Early loss better than 2008 late loss

by Joseph Birmingham

Saturday October 10, 2009 

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Everyone agrees the Nittany Lions have an easy schedule this year.  So far they lost their one true challenge to the team that owns them recently, the dreaded Iowa Hawkeyes.

But after getting beaten for the 7th time in their last 8 meetings, Penn State is looking only one direction, and it isn’t backward.  They proved this as the defense and Daryll Clark combined to steamroll over the hapless Eastern Illinois Panthers of the FCS by a final score of 52-3.

Penn State at one point scored 28 points in under 8 minutes in the second quarter, and then coasted as usual the second half and protected the big lead.  Clark threw for three touchdowns and one interception as he completed 13 of 19 for 234 yards.

Royster and Green each only handled the ball 8 times with Green getting the rushing touchdown and Royster having an 11.5 yard per rush average as the Lions got a first down or scored at will every time any of the big name players touched the ball.

When Penn State lost to Iowa it ruined their hopes for a perfect season and seemingly dashed their hopes for a high BCS ranking at the same time.   The loss took them from being ranked as high as 4th to as low as 19th in the various AP, USA Today and other polls.

Looking back now, that loss gave this team some incentive to actually start to separate from their remaining opponents and show they are worthy of being considered a top ten team despite the fact they play only three quality opponents all year.  Unlike last year, it also happened early enough to give them time to atone for the loss and push their way back up through the rankings.

At game time they were ranked 14th, and the win coupled with several top 20 losses will likely push them back into the top 12.

The Lions left no question that they are playing the rest of the year for keeps, and the defense held EIU to 204 total yards and scored on a long  fumble return by Navorro Bowman,  as the offense rolled for 6 scores, 3 runs, and 3 passes.  The Big Ten is no joke this year with 5 teams with 1 or no losses thus far, so if Penn State can hold on with 1 loss and factor into the conference championship, after playing Iowa, Minnesota,  Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State they will have to be considered in the National Championship picture if there are no undefeated teams.

For now the Lions will savor this win and prepare for a better team in next weeks Minnesota Golden Gophers and try to keep this new momentum generated from the modest two game winning streak going.

It is looking more and more that the Nittany Lions entire season is going to come down to one game, the 11/7 matchup against Ohio State. If OSU is undefeated at that point, they will be ranked in the top 5, and if PSU beats them, Iowa still has to play Wisconsin, Michigan State, Indiana, Northwestern, OSU and Minnesota and the chance they remain undefeated is slim to none.

Therefore, you will have 3 or 4 1 loss teams in the Big Ten and any of them will be worthy to go to the top BCS game at the end of the year.  And Penn State will have a late season win over a top five conference foe under their belt that may help them overcome their weak strength of schedule number and get the higher ranking.

It is early enough yet that anything can happen.  Right now Penn State controls it’s own destiny.  If they keep winning and keep widening the gap between points scored and points allowed, they should be sitting pretty on 11/21 when they go to Michigan State to close out thier season.

Jo Pa needs to keep the hammer down and don’t let up one ounce between now and then, the details will work themselves out,

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