Purdue: Fears and Focus

With all the hype surrounding this year's Nittany Lions it seems appropriate to list a few reasons to be concerned about this week's game against Purdue.

1. This is a road game and the Lions have struggled on the road against quality opponnents. Yes, Purdue is a "quality" opponent. They are a 2-2 team who could very easily be 3-1 if they had won a hard fought game against Oregon in week two.

2. Joe Tiller is wily and crazy. He will throw the ball 60% of the time which will put pressure on Penn State's secondary. This includes putting pressure on LBs who may have to cover slot receivers.

3. Focus. The Lions need to keep it. This is a game where, if they aren't careful, they might lose focus on Purdue. Think about it, the Lions just had a big emotional win against a Top 25 team. They face Wisconsin on the road next week. The team is starting to be mentioned in the national title picture. Could be a recipe for disaster.

Clark and Cadogan are going to do their best to keep the team focused.

Clarke (via The Collegian):

"[Joe Paterno] has a great deal of leadership on this team, both sides of the ball," Clark said, "and I think that's something we may have missed the past couple of years."

Cadogan:

"The leadership, even though we have five designated captains, the leadership is coming from the entire senior class," senior and left tackle Gerald Cadogan said. "Everybody's pulling their weight, everybody's buying into what we have to do weekly throughout practice and really having our heads on straight and having the goal in mind that we want to win it all."

GO STATE! ONE GAME AT A TIME!

Focus

There has been much talk this year about focus. The team needs to stay focused. The team can't be distracted by the fight back in April. Focus. The team can't be distracted by the Quarless incident. Focus. Don't be distracted by fights and legal proceedings! Focus. Ignore the fact that the local police might be armed with tasers! FOCUS! The team needs to keep their minds on the season not on rumors. Focus. Recently, the Lions have done exactly that. The defense held PJ Hill and the vaunted Wisconsin rushing attack to 87 yards while the offense racked up 221 yards on the ground.

This week, however, might be the biggest test of the team's ability to focus to date. They play Indiana on the road at noon. With a match-up against #1 ranked Ohio State looming on 10/27. That game will be at night and on national TV by the way. No pressure. Just stay focused on Indiana, who has just as many Big Ten conference wins as PSU. Also, one must consider the Lion's propensity to start slow on the road. This week's game will not only be a test of the Lion's ability to play their first good game on the road but also to block out thoughts of next week.

The Lions know what they are playing for and what they are up against. The Lions get it done on Saturday beating Indiana. If you want to see what I thought of Indiana in the Preseason you can find it here. I see no reason to change predictions now!

PSU: 52
Indiana 17

GO STATE! STAY FOCUSED! BEAT THE HOOSIERS!