Shh.. Do you hear the sound of the Big Ten's new alpha dog?Looks like the Buckeyes won't get that third consecutive outright league title after all.
Behind an amazing performance out of their defensive front, steady play out of backup quarterback Pat Devlin and a timely turnover, Penn State eked out a 13-6 win in Ohio Stadium to move to 9-0 and a week off to enjoy the vanquishing of another monkey from its back.
The Ohio State defense came to play, holding the nation's 7th ranked scoring offense to 32 points below their season average, but the Penn State defense may have outplayed them. The front, led by the play of tackle Jared Odrick and end Aaron Maybin played huge in holding Beanie Wells to a season-worst 55 yards on 22 attempts. I, for one, thought that was impossible. Maybin was equally terrifying against the Buckeye passing game. He beat Bryant Browning on several occasions, earning a second quarter sack, but hurrying and otherwise altering several other plays.
At no point was the Lion defense better than on a Pryor third down run on the Buckeyes' second drive of the 3rd quarter. After getting 36 yard field goal from Pettrey to take a 6-3 lead, the Buckeyes had seen Penn State come back and miss a 45 yard field goal for the tie. With a lead, the crowd into it and Beanie starting to gain some traction on the ground, Ohio State moved to midfield when Pryor lined up to take a snap on 3rd-and-1. The play was a called sneak, but Pryor seeing some daylight, tried to bounce the run outside. Safety Mark Rubin had other ideas. Meeting Pryor at the first down line, he punched the ball free and after a scrum, Penn State had come up with it at the Ohio State 38 yard-line.
Enter Pat Devlin. The backup quarterback came into the game because of a slight head injury suffered by starter Daryll Clark. After an Evan Royster nine yard run, Donald Washington was called for interference on a Devlin pass to Derrick Williams. Four runs out of running backs and two Devlin's sneaks later, Penn State had reclaimed a 10-6 lead with a little over six left to play.
Unlike the game-winner in Madison that started with about as much time on the clock, Pryor was unable to muster any magic on Ohio State's ensuing possession. After a first down toss to Hartline, the Buckeyes were forced to punt the ball back with 4:31 to play.
Penn State would drive to score another field goal, going up 13-6, but the Buckeyes would get one more chance with the ball at their own 20 and 1:07 remaining. Pryor hooked up with Small for a couple of first downs and the offense was able to get into Penn State territory, but a Lydell Sargeant interception in the end zone iced the game.
Offense
The offensive performance was frustrating on many levels, not the least of which was the dominating effort the Penn State defensive line put forth against the Ohio State offensive line. It's easy to pile on the offensive line, but the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle of the unit not having the game of its life and their counterparts on the other side of the ball playing extremely inspired ball.
Despite Beanie's best efforts to verbally ignite a fire in his line's ass early on, the Buckeye rushing attack never really got on track. Beanie's typical seven yard gains became three yard gains and his three-yarders became one-yarders. At one point early in the third quarter, he had racked-up 18 yards on 12 carries. Odrick and linebacker Navorro Bowman (10 tackles, 1 TFL and the key fumble recovery) held him in check for most of the evening and when he did finally get things going, the offense turned the ball over.
However, it was the play of Maybin that stood out the most. Twice on the opening drive he blew past Browning to disrupt things in the backfield and he kept that pressure consistently throughout the evening. It was Maybin that forced Pryor out of the pocket on the interception to end the game. If this is Joe Pa's last season, he's going out with one hell of a defensive line. Maybin looked as good to me as anyone I saw on USC's roster.
Dane Sanzenbacher led all Buckeye receivers with 82 yards on six receptions, including a big 53 yard catch on busted coverage to flip the field position at the start of the 2nd quarter. Robo had four catches for 56 yards and Small caught two late balls for 37 yards, but most of the passing production came in the second half with the team needing to throw. (Anyone know where Posey went?) Pryor still struggles with some throws, but for the most part performed admirably when passing. His run game abandoned him (nine attempts for six yards), but there clearly is progression throwing the ball.
Fans will take exception with the playcalling and for the first time in a few weeks, I'll have to agree with them. Before I had thought the play of the line was dictating the plays that could be called (say goodbye to anything late developing), but after watching the team have some early success throwing the ball on first and second downs only to watch them move completely away from it, I'm ready to give-in. Keeping Beanie on the bench for the game's opening play was curious at best and the lack of any type of Pistol-based plays is a tad unnerving.
Defense
Penn State started the game hot, picking up first downs on their first two offensive plays, but after settling down, they stiffened and forced a Penn State punt. Then, the Thad Gibson show started. On Penn State's second possession of the game, he was everywhere, recording two and a half stops and sacking clark for a three yard loss on third-and-six from midfield. Gibson would continue to dominate for the remainder of the first half and things were looking good heading into halftime tied at three.
And this is where you must credit the Penn State staff for pulling something off their Buckeye counterparts couldn't: neutralizing the game-changing defensive end from the other side via halftime adjustments. Whereas Maybin was doing damage all game long, Gibson was relatively silent in the second half.
Heyward played large at times and might have had the hit of the game, finishing with six tackles, while Worthington and Abdallah finished with six and five respectively. The line held Royster to under 80 yards and got pressure on the Penn State quarterbacks throughout the evening, so kudos to them.
Laurinaitis recorded 12 stops on the night, but the faction that believes he's a little overrated would like to point out that only two of those were solo tackles. Likewise, Freeman had six tackles (one solo), but he appeared to have been dragged for extra yards on a couple of plays.
Penn State chose not to go directly at Jenkins for much of the game and they did a good job of neutralizing his effectiveness. Chekwa turned in a solid game, but Donald Washington had two huge pass interference penalties. I'm not going to say that Washington's second interference call directly resulted in a touchdown because Royster had ripped off a nine yard run right before that, but it certainly didn't help matters.
The defensive backs did a great job of shutting down the Lion receivers -- Williams, Butler and Norwood combined for just 28 receiving yards -- but they were handcuffed by the staff when zone was called. This was most evident on the 49 yard catch out of Graham Zug (seven receptions coming in) against zone coverage to setup Penn State's only first half points.
I don't remember seeing Nathan Williams in the game and Sabino was interestingly in the game for the goal line package before Penn State scored their only touchdown, but nothing too surprising outside of that. You just hope that the man vs. zone light will finally go off in the WHAC.
It's really a shame to lose a game like this considering the defense played absolutely lights-out, but this one's going down easier than most. For one thing, the Buckeyes lost to a quality opposition and they were one play away from victory. I also feel like a weight is off our chests. No more daram or national hate about the MNC race and the team can get back to playing good ball and we can sit back and watch the evolution of one Mr. Terrelle Pryor. He's going to have games like this, but not too many more of them.
Special Teams
Aside from finding out that Pettrey is most definitely the new starting kicker for field goals, and Flash should have been returning kicks (two for 71) from the start of the season, it was an uneventful night for the special teams units. Pettrey was 2/2, Trapasso put three of his five punts inside the Lion 20 and Ray Small had a near muff on one punt, while he fell backward like a zombie when catching another. Just kind of meh.
Notes
Pryor suffered his first loss as a starter, but finished with a career-high 226 yards through the air... Robiskie (33 regular season games) and Hartline (27 games) both kept their consecutive game with receptions streak alive... Sanzenbacher's 53 yard catch was a career high as were his six receptions and 82 total yards... The Buckeyes were the first team to hold the Lions to under 20 points this season and their 281 yards of total offense was 200 less than what they had been averaging this season... The JHC was honored at halftime for his induction into the College Football HoF and I blame him for Pryor's fumble.
Comments
Penn State is the alpha dog for this year alone. The drop-off next year might be bigger than the one Michigan is experiencing this year. If I'm not mistaken they lose all but one offensive linemen, all the receivers, one of the tight ends, nearly the entire secondary, and a few key guys on the D-line. They have bupkiss backing them up. Joe Paterno's last three recruiting classes made Lloyd Carr's look like USC's. If Paterno is gone - even though he's the coach in name only, he's the face, heart and soul of the program - it's going to be rather ugly in Happy Valley next year.
That being said, they need to enjoy this year. I'm more confident of their BCS chances than I ever was of our own.
Oh, and since I'm Heacock hater numero uno round these parts, I should mention his game plan tonight was masterful. He called it like a wizard. We need something like this against USC next year.
Oh, and Bollman: Thanks for your time, but the game has passed you and your fat, slow offensive linemen by, quicker than Derrick Harvey, Jarvis Moss, and Rickey Jean-Francois combined and doubled. I want a new OC soon, because I don't want to see the Mikes (Brewster and Adams) and JB wallowing away in their senior years, playing twenty pounds above weight.
The offensive line might have been horrible tonight, but from what I saw, Alex Boone and Mike Brewster (being the freshman that he is) didn't play horribly. Most of the blame tonight for offensive line woes definitely goes to Bryant Browning. I hate bashing any player on the Buckeyes, but he frustrated me tonight. In my opinion his play tonight was worse than Hamby dropping that TD pass against Texas.
My thing this year is that while the Big 12 and SEC are losing to everyone in conference, the Big 10 gets no credit. We should be better, but I can't take the Ohio State bashing anymore, it's infuriating. This is a good team with bad playcalling. Heacock stepped up today, but Bollman dropped the ball. I mean seriously, Mo Wells started?
"If I’m not mistaken they lose all but one offensive linemen, all the receivers, one of the tight ends, nearly the entire secondary, and a few key guys on the D-line."
Um, you're mistaken. The main TEs are Shuler (junior) and Quarless (sophomore - but really Shuler, who's stepped up - as could be expected given his heritage). The guys they're losing in the secondary are Scirotto, Sargeant, and Rubin, but Wallace (junior) and Astorino (freshman - and was a starter for the OSU game) are both back. Scirotto's going to hurt, but Sargeant and Rubin are nothing irreplacable.
The defensive line comment is just wrong - virtually all of the guys really standing out this year are back next year. Maybin's a sophomore, and Odrick, Evans, and Koroma are all juniors.
The WR and OL comments are true, and the OL is a huge deal. But winning the Big Ten is never an easy thing, and so of course you're not going to say that Penn State's going to just easily win again next year.
But a Michigan-level decline? That's not even conceivable. There's way too much talent returning next year. The LBs, DL, RBs, and QB alone will keep them in close in all of their games.
The biggest thing to remember, as well, is that success breeds success. Penn State's recruiting class next year will be very, very good - and in all likelihood, will have quite a few highly-rated offensive linemen, who will know that they have a very good shot at playing quickly.
Why would they ever allow JHC to take the field again?! I have to agree that, empirically speaking, the second half bedcrapping that happened was due to the magic pixie dust that he left on the field.
I think Musberger did more jinxing than Coop did. Literally he would say something along the lines of "Ohio State's long play of over 50 yrds is the only thing PSU hasn't done yet," then BAM, long first down setting up the field goal. Or "First team to make a mistake in this one is going to be a costly one," and BAM, Pryor fumble.
Great ass game though. Pyror needs some work throwing, not as much as The Todd, but the freshmen throws will go away, hopefully before 09/05/09 when the 213 comes to the 614.
I Would like to see the play calling be better. As an O-line coach Bollman probably does need to go. However, he is not calling the plays and is O-Coordinator in name only. I am 99.9% sure Bollman was not responsible for having mo in on the first play. I am also as sure that having mo in on the first play did not lose the game. 'Starting' is overratted.
How embarrassing to pull for a team whose mascot is a glorified nut.
Come on people…..honest assessment of game. Both defenses played great. Yes, it came down to a fumble…but in close games like this, that’s all it takes. As for the blown holding calls, BOTH teams were holding and not one was called.
Pryor, great runner, but unless he improves his passing mechanics, he will be "picked" and potentially "pick-sixed" alot in the future. The commentary during the half time report even noted the "moon balls" he throws and that PSU needs to be more aggressive in going after them. Case in point the pick at the end of the game to ice it. That ball stayed in the air for what seemed like an eternity. There was one "nut" in the corrner with 3 white jerseys. They all had time to grab a beer and a dog in the stands, use the john, cap a smoke and a quickie with one of the myriad of "ugly" "nut" fans in the stands before settling under the ball. If Pryor tries to throw the 5 - 10 yard quick outs with that "soft" touch of his, db's around the Big 10 and maybe even little sis "Ohio" will be feasting on miles of open green to the end zone.
In closing….a certain jingle comes to mind….”Some times you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t, The Ohio State Univ. got nuts, The Pennsylvania State University don’t…BECAUSE….WE ARE PENN STATE”
Enjoy your one year of success Penn State because we all know it will be a few years before you can put together any kind of good team, particularly with OSU taking all of the best player out of Western PA. Congrats on the win, but our lack of ingenuity on offense gave you a clear path to the MNC game not the vaunted "Spread HD." Your fans are largely douchebags, but I am happy for JoePa who is a class act.
I got yelled at by an usher because I had the audacity to ask the people behind me to stand up, yell, or make any kind of noise on third down. I'm so tired of fans (who also didn't wear scarlet) that are passive observers of the game. If you are a season ticket holder who doesn't cheer or clap for anything but the band, please do the right thing and give your tickets to fans who care. Sorry for the rant.
Special Teams: Rasta's fumble out of bounds on the kick return at the 6 yard line was pretty big IMO.
Good the see PSU fan can win with class. I was going to root for them from here on out, but now I can't wait to see Texas, Florida, USC, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma or whomever they play in their bowl game blow them out.
A couple things I took from last night.
1. alabama or texas will rape this psu team.
2. I took a great deal of positive from the flashes of good that I saw yesterday, however the play calling really sunk osu. MY hope is that if bollman were to stay they would spend a lot more time analyzing vince young and tim tebow's game films and lift plays to run with terrelle pryor.
3. I actually feel relieved to spend this year not in the spotlight and just sitting back and watching everything else unfold.
I said this on 610 last night, but I feel it bears repeating. I am offended that they couldn't find two walk-ons (or large co-eds) who could do the same job as the two fatboys on the right side of the OLine. It would at least save a couple of schollies for players who care enough to stay in shape during their careers. However, as bad as that performance was, the offensive play calling was....offensive. The NitWits rolled BOTH safeties into the LB positions and a couple of LBs up on the line any time tOSU ran out of the I or offset I. SO even when the running play was blocked properly, there were two extra defenders at the point of attack. No attempt was made to get them to stop that maneuver with misdirection or play action. We were sitting in 14C calling the plays before the snap. If amateur fans knew what was coming, you can bet your @$$ the NitWit coaches did too.
Truly a pathetic performance by the offense.
However, I am not going to give the Defense a free pass either. With the lead, the D had a chance to man up and stop the Nitwits on a three and out to preserve the lead....their answer: a fifteen yard penalty. Sorry, it was a team loss....offense, defense and coaches.
I wouldn't put all (some, not all) the running game blame on the O line. Penn St was completely stuffing the box with 8 most of the game. The philosophy seemed to be "make Pryor beat us with his arm". I was in the shoe and haven't watched it on tv yet but they seemed to be selling out on the run consistently. This would also explain the wiiiiide open receivers we had at times, Dane's big play, Saine out of the backfield, Hartline and Small had some nice runs after catches in the 4th.
Two other mistakes/missed opportunities that I haven't seen mentioned (and would just like to get off my chest):
- On the Saine play, the TE (not sure if it was Ballard or Nicol) was all by himself in the middle of the field. Seemed like 6 to me, as I was screaming from my seat. Not sure I've ever been so sick about a play that my team gained 20 yards
-15 yard facemask to start one of Penn St's late drives in the 4th. I had national title flashbacks as we faced a little adversity and immediately shot ourselves in the foot to make it worse.
Anyone starting to wonder more and more about the big game and Tressel-ball? I know that in the conference, being one of the perennial best talents, mistake-free conservative football will win you a lot of games; but I think you need to throw a bit of caution to the wind when you are the underdog for four big games in a row.
No guts, no glory; no risk, no reward, etc. Seriously, if the defense hadn't played well, or if PSU offense played better, this would have been another hugely embarrassing game.
TLB, please don't take one fan's ribbing to heart. I (and most other PSU fans) know that the Bucks played a hard-fought game last night and just came up a bit short against a pretty good Penn State team. I live in Columbus, and you can believe that I have had mountains of shit (pardon my French) heaped on me when PSU loses to the Buckeyes (which you will also note has been more often than not since we joined the Big 10), and yet I have to shrug it off due because I many friends and co-workers who have been gracious in victory as well as defeat. We should all respect the other team's accomplishments.
i swear to god if bollman doesn't resign i would drive there and make sure i have a serious talk with the head office myself...i've never been so depressed after a loss..this one hurt..and to make a kid that is going to lead this team and be a great asset to us for years to come, for him to feel like that and feel that the whole game is on his shoulders...that is aggregious and falls at the feet of the coaching staff...cheer up terrelle...it's not your fault..you are being led by a group of idiots...
Alabama or Texas may very well "rape" PSU if they get to the MNC. But hell....after the Prison "rape" that OSU has ENJOYED in the last two MNC games to Florida and LSU...hedboublehockeysticks..... PSU can't fair any worse. Thanks to OSU's complete ineptitude on the National stage...if PSU does get embarrassed...can't you just hear the pundits..."wow...looks like another Ohio State debacle"....just like in golf...a big choke job is called either a Vandeveld or a Norman...a choke job by a Big 10 team will FOREVER be known as either a Buckey, an Ohio State, or a Tressel.
So to TLB and Matt....aka Almond Joy Bars.... I hope you are wrong that Penn State pulls a Buckeye :). But if they do...it will only reinforce YOUR failures.
DID I NOT SAY THAT HONORING JOHN COOPER AT HALFTIME WAS A TERRIBLE OMEN FOR THE BUCKEYES
hey Almond joy dude: Most of the posts on here have been pretty honest assesments and given PSU thier due so I guess you just want to be an idiot. Crow now(because PSU is pretty good this year), but you guys have been basically schooled since you've been in the B10 and I don't predict any PSU dominance any time soon.
Jim:
Actually, you would be the "Almond Joy Dude"..... Alas, it is true that PSU has "...basically been schooled" since joining the Big 10. But honestly, what part of my assessments have not been honest. The Buckey is a nut, Pryor is a great runner but average (at best) passer, the defenses played extremely well on both sides, one play pretty much changed the game, OSU has been embarrassed on the national stage 3 times in the past two years (I forgot to include USC this year....I do apologize for that omission)...
I did go overboard with the Prison Rape comment, and was childish for that retort when Matt brought up the rape comment about Alabama and Texas.
I just wanted to thank OSU fans for treating my friends and I to a wonderful day of tailgating yesterday.
I have been here before and previously, I was subjected to having all kinds of objects thrown at me. Yesterday, OSU fans we're coming up to us, wishing us well. I was very pleased and my friends are definitely going to comeback in two years. You'll have bad eggs in every bunch, but we had a great time.
I also want to thank the Ohio State Troopers for not kicking us out of the 'Shoe until Corso put the PSU helmet on!
It was a great defensive game. Thank you again!
We Are...Penn State!
I think there are some painfully obvious things that revealed themselves last night.
Before that, kudos to Penn State. They played tough, mistake-free football. They deserved to win and will win the Big 10(11) championship. I hope they represent the the Big 10(11) well, but I'm really concerned that they've played inferior competition all year long in our conference.
1. The O-line again, is not performing. No need to beat that dead horse, although I will say that it's amazing to me how far they've regressed since the Penn State game last year. Night and day difference.
2. Because of #1, and because Pryor is apparently understands the playbook a lot less than I thought, the coaching staff has zero confidence in the offense's ability to execute even the most basic plays. I don't know what else would explain the lack of creativity in regard to play calling during the game. They never once seemed to try to get Penn State off balance with something unexpected, and they threw the ball when they positively, absolutely had no choice but to do so.
3. Chris Wells had 55 yards rushing on 22 attempts. 2.5 yard average. 6 yards rushing from Pryor. That's it. Worst production I've seen for I don't know how long. Expect the Penn State defensive scheme to show up for the next 4 games. I don't have TiVo, so I can't watch the game again, but I'm fairly certain they dedicated 8 guys to the LOS to take Wells away.
4. There are 2 games against whom I'd define as quality opponents, USC and Penn State. In those 2 games, they've managed 3 field goals. 3 points against USC in the 1st half, and 3 in each half against PSU. This isn't BCS bowl game material.
5. The defense has improved by leaps and bounds since the beginning of the year. If it wasn't for these guys living up to their expectations in the last 4-5 games, the season would be completely lost. They played absolutely lights out last night and Pryor, just doing what freshman QBs do, put them in a no-win situation.
6. Heacock has saved his job for next season. Bollman...I hope you've dusted your resume' off and are planning on trying to get a Division II (or whatever they're calling that level these days) HC job somewhere. If he's not gone after the season is over, I'm betting the boosters will revolt.
7. Just how good is Penn State? They played a tough defense last night and really only managed 9 points on their own. 6 if you want to be picky. Is Spread HD all it's cracked up to be? Defensively...I don't know if they were really tested against a one dimensional offense.
8. One penalty last night on Penn State for offensive pass interference. One. Neither side got penalized for much of anything, so did the referees take the night off, or were both teams nearly perfect in this category? I don't recall a single holding penalty on either team. Were they letting both teams play, or wasn't there any holding going on at all? If it's the former rather than the latter, can we get that crew the rest of the year?
amandakt:
"I have been here before and previously, I was subjected to having all kinds of objects thrown at me. Yesterday, OSU fans we’re coming up to us, wishing us well. I was very pleased and my friends are definitely going to comeback in two years. You’ll have bad eggs in every bunch, but we had a great time."
Thanks. It's nice to hear that side of the story from opposing fans. I'm glad you're coming back.
I have to say despite the loss it was a great game and I wasn't all too disappointed by it. I might be reaching for moral victories here but deep down I had a feeling we were going to get blown out so it was good to see this game come down to the wire. Our defense showed a lot of heart and I have now regained faith in them. The penetration especially was awesome to see, and big bad Thad is going to do great things for us. Not to take any credit away from the D but the Spread HD was definitely a tad overrated coming into the game. We did a good job of keeping it at Tresselball pace.
As for the other side of the ball, what can I say... I can't take away credit from PSU, their D is legit. Shutting down big game Beanie and forcing Pryor to pass (which he did better than I expected). Big props to our receivers for being able to pull down most of those floaters, you can understand where their ongoing frustration is coming from.
Special teams, Lane is a beast. Thomas should be returning all the time with Small as the secondary, with a stress NOT to fumble because I always get nervous after seeing a nice return and expect to see the ball pop out because of too many jukes. And there is absolutely no reason Boom, Saine, or Rasta should be back there.
Also, much respect to the mostly classy comments from PSU fans on here. Glad you enjoyed your visit to C-bus. It was an awesome game and I felt like crap after we lost obviously, but looking back I can't really feel bad about losing a close game against a #3 team on a true freshman's mistakes. Anyone outside of Columbus and State College would have found that game boring but it was a good old fashioned grind out B10 game.
One last note, Pryor is only going to get better from here. He is going to get mad reps in the offseason and we will see improvement in his passing and obviously decision making.
Very much looking forward to the 11W Hitting Rewind pieces.
Forgot one more thing... our OLine is badly inconsistent. They showed some nice protection on pass plays but as mentioned they did not adjust to Maybin and we paid for it all game. And when they did try to throw a Beanie Wells at him to help block he just ran right past him. Speaking of, I don't know if I would be too hard on them for not opening spaces for Beanie. Kinda hard when PSU stacks the box every time. That goes to the bad playcalling.
Bryant Browning got burned numerous times last night. I for one will be glad when Boone, Browning, Cordle, and Rehring graduate, because they can't pass block or run block. They are the common denominator in every big game loss in the past 3 years. And yous guys can take Bollman with you, thank you.
I've been saying since last summer that Dane Sanzenbacher needs to get more playing time and will remind fans of Gonzo. He's become Terrelle's go-to guy. He was one bright spot on offense for OSU, IMO.
I've never had too much love for Ray Small, and I hope after last night, that Thomas is returning ALL kickoffs for Ohio State.
It seems as though teams are going to dare OSU and Terrelle to throw the ball to beat them, as PSU did. If OSU and Pryor are going to get better this year and next, Pryor is going to have to learn to be more patient in the pocket and learn to throw the ball better.
BTW "Mr Mound," I believe this is a website for Buckeye fans. Doesn't PSU have the smarts to start their own where you can trash talk the Buckeyes? AOL sports might be another site you can try. Mgobloo might be another one.
Also, I watched a few videos on YouTube from the game last year in Happy Valley and saw PSU co-eds throwing beer cans and dropping the f-bomb at Ohio State fans. I thought PSU fans were more classy than that, but it just goes to show no matter what school, they all have fans that can't handle their beer.
Alas, I was wrong about the defensive line. I could have sworn Maurice Evans and someone else were both seniors.
Either way, I don't think Penn State is as talented behind its starters as PSU homers would like to believe. This year's recruiting class is the definition of "meh", it seems. Next year's? Who knows? It can go either way for PSU, but I see a significant downward trend. We showed how to stop that offense to the rest of country.
And yes, Alabama, Texas, USC, Florida and probably Georgia would all eat Penn State alive. Every one of those teams but Texas has a better defense, and Texas has a ridiculous offense to deal with anyway.
poguemahone:
Even though I'm a Penn State fan, I agree...we, the Big 10 do not match up well with the Big 12 or SEC. Ohio State, as the power broker over the last several years has shown the country how easily we can be had outside our conference.
Penn State, THIS year has won all its games...and yes, against an inferior schedule..that includes OHIO STATE. They have played two highly ranked teams...ONE at home.... both losses....as pointed out above...in those two games, the NUTS have managed 9 points.
I think you, along with many of the ANGRY nuts above...aren't so angry with me as the fact that they realize what their mascot is.... see below from Wikipedia (a creation of Larry Sanger an Ohio State Alum):
Buckeye:
"The tree species Aesculus glabra is commonly known as Ohio buckeye, American buckeye, or fetid buckeye. It derives its unflattering common name from the disagreeable odor generated from the flowers, crushed leaves, broken twigs, or bruised bark. It is native primarily to the Midwestern and lower Great Plains regions of the United States, extending southeast into the Nashville Basin.[1] It is also found locally in the extreme southwest of Ontario, on Walpole Island in Lake St. Clair, and in isolated populations in the South.[2] It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 15-25 m tall..... it also lists it as a type of chicken"
Well...I guess it's better to be a Buckeye than a UC Santa Cruz Banana Slug
Mounds: You're a d-bag. You are the reason Penn State fans are so incredibly disliked. Enjoy your one-loss season and your nearly-assured bowl-less campaign next year. We'll be waiting in Happy Valley to behead you guys, again, on your home turf. You also think Wikipedia is a good source to quote, showing you're either a) retarded, b) under 18 or c) attending Penn State (interchangeable with a).
Don't you have a couch to burn, cars to overturn? At least we've moved past that in Columbus.
First off, I just wanna say congratulations to both schools because that was one of the better games i've seen in a while. Osu I just wanna say that I really believe you guys are underestimating not only yourselves but psu as well. I think that Psu could beat georgia, florida and would smash alabama. The only two I could see them losing to is texas and maybe Usc. Georgia's flaky and if you can pressure florida early you can make them go rely on only tebow and harvin (see michigan, ole miss). Alabama is so overrated its not funny. They have a good O-line and a good defense but really only one reciever. stack the box, make parker throw = victory.
They way I see it breaking down is texas wins out, Psu wins out, alabama loses to Lsu or the sec championship game, so its texas vs Psu national and you guys are playin Usc again in the rose bowl. Good luck and still a great game.
Why can't all opposing fans come here and comment with class like maize 'n' blue?
Please don't liken all PSU fans to just the idiots that run their mouths on the internet. But, as you guys give your opinions, don't get upset when some PSU fans give theirs. I'll admit, though, some have gone a little too far.
I can't believe all the comments about PSU's schedule so far, though. The schedules are made far enough ahead that you don't really know how good that team will be when the time actually comes to play them. PSU has done exactly what great teams need to do in all of those games, there is no doubt about that.
Also, maybe I'm wrong, but I think some offenses are allowed to have bad games. To assume the spread HD (I don't really care for all the attention that it gets) will score 40 points in every big ten game is absolutely ludicrous. Time of possession is usually just way to short for that, given the running style of most teams.
Now, to the game. OSU gets one of the top recruiting classes every single year (very, very good as of late). Yet, I can probably argue one of the biggest reasons we have lost to OSU the last two years is Morelli. He probably gave away anywhere from 7-21 points in those games because of his limited abilities. This game was different. Maybe because Morelli couldn't give you 2 or 3 interceptions. The PSU defense is always strong, and has proved it in Big 10 play and in the last three bowl games. So, that wasn't very surprising. I attribute the struggles on offense to a mediocre game from Clark and a great plan and execution by OSU. But really, after the first quarter, I think it was obvious PSU was far superior. PSU moved the ball every drive (I think only one three and out, maybe 0), while OSU couldn't get Mr. Heisman an inch of room. And for everyone that says PSU was stacking the line, daring Pryor to throw....so what? Put in Boeckman and switch it up. OSU benefited from a couple broken coverages from PSU and got a couple big plays. PSU didn't have the usual big plays on offense.
If Clark played just a little better, got outside the pocket more and on the run, PSU would've won this game by 2-3 TD's. I really think it could have been a higher scoring game and possibly an OSU victory if Boeckman was in the game. And if you guys want to talk about PSU's one year of success...Pryor is no Vince Young yet, and Vince Young didn't win a title until his senior year. And how did he do it? With his legs. I don't see much of a difference between these two in passing, so get used to teams stacking the line.
Who's the d-bag poguemahone? You guys crack me up. You get smoked by USC and only score 3 points, and refuse to give USC their props. You say it was because Beanie was out and that you had the wrong quarterback playing.
We come into your house, with your "Scarlet Out" and "Scarlet Fever", which your boy Kerbstreet said was "the toughest football environment that I have ever seen", and you can only put up 6 points and get beat? That was with Beanie fully healthy and with the "right quarterback." Not all PSU fans and alum are knuckleheads like some who have made comments, but when you get beat by a better team then give them their props. Do you really think that the true Penn State fans rooted against OSU the last two years in the championship game? We wanted you to win because after we play we are on the same side-we represent the Big 10. Why does it have to be that your coaching caused the loss and not just that Penn State was better on that given night? Next year is next year, we'll see what happens in Happy Valley.
As a Penn State alum, I thought the game last night was one of the best defensive battles I have ever seen, and it could have went either way. Stop all the hating, win out the rest of the season, and make the Big 10 proud by winning the Rose Bowl. And, if you can fit it in, cheer on the Nittany Lions as they make a run for the national championship and do the Big 10 proud.
Good luck with the rest of your season.
poguemahone:
D-bag I am...thank you for your asssssstute assessment. To be correct though...if you travel around the country, PSU fans are more respected than OSU's...outside of Ohio...nobody cares about the "Nuts". Paterno is respected......People around the country still associate the "nuts" with Woody's right...or was that his left.
As for Wikipedia...if you would have read my entire comment you would have noted that an Ohio State alum developed that so called information resource. Just wanted to use a resource that the "Nut" faithful could relate too....aka down on their level.
OSU fans, please disregard Mounds. He's an embarrassment to us 'grown-up' PSU fans. We all remember our first beer, right?
Great game. Your defense really stepped up, and it's obvious Pryor will be a good one if he gets his mechanics fixed.
We actually feel very good about next year, with more guys returning than people think. Our LB corps will instantly be great with Sean Lee returning from this year's injury; think Poz, but with more speed.
I'm rooting like hell for you guys to get a USC rematch, and to pop the Trojan.
Again - great game.
PSU Proud: Almond Joy Dude is a d-bag so why are you sticking up for him and getting so bent out of shape? He(she) is not representing well. There have been plenty of posters on here giving PSU you their due. They played a great game and deserved to win. If you have been checking in on the site all season you will see that people have been pretty critical about OSU's coaching and play calling. The comments over the last 24 are pretty consistent with that. Just because people question the playcalling doesn't mean that they don't think that PSU deserved to win.
By the way I don't know too many people that think , or have posted on here, that OSU would have beaten USC had Beanie played.
Now focus the rest of PSU's schedule. Hopefully, they can bring a NC back to the big10.
Mounds,
Whether or not you are a d-bag is pretty evident in that you come to other fansites by directing attention towards yourself. Deeper emotional problems might also be an issue in your case.
Your criticism of ohio state is amusing though. After a great game like last night, where both teams were strong defensively and evenly matched... you criticize ohio state for being weak. By doing so, you're essentially saying that State Penn is also weak since they played on the same level as OSU last night. Your logic is flawless. Yet it gets better...
You keep bringing up negative events about OSU that happened before you were probably even born and singling out incidents that are not unique to OSU.
As far as your perfect season, I congratulate you so far. But again, singling out ohio state just doesn't make sense. We also had a "perfect" season in 2006 and were strongly favored to win the MNC. And in 2002 it was the opposite... college football is unpredictable.
I guess I just don't see what you are trying to accomplish, because if you really want to start singling out events that are in tune with your beliefs... then may I bring up the 2003 and 2004 seasons? Where you went 3-9 and 4-7, respectfully (breaking a 6 game skid in 2003 to Indiana). Hmmm only 5 years ago? Take a seat, son.
First of all, thank you to most of the OSU fans and their honest posts and assessments of the game. You guys have a quality program and played a great game. It's just a few jerks who can't take a loss with dignity and have to bad mouth Penn State that tarnish your fans' good reputation saying essentially enjoy this year because you will suck for a few years. That is totally incorrect as the previous post above stated that we have a lot of talent coming back ... but failed to mention Stefen Wisniewski on the O-line and all of our linebackers including Sean Lee making a return next year. It's good for me to correct such angry fools, but honestly it would look REALLY good if one of your own pointed out such childish reactional behavior.
... oh and the rape comment. What a tool that guy is.
Plus, on paper you guys should have been better than last year. So having all of your talent comes back doesn't guarantee that you will perform as well or better than the previous year - another example being your buddies with the winged helmets last year.
Yeah, not sure why people say PSU will have a ND/Michigan-esque fall from grace. Pat Devlin looks promising, and Royster I believe is only a soph? Lots of other returning starters too.
... and in western PA you guys have done really well lately. I'd say it is a split between PSU, OSU and Pitt. But there is a ton of talent in Maryland, VA, NY, and eastern/central PA that we get. And we will eventually reclaim western PA as we have come back to national prominence the past few years. With Michigan being horrible for the forseeable future, we should wish one another well. The better the competition in the Big 10 the more prepared we will be for other conferences come bowl time.
yeah, Royster and Devlin are Sophomores and Green a Freshman.
people saying that is only to put PSU fans down -- to insult them because they are offended tahe we knocked OSU off the pedestal this year. To be honest, I respect OSU a lot but hate UM probably almost as much as OSU fans. They are so arrogant and you guys are more like us...
you guys should be happy for us. We just stole the #2 kicker recruit from UM and may end up with the # 4 and/or # 8 QB recruit, the latter of which also decommitted from scUM.
and to make PSU and OSU look even more similar... as pointed out during the game, we both had 380 wins before the game since 1966 when JoePA started coaching. And you guys just cracked 800 career wins this year and we should do it by the end of regular season -- I think # 7 and # 8 all time. So we are equally GREAT programs.
A couple things I took from last night.
1. alabama or texas will rape this psu team.
Hey Matt, bold statements from someone whose team has been raped twice by the SEC in the past two years. Hell you got raped by the PAC 10 this year.
I'd rather be a Nut than a Pussy Cat, like you mounds. FYI, Wikipedia is NOT a good source of information. Where else do you get your information? YouTube? Please tell me you don't vote!
Anyway, thanks for coming into a Buckeye Website and telling us how "respected PSU fans are around the country." Get a life.
I think Pete the Streak, said it correctly above.
And to Jim: No, OSU would not have beaten USC with Beanie in the backfield, as long as we have the same offensive offensive front 4.
I also agree with Chris that OSU and PSU are more alike than OSU/Mich. Isn't the series now tied at 12? Thats parity right there. I'm glad PSU is taking players from Michigan. It makes me warm and fuzzy inside.
What's up with the "rape" analogy? I don't think it is appropriate or funny at all. If "mounds" or "anonymous"(nice name moron. Grow some balls, will ya?) had been raped, I'm quite certain they wouldn't use that analogy.
I'm no psychologist, but I would say that Mounds has some Freudian demons in his head, what with all the talk of 'Nuts'. I mean, every post he's made has talked about 'Nuts'. You trying to hide something? If you're trying to be 'funny' or 'clever' it ain't workin!!!!
That being said, I will be rooting for PSU. They will pave the way for us to the Rose Bowl. I honestly want every Big 10 school to win every game except 1 each year.
CFL....HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CFL? Why don't you just come with me to Spain and fulfill my lifelong dream to be a matador?
Did someone say hike? OLE!
I'll be pulling for you guys to win out and give it back to the spoiled children in the Rose Bowl and for us to smack the horns in the Orange... and for the Michigan players to be sitting on their couches at home watching the games and eating tostitos.
hahaha....done! couldn't have written a better love story if i tried
Live by the Freshman, Die by the Freshman.