Well, the Fighting DeChellises are about to tip-off at Purdue in hopes of faring better than the 22-point clusterfuck of a loss suffered at the BJC a couple of weeks ago.
The big question of course, is: How will this team respond after pulling off the biggest win of the season Saturday night against Michigan State? If you’re thinking along the lines of Rants From The District, not too well because he is picking Purdue to cover the spread as 11-point favorites.
I, on the other hand, have a feeling that PSU will beat the spread and also hang tough with the Boilermakers for most of the game before faltering in the final 5 minutes of the game…Although the last time I made such a prediction it shot “clue goo” right back in my face.
Is that a “raging clue” HHV has? Or is he still excited over last Saturday night’s upset?
RFTD and I remain tied at 7-4 but that is obviously bound to change after tonight. The only question of course, is who will emerge on top…
No need to go into details about the abortion that was Wednesday Night’s basketball game against Purdue. It was dispicable on all levels to say the least and it reminded me all too much of the shellackings from middle-of-the-pack Big Ten teams we used to take on a regular basis during the final years of the Jerry Dunn era.
I’m done defending Ed DeChellis, the guy is no doubt a great guy and a great ambassador for PSU who loves his alma mater dearly, but unfortunately that hasn’t meant much as far as results on the court. While I feel the talent has been upgraded from the end of the JD era, the coaching still seems all too familiar from a crap-tastic standpoint. How many more times do we have to see a half-court offense that looks like it’s being run by a bunch of pickup players that just met five minutes ago? How many more times to we have to see quirky substitution patterns? (i.e. Mike Walker getting benched after one dumb mistake but Talor Battle gets kept in the game for as long as he wants, no matter how erratic he gets at times). How many more times to do we have to see a lack of fire/urgency in the the coaching staff and the players? There is no excuse for any of this garbage continuing in Year 5, even with Geary Claxton gone.
Worst of all, how many more times do I have to hear one of our players complain that they’re “not having fun” out there? It feels like deja vu all over again…This program has hit a brick wall and with the lack of commitments from the current recruiting class I can only see things sliding backwards from here.
Iit’s time for Tim Curley to swallow his pride, admit the safe, “in the family” hire didn’t work, and shell out the cash for a known coach with a pedigree for winning, recruiting, and getting the most out of his players. This program needs a shot in the arm like nobody’s business…
With the recent news reports of Germany taking steps to ban Scientology in their country, I would like to remind the German government of all the wonderful things that have been created as a result of Scientology. The video below is a perfect example of what I’m talking about.
I apologize for the major delay in getting this weeks’ power rankings up as I’ve finally found a smidgen of time to throw in a blog post. Before I get to the rankings though, I feel I should provide some closure on last weekend’s college football action since I did not do my typical Monday recap. Unfortunately, being as pressed for time as I am, I will simply use a picture to describe my thoughts on this past weekend:
That’s correct, Les Miles hasn’t shown any signs of shrinkage over the past couple weeks. In case you missed it, LSU was trailing Auburn by one point with about 10 seconds left when Miles, with his team already well within field goal range, decided to have his QB throw one deep into the end zone which was caught for a TD…with one second remaining. Had the pass been incomplete, it likely would’ve been game over and the message boards at LSU’s scout.com site would’ve been in total meltdown. Instead, Miles is hailed as a hero for a rather ballsy but still idiotic play call.
And now, onto the rankings:
1. Ohio State (1) – We’ll find out just how “for real” the Buckeyes are when they face arguably their biggest challenge of the season. If they can survive the gauntlet that is Beaver Stadium at night, look for OSU to make their second straight BCS Championship Game appearance.
2. Michigan (2) – Not only did they manage to rally from a 14-3 defecit on the road at a team and atmosphere like Illinois’ but they managed to do it with Mike Hart standing on the sidelines in street clothes. Only thing keeping them from retaining #1 in these rankings is the school that’s beaten them 5 out of the last 6 meetings.
3. Penn State (3) – “Nothing to lose, plenty to gain” lives here…
4. Illinois (4) – Wasted a huge opportunity to prove to a national audience that they were for real. Now, Ron Zook is faced with a task that he’s had trouble quelling his first two seasons in Champaign: healing a losing streak.
The Badgers are still stuck on the Island of Misfit Mascots
6. Purdue (6) – Well, at least Purdue still has the ability to beat somebody in the Big Ten (Iowa)…
7. Indiana (9) – Two years ago, NFL bottom-feeders were purposely tanking games to win the “Reggie Bush Sweepstakes” Will you see perhaps, the Rams or the Dolphins vying for the first crack at James Hardy?
8. Northwestern (7) – The offensive fireworks will explode like a Chinese New Year Parade when the Wild-Kitties do battle with Purdue this Saturday.
9. Michigan State (8) – There were some undertones of Sparty’s 1998 upset of #1 OSU this past Saturday. Particularly, when OSU nearly allowed them to rally from a 24-0 defecit. Unfortunately for Sparty, John Cooper has long since been fired.
10. Iowa (10) – If you’re a fan of cripple fights, circle Nov. 10th on your calendar because that’s when the Hawkeyes play host to…..
11. Minnesota (11) – Folks, it’s no mystery that Minnesota is easily not only the worst team in the Big Ten but one of the worst teams in Division I-A football right now. I’m going to do something different this week and let a couple other bloggers speak for themselves regarding the state of Golden Gopher football:
Minnesota fired Glen Mason because they thought they could do better. They lost to North Dakota State on Saturday, a team that is moving into D-1AA this year. We compose a haiku to summarize our feelings.
Firing is tricky.
Glen Mason sucks; you still suck.
Next time, try decaf.
1. Besides the fact that we’re 3-2, what has been the biggest disappointment this year?
Where to begin? Morelli’s inability to rally this team from any sort of defecit (and before anyone says “Notre Dame”, remember that was D-Will who scored the game-tying TD on a punt return), our inept coaching on the offensive side of the football, JoePa’s unwillingness to consider playing Darryl Clark if things go downhill quickly with Morelli this Saturday, two fifth-year senior tailbacks who can’t carry the load off our QB’s shoulders, our defense’s sudden problems with stopping the run. I’m sure there’s more but I’d probably end up smashing my laptop keyboard just trying to think about them.
2. After the Michigan game the play calling was under heavy scrutiny against Illinois. Late in the third quarter with Penn State trailing by seven points, the Nittany Lions had a third and goal from the one yard line. They elected to pitch the ball to Rodney Kinlaw over left tackle and the play lost two yards. Then on fourth and goal from the three they elected to kick a field goal. How would you evaluate the play calling on these two plays?
I’ve said it before, and even after reading some other PSU fans try to defend such a play call I’m going to keep saying it until the day I croak: The pitch to Rodney Kinlaw with the ball on Illinois’ one-yard line was the most idiotic call in recent PSU football memory. That’s saying something considering we aren’t too far removed from the “Dark Years” (Heck, we may be headed to a “Dark Years Lite” at this point where we end up at 7-5 and in the Champs Sports Bowl). Whoever was responsible for calling that play should have been fired right there on the spot. Just pound the fucking ball into the end zone with the fullback, or have Austin Scott dive over the pile for the TD, it’s not rocket science.
I can’t get too mad though for the coaches having us kick a field goal as opposed to going for it on 4th and goal. Our defense had been rather shaky in the first half so there was a possibility that even if we turned the ball over on downs that Illinois could have moved the ball on out of their own 5-yard line and would’ve given themselves a little more breathing room for their punter. Not that it would have made a difference anyway the way our offense gets stuck in the red zone.
3. Is there anything positive we can take out of the Illinois game?
Teams are still dumb enough to try and beat us in the air when it’s obvious that we’re more vulnerable on the ground.
Lightning Round
Who should be the starting quarterback against Iowa?
Shane Falco.
Joe Must Go! Yes or No?
Yes, absolutely. No matter what our record is this year and next, it is simply time for a change. Joe is 80 going on 81, has a bum knee, and coaches like he still did 20 years ago. Did I also mention he’s 4-15 against Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin combined this decade, has lost 9 in a row to Michigan, and has yet to win in Columbus since we joined the Big Ten in 1993? Hopefully Spanier/Curley have been brushing up on their oustering skills since the 2004 debacle in which JoePa told them to “take a hike” after they rang his doorbell and tried to persuade him into retirement.
Iowa Prediction?
PSU 13-10. Basically, the 6-4 Iowa game with a couple of TDs thrown in there. Get ready for the Big Ten’s most anticipated Cripple Fight (aside from Minnesota-Northwestern).
1.) Thus far the defense has given up three points (on a short field) in two games. Have they proved that they are an elite unit or are they still untested?
The fact that the defense has held its first two opponents to a combined -3 yards rushing is just downright amazing. I don’t care if FIU and ND have shitty running games, that is an awesome statistic no matter which way you slice it. Add in the D-line’s injury issues and I can only wonder how much more brutal it could get for the opposition if/when Abe Koroma returns.
You also gotta give the defense props for not allowing a single offensive TD thus far, that’s a testament to the quality linebacking corps and secondary though I should say the secondary hasn’t been tested much this year (that probably won’t happen until we roll into Ann Arbor next Saturday). 2.) Anthony Morelli made a great throw to Chris Bell for 51 yards but also fumbled and was picked off twice(Correction: ONCE). How concerned are you about him as the starting quarterback?
Morelli’s mistakes were disconcerting no doubt, as I thought he was past those kinds of mistakes that dogged him all of last season. Jimmy Clausen looked more poised in the pocket and showed better smarts than Morelli did this past weekend. However, it was plays like the pass to Chris Bell, the screen pass to Matt Hahn, and the TD pass to Jordan Norwood that remind me why I’m still supporting the kid as our QB, he’s still vastly improved from last year in his maturity and decision-making (despite the foolish fumble). Something tells me that come Thanksgiving, we’ll look back on this game as one of his worst performances of the season, and that would be a good thing.
3.) Don’t look now, but this week’s opponent Buffalo dropped 42 on Temple this past Saturday. Granted Temple is awful, but should we be concerned at all?
Let’s put it this way: You have permission to cut off my left nut if Buffalo QB Drew Willy goes 20-for-22 passing on our defense and one of their tailbacks even begins to “sniff” 100 yards rushing.
Translation: No, I’m not concerned at all.
LIGHTNING ROUND
Where you at the game? If so, does the atmosphere stand up to other big games like Nebraska in 2002, Ohio State in 2005, etc.?
I was at the game this past weekend and unlike RUTS, I was sitting about 25 rows up from the visitors’ tunnel so I could definitely gauge the atmosphere better. To be honest with you, it wasn’t THAT great. Sure, the “White House” looked nice but I think it was the fact that we pretty much expected to pummel ND (as opposed to being very unsure about beating Nebraska or OSU) that made the celebrations a bit more mellow. While it was a fun and rare site to see us play ND, I dunno if I would even put this amongst my Top 5 atmospheres in Beaver Stadium that I’ve witnessed first-hand. My list at the moment would actually look something like this:
1. Ohio State 2005
2. Nebraska 2002
3. Michigan 1995
4. Michigan State 1994
5. Purdue 2000
Do you think Jimmy Clausen will be a good QB?
No doubt, he showed plenty of poise and did not get forced into making the kind of mistakes that freshman QBs making their starting debut would make. The only ND turnover that happened was really not his fault as the receiver he threw to had stone hands. I see Clausen having a break-out contest in a win over Michigan, causing Mike Hart to “guarantee” a Rose Bowl berth during his post-game interview while Michigan’s fan base commits mass suicide like the “Blainetologists” in South Park
Saturday’s game against ND will mark the last straw for Michigan fans
Do you work with any Notre Dame fans? If so, what kind of mood where they in on Monday morning?
I’m a full-time law school student so I’m not working. However, there is a kid in my dorm who is a Notre Dame fan although he’s the stereotypical “subway alum” (he’s Irish Catholic from New York). All last week he kept talking about ND putting the beat-down on us in a half-jokingly way. Even though I have yet to see him this week, I’m about 98 % certain he’s still alive.
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Happy Hour Valley 