Leaving at halftime

Similar seats to last week. WGU is a good section.

God, what idiot wrote this?

I'm thinking Penn State shows up again looking sharp

That guy needs to find another hobby.

We left at halftime. Not because Penn State looked like garbage, but that was all the four-year-old could handle. He was tired. We can tell because he gets all snuggly. But a soft pretzel got him through the second quarter. The seven-year-old had a blast again. He's now completely engaged with all the cheers and songs. It was only his third game in Beaver Stadium.

He wasn't too upset when I told him we couldn't afford to go as a family to other games, since now the lowest tickets will be 60+ the rest of the season. But he's already looking forward to next year's non-conference games.

But the piped-in music sucked ass, again. It's far too loud coming from the south video board. And I guess because I'm more tuned into how annoying it is already, I'm now starting to notice how stupid the mashup stuff is, too. I'm sick of hearing something blaring over the PA every time anything happens. Even during pregame, when The Lion points to each quarter of the stadium to get them to cheer loud, now the Lion Roar plays over the PA. Why? Why are we not allowing the crowd noise to carry the atmosphere? But that's just one stupid thing I heard.

The "Make some noise!" that's also mashed with the "laughing" bit needs to stop. We're Penn State fans. We know when to make noise, and we dont' need other stupid sound effects played with it. I think the piped in music and effects are hurting crowd noise, because there's no need for the crowd to participate at the level we saw in past years or during the mega games. Let the atmosphere build from the crowd, not artificial bullshit that sounds like a bad FM radio show.

A quick look at the box score left me even more confused that I was during the game. Outside of Sean Clifford, the offense looked incapable of controlling the game. That's not to take anything away from Buffalo, which played a hell of a game. The Bulls' ability to run the ball and control the clock kept them in this one far longer than anyone expected, and they deserve a huge deal of respect for that.

But Penn State needs to get the ground game going like yesterday. If Pitt can get a few stops, especially a three-and-out early on, Penn State will have to fight for a win Saturday. That's not good enough for this team. They're better than that, and better than Pitt. It's up to them to show it and the coaches to put them in positions to succeed.

The one touchdown by Buffalo came directly from KJ Hamler's drop on third down when he was looking where he was going instead of at the ball. Had he completed the catch, the Bulls wouldn't have scored to take the lead before halftime. The coaches should play video of that drop before every practice. It's the perfect example of just how important the little things are, because nothing is little.

The defense was okay, but couldn't get the push I would've expected up front, and definitely wasn't good enough in the pass game. There were more than a few passes that would've been touchdowns had it not been for an errant throw by just a few feet. The backs looked young. They are. But still.

Special teams haven't been tested really in these two games, but already things look better. I'm hoping it can become a weapon not just in field position, but in adding points to the board for Penn State.

I'm going to the game, unless it rains. I'll be taking photos, and it could be my last one of the season. Money is getting really tight now that the four-year-old is in preschool.

The hope this week is that Penn State wanted to keep things close to the vest these first two games. But if the Nittany Lions are going to be one of those "second half teams" again, we'll all be in for a ride this year. Just blow out everyone and things will be much more pleasant. Easy, right?

Update... I guess a score pick would be good. Penn State 40, Pitt 17.