Outback Bowl Fallout

The Outback bowl could not have gone better for our beloved Nittany Lions. I will attempt to break down the game, in my own meager way, below.

When Penn State had the ball:
The player of the game was clearly Tony Hunt. Hunt was an absolute horse carrying the ball 31 times for 158 yards. While Tony didn't get into the endzone on New Year's day he was both the alpha and the omega when it came to Penn State's offense. That being said, I would be remiss not to mention the refreshingly good play of Anthony Morelli.
Morelli completed 14 of 25 passes for 197 yards and a TD. While this stat-line doesn't seem like anything to crow about, one must look behind the stats to see the progress in Morelli's game. AMMO didn't turn the ball over once and, when he was in trouble, Morelli made the smart play and chucked the ball out of bounds. He played within himself, didn't try to win the game all alone, and ended up instilling confidence in his game for '07.





When Tennessee had the ball:
As expected, Tennessee rushed the ball sporadically only accruing 83 yards. The much vaunted passing game racked up good yardage as Ainge passed for 267 yards. However, only 33 of those yards went to Meachem. I also didn't notice the much talked about UT speed. To be honest, I didn't notice much of a speed difference between the two teams at all. What I did notice was that Penn State played a much more physical game than the Vols. Scirrotto had some big hits in the secondary as well as an interception and generally inflicted his will on the Volunteers. The tide turned in favor of the Lions when Tony Davis scooped up a fumble and rumbled 88 yards for a defensive TD!

This was Penn State's only win against a ranked opponent this year and it could not have come at a better time. This win did several things. It really gives us fans something to look forward to in 2007. It also puts the myth of "southern speed" to rest. We all know UT didn't think much about Penn State's team speed before the game. I wonder what the post-game comments will be like? Because, from where I was sitting, there was no difference in speed between the two teams but PSU out-physicaled the volunteers.











GO STATE! LETS GET READY FOR 2007!
(Joe is Ready!)