Game 1 Recap

Penn State 66, Coastal Carolina 10

Well, first of all, our prediction was wrong. The teams almost eclipsed our prediction in the first half alone. Actually, as expected, the Chanticleers were underwhelming. However, our offense had a huge day and outperformed our mediocre expectations for them (yeah, it was a D1-AA school, but it’s our offense, and it was the first game, we thought 42 points was a fair assessment).

Two of the WWTL staff actually attended this game, with pretty nice seats in the north end zone. Of course, neither of us remembered a camera cable/card reader, so our pictures will be coming tomorrow or Monday. But anyway, the crowd was solid at the start, but the student section was predictably late. For the Chanticleers, tens of fans made the trip from the Myrtle Beach area to support the team. It was overcast, cloudy and muggy, so we probably would’ve stayed in Myrtle Beach too.

So, as always, the Blue Band did their thing (a class act as always), the anthem was played, and we still don’t know the goddamn words to the alma mater. But after all that, the season was ready to begin.

1st Quarter

Penn State kicked off to open the game, and while Coastal didn’t go three and out, they did punt after about six plays, which was no surprise. The Lions wasted no time at all, and rammed the ball down the collective throat of the Chanticleers. After a rush by Derrick Williams and two completions to Deon Butler, Evan Royster ran one in from 7 yards for the first touchdown of the season.

7-0

After a quick offensive series by Coastal, Penn State had the ball again. The second was a lot like the first: nothing too special, but after a couple rushes by Royster and completed passes by Clark, Royster took one in for his second touchdown of the game.

14-0

After the ensuing kickoff, Coastal broke the 50-yard line, but after two false starts, they had to punt again. And four letters can sum up Penn State’s next drive: p-u-n-t. Coastal had the ball back, ran a couple plays, and time ran out in the first.

2nd Quarter

Coastal started the quarter with the ball on the Penn State 40, and drove to the 33, where they faced a third and three. Tom Bradley’s strategy was to blitz the entire defense, as well as the entire stadium, and that quarterback Zach Macdowall found Trent Usher picking daisies in the middle of the field for a 33-yard touchdown. We watched this on the DVR when we got home, and a Penn State defender could not be seen on the replay when usher caught the ball. A little disheartening.

Penn State's secondary demonstrating their new coverage scheme.

14-7

The tens of fans from Coastal started smelling upset, but we knew better. We agreed that a runback on the kickoff would be nice. And as if sensing our request, D-Will delivered with an 89-yard return for a TD:

Peace.

21-7

And fortunately for the blue and white, this was as close as the game would get. The rest of the half was a complete wash for the Chanticleers offense, and their drives went something like this: punt, punt, fall on face, punt, interception, punt, massive fail.

Things weren’t much better for Coastal’s D either. While it seemed like there were 11 players out there on Coastal’s defense, Penn State’s offense saw a different picture:

Nobody home.

First, Clark hooked up with Norwood for a score on a pretty fade route to the corner of the end zone, almost taking out one of the Chanticleers male cheerleaders in the process, and that would’ve been bad news. Just ask Duke the Dog from James Madison what happens when you mess with Coastal’s cheerleaders:

Chauncey the Chanticleer in his finest moment.

28-7

On Penn State’s next offensive series, Pat Devlin entered the game and showed no signs of first-game jitters as he immediately found Norwood for a 40-yard gain, which was eventually followed by a 7-yard touchdown run by freshman sensation Stephfon Green.

35-7

Devlin nearly drove the offense to another touchdown, but came up short. No worries as Kevin Kelly cleaned it up with a 31-yard field goal to essentially close out the half.

38-7

Halftime

The Blue Band with another dominant performance.

3rd Quarter

It was more of the same for the Lions’ offense in the 3rd, as Evan Royster almost single-handedly destroyed Coastal’s D on the drive, and capped it off with a 10-yard touchdown run, his third of the day.

Royster reminds Coastal Carolina that they’ve only had a football program for six years.

45-7

Coastal Carolina followed up that drive with a predictable three and out. Even more predictably, Penn State scored again, this time on a 7-yard rush by Green.

52-7

So at one point in the second quarter, it was 14-7. Halfway through the third, we looked up and said, “Holy shit, it’s 52-7!”

“That escalated quickly.”

After Coastal’s earlier three and out, Coach David Bennett could be seen lobbying a ref:

“This here game’s gettin’ outta hand! I reckon that there blue team oughta only play 9 men on the de-fense!”

Unfortunately for Bennett and his team, the refs couldn’t understand his accent and let play continue:

Domination.

Before long, Penn State was driving behind Devlin and Green. But it was sophomore Chaz Powell who put a huge exclamation point on the drive, burning down the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown run.

59-7

Who the hell is Chaz Powell?

Mercifully for the Chanticleers, the quarter came to a close. In case you’re counting, after they tallied in the second, Penn State put up 45 unanswered points. Yikes.

4th Quarter

At this point, we were just hanging around to see the boys hang a 66-spot on the ol’ Chanticleers before we departed. It happened at the end of a 15-play, 80-yard, nearly 8-minute drive, as freshman Brandon Beachum scored on a run from 1 yard out.

66-7

Again, in case you’re counting, that was Penn State’s 7th rushing touchdown of the day. And Beachum was the 4th player to put one in the end zone on the ground.

Apparently Coastal Carolina added a late field goal, but we wouldn’t know, because we were halfway to The Deli.

66-10.

Penn State Wins.
Stats

Our Quick Thoughts On The Game:
-We thought the offense might sputter a little, since it was the first game. But it definitely didn’t. Everyone looked very solid. Both Clark and Devlin made some nice throws, the line played well, Williams/Butler/Norwood looked stellar, and Royster and Green have the potential to be the best backfield in the Big11Ten. Sure, it was Coastal Carolina, but we feel good about the offense.
-The defense could have some growing pains, especially at the linebacker positions. The backfield looked decent today and the line played well. After the quick lull in the second quarter, things looked good. But we all know the actual tests begin next week.
-We can only hope Williams’ kickoff return was the beginning of a huge season.
-The Chanticleers? Really??
-Stay tuned for our pics from this game, as well as next week’s recap, which will include some pics of our first big tailgate of the season (this was like a preseason game for us).

Penn State Player of the Game: Derrick Williams
This is the Derrick Williams we were hoping to see. While he didn’t have outstanding receiving numbers, he had 165 all-purpose yards, including the huge kickoff return that really woke up the offense. He did have 2 receptions for 45 yards, as well as 2 rushes for 11 yards. And he barely played in the second half.

Coastal Carolina Player of the Game: Chauncey the Chanticleer.
He demonstrated great self-control throughout the game, mainly by not getting into a fight. Also, he was really the only person of note from Coastal Carolina through the game.

A WWTL Special Feature…Douche of the Week!
This week’s award goes to some dude that calls himself Duke Flywalker. As if that weren’t enough to piss you off, he won a rap contest put on by the Daily Collegian, and performed during a time out in today’s game. It was awful, and as you can imagine, incredibly cheesy.

UPDATE: We took the pic down because it's come to our attention that the pic was not of Duke Flywalker. Our mistake. Check out the scoreboard pic in the post above.

If you feel like assaulting your ears, here’s the link to his travesty of a performance. Just to remind you, he’s rapping about Penn State football. Yes, it’s a football rap. No, we are not kidding. View at your own risk.

That’s it for now, we’ll be back this week with some updates. Enjoy your labor day.

Game 1 Preview: Coastal Carolina @ Penn State

vs.

Gametime: 12:00 pm

TV: Big11Ten Network

Audio: Here

Weather: Partly cloudy, high of 81

Okay, we’re not going to lie, we don’t know much about Coastal Carolina, except they are a D1-AA team (yeah, that’s right, no chapionship/bowl subdivision bs around here), they play in the stellar Big South Conference, they were 5-6 last year and their nickname is the Chanticleers.

Having said that, maybe the most intriguing part of the lead-up to this game has been CC head coach David Bennett’s press conference, which was brought to everyone’s attention by Black Shoe Diaries (do yourself a favor and listen to the press conference). Let's go to Coach Bennett now to get his thoughts on the game:

Coastal Carolina Head Coach, David Bennett.

"Dis is gunna be onea dem games wheres puttin da' ball in da' en'zone ain' gone be easy. I ain't onea dem einsteins but i know points is gonna be hard to get."

Thanks for your time, coach.

Okay, we’re giving Coach Bennett a hard time but we’re sure he’s a nice guy and a great coach. His six-year record at Coastal is 39-17 and he’s 102-34 in his head coaching career.

Moving on, this is Coastal Carolina’s first game ever against a D1-A school, and the crowd at the Beav on Saturday will be larger than the combined crowds at Coastal’s 11 games last year (93,231). We’re just guessing, but we think that might make their players a bit nervous.

Coastal returns 8 starters each on offense and defense from last year’s squad, including preseason All-American candidate, senior offensive lineman Britt Leggett. It should be a great learning experience for the guys from Coastal, but let’s not kid ourselves, this one’s not gonna be close.

3 Bold Predictions:
-Both Royster and Green rush for over 100 yards.
-Maurice Evans injures two Coastal Carolina quarterbacks.
-Anthony Scirrotto punches someone.

Game Prediction: PSU 42, Coastal Carolina 6

2008 Preview: Minnesota

2007 Record: 1-11 (0-8)

Last year, something terrible happened in Minnesota. The team had been steadily declining from a series of average-at-best seasons (5 straight Bowl Games) and ended up with an abysmal 1-11 record. It feels weird typing that, as it's almost impossible to imagine a Big11Ten team being that bad, other than Indiana.

How often do you hear about a Big11Ten team looking to avenge a previous season loss against Bowling Green or Florida Atlantic? Not often we'd bet, but Minnesota will be looking to get some payback against both teams this season.

That's Bowling Green, celebrating on your turf. Bowling Green.

Not much positive can be said about last years team, except that a lot of young players got some quality minutes later in the season. That will benefit the team in the future, even if those minutes came in losses. It's worth mentioning, however, that 2 of those late season losses (and 6 of the 11 losses) came by a touchdown or less, perhaps a sign of improvement by the young Golden Gophers.

On a more positive note, the Gophers return what could be an outstanding quarterback in Adam Weber. Weber accounted for 29 touchdowns last season. He threw for 24 (2895 yards) and ran for another 5 (617 rushing yards). With another year of experience under his belt, and hopefully a solid running game to help him out, there's no reason Weber can't be able to duplicate those touchdown numbers and reduce his interception total from 19.

Also returning is standout wide-receiver Eric Decker. He caught 67 passes for 909 yards and 9 touchdowns. The Weber to Decker combo should create a solid backbone for the offense, but the running game will be a big wild card. Sophomore Duane Bennet is the starter for the first time this season after rushing for 442 yards last season. If all three of these young guys can grow in this system together, the Minnesota offense may one day develop some serious punch, if not this year.

Defensively, the Gophers really have nowhere to go but up. Minnesota allowed an average of 519 yards per game (the worst in the division formerly known as D-1A).

Two members of the Gophers' 2007 defensive squad.

The defense returns three solid defensive ends in Lee Campbell, Willie VanDeSteeg and Derrick Onwuachi. The rest of the defense is all question marks. All three lineback spots are open and and a secondary that was ripped apart last season allowing 289 ypg passing is likely to be filled with a few junior college standouts. Will those junior college guys be able to step right in and keep up? Will whatever guys who end up filling the linebacker spots be able to help the d-line prevent 229 ypg rushing? Will the team get more than 11 sacks? Will there still be more purple than maroon and gold at HHH-Dome?

Like we said, a lot of questions.

For as much positive potential the offense has, the defense seems to have as much negative potential. It would be a great story to see that terrible defense return with a couple junior college guys and turn into a competitor, but it's still a long shot for Minnesota to turn into anything resembling a contendor quite yet. Hopefully for the Gopher faithful, the 2009 team will put something special together for that new stadium they're building -- but 2008 looks like another year full of L's.


Our Prediction for 2008: 3-9 (0-8)

2008 Preview: Purdue

2007: 8-5 (3-5 in Big11Ten), Beat Central Michigan in Motor City Bowl.

Purdue. We tried to write something snappy or funny or interesting here about Purdue. But in all honesty, what is there to say? We know the book on them by now. They chuck the ball all over the field, they don’t play a ton of defense, and unless Drew Brees discovers he has another year of eligibility and wants to come back to start at QB, they’re probably not going to contend for the conference title.

It is coach Joe Tiller’s last season this year, and that is notable because he brought the gunslinging spread offense to the conference with him 13 years ago. Can that offense put up massive points sometimes? Yes. Does it usually work on the conference’s elite teams? No. Purdue led the Big11Ten in scoring offense last season, and while they gave Penn State a bit of a scare, they were only 3-5 in conference play. While it would be nice for Tiller to go out with a bang, things aren’t looking up for the folks in West Lafayette.

One thing Purdue has going for them is their quarterback, senior Curtis Painter. He’s probably the safest bet in the conference to be a solid QB this year, as he’s flourished in the spread during his career, to the tune of over 8,700 career passing yards. He had 3,846 last year alone. While those aren’t quite Graham Harrell numbers, they’re pretty good for the Big11Ten. As Painter goes, so goes the offense, and as long as he’s at the helm, Purdue’s scoring numbers should flourish.

Unfortunately for Painter, he’s missing two big targets from last year in receiver Dorien Bryant and tight end Dustin Keller, who combined for 155 receptions, over 1,800 yards and 15 touchdowns. Ouch. Dustin Keller is actually now catching passes from this unidentified man:

People from Wisconsin are starting to cry.

However, senior Greg Orton had 67 catches for 752 yards last year, and seniors Joe Whitest and Aaron Valentin combined for 10 touchdowns last year. So Painter will still have a lot of experience to work with at wideout.

Senior Corey Sheets returns at running back this year after a pretty solid junior campaign of 895 yards (5.1 yards per carry) and 11 touchdowns. And, of course, we're all familiar with backup Jaycen Taylor:

Whoops. Wrong Jason Taylor.

Actually, Purdue's Taylor averaged 5.2 yards per carry last year but tore his ACL in a recent practice and is out for the year.

As for the offensive line, Purdue returns three starters in Sean Sester, Zach Reckman and Zach Jones. Unfortunately, all three missed time in the spring with injuries. If they can all hold up through the season, Purdue should be lighting things up on offense as usual. If not, Painter’s senior season could be a painful one.

If there was ever a defense we knew nothing about before the season, it would be Purdue’s (hey, unlike E!SPN, at least we admit that we don’t know what we’re talking about). But after extensive research (define that as you wish), we found that the defense that was very middle-of-the-pack last year should offer about the same this year.

The D is anchored by senior linebacker Anthony Heygood. The Butkus award hopeful racked up 81 tackles (15 for a loss) last season. New starters Kevin Green (junior) and Jason Werner (senior) join Heygood to make up the linebacking corp. The D-line appears to be in solid shape, with three returning starters in seniors Ryan Baker, Alex Magee and Keyon Brown. Sophomore Ryan Kerrigan will be the newcomer on the line and will try to help improve the 148 yards rushing per game that Purdue surrendered last year. Junior David Pender will anchor the defensive backfield as the team’s top cornerback.

Purdue’s schedule isn’t as cakey as some in the Big11Ten, but they do luck out by not having to play Wisconsin. We do think they will win their rivalry game with Indiana, mostly to get back at this guy:


However, four of their first six games will be against Oregon, Notre Dame, Penn State and Ohio State. That’s not going to be a fun run for the Boilermakers. Boiler down.

Our prediction for Purdue: 4-8 (2-6 Big11Ten).

Not really shocking news

Clark will be your starter for week one.

As much as we hate to do this, here's a link to the story at ESPN, the worldwide leader in Yankees, Red Sox and Patriots.

No matter who ends up taking the majority of the snaps this season, it's good news when you have two QB's who could challenge to play the starting role. By all accounts, Clark is the more balanced of the two in terms of being able to run and pass, so maybe that will allow the playbook to open up a little bit.

2008 Preview: Indiana

2007: 7-6 (3-5 in Big11Ten), Lost to Oklahoma State in Insight.com Bowl.

Things have changed in the Big11Ten. It used to be that you would see Indiana on your schedule and chalk the game up as a win in your mind, usually without much thought. But last year, Indiana gave us a healthy scare. While a couple key losses will hurt the Hoosiers, they have the pieces to make it back to a bowl game for the second straight year, a feat that was unheard of in years past.

Let’s switch things up from the norm and start on defense. The only reason we feel compelled to do this (other than the monotany of writing 10 team previews) is Indiana’s Lombardi and Bednarik award hopeful, defensive end Greg Middleton. Middleton led the nation with 16 sacks last year and the scary part was that he was only a sophomore. Middleton will command double teams this year as teams will try to stop him from collectively destroying their quarterbacks.

Other than Middleton, Indiana’s defense was hardly stout last year. In the conference, they ranked 9th in pass defense, 9th in rush defense, and yes, 9th in scoring defense. At least they were consistent. Two other starters will join Middleton on the line (Nick Polk and Christopher Phillips), while linebackers Will Peterson and Geno Johnson bring solid experience to try to shore up the run D. Junior strong safety Austin Thomas will anchor the backfield after a team-leading 112 tackles last season. However, the Hoosiers will have trouble replacing cornerback Tracy Porter who had 6 interceptions last season and was a second round draft pick this spring.

Now onto the offense, where things get a little interesting. Last year, mutli-threat quarterback Kellen Lewis had a breakout season, throwing for over 3,000 yards, tossing 28 touchdowns to just 10 picks, and rushing for over 700 yards and 9 touchdowns. Alone, that’s a helluva year. After watching Anthony Morelli for two seasons, it’s mind-bottling.

Did you just say mind-bottling? Yeah, we did.

While starting Lewis, a junior this year, seems like a no-brainer, coach Bill Lynch insists that there is a real QB competition between and pocket-passer Ben Chappell that likely won’t be decided until the season opener. That is because Lewis was suspended in the spring for an unknown team violation and wasn’t reinstated until July. Even with the suspension (something we know quite a bit about), we’d be shocked if Lewis wasn’t the starter for the first game. Given what he did last year, it would be insane not to start him.

Unfortunately for Lewis, one huge (literally and figuratively) part of the offense is gone this year, in 6’7” receiver James Hardy, currently a Buffalo Bill. You may remember what Hardy did to corner back and WWTL whipping boy Justin King last year:

Not quite tall enough.

Yeah, Hardy led the team last year with 79 catches for 1125 yards and a whopping 16 touchdowns. So obviously he’ll be sorely missed. But not all is lost. Ray Fisher returns this year at wideout, and was second on the team with 52 receptions last fall. The 6’3” sophomore Terrance Turner hopes to add some size in Hardy’s absence.

In the backfield, senior Marcus Thigpen will be the go-to guy (other than Lewis). Thigpen has serious speed, but he took a back seat to Lewis last year, rushing for only 568 yards and no touchdowns. On the O-line, Indiana has two solid returning starters on the left side in tackle Rodger Saffold and guard Pete Saxon. Young newcomers on the line must step in quickly to protect Lewis and open up more options for Thigpen this season.

While Indiana joins the likes of Purdue and Michigan State in offensive explosiveness, their defense is still a bit questionable. One thing that will help them overcome this, in our opinion, is their schedule. In fact, it is probably one of the easiest schedules we’ve ever seen.

A collection of Indiana's opponents.

Indiana has eight (8!) home games this year, including four against non-conference powers such as Western Kentucky and Murray State. And to top it off, they don’t play Ohio State or Michigan this year. While they should feast on their weak non-conference opponents, they will still struggle in the Big11Ten.

Our prediction for Indiana: 7-5 (3-5 Big11Ten).

2008 Preview: Wisconsin

2007: 9-3 (6-3), Lost to Tennessee in the Outback Bowl

First things first, we need to address the number one concern for all Wisconsin fans:

Will Aaron Rodgers and his many mustaches be able to fill in for Favre?

Anyway, back to the matter at hand...
One of the more solid programs in the conference, Wisconsin regularly puts together a top notch team. Unfortunately, those top notch teams never really become great teams or travel far beyond the Capital One or Outback Bowls. If we were Wisconsin fans, it would be hard to complain about four straight years of New Years Day bowls, but the good people of Wisconsin are probably hurtin to see some BCS action.

The chances of the Badgers to make an appearance in a BCS bowl this season probably rest entirely on the shoulders of PJ Hill. Make no mistake about it, he can run. It will be no surprise when Bielema starts calling for the ball to get to Hill early and often. As PJ Hill goes this season, so go the Badgers.

Also, PJ Hill has his own website We couldn't believe it when we saw it either. Hope you like the third person.

"Visit PJ Hill's website." - PJ Hill

At quarterback, there's seemingly no number one guy. It will be either senior Allan Evridge or junior Dustin Sherer. At last check, neither had really claimed the position (sound familiar?). Whomever ends up under center, they should get used to two things: handing off to PJ Hill and passing to Travis Beckum. Beckum, who was first-team All Conference last season caught 75 passes for 982 yards. By comparison, Derrick Williams caught 55 for 529 last season. Oh, and did we mention that Beckum is a tight end?

If the quarterback they choose can match the play of PJ Hill, Travis Beckum and an emerging young receiving corps, the Wisconsin offense should be just fine. In all likelihood, it should be Allan Evridge as he has more experience at the collegiate level. With the team he has around him, all he should have to do is be consistent, and not worry about trying to win the games.

Defensively, the Badgers are returning 9 starters. Of those nine, 6 of them are coming off of pretty bad injuries -- including their top corners Allan Langford and Aaron Henry with torn ACLs. All four members of the defensive line are also coming off of injury, including end Matt Shaughnessy with a broken leg.

Fortunately for the Badgers, they have a solid group of returning linebackers. Jonathan Casillas should be in the running for some awards this season. Casillas and his mates will have to play a lot of clean up if the health of the line continues to be an issue.

With the considerable experience on the defensive side of the ball, if everyone can stay healthy the Badgers should have a succesful year defensively.

As for the schedule, Wisconsin has one of the toughest. After the usual Big11Ten cupcake teams to open the season, Wisconsin will travel to Fresno State. Fresno State will be jacked up for this one and the Badgers will need to bring their best. Fresno State's not your run of the mill out of conference opponent, so the Badgers will need to be sharp.

After that game, they get a week off to prep for a road trip to Michigan. Despite it being a down year for Michigan (potentially), it's never a good thing when you have to travel to Ann Arbor.

Following Michigan the Badgers play at home against Ohio State, Penn State, then travel to Iowa before returning home for a game against Illinois. If Wisconsin can get through that stretch, perhaps even with just one loss, they should be at the top of the running for Big11Ten Champs as they close with Michigan State, Indiana, Minnesota and a team that really strikes fear into everyone -- Cal Poly.

A lot of what happens to Wisconsin this season will rest on the health of their defensive players and the performance of a yet-to-be-named quarterback. Overall, there's a very good team up there, with the potential to be great.

Oh, and having this on your side probably doesn't hurt:

Our Prediction for this season: 10-2 (6-2)

2008 Preview: Michigan State

2007: 7-6 (3-5), Lost to Boston College in the Champs Sports Bowl

Whether the sport is football, basketball, baseball, hockey, curling, or whatever, during the preseason there is always a team that becomes the trendy pick to do well. Usually we try to stay away from such madness, as the team almost always falls on its collective face.

But this year is a little different, because this time we have to agree with the all the writers/bloggers/jokers on SportsCenter. This year, Michigan State ought to be good. The team Penn State used to routinely blow out of the water turned the tides last year and spanked us during the second half of the contest in East Lansing. This team has a solid defense, a scary offense, and they could challenge for one of the top spots in the Big11Ten.

Just look at the difference one year (and a new coach makes). In 2006, Michigan State was a predictably disappointing 4-8 under coach John L. Smith. Not surprisingly, that was Smith’s last year at the helm. Last year, new coach Mark Dantonio led the Spartans to a 7-6 finish and a tight loss against Boston College in the Champs Sports Bowl.

Now we all know the stats: all of the Spartans’ losses last season were by a margin of 7 points or less. That means they weren’t quite ready to step up in big pressure moments. It also means they are close to making the leap. This year, the Spartans could be ready. The team has a chance to be very potent on offense, as they return quarterback Brian Hoyer, who threw for over 2,700 yards and 20 touchdowns last year in his first season as the starter. However, he’ll be missing his favorite target from last year, Devin Thomas, who was a second round pick in this year’s NFL Draft.

The offense’s success will hinge on the play of receivers senior Deon Curry, sophomore Mark Dell and redshirt freshman B.J. Cunningham. Curry was second best in receptions by a wideout, but had just 24. Dell had 20 catches for 220 yards and should play a bigger role this season. Look for big time recruit Fred Smith to make an impact this year as well.

At running back is Javon Ringer, a guy who has flown a bit under the radar for a number of reasons. But he is primed for a big year if all goes well to plan. Ringer lead the team with 1494 yards rushing (5.9 yards per carry), but was a bit overshadowed by touchdown machine Jehuu Caulcrick, who had 21 scores last year. With Caulcrick gone, look for Ringer to be the go-to guy and to have an outstanding senior year. Ringer also caught 35 passes for nearly 300 yards last year, so he will be a help to Hoyer out of the backfield.

Ringer could be a beast in the Big11Ten.

On the O-line, the Spartans return two starters in Roland Martin and Joel Nitchman. Junior Rocco Cironi has big shoes to fill, replacing All-Conference left tackle Pete Clifford and trying to protect Hoyer’s blind side. With help from some incoming freshman, the line should be good enough to serve the skill players well.

While Michigan State can light it up on offense, defense was their downfall last year, ranking just 8th in the conference in scoring defense, giving up 26.6 points per game.
The defense is still questionable, although it does have a number of big time players. Linebacker Greg Jones had a stellar true freshman campaign last year, with 78 tackles, including 4.5 sacks. Cornerback Kendall Davis-Clark (72 tackles, 4 sacks) and safety Otis Wiley (4 interceptions) lead a defensive backfield that has a good amount of experience.

The biggest question mark for the Spartans is their defensive line. They lost quite a bit of production from last season, but junior defensive end Trevor Anderson, a transfer who played under Dantonio at Cincinnati looks to make a big impact this year. If the line holds up, this could be a very good defensive unit.

We just realized that there’s a glaring lack of jokes in this preview. That’s because there will most likely be a glaring lack of crappy football being played in East Lansing this year. Unlike their counterparts in Ann Arbor, the Spartans should strike some fear into the hearts of Nittany Lion fans this year. We play them in the last game of the regular season, and the winner of that match up could be in line for a great conference finish and a big-time bowl game.

Our prediction for Michigan State this season: 9-3 (5-3 Big11Ten).

2008 Preview: Northwestern

2007: 6-6 (3-5), No bowl bid given.

As we researched the usually forgettable Northwestern Wildcats, we found some pretty interesting stuff. For one thing, over the last 13 years, only 4 Big11Ten teams (Penn State, Ohio State, Purdue and Michigan) have winning records against Northwestern. We were surprised by this until we remembered that Northwestern is in the Big11Ten, and they’ve had to contend with the likes of Minnesota and Indiana the last 13 years.

Also, Northwestern had the fantastic distinction of being 10th in the conference in both scoring offense and scoring defense last year. Normally that would be a recipe for disaster, but they managed to finish 6-6, even though they didn’t get a bowl bid. What does this all mean? We don’t really know.

What we do know is that Northwestern is known for its academics far more than for its football prowess. To illustrate, check out some of its rowdy fans:

NU fans prepare for the upcoming game.

Despite this, we feel Northwestern still has the pieces to put together a decent team. On the offensive side, 3rd year coach Pat Fitzgerald loves to chuck the ball around, and 5th year senior quarterback C.J. Bacher complied with his coach’s wishes last year, to the tune of 304 yards passing per game. So while we were running the draw for a two-yard gain, Bacher quietly led the conference in passing and was 10th in the nation.

As if that weren’t enough, Bacher has a host of weapons this year as well. Five of the team’s six leading receivers from last year are back, including senior Eric Peterman who, despite his unfortunate last name, led the team with 66 receptions for 744 yards. Ross Lane returns as the big play man (13.2 yards per catch, 7 touchdowns) and Rasheed Ward should make an impact as well.

At running back, Tyrell Sutton returns for his senior season, after missing 5 games last year with a leg injury. Sutton is the Big11Ten’s active leading rusher with 2,996 yards, and he’s also a receiving threat, as he caught 30 balls last year in only 7 games. Omar Conteh had 479 yards as the backup last year, and he’ll need to be ready to go again if Sutton goes down.

As far as the offensive line goes, things look a little bleak. The line returns only two starters, Senior guard Joel Belding and junior tackle Kurt Mattes and will have to make due with younger players at center, left guard and left tackle. The line could be among the weakest in the conference and is the one thing that could stop the offense from being incredibly potent.

Things are much better on the defensive line, however, as the Wildcats return all four starters from last year’s squad, led by senior tackle John Gill. However, the line combined for only 18 sacks last year and must make more plays this year for the team to make noise in the Big11Ten. Senior linebacker Prince Kwateng and junior safeties Brad Phillips and Brad Smith are the other returning starters on defense for the Wildcats.

Northwestern doesn’t quite have all the pieces in place for a run at the Big11Ten title, but they will be able to shoot it out with a lot of teams this year. Their schedule may be their biggest ally, as they face such powerhouse teams such as Duke, Southern Illinois and Ohio before they open conference play against the hapless Iowa Hawkeyes. And of course, those rowdy fans are already scrambling for tickets to the home opener against Syracuse:

Fans line up outside the Northwestern ticket office.

The Wildcats better start strong though, because they finish their season against Ohio State, Michigan and Illinois. We think Northwestern will bomb their opponents enough early to have a respectable finish and get to a low-level bowl game.

Our prediction for Northwestern this season: 7-5 (3-5 Big11Ten).

2008 Preview: Michigan

With the PSU previews out of the way, we thought it'd be a good idea to move on to all the other teams in the Big11Ten. Odds are we won't finish these before the season starts but hey, we're trying.

Here's Michigan to start things off.

2007: 9-4 (6-2), Defeated Florida in the Capital One Bowl

It seems like it’s been forever since Penn State last beat Michigan. They were the one team that marred our stellar record in 2005, they nearly killed two of our quarterbacks in 2006, and last year they managed to squeak out an extremely underwhelming game.

With that being said, if there was ever a year to break this losing streak, this is the one.

Let’s start by taking a look at some names for Michigan: Chad Henne, Mike Hart, Mario Manningham, Jake Long, Adrian Arrington, Ryan Mallett, Shawn Crable, Adam Kraus, Justin Boren.

No, those aren’t the key performers for this Wolverines squad, they’re the guys who are gone.

That is, of course, quite a list. And it leaves Michigan in quite a hole, as the team returns only three starters on offense, and seven on defense. Now, this sort of thing happens all the time, and as an opponent, you have to take advantage while you can. But what makes this rebuilding year even more difficult for the Big Blue is the fact new coach and resident a-hole Rich Rodriguez is coming to town, and he’s bringing his spread offense with him.

We feel dirtier just having him in the conference.

No matter how crappy it may be for the players, the fans, or the school itself, this season is all about Rodriguez and his new schemes. Of course, he’s going to get a bit of a pass for this season because of his relative lack of talent, but it should be interesting to see how his more progressive offensive system will fit in the conservative Big11Ten. But it’s not going to be easy for him. It’s enough that Michigan is already a big time school with a target on its back. It doesn’t help the team’s chances that most of the coaches in the conference hate Rich Rod already and will be circling their respective dates with Michigan on their mental calendars.

But enough talk about the coach, let’s have a look at the guys who will actually be doing the work on the field this year, if and when we can find any that we’ve ever heard of.

The Wolverines’ offense could go through some serious growing pains this year. There are three quarterbacks in the mix this season, but none is above the sophomore level. The projected starter is redshirt freshman Steven Threet. Here’s what we know about Threet………. yep, that’s about it. Actually, Threet is 6’6”, 230, and is more of a pocket passer. Given that knowledge, we could see some of freshman Justin Feagin, who fits better in the spread.

Is this guy Michigan's QB? Could be, how the hell would we know?

Of course, all of this is contingent upon the QBs not getting killed. Michigan’s offensive line will be shaky at best, as it returns only one starter, sophomore Steve Schilling. Good luck with us and Ohio State, fellas.

The backfield might be a high point for the team this year, as it returns junior running back Brandon Minor, who had 429 yards filling in for Mike Hart at various points last year. The receiving corps is depleted after the loss of Manningham and Arrington, but junior Greg Matthews and junior tight end Carson Butler were the third and fourth options last year and will try to pick up the slack. Michigan also has a duo of talented freshman receivers (Daryl Stonum and Terrence Robinson) looking to make an impact.

On the defensive side of the ball things are much more solid. Michigan returns all four defensive lineman, with tackle Terrence Taylor (yay alliteration!) anchoring the line. Taylor had 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks last year.

The linebackers will have to fill two spots behind returning starter Obi Ezeh (5th on the team in tackles), but the team’s cornerback duo of Morgan Trent and Donavan Warren combine to form a quick yet hard-hitting defensive backfield.

So how will the Wolverines fare this year? The media have given us all a non-committal picture so far (imagine that). At first, most talking heads were ripping Michigan’s chances. Then, as if they all got bored, everyone seemed to say, “Not so fast, this team could be decent.” There’s a happy medium in there, and it’s something we like to use, if only from time to time.

It’s called common sense.

Basically, we feel that while defense is the foundation of everything in the Big11Ten, when you’ve lost so many key pieces and have only one returning starter on your o-line, it’s bad times ahead. Throw in a new coach and a new system, and things probably aren’t going your way.

Our prediction for Michigan this season: 5-7 (3-5 Big11Ten).

PSU Special Teams Preview

Well, we were debating whether or not to do this special teams preview at all, because, well, it’s the special teams. But it came down to this or watching the ESPN fantasy draft special (featuring the loathsome Matthew Berry, no less), and it’s still a couple hours until Phelps swims again, so we figured what the hell.

Let’s start with the exciting part of special teams – no, not the kickers – the return men. A.J. Wallace and Derrick Williams should once again be returning kickoffs this year for the lions. Wallace is coming off a very nice year, where he broke the school record for kickoff return yards in a season, highlighted by a 97-yard romp for a touchdown against hated Ohio State. Wallace averaged 26.4 yards per return last year, so he’s usually giving the O decent field position.

Williams averaged 18.2 yards per kickoff return last year, but he’s arguably as dangerous as Wallace. If his kickoff return game doesn’t prove that, his punt returning skills definitely do. We wouldn’t call his punt return campaign from last season stellar, but he’s been very solid over his career. And oh yeah, there’s this:

Beast. Suck it, Zbikowski.
Overall, we feel pretty good about the state of the return game. Now onto the very important and equally unappreciated: the kickers.

We lead off this category with place-kicker Kevin Kelly. Yes, we all remember him nearly blowing the Orange Bowl his freshman year like it was yesterday. Now the senior is Penn State’s all-time scoring leader, with 58 field goals and 307 points. Kelly was 20-26 on field goals last year, and connected on 44 of 45 extra points. Kelly’s stats turned out to be better than we imagined, as he always seems to have a knack for yanking a kick at an inopportune time. GoPsuSports.com says he should be a strong contender for the Groza Award for the nation’s top place-kicker. We’ll believe it when we see it.

Finally, the punter this year will again be Jeremy Boone, who’s coming off a very successful season replacing the solid Jeremy Kapinos. Boone lead the Big11Ten with an average of 43 yards per punt, which was 3rd best in school history. He put 25 of his 59 punts inside the opponent’s 20 as well. Also, kudos to both Boone and the punt coverage team, as their 39.4 net punting average was good for 3rd in the nation.

One final note: the team was 8th in the conference last year on kickoff coverage, so let’s hope they improve that a little, to take some pressure off the defense. We’re back next week with all kinds of Big11Ten preview goodness. Stay tuned.

PSU Offensive Preview

As we mentioned in our Defensive Preview, when you think of Penn State football, the offense is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind. In fact, for the last couple seasons our collective sentiment before the games was “let’s hope we can score enough to pull out the win.” The stats don’t lie either. Here’s a quick look at the team’s lofty offensive numbers from last season:

8th in the conference in passing offense (206.3 ypg)
7th in the conference in total offense (400.1 ypg)
8th in the conference in pass efficiency (58%)

Yuck. But this year, things could be different. The offense is bringing back a host of weapons from last year, and of course, as we are federally mandated to do, we must mention that the team is installing the “Spread HD” offense this season. We’re not sure what the HD stands for, but we can only hope it means the ball will be thrown downfield more than twice a game (and that Jay Paterno doesn’t have too much of a hand in it).

To continue the addition by subtraction theme started in the D Preview, maybe the most exciting part of the offense is that Anthony Morelli is no longer at the helm. Sure, he had a cannon arm, but his brain operated at a third grade level. You just couldn’t expect anything better than mediocrity with him leading the offense.

Morelli, getting ready to throw a pick in a big moment.

This year is a bit of a different story. It appears that senior Daryll Clark is the favorite to be taking snaps in the opener, but the all-time Pennsylvania high school passing leader, sophomore Pat Devlin, is waiting in the wings. There has also been plenty of talk of a situational platoon between the two.

While the thought of two-quarterback system would normally leave us shaking in fear, we think this year it may work out. Developing Devlin, a pocket passer, would probably be best for the long run, but Clark brings M-Rob-like agility and athleticism and would be a prime candidate to wreak havoc in the spread. (As much as we hate being the 500th party to make that comparison this season, it’s true.) Either way, the offensive output of this team relies heavily on the production of Clark and Devlin (obviously).

But fear not, because the QBs certainly won’t have to shoulder the whole load. This year’s backfield is more exciting than it has been in years, with sophomore Evan Royster returning at running back after an extremely promising freshman campaign (518 yards, 82 carries, 6.3 avg). While Royster brings more of a power game, freshman Stephfon Green is fast as hell (4.25 forty) and will compete for carries early and often. Green had a long touchdown run in the Blue-White game this past spring. Coincidentally, it was the only exciting play that entire day. Senior Dan Lawlor will start at fullback, a role he began last season after Matt Hahn went down with an injury.

And of course, you’re not running anywhere (or keeping a quarterback from getting crushed) without a good offensive line. This year, we’re looking pretty solid, as all five projected starters bring game experience from last year. Senior A.Q. Shipley is one of the best centers in the conference, with seniors Rich Ohrnberger and Gerald Cadogan flanking him to his left. Junior Dennis Landolt will continue to anchor the right side at tackle, while sophomore Stefen Wisniewski will get the nod at right guard after being one of only two true freshmen to see the field last year (he appeared in eight games). The experienced line will look to improve on their 20 sacks allowed last year, good for 4th in the conference.

At tight end, we have an interesting situation. Junior Andrew Quarless would almost certainly be the starter, that is if he wasn’t currently suspended for an unknown violation (not that this type of thing really surprises anyone anymore). Given this, our money is on junior Mickey Shuler, who was solid in a limited role last year.

Now we come to the most intriguing part of the offense, the receiving corps. Oh, it feels like mere days ago that three freshman receivers by the names of Derrick Williams, Deon Butler, and Jordan Norwood took the conference by storm in 2005. But in the two seasons since then, we’re not sure what happened. The guys have all been solid, but not spectacular. But most of all, we wonder what happened to the highly-touted Williams, who has yet to live up to the lofty standards of his injury-shortened freshman season. Just check this chart:

But hey, we’re not here just to rip on these three. These guys have talent, and they did combine for a large majority of last season’s receiving yards. Besides, we haven’t been running the most pass-happy system in the world (understatement) and they haven’t exactly been working with Brady or Manning (HUGE understatement). Williams says his real version will show this year, and we can only hope he’s right. Despite the ribbing, we actually think pretty highly of Butler (he led the team in receiving yards last year), and Norwood is a great possession guy. If these guys play up to their full potential, the offense will be borderline unstoppable. If not… well, 8-4, here we come.

PSU Defensive Preview

Well now that we're done with the stadiums, we figure it's time to get down to some serious football talk. We're going to preface that football talk by reminding you that we are not professional writers. We're having fun. We like to talk about what we love and during the fall, that's the blue and white. So, take our opinions however you want, just not as fact.

We're going to start things off with the defense.

The core of Penn State football has always been the defense. Sure, we've seen great offenses and great offensive players like Collins, LJ and more recently, the 2005 squad that seemed to score at will at times -- except for that night in Florida -- but the defense has always been the key to PSU's success.

What's changing, however, is where the defensive power must come from. In years past, it's been all about Linebacker U. This year, after losing Sean Lee for the season, the defensive line might be the strongest part of this defense. Maurice Evans will undoubtedly run the show for the D-line. In 2007 he recorded 12.5 sacks. He will be joined by senior Josh Gaines who also had a strong showing in 2007 with 40 tackles. There's no reason this D-Line shouldn't be able to repeat the success of 2007 in which they helped the PSU defense become 7th nationally against the rush, 9th in yards against per game and 2nd in sacks.

Unfortunately, the team loses 7.5 sacks and 57 tackles after the removal of Phil Taylor and Chris Baker from the team. We'd love it if you checked out this gem over at Black Shoe Diaries. Kids these days.

The rest of the defense will be no slouch either. The linebackers, while losing Dan Connor to the NFL and now Sean Lee to injury, will likely show up like they always do. They lack the big name they've had in the past few seasons, but someone always emerges from the linebacker corps. That's just what PSU does. It's going to be a tough task to replace Lee, it will be up to senior Tyrell Sales to keep the talented yet unexperienced linebackers focused.

The secondary will be something to watch this year. Anthony Scirrotto and Lydell Sargeant will lead the squad as they continue the assult on opposing wide receivers. The secondary is fast, powerful and above all, experienced -- I take that back -- and above all, without Justin King.

That's six.

A group of guys that aren't afraid to step up and you hit you in the mouth, this group should be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming season. With their abilities and another year of experience under their belt, they hope to improve on the 214.5 YPG passing allowed in the 2007 season. That's not a particularly bad stat, but compared to conference leading Ohio State (150.2 ypg) and Michigan (178.8 ypg), it doesn't look so good. The group should also improve the Lions' interception total from last season. Their 11 picks were good enough to get them 8th in the Big Ten.

Overall, the defense looks to be as good as any of the previous years, if not better. A lot will ride on the ability of the line to continue the improvement from last season and the linebacking corps ability to cover the loss of Sean Lee. Comprised mostly of upperclassmen, this defense could be the difference maker in many games this season.

And here are some random stats from 2007, just to remind you how things went.
11 interceptions, T-8th Big Ten.
Allowed 93.8 YPG Rushing, 2nd in Big Ten to Ohio State's 82.8 YPG.
Only allowed two 100 yd rushers, Michigan's Mike Hart (153) and OSU's Chris Wells (133).
214.5 YPG passing allowed. Third in conference behind OSU (150.2) and Michigan (178.8). Seeing a theme?
Allowed only 9 rush TDs during the season. Second to, you guessed it, Ohio State (3).

And in closing, I tried to find a video of defensive highlights but instead found this sweet video. It combines PSU and Flogging Molly. You can't go wrong!

The photo in our banner comes from this game. And during halftime some dude proposed to the alumni twirler shown in the video. no one in the stadium seemed to notice it was happening.

What do coaches know?

Well, the coaches poll is out, and Georgia is number one. Georgia was the hottest team ending the 2007 season, so it's understandable why they would be the pre-season number one. As much as we completely disagree with the idea of preseason rankings, it's a news item and that means we have to talk about it. It should be interesting to see how long Georgia holds onto that spot since, after all, they play in the Greatest Conference Ever In the History of Organized Sports. They'll probably lose a couple games and stay on top though, as long as the losses are early enough.

USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Florida round out positions 2-5.

In Big11Ten and PSU news, there's 5 Big11Ten teams in the Top 25. Ohio State (3), Wisconsin (12), Illinois (19), Penn State (22) and Michigan (24). One of these years teams are going to stop being ranked in the top 5 just because they're big name Big11Ten schools.

Yeah, we're looking at you, Ohio State. You better start winning those big games you get gifted into or you're going to make the Big11Ten look worse and worse every year.

Michigan at 24 seems like a surprise to a lot of people. You can't have any way of knowing what the hell they're going to give you this year. They're Michigan, so they should be good enough in the Big Ten, but no one really knows what that means anymore. Maybe PSU can actually beat them this time.

And there's really nothing to argue about with PSU at 22. It's a good spot. Respected, but under the radar.

Not a lot should change in the first week of play, the only Top 25 teams that play each other will be Missouri (7) and Illinois (19). Maybe Appalachian State can destroy another superpower when they play LSU, but we'll just have to wait and see.

The Stadiums of the Big11Ten: Part 6

BEAVER STADIUM

The Beav on a game day.

Location: State College, PA
School: Penn State University
Year Opened: 1960
Capacity: 107,282
Largest Crowd: 110,753 Sept. 14, 2002 Penn State 40, Nebraska 7
Big Game(s):
Distinguishing Architectural Feature: It’s a big mangled piece of metal. The scoreboards are pretty epic, and yeah, there are two of them.
Current/Past Traditions: The Blue Band playing a song made famous by a convicted pedophile just before the team takes the field. Also, throwing marshmallows, the hi-jacked whiteouts and booing Morelli. If there's one player on the field PSU fans hate, it's their own quarterback.
Riots: Some kids tried to rush the field after the Ohio State game in ’05, and they got pepper sprayed. THEN, the fuzz used Facebook to track down people who had uploaded photos of themselves on the field. Then of course there were all those little scuffles downtown, but we won't mention those here. Oops.
Other Uses: Occasionally appears in PSU promo commercials. Otherwise, no one touches the field. Rumored to host an outdoor NHL game between the Flyers and Penguins. Will not happen.
Interesting Fact: Formerly located on west campus and was known as “Beaver Field”.

If ever there was a stadium experience to be a part of, Beaver Stadium has to be at the top of the list. Only a handful of other schools' stadiums can claim comparable size. Even fewer can match the noise.

Beaver Field, as it was then known, was originally built on the west side of campus. It was situated roughly between the present locations of the Nittany Lion Inn and Chambers building. We’ve got this photo for you that has some street labels on it so you can see where it once sat.

Click to enlarge

In 1960, the wole thing was picked up and shipped across town – all the way down Curtin Rd -- to its current location. Since 1960, Beaver Stadium has gone through a lot of changes, turning it into the mass of steel that we all know today. They’ve added seats everywhere, and a couple of upper-deck seating areas in the end zones that, to the dismay of many, covered up the majestic views of Mt. Nittany to the south.

When you combine the structure of the stadium, which to be honest, looks like something your little brother built with an erector set, with the noise and motion of the crowd, it makes for quite an experience. If only we could get the freshman to make noise when the DEFENSE is on the field, we’ll be in business.

Beaver Stadium is said to have the greatest fans in the nation, so watch out or – like the whiteout and hoisting girls after a touchdown – they’ll take your idea and make it famous nationally.

Thanks, Winnipeg.