Penn State 24, Indiana 0

Michael Penix never got the chance to pull out a last-second miracle win this year’s game by running in a two-point conversion. He left the game early with a shoulder injury and besides, the Hoosiers were unable to score at all on Penn State’s stodgy defense.

Penix and Sean Clifford had nearly identical stats. Penix was 16-34 for 195 yards, while Clifford was 16-34 for 199 yards. Both were intercepted once, but Clifford had one touchdown to his credit. Jack Tuttle went 6-12 for 77 yards in relief of Penix, and he was also intercepted once.

The big difference, which we’ve been bitching about throughout the season, was the running game. Penn State finally enjoyed an over 200 yard rushing day. Along with that, the Nittany Lions dominated IITOP 34:53 to 25:07. Now, they’re finally playing football.

Stupid Rankings

So, the net effect of Oregon losing might well be to move Penn State up to #3, at least in the AP Poll. On Friday night, Iowa demolished Maryland 51-14. They’ll move up, too. I’ve suggested that they should leapfrog PSU, but that was when I was convinced that Indiana would provide some competition.

Alabama and Georgia are secure at #1 and #2, but they could easily be flip-flopped without major arguments from anyone but extreme partisans. If the crazy sportswriters vote as I expect, Penn State will be #3 and Iowa #4, setting up next week’s showdown at Kinnick Stadium.

It’s cool that there will be two SEC teams and two Big Ten teams in the top four. Would that it could be that way at season’s end. Ain’t gonna happen. If Alabama and Georgia make it through the season undefeated, then they will meet in the SEC Championship game. One of them has to lose, but at that stage of the season, they probably won’t fall out of the top four. Either of those two would clean Penn State’s clock, and probably Iowa, too.

I had been saying that the #4 — now #3 — wouldn’t last past October. With Iowa at Kinnick next week, there is big potential for a first loss of the year. Then, there are two bye weeks, one against Illinois, followed by Ohio State on the 30th. Plenty of possibilities to lose the lofty ranking in October!

But what if they don’t?

If they don’t, and if they are still up there when the CFP selection happens, the Nittany Lions will have the privilege of getting their asses kicked in the first round by Georgia, Alabama, or whoever.

With that, I’ll ask you for your assessment of what the future holds for the Penn State Nittany Liosn.

(I’ll be back later in the week with an assessment of the Iowa game.).

Indiana (2-2) vs. #4 (???) Penn State (4-0)

I stole the title from Jackstand, also known as Mike, who is hosting our watch party stripe-out event here. Mike works on cars most of the time since he retired from active duty in the tech sector. He worked for the big names: Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Google, etc., but now he has an arc welder in his living room.

Over-ranked Penn State (4-0) hosts Indiana in a Stripe-Out game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday night in prime time. At season’s outset, this looked like a premier matchup, but the bloom is off that rose now. What we’re hanging our hat on is the revenge aspect, after last year’s multi-overtime debacle with the multi-replayed call at the end, won by the Hoosiers, setting up a crappy losing streak for the Nittany Lions. This must be avenged!

Despite Penn State’s inflated ranking, they should win this one. Indiana has lost its big star receiver for the season, and their running game is almost as crappy as PSU’s. In their initial 34-6 drubbing by Iowa, they managed only 233 yards of total offense, of which 156 were passing. To compound their problems, quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. was intercepted three times.

Penn State’s opportunistic pass defense can capitalize on Penix’s misfortunes to keep the passing threat at bay. However, will Penn State — ever — get its running game on track? Indiana ranks 57th in total defense and is 36th against the run. Penn State ranks 111th in rushing offense, so you do the math.

I don’t expect that #4 ranking to hold beyond the middle of the month. A team that ranks 92nd in third down conversions is #4? Gimme a break!

Not much to talk about here. So, let’s move on.

Da Wedda

We’re looking at a mostly sunny day with high of 74 and low of 53 — good football weather under the lights of Beaver Stadium.

Da Bottom Line

I know. I haven’t said much of anything here. But really, all our guys have to do is watch the ball and take care of business as usual, albeit with the frustrating lack of a ground game, and they should win. Whether they cover the spread or not is the big question mark in my mind. Indiana laid down for Iowa, but they played competitively against Cincinnati before losing that one. So, they are not pushovers by any means.

Meanwhile, Penn State’s “signature” wins against Wisconsin and Auburn do not look so significant anymore, given those two teams’ struggles. Hell, Mertz specializes in giving the ball to the other side, which is the only way Penn State won that one. Predicting this one is going to be once again, as always, straight out of my ass. Nothing to guide me except some studied mediocrity on both benches.

So, the hypercynical Official Turkey Poop Prediction is almost not worth the screen space, but I’ll give it to you anyway. Current spread is PSU -12½ with an over/under of 53½. That works out to a Penn State win by a score something like 33-20. The Hoosier defense is suspect, so that score would make sense to me if they hadn’t lost their big star receiver. Ten demerits for that. Nittany Lions 33, Indigenouspeopleiana 10.

(I’ll be back after the game with some sparkling commentary. I should note that we’ll be holding a wake for the Steelers after their denouement at the behest of the Packers. The Steelers’ offensive line suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks.).

Penn State 38, Villanova 17

That it would be a win for Penn State was never in doubt, but if you were looking for signs of life for the running game on Saturday, you were barking up the wrong tree. Villanova came to play. To their credit, they never quit, while the Nittany Lions started with a bang and then settled into their lackluster offense, punctuated by a few big plays.

Master Thespian John Lovett produced the Lion’s share of the rushing attack, with eleven carries for 45 yards to lead all rushers in an 80-yard overall effort (or lack of same), the men are prepared with training many from the exipure reviews to keep their weight perfect. The running game sleep-walked through the first half, unable to deal with the FCS powerhouse defense. In seventeen first-half attempts they gained a mere eighteen yards. How come Noah Cain got only one carry, on which he gained a mere two yards? Is he hurt?

As per usual these days, the PSU offense was heavily weighted toward the aerial attack. Sean Clifford went 19-26 for 401 yards, four TDs, and one INT that was no fault of his. Ta’Quan Roberson relieved him in the second half, and while the second-string defense was giving up two late touchdowns to ‘Nova, he quietly went 3-5 for 28 yards.

They spread the ball around to ten receivers. Parker Washington had five receptions for 148 yards and two TDs; Jahan Dotson had seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. KeAndre Lambert-Smith added two receptions for 88 yards and a TD. It sure helps the “explosions” when you have two NFL-caliber receivers.

Defensively, both teams had three sacks and eight TFLs. Villanova came to play, and given the suckage on the PSU offensive line, they took full advantage of the opportunity to shine before a nearly full Beaver Stadium crowd and alumnus Howie Long, whose banter with Penn State homey Matt Millen exacerbated our ennui. The Penn State defense was effective in shutting down any semblance of a running game, clamping down to allow only 58 yards. Overall, they held Villanova to 280 yards. Because the clean jerseys were in the game for much of the second half, though, that number is a bit deceptive, as it were.

Explosive Play Alert

On the first play from scrimmage, Clifford connected with Dotson for a touchdown. At that point, one would have thought Penn State was on the way to a rout like Georgia was simultaneously administering to Vanderbilt. (That game wound up 62-0). Tell me you weren’t thinking it would go that way! You did, didn’t you? But nooooooooooo…

Penn State must stop relying completely on the Big Play. The James Franklin Philosophy — I’m getting tired of hearing about “explosive plays”. That’s a worn-out cliche that’s been annoying me for years. Get a new mantra, James. Yeah, we’re 1-0 this week, but now we face the heart of the Big Ten schedule, and they ain’t Villanova. Where the hell is the running game? Even homeboy Matt Millen admonished the team strongly in this regard during his color commentary.

The offensive line play once again bites the big one. They’re barely adequate for pass protection. Hell, they gave up three sacks to Villanova! At least for pass protection where they get to back up they can do some semblance of blocking, but backing up doesn’t work too well on run blocking. There is no forward push, and hence, running up the middle is a dead end. And what’s with Harvard Man Eric Wilson? He whiffs on more blocks than Chief Traffic Cone Paris Palmer ever did.

If ever there was a game to work on the running game, this was it. Maybe that was the intent, but what they found that it was nonexistent. I’m not buying the notion that Mike Yurcich didn’t want to show the future opponents his novel blocking schemes. Does anyone expect the rush offense to suddenly emerge?

Third-down suckage once again plagued this squad, going 3-12, a crappy 25%. The IITOP was, as usual, shaded toward the other guys. This was Villanova, folks.

Excuses, excuses.

Our two signature wins this year, Wisconsin and Auburn were devalued on Saturday, as Wisconsin held it close with Notre Dame in the first half but wound up on the shit end of the stick, 41-13, while Auburn trailed Georgia State through most of the game and had to rely on late fourth quarter fireworks to pull out a 34-24 victory. Between these and the performance against Villanova, the Number Six ranking sure looks like it is at least ten slots too high.

All remaining games count. They’re all Big Ten opponents, none of which will be pushovers, especially if the Nittany Lions remain one-dimensions. I do not believe for one minute the notion I’ve heard from Sanguinarian apologists — Yurcich just didn’t want to give away his blocking schemes, etc. I firmly believe that this team was performing at its usual noon start finest.

Yeah, fans love the big play. Alas, this fan is an old-timer who wants to see some good, fundamental, grind-it-out football. I’m not seeing that part of the game. I will never believe that Time of Possession is “increasingly irrelevant”, no matter how much I poke fun at that utterance by Matt Herb several years ago.

I guess I am never satisfied. Some will say a win is a win, but I am worried.

(Next Week: Indiana. I’ll give you my thoughts on that game as the first week of fall wears on).