Jan. 2 - 4 College Football Bowl Games Discussion

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I may be biased, but good luck having the Rose Bowl be as exciting as the end of this game. Prove me wrong USC/TEXAS!

 

You are biased. While a 3OT game is typically "exciting", I'm sure there are many other more accurate ways to describe it. The Sugar Bowl was exciting. This was a battle of futility.

 

To me it was more of an excitement due to the anticipation of which team would screw up more. I'm sure it would be different if I was a fan of either team.

 

Now that I think about it, when PSU finally made that FG I was extremely excited that I could finally go to bed.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The trophy for the conference with the best bowl record/percentage is still up in the air. If USC wins, the Pac-10 takes it with a 4-1(.800) mark , with wins over Texas, Northwestern, Rutgers and BYU, and a loss to Oklahoma. If Texas wins, the Big 12 and the ACC both go 5-3(.625). Big 12 wins would be over USC, Oregon, Michigan, South Carolina, and Houston; losses are to Alabama, TCU, and Clemson. ACC wins are against Louisville, South Florida, Minnesota, Boise St., and Colorado; losses are to Penn St., LSU, and Utah.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

The trophy for the conference with the best bowl record/percentage is still up in the air. If USC wins, the Pac-10 takes it with a 4-1(.800) mark , with wins over Texas, Northwestern, Rutgers and BYU, and a loss to Oklahoma. If Texas wins, the Big 12 and the ACC both go 5-3(.625). Big 12 wins would be over USC, Oregon, Michigan, South Carolina, and Houston; losses are to Alabama, TCU, and Clemson. ACC wins are against Louisville, South Florida, Minnesota, Boise St., and Colorado; losses are to Penn St., LSU, and Utah.

 

Not much to brag about there.

[Derwood]

Not a great game, I'll grant you. Penn State definitely looked like a team that hadn't played in 6 weeks, and the injury to Hunt in the first series hurt (though Scott played well). Hali wasn't much of a factor, and overall, I was impressed with FSU's O-Line. Weatherford might have a quite a career if he played that well as a freshman.

 

Sadly, PSU's prospects next year aren't so high. They lose 13 starters, and have to travel to ND, OSU, Purdue, Minnesota and Wisconsin. 8-4 might be realistic, but it all depends on Morelli and how good a rebuilt O-line might be.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Sadly, PSU's prospects next year aren't so high. They lose 13 starters, and have to travel to ND, OSU, Purdue, Minnesota and Wisconsin. 8-4 might be realistic, but it all depends on Morelli and how good a rebuilt O-line might be.

 

I thought the same thing when I saw the lineups last night. The entire secondary is gone, QB is gone, half of both lines, among others. Doesn't look too promising.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Not a great game, I'll grant you. Penn State definitely looked like a team that hadn't played in 6 weeks, and the injury to Hunt in the first series hurt (though Scott played well). Hali wasn't much of a factor, and overall, I was impressed with FSU's O-Line. Weatherford might have a quite a career if he played that well as a freshman.

 

Sadly, PSU's prospects next year aren't so high. They lose 13 starters, and have to travel to ND, OSU, Purdue, Minnesota and Wisconsin. 8-4 might be realistic, but it all depends on Morelli and how good a rebuilt O-line might be.

 

I hate the Big 10 schedules the way they are now. Penn State would have traveled to Iowa City this year. That would have been fun.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The trophy for the conference with the best bowl record/percentage is still up in the air. If USC wins, the Pac-10 takes it with a 4-1(.800) mark , with wins over Texas, Northwestern, Rutgers and BYU, and a loss to Oklahoma. If Texas wins, the Big 12 and the ACC both go 5-3(.625). Big 12 wins would be over USC, Oregon, Michigan, South Carolina, and Houston; losses are to Alabama, TCU, and Clemson. ACC wins are against Louisville, South Florida, Minnesota, Boise St., and Colorado; losses are to Penn St., LSU, and Utah.

 

That's why I wanted stupid Oregon to win so I could root against USC today with no qualms.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

It pays to have ties to the local government in a suburb of Pasadena - I might have tickets to the game. :)

[TruffleShuffle]

Sadly, PSU's prospects next year aren't so high. They lose 13 starters, and have to travel to ND, OSU, Purdue, Minnesota and Wisconsin. 8-4 might be realistic, but it all depends on Morelli and how good a rebuilt O-line might be.

 

I thought the same thing when I saw the lineups last night. The entire secondary is gone, QB is gone, half of both lines, among others. Doesn't look too promising.

 

On the good side, PSU is completely loaded at WR and has both their starting RBs back next year, plus the LBs will all be back if Poz stays. So, they have some work to do but if the secondary and OL can play decent and Morelli turns out to be a good player, they should still have a solid year.

[stuy119]

Not a great game, I'll grant you. Penn State definitely looked like a team that hadn't played in 6 weeks, and the injury to Hunt in the first series hurt (though Scott played well). Hali wasn't much of a factor, and overall, I was impressed with FSU's O-Line. Weatherford might have a quite a career if he played that well as a freshman.

 

The OL played well, but they need some studs to come in. If they get that, they could have a decent shot at doing something next year.

 

Both the O's looked like they were sleeping and not practicing for 6 weeks. They were brutal at times, but I think it was more a case of the D's just being EXTREMELY physical and well-coached.

 

I was SHOCKED that FSU was able to do as well as they were against the PSU line. The only beef that I have for the game was that PSU was never flagged for a holding call over 89 offensive plays, while FSU was called for every nit-picky hold. PSU was holding just as often when I looked closer, and FSU was still getting by and pressuring Robinson.

[stuy119]

On the good side, PSU is completely loaded at WR and has both their starting RBs back next year, plus the LBs will all be back if Poz stays. So, they have some work to do but if the secondary and OL can play decent and Morelli turns out to be a good player, they should still have a solid year.

 

Sadly, I can't imagine Poz will be back (unless he's injured and can't perform for the combine). It was too bad he was hurt, because he was having one of the best games I can remember from a LB in a bowl game.

 

The keys for PSU next year are their OL and DL - whether or not new players can step in and have the same impact after the 17 seniors are gone. I can't see it, but it also means that 2 years from now PSU will be in a good stop once again, after they've all matured.

[stitchface]

Not a great game, I'll grant you. Penn State definitely looked like a team that hadn't played in 6 weeks, and the injury to Hunt in the first series hurt (though Scott played well). Hali wasn't much of a factor, and overall, I was impressed with FSU's O-Line. Weatherford might have a quite a career if he played that well as a freshman.

 

The OL played well, but they need some studs to come in. If they get that, they could have a decent shot at doing something next year.

 

Both the O's looked like they were sleeping and not practicing for 6 weeks. They were brutal at times, but I think it was more a case of the D's just being EXTREMELY physical and well-coached.

 

I was SHOCKED that FSU was able to do as well as they were against the PSU line. The only beef that I have for the game was that PSU was never flagged for a holding call over 89 offensive plays, while FSU was called for every nit-picky hold. PSU was holding just as often when I looked closer, and FSU was still getting by and pressuring Robinson.

 

 

FSU's O-line played well? 26 rushes for 26 yards?

[sethuel1]

Not a great game, I'll grant you. Penn State definitely looked like a team that hadn't played in 6 weeks, and the injury to Hunt in the first series hurt (though Scott played well). Hali wasn't much of a factor, and overall, I was impressed with FSU's O-Line. Weatherford might have a quite a career if he played that well as a freshman.

 

The OL played well, but they need some studs to come in. If they get that, they could have a decent shot at doing something next year.

 

Both the O's looked like they were sleeping and not practicing for 6 weeks. They were brutal at times, but I think it was more a case of the D's just being EXTREMELY physical and well-coached.

 

I was SHOCKED that FSU was able to do as well as they were against the PSU line. The only beef that I have for the game was that PSU was never flagged for a holding call over 89 offensive plays, while FSU was called for every nit-picky hold. PSU was holding just as often when I looked closer, and FSU was still getting by and pressuring Robinson.

 

 

FSU's O-line played well? 26 rushes for 26 yards?

 

he meant in pass protection. Penn State has overwhelmed some pretty good O-lines this year with their defensive front, and it didn't happen last night.

[goonys evil twin]

he meant in pass protection. Penn State has overwhelmed some pretty good O-lines this year with their defensive front, and it didn't happen last night.

 

It's hard to bring pressure to a quick pass attack like last night's. He was throwing in under 2 seconds every time, including a ton of dump offs underneath.

 

FSU was penalized a lot more than PSU, but I saw two blatant 15 yarders by the Criminoles that were ignored, plus another pretty close one. There was a late hit on the QB in the 3rd, and on the fumble another cheap shot thrown by somebody on FSU right in front of a ref who was looking down. FSU is a sloppy ballclub, they had more penalties for a reason. They've been relying on overwhelming team speed, especially on defense, to win for years, and are not at all disciplined.

 

Robinson missed about 3-4 wide open guys in that third quarter, and made a couple stupid running decisions that prevented PSU from getting out of that field position hole earlier. I don't know if the coaches put a ridiculous harness on him and don't allow him to throw when a guy is within 5 yards of a receiver, but he seemed to lock-up a couple times. I really thought he'd be an intriguing late round draft pick, but he was a bit disappointing to me last night. He's still got a lot of improvement to make.

 

I wouldn't assume Pozwhateverhisnameis is gone. That knee injury might bump him into the 2nd round, which could inspire him to try and be a top half of the 1st round guy the following draft.

[TruffleShuffle]

On the good side, PSU is completely loaded at WR and has both their starting RBs back next year, plus the LBs will all be back if Poz stays. So, they have some work to do but if the secondary and OL can play decent and Morelli turns out to be a good player, they should still have a solid year.

 

Sadly, I can't imagine Poz will be back (unless he's injured and can't perform for the combine). It was too bad he was hurt, because he was having one of the best games I can remember from a LB in a bowl game.

 

The keys for PSU next year are their OL and DL - whether or not new players can step in and have the same impact after the 17 seniors are gone. I can't see it, but it also means that 2 years from now PSU will be in a good stop once again, after they've all matured.

 

At defensive line I think PSU is in a lot better shape. They already have 4 highly-rated commitments from high school kids, and rotated in some younger guys this year. As long as a couple of the freshmen are ready to go next year, they should be OK. At least one guy (a 320 lb DT) is enrolling in January, and as you saw with King and Williams, guys who enroll early can make a big difference.

 

OL is another story though. They have a couple of commits, and they are close to getting two top-three players at their respective positions, one a guard who is down to Nebraska or PSU, and another a tackle who is down to Maryland or PSU. I'd expect at least one of those guys to start next year. It also will be big to see what Levi Brown does. He was second team All-American and would likely go in the 2nd-3rd round if he came out. Hopefully he will stay and anchor the line. Donnie Johnson is a solid CB and Justin King was the #1 recruit in the nation at CB last year. With Williams, Norwood, Butler, Rubin back off IR, and a couple of good freshmen receivers coming in next year, there will be no need for King at WR, and he can go back to focusing on CB... which is the position that he projects to play in the NFL, so it will be good for him. They will definitely need to find a pair of safeties, because the two they had this year were solid.

 

But, the people who are comparing this to 2002 are off-base. Back then PSU sent 6 players to the first 2 rounds of the draft - two DT, one WR, one RB, one DE and one SS. They will have a few guys drafted early - Hali, Zemaitis, possibly Phillips - but it's not the volume of quality that they lost in 2002. And, back then the cupboard was pretty bare behind those guys. Look how few Penn State players were drafted in 2003 and 2004. This year, there is much more talent left on the team, and for morons like Mark May to predict a plunge to 4-7 next year is ridiculous. ESPN should not allow him to talk about Penn State unless he can keep his hatred of them (from his days at Pitt) from coloring his viewpoints.

[sethuel1]

Robinson missed about 3-4 wide open guys in that third quarter, and made a couple stupid running decisions that prevented PSU from getting out of that field position hole earlier. I don't know if the coaches put a ridiculous harness on him and don't allow him to throw when a guy is within 5 yards of a receiver, but he seemed to lock-up a couple times. I really thought he'd be an intriguing late round draft pick, but he was a bit disappointing to me last night. He's still got a lot of improvement to make.

Robinson was never going to be drafterd as a QB anyway. he's simply not accurate enough. He's as much as admitted in interviews that in order to play in the pros he'd have to do something other than quarterback

[TruffleShuffle]

Robinson missed about 3-4 wide open guys in that third quarter, and made a couple stupid running decisions that prevented PSU from getting out of that field position hole earlier. I don't know if the coaches put a ridiculous harness on him and don't allow him to throw when a guy is within 5 yards of a receiver, but he seemed to lock-up a couple times. I really thought he'd be an intriguing late round draft pick, but he was a bit disappointing to me last night. He's still got a lot of improvement to make.

Robinson was never going to be drafterd as a QB anyway. he's simply not accurate enough. He's as much as admitted in interviews that in order to play in the pros he'd have to do something other than quarterback

 

At least he has enough sense to realize this, unlike Eric Crotch, who didn't seem to get the drift that winning a Heisman playing QB at Nebraska does not entitle you to get a shot as an NFL QB. Robinson could play WR, RB, or even safety. I remember reading that after his soph year, a lot of NFL teams were hoping that PSU would move him to safety because of his size and speed. I actually expect him to be drafted late on the first day.

[sethuel1]

Eric Crotch

Yes!

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Robinson missed about 3-4 wide open guys in that third quarter, and made a couple stupid running decisions that prevented PSU from getting out of that field position hole earlier. I don't know if the coaches put a ridiculous harness on him and don't allow him to throw when a guy is within 5 yards of a receiver, but he seemed to lock-up a couple times. I really thought he'd be an intriguing late round draft pick, but he was a bit disappointing to me last night. He's still got a lot of improvement to make.

Robinson was never going to be drafterd as a QB anyway. he's simply not accurate enough. He's as much as admitted in interviews that in order to play in the pros he'd have to do something other than quarterback

 

At least he has enough sense to realize this, unlike Eric Crotch, who didn't seem to get the drift that winning a Heisman playing QB at Nebraska does not entitle you to get a shot as an NFL QB. Robinson could play WR, RB, or even safety. I remember reading that after his soph year, a lot of NFL teams were hoping that PSU would move him to safety because of his size and speed. I actually expect him to be drafted late on the first day.

 

Did Robinson play safety in HS? I wonder how good a hitter he is. Myself, I'm thinking that Brad Smith would make a nice Randle-El type NFL player, I'm interested to see how his skills translate to the draft.

[EricG]

Matt Jones was drafted as a WR in the first round last year and he played QB in college. Antoine Randall El played QB in college. Urlacher was a safety in college. Robinson played some WR when Mills was the QB at Penn State.

[sethuel1]

Robinson missed about 3-4 wide open guys in that third quarter, and made a couple stupid running decisions that prevented PSU from getting out of that field position hole earlier. I don't know if the coaches put a ridiculous harness on him and don't allow him to throw when a guy is within 5 yards of a receiver, but he seemed to lock-up a couple times. I really thought he'd be an intriguing late round draft pick, but he was a bit disappointing to me last night. He's still got a lot of improvement to make.

Robinson was never going to be drafterd as a QB anyway. he's simply not accurate enough. He's as much as admitted in interviews that in order to play in the pros he'd have to do something other than quarterback

 

At least he has enough sense to realize this, unlike Eric Crotch, who didn't seem to get the drift that winning a Heisman playing QB at Nebraska does not entitle you to get a shot as an NFL QB. Robinson could play WR, RB, or even safety. I remember reading that after his soph year, a lot of NFL teams were hoping that PSU would move him to safety because of his size and speed. I actually expect him to be drafted late on the first day.

 

Did Robinson play safety in HS? I wonder how good a hitter he is. Myself, I'm thinking that Brad Smith would make a nice Randle-El type NFL player, I'm interested to see how his skills translate to the draft.

 

Check out the replay of him laying out the biggest safety on the Golden Gophers.

[Derwood]

Robinson could end up being a slower version of Antwaan Randle El. Return kicks, play some flanker, maybe take some screen passes. It's a tough fit for him in the NFL where no one plays the option.

 

As for PSU, here is what we're looking at

 

Graduating:

 

Robinson (QB)

3 or 4 OL (all but Levi Brown?)

Smolk (TE)

Zemaitis (CB)

Lowry (SS)

Phillips (FS)

Hali/Rice (DE)

A few others

 

Returning:

 

Hunt/Scott (HB)

Snow (FB)

Williams/Golden/Norwood/Peretta/Rubin/Butler (WR)

Connor (LB)

King (CB)

Others

 

On the fence:

 

Posluszny (LB)

Brown (OL)

 

Morelli was an extremely sought after QB in HS, had comitted to Pitt, but withdrew to come to PSU. He should be a Sophomore next year, but Paterno burned a year of eligibility last year putting him in a meaningless game. Stupid. So he's a RS Jr. He's a tall, strong, pocket passer, so while they may still spread the offense, it won't be as option-oriented as last year. The recruiting class is very impressive, but do we really expect JoePa to start true freshman at both ends of the D-Line? Wise is set to step in for Zemaitis, but you wonder if one of the 3427394238 WR can convert to CB or FS. If they go with 3 WR sets, you'd expect Williams/Butler/Golden and or Norwood to be the guys, so can Peretta or Rubin convert to defense? Seems like a spoil of riches there and something creative can happen.

[stuy119]

Justin King was the #1 recruit in the nation at CB last year.

 

I'm intrigued to see how he makes the transition from WR to CB next year. He looks like he has more speed than is needed, and seems to have exceptional ability. If he can read what is going on, he could have a few pick-6's next year.

 

Either that, or maybe they keep him at WR. I can't see that being a bad option either. With Williams on the other side, they wouldn't have too bad an O.

[Chocolate Milk]

In Non-Penn State news, The National Championship game is being played tonight. I'm excited, but I was excited about last years game and my emotions got served. I have a feeling that USC will roll, but honestly these teams haven't played in so long that anything is possible.

 

Honestly, I'm really just excited to watch Reggie Bush. That dude makes me question reality, Matrix style. They showed his High School highlights on SC Monday night and I had to change my underpants afterwards. They said when Rick Neuheisel saw that tape of his HS highlights, he thought it was fake.

 

Really, I have no horse in the race (other than watching Mr. Bush) so I am really hoping that it lives up to the hype.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

In Non-Penn State news, The National Championship game is being played tonight. I'm excited, but I was excited about last years game and my emotions got served. I have a feeling that USC will roll, but honestly these teams haven't played in so long that anything is possible.

 

Honestly, I'm really just excited to watch Reggie Bush. That dude makes me question reality, Matrix style. They showed his High School highlights on SC Monday night and I had to change my underpants afterwards. They said when Rick Neuheisel saw that tape of his HS highlights, he thought it was fake.

 

Really, I have no horse in the race (other than watching Mr. Bush) so I am really hoping that it lives up to the hype.

 

I'm fully expecting a 96-88 score. You pick the winner.