back to the future

gratuitous michael j. fox imagery!
it was too good to be true. an undefeated team coming off a dramatic win against northwestern on the road, a pitch perfect day in the gentle rolling hills of central pennsylvania, and no trickeration by glen mason and his gophers. hard to believe...psu undefeated and on their way to a 12-1 finish and #3 ranking and no trickeration from minny ha-ha.

some things change, while others stay the same. glen boy is still a statesman/preacher for the art of trickeration, psu is coming off a win over the cats from evanston, and the hills of state courage are still gentle, rolling, and mostly happy. however, this years lions are not undefeated and with the game under the roof at the homerdome, the 'phers are more than likely not going to wait until they are bruised and buried before they whip out an onside kick, trick defensive scheme, or halfback pass.

there were signs of life from the nit offense last week (keeping in mind it was the fightin' fitzies of northwestern) and the defense is gelling into another one for the ages. with that in mind, psu should continue their winning ways and give themselves a nice little boost going into the michiganistan game. however, this team seems intent on doing everything the hard way: terrible play calling on offense, inept red-zone effort, drop balls on wide-open fly patterns, asinine special teams play, leaving the nittany nation wondering what to expect from week to week.

in a lot of ways, this game is the first measuring stick of this psu team. they are facing a good (not great) team on their home field, with a young team banged up (brown, shaw, etc.) and no consistency to call upon. that being said, psu is superior in just about every way to the gophers of minnetonka and their talent should see them through some rough spots. nits 27, minny ha-ha 17.

go state...beat the 'phers!

one last thought: i know that the students don't speak for the players or the coaching staff (to hear joepa tell it, he is incapable of looking past the likes of d-1aa youngstown state), but psu needs a win in minnetonka this week just as badly as it needs a win next week against michiganistan. don't sleep on the gophers. i mention this, as i have read several articles/posts about the university not allowing paternoville to set up for the michigan game.

ok, one more thought: why can't penn state take the metal rod out of their ass and let what could be a harmless, fun crowd just enjoy themselves. so far this year (on the heels of the first exciting season in 6+ years) psu has: doubled the cost of parking, banned tailgaiting during the game, banned the passing of the lion, and now they have moved to kill one of the truly original and positive developments from last year by not allowing students to camp out for tickets. the fans have been lack luster this year, but in some ways a portion of the blame falls on the administration for sapping the environment of all the fun and whimsy it could/should have.