Hey, did you guys know that football is back this week? Roughly 52 hours from now Murray State and Louisville will kick off the 2011 season. The first Big Ten team to take the field will also be the first televised game of the year, when Wisconsin takes on UNLV on Thursday at 8 on ESPN.
More importantly, though, Penn State opens in 94 hours, when the always-stingy Sycamores of Indiana State roll into town for another top notch season opener in Happy Valley. The game is at noon and will air on the Big Ten Network, depending on where you live (other B1G games at noon include Iowa and Purdue).
With that in mind, on to the weekly objective review of the next Penn State opponent. Beginning next week, these posts will take on a 2011 angle, listing the playmakers and stats for our opponents. Since this is the first week, though, you're stuck with the 2010 Indiana State Sycamores.
Indiana State Sycamores vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
September 3, 2011 - 12:00 pm
Beaver Stadium, State College, PA
| Stat | FCS Rank | Per Game Value |
|---|---|---|
| Rushing Offense | 21 | 193.45 |
| Passing Offense | 40 | 218.36 |
| Total Offense | 17 | 411.82 |
| Scoring Offense | 14 | 31.91 |
| Rushing Defense | 105 | 203.27 |
| Pass Efficiency Defense | 83 | 132.67 |
| Total Defense | 94 | 387.91 |
| Scoring Defense | 89 | 29.82 |
| Net Punting | T-60 | 33.09 |
| Punt Returns | 31 | 11.13 |
| Kickoff Returns | 114 | 15.15 |
| Turnover Margin | 41 | 0.27 |
| Pass Defense | 38 | 184.64 |
| Passing Efficiency | 24 | 136.81 |
| Sacks | 43 | 2 |
| Tackles For Loss | T-81 | 5.45 |
| Sacks Allowed | 32 | 1.45 |
Like I said, next week we'll have more information and more up to date player data. Since this is Indiana State, a Division I-AA team out of the Missouri Valley Conference, you can assume they'll field 11 players per play, none of which you'll ever hear about after September 5th.