Penn State Clips: Blue White Roundtable for Syracuse

Jeff Clark of Nittany Lounge has invited Penn State Clips to join other PSU bloggers (Happy Hour Valley, Nittany Line, Nittany Whiteout-Charlie, Nittany Whiteout-Kevin, We Want the Lion, W.F. Yurasko, and Zombie Nation) at this week's Blue White Roundtable...

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Question 1: Coach Paterno says the biggest improvement in a team happens between week one and week two of the season. What area needs most improvement? What facet of play needs the least improvement?

Trader Kevin: The run blocking was non-existent against Akron. The jury is still out on the secondary. On Akron's touchdown we thought the Big Ten Network had gotten bored and switched to 2009 Rose Bowl highlights.

We were happy with the play of the Front Seven.

Question 2: Syracuse is running what it calls the Stallion, a form of the Wildcat offense. It appeared to be effective against Minnesota. At one point during the Minnesota game, Syracuse had run the Stallion seven times, averaging over six yards per play. What does the PSU rush defense need to do break the Stallion?

Trader Kevin: We're not big X's and O's guys, but we subscribe to Lou Holtz's theory that the team which blocks and tackles the best usually wins. There's nothing magical about the Stallion/Wildcat. It we win the battle at the line of scrimmage we'll be fine.

As an aside, during the Minnesota-Syracuse game on Saturday ESPN word butcher play-by-play announcer Pam Ward said, "I want a stallion package."

Question 3: Minnesota squeaked out a win against the Orange(men). What expectation does this create for Penn State when playing Syracuse? And perhaps more importantly since it is a conference game, Minnesota?

Trader Kevin: We were shocked at how well Greg Paulus played in his first football game in five years. (And sister Karen was thrilled!) The 'Cuse still has a huge talent deficit against Penn State. We were surprised that the point spread is actually bigger against Syracuse (28.5) than it was against Akron (26.5).

It's a long time before we play Minnesota, so the OT win at the Dome is probably irrelevant.

Question 4: This week next year Penn State will be playing Alabama on the road. What do you think about State playing Bama instead of the Cuse? Would you rather be tailgating in Happy Valley and attending another FCS beat down? Or sitting at home watching the game on the big screen? Should the Big Ten play at least one OOC game per year with the SEC or Big 12?

Trader Kevin: We'd love to see an elite game every year, but we'd settle for a "name" opponent. We were lucky that Oregon State rebounded to upset USC last season.

We're jealous of the long-term deals Michigan and Michigan State have with Notre Dame. West Virginia would work, ditto for Miami and Florida State. Or a decent Pac-10 team. (USC is obvious, but there's no way to know how good UCLA, Oregon, or Cal will be 5-10 years from now.)

In fairness to Fran Ganter, the Syracuse game was signed in early 2002, when the 'Cuse was coming off a 10-3 season and their tenth bowl victory in 14 seasons. There was no way to foresee that they'd completely collapse immediately after the contract was signed.

As for attending a beatdown in Happy Valley or watching a good game on TV, we won't be at Saturday's game. The first game on our live schedule is PSU at Illinois.

Bob DeMarco: No contest, I would rather see Penn State play Alabama. I would rather be in Tuscaloosa watching the game in person.

Have you ever been on the Alabama campus? You'll see more good looking women in an hour than you will see at Penn State in four years. Alabama girls are right up there with Georgia and Florida.

I would rather see Penn State play a big intersectional game each year. Alabama, Texas, Notre Dame, and Georgia would be on the top of my list.

If we wanna see our players beat up on some chump let's get 'em down to Florida to play FAU in Landshark stadium. This way the great Florida players at Pahokee, Belle Glade, and Aquinas will actually know that Penn State exists.

By the way, I've been to see 'Bama play a few times. Once sat with Richard Todd, who pretty much hates everyone, but loves Joe Paterno.

Extra points (Trader Kevin)...

• The current line is -28. Cover or Not? We prefer betting totals (Under 59 was a layup last week) and have not yet formed an opinion. We'd lean towards Syracuse and the points if forced to pick.
• Does Penn State show up for the second half? They'd better! The second half against Akron was among the most boring 30 minutes of football in Penn State history.
• True/False: Syracuse is a better opponent than Akron. Penn State fans might think so if they watch this video, but the bookmakers disagree. Dad, brother, and sister all earned their MBA from Syracuse, so we'll say True.
• Fact or Fiction: Sue Paterno once painted the Nittany Lion statue orange. It wouldn't surprise us to find out this is true, as we know it was SuePa who hung the referee in effigy on the front door of Casa Paterno a few years ago.

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