You get what you need.

Bring it, Traveler.

Alright, so we lost to Iowa and out the window went the hopes of a National Championship bid. While that's pretty disappointing and the Rose Bowl is not really what we wanted, a chance to play USC is something that Penn State and the entire Big11Ten conference needs.

Every year, USC is in the discussion for title contenders and the chance to knock them off in what essentially amounts to a home game, is huge. If the Lions can go into LA and win then it will bring a lot of deserved respect to the conference.

In the coming weeks we're going to talk a lot about this match-up and other BCS games but for today we're going to give a brief look at USC and what they've done -- and to be honest, it's kind of scary.

Offensively, they're scoring a lot of points -- just like PSU. USC has averaged 38.4 points per game but unlike most other teams that score a lot, they're allowing next to nothing. Teams playing against USC have scored 7.8 points per game. Seven. Point. Eight. Not a lot penetrates the Trojan's defense.

The same, however, cannot be said for the fan base.

It's gonna be a fun month.

Penn State has scored 40.2 points per game while allowing 12.4.

As you can see, both teams can score and stop the opponent from scoring. Something's gotta give.

Individually, we know who does what for Penn State. As for USC, there's a good chance the common fan doesn't know any names aside from Sanchez and Maualuga.

Sanchez has thrown for 2794 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. By comparison, Clark has compiled 2319 yards and 17 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.

On the ground, we've seen Evan Royster get the ball the majority of the time, carrying it to the tune of 1202 yards. USC has had three players split the load; CJ Gable, Stafon Johnson and Joe McKnight. Each has eclipsed 600 yards and they've accounted for 19 touchdowns between them.

As for receivers, the Trojans have had a very productive trio just like Penn State.

Damian Williams has 48 catches for 707 yards and 8 TDs. Patrick Turner has 45 for 667 and 10 touchdwosn and lastly Ronald Johnson has 29 for 488 and 6 touchdowns.

Here are the stats for Penn State's big three:
Butler: 43 catches, 714 yards, 7 touchdowns.
Williams: 40 catches, 451 yards, 3 touchdowns.
Norwood: 38 catches, 605 yards, 5 touchdowns.

On the defensive side, it's been something different for USC. It's always been about offense out there but this year it's the defense that's getting all the hype. They have great players all around and just suffocate teams. Surely by now you heard how Notre Dame didn't get a first down until the third quarter or that UCLA never crossed mid-field after they scored their first touchdown.

They're just killing teams, but if you wanted to be looked at as one of the best you have to beat the best.

One thing we learned by putting this all together is that these teams are pretty similar. They both have high scoring offenses and defenses that hold teams down. They run and pass well and they don't turn it over and they have defense that can just suck the life out of a team. Something unusual is that they also have two common opponents. Both beat Ohio State this season but USC lost to Oregon State a couple weeks after the Beavers took a real pounding here at Penn State.

It should be a great game out in Pasadena and hopefully the Lions can prove they belong. Winning against USC will go a long way in proving that the Big11Ten still produces legit teams.

Conference Championship Previews

Yeah we know this is a PSU blog but we're fans of college football as a whole too. We decided to delay the preview-reviews and check out what's happening this weekend as three BCS conferences hold their championship games. We think it's unlikely, but there's a slim chance that one of these games could have Rose Bowl implications, should the right teams lose and USC weasel their way into the National Championship picture. So, we'll drop these previews on you, then get back to revisiting the preseason and sometime in the weekend we'll have another Top 5. We love those.

Anyway, enough rambling, on with the previews!

SEC: Florida vs. Alabama, 4 PM, CBS

Some time after losing to Mississippi State, Florida became arguably the best team in the nation. Since then, they've dominated everyone they've played and scored 35 or more in every game. They absolutely trounced 4 Top 25 teams along the way. Even while there were still more than 1 undefeated teams in the nation, people were talking about who Florida would play in the national championship game.

Alabama, on the other hand, surprised everyone by hammering Clemson in their opening game (which, in hindsight, isn't very surprising at all) and then followed that up a few weeks later by throttling then No. 3 Georgia (again, not really all that surprising when you look back). While those wins look a little less impressive now that the season has played out, you can't argue the overall product that Alabama has put out on the field. They play solid defense and they control the ball on offense. They tackle, they block and they rush the ball.

We're not football strategists and admittedly know less about the intricacies of the game than we'd like to -- but we know that when you do those three things well, you'll have a very good team.

Given the quality of both teams and what's up for grabs, this looks to be a classic game. Great defense versus great offense -- both ways -- and while Alabama is ranked higher, Florida is a favorite; something a little out of the ordinary.

There are stories all over this, be it about the resurgence of Bama, Nick Saban or Urban Meyer, flashy Florida vs. lunch-pail Alabama or the game essentially being the national championship semi-final.

In the end, it's going to come down to how well the Tide defense can contain the Florida offense. We feel good about Florida keeping the Tide in check, but not the other way around. Florida has put up points against every team they've played and we're not sure that Alabama is going to be able to stop them -- and that's what they'll need. Slowing them down won't do it, as it seems that a slow Florida team is still going to score 30+ points.

So, if Bama wants to win they're going to have to make Florida play their game. We don't think that's going to happen and that Florida will win this one, probably by that 9.5 or better.

Prediction: Florida 28, Alabama 17

Big 12: Missouri vs. Oklahoma, 8 PM, ABC

A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about the Big 12 championship and how the South division could very well come down to a three-way tie. Here's what we had to say about it then:

...We think that if Oklahoma pulls the upset (against Texas Tech) this weekend that they will have the best chance to get in. The win will be fresh in poll voters’ minds, and the loss to Texas seems like a long time ago. We think this scenario is the most likely, and if so, look for the Sooner to take a trip to the BCS title game.

Okay, we hit that one on the head, but we're not pleased about the way things have turned out in the Big 12. Instead of using a computer to break a three-way tie, why not look at it in a logical way? Who had the best loss? Texas, on the last play on the road at Tech. Who had the best win? Also Texas, at a neutral site against OU. Obviously the pollsters and computers threw out Texas Tech because they were bombed by the Sooners. You can tell, because they're so far behind in the BCS standings, so how Oklahoma jumps Texas, the team they lost to, is beyond us. The BCS with another outstanding job.

BCS Headquarters

But of course, that's the way it is, and the Sooners get the nod as the South division champion, thus setting up a matchup with Missouri for the Big 12 title. Obviously, much more is on the line for Oklahoma. If they win, they're almost a lock for the national title game. And if they lose, let the madness ensue. Who knows who this screwy system will name as OU's replacement in the big game.

Luckily for the BCS supporters, there's little chance of Oklahoma blowing this one. Despite a 9-3 record, Missouri is an average team. They gave up a boatload of yards and points to Illinois in the season opener. They got smoked by Texas. And they just lost to Kansas to end their regular season. Chase Daniel had great numbers this year, but as we've seen, it ain't hard to put up big offensive numbers in the Big 12. Saturday is going to play out for Mizzou like it did for the Spartans when they rolled into Happy Valley a couple weeks ago. They had a nice season, but they're about the get a wake-up call.

Prediction: Okahoma 56, Missouri 28

ACC: Boston College vs Virginia Tech, 11:45 AM, ABC.

We're not going to lie. We don't know a whole heck of a lot about the ACC. In fact, we had to go look up who was playing in this game just before we wrote these previews. That conference is a mess, indicated by the two teams playing in the championship game with 5-3 conference records.

If at the beginning of the season you wanted to predict the two teams that would appear in the ACC championship game this weekend, you could have drawn the names out of a hat or thrown darts at the wall. Ten ACC teams went 5-3 or 4-4 in the conference this season.

Due to our lack of knowledge regarding the ACC, we decided the only way we could come up with a score for this preview was to play it out on the field. So, naturally, we fired up the ole 360's and played this one out. Boston College versus Virginia Tech. One game (we forgot to pick a neutral site), one chance to get to the BCS, winner take all.

Virginia Tech got the early lead with an interception return on BC's first drive, but BC came back on scored on their next drive. Both teams would put together solid drives through the first and second and entered the half 14-14.

BC scored twice in the third because VA Tech refused to run and threw two interceptions. With the score 28-14 and little time left in the fourth, VA Tech marched down the field and put up 7 with two minutes left.

The onsides kick failed but VA Tech forced a three and out and the ball back with 1:30 left.

They started marching again but threw an interception to end the drive. They would force a final punt as BC does not know how to manage a clock, and got the ball back with 12 seconds left. One play for all the marbles and QB#5 threw the ball out of bounds to avoid the sack.

GAME.

If anyone needs to pad their NCAA09 stats on Xbox Live, we're the guys to call.

Prediction: Boston College 28, Virginia Tech 21

The Preview in Review: Part 2

We'll start this one off with the Lion's most recently vanquished opponent: Michigan State.

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).

Well, we got the overall record right, but the Spartans ended up 6-2 in the conference, having lost only to PSU and Ohio State. They opened the season with a 38-31 loss at Cal.

Michigan State is pretty much who we thought they were. No, we won't post the video.

They beat the teams you might have expected them to beat and they challenged for the conference title. Had they beat PSU, they would have won it. During our preview we said that this would be the year of Javon, and it was, as he rushed for 1500+ yards and that the big question mark would be the defense.

The defense ended up being good enough as Michigan State cruised through the majority of their schedule, but their less their stellar play was exposed when they met quality opponents like PSU and Ohio State. Overall, MSU was rather ordinary when you look at the statistics, but they were able to take that squad and turn it into a 9-3 record. Consider where this team was just a couple years ago, and 9-3 is pretty good.

Speaking of where they were:

and

We think it's great that MSU had a great season because, as we keep saying, we need the whole Big11Ten to do well. We also need the two teams we play every year to be good, for the sake of a rivalry. We also think it's great that that coach of theirs may have been trying to mix things up by calling those later timeouts in the season finale.


Moving on to the Northwestern Wildcats!

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)

This one is kind of a surprise. We picked them to go 7-5 but the 'Cats showed us up and finished the season 9-3(5-3). They'll get themselves a decent bowl game and we hope the represent the conference well.

This season the Wildcats beat the teams they should have beat, beat the teams you thought they could beat and lost to the teams they were expect to lose to. Of course, there was one glaring exception: a 21-19 loss to Indiana.

On a more positive note, one of the most notable games of the season has to be Northwestern's game in Minnesota. Mike Kafka filled in at quarterback and rushed for 217 yards which as you might imagine, set a school record. Minnesota was looking to prove they are the real deal but Northwestern took the win via a last minute (12 seconds left actually) interception that was returned for a TD.

Statistically, Northwestern was middle of the pack. The Cats were fourth in scoring defense, eighth in scoring defense, fifth in total defense and sixth in total offense.

Record-wise is a pretty successful season for Northwestern -- better than a lot of people, including ourselves, probably expected. But if the Wildcats want to go anywhere they're going to have solidify themselves in all phases of the game before they can hang with the big teams. It's pretty easy to get to 6-2 or 5-3 in the Big11Ten, but it takes a lot of work to get that 7-1 or 8-0 mark.

Not PSU News: Weis Returns

Charlie breathing a sigh of relief.

Ty is going to go nuts.

The Notre Dame people made it official today; Charlie's staying.

We haven't heard of one person who supports this decision, aside from the people who make the decision, apparently. From what people are saying on tv, it's like no one wants him, no one thinks he can coach and everyone is tired of his arrogance. We're not sure how you bring a guy like that back.

Chuck went to consecutive BCS bowls in his first two seasons -- with someone else's players. He's followed those up with awfully bad seasons this year and last, and the Irish have lost 15 games over the span of two seasons for the first time, well, ever.

They lost to the Midshipmen for the first time in a mellennia and they have only beat one team that finished the season in the top 25. Yeah, that was our team, by the way.

How do you keep this guy?

Oh right, because someone gave him a monster contract and it's probably going to look bad buying out the remaining 7 years on that deal. Shortsightedness is awesome.

So, while many people were tossing Charlie overboard, here are the Irish bringing him back in.

In an unrelated story, Touchdown Jesus has chosen to transfer, citing a lack of playing time.