Get off the ledge!

by carolinaeasy on Sep 27, 2009 12:00 PM EDT Comment 32 comments

I know this one hurts. It should hurt, anytime an opponent walks into your house and gets an ugly win it should hurt. But the sky is not falling. The loss looks alot worse than what some out there may make it out to be.

Consider this:

The defense looked great, they stood tall, they clung to a lead as best as they could but in the end they still only gave up 13 points against a decent offense.
The offense sucked, but it isn't as bad as it looks. The Spread HD is a pass first offense this year. In the rain you cannot expect to complete every single pass. Two of Clark's interceptions were off his reciever's hands. And do not take anything away from Iowa's defense, that is a superb unit.
Maybe Iowa is underratted, and we were overrated. I said to some buddies back in August that PSU was a 2 loss team this year. I still believe that. I didn't think they would lose to Iowa at home, but then again Iowa is easily a top 3 Big Ten team this year. I also didn't expect a monsoon to attack Beaver Stadium at game time (honestly the past two Iowa games, if played in a dome are PSU wins).

Bottom line in my opinion is this, they stunk it up, but then again maybe this was a much needed wake up call. The sky is not falling and the Rose Bowl is still attainable.

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Right

For anyone to think the Big Ten race is out of Penn State’s hands, that is just ignorant. Ten… or even nine… wins might just get PSU a share of the conference title this season. I"m leaning towards 10 wins, so they get one more screw up.

A Garden State Nittany Lion...

Zombie Nation

by Mike @ ZN on Sep 27, 2009 12:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Let the bashing...

begin.

A Garden State Nittany Lion...

Zombie Nation

by Mike @ ZN on Sep 27, 2009 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No bashing

I expected PSU to lose at least 2 games before this season started; we had to replace just too much. 10-2 or 9-3 looks good to me right now.

by Screen Name 20 on Sep 27, 2009 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

WE ARE.......PENN STATE!

by Nick7 on Sep 27, 2009 12:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Last night's loss

sucked, but I agree that we can still go to the Rose Bowl. Also, if we get past Michigan on the road, we can go 11-1. OSU isn’t that great.

BTW, does Iowa play Ohio State this year? And if so, when?

by PABroncofan on Sep 27, 2009 12:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Iowa plays in Columbus on Nov. 14 (week after we play them)

It will be very tough, but I think Iowa can beat them, and last night’s win should give them some confidence.

DO YOU HAVE PRIDE, DANNY?

by ReadingRambler on Sep 27, 2009 12:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If Clark's passes were intercepted, and he doesn't throw punt passes

Cryor is going to have about 8 picks. Kick their asses, Hawkeyes.

by dawsonPSU10 on Sep 27, 2009 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Do we really want that?

I’m not sure where all this Hawkeye love is coming from, but if they somehow lose twice and we manage to somehow run the table from here on out (admittedly, neither of those are very likely) we win the B10. Think positive people. I’ll be rooting against the Hawkeyes at least until/if we lose again.

by PSUMark2008 on Sep 27, 2009 11:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If PSU runs the table, and if Ohio State's one loss comes to PSU...

Then it’s co-champions all over again.

But if Iowa beats Ohio State, then..

Wait, I just realized that that makes no sense.

Whatever. I hate Ohio State and I want to see Pryor choke in his own stadium again and I don’t even know if we can block their d-line.

DO YOU HAVE PRIDE, DANNY?

by ReadingRambler on Sep 28, 2009 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

At this point, I'm fine with "co-champions"

as long as we know we’re the real champions. If we run the table and Iowa only has one loss, then it’d be like kissing your sister, but if Iowa loses twice and OSU’s only loss is to us, I’m OK with that.

by PSUMark2008 on Sep 28, 2009 12:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

THIS.
+1

DO YOU HAVE PRIDE, DANNY?

by ReadingRambler on Sep 27, 2009 12:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I really don't think

the weather was a factor last night, it sure didn’t affect Clark’s first pass!

There’s still enough talent here to win every matchup on the schedule, every Big 10 team has significant weaknesses.

by Joe 96alum on Sep 27, 2009 1:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The O-line isn't good enough.

PSU is going to struggle against anyone that can score points. I’m not optimistic at all about the trip to Ann Arbor. Gerg is going to blitz this o-line like crazy, if Clark can’t get used to running 10-15 times a game for positive yardage we are in trouble. Michigan State is going to figure some things out by the end of the season and they will score some points.

Yeah.. 10-2 is likely.. 9-3 is worst case but what the hell is that even worth with this schedule? Basically right now we look like those same Morelli-led teams that always seemed to manage to lose one more game than they should have and win none of the ones they shouldn’t.Does anybody care is we go 9-3? This team was favored in every single game prior to the season.. 12-0 was holding serve. It was 10-5 in the fourth quarter and then Boone took 3 fucking seconds to get off a punt from MIDFIELD. Punt blocked.. returned by the blocker for a TD.. jesus. I went to the fucking bathroom and I hear Iowa TD.

by dyehardfan on Sep 27, 2009 1:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Michigan’s defense sucks. When they blitz, they have a nasty tendency to get picked up. If Indiana can put up 33 on them, then we can put 33 on them.

DO YOU HAVE PRIDE, DANNY?

by ReadingRambler on Sep 27, 2009 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

PSU linebacker play should put Tate in an ambulance.

Please, if we don’t do it, you should. It’s a stupid offense.

Mr. Boh Knows ...

by Bellanca on Sep 27, 2009 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey, Indiana almost did it

If Indiana can almost decapitate Taint, I’d hope that when Lee and Stupar recover, and now with Bowman back, we rip him limb from limb.

by dawsonPSU10 on Sep 27, 2009 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Carolina, can you put together one of your terrific posts that helps explain why PSU was dominated at the line for the last 3 quarters and not the first? I need some X and O explanation for what happened to help me convince myself that this loss wasn’t just like the rest of the PSU big game stinkers and our problem isn’t systemic.

by 16andCounting on Sep 27, 2009 1:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Guy, I can tell you EXACTLY what happened to the line.

I was watching a lot of things at the game, and these are my observations:

(1) When we were fired up, the line played well. Points of fired up include 4 plays and punt in the 1st, and then when Zug blasted Ballard. Right after that block, we had like an 8 yd run where Royster wasn’t touched til he went down. Every so often, you’d see Royster break some tackles, and they’d block well the next play.

(2) When something went wrong, it snowballed because the line gave up until someone brought them back. After we kicked that field goal, you could see the linemen standing on the sideline like, “Oh, man, we only got 3 points after 20 plays.” Their heads were hanging, and that is when they gave up.

It wasn’t the x’s and o’s, per se, but a lack of heart and discipline. “Penalty inside the 10? Let’s give up!”

My final thought: our defense telegraphed every blitz. When we got that sack for the 3rd and 23, you could see Astorino lined up over top of Lynn, and Lynn was the only player who appeared to be playing bump coverage, and he got the sack. Then when Bowman got that tackle for minus 3 in the fourth, he was lined up in a sprinters stance immediately outside the DE. We made it OBVIOUS that we were coming, and yet nearly every time we brought a spare player, we got there. The offense was terrible, but the defensive play calling was terrible as well. If its obvious we’re coming and they can’t stop us, we should keep coming.

by psume06 on Sep 27, 2009 2:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Good post

Last night, I would have probably said you were drinking Kool-aid (mainly because nothing was going right for me the whole day yesterday: see my post in kmblue’s “My fellow Penn State fans” fanpost), but for some reason, today, I feel better. I know that we lost to a very good team with an awesome defense that exploited our offensive weaknesses. And to top that all off, this win was early in the season, which as discussed before, is not as bad as losing late. I’m still hopeful somehow (again last night, I was looking for a CATA bus to jump in front of, and it was still a lousy weekend, but I’m not as depressed as I was (except I’m still kind of pissed about slipping down a muddy hill and, fingers crossed, hopefully not ruining my white #31 jersey, whiteout shirt, and white PSU hat)

by dawsonPSU10 on Sep 27, 2009 4:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Big Ten

No one is going undefeated in this league this year. This Iowa team is damn good and i expect them to Kill Sparty and the Wolverines. They may even knock off O State. This could be a year in which the BT champion has two losses. The NFC East comes to mind here.

This Penn State team hopefully will mature after a tough loss and improve with each game. No one is going 8-0 in this conference.

Reg4

by Regulator4 on Sep 27, 2009 4:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agree....

No one is going 8-0 in this conference. Iowa’s defense and special teams are fantastic, but their offense was meh. That offense will lose them a game this season.

Never mistake effort for achievement.

by Esteban d' Amur on Sep 27, 2009 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I am the eternal optimist

And I firmly believe getting our teeth kicked in the first conference game will make us better later in the season. I think the weather and the fact that Iowa played great made us play our worst game of the season and we’ll bounce back. I think our defense will keep us in every game we play and when the offense can show up we’ll win.

In summary:

"We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." -- LJ Sr.

by millzners on Sep 27, 2009 5:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree with this

And that unicorn is totally the embodiment of Hull’s moustache.

DO YOU HAVE PRIDE, DANNY?

by ReadingRambler on Sep 27, 2009 6:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He should shave that 'stache...

anything to help his speed. He looks so slow at times.

Never mistake effort for achievement.

by Esteban d' Amur on Sep 27, 2009 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

THAT'S FALSE! UTTERLY FALSE!

Hull was mediocre to above-average last night. The moustache is the key to his new found slightly above-averageness.

DO YOU HAVE PRIDE, DANNY?

by ReadingRambler on Sep 27, 2009 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

1 = the likelihood on a scale of 1 to 10 of Hull making a tackle in the flat one on one with a player other than an offensive lineman.

I love the story of a walk on, great student, etc. but at some point you have to have some talent.

Once everyone is healthy, the LBs should be Bowman/Lee/Stupar. I don’t care about Sam, Mike or Fritz. Put the best athletes out there and they will make the plays. I am sure Lee can learn a new position in about 15 minutes. In fact, he probably already knows all three.

WE ARE.......PENN STATE!

by Nick7 on Sep 27, 2009 7:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs