisconsin, tOSU, and Minnesota. I’m not too worried about Washington, Purdue, and Maryland, but the possibility of what Big Al characterizes as the perennial “WTF game” always looms large with this squad.
But we’ll get by with a little help from our friends!
I’ll be back sometime after the bye week but before the Wisconsin game to offer the sweet lowdown on the Badgers.
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Big Al says
Hope you survived Milton and Yom Kippur without major damage.
This USC game will be in the top 10 of my favorite Penn State games. As long as Allar and Warren stay healthy, the Kitties have an excellent chance of finally breaking Franklin’s 10-2 ceiling and finishing 11-1. (the defense will need to play a LOT better than they did at USC to beat O$U).
Franklin’s hiring of Kotelnicki really paid off in this game. If Yurcich had still been the OC, State would have lost by three scores. And State would have lost even with kotelnicki if the officiating crew assigned to the 2017 Rose Bowl had called this game. It seems that both the SEC and B1G offiiciating crews have adopted “a lot them play” approach this year to calling defensive pass interference. That’s going to bite the defense in the ass in the post season if crews from the other conferences are assigned to State’s game(s).
The Nittany Turkey says
It brought back memories of the Indiana game in 1994, although the situation with that venerable squad was quite different. In 1994, they were expected to easily beat the Hoosiers, but thirty years later, uncertainty abounded before the USC game. All but the most blindly committed Sanguinarians had some doubts that the Trojans were indeed the inferior team.
The full range of thoughts went through my mind watching the recording. (I had succeeded in all the steps I took to ensure that I would not know the score beforehand). After settling for the opening field goal, I knew that USC had a decent defense, so I thought the game difference might well be the four unrealized points at the end of that brilliant drive. I wondered whether the team would have the character to not let the disappointment daunt them.
Then, USC quickly scored two touchdowns, which led me to think that PSU is not a team that is great at coming from behind despite Franklin’s vocal characterization, “We’re a second-half team.” Trailing 20-6 at the midway mark augmented my fears.
However, the second-half team came through on schedule in the second half, proving that my fears were unfounded. The second half was extremely entertaining. It could have gone either way, but I was all smiles when Barker kicked the game winner.
Thus far this season, I’ve seen examples of too tight officiating as well as lax calls. Thus, I cannot yet conclude that “let them play” is their official mandate. One thing I feel comfortable in stating is that the old anti-Penn State Big Ten officials, the likes of Dave Witvoet, have aged out. I hope that bullshit becomes a forgotten chapter, although no one who saw it will ever forget Paterno chasing Witvoet down the tunnel in the halftime of one Iowa game.
I see lots of weaknesses in this team, but what they showed me in the USC game is poise and commitment. That’ll take them a long way,. However, lest the post-coital euphoria make us all warm and fuzzy, we have Wisconsin to deal with at Camp Randall.
—TNT