Blue & White Roundtable: Armageddon

For the first time ever, questions are coming from us this week. If you think they suck, give us a break! It's our first try.

Other possible participants:

There is No Name on My Jersey
Tangled Up in White and Blue
W. F. Yurasko
Happy Hour Valley
Black Shoe Diaries
The Nittany Line
Zombie Nation
Nittany Whiteout

1. Was Ohio State's blowout of Michigan State last weekend an anomaly or are the Buckeyes "back"?

No team is ever "back" after one big game. We feel it's more a situation of whether or not they ever left. Sure they had some slow games against some less than stellar teams, but Ohio State is always going to get everyone's best game. No one forgets to show up when they play the Buckeyes. There's a better chance they forget to show up when they come to play you.

Take into consideration the loss of Wells and the addition of Pryor and it's safe to say this team was going to be going through some growing pains, even if pretty much the entire rest of the roster is returning from last season.

The defense of OSU never left and the offense needed a period of adjustment, but we think it's safe to say that after Michigan State, the Buckeyes are properly adjusted and ready to go. They're a very good team, a dangerous team, and one that could ruin 2008 for us.

So yeah, I guess they're back.

2. What can Penn State do to avoid a slow start in this game?

Well that's easy: score early and stop Ohio State after scoring. Who came up with these questions anyway?

But seriously, it's imperative that the Lions get off to a good start against this team. If they can get a lead, it's going to put so much more pressure on the Ohio State offense (and that quarterback kid who's running it). Come out, let Royster control the first drive, make a couple solid throws and get some points on the board. Plenty of time to open the playbook up from there.

And on defense early on, all they should be worried about is stopping the run. DO NOT let the Buckeyes establish the run game, or it could be a long night. The more Penn State forces Pryor to make plays with his arm, the better their chances. Concentrate on those things early, and hopefully they'll avoid the early game letdown they had last weekend against Michigan.

3. Why is Ohio State ranked ahead of Penn State in the computer rankings? And why is every media member and his brother picking Ohio State this week?

Thanks Blue and White Roundtable Question writer person, that is an excellent question!

Honestly! Why are they?!

Ohio State has a loss.
Penn State does not.
Penn State has been convincing in every win.
Ohio State has been shaky against much lesser opponents.
Ohio State was smoked by USC.
USC lost to Oregon State.
PSU rolled over Oregon State.

Isn't relating common opponents one of the big things with the computer polls?
Who's running that show over there?

"Don't worry guys, I fix it."

As for why people are picking Ohio State? We really don't have an answer to that either. Probably because they expect Ohio State to be used to playing in and winning big games.

Oops.

Yeah, we reused a picture in back to back posts.

Make no mistake about it though, Ohio State is a good team again this year. They're always going to be good and there's no real reason they can't win this game.

Do we expect them to? No.

But that doesn't mean they can't, and if you're looking in from the outside, it's probably really easy to see a veteran Ohio State team that has dominated the past couple years, and pick them.

Lightning Round:

1. Who gets more TDs on the ground, Clark or Pryor?
Clark.

2. If the winner of this game wins out, will they get a shot in the BCS title game?
Yes and No.

3. Does dotting the I even compare to our drum major doing flips?
No. Some fat tuba player just standing there can't match the flip. The flip at least takes athletic ability.