September 2, 2010

Blue & White Roundtable makes its 2010 debut

We interrupt the information overload you were put through last night to bring you a calming Blue & White Roundtable. It's another year and another foray into the minds of the guys insane enough to start blogs about Penn State football. This week's B&W Roundtable is brought to you by the number 8 and by Ben over at Victory Bell Rings.
Hopefully he'll have a summary up but I'm not promising anything. Let's do this.

This offseason seems to have more storylines than usual, quarterbacking issues, and Joe's age aside what is the first thing you'll be looking for come Saturday?
Forgive Ben he created these questions before we had the bomb dropped on us in the form of a true freshman starting quarterback. So I'll just get that out of the way right now, the first thing I'm looking for this Saturday is the play of one Robert Bolden. Of course intimately tied into Bolden's play will be the play of the offensive line which I will watch very close. I really think the outcome of this year's team will be tied to how well the offensive line plays. I don't care what QB is sitting back in the pocket if he doesn't have much of a pocket it will be a long year. It's Youngstown State I know, but it will be a good litmus test because they will probably throw the kitchen sink at the freshman and see how he handles it. We'll get an early look at how well the line picks up the blitz and how well they adjust.

Penn State has a lot of depth in positions like Linebacker and Wideout. Considering the game should be in hand come the second half, which of the less talked about players on the Nittany Lion roster do you look forward to seeing in action?
Well I wouldn't call him "less talked about" but a guy that's not starting that I want to see is Michael Mauti. Has he recovered fully from his injury and can he make a push toward the starting lineup? There's also a lot of buzz around Gerald Hodges it will be fun to see him at his new position. It will also be interesting to see where they play Chaz Powell the most. It will be a pretty good indication of the progress of the younger guys at wide receiver or cornerback depending on where Powell plays. If he stays solely on offense you know the younger cornerbacks are doing well.

How should Penn State handle the quarterbacking situation? How would you divide the workload?
Since Paterno called the quarterbacks 1A, 1B, and 1C it will be interesting to see how they go about it. Personally, I let Bolden take the majority of the snaps, at least 50% but I give the other two guys at least one meaningful drive in the first half. You really won't be able to glean anything from second half garbage time, so sticking the two "backups" in during a meaningful time of the game will be paramount if you want to get a true idea of how well they can lead the team.
What's the best case scenario for Penn State coming out of this game? How does the offense/defense look in its development, and how many people has Jack Crawford killed?
I'll say Crawford destroys 2 backs and rips a QB's spine out in a sub-zero sort of fashion.

Flawless Victory!!
Not to be Mr. Obvious but the best case scenario is for Penn State to come out of this without any injuries. Outside of that, the offensive line needs to learn as much as they can in this game because next week it gets real. If Bolden can show off his athleticism and gaff the D for a couple big runs he could give the Alabama defensive coordinators something to think about. In fact if McGloin, who is more of a pocket guy, can come in and orchestrate a scoring drive it would give the Tide two styles of quarterback to prepare for. Maybe having a three-headed monster at QB for one game isn't such a bad idea.


Rapid Fire

Over/Under (Penn State Score)—40: Take the over

Going to the game: Yes and no – going to tailgate but I don't have tickets

Passing yardage > Rushing yardage: 250 > 200

# of times Joe's age/bowels are brought up on TV: God, at least 5 before halftime

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