October 11, 2010

The 33-13 Fallout: 'Mass Hysteria'

The triumphant return of "Doctor" Venkman...



Let's take a quick swing around the internet--what's left of it--after Penn State's brutal loss to Illinois this past weekend in Happy Valley. There were some good reactions, some not so good, others just plain old insane. There's no need to editorialize anything here, or add much, as the written word of the following pundits mostly speak for themselves. No, dogs and cats may not be living together (yet), but it's getting pretty bad out there. Enjoy, or whatever...

-BlackShoeDiaries.com - Mike:
"Grading the Defense...

Honestly, I don't even know if it's worth going through this exercise. The Penn State defense we say Saturday was a decimated shell of the defense we expected to see this year. When you look around and see guys like Kevion Latham, DaQuan Jones, James Van Fleet, Mike Yancich, Malcolm Willis, and Jacob Fagnano out there running around you know things are bad. That's no knock on those guys, it's just that they played more on Saturday than they have in their entire careers. In all, Penn State was playing without ten players expected to be part of the two-deep depth chart in the preseason."
-BlackShoeDiaries.com - Fugi:
"Offensive Line Making Penn State's Problems Worse... However, it's hard for me to have much hope, not only in the short term, but two and three years down the road, when we're seeing offensive line play like this. There has been a lot of talk about Penn State being a championship level team in 2011 with lots of returning experience on defense and at the offensive skill positions. I remain unconvinced that the ceiling for all that talent is anything more than the Morellian years behind this offensive line. They're just not getting it done and have shown little indication that they will, and that's the scariest part of Penn State's first half."
-NittanyWhiteOut.com - Devon:
The Sum of All Fears: Illinois 33, Penn State 13...

"But blaming the defensive struggles on injuries would be letting the few healthy players left off the hook. Chris Colasanti might’ve made 18 tackles, but he was consistently slow and out of position. And Ollie Ogbu, Devon Still, and Jordan Hill couldn’t get anything done inside–consistently blown off the ball by the interior of the Illinois line. That’s not supposed to happen."
-VictoryBellRings.com - Josh:
It’s Time For Change...

"On the recruiting trail every single one of those coaches is out on the recruiting trail actively recruiting the next crop of talent that they will spend the next 4-5 years developing, Joe does not do that. For those of you who are foolish enough to say Joe can retire on his own terms, shame on you. I admit, I’m a young buck and I went through the “dark years” just like every other Penn State fan, but that is not Penn State football. I don’t know about you, but I DO NOT want to go back to that."
-JoePasDoghouse.com - J. Schnauzer:
Hate Week: Ourselves!

"This is the hardest one: hold on, take a deep breath, and realize it's a game. I'm just as bad as most at getting overly worked up about this, but if you were at State College and you couldn't enjoy the incredible homecoming weather at least a bit, then you should really stop and look around. Coping is another way of saying, "get on with life even when sh*t falls on your face."

-PennLive.com - Bob Flounders:
Penn State Report Card...

Offense: F.

Defense: F.

Overall: F.

-PennLive.com - Jared Shanker:
"Against Penn State, though, and in front of a crowd of 107,638 no less, Scheelhaase showed the poise of a seasoned veteran instead of somebody making just his fifth career start. Scheelhaase worked through his progressions and was finding the open receivers, which there were a lot of on Saturday. On Scheelhaase’s touchdown, he waited for the two receivers going deep to clear the linebackers from the middle of the field and then threw it to A.J. Jenkins on a shallow crossing route for an 18-yard touchdown."

-CBSsports.com - Eric Sorenson:
"The No-Brainers

Five things were painfully obvious this weekend in college football...

3. It looks like Joe Paterno needs to go ahead and retire to save the administration from having to run him off."

Nathan Scheelhaase [1]
Kinda sucks to be the victim of Scheelhaase's
coming out party, huh? (Photo: Mike/LBU)
-SportsIllustrated.com - Stewart Mandel:
"Bowl-bound in Illinois?

To all those who freaked out over No. 2 Ohio State's ugly win at Illinois last week -- relax. We have clarity... Joe Paterno's offense has been abysmal all season, but a rash of injuries have ravaged the Nittany Lions' defense, and Illinois took advantage. With redshirt freshman quarterback Nathan Scheelhasse (15-of-19, 151 yards) looking far more confident than he did early in the season and tailback Mikel Leshoure (27 carries, 119 yards) posting his fourth 100-yard game of the season, the Illini controlled the game throughout. Their defense held Penn State to 234 total yards.

With a very favorable Big Ten schedule (no Iowa or Wisconsin), Zook's team could very well be bowl-bound, which would save the chronically embattled coach's job for yet another year. As for JoePa's 3-3 team? It's going to be a struggle."
-SportingNews.com - Dave Curtis:
"Faster than you can say Michael Hoomanawanui, Illinois shed its laughingstock status in the Big Ten and emerged as maybe the biggest surprise in league play. Spurred by new coordinators Paul Petrino (offense) and Vic Koenning (defense), and sparked by freshman quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase, the Illini stayed with Ohio State for four quarters before blasting Penn State on Saturday in Happy Valley."
-SportingNews.com - Steve Greenberg:
"Much was made during the ESPN2 telecast of the Nittany Lions’ injuries on defense, but the fact is it’s their offense that’s broken. And all the pain is radiating from the in-over-his-head-ness of true freshman quarterback Rob Bolden.

In an embarrassing 33-13 loss to Illinois (3-2), Bolden guided Penn State (3-3) to a grand total of--are you ready for this?--seven first downs. That’s compared with 23 for the run-of-the-mill Illini. Bolden was 8-of-21 passing for 142 yards, which won’t beat anybody if you can’t dominate in the run game, something the Nittany Lions clearly cannot do."
-ESPN.com Bowl Projections: Dear God, I'd rather stay home than go to the Little Caesar's Bowl.

-ESPN.com - Adam Rittenberg:
Week 6 Helmet Stickers:

Scheelhaase grew up today in Happy Valley, and so did his Illinois team. The redshirt freshman took advantage of a banged-up Penn State defense and completed 15 of 19 passes for 151 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. He added 61 rush yards on only eight carries. Illini running back Mikel Leshoure (119 rush yards) and linebacker Nate Bussey (INT return for TD) merit mentions.
-ESPN.com - Rittenberg:
"Week 7 Power Rankings -

10. Penn State (3-3, 0-2): The defense is depleted by injuries, the offense has no identity and a bowl appearance is no longer guaranteed for Joe Paterno's squad. Penn State finished the first half with a thud, suffering its worst Homecoming loss in Paterno's lengthy tenure. At least the bye week comes at the perfect time, as Penn State needs to regroup on both sides of the ball. The Lions always could rely on their stout defense, but the injury situation really changes things going forward."
-Lions247 - Sean Fitz:
"Highs and Lows...

BEST CALL - Ron Zook made a statement early by going for it on 4th-and-a foot on the Illini's first drive and converting. The Nittany Lions were faced with an identical situation on their first drive and elected to punt.

WORST CALL - You have to wonder what Penn State is thinking in the red zone. The Lions got another golden opportunity late in the second quarter and tried to pound the ball inside the 10 without a tight end in the game."
**As much as I would have loved to get everything posted today (review, etc.), I needed a day to get my thoughts together and watch the game tape. So bear with me as I suffer through this. The review will be up tomorrow first thing, and our staff reactions and blogpoll up sometime today. So stay tuned.

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6 comments:

  1. LOL!

    Time for Joe to do endorsements for Depends and star in a Weekend at Bernie's!

    Better yet, I hope Joe hangs on for a few more years to drag the program into the mud!!

    Temple should have won!!!

    LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You should do endorsements for Viagra, 'cause you're a huge dick.

    I was going to delete your comment at first, but decided against it, just because everyone needed to see how completely retarded you are. Calling for Joe Paterno's retirement is one thing, but making fun of real illness and DEATH is... wait for it... oh so classy!

    If you consider yourself a Penn State football fan (maybe you're just another team's fan troll), you disgrace everything this program has stood for, and everything good about college football as a whole.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Agreed. The trolls are out in full force across the blogosphere. I attended Penn State during the dark years, as well as 2005 and the hysteria is just comical. Penn State will bounce back, they always have.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mike,
    What have I told you in the past, don't feed the trolls.

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Charlie - Me too, I was there for 2002-2005 seasons. My wife's years there were worse, from 2001-2004 (The "Zack Attack" Years).

    @Galen - I know. Usually I would have just deleted that, but sometimes it feels good to say something back.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've seen enough. We get 'can't miss' OL recruits, then I have to watch guys who can't block a postman from dropping letters into a mailbox? Even Wisniewski looks like he's regressing. As a '72 grad with season tix since 1973, I watched Joe build this program; now it's stumbling under a coach that seems to have given up hands-on control. I appreciate everything he's done for the school and the program, but it's time for him to retire as 'coach emeritus' and take Jay and Galen along with him, before he gets mentioned in the same breath as other sports figures that hung on too long. If I have to pay the NLC $400 a ticket for 'preferred seating' I want something better than I'm seeing out there right now, and to get that means we need a young, energetic coach who can recruit outstanding athletes that PERFORM.

    ReplyDelete

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