[CFB] 08-09 Season Extravaganza

[Darkko]

Bummer of a loss, but man what a great defensive game. Hats off to PSU, it takes a great team to come into Columbus and get out with a win. Will def be rooting for Joe Pa to go out with a National Championship.

[psu199]

Very good game, gotta give credit to OSU for bottling up the Penn State offense. They brought a lot of varied pressure, and Clark never got comfortable. I also don't think we committed to the run early enough, but I won't complain!

I found it very interesting how two-faced Ohio State's offensive line was. They protected the shit out of Pryor, he barley got touched back there. But at the same time, they couldn't do anything on the ground. Beanie probably averaged 2.5 a carry, Pryor even less.

(Also, someone clarify this for me, they keep talking about no penalties for Penn State...didn't Butler get flagged for offensive pass interference? How does that work if they decline it, it doesn't count as a penalty?)

[Darkko]

Ya, our offensive line has been our weak link this year. We've got lots of great freshman/incoming recruits on the line so hopefully this problem will be corrected. It will be huge that we will have an experienced center next year with Brewster starting as a frosh this year. Not trying to throw anyone under the bus, but these upperclassmen on the line have not been getting it done, at all. Offensive line problems aren't going to change themselves overnight unfortunately.

[Tea on tuesday]

Originally Posted by psu199

Very good game, gotta give credit to OSU for bottling up the Penn State offense. They brought a lot of varied pressure, and Clark never got comfortable.

That's probably the best thing to take away from the loss as an OSU fan. For too long we've had endure soft zone looks in big games, to see them bringing pressure and succeeding against a great o-line was big for me. Anyway, hopefully Bama will drop one and you guys can play for a title.

Originally Posted by psu199

(Also, someone clarify this for me, they keep talking about no penalties for Penn State...didn't Butler get flagged for offensive pass interference? How does that work if they decline it, it doesn't count as a penalty?)

That's exactly how it works.

edit: No false starts in C-bus in a night game is freaking incredible. That's what really impressed me the most about PSU, very disciplined team all around.

[Darkko]

Another thing that amazed me was the way PSU contained Chris Wells. Obviously, some of this is our play calling (Damn it, we need a real OC), we can't run Beanie three straight times up the center in the red zone and expect the defense to be fooled. However, I've never seen a team contain Wells like PSU did tonight. Chris can pretty much put the team on his back and win games by himself. Not even LSU, whose D was better than PSU's, was able to contain Wells like that (I'm still not sure why we ever went away from Wells against LSU when it was working)

As for Pryor, I think he is continuing to progress well. Can't really put the blame on him. Its easy in hindsight to say he should have done something different, but I still feel confident with him back there. Everyone knew that at some point he was going to struggle. He's just gotta learn and bounce back.

[cdyhybrid]

I am facepalming hard, thank god for booze. Also, I got read the riot act by a friend tonight and realized that I am as horrible as a person as our football team is. Fuck.

[psu199]

As for Pryor, I think he is continuing to progress well. Can't really put the blame on him.

Granted the guy is 19, and he's got tremendous talent, BUT:

Someone's got to sit him down and show him film of the top 10 mistakes super-athletes make when they move to the next level of Football.

I think #1 on that list would be trying to do too much and fumbling because you don't protect the ball.

[Tea on tuesday]

Also, it'll be interesting to see how the situation with Oklahoma State shakes out next year; this could have been their last shot at glory for quite a while.

[WillzZz]

Some interesting games, didn't get to watch a lot this week. What did USC look like? I see the final score and highlights/articles, but that doesn't tell me a whole lot nowadays.

Taking off my gator hat for a minute I wish Joe Pa all the luck in the world for getting into the NC, because his team looks superbly coached. Whether they're the flashiest or not, they're not making stupid mistakes, not making bonehead plays or losing assignments. I don't HATE anyone on their team because of the way they act, which is untrue for a lot of college athletes who are so full of themselves. His players are very active and almost professional, if that makes any sense. (Minor exception: What was the deal with Darryl Clark? I saw a few shots of him storming up and down the bench like he was pissed off that he got benched. Did he get hurt or just acting like a baby?)

Anyways, it's a great story to see him still doing it at 80-something.

Oh, and Go Gators! Too bad we can't have a 'Special-Teams-Off' for the NC! We'd be a lock!

[Kaxmax]

Clark had a concussion. He was definitely pissed at being taken out, but it's the right call if his safety is at stake.

"I don't think he knew where he was," quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno said. "It was a medical decision all the way."

Added wideout Deon Butler: "You can tell when someone's zoned out. They're looking somewhere, but they're really not there. He was fighting, but you could tell."

[whatsamattau]

Don't ever say I'm not a nice guy. I gave you guys almost an entire night to jack each other off.

If you think that only a great team could have beaten Ohio State last night, you're more diluted than Ohio State's offense. Both Ohio State and Penn State were flat on offense. I've never seen two more pedestrian teams.

It looks like we can count on the Big-10 to provide one half of the national championship game every year until someone finally stands up and says enough. You can have one "big" in conference test a year, schedule cupcakes out of conference, and expect to be given the spot. What a disgrace.

[Cynno]

Originally Posted by whatsamattau

Don't ever say I'm not a nice guy. I gave you guys almost an entire night to jack each other off.

If you think that only a great team could have beaten Ohio State last night, you're more diluted than Ohio State's offense. Both Ohio State and Penn State were flat on offense. I've never seen two more pedestrian teams.

It looks like we can count on the Big-10 to provide one half of the national championship game every year until someone finally stands up and says enough. You can have one "big" in conference test a year, schedule cupcakes out of conference, and expect to be given the spot. What a disgrace.

Amen

[Twobit Whore]

I thought PSU was fairly impressive. Their offense obviously didn't explode but they locked down Wells very well and contained Pryor decently. Only a couple of rare big plays got OSU down the field.

If it had been anywhere but the shoe then I would be more critical but they did go into their place and leave them unable to do anything.

Plus I'm pulling for Joe Pa. He deserves a perfect season and then he should retire before he dies on the field.

PSU vs. UT for the title would be a classic.

[psu199]

Again with the conference hate? Would you wait until they play the fucking games? Or do you want to look at history?

Penn State has earned invitations to 40 bowl games. The Nittany Lions have compiled a record of 26-12-2 (0.675), the highest winning percentage of any Division I FBS team, including a 14-5-1 (0.725) record in the so-called "major" bowls (Rose, Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, and Cotton)

Last 3 years: Win over the Big-12 (A+M) Win over SEC (Tenn) Win over ACC (Florida St.)

Just shut the fuck up already with your bullshit conference drivel. Let them play the games, then feel free to bitch your pretty little head off.

If you came away from that game with anything but respect for the defenses of both teams, and respect for the discipline of a good team in a very hostile environment, you're looking for things to critique. Sure, offenses are flat, but the guys on the other side of the ball get scholarships too. Just because a team doesn't put up 40 in a game (wait what's PSU's scoring average?) doesn't mean they're not an elite program.

[whatsamattau]

Again with the constant leaning on 40 year old football History? Would you like us to anoint a team based on what they did 35 years ago? Or would you like to look at the present?

It looks like I struck a nerve. Penn State boy wants everyone to buy into a team that has a strength of schedule that ranks out of the top 100 among the 119-some teams in their division. Sorry, I'm not ESPN. Your team looked terrible last night. I can't make them play better than they are any better than you can argue it yourself.

If Penn State makes it to the national championship game, they will have done it on a schedule that is much easier than Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Utah, Boise State, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, USC (Yeah, USC has a harder schedule than penn state, ouch), or any other team with 0 or 1 loss. That should bother people. But then, you don't care about watching the games, do you? Because if you did you'd be able to admit this fact. But You won't, because hey, 40 years ago....