Blue-White Roundtable: Week Five (Still hungover from Saturday)

The Nittany Notebook brings us the questions this week. My answers can be found below, however, for more cogent responses I implore you to examine the following sites: BSD, TNL, WWN, and RUTS.

1. The offense looked pathetic against Michigan. Is there any hope that Penn State’s offense can at least play respectably the rest of the season?

The belief that there is still hope is the only thing getting me out of bed in the morning. I think that the offensive line, the RBs, and the QB position are all capable of playing better than they did on Saturday. It seems like there aren't going to be any major changes in the line-up for Illinois so we will need guys who struggled at Michigan to pick up the pieces to get ready for a much improved Illinis team.

2. You can lay the blame for the loss to Michigan on one person. Who gets it?

Whoever was responsible for the offensive scheme. If that is Joe, then I blame Joe. If it is Hall than he is my person to blame. The fact that there weren't at least 3 WRs on the field the whole game is scandalous. The over use of the I-formation nearly made me pass out.

3. Penn State plays Illinois in a tough road test this weekend. What kind of performance do you expect from Penn State on Saturday?

I expect them to play much better than they did last Saturday. I always expect PSU to be a good team. Whether they will play well or let the Michigan loss bother them is still yet to be seen. There is certainly the possibility that we struggle to move the ball again.

Lightning Round:

After that performance against Michigan what is your new record prediction and bowl game for Penn State?

If you look on the bright side I'd say 10-2. If you are more of a pessimist 8-4 is looking more likely. However, I think 9-3 is probably where the team will end up.

Who starts at tailback against the Illini?

Austin Scott. However, he will fumble in the first half and be replaced. Again.

Score prediction for the Illinois game.

PSU: 23
Illinis: 17

When does A.J. Wallace finally supplant Lydell Sargeant as the other starting CB?

He won't this year. Sargeant has been playing well so far this year and unless that changes Wallace is going to be used primarily in Nickel situations.

GO STATE! BEAT THE ILLINIS!

****UPDATE!****
Mandel calls PSU #4 most one dimensional team and is correct! This is what he had to say:

4) Penn State. You've got to wonder what kind of relaxation exercises defensive coordinator Tom Bradley uses to keep himself from just flat out losing it. For four straight years, he's fielded a BCS-caliber defense, and with the exception of one BCS season (2005), he's watched it go to waste on account of an absolutely dreadful offense, one that only managed to score 25 less points against Michigan than Appalachian State.

Read the rest of his article here.

Big Ten Roundtable Week 1

Sean from Around The Oval has the questions for the first week of the the BTR. I will give my usual, half-hearted attempt at answering questions imagined by those far smarter than myself. To the Questions!

1. Which player from your own team are you most looking forward to watching?
I am really looking forward to seeing Austin Scott play. Don't get me wrong, I am really excited to watch Dan Connor assume his role as leader and all-around beast at ILB and Sean Lee become/stay a dominant force. But the reason I am interested in seeing Scott play is because there are so many questions for PSU at tailback. Austin could really go two different ways this season, he could become the RB he looked like as a freshman and in the Orange Bowl; or, he could be the unfocused mess that was the rest of his career. In sum, Austin will be exciting to watch not just for his big play ability but also for the possibility of his complete and total collapse.

2. Which player from another Big Ten team are you most looking forward to watching?
Mike Hart. Mike has been doing a lot of woofing this off-season and I want to see if he is going to back it up on the field. He is certainly capable of backing it up and Michigan looks explosive on offense but they do have a tough schedule which includes Oregon, ND, PSU, OSU, Wisconsin. There is certainly the possibility of losing a game or two in there. If they do, what will the newly loquacious Mr. Hart say then? Maybe it'll be what he said after losing to TOSU last year:

"I guarantee if we play, it would be a whole different game," Michigan running back Mike Hart said. "We should have got them the first time around. We didn't. If it doesn't happen, that's our fault."

Right. Well, this is his chance to back all this up.
(HT to Mike at BSD)

3. If your team was an action movie star, who would it be?
It would have to be bruce Willis in Live Free or Die Hard. PSU is old school. Dirty. Hard working. Not overly buff or threatening but still dangerous. A little crusty. Sometimes hung-over. But through all that, still capable of great things. It also makes me laugh to picture Joe saying: "Yipee-ki-yaay Mother-fucker" That would be hilarious.











GO STATE!