Lions can’t catch an undefeated team !

by Joseph Birmingham

Saturday October 31, 2009 

Lions can’t catch an undefeated team ! thumbnail

Penn State didn’t pick up steam until the fourth quarter, struggling through the first three quarters for a 13-13 tie with Northwestern, then scoring three times in the final period to win the game 34-13.   At the same time, Iowa was maintaining their perfect season after struggling through three quarters against Indiana by scoring 28 in their final frame to win 42-24.

Penn State with that one loss against Iowa is looking better and better, but Iowa is looking like the team from the Big Ten that deserves the shot at a potential national championship.  Until the start  of the fourth quarters respectively, Iowa looked horrible, with 5 turnovers versus 2 touchdowns, and Penn State looked sluggish with only 1 drive over 30 yards in the first half and a 10-13 halftime deficit, then redeemed themselves with 3 scores in a 5 minutes period of the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Next week Penn State plays Ohio State and the following week Iowa does.  If Penn State wins, and Iowa loses, it is anybodys guess how the final poll will play out.  Right now the strength of schedule and talent levels on these two teams indicate that Iowa should win the Big Ten and go to a major bowl, and Penn State will likely go to another Rose Bowl.

Joe Paterno and his team have nothing to be ashamed of.   They do need to get the monkey off their back and beat Iowa if they want to get attention in the BCS at a national level and be considered a top 5 team.  For now, they are a solid top ten team.  And getting their 808th team win places them at 6th all time, which ain’t too shabby.

Filed Under College Football

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