Week 8 Awards

Going into the Northwestern game, I was pretty confident that a favorable schedule and a weak Big Ten would mean only 2 sure fire losses for the rest of the year: Ohio State and Michigan State.  I never expected an epic 4-game collapse, especially with 3 of those 4 games at home.  Yet, here we are, 2/3 of the way through the season, sitting at exactly .500, with a 4-4 record and only 1 Big Ten win.  The Maryland loss was hopefully the last in a series of unfortunate events as the road to a bowl game becomes significantly easier over the next 3 weeks.  But that's all in the future.  For now, let's finish up my coverage of the Maryland game by handing out some awards!

Probably the easiest pick of the week, the Beast Mode Award goes to kicker Sam Ficken who hit all 4 of his FGs on Saturday, 3 from 45+ yds away!  The performance was good enough to earn him Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors, his second time this season.  Ficken is now an impressive 17-19 on the year, and with 239 points to his name, he’s now 3^rd all time on the career points list.  First?  Another kicker, Kevin Kelly, whose 4-year run netted an incredible 425 points.  I don't think Ficken will be breaking that record anytime soon.

Even though it didn't feel like it, Saturday was actually a record breaking day on offense.  This week's Transformer Award reflects that as it goes to Jesse James who caught his 11th career TD pass, breaking the record set by Ted Kwalick for career TDs by a TE which stood since the late 1960s!  Daesean Hamilton also got in on the party, breaking the freshman receptions record.  Congrats to both gentlemen on their achievements!

I'm proud to announce another 2-time winner as the Matrix Award goes to freshman safety Marcus Allen.  For the second week in a row he dominated with 11 tackles, becoming the first defensive player all season long to surpass Mike Hull and lead the team in tackles.  He'll be starting yet again this week in place of the injured Ryan Keiser, only this time his backup will be another true freshman, Troy Apke, a former WR who recently had his redshirt removed.

This week's winner of the In Disguise Award is hard to miss at a massive 313 pounds, yet Austin Johnson has been somewhat overshadowed this season by the incredible play of fellow DT Anthony Zettel.  Johnson quietly put together one of his better efforts against the Terps, racking up a total of 6 tackles, including 1 for a loss and 1 sack.  He's a big (literally) part of why Penn State's defense ranks No 1 in the nation in rush defense, and he'll be counted on again this coming week to help stop Indiana's explosive RB Tevin Coleman.

Finally, the Megatron Award goes to hot tempers, from both teams.  We all know about the pre-game scuffle, and the rejected hand shakes, but when it came time to actually play football, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and personal fouls put both teams in unnecessary holes.  Things haven't been that chippy for a Penn State game since Mike Mauti decided to teach Illinois a lesson for poaching players back in 2012.  Maryland actually had 2 fewer penalties than the Lions, but somehow racked up 25 more penalty yds.  It was ugly, and I hope we don't see it again for quite a long time.

Alright, that will do it for Maryland week.  Penn State takes on Indiana this week, so hopefully the losing streak finally comes to an end and we can get one game closer to bowl eligibility!  Be sure to like me on Facebook and share with all your friends.  Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!