Blue & White Roundtable: Week 6

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

1. Name one unit-to-unit match up Penn State must win Saturday. How does PSU win that battle?

We think that this has to be the Penn State secondary against the Purdue receivers. Curtis Painter leads the Big11Ten in passing so far with 278 yards a game, while wide receivers Desmond Tardy and Greg Orton are both in the top four in the conference in receptions and receiving yards per game. This shouldn't really come as a shock. If we are Linebacker U, Purdue is Spread Offense with a Ton of Passing Yards and Mediocre Records Every Year U.

Still, it always makes you nervous when going up against an experienced quarterback with really talented receivers at his disposal. Rubin and Scirrotto are going to have to provide some help to the corners and try to shut down the receivers as much as possible. If they can do that even relatively well, we think we'll be fine as Purdue's rushing attack is dead last in the conference. And if the D-line can put a lot of pressure on Painter early, this point may be completely moot. That's fine with us though.


2. This trip to Purdue is setting up to be a classic trap game. Do you agree? Why or why not?

We agree that it is setting up that way. We don't think it will be, however. We know, we know. It's a road game against a marginal team with a huge game looming a week away. But this team is too focused right now to let a winnable game like this slip away.

Sure, the defense wasn't exactly mind-blowingly impressive against Illinois, but they got the job done when they needed to. And believe it or not, the Illini offered a much more balanced offensive attack than the Boilermakers will. They were moving the ball on the ground, but the secondary had to keep its eye on Arrelious Benn. Against Purdue, the Lions D can just sit back and concentrate on the pass, because the running game is just not there right now. Get some pressure on Painter, force some early mistakes, and let your offense build you a lead.

And speaking of that offense, it's just too good right now. Maybe we're overconfident, but they hung 38 on Illinois, and Purdue's defense is not even in the same league. In fact, they are dead last in the Big11Ten in BOTH pass and rush defense so far. If the D plays even decent football, shutting down Painter just enough, the offense is going to carry the team to another W. Trap game, schmap game.


3. Purdue will be doing a "Black Out" this week. Putting aside that it's going to raise money for charity (each shirt sold sends money to United Way), what are your feelings on other schools organizing "[insert color here] Outs?"

You mean, like Penn State? We shouldn't be too proud of the White Out, most other big-time schools have everyone wearing the same color to every game -- without having to announce it two weeks in advance. Most PSU people just seem to conveniently forget that the White Out was not their idea. Fans wearing a single color to a sporting event, believe it or not, did not happen for the first time a few seasons ago.

If anything, we're one of the "other schools" that are late to this party.

Now, don't take all that the wrong way. We love the White Out. We support doing it and participate when we get inside the games. People just need to stop acting like it's a PSU original and getting all high and mighty when another school sends people to their home games in school colors, God forbid.

But we don't like Paternoville.

Lightning Round

1. Royster over 100 yards?
Yes

2. Curtis Painter throws first TD ever vs. PSU?
Yes

3. Pat Devlin gets meaningful playing time?
No