Week 9 Wrap Up

The Penn State Nittany Lions walked into Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN riding a 4-game losing streak and with the memory of last year’s loss in that exact same stadium still fresh in their minds.  They walked out victorious for the first time in 49 days, with their 5^th win of the year, and are now just 1 game away from bowl eligibility!  Final score, 13-7 Penn State!  The game was dedicated to safety Ryan Keiser who is still recovering in the hospital from a couple of freak injuries and complications.  Players celebrated with Keiser’s jersey in the locker room post game.

Yes, that's Indianapolis Colt, and former Nittany Lion A.Q. Shiply in the front

Head referee Dave Winvoet’s crew (the ones who screwed us over at Michigan) officiated the game.  Maybe it was just because the game wasn't in Michigan, but the zebras did a good job today.  I’m nothing if not fair, so if I’m going to complain when they mess up, I’m going to acknowledge when they do a good job.

Also, one quick observation about the “atmosphere” inside Memorial Stadium, aka “the Quarry” – it’s about as quiet and empty as a real rock quarry.  Seriously, I’m not trying to make fun of them, but this was particularly awful.  We get it, you’re basketball fans, it was a noon kickoff, and the weather sucked; but geez, try to show a little pride!

Memorial Stadium shortly before kickoff... Yeah

The opening of the game, one in which the teams would combine for 20 punts, would prove to be an omen of what was to come all afternoon.  Penn State started with the ball and after 3 passes, was forced to punt.  Indiana got the ball and after 3 runs, was forced to punt as well.  And so it continued.  To our credit, we straight up stopped their runs, whereas they get lucky when we dropped passes.  The theme for Penn State was clear: defense stops them, offensive stops themselves.  For an equally cynical take, here's Black Shoe Diaries with what they call "technically football"

Here are my big takeaways.  Offensively, Penn State finally found a little bit of a run game, including big plays by both Belton and Lynch.  Overall, though, the struggles continue.  Defensively, our boys pitched a shut out, holding Heisman candidate Tevin Coleman to a season low of 74 yds and his first game of the year with less than 100 yds.  After this game and the Ohio State game, anyone questioning the legitimacy of this defense’s #1 national ranking in rush defense is just lying to themselves.  As an observant Twitter user put it best, Penn State’s defense makes every other team’s offense look as bad as theirs.  The most telling sign of what this team has become was after Hackenberg threw yet another interception at the 50 yd line late in the 4^th quarter, and quite frankly, I wasn't even nervous.

So what exactly happened?  Let's start with the most exciting part.  At the end of the 2nd quarter, an impressive 24 yd punt return by Jesse Della Valle set up the offense just inside Indiana territory.  On the first play from scrimmage, Indiana intercepted Hackenberg's pass and ran it back 47 yds for a touchdown.  On the ensuing kickoff, Grant Haley opted out of a touchback but only got out to the 8 yd line.  It wouldn't matter, though, as Bill Belton found a hole between two Indiana linebackers on the very first play of the drive.  He then straight-up outran two defenders 92 yds all the way to the endzone!  It was the longest run of the season (the previous being only 46), and more importantly it tied the record for longest rushing play in PSU history.  Here's the thing, although Blair Thomas also had a 92 yd rush, he was stopped short of the goal line.  So Belton is now the proud title holder of longest rushing play for a SCORE in PSU history.  Enjoy the record-setting play below!

However, the big story of the season has been the offensive line.  Well, despite the continued absence of LT Donovan Smith, LG Miles Dieffenbach suited up and made his triumphant return to the field! - phased in slowly of course, just as James Franklin said he would.  Yet his mere presence seemed to spark the offensive line as the first play with him back was a 1^st down completion to Saeed Blacknall.  In fact, at numerous times throughout the afternoon, I found myself saying things like, “great protection” and “plenty of time” almost as much as I said, “too many offsides again” and “nowhere for RBs to go.”  So the big guys up front are definitely trying, and improving, but they’re also still by far the weakest link on the team.  Furthermore, their play isn't just affecting the running and passing games anymore, it’s even hitting special teams.  For the third time this year, a more than makeable FG was blocked.  On top of that, Hackenberg has now been sacked 35 times with 3 games remaining.  In 12 games last year, he was only sacked 20 times.  That means this offensive line is on pace to more than double last year’s sack total.  Obviously the key moving forward will be this group’s development.

Speaking of #14, let’s talk quarterback.  The good news is Hackenberg’s body language was so much better this week than last week, despite continuing to play rather poorly.  I guess that talk with Franklin did the trick.  The bad news is much more complicated and it starts with Hack's continued refusal to get rid of the ball and take way too many sacks.  On one drive, he was sacked twice in a row and almost took a third before finally throwing it away.  The line wasn't the problem as he got the best protection he’s had all year outside of maybe the UMass game.  Inaccuracy is also becoming a problem, usually when Hack doesn't step into his throws like he used to.  Too many of his balls continue to either hit receivers in the feet or sail over their head.  It just seems like his touch is off and his fundamentals have deteriorated under QB coach Rickey Rahne.  Oh, and then there's the severe case of butterfingers.  Look, even great QBs drop the ball on occasion, but we've seem this crap from Hackenberg going all the way back to his first game against Syracuse last year!  On one miracle play, the ball popped out of Hack’s hand during his wind up and fell right into Akeel Lynch’s hands.  Luckily Lynch managed to get some decent yds.  And if all that wasn't enough, Hack had 2 more interceptions today (including a pick six) without throwing a TD.  To be fair, the second was Bill Belton’s fault for tipping it to the defender, but still, take care of the football!

At this point, it’s blatantly obvious what this team is, even to the most casual fan: elite defense and incompetent offense.  Barring a miracle, that will most likely ring true for the rest of the regular season.  Hopefully that should be enough to beat Temple and/or Illinois and get to a bowl game.  That’s where you need to start paying attention.  Bowl preparations are like a gigantic bye week and provide more than two weeks of additional practices that non-bowl teams aren't privy to.  Simply missing out on those practices the last two seasons has hurt this team as much as any of the sanctions.  With Deiffenbach and Smith firmly back in the line up, plenty of practice time to gel, and a jazzed-up, bowl-starved fan base ready to get back to the postseason, the bowl game should prove to be a showcase of what this will be in the very near future.

So, how'd I do on my prediction?  Well I was right about it being a low scoring affair.  In fact, if you add in our blocked FG and Indiana's missed FG, I would have nailed the score!  Hackenberg didn't throw for a TD, Bill Belton actually had the bulk of the carries not Lynch, and Ficken only had 2 FGs instead of 3, although again, 1 was blocked.  I was halfway correct on defense.  Mike Hull tied for the lead in tackles, and Marcus Allen tied for second.  Zettel did have a sack, but Barnes didn't.  And I predicted an interception, except it was Nyeem Wartman, not Jordan Lucas.  Pretty good overall.

Alright, grades are coming tomorrow, so check back then.  Please go like my Facebook page if you like what you read on here.  Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!