In honor of Labor Day, I am going to put as little effort as possible into this post. I couldn't really think of any new and Earth-shattering topics so I decided to write about the one thing that the people who read this blog all care about....PSU football. And, without further to do here are my expert observations.
First, for anyone who was actually at the game, is it asking too much for them to put a dome in? Seriously. For anybody who was there, it was an absolute mess. I think about 2 inches of rain fell in State College on Saturday. I was drenched. Stop being cheap already and just add another 20,000 seats and enclose it all. Put a $1 tax on something and the job pays for itself.
Onto the actual game. Well, this game was like getting a sweater for Christmas. It's nice, but not exactly what you were hoping to see. We'll start on offense. I thought Morelli looked composed for his first start. He had great touch on that pass to Butler on the first drive. However, as pointed out by DWB, he doesn't look to his 2nd or 3rd receivers. Next, offensive line: pass blocking = good, run blocking = not so much. If we couldn't spring Tony Hunt against Akron, I have serious concerns against the Ohio State's and Michigan's of the world. Receivers: wow. I can't believe that a few years ago we consistently saw balls bouncing off chests. And that was just with the cheerleaders before the game. Thank you, thank you....I'll be here all week. Seriously, was it asking too much to have receivers who could actually catch the damn ball? I read a nice article on Deon Butler, and I found out that his only scholarship offer initially came from William and Mary. Kind of glad that he stuck it out with us. I'd love to see the defense that could hang with a 5 receiver set of Williams, Butler, Norwood, Golden, and Bell. That's some major league depth.
Defense. Does anybody remember my preview a few weeks ago that stated "I hope Dan Connor makes 'the leap' this year"? Well, that took exactly 1 week. I'm not sure how this looked on TV, but for anybody that wasn't there, he absolutely FINISHED tackles. I mean, drove people into the ground. Also, my apologies to Tim Shaw. I thought he was going to be the answer to the trivia question 10 years from now, 'who was the 3rd starter with Posluszny and Connor in 2006'? He looks like a serious player as well. The secondary looks like it has some players too. I thought that King and Johnson did a good job keeping the Akron receivers in check. Tony Davis played well also. Ed Johnson displayed a year's worth of frustration, and I hope that he can keep it up for the whole year. Surprisingly, Jay Alford seemed to be a non-factor. But I was busy trying to keep pneumonia at bay, so what do I know.
Special teams. I think that Kevin Kelly exorcised the demons of the Orange Bowl as he kicked those field goals in really bad conditions. Also, if AJ Wallace can keep his hands on the damn ball he will break at least one this year. (on a side note, Tecmo AJ Wallace is now returning kicks and punts for my PS2 team and he fumbled his first 2 attempts, not a promising sign.)
Intangibles. For anybody who wasn't at the game they showed the new video for the year. Let me sum it up for you in a word, INCREDIBLE. If you went to Penn State, see that video, and don't get goosebumps you should have your diploma taken away. I think I had a tear welling up in my eye afterwards. Just fantastic overall. Also, they did something that I didn't remember seeing before. The captains, Posluszny and Levi Brown came out by themselves, followed by the team as they played 'We will rock you.' Another goosebump moment. However, I do have some complaints. First, for anybody that has never tailgated at Beaver Stadium, the whole purpose is to get loaded, sneak beer into the stadium, and then act like a soccer hooligan. Well, this year they have outlawed drinking in the parking lot during the game. So, you can get stinking drunk before and after the game, but not during! It almost seems unAmerican to me. It's supposed to stop people who come up just to tailgate, but have no intention of going into the game. Is nothing sacred anymore? Also, during the game they showed a new website that has a lot of cool PSU football information. You can find it here.
Next week. I didn't get a chance to see any of the Notre Dame / Georgia Tech game, but from the highlights that I saw, the Irish look totally beatable. So, here's my plan of attack for this Saturday. Seeing as how I have no wife, kids, or other commitments I am going to try something new. The PSU / Notre Dame game is on at 3:30, followed by Ohio State / Texas at 8. My plan is to get up, begin drinking at about noon, and then keep a running diary of the PSU game. So, for anybody with 'net access during the game, make sure to check back periodically to get my up to the minute analysis of the game.
~Till Saturday. We are..........
~K
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5 comments:
Ok, about the video. Are talking about the first video with the crappy music or the second video, which was last years video with new pictures and clips. I thought the first video was ok, but the enya music sucked and took away from the video. Oh, you are a pussy. I little rain, wah wah wah. I was warm at halftime at the apartment. Work smarter not harder.
The Chad
Kev-
You pussy. Why don't you tell everybody where you were sitting? Oh yeah, it was under the upper deck. How in a stadium of 106,000 seats you got one 10 rows behind me is amazing. Anyways, I was not under the upper deck, rather I was at the edge, so I got all the runoff!
I agree that ND is beatable. I saw the end of the game, and while Georgia Tech is a good team, If ND is supposedly #2, they should have put up 35 points.
Don't even get me started on the chad. Instead of supporting his team, he was in his apartment trying on skirts.
Kev, I don't see whats different about starting drinking at noon on a football Saturday. Maybe the difference is that it will be recorded for history. I'll be there with you buddy.
Men,
I missed the game...I was sitting in a church at a wedding of two of the most underachieving doucebags on the planet...That is for a different blog. Anyways...I was listening to the game for most of the 2nd half and it seemed like we just had the first game jitters. I think we can be dominating this year...the O-line will come together and the awesome foursome(Pozlusny, Connor, Shaw, and Lee) will stifle everyone this year. I really like lining Shaw up at D-end. The only thing I would like to see the offense do better is use the tight end. This has always been a strong point for PSU and just because we have great WR's doesn't mean that we can't sneek the TE across the middle on 3rd on long. CWG's prediction PSU 35 ND 24.
First, even though I was "technically" under the overhang, I was still wet. And I don't care what you say the new video was great. Also, the Chad doesn't realize it yet, but he's going to be my on-site correspondent for the game. I'll be expecting periodic check-in's. I like CWG's idea of using the TE more. ALso, I'd just like to say that I have been very impressed with the level of post-game analysis. I remember when it consisted mainly of sitting on a couch and saying "this guy sucks." Finally, no real difference in starting drinking at noon. Just the fact that I think for the big games, we all need some real time feedback.
I desperately want to start screaming to everyone that PSU is going to kill Notre Dame, but I'm not totally convinced. I think that we'll be able to score some points on them as our QB & receivers are solid. I think that Morelli tries to force some things cause of his cannon of an arm and that might get us into some trouble. As for defence, we'll have our work cut out. The secondary will need to play 6 inches taller than the are and the front 7 will need to get some serious pressure on. I'm worrid about a Darius Walker screen and a Samardzia-mama fade to the corner. Williams will get a return for a TD and Poz will be uncontrollable! Write that last one down!
As for the real-time updates, I'm definitely going to be online checking.
As for the tailgating rule, I'm super pissed! I'm the last person it will affect as I'd be in the game if I'm even up in State College on a football weekend. It's just them over-reacting to the #2 party school ranking. I think that if they don't reverse their stance, they'll have another riot on their hands!
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