Between The Ears
by Run Up The Score on Oct 1, 2009 3:00 AM EDT
in Football
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Last season, after Penn State's soul-crushing defeat at Iowa but with a Rose Bowl berth still very much ripe for the picking, the Nittany Lions returned home for a game against Indiana. The Hoosiers were going through one of their typically awful football campaigns, and entered a swampy Beaver Stadium with a 3-7 (1-5) record.
The game was ugly, and not in a good way for Penn State. PSU's offensive possessions in the first quarter: punt, pooch punt, Clark fumble on the Indiana 2 yard line. After a long Derrick Williams touchdown catch, Penn State missed a long field goal, punted, and converted a short field goal after Nathan Stupar blocked a Hoosier punt. Daryll Clark looked simultaneously lost and rattled. Halftime score, 10-7, PSU. If not for a big play and the abject incompetence of the visiting team, Penn State would have trailed. Against practically any other conference team, they would've trailed by a substantial margin.
Again, we're talking about a home game against a monumentally awful team with the Rose Bowl on the line. Penn State somewhat pulled it together in the second half for a 34-7 win. Indiana would go on to lose by 52 points at Purdue in the season finale.
What does this mean for the upcoming Illinois game?
Well, there are similarities in spades. Illinois is on a terrible run right now -- simply rock bottom after being blown out by Missouri in the season opener and flatly embarrassed at Ohio State last weekend. Turnovers, penalties, questionable leadership. They're a mess, and maybe it's silly to expect Illinois to come out blazing, although they are thoroughly backed into a corner and this is their first home game against a real team. If Illinois is going to give any game their full effort this season -- again, not a given considering the characters involved -- it's likely to be Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium against Penn State. And the weather could be sketchy again.
In the wake of his meltdown against Iowa, Daryll Clark found solace in a rather odd place:
When Daryll Clark went through his text messages late Saturday night after Penn State's loss to Iowa, one jumped out at him.
It came from Illinois quarterback Juice Williams.
"He said, 'Call me when everything calms down, because I'm feeling how you're feeling right now,'" Clark recalled.
Williams had endured his own bout with adversity earlier in the day, as Illinois got shut out 30-0 at Ohio State. The two senior quarterbacks combined for one touchdown and five interceptions in their respective losses.
...
"That was really, really helpful," Clark said. "After the football game, a lot of things are in your head, like, what did you do wrong? Why'd this happen? Why did you throw it here? Why did you throw it there? He contacted me and let me know to keep my head up because he's been in situations like that before. He's been in tough losses like that before.
It's actually a rather heartwarming story, but doesn't do much for my confidence. As if that matters.
Things to look for, other than Clark's general mental state and crispness? Penn State's linebackers and defensive ends are going to be tested by Illinois' running game. The DE's were rather silent against Iowa, and will have to be even more disciplined against Illinois. The linebackers, believe it or not, are a bigger concern. Sean Lee still won't be back, which leaves Navorro Bowman to pick up the slack for his group. Josh Hull has played better this season, but he really struggled against Illinois last season. Bani Gbadyu really needs to step up. He gets where he's going in a hurry, there's no doubt about that, but seems to have little idea where to run and what to do when he gets there.
There are two things that will keep Illinois in the game -- PSU turnovers and missed tackles. Should be interesting to see if the team can keep their discipline and poise in their first road game.
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Expect Illinois to game plan short, high percentage passes to their receivers and RB’s and see if our LB’s and CB’s can tackle their WR’s. They also picked on Hull a lot last season with short tosses over the middle on drag routes where Hull is simply too slow to run stride for stride with the WR/RB. If we shut that part of their game plan down early, they’ll go with the deep passes which Juice throws inaccurately, and zone-read and run-option plays which we should be able to stuff.
Clark on the oher hand usually looks pretty aweful in the 1st quarter on the road, so hopefully he rebounds in the 2nd quarter or it’s going to be a long painful day for us.
"We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." -- LJ Sr.
Similarities?
The similarities start and end with the fact that we just played, and lost to, Iowa ending hopes of an undefeated season.
This year there’s a lot more uncertainty in the big picture. There’s no for-sure Rose Bowl bid if we win out. Hell, if we win out there’s still a snowball’s chance of getting to the National Championship.
Point is that this scenario is completely different from that of last year, and we’re not coming back home after a loss to play a crappy Indiana squad who’s given up for the year. We’re going on the road, which should give the players a greater sense of urgency than the IU game last year. The team knew they’d beat Indiana last year; it wasn’t a question of ‘if’ it was a question of ‘how much.’ I’m expecting the team to come out much more excited and poised this Saturday and look to put a beat down on Illinois on the road.
I also think it did the team good to get rid of that #5 ranking as now they should feel more loose without that weighing on them.
Bartender...
another round of whatever he’s having!
Not trying to be debbie downer here but I think that while we all want DC17 to show up in Ilinois and hang 60+ on them, a lot of us need to accept that fact that he is not Michael Robinson (as a leader or a qb). He’s a good college QB who just doesn’t quite have the mental make up to be a great one. Much like that Indiana team, Ilinois is a bad football team with a couple very talented players. I would agree with RUTS that its a lot closer to that Indiana game than you are making it out to be.
As for playing on the road, I’m not sure how long you’ve been a Nittany Lion but there is nothing about the solid white uniforms that makes me anything other than terrified everytime I see them. I hope you are right, but I am a bit more cautiously optomistic. I still think we win by probably 14+, but I think we come out a little tight and it takes a quarter or two for the boys to lossen up and have fun.
We are not normal. We are legends.
by NittanyAlum02 on Oct 1, 2009 8:44 AM EDT up reply actions
Not a blowout
by any stretch of the imagination, but I still feel a loss would be a HUGE upset (as opposed to the Iowa game where it wasn’t all that a shock that we lost).
I’m also factoring in the fact that I’ll actually be at the game Saturday, taking the trek from Houston to Champaign. My only other road trip to see Penn State play was in 2007 to East Lansing for that debacle, so odds are not in my favor.
I think the defense, with or without Lee, will be stout and hold Illinois to 13. Now, offensively, they’re going up against a defense that at their best gave up 17 points to Indiana State or whoever. I’m confident we can match that, so at the very worst we win 17-13 on the road, in the rain.
By the way, I’m totally pissed that it’s supposed to rain again… the forecast 3 days ago was calling for 70 and sunny, now it’s going to be 53 and rain.
I love M-Rob
He may be my favorite PSU player of all time (see my avatar). But I’m not sure how you can say he was a better QB than Clark. IIRC their completion percentage isn’t even close (in Clark’s favor).
Leadership, that’s a different story. When the offense wasn’t performing, M-Rob would put them on his back and carry them into the end zone (see Northwestern and michigan ‘05). But I’m still not as down on Clark’s leadership ability as everyone else seems to be. IMO, you’ll maybe get a QB w/ the leadership qualities of M-Rob once a decade, but Clark did a pretty good job of inspiring the troops and the fan-base last year. This year’s not over yet.
Clark and Juice
I think I would prefer Clark give his buddy Michael Robinson a call after a tough loss than a loser like Juice.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
He tried that, but
Robinson keeps telling him not to worry about and just think of the NFL$$$ he will be making as a RB.
It’s not actually helpful.
"How many things do you do where you are involved with 110,000 other people on the same page? Unless you're in an English class cheating with 30 other guys."
Is it definite that Lee is not going to play again this week?
How about Stupar?
"The sea was angry that day, my friends." G. Costanza
Lee is out.
Probably until Minnesota. Haven’t heard anything about Stupar, so I assume there’s no issue.
--
"Not everybody is the perfect person in the world. Everyone does - kills people, murders people, steals from you, steals from me." -- Terrelle Pryor
by Run Up The Score on Oct 1, 2009 9:31 AM EDT up reply actions
This game is no lock....
I never feel good about PSU on the road. They tend to play tighter than (edited for television). Also, IL might be in F-it mode. That’s always dangerous.
Never mistake effort for achievement.
As a passer, Juice Williams is always in "F-it" mode
DO YOU HAVE PRIDE, DANNY?
by ReadingRambler on Oct 1, 2009 9:52 AM EDT up reply actions
WERD
"...Drink'n Blue Kool - Aid; One Sip @ a Time..."
by BlueWhiteLife on Oct 1, 2009 2:54 PM EDT up reply actions
As a coach, Ron Zook is always in "F-it" mode
DO YOU HAVE PRIDE, DANNY?
by ReadingRambler on Oct 1, 2009 9:52 AM EDT up reply actions
touche
Never mistake effort for achievement.
by Esteban d' Amur on Oct 1, 2009 9:53 AM EDT up reply actions
Because it is so early...
I have no sense about this team. Last year I knew the character and makeup of the team and knew they would bounce back. Who knows what happens this year.
Never mistake effort for achievement.
by Esteban d' Amur on Oct 1, 2009 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions
Never underestimate the calming influence a head coach can have
JoePa has seen it all hundreds of times, and I have confidence he will help mold the mindset of the team to where it needs to be going into the game. I get the sense you guys think he has lost touch with the team and left them on their own in the dark to figure out where to go from here. He’ll have them put together mentally, even if his offensive gameplan of run run run punt, as has been the road opening standard, sucks.
How to feel better about the game
Here are a couple items I’m using. And in proper JoePa fashion, focusing only on what we can control:
- remember/review the first quarter against Iowa. Against a pretty stout and talented (/end requisite obsequiousness) defense, we did fairly well (/end requisite modesty): 145+ yds of offense, 10 pts on two possesions spanning over ten minutes that included four 3rd & one 4th down conversions on some pretty damn impressive offensive line, quarterback and receiver play.
- remind yourself that DC17, despite multiple composure- & poise-under-duress issues in his past, is a 5th year senior, second-year starter and an accomplished academic improver (made up word). Anybody with an FOS subscription can see still photos of his form during that first pick on the Iowa 34; he and his coaches have got to be able to learn from what is certainly better ‘film’ than that, right? (/end wishful thinking in the face of competing evidence to the contrary)
- oh, and try not to read RUTS’ equally compelling reasons not to feel good about the game.
"For me the game wasn’t grounded in reality. It was about the uniform you put on that turned you into a warrior. It was about the mythology of the battle, the victory, the defeat, the struggle." - Mike Reid, PSU '69
option
Was @ 06 & 07 games, will be there saturday. U of I under Zook has given PSU fits with the option. I expect to see a lot of that. Getting Benn the ball in a number of different ways, & making this year’s less talented DEs play with discipline.
That said, our D is not the problem. Given PSU’s performance on the road I can’t necessarily fault the coaches for slamming the ball @ the line 50 times. That may be more effective than making the risk of throws.
by InScoresOfOtherGames on Oct 1, 2009 12:44 PM EDT reply actions
Eh
I say, go with what works. I don’t want to see us running b/c we’re frightened something bad may result if we pass.
by Screen Name 20 on Oct 1, 2009 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions
I want to see what our horrid O line does against
a bottom of the big-ten D line. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will be pretty. We win, but in ugly fashion
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