Victory #409 for Joe Paterno? Thoughts on Illinois at Penn State

With victory #408 in the books, Joe Paterno will be gunning for the all-time Division I record for coaching victories on Saturday as Penn State hosts Illinois.

Just as importantly, a victory would keep the Nittany Lions on track for an improbable berth in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game.

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The Fighting Zookers Illini have started slowly all season. It has cost them dearly the past two weeks...

vs. Arkansas State: Trailed 8-7 late in the first half, won 33-15
vs. South Dakota State: Scoreless for more than ten minutes, won 56-3
vs. Arizona State: Trailed 14-10 in fourth quarter, won 17-14
vs. Western Michigan: Trailed 13-10 at halftime, won 23-20
vs. Northwestern: Trailed 28-17 after three quarters, won 38-35
at Indiana: Fell behind 10-0, won 41-20
vs. The Ohio State: Trailed 17-0 after three quarters, lost 17-7
at Purdue: Trailed 21-0 at halftime, lost 21-14

This is a serious indictment of Ron Zook's ability to get his football team ready for gameday. Will things change on Saturday?

Zook addressed the situation yesterday...

"We have to take the the last quarter-and-a-half and say, 'This is what we have to do.' We have to play that way the whole game.

"We have to play 60 minutes the way we're capable of playing. We didn't do that. No question this will be a 60-minute game coming up."

Speaking of playing for all 60 minutes, hats off to Tom Bradley and the Penn State defensive staff for shutting out Northwestern in the second half Saturday night. This has become the norm since PSU emerged from "the dark ages" of 2000-2004.

Second-half scores
Penn State vs. Northwestern
2005: 20-6
2006: 10-0
2009: 24-0
2010: 28-0
2011: 7-0

It's going to feel weird rooting for Ohio State on Saturday night when the Buckeyes host Wisconsin.

Why are we rooting for Ohio State? Check out the Big Ten East standings...

1. Penn State (4-0)
2t. Wisconsin (2-1)
2t. Purdue (2-1)
4. Illinois (2-2)
5. Ohio State (1-2)
6. Indiana (0-4)

If we beat Illinois and Ohio State can upset Wisconsin (the Badgers are currently favored by 7½), we can clinch the division by winning two of the last three games (Nebraska, at Ohio State, at Wisconsin).

So hold your nose and join us in shouting "Go Buckeyes!"

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