Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman explains to the
rest of us how we just don't get it, man. (AP Photo)

Somehow, "72 64 days until football" seems like a very short time, but it's still ten full weeks until Penn State takes the field against Akron.  Either way, football will be dominating every aspect of our lives before we know it, so it's time for your trusty BSD writers to pick at some issues that will not only impact Penn State, but the college football world at large.  It's a little something we'll call Inside, Outside.


Inside: Despite the title of 'Linebacker U", Penn State has been just as successful at performing on the defensive line.  However, with Evans and Project Mayhem now NFLin', plus additional injuries, is the defensive line a weakness in 2009?  And how thin is Penn State at the position, anyway?

RUTS: Pretty damned thin, L.J. Sr.'s unbelievable coaching success notwithstanding.  We're not "Defensive Line U" quite yet, but it's hard to argue with the results of the past 5-10 years.  For 2009, however, things may be difficult.  Jack Crawford is apparently on his way to being the next great Penn State defensive end, but he played very sparingly in 2008 (and didn't always look so great, although he was frequently lined up at DT).  His backup appears to be Pete Massaro, who also has next to no experience or not.  On the other side, we have Kevion Latham and Eric Lattimore.  By the way, if you are asked which of these four players had the only QB sack in 2008, the correct answer is Lattimore.  Basically, these four players have done absolutely nothing so far at Penn State.  Harsh, but true.  Lattimore had seven tackles in '08.  Crawford, four.  This...this is not good, which is why we're really going to have to count on the returning Jerome Hayes, he of the multiple ACL surgeries.  If he can provide some speed from the edge, Penn State might be fine.  Otherwise, our only hope is that our defensive tackles are so dominant that offensive lines will have to pinch down to protect against Odrick, Koroma, et. al. and leave guys like Crawford and Lattimore to fight against only the offensive tackle. 

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More photos » by Joe Raymond - AP

Notre Dame quarterback coach Charlie Weis writes down his lunch order at halftime of the Blue Gold football game Saturday, April 18, 2009 in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

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Somehow, "72 days until football" seems like a very short time, but it's still ten full weeks until Penn State takes the field against Akron.  Either way, football will be dominating every aspect of our lives before we know it, so it's time for your trusty BSD writers to pick at some issues that will not only impact Penn State, but the college football world at large.  It's a little something we'll call Inside, Outside.

Inside: We've already heard a significant amount of (completely justified) ragging on Penn State's schedule.  With no serious non-conference competition and Iowa and Ohio State having to visit Beaver Stadium, some PSU fans are already dreaming of an undefeated season.  The Lions have only four away games in 2009 -- at Illinois, Michigan, Northwestern, and Michigan State -- which road trip is most likely to leave us heartbroken?

Kevin HD:  I still get an uneasy feeling in my stomach whenever I see the all-whites, so seeing that short list is definitely comforting. I've got my answer pretty quickly, though: the Zookers. They were horrible last season but I'm not convinced it was because of talent; a lot of their problems seemed be revolve around doing stupid things at the worst possible times.

This year I worry about two main themes: them having play-makers and us trying to play it too safe on the road. It's only Penn State's second legit game, week two of the conference schedule, and I worry our O-line might not be ready for what some are calling one of the best D-lines in the nation (ranking clearly questionable, but the point that they have talent stands). That's not to say I don't think we can pull a decent set of blockers together in 2009, but it is going to take time and if we start getting flustered on the road, just like we did in 2007, I worry.

Their offense also has the ability to be scary. Williams and Benn are back and represent by far the largest (and perhaps only) threat to our green secondary all year. Now Williams is usually good for a couple of dumb mistakes, but if he can string together competence for a full football game we're going to have a tough time stopping them. They'll also use backup QB Eddie McGee as a king of 2004 MRob this year, adding another playmaker. And they get a new offensive coordinator this fall, from TCU, and for some reason our coaches don't seem to do well with change. All in all I think Illinois is a bit of a sleeper, if only because they played so poorly in 2008.

BSD Mike:  Can I say all four? Illinois always gives us problems in their house (2005 not withstanding). Even the 1994 team had to come back from a 21-point deficit. We haven’t won in Ann Arbor since 1996. We’re 4-2 at Northwestern with three of those wins coming by less than a touchdown. Plus we get the Wildcats sandwiched in between the Wolverines and the Buckeyes, so there may be a hangover/looking ahead factor there. But I’ll say Michigan State is going to be our toughest road test. Dantonio has them coming around. Their defense is going to be nasty, and weather conditions in East Lansing in late November could keep the Spread HD grounded making it a close game. Plus I think they’re still pissed about the 49-18 drubbing we gave them last year, so revenge is going to be a major motivator for Sparty.

RUTS:  I'm torn on this one -- Sparty's clearly improving and the schedule argument re: Northwestern is certainly compelling -- but I have to go with Illinois because they'll have the ability to take advantage of Penn State's soft spots.  And yes, that's assuming that Good Juice shows up instead of Bad Juice.  To borrow a golf term, if Illinois can essentially "post a number" (say, 24-27 points), Penn State's offense could coincidentally have one of their infamous (Wisconsin '08 notwithstanding) slow-starting road games and never quite be able to catch up.  With a player like Benn on the field, Penn State can't afford too many mental screwups in the secondary.  We'll definitely need to have all of our issues along the offensive line and in the secondary (not to mention placekicker, which everyone seems to be forgetting) fixed by October 3.  All four road games will be solid tests for PSU.  Yes, Michigan too.

Outside:  This is the year Charlie Weis and Notre Dame make the Great Leap Forward, right?  Normally, it would be easy to dismiss the national media's annual fawning over the Irish, but even Phil Steele has Notre Dame in his preseason top ten, at #7.  How seriously should we really be taking Notre Dame as a national title contender?

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It's that time of year where there are a bunch of high school all star football games going on, and there are a few Penn State freshmen participating here and there before they enroll later this summer. The most notable of local interest is the Big 33 Game held yesterday, and Curtis Drake completely dominated.

Drake was at times dominant playing in the shotgun with 17 carries for 88 yards and two scores, including a nifty 1-yard run on a quarterback draw with 2:21 remaining in regulation that tied the game 31-31.

Then there is this account of the game.

Down by a touchdown in the final three minutes, Drake – who played quarterback Saturday but will be a receiver at Penn State – found West Catholic teammate Rob Holloman out of the backfield for a big gain into Ohio territory.

A few plays later, he hooked up with incoming Penn State tight end Garry Gilliam (Milton Hershey) down the seam to put the ball at the 1-yard line.

Drake, who was named MVP for Pennsylvania, scored his second rushing touchdown of the game on the next play on a QB keeper to tie it at 31.

Drake also had a critical fumble, but he was still given MVP honors for the PA team. Drake is expected to play wide receiver for Penn State this fall, but he hints that maybe the coaches are thinking about trying him out a quarterback.

"At first they were talking about wide receiver, playing in the slot," Drake said last week. "Then I had a couple of all-star games and started practicing with the Big 33 team as a quarterback, and I got to see Joe Paterno in person. They started talking about me playing quarterback at Penn State."

Drake doesn't specifiy who "they" are, so I can't tell if he's talking about the Penn State coaches or the high school coaches in the Big 33 game. More after the jump.

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"His message was loud and clear: The sky is not falling at Pitt, the program is in good shape and, though the Panthers have lost a few key recruiting battles, it is early in the process."

The coach talks with John Saunders. Nothing particularly exciting, but you know, offseason and all.

More photos » by Terry Gilliam - AP

Terrelle Pryor: Looking Spectacular in the Spring Game.

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It's only June, and I'm already getting tired of the Penn State haters. Our offensive line is inexperienced. Our secondary got shredded like coleslaw in the Rose Bowl, and this year we have to play with the coleslaw's backups. We'll miss those great wide receivers. You know, the ones that were supposedly overrated as well as uninspiring and hard to tell apart. But just to cover their bases in case Penn State does put it all together and do well, people are already starting to rip the schedule: a drum beat we're sure to hear from now until next January.


I'm not here to say Penn State is going undefeated. I'm an experienced blogger who has learned to not make crazy predictions like that because some Pitt troll out there is going to bookmark the page and send me the link when we choke in some late October road game. I can deal with the fact Penn State has holes to fill. That's the nature of college football. Every team has holes to fill. But what I don't understand is, why does Ohio State always get a pass?

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The BCS and member schools are in the process of renewing their contract as the current one expires after the 2010 season.  The AJC is reporting a slight change to the Rose Bowl selection process:

In past contracts if the Rose Bowl lost one of its traditional partners, the Big Ten or Pac-10 champ, to the BCS championship game, it could simply fill with another Big Ten or Pac-10 team that qualified. That's how a 9-3 Illinois team got to Pasadena two years ago.

Short break here to beat a tired drum.  Teams that had a realistic shot at that spot, all records and rankings as of the time bowl selections were being made:

And 'realistic' is a stretch here.  They aren't going to pick Arizona St. to play another Pac-10 team in the Rose Bowl, obviously, and Clemson is DQ'd on account of losing to both BC and VT.  So that really leaves just Illinois and BC, both with the same record.  Illinois had a better 'best win' and is a Big Ten member; why does their inclusion is this game routinely get treated like some type of scam?

Anyway...

But in the new contract, I'm told, there is an interesting clause: The first time in the deal that the Rose loses one of its champions to the BCS title game, that opening will be automatically filled by a Coalition (non-BCS conference) team if one has qualified.

For example: Let's say Southern Cal wins the Pac-10 and qualifies for the BCS championship game in 2010. And let's say Utah or Boise State goes undefeated again the wins the Mountain West or WAC. That team, if it doesn't get into the big game, would automatically go to the Rose, where no Coalition team has played before.

So it would be just once, not perpetually, and is triggered only if the two conditions are met in the same year, which might not actually happen.

He goes on...

What's the significance of this, you ask? It is another way that the BCS is increasing access of the five Coalition conferences to all of the games in system. Should the BCS get sued and hauled back before Congress, it is another way it can counter the claim that the Coalition schools don't have enough access.

This doesn't make any sense.

What the Bloc has been bitching about, and having their congressmen bitch about, is not a lack of inclusion into the BCS games, but into the BCS Championship Game.  This does nothing to address that. 

All this does, really, is water down the Rose Bowl for the benefit of the other BCS games who, without the Coliseum's help, have been saddled with non-BCS schools since the Series expanded to five games in 2007. 

Applied to Rose Bowl games since that happened:

2007: Rose Bowl matches USC vs. Boise State.  Michigan is likely shipped to the Fiesta to play Oklahoma.

2008: Rose Bowl matches USC vs. Hawaii.  Illinois is likely shipped to the Sugar to play Georgia.

2009: No change.

It has no impact on a Bloc team getting into the MNC, it has no impact on getting more than one Bloc team into a BCS game, and it has almost no impact on the other bowl teams selected with the potential exception being a Pac-10 or Big Ten team could get screwed for local reasons by a non-Rose Bowl selection committee.

So this isn't a concession on the behalf of the BCS, but a concession on behalf of the Rose Bowl.  They were given a sweetheart deal to get them on board with the BCS idea in 1998, and it's only 12 years later than they are being forced, for one year anyway, to be a team player.

Hey James, is that barbeque sauce on your arm?

Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially inside of 100 days until Penn State football.