2010 Team Previews: Penn State

"I'm a saaaaad panda."

Let me start off by saying this, Nitts: Your hate only makes us stronger. I won't make any jokes at your coaches expense, but it all DEPENDS(only one, and it's out of the way now. Don;t pretend like you wouldn't play that card if you had it.) on how you act. Last season was all about clever T-Shirts and another unfulfilled year in Not-so-Happy Valley, Pa. Expectations were sky high for Penn State, with returning QB Daryll Clark, Evan Royster and the rest of the offense. They even had "God's Gift" at tight end!! What could go wrong?It all came crashing down in week four. Penn State started the year off by blasting legendary programs such as Akron, Syracuse and Temple. The defense didn't give up more than 7 to any of those three opponents. Then Iowa came to town and made Daryll Clark a very sad panda to the tune of a 21-10 win over the Nittany Lions.

And then this happened....

A few weeks later Ohio State(ranked #12 at the time) came in an shut out the Nitts 24-0, because we all know he didn't cross the goal line. Terrelle "We never wanted him N-E-WAYZZZ" Pryor arm punted the Bucks to victory, The Penn State secondary tackled each other and Mr. Pryor broke someone's ankles on his way in to the end zone for 6. Another wasted white-out, and more sad pandas. There were cries of "now you can go lose the Rose Bowl derppa derpp" here and there, which falls under "Penn State Fan's irrational argument number 1,235: point out opposing school will lose game that we can't even make it to". Penn State did manage to beat LSU in the muddiest bowl game I've ever seen, the 2010 Capital One Bowl. Les Miles something something clock management. Ohio State went on to beat Oregon in a game that didn't count, apparently.

TP, just getting used to the end zone. Gotta find the best place to spend the day...

To be successful in 2010, Daryll Clark will have to earn a 5th year of eligibility from the NCAA... or Kevin Newsome will have to play better than expected. But in all seriousness, Evan Royster will have to Carry this team on his back. The offensive line is relatively experienced, which will help the run game, but returning most of a line that other elite teams in the conference abused isn't exactly a great thing. Both Adrian Clayborn and Cameron Heyward camped out in the PSU backfield last season, and made Daryll Clark play like a man that was running scared. Will Royster be able to run behind this line against Iowa and Ohio State?Last season Iowa held Royster to 69 yards, and OSU held Royster to 36 yards on 13 carries. Penn State won't win any games that way.

The good news for Newsome is that in addition to Royster he'll Have Derek Moye and Graham Zug to throw to, if he has time. In 2009 Moye caught 48 passes for 785 yards and 6 touchdowns. Zug caught 46 for 600 yards and 7 TD's. Not the best tandem in the universe, but still pretty good.

On defense the Nitts will have to replace linebackers Navarro Bowman , Josh Hull and Sean Lee, and DT Jared Odrick. Even for "Linebacker U" replacing 3 starting LB's is a tall order. Are the new parts on offense and defense too much to overcome? Against the top 3 teams in the Big Ten, yes.

Youngstown State (W): It's Youngstown State....

@Alabama (L): As much as it pains me to say this, I'll be rooting for PSU not to lose to Alabama. Notice that I didn't say win. Sure Alabama's defense has almost no one back from 2009's run, but it's at Alabama and they still have Mark Ingram running the ball. Could be over by half time.

(Ed Note: from what I have read, this is a game that was rescheduled from a couple years ago. So you get retroactive credit for scheduling a tough one. However, outside of this game when was the last time that PSU scheduled another top 10 opponent in a home and home?)

Kent State (W): Kent State is still Kent State.

Temple (W): Penn State loves to schedule terrible non-conference opponents.

(Temple is the least bad of non-conference games, but Temple hasn't beaten PSU since 1941. Also, don't use "Heisman Candidate" so loosely. No chance that guy wins even if he puts up huge un-godly numbers.)

@Iowa (L): Adrian Clayborn shows that he's the real deal, Kevin Newsome has a bad day.

Illinois (W): Much needed after the trip to Kinnick.

BYE WEEK

@Minnesota (W): Unless Kevin Newsome is worse than advertised, Penn State should win here.

Michigan (W): Two in a row. Velcro or Fivecier like to toss the ball to guys wearing the wrong colored shirts. It could be a close game with PSU's new line-backing corps for 2010 against the running back that occasionally throws and takes snaps under center.

Northwestern (W): Talent Gap, and it's in Happy Valley.

@OSU (L): Remember those t-shirts you made? What about those Daryll Clark for president comments? Yeah, you'll regret those. Saaaaad paaaaandaaaasssss.

Indiana (@FedEX Field) (W): I don't know why Penn State would agree to play here, unless the check that Dan Snyder wrote then was "Haynesworthesque". This game will be closer than we all think at this point. Indiana can chuck the ball around with that spread/pistol stuff they run. Penn State should win based on raw talent alone.

(Ed. Note: apparently it was Indiana who sold their home game here. Makes sense, they probably stand to make more money when compared to taking the home gate, concession sales, etc. Not sure why I would know this, but thanks for the info)

Michigan State (W): I had a tough time with this one, and I explained it all in the MSU preview last week. It's gonna be a tight game, and will come down to whoever makes less mistakes, as usual. Kirk Cousins could make PSU pay dearly, but I give the edge to PSU at home.

You win this contraption.

Final Prediction: After running through the 2010 season Penn State wins the games they should win and loses the ones they should. I don't think there will be many surprises here, unless you're Royster who wants to send Paterno "out on top"9-3 overall and 6-2 in the conference. Going to eat some steak at the Outback Bowl in lovely Tampa, Florida.

"Let's go Outback tonight..."