1. WHY WE STRUGGLED
#1 was the weather. You never want to throw wildcards into the mix when you are the superior team, and in the first half things were pretty slick. After the pick in particular you had to know JT was going to button things up. The thing to take away from this game is that we did not lose it because we made a bunch of mistakes on a wet track. It was a close game by design.
#2 was an underestimation of PSU. I don't know what happened against ND, but we read too much into it. (Maybe it is just what CW does when you give him all summer to prepare.) But PSU is a solid team. There was no reason to think otherwise. They have excellent speed at receiver and a powerful running game (not often will you see a team run the ball so well and never cross the goal line).
But in particular they are solid in their defensive front 7. Once the rain and JT took away the deep ball we lost our biggest strength against their biggest weakness.
And as much as I want to give credit to our D, a more polished QB might well have changed the outcome of this game.
This was not the result I expected from this grudge match, but perhaps I should have.
2. SPEED
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't King was behind Ginn on the pick?
Another reason we did not keep going deep.
3. HEISMAN HOPEFULS
Rather than losing ground I think Troy may have presented a defining moment. The weather was bad and he was not on top of his game. But when it was on the line he found a way to pull off a spectacular play.
Teddy G on the other hand lost serious ground - and that may be a good thing. If Troy is to win the award it is best not to have votes split within the team. At this point is there any argument who on this team is most deserving?
That said, Ginn did impress me not by muffing a couple of punts, but by not allowing those to turn into costly turnovers. They were great recoveries that not everyone can pull off.
4. MORELLI DECISION MAKING
Let me see if I recall things correctly. Morelli was going to go to Pitt and be a star from the git-go. But that was the year that someone finally convinced JoPa that if he didn't start playing true Frosh he would no longer be able to recruit them. So Morelli and his pushy father came to PSU with the understanding he would not be asked to RS.
So he gets a handful of attempts as a Frosh. Another handful as a Soph. In fact, he had the exact number of attempts in those two seasons as he had vs ND this year.
The result? Instead of a RS Soph with a chance to come into his own before this season ends and follow it up with two solid years he is a Junior desperately needing to come into his own so he can hope for one good year before he graduates.
Pardon me while I wipe away a tear.
5. MO WELLS
I have written an entry on Mo three straight weeks and deleted them all because I try not dwell on negatives. I will leave it at that.
6. ANTONIO SMITH
Singled him out last week and have to do so again. Not just the pick, but another 7 tackles. This kid is a poster child for walk ons.
7. ON THE NC HUNT
Yesterday reminded me of many of the games in 2002. The O did what it had to do but the D won the game. This was not the sort of game that wins you an NC, but it is the type of game that keeps you from losing it.
The late picks will become larger over time as pollsters forget just how close the game was played an recall only that the final was 28-6 (besides, only one other team in the top 5 had a larger margin of victory yesterday and they were playing Buffallo).
8. NEW CLOCK RULES
Last year in Happy Valley PSU ran 65 offensive plays to our 57.
This year they ran 65 to our 51.
9. GAME CHANGING MOMENT
Lots of those, and certainly the prime choice is Smith?s TD pass. But I would also like to nominate a play that took place two before that one ? Stan White?s catch on 3rd and one that kept the drive going to allow for Smith's TD pass. That was a heck of a catch by a kid who has labored 5 years in this program without a ton of accolades.
10. DL
Three of our top five tacklers were DL. That is quite a statement - you wont see it often. And it is a stat that reflected the reality.
11. STATS
Remember when you were a kid and you drove past an accident and your parents said "Don't look" and you looked anyhow and then wished you hadn't?
Well, don't look at the stats.
We had more yards in interception returns than we had passing - and almost as many as we had rushing.
On the most important play in football we averaged 38 yards per punt (after JoPa spent all week talking about our special teams supremacy they averaged 50).
PSU had more rushing yards, more first downs, and 10 MINUTES more time of possession.
We had ONE drive in the first half that lasted more than 4 plays. We had three drives the entire game that lasted more than 4 plays.
We may be furstrated that we did not play a better game, but PSU is asking themselves how on God's green earth they lost by 22 points.
12. NEW EVENING PRAYER
Dear Lord, when I am 79 may I run as fast as Joe Paterno.
13. #1 VS #2 CUBED?
It is an incredible long shot - but it could happen.
If a very good Michigan team (sorry, but having watched their last two games they are arguably the best team in the conference right now) continues to win and enough other teams lose (other than USC it is not that unlikely) we could have a second #1 vs #2 matchup on November 28th.
We win that one and by definition we play a third such matchup in January.
Again, very, very long shot and getting way ahead of myself - but what are message boards for?
14. BEAT IOWA!
It is all waiting for us. MSU may not recover from last night. Beat Iowa and the table is set with cupcakes all the way to November 28th.
We have not looked great the past two games, but our D is becoming very good. Give us a fast track and our O will score. But it is time to step up.
#1 was the weather. You never want to throw wildcards into the mix when you are the superior team, and in the first half things were pretty slick. After the pick in particular you had to know JT was going to button things up. The thing to take away from this game is that we did not lose it because we made a bunch of mistakes on a wet track. It was a close game by design.
#2 was an underestimation of PSU. I don't know what happened against ND, but we read too much into it. (Maybe it is just what CW does when you give him all summer to prepare.) But PSU is a solid team. There was no reason to think otherwise. They have excellent speed at receiver and a powerful running game (not often will you see a team run the ball so well and never cross the goal line).
But in particular they are solid in their defensive front 7. Once the rain and JT took away the deep ball we lost our biggest strength against their biggest weakness.
And as much as I want to give credit to our D, a more polished QB might well have changed the outcome of this game.
This was not the result I expected from this grudge match, but perhaps I should have.
2. SPEED
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't King was behind Ginn on the pick?
Another reason we did not keep going deep.
3. HEISMAN HOPEFULS
Rather than losing ground I think Troy may have presented a defining moment. The weather was bad and he was not on top of his game. But when it was on the line he found a way to pull off a spectacular play.
Teddy G on the other hand lost serious ground - and that may be a good thing. If Troy is to win the award it is best not to have votes split within the team. At this point is there any argument who on this team is most deserving?
That said, Ginn did impress me not by muffing a couple of punts, but by not allowing those to turn into costly turnovers. They were great recoveries that not everyone can pull off.
4. MORELLI DECISION MAKING
Let me see if I recall things correctly. Morelli was going to go to Pitt and be a star from the git-go. But that was the year that someone finally convinced JoPa that if he didn't start playing true Frosh he would no longer be able to recruit them. So Morelli and his pushy father came to PSU with the understanding he would not be asked to RS.
So he gets a handful of attempts as a Frosh. Another handful as a Soph. In fact, he had the exact number of attempts in those two seasons as he had vs ND this year.
The result? Instead of a RS Soph with a chance to come into his own before this season ends and follow it up with two solid years he is a Junior desperately needing to come into his own so he can hope for one good year before he graduates.
Pardon me while I wipe away a tear.
5. MO WELLS
I have written an entry on Mo three straight weeks and deleted them all because I try not dwell on negatives. I will leave it at that.
6. ANTONIO SMITH
Singled him out last week and have to do so again. Not just the pick, but another 7 tackles. This kid is a poster child for walk ons.
7. ON THE NC HUNT
Yesterday reminded me of many of the games in 2002. The O did what it had to do but the D won the game. This was not the sort of game that wins you an NC, but it is the type of game that keeps you from losing it.
The late picks will become larger over time as pollsters forget just how close the game was played an recall only that the final was 28-6 (besides, only one other team in the top 5 had a larger margin of victory yesterday and they were playing Buffallo).
8. NEW CLOCK RULES
Last year in Happy Valley PSU ran 65 offensive plays to our 57.
This year they ran 65 to our 51.
9. GAME CHANGING MOMENT
Lots of those, and certainly the prime choice is Smith?s TD pass. But I would also like to nominate a play that took place two before that one ? Stan White?s catch on 3rd and one that kept the drive going to allow for Smith's TD pass. That was a heck of a catch by a kid who has labored 5 years in this program without a ton of accolades.
10. DL
Three of our top five tacklers were DL. That is quite a statement - you wont see it often. And it is a stat that reflected the reality.
11. STATS
Remember when you were a kid and you drove past an accident and your parents said "Don't look" and you looked anyhow and then wished you hadn't?
Well, don't look at the stats.
We had more yards in interception returns than we had passing - and almost as many as we had rushing.
On the most important play in football we averaged 38 yards per punt (after JoPa spent all week talking about our special teams supremacy they averaged 50).
PSU had more rushing yards, more first downs, and 10 MINUTES more time of possession.
We had ONE drive in the first half that lasted more than 4 plays. We had three drives the entire game that lasted more than 4 plays.
We may be furstrated that we did not play a better game, but PSU is asking themselves how on God's green earth they lost by 22 points.
12. NEW EVENING PRAYER
Dear Lord, when I am 79 may I run as fast as Joe Paterno.
13. #1 VS #2 CUBED?
It is an incredible long shot - but it could happen.
If a very good Michigan team (sorry, but having watched their last two games they are arguably the best team in the conference right now) continues to win and enough other teams lose (other than USC it is not that unlikely) we could have a second #1 vs #2 matchup on November 28th.
We win that one and by definition we play a third such matchup in January.
Again, very, very long shot and getting way ahead of myself - but what are message boards for?
14. BEAT IOWA!
It is all waiting for us. MSU may not recover from last night. Beat Iowa and the table is set with cupcakes all the way to November 28th.
We have not looked great the past two games, but our D is becoming very good. Give us a fast track and our O will score. But it is time to step up.
