Dispensing Thoughts & Opinions: Penn State vs. Rutgers

Sponsor: Whether tailgating in Happy Valley or watching the action at home, take your Saturday spread to the next level with Sauces, BBQ Dry Rubs and Bloody Mary Mix from the 409 Tailgate Club. Visit 409’s Online Store HERE.

• As much as we love to b*tch about the Big Ten schedule-makers’ obvious vendetta against Penn State Football, those Excel aficionados in Chicago unknowingly did the Nittany Lions a HUGE solid by backloading the 2022 slate with a bunch of helmet-wearing sloths. Because, my goodness, recent the tidal wave of injuries on offense has forced Mike Yurcich to piece things together with duct-tape, chewed wads of Juicy Fruit, and infomercial Flex Seal – like the Nittany Lions OC is some lamented playsheet-holding MacGyver or something. It’s weird offering up this commentary considering Penn State eclipsed the 50-point mark for the first time since 2020, but this offense was a sputtering mess for a decent portion of Saturday. For much of the first half, faulty pass protection was the stick in the Nittany Lions’ bicycle spokes. Once that issue was fixed, another leak sprung – Penn State’s incomplete WR crops, down the services of safety blanket Parker Washington, couldn’t separate.

• Abdul Carter’s emergence as arguably Penn State’s top defender, Manny Diaz’s most versatile chess piece, and surefire Freshman All-American highlights the importance of recruiting the Philadelphia area and why Penn State needs find a full-time role for current defensive graduate assistant Deion Barnes, a Philadelphia native. Not sure what beef Public and Catholic League prospects had with James Franklin and the Nittany Lions but, prior to Barnes’ arrival, Penn State failed to sign a recruit from Philadelphia proper (not “right outside of Philly”) since 2017, allowing Ohio State and SEC heavyweights to ransack a region Penn State should own.

• Back in August, Penn State’s in-house Audio/Visual Club released a cool Fall Camp hype video featuring Kaytron Allen truck-sticking fellow true freshman Mehki Flowers AND sprinting away from Ji’Ayir Brown on a long TD run. The latter highlight piqued our interest more than the viral soul-snatching clip, causing us to ask Friend of the Blog, Thomas Frank Carr of BWI, “Is Kaytron Allen Fast Now?” in one of his weekly mailbags. Turns out, Allen dropped some lbs. in the offseason, thus quickening his stride. Only problem was that weight loss seemed to take away from Allen’s signature strength as the true freshman failed to punctuate runs by falling forward in September and early October. Well, that’s not a problem anymore. Not sure what flipped or what changed, but Allen is once again running angry. It’s fun to watch.

• Prior to the 2nd half kickoff, the gameday presentation peeps at SHI Stadium dimmed the lights and played the Undertaker’s walkout music – a dark, morbid, depressing tune that perfectly encapsulates the forever vibe of Rutgers.

• Full disclosure: Near the end of the 3rd quarter of the Penn State-Rutgers seal-clubbing we flipped to the Maryland-Ohio State game because we made a massive 2nd half bet on the Buckeyes -9.5 – a true ‘Great Moment in Gambling History.’ (Those who watched the dying breaths of that almost upset know what we’re talking about) Therefore, while we bask in the afterglow of our ginormous financial windfall, we’re fresh out of witty quips and keen observations on the PSU contest. Sorry.