PSU Football.....Is this the Year?

Well, it's that time again. The time of year that we all look forward to. You know what I'm talkin' about.....are you ready for some footballllllll?

I meant that as more of a rhetorical question, but my vote is yes, I AM ready for some football. And not just any football. We're talking PSU Nittany Lion football.

Now, the question that remains is this.....Is this the year I finally get to see my team hold a championship trophy? Unfortunately I think that the answer is no. However, I don't think that we will be too far away. The only way to do this is to break is down logically, so here we go.....

Quarterback: Well, I know that I'm not going out on a limb or anything, but it really starts and ends with the quarterback position. I'm not completely sold on which Anthony Morelli is going to show up this season. The Anthony Morelli who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, or the the AM who looked crisp in the Outback Bowl. I was shocked to learn that last season he broke the school's single season records for pass attempts and completions. Never would have guessed that. I think the best that we can hope for is that he pulls a "Chris Leak" and becomes the highly touted recruit who finally lives up to the hype and leads his team to a great record in his final season. Worst case scenario is that we are clamoring for Daryl Clark or Pat Devlin by the 4th game. That's why it's so hard to read this season. We simply don't know which one is going to show up.

Running Back: The highly touted recruit needs to finally live up to the hype and shine in his senior season. Wait, didn't we just go through this? Well, we did but this time I am referring to Austin Scott. I can remember how excited we all were 4 years ago when we "stole" this touchdown machine from high school because other schools were scared off by his knee injury. Again, Scott has shown flashes of brilliance before. We need look no further than his performance in the Orange Bowl vs. Florida State from 2 seasons ago. His stats from that game, 26 carries, 110 yds, and 2 TDs. If we get this kind of production from him on a consistent basis, I think that the offense will take on whole different personality.

Receivers: This is actually one area where I'm not worried. Kind of. For the first time in a while, I think that we have sufficient depth at the position. We have a core group of guys who can stretch a defense, actually catch the ball, and make plays in the open field. The one wildcard here is Derrick Williams. Again, which one is going to show up? The dynamic playmaker from 2 seasons ago, or the sophomore slump from 2006? Quite frankly, I don't think that he can regress much more so I am quite hopeful here. Deon Butler, Chris Bell (assuming he's getting his fair share of chicken cosmos) and Jordan Norwood give us one of the best receiving corps in the nation. Also, I was prepared to say that Andrew Quarless was ready to have a breakout season as the tight end. Well, that was before he got cited for underage drinking recently. I still think that he'll play and do well though.

Offensive Line: A lot of inexperience here. Gerald Cadogan moves over to LT to protect Morelli's blind side. Blue/White Illustrated has the other starters listed as Dennis Landolt, A.Q. Shipley, Lou Eliades, and John Shaw. I know this is redundant, but all they need to do is give Morelli time to make plays and open holes for Scott.

Defense: I know less about the defense so I am going to group them all together. Von keeps telling me how dominant the front 4 guys to be. Personally, I am pulling for Josh Gaines to have a breakout year. This is because he is the guy that I control when I am playing PSU on NCAA Football 2007. I'm pretty sure that he would have been an All-American, but my subpar performance skills have definitely hurt any chances he had of being drafted and making it onto my Madden roster. Ok, I'm babbling.

I think that the LBs might be the best trio in the country. I believe that Connor needs 98 tackles to break Poz's record for most in a career. I don't think that he'll have any trouble getting it. However, if he comes short by a few tackles, we can all look at the 3 games that he missed 2 seasons ago because of that prank phone call BS.

The secondary should also be solid again. The one question mark is Anthony Scrotum and whether or not his legal problems will affect his ability to be in the starting line-up and not worrying about being sold to the a biker gang for two cartons of cigarettes. Anyway, even if he can't go I have full confidence in his back up, Jason Ganter. Ok, scratch that......we're screwed.

Record: Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again....if we beat Michigan the season is a complete success. That being said, I don't see it happening this year. If the game was at home, I'd feel much better about it. The bright side of this argument is that I think that this will be our only loss for the season. Now, I think that we'll have some close calls but I see the record being 11-1, and a trip to the Sugar Bowl vs. LSU.

So, no BCS championship, but there's always next year.....

~Kevin