WE ARE!!!.....5 and 3?

This was a very exciting weekend for me. I decided to visit an old friend at his new abode in New Jersey. I normally don't travel on Saturdays. Not in the fall anyways. Saturdays in the fall are for Penn State Football games. However, I decided that since this weekend was homecoming and we had Illinois lined up as the main course, the game was never really going to be in question. I guess I was wrong.

As I traveled to Jersey, the Nittany Lions were scrapping their way to an unimpressive 26-12 victory against a team that has only looked good against Michigan State (but then again, who hasn't?). Apparently, my beloved Lions are content with stumbling their way through another sub-par season. I'll give them some credit - all three loses have come against teams ranked in the Top 5 at the time. And yes, it is a "rebuilding year" of sorts and the games against Ohio State and Michigan were close deep into the fourth quarter. But I fear there is something bigger going on here.

This team, as a whole, lacks the fire to win that has been a trademark of many of the PSU teams of the past. I'm not saying everyone is to blame. I'm sure there are some players playing with the fire and desire that I expect, but if you look at the end of the Ohio State, Minnesota, or Michigan games there was no sense of urgency whatsoever from the offense. There was nobody fired up. Nobody seemed to be saying "Hey, give me the ball!" This team lacks what I call a Matt Hasselbeck factor. There's no one to step up at a crucial point in the game and say "We'll take the ball and we're going to win."

Personally, I don't doubt that there is as much talent on this team as there has been on any Penn State teams of the past. Lou Holtz and Kirk Herbstreit have made references to PSU having one of the finest receiving corps in the nation. At Penn State? Receiving corps? Sure, we've had our share of good individual receivers before, but never a few of them at one time. However, despite all this talent we're still seeing alot of dropped balls. It seems like all the receivers have had them.

I can't talk about the receiving corps without talking about Derrick Williams. Considering all the hype that surrounded his arrival, he's been a major disappointment for me. You're talking about the #1 ranked recruit for 2005 and even though he looked like he could be something special last year, he hasn't done much of anything this year. I doubt that his skills are gone, but he looks hesitant. It's almost as if he's unsure of with the ball when it comes to him. He's gotten the ball in space, but he hasn't found a way to keep that space. I want to believe that he's a special player, but sooner or later he has to make a special play. In Williams's defense, I don't have the privilege to review game tape. Perhaps he's facing double teams and other schemes geared to shut him down. What I do know is that there have been plays he should have made that just haven't happened.

Getting away from the passing game - Penn State happens to have one of the most underrated running backs in the country in Tony Hunt. I'd be willing to bet that Hunt has broken more tackles through 8 games this year than Larry Johnson did in his entire 2,000 yard campaign. He's a tough-as-nails, do-anything back who just doesn't quit. Coaches must love the fact that when he doesn't have the ball in his hands, Hunt blocks just as hard as he runs.

Note to the Philadelphia Eagles: we need a back to compliment Westbrook. Draft this kid next year. PLEASE!

As for the guy who's been giving the ball to Hunt, there's no doubt that Anthony Morelli has the gifts to be a special quarterback. He heaves a few throws every game that make your jaw drop, they just aren't always completed. Unfortunately, Morelli has only started 8 games and his inexperience isn't hard to see. He frequently stares down receivers, makes bad reads, and holds onto the ball entirely too long. Despite these shortcomings I wouldn't be surprised to see a monster season from Morelli next year once he has a full season under his belt.

As we've seen this season, you can have a boatload of talent at the skill positions but it won't mean anything if you don't get any contributions from your offensive line. Unfortunately, our offensive line has been downright offensive. I just can't figure this group out. In Week 1, they gave Morelli all day to throw but they couldn't open up a running lane. Then they went 5 weeks where they were dominant in the running game but Morelli had no time to throw. In the last two games, they've just...well...have they shown up at all? You can make the excuse that there are four new starters on this young offensive line but what they really have is an identity crisis. You don't know what you're going to get from this group from one week to another. My suggestion is that this line needs to get a mean streak. They need to get physical. They need to man up and give their talented nucleus of skill position players time to throw and space to make plays.

I can't put all offensive woes on the players, because I feel the coaching has been at fault too. Unfortunately, the problems with this offense are many: there is no intermediate passing game, there are serious play call issues, players are being misused. You name it and we've probably seen it from our offense this year. I have a feeling that some of these problems stem from confusion in the huddle. Remember the '94 team? They had a ton of special players, but they never ran any gimmick plays. There didn't run complex draws or other plays that were slow to developing - they simply lined up and pounded the ball at you. When it came time to throw, they ran traditional posts, ins, outs, hitches, and corners. This year's team has '94 talent. It really does. Despite this talent, we keep running gimmick plays like bubble screens and two yard curls. Where is the 12 yard in-pattern? What happened to using the middle of the field? In the running game, where is the halfback iso? Where is the occasional off tackle play? Instead of these traditionally successful tactics we're seeing slow developing plays like draws, tosses, and counters. If the offensive line is struggling, why would you use plays that ask your line to hold their blocks longer? The coaches need to simplify things. They need to stop trying to trick the opposition and get back to basics. Make the offense well-rounded and (most importantly) more comfortable for the players. Then after 3 games of not seeing Derrick Williams lined up at tailback, surprise Michigan State with a HB toss-pass from Williams to Deon Butler. I'm serious about this. If changes aren't going to be made I want a phone call, email, text message, blog comment, or handwritten letter from Galen Hall and Jay Paterno explaining to me exactly what the heck they are trying to accomplish. Because at this point, I really don't get it (even though opposing defenses seem to) - I would LOVE to be in the know what's going on with this offense.

As for the defense, we all knew this was going to be a difficult season. We had to replace 7 starters, several of which went on to play in the NFL. Despite these losses I have been pleasantly surprised with the way this defense has come around and continues to get better. Yes, they got destroyed by Mr. Quinn and his lucky Irish cronies. That was expected. It was what it was - a very talented senior QB throwing to veteran WRs against a young defensive backfield making their first start in a hostile road environment. The difficulties were expected, but these kids have gotten alot better. This improvement was on display in the solid games they played against two other talented receiving corps in Ohio State and Michigan. I'm excited to see the combo of King and Scirotto turn into a special backfield tandem that will be shutting down opponents for years to come. Scirotto in particular epitomizes the hardnosed style of defense we love at PSU.

I'll move on to the defensive line where the play has been more solid than spectacular. Alford and Johnson have been monsters inside at times, but the ends are merely a rotation of players who are hardworking but not quite "threatening" to opposing offenses. Finally, they don't call us Linebacker U for nothing. Dan Connor has been an animal - he's been extremely impressive (probably even more so than the more acclaimed guy in the middle). Posluszny started out the season a little rough, I'll admit it. He looked a little slow at times, a little weak; but he has quickly returned to form. I'm also not sure that moving him to the middle was the right move. One move I did like was the switching of Tim Shaw to defensive end because it allowed Sean Lee to get more playing time. As a result, the defense will have one more experienced player on the field next year (who's played pretty well this year to boot). For that, I give the coaches some kudos.

With these kudos I also have some barbs. First, I don't like the move of Poz to the middle. By moving Poz to the middle, opposing offenses have more opportunities to get bodies on him. He doesn't have the same ability to pick his way through from the outside and make the plays he's been making throughout his collegiate career. He's still making plays, but I don't doubt that he could be making even more from the outside. I also think the defensive coaches are to blame for the inability to produce consistent pressure on the quarterback. The blitz design is poor and the execution is worse. Granted, blitzing has never really been a Penn State forte, but you can almost see the confusion on the players faces as they break the defensive huddle. These leads to a complete inability to disguise where the pressure is coming from. That to me says the coaches are not stressing and teaching how to handle blitzing situations better. The beauty of the blitz is in catching the offense off guard, but the Penn State opponents seem to know who's coming and where they're coming from almost every time we blitz.

I've saved my best for last - my biggest PSU defense pet peeve is the soft zone. Oh my goodness! Play man-to-man sometimes! Play tight coverage sometimes! Do something besides man-to-man with an 8 yard cushion! This team allows alot of 5-10 yard gains and it is because the receivers have such a large cushion to work with. This was especially against Michigan. Several times in that game we had them in third and 5 and they would run a slant or hitch against our soft zone to get the first down. First off, you're not going to create any turnovers that way. Secondly, you're not going to get any momentum. I find it hard to believe Tom Bradley and company don't know this. C'mon guys - show us you're serious! Stop worrying about losing the game on defense and play to win. Get physical with receivers - make them work to get open! Frustrate them! Again, an email, text message, voicemail or some other form of communication about this would be great.

I should probably conclude my rant with a word of hope. Don't get me wrong here - I have not lost faith in this football program. There are good things going on, but we're on a hump. We need to get over that hump. I know it's a rebuilding year. I know we had to replace a lot of great players after last season, but that doesn't mean we should give up. We have just as many skilled players this year and many of them learned from the great experience of a winning team last year. I'm a realist (of sorts). I wasn't expecting another 11-1 year but I was thinking we could go 10-3 (including the bowl game). I know it can still happen.

This is still a very good football team, but they have the potential to be great. Let's see them restore that Lion Pride over these final four regular season games! I'm issuing a challenge to this team to turn things up a notch to close out this season. Let everyone know that this program is back where it belongs. Let them know that a few tough loses and close calls are not going to stop the fans from chanting "WE ARE!" Send a message to the rest of the Big Ten that the end of this season is a preview of what is to come next year. The top teams in the Big Ten right now are all losing lots of talent in key positions at the end of this year - by next season we'll be a year older, wiser, stronger, faster, and more prepared.

So as you turn it on to finish this season strong let everyone hear you roar: "WE ARE...PENN STATE!"