Relive the Drunken Hilarity

That was the Alamo Bowl Pregame!



It is all the sweeter now that we know the outcome!

GOOD WORK STATE! GET READY FOR '08!

The Meat of the Bowl Schedule

The Meat of the Bowl Schedule is upon us! Rejoice in it's excellence! I watched the Motor City Bowl last night and it was as stupendous as it has been made out to be! Good work Purdue! Way to carry the Big Ten Banner high and proud.

Tonight, however, we get to feast at the smörgåsbord of excellence which is the Holiday Bowl where ASU and Texas will attempt to smash the other into smithereens! It should be a great game with tons of scoring you are required to watch or have your eyes burned out of your skull.

In PSU news:
Baker and Bowmann won't be seen anywhere in the vicinity of the Alamo Bowl. Sadly, the two have hit the magical number of criminal charges that can be filed against a man before playing time decreases at PSU: 2.

Little Ant'ny Morelli will be seen at the Alamo Bowl but apparently won't be seen at any point before then. Morelli didn't show up for press conference on Wednesday. Ummm, Ok. BSD and RUTS have good posts on the subject so go check them out.

All of this just leaves me flabbergasted. I understand if Morelli doesn't want to talk to the media, the media has not been kind to our Ant'ny. However, much of this criticism has been deserved and that, sadly, is part of the job description of being a QB at a major university. You talk to the media. If they are mean to you; too bad! If you don't want to answer questions don't answer them. But show up! Don't leave the rest of your teammates to answer questions about why you aren't there. Show up. Don't be a distraction. Focus on the task at hand.





GO STATE! BEAT THE AGGIES!

Linebacker U: The Battle for the Throne (redux)?

Penn State and the Aggies will meet in this year's Alamo Bowl (Dec. 29th 8 Pm EST) in a rematch of the 1999 Alamo bowl. The 1999 contest was built up to see who deserved the title: Linebacker U. Now you might say "JB, that is poppycock! PSU has always been and will always be Linebacker U." Well, if that is the case then you weren't paying attention to Texas A&M circa 1999. Observe:

"The game gets me pumped up," Glenn said. "They do have Arrington, but we have linebackers who are just as good. We just don't get the recognition they do.

"We've got Brian Gamble, who is a freshman who came in and is doing a good job. Cornelius Anthony has made a lot of tackles and Roylin Bradley speaks for himself, when he comes and plays. With the depth that we have, our linebackers are just as good. I believe our linebackers and our backups could start anywhere."

When asked what team really is "Linebacker U," Glenn had a quick answer.

"I believe it's really Texas A&M," Glenn said. One indication in the disparity in talent can be found by comparing the honors lists of the two schools. Punter Shane Lechler was the only Texas A&M player selected for the All-Big 12 team. The Nittany Lions had three players -- defensive end Courtney Brown, Arrington and middle linebacker Brandon Short -- as consensus All-American selections.

Find the Article here.

You may also remember that this got Lavaar a little fired up.

"History says that Penn State is Linebacker U., forever," Arrington said. "Anybody else who claims that name is just a wannabe. That's the reason I went to Penn State, to play for Linebacker U. That's something I'll defend, with all my honor."

Hell YES! That is what I am talking about!

Find that article here.

PSU also went on to steamroll the Aggies 24-0 in that game.

This year, PSU yet again has a potential AA at Linebacker in this year's Bednarik Award Winner, Dan Connor (3rd straight year the award went to a Nittany Lion), and the Lions arrive at the Alamo Bowl after a disappointing year. This year, however, there will be no debate over who has the best Linebacking corps. The Aggies' two leading tacklers are LBs Mark Dodge and Misi Tupe with 108 and 89 tackles respectively. The duo also has 4.5 and 4 TFL on the season. These numbers, however, seem quite piddly in comparison to Dan Connor and Sean Lee who racked up 136 and 124 tackles respectively. The two standouts also had 14 and 9.5 TFL this season.

The two talented Nittany Lionbackers also lead a defense which gives up 8.5 fewer pts/game this season. The choice is clear, PSU was, is, and always will be Linebacker U.

Alamo Bowl a Big Game for PSU!

PSU will be facing Texas Tech or Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl. While not a big time bowl game, make no mistake, this is a big game for PSU. A bowl game give you an extra month of practice. An opportunity to get some good momentum going into spring practice. A chance to get 9 wins (it should've been 10, fuck!) An opportunity to see Clarke or Devlin? Unlikely but that sure would be nice. Your last chance to see Dan Connor in the Blue & White.

To focus in on what Is at the forefront of PSU fans' minds: how much will Clark or Devlin get to play? I sure hope they get to play some. I completely understand that Morelli "lead" PSU to this pinnacle of excellence but we gotta see what these guys can do. I'm not saying bench Morelli, I'm saying give the other kids a quarter to see what they can do. I was calling for Clark or Devlin to be used in a Tebow-esque role (from last year) in order to get them some experience and to add another dimension to the offense. Alas, that did not happen. I really don't think Joe reads this blog, or knows what a blog is. Regardless, this is going to be a big game.

GO STATE! BEAT ONE OF THOSE TEXAS SCHOOLS!