Ohio State Beats Down "Moxie"

Recap up tomorrow, then it's on to Iowa Week!

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..."

What the USC sanctions really mean.

Sad Panda. No, not because hes Asian. That's racist bro.

The NCAA Squeaky Punishment Hammer has finally come down after 6(6?!? geez-us) years of speculation, investigation and not-so-patient waiting by some of us. 30 Scholarships over 3 years, 2 season bowl ban, vacating wins, etc etc(not to mention the women's tennis team got in some trouble to I guess). We've pretty much all read or heard all about it. What does it mean? Too heavy? Too lenient? Depends on who you talk to...

• The NCAA actually has teeth and knows how to (think about using them for a long time and then) use them.

• 30 Scholarships is BIG. Really Big. The NCAA limits the number of scholarship players on a division 1 roster to 85 total at any given time. How that impacts a given recruiting year varies on the number of freshman, sophomores, juniors, seniors, etc you have on the team at a given time. For arguments sake, and for easier math, let's assume an equal distribution, which would 21.25 scholarships be class, and for the sake of round numbers we'll use 21. That means for the 2011, 2012(when the world ends) and 2013 seasons you're down to 11 scholarships you can offer, or a little more than half of your normal allotment. That's gonna sting.
• 2 year post-season ban. What this comes down to is recruiting(think national TV) and Money(bowl games pay out TONS of money to the participating schools/conferences). When you couple the loss of national exposure to recruits during those bowl games, which except for last season have all been prime time, January 1st or later games, with the loss of available scholarships you get a double hit on recruiting. Also, playing in a bowl game is some-what prestigious depending on which one you are in. By not playing in one your team could take a bit of a PR/mystique hit in the eyes of recruits and their parents. Kids want a couple of things when they decide on a football program: immediate playing time, national exposure and the best possible shot at making it to the in as little time as possible. With this 2 year ban, the 3 year plan to jump takes a big hit.(these are assumptions for top talent mostly)

• The 2010 USC Tojans enter the season in lot of polls as a top ten or higher team(s0mehow). Will they play up to their potential or has the reality of no post season taken the wind out of their sails already? Can this coupled with a new coaching staff set them back significantly in wins and losses? Maybe. Actually, it's quite probable.

While some will say that this took to long, we have to realize that the NCAA only has one shot to get it right. Convincing former and current Athletic Directors of these sorts of things isn't exaclty easy. Sure, most of the offending parties have gone on to other things(we think) but it is the institution that we punish, not the individual.(unless you're Tim Floyd who got fired a while back) So down with the car flags. Put away all your obnoxious USC gear, and no more "fight on" with your V's or peace signs, whatever the hell they are. Let us revel in your sadness. Let me taste your delicious tears. And please please please go undefeated for the next two seasons just because I would find that to be very ironic.

Sad Pandas that have migrated out of their natural habitat of Happy Valley for warmer climates. They are still very sad though.