Dispensing Thoughts and Opinions – Penn State vs. West Virginia
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• Nothing distorts reality more than the veil of great expectations. Was Penn State polished in every aspect this evening? Obviously not. Tackling was hit-and-miss. The kicking game was laughable (if you didn’t have money on the first-half spread, that is). The offensive line failed to maul one of the worst defenses in the Big XII. Receivers dropped a few gimmes. And the linebackers and defensive ends – a supposed strength of this squad – were underwhelming. But, does a 3+TD victory margin justify the waves of digital Chicken Littles spouting prophecies of doom and gloom across message boards and Twitter? IDK maybe.
• In all seriousness, we anticipated a spider-meets-paper-towel outcome tonight. And while we didn’t get it, a little statistical perspective should help us all sleep a bit better. Penn State only surrendered 116 rushing yards and 107 passing yards by the time the first-year green lights and veteran defensive understudies entered the mix midway through the 4th quarter. Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen each averaged better than 5 yards per carries. Allar averaged 11.2 yards per attempt – a threshold Sean Clifford only eclipsed once last season (Rose Bowl, 13.3 yds/attempt). West Virginia averaged 3.7 yards per rush and finished 4 of 14 on 3rd down.
• While the rest of the country goes gaga over Drew Allar’s Steve Nebraska arm, we’re gonna get ahead of the curve, dip our heads…lower….lower…and ogle his feet. Yep, we’re foot guys. No shame in it. Allar’s poise in an oft-unsettled pocket, ability to sidestep pressure despite offering a big, thick target for pass rushers to crush, and always stay balanced, ready to throw, eyes ignoring the nearby chaos, opting instead to focus on the fruit found downfield…man, it’s just really, really hot.
• Wonder how long this Mike Yurcich in the booth arrangement will last if the Nittany Lions offense continues burning timeouts due to communication delays? Granted, we’re not the best lip readers, but it appeared that James Franklin deposited roughly $16.25 into the Swear Jar when the offense emerged from a commercial break and wasn’t ready to snap the ball.
• I don’t think Todd Blackledge knows how to work his new telestrator. Anyone else notice the random yellow flag-looking specks popping up all over the screen tonight? Fooled us more than once.
• We spent 4 whole minutes rewinding and rewatching West Virginia’s failed 4th down trick play – which doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but trust us, it is when you’re examining a 5-second-long faceplant – and we still can’t piece together what the hell Mountaineers HC Neal Brown was trying to pull off.
• Remember, back in the day, when you’d drum up a street or playground football game with your buddies – a fire hydrant marking one end zone, your neighbor’s Geo Prizm marking the other — and then your jerk older brother would barge in and demand to be “All-Time QB?” Well, we’d like to propose that Imagine Dragons compose every network’s college football intro theme song for now until the end of the sport (so roughly 4-5 years at this rate). Make them All-Time Band! Sure, FallOut Boy’s “Here Comes Saturday Night” anthem hits the nail on the head, but it’s a tad too caffeinated for dramatic slow-motion helmet turns, and synchronized pom-pom pumps, unlike the Dragons’ lifted-off-a-Circuit-City-breakroom-motivational-poster lyrics.
• To Whom It May Concern: Don’t preach and get all pearl-clutchy about player safety when you won’t outlaw human cow-catcher formations/concepts on 4th and Short.
• Good teams win. Great teams cover.
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