You’re too harsh on DC. Pressure starts with the O-Line. DC was obviously frazzled and I don’t know of a single QB in NCAA, CFL, NFL who could pull it off with an O-Line like this.

He also ran with the ball, which shows a lot of guts to make something happen.

He feels like a leader. And I want more of that at the QB position, because I feel like #14 was lacking in that category. But his skills aren’t what we thought they were. I hope I hear less about that “but he was concussed last year at Iowa” excuse. He tries to do too much, and doesn’t make smart decisions.

And the O-Line must not like him because they refuse to help.

My wife was wondering:
when Clark was struggling clearly getting down on himself,and sitting alone,
why is there no one, like a coach, to talk to him on the sideline to help him out;
to try to get him ready for the next critical series?

Last year he at least had A.Q. Just because he is a senior and a captain
is there no one who can try to help him get his head straightened out during the game?

A total non-factor. He could barely get off the line of scrimmage. Right away, we were playing 10 on 11 football.

(Sorry, no pictures of SOA here)

And even she turned to me at one point and said, “It really seems like Daryll Clark is trying to do too much, he looks so uncomfortable out there. He needs to relax.” She’s smart, but she doesn’t know much about football other than Tom Brady is hot and Gerald Cadogan now plays for the Patriots.

I knew it was going to get bad when she noticed it too.

I can remember in ’06 when people were calling Cadogan and Ohrnberger “horrible.” By the time mid-season ’07 rolled around, those two (and that line) were about as solid as you could want.

I’m thinking that the depth chart is a little thin or the freshies just aren’t ready. McShay has been saying he thinks its a general lack of talent, and who knows…maybe he’s accurate..even though I don’t like to credit him with anything.

Karl Klug

You know, it seems strange, but it is almost like we actually did play Iowa last year—call me crazy.
And that the dreams of last year’s all-star O-line being dominated by Iowa’s D were maybe real.
So is it a surprise that this year’s line would have even more trouble?
Wasn’t there something the coaches could have done to prepare better,
like quicker plays as someone mentioned above?

The line was getting completely blown away, especially late, and Peyton Manning isn’t doing crap with that kind of time and worry.

Combine that with the low snaps, the fact that he was under center way too often, and the weather…maybe he could have done a better job of minimizing the damage, but throwing the ball away more or ducking up field for 1 yard gains wasn’t going to score the team any more points.

I’m not sure Clark isn’t better than “above average.” He’s still by far the best player at his position in the conference. He showed his talent last year and deserved 1st team Big Ten honors, and even this year, when he had time to pass, he was on pace to break all kinds of records.

that was the mismatch that psu had all game, and only used it a couple of times in the 3rd quarter.

…that’s the game I most thought of watching this…decently match squads but with 2-to-3 horrible mismatches on the oline with inexperienced players getting pushed around, or sometimes inexplicably firing out and just blocking no one. Really poor coaching and preparation. I also don;t care WHAT Paterno says, constantly playing a horrendous OOCS hurts the team. They get NOTHING out of those games, but it helps TEMPLE improve. Great. Bottom line, while Penn St was jerkin around w/ Akron and Temple Iowa was playing Iowa St and Arizona and it SHOWED. How dare Joe poo poo Iowa playing Iowa St, too? Theyre an actual Big12 team at least, not a middling MAC member.

’Bama’s a good schedule. As was OR St last year.
But you sandwich that with a 1aa team in Coastal and, ta daaaa Akron again. You got ANOTHER 1aa team 2 weeks from now. Since The Dark Years when you had the Miami’s, Nebraskas and BCs in Joe seems to have said “That’s it, I’m guaranTEEing we start every year 3-o now.” I don’t have a problem with 1 or even 2 cupcakes on a 4 game OOCS, and true Syracuse was still going to bowls when they booked this series it can’t be teams like Temple, Coastal, Akron, Youngstown and E IL every OOC game Every year. Unless I’m wrong NC reached out recently but Joe quashed it b/c they wanted it to be a home and home. Play teams Like NC who really SHOULDN’T pose that much risk, but ensure you of good solid experience. 1 MAYBE 2 cupcakes but def 2 decent non MAC d1 teams. And if you don;t beat them, well you weren;t gonna win the Big 11 ANYway.

I was at the game in the S Zone (senior student section) – yes fellow alumni, you can get around the new ticket system— booya!

Anyways my thoughts from the game:

1. most of the students were in early, they were just hanging in below the stadium until kickoff. Although I agree – they should have been there when the team came out for pregame.
2. If anyone else was there early – how cool did the field look with the white cover on it? Can we do that for every game, rain or shine?
3. I don’t care how rainy/wet/cold/etc it is in the stadium. Alumni – YOU DO NOT WEAR A YELLOW PONCHO TO A WHITEOUT GAME… ESPECIALLY WHEN WE ARE PLAYING IOWA!!!!!!!!!!
4. I still hate the head cheerleader. Shut up and put the microphone down. The lion gets all the different sections to cheer during pregame – we. don’t. need. you.
5. The O-line sucks.
6. Whichever coach called the plays on offense after the 1st Q should be water boarded ([crosses fingers] JayPa?)
7. I do feel bad for the defense. It reminded me of ’05 when the defense spent 90% of their time on the field and just got worn out by the end.
8. At the same time, during the 4th quarter the senior section started yelling “Guess what!?! They are going LEFT!!!” because Iowa ran the same damn play 100 x in a row and we couldn’t stop it
9. What time is it? 11am – and Michigan our pass coverage still sucks!…
10. Too much pumped in music as usual, but much better. Only played the Rain song once (and once during pregame but it was wet and we freaking needed something to do). We need more Blue Band.
11. By far the best pregame song was “I Gotta Feeling (that tonight’s gonna be a good night)” about 30 minutes before kickoff. Most of the stands went nuts – although in hindsight it couldn’t have been more wrong.
12. Also – Cheerleaders/Guido/Music Guy/Freshmen… shut up when our team is on offense. Seriously. To the the freshmen: I know you weren’t there at Ohio State in ’05 when we all thanked God/JoePa when the offense was on the field because we finally could stop yelling and give our throats a break – but you need to learn fast that offense time=quiet time.
13. To everyone waited until Iowa was on the line and out of their huddle before you started yelling: Half the reason we are yelling is to screw up their play calling. They do their play calling in the huddle. I’ll leave it to you to connect the dots.
14. Hint: If they are calling an audible – you should yell louder.
15. Dear guy who starts the clock during pregame: Yes we are in the stands early. Yes we are watching the clock when it sits still at 90:23 for 30 minutes. Yes we are waiting for it to start so we can count down to kickoff. Yes, you do suck at your job and we hate your very existence.
16. TV timeout guy needs to be killed and drug across the field by his stupid yellow outfit. He is the only man I hate more than my dentist

sigh… I’m going to go nurse my pneumonia…