Game 3 Recap: PSU 55, Syracuse 13

1st Quarter

What do you do when you're playing a terrible terrible rush defense? You run the ball.
On the first play of the game, PSU got a 9 yard run from Evan Royster. Not a bad way to start.

Unfortunately, the second play was the end of the drive as Daryll Clark lost control of the ball when he was pressured by the Syracuse D-Line.

The Orange and their fans were thinking this was the start of an upset.

Almost as quickly as they began thinking upset, their dreams were crushed as Syracuse turned the ball over on their very first play. A backwards pass was dropped, Lydell Sargent recovered, and PSU had the ball again. Such is life as a Syracuse fan.

Not wanting to let the hopes of the Orange fans get to high, Joe makes the call to rip their hearts out. Clark to Norwood, 55 yards.

7-0

Four plays, 2 turnover and a touchdown. It's a bizarre way to start the game, but we'll take it.

As Syracuse opens up their second drive, the first thing that should strike you is the noise. Sounds like there's a lot of PSU fans in that building, always a good thing.
The second thing that should strike you is the obvious hold on the first play that doesn't get called.

An incomplete pass, a short gain and a no-gain on a draw was all the Syracuse offense could muster up. We came up with that sentence before the series even began.

Sensing they hadn't screwed things up enough, the Orange interfered with Derrick Williams as he attempted to catch the punt. PSU ball, great field position.

The following drive starts off slow as PSU takes a few bad penalties and Clark throws a few incompletions. Despite the bad plays, the Lions are able to move the ball to the red zone on a Norwood reception, a Royster run and a Clark scramble. Feeling the pressure, the Syracuse defense make a few big plays, including a near sack, and force a third and 9.

Third and 9 in the red zone? Clark to Butler. That's si...that's under review.

That would have been good in the pros.

14-0

Syracuse's offense still couldn't get going on their next drive. After stopping Curtis Brinkley (who ran for 143 yards last week) and forcing two completions, Syracuse was punting again.

If you're a Penn State fan, you have to be happy with the performance so far. Up 14-0 halfway through the first quarter and out-gaining Syracuse 128 - -3.

If you're a Syracuse fan, we're glad you're here instead of on some ledge somewhere.

PSU marched down the field on the next drive with a lot of rushing. Royster had a run of 20 yards and Williams gained 14 on an end-around. Williams came up really slow after taking a huge hit on the play, and we had terrible terrible flashbacks of that night in Michigan.

Fullback Dan Lawlor got the final rush of the drive and took it across the line. Who doesn't love seeing a fullback score? Kevin Kelly puts up the extra point.

21-0

Syracuse got the ball, did nothing with it, and punted.

The only thing worth noting as the quarter ended was that Williams was out running a route, so he must not have been hurt too bad.

2nd Quarter

Penn State started the second with a punt, if you can believe it.

Not wanting to be outdone, Syracuse punted as well.

The Lions QB tandem came out on the next drive and threw some nice balls, much to the dismay of Dennis Quaide, maker generic sports movies.

The first was Clark to Butler 26 yards.

Then Royster ran for 31.

Then Devlin threw a 15 yarder to Butler that got them 6 points. Double K with the extra point.

28-0

Syracuse was able to put together a 9 play drive on their next posession. They had a few good passes and a clutch fourth down conversion during that drive, and got themselves to the Penn State 26. Unfortunately, the offense summoned their flux capacitor and went back to first quarter mode. Rush for no gain, incomplete pass and a HUGE dropped ball on a play that would have given them another first down at the PSU 15 (at least), and the Orange had to take the field goal. Patrick Shadle trotted out for the first time since opening kick-off, and knocked down the 44 yarder.

28-3

PSU marched the ball right back down the field when they got the ball back. Devlin threw completions all over the field, and Stephfon Green racked up some yards on the ground. Jordan Norwood then threw the worst pass in the recorded history of halfback passes. Red-headed guy is pissed.

Then on third and seven, Devlin hits Norwood for a 24 yard touchdown, and we're running out of clever ways to say touchdown.

35-3

As the Syracuse offense takes the field, JoePa starts calling timeouts, presumably so Devlin or Clark can get a chance to run the two-minute offense. Syracuse fans are pissed, but PSU forces the Orange to punt amid the boos.

Syracuse does punt and Scirotto fumbled the return. Karma for calling those pointless timeouts?

We are nerds.

Syracuse gets it back but can't do anything with it, and settles for another field goal.

35-6

As time expired, Kevin Kelly kicked a 52 yard field goal to put the Lions up 38-6, and slightly ahead of the 70 point pace we predicted in our preview post.

Kevin Kelly is turning out to be quite the kicker.

Halftime.

Donovan McNabb, thoughts?

meh

3rd Quarter

Syracuse started the third with the ball before punting it away.

Things worked out as far as punts go, and the Syracuse special teams downed the ball at the 1 inch line. The good news is that PSU gets a chance to work coming out of their own end zone. The bad news is there's no one left in Syracuse to make any noise to make things realistic.

The offense managed to work the ball out to the 23 yard line before they had to punt the ball away.

The Syracuse offense had decent field position to start their drive, but it ended rather abruptly when Cameron Dantley's pass was intercepted by Drew Astorino.

Devlin took the boys down the field with a lot of help from Stephfon Green and before you knew it, they were inside the three yard line.

A nifty pitch-out to Green, and the Lions had six more points. Green gets called for excessive celebration on the play, which is kind of a bad thing since you really shouldn't be celebrating excessively when you're up by 39.

45-6

After the kick, ABC showed the replay of the excessive celebration call, and we take back what we said. He was not celebrating excessively. One could argue his celebration was rather underwhelming. What is up with that, NCAA? We've seen the part of the rulebook where it talks about throwing the ball in the air being a penalty, but where does it mention a chest pound and a point to your fans? That's garbage.

Back to the game....
Following a few small plays and then a big 34 yard pass, the Orange went for it on fourth down. They had been 2 for 2 so far today, so why not?

From 11 yards out, touchdown. All six Syracuse fans still in attendance went berserk.

Three for three on fourth down. o-12 on third. Odd stat.

45-13

PSU got the ball back and after a big Chaz Powell return and a few incompletions, it was field goal time.

48-13

4th Quarter

Out came the bags.

Paul Cianciolo gets a TD. Always nice to see.

55-13

GAME.

3 Big Stat Lines:

• Deon Butler: 7 rec., 110 yds, 2 TD
• Jordan Norwood: 10 rec., 113 yds, 2 TD
• Penn State Defense: 49 yards rushing allowed (159 yards offense allowed total)
  

Our Quick Thoughts On The Game:

• We were a little nervous after the first-drive fumble. Luckily that lasted about 4 seconds.
• We loved how ESPN kept saying that the Syracuse coach thought last season was "rock-bottom". After on 0-3 start and surrendering 97 points in the last two games, what would he call this season?
• Another solid day from Evan Royster.
• Despite not showing up big on the stat sheet, we think D-Will had a good day. He's lurking.
• Syracuse RB Curtis Brinkley: 14 carries, 21 yds, 1.5 ypc.
• Great team effort by the D, Syracuse never had a chance, and it took them a while to even get a first down.
• Was Joe laughing or cringing from bad memories when he saw the highlights of Charlie Weiss? Does Joe even watch TV?
• Syracuse is an awful, awful football team.
• Could Temple be the best team we play in the non-conference schedule?

Penn State Player(s) of the Game: Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood
The offense was once again firing on all cylinders, and a lot of guys had good days: Williams, Royster, Clark/Devlin. But Norwood and Butler were the stars of the day. Both went over 100 yards receiving, and both had 2 touchdowns. You could practically feel the air go out of the Carrier Dome when Norwood shook a 'Cuse defender out of his shoes for a 55-yard TD reception on the fifth play of the game. And when Butler made a sweet falling TD grab minutes later, you knew the rout was on. These guys looked fantastic all day and hopefully it's a sign of things to come during Big11Ten play.

Syracuse Player of the Game: None.
Seriously, we aren't trying to be dicks, if Syracuse had anyone that did anything noteworthy, we'd point them out. ESPN gave its player of the game the Orange's kicker for God's sake, and we're definitely not doing that.

Game 3 Preview: Penn State @ Syracuse

Gametime: 3:30 pm

TV: ABC

Audio: Here

Weather: In the Carrier Dome, so weather isn’t a factor.

So we all know that this is an old rivalry (very old, since the last game between the teams was played in 1990). We know that a match up between Penn State and Syracuse was the beginning of guarding the lion shrine. And we know “The Orange” is perhaps the dumbest nickname in all of college sports. And that’s saying a lot because we already played a team nicknamed “The Chanitcleers” this year.

None of that stuff is very interesting. The rivalry renewal would have potential, but anyone playing that card is forgetting one very important fact: Syracuse sucks. In fact, there is no way, short of Donovan McNabb and Marvin Harrison suiting up for their old alma mater, that the Orange have a shot of winning this game. None.

The only hope for Syracuse.

Of course this isn’t an extremely bold prediction, but usually we cover our asses and try not to be so overconfident. Not this time. We offer you three reasons why.

Reason 1: The Syracuse Run D
Through two games this season, the Syracuse defense has surrendered 243.5 rushing yards per game. They’ve played Northwestern and Akron, losing both, to no one’s surprise. Holy shit, is that awful! Couple that with the fact the Lions have been rushing for an average of 286.5 yards per game, and the Orange’s defense might as well not even show up. They’d save themselves from getting their asses pushed around for 60 minutes. The Penn State O-line (and Evan Royster) is playing tremendously right now, and we don’t see that changing tomorrow.

Reason 2: The Syracuse Pass Offense
While Syracuse has put together a pretty decent ground attack (170 ypg) behind senior back Curtis Brinkley, their passing offense has been downright putrid. Quarterback Andrew Robinson had a solid season last year, but things have gotten off to a horrendous start this year. The team is averaging just 119 yards per game through the air, and their longest completion of the year so far is a whopping 18 yards. They have one player averaging more than 10 yards per catch (Lavar Lobdell), but he only has two receptions! Penn State’s pass D is far from perfect, but we’re gonna go out on a limb and say they’ll be able to handle the Orange.

Reason 3: Week 2- Akron 42, Syracuse 21
We were discussing Penn State’s non-conference foes today, and we noted that this year, at least there were a couple mid-level teams from BCS conferences on the schedule. One of us pointed out that these games may be winnable, but they’re not sure things like playing FIU or Akron. Excellent point, and most years, that would be true. HOWEVAH, this year Syracuse is much more of a sure thing than Akron, and we know this because the Zips walked into the Carrier Dome last week and hung 42 on the Orange. We don’t know what else to say except that is a damn disgrace. If Akron can put up 42 on the Orange, what will we do? Syracuse fans cannot be looking forward to this one.

Syracuse Player To Watch: Running Back Curtis Brinkley

Penn State Player(s) To Watch: 3rd String Offense

3 Bold Predictions:
-Penn State will rush for 500 yards
-The defense will record at least 5 sacks
-Syracuse will drop its football program after the game

Other Notes:
Seems it flew a bit under the radar this week, but Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma will not dress for this game. We don’t even care, we just hope they’re back in time for Illinois.

Game Prediction: PSU 70, Syracuse 13

USC-Ohio State Preview

vs.

Since it’s the marquee matchup of the season (at least so far) and because we didn’t have any better ideas, we decided to preview this weekend’s game between USC and Ohio State. Would we, as fans of a Big11Ten team, feel vindicated if our conference’s top team goes to LA and takes down the vaunted Trojans? Maybe, but not much. Would we laugh heartily if the Buckeyes lose yet another big game to an excellent team? Yes, yes we would. Onto the preview.

Ohio State
There’s no doubt that Ohio State is the class of the Big11Ten this year, as much as it pains us to say that. They returned nine starters on both sides of the ball, and they have highly skilled and experienced players all over the field. They have the nation’s #1 recruit in Terrelle Pryor, a guy who spurned Penn State to play for the Sweater Vest. Pryor would’ve fit in great in Happy Valley though, as he punched a dude after a game in the state basketball tournament last year. He didn’t get suspended, mostly because he’s Terrelle Pryor. Sounds like a great kid though. Buckeye fans are hoping he’s not a repeat of this:

The Buckeyes’ offense is anchored by senior quarterback Todd Boeckman. We were pissed last year when Boeckman just stepped in without any growing pains and led the team to the national title game, while we were saddled with another season of Morelli. Then again, Boeckman did have Chris “Beanie” Wells and his 1600+ yards rushing to take some of the pressure off of him.

You may remember two days ago when Wells said he wanted 45 carries on Saturday. Well guess what: now he’s probably not even going to play. This, of course, is disastrous Ohio State’s chances. No offense to backups Maurice Wells and Brandon Saine, but they ain’t Beanie Wells. Boeckman is going to have to step up big time, and he was very shaky last week against Ohio. His two main targets are Anthony Robiskie and Brian Hartline, and luckily for Buckeye fans, you may not find two guys as solid as those them in the rest of the conference.

"Hey assholes, what about us?"

Whoops! Sorry guys.

But really, if Ohio State has any shot at winning this game, it’s going to be because of their defense. Led by All-American linebacker James Laurinaitis, the Buckeyes D can stop anyone on any given day. Unless it’s an SEC team on national championship day, that is. Ohio State also has an outstanding D-line, and ends Lawrence Wilson and Cameron Heyward have looked great so far. Stud cornerback Malcolm Jenkins anchors the backfield for the Bucks. They’re going to have to hold the USC offense under 30 if they want a shot, and probably around 20 if they realistically want to win. We’re not even sure that’s possible.

USC
It's gonna be tough to predict what USC is going to do in this game.
What do we know? They came out and destroyed Virginia. It wasn't even close. Sanchez was tearing it up out there and despite the rout, played enough of the game to end up making 35 pass attempts. So much for those knee issues.

So Sanchez played well, what about the rest of the offense?

What else do we know? Half the team got their hands on the ball. Eight guys got at least one rushing attempt in (including Sanchez) and ten more caught passes. USC spread the ball all over the field, piled up a ton of points, played the entire team, yet really didn't even show any of their cards.

It looks to be another year of running back by committee, as returning players Joe McKnight, Stafon Johnson, Allan Bradford and CJ Gable all got touches. It will be some time before we find out who the #1 horse is going to be, and which ones will fall back to the practice squad. Regardless, if history has taught us anything it's that USC will create an effective running game however they have to. Last season, Johnson and McKnight got a shade under 100 carries each and averaged 6.9 and 5.7 yards per carry, respectively.

At the receiver spot, the Trojans return Patrick Turner and Vidal Hazelton. They will be the veterans of the receiving corps. Last season, Turner caught 48 balls for 569 and Hazelton 50 for 540. With another year of experience, they should be a great receiving corps for a quarterback who's looking to make an impact on a team that's seen more than their fair share of impact quarterbacks.

Obviously these guys will pose the first big test for the Buckeyes, who so far have been able to stop the mighty Penguins and Bobcats.

Now, for as good as USC offenses have been recently, this season it's the defense that could be the strength of the team.

Like the Buckeyes, USC boasts a great linebacker or two. Ray Maualuga and Brian Cushing anchor the Trojans defense, much the same way Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman do the Buckeyes. Both men are All-Americans that can make any play on the field. Maualuga is returning as the leading tackler from a year ago, while Cushing was the 2007 MVP Rose Bowl MVP. If Beanie Wells ends up not playing this weekend, these guys would cause huge problems for whatever back the Buckeyes throw in there. Boeckman too.

If Ohio State had that much trouble against Ohio without Wells, it's almost scary to think about what might happened when they play against an experienced USC team that plays big games like this all the time.

Though some faces have changed, USC never has a problem filling in the gaps. They get their pick of the best in the nation and throw them out there to become stars. Will it happen this year? We're not gonna know for a while, but this weekend will go a long way to proving what kind of teams both USC and OSU are.


Half-Ass Analysis
Well frankly, we don’t think Ohio State stands much of a chance in this one. If Wells were completely healthy, we’d surely change our tune. Things just don’t look good. They’re coming off a questionable performance against a horrible team, their QB looks a bit shaky, and even though they have the best freshman in the country, they probably can’t even utilize him enough to make a difference. That’s a lot of shit stacked against them.

When you watch USC play, sometimes their players seem so much bigger, faster and stronger than the other team that it doesn’t even seem fair. You start to question why they would ever lose, and how they could ever not have the best recruiting class in the nation. You start to curse Pete Carroll, but in your heart, you’re envious of the bastard. It’s almost unfair. Add all that to the fact that they’re playing at home, and you have a recipe for disaster for the Buckeyes.

Prediction: USC 38, Ohio State 14

Links Roundup

First of all, thanks to Tangled Up In White and Blue to mentioning us the other day. Tangled is a cool blog and we admire anyone who references Bob Dylan in any facet of life, so check it out! Onto the links.

In Penn State news, Royster shared Big11Ten player of the week honors after his big performance over the weekend. Can’t they just pick one guy? -GoPSUSports-

DE Jerome Hayes is out for the year. We’re late as hell on this one. Too bad that doesn’t it make it suck any less. Any readers out there play D line? -GoPSUSports-

Penn State is #17 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. Check out where the CBS 120 has them. If you don’t feel like looking, here are some of the teams ahead of them: East Carolina, South Florida, Fresno State, and worst of all, Wake Forest. The ACC should give up its BCS bid. -Laugher-

Of course the big news this weekend is not PSU-Syracuse, believe it or not. It’s the big clash between USC and the Buckeyes of Ohio State. Here’s a lengthy history of the USC-OSU battle. -Bucknuts-

Dennis Dodd thinks that if OSU wants to win, they better play Terrelle Pryor. -Sportsline-

Sweater Vest says Beanie Wells is a go. Beanie Wells says he wants 45 carries. We say Beanie Wells is a moron. -Sportsline-

Bad news for Minnesota, their leading rusher is out for the year. We might have to change our prediction for them to 2 wins instead of 3. Love his first name pronunciation. -Twin Cities-

Hey, speaking of being out for the year, don’t know if you heard about this:


San Diego State is one of the bottom five teams in the country, and Notre Dame BARELY beat them. We think ND sucks, and apparently we’re not alone. -NotreDameSucks-

To all those people who love to extol the virtues of the Big East: well, you’re idiots. We’re two games into the season and you have two unbeaten teams left (and somehow West Virginia is still ranked). -Poop Teams-

Tom Brady.

The last few years have been rough on Ty Willingham. He’s on the hot seat again. -Rivals-

Speaking of Ty Willingham, in case you missed the replays of that insanity at the end of the Washington-BYU game, here you go:

Rant of the week: Okay, we all know that this rule sucks. But everyone should stop blaming this on the refs. It’s a rule, and they enforced it, it’s not their fault. Don’t shoot the messenger, blame the stupid rule. Plus BYU could've blocked that kick just the same if it was kicked from the normal spot. Next time, wait 'til AFTER you tie the game to celebrate, and you won't have this problem.