PSU/ND

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 2:52 pm

It's awfully hard to take much from the first game into this one, as a PSU fan. I think it's pretty clear that PSU's OL needs to come together quickly.

A lot of Blue & White koolaid drinkers thought Notre Dame looked bad in their opener. I was impressed at how they came back and began to dominate. I honestly think they'll be a lot tougher in the PSU matchup.

PSU needs to keep the foot on the gas offensively. They need the Irish secondary to respect the pass before the running game can get off the ground.

I say this because I'm fairly sure ND will be scoring points in this game. PSU showed a lot of 3-4 defense against Akron - they are stacked with LB talent, but there is a lot of inexperience on the DL, and Jim Shaw (Rice transfer DE) is banged up. In this 3-4, Posluszny is playing inside. The pressure will be on the young (but talented and hard-hitting) PSU secondary.

Special teams will be big. Derrick Williams is returning punts for PSU, he'll definitely provide a spark. True frosh A.J. Wallace is very fast, and returned kicks well. PSU needs to cover kicks well, because the Irish have weapons there as well.

I think the Lions will at least keep this one close, if not win.

PSU: 33
ND: 31

WolverineSteve · Post by **WolverineSteve** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 4:48 pm

I was very unimpressed with ND's effort at GT. How many times can Weiss run flanker screens to the lanky polack*. When they decided to run the ball, they began to take control of the game.

Penn State was Penn State. They lost a ton of experience from a senior laden team last year. I look for them to be ok this year, but not as good as last year.

Weiss will straighten out the offense.

ND-34
PSU-20

*As a Polish-American I reserve the right to use this term in any way I see fit without being depicted as a bigot.

Cicero · Post by **Cicero** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 4:51 pm

It will be close at halftime and then Notre Dame will pull away in the second half.

ND 27
PSU 20

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 4:52 pm

Sissyroux,

7 points is "pulling away"? Ease up on the glue-snorting, kid

M2 · Post by M2 » Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:03 pm

I see this as a high scoring game.

I'll take State to win by at 1 to 2 TD's.

I really like State's new qb and think he'll take advantage of ND's porous D.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:06 pm

I'd love to see ND get smacked around by Posluszny and company, to knock the ND fans off their high horses.

Unfortunately, I see this being Weiss' first win over a ranked team (assuming PSU finishes the season ranked).

ND - 27
PSU - 21

buckeye_in_sc · Post by **buckeye_in_sc** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:12 pm

got to stick with the conference affiliation on this one...

PSU 23

ND 13

I think the PSU D is going to be too much for ND....plus I think with the slow start ND got on Saturday they can't take a 1/2 game off this weekend...

SoCalTrjn · Post by **SoCalTrjn** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 5:17 pm

PSU 34
ND 23

Loganfan · Post by **Loganfan** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 6:45 pm

ND 27
PSU 19

Terry in Crapchester · Tue Sep 05, 2006 6:49 pm

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:Unfortunately, I see this being Weiss' first win over a ranked team (assuming PSU finishes the season ranked).

Moving the goal posts a little, aren't we? I've always thought that the phrase "win over a ranked team" meant a win over a team that was ranked at the time you played them. By that standard, Weis already has two: Pitt and Michigan last year.

Oh, and btw, . . .

ND 28
PSU 21

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:02 pm

Terrah,

While "at the time" is nice and all, I only put stock in it if "at the time" was at least 7-8 weeks into the season. Ultimately, I look at the season end rank of the opponents of a team to guage how good their competition really was.

Terry in Crapchester · Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:06 pm

Indy,

I understand where you're coming from. My objection was based primarily on Mgo's use of the phrase "win over a ranked opponent," which to me has an entirely different meaning from the one he used. I'm sure Tennessee is counting last weekend's win over Kal as a win over a ranked opponent, even if Kal finishes out of the Top 25 at season's end.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:09 pm

Oh I'm quite sure Kal will finish out of the Top 25 on their way to winning the national championship and all. Tennessee will be able to hang their hats on that.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial · Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:53 pm

Well, BtH came in and stole my thunder...

Yep, I think TiC was merely pointing out the fact that it is indeed considered a win over a ranked team "at the time." Can't really dispute that.

The argument, however, is that you really shouldn't judge what's a "quality win" until the season is over.

MSU has been beaten as a "ranked team" a few times over the last decade, or so. Problem is, most of those teams wound up a couple games under .500.

The issue comes down to legimitacy. It's more legimitate to measure a "quality win" after all the games have been played.

Cicero · Post by **Cicero** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 8:01 pm

PSUFAN wrote:Sissyroux,

7 points is "pulling away"? Ease up on the glue-snorting, kid

Dont be petty faggot just b/c I didnt pick your team win.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 8:12 pm

PSU,

Unfortuantely, Crown was right. A team can "pull away" and win by 7. I think you may have confused "pull away" with "runaway."

37. pull away, a. to move or draw back or away; withdraw.
b. to free oneself with force: He tried to pull away from his opponent's powerful grip.
c. to move or start to move ahead: The car pulled away into traffic. The faster runners began to pull away from the others.

run‧a‧way /ˈrʌnəˌweɪ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ruhn-uh-wey] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun 1. a person who runs away; fugitive; deserter.
2. a horse or team that has broken away from control.
3. the act of running away.
4. a decisive or easy victory.

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 8:13 pm

I find this behavior troubling.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 8:15 pm

Hey, at least you confused "pull away" with "runaway." It could have been a LOT worse mixup of words.

x infinity

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 9:41 pm

You can only pick PSU to win if you hate ND. Otherwise, there is no way you would pick against the god that is weis.

Sin,
Killian

Van · Post by **Van** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 9:56 pm

I own Weis. Flat out.

Sincerely,
Krispy Kreme

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 11:02 pm

Van wrote:I own Weis. Flat out.

Sincerely,
Krispy Kreme

Bullshit. I called first dibs.

sin,

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 11:07 pm

Mr T wrote:You can only pick PSU to win if you hate ND. Otherwise, there is no way you would pick against the god that is weis.

Sin,
Killian

Yeah, no fucking shit. I mean, there couldn't be ANY football reasons as to why PSU might win... only hatred.

Anyways... NDfan should be relatively happy with what they saw vs. GaTech the other night. You KNOW ND's O will come around. It showed signs of late in the first and into the 2nd half. But what they should be most happy with was the D. I think GaTech could've utilized Calvin a bit more in the second half seeing as how they had a hard time defending him in the first though.

I do think PSU's team speed will surprise ND. It's not as if it's at one position either. PSU can strike at most any position... From PR to KR, to WR, to LB's, to DB's, PSU is flipping fast. I think that will be the difference. I'll go with PSU partly because I'm a homer.

PSU- 31
ND- 24

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 2:56 am

Let go of the hate Ken.

You know in your heart ND always has the best team. Dont lie to yourself brotha.

Terry in Crapchester · Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:35 am

Mr T wrote:You can only pick PSU to win if you hate ND. Otherwise, there is no way you would pick against the god that is weis.

Sin,
Killian

I wouldn't say that. However, I would say that anyone who stated that a team whose schedule included Idaho, New Mexico State, San Jose State and Weber State had a tougher schedule than ND had last year is either trolling, or hates ND to such a degree that any semblance of rationality when it comes to ND is completely out the window.

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:16 pm

Who else did said school play....

Was it more than 3 teams above .500?

If so, then your wrong

The Assassin · Post by **The Assassin** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:27 pm

Domers 26 Nittany kittens 20

I do declare Charlie Weis and Co will rebound from that turkey of a performance againsat the Yellowjackets. But PSU won't go down without a fight. That Morrelli kid isn't too bad.

Terry in Crapchester · Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:27 pm

You can't be serious, Mr. T.

Here's Fresno State's schedule from last year . . .

http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/coll ... ostate.htm

9-10-05 WEBER STATE WON 55-17
9-17-05 at Oregon LOST 34-37
9-27-05 TOLEDO (Tue.) WON 44-14
10-8-05 at New Mexico State WON 37-7
10-15-05 UTAH STATE WON 53-21
10-22-05 at Idaho WON 40-10
10-29-05 at Hawai'i WON 27-13
11-5-05 SAN JOSE STATE WON 45-7
11-10-05 BOISE STATE (Thur.) WON 27-7
11-19-05 at Southern California LOST 42-50
11-26-05 at Nevada LOST 35-38
12-2-05 LOUISIANA TECH (Fri.)

For the record, that schedule includes one 1-AA team (Weber State), one 0-12 team (New Mexico State), one 2-9 team (Idaho), and two 3-8 teams (Utah State and San Jose State), all of which are WAC teams. Realistically, Fresno could have played its second string the entire way in five of twelve regular season games and still won. You can't say that about ND.

L45B · Post by **L45B** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:30 pm

I'll take the Domers in a squeaker.

ND 19
PSU 17

Loganfan · Post by **Loganfan** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:31 pm

L45B wrote:I'll take the Domers in a squeaker.

ND 19
PSU 17

Pretty much.
Hoping for a bit more offense from the Irish though.....maybe like 24-19 or so.

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 4:49 pm

Terry in Crapchester wrote:You can't be serious, Mr. T.

Here's Fresno State's schedule from last year . . .

Your problem is that your a domer. And think history is the only thing that matters when looking at a schedule.

They also played:
Oregon (10-2)
Boise State (9-4)
Toledo (9-3)
USC (12-1)
Nevada (9-3)
LATech (7-4)

I think that owns your sked. ND played 3 teams above .500 while Fresno played 6 above .500...

Terry in Crapchester · Thu Sep 07, 2006 5:04 pm

Mr T wrote:
Terry in Crapchester wrote:You can't be serious, Mr. T.

Here's Fresno State's schedule from last year . . .
Your problem is that your a domer. And think history is the only thing that matters when looking at a schedule.

They also played:
Oregon (10-2)
Boise State (9-4)
Toledo (9-3)
USC (12-1)
Nevada (9-3)
LATech (7-4)

I think that owns your sked. ND played 3 teams above .500 while Fresno played 6 above .500...

They played USC, as did we. They played Oregon and get props for that, which was probably the most impressive game on their schedule (interestingly, since many bring it up with us, the most impressive game last year for Fresno State also was a loss).

As for the others . . .

Three and four loss teams out of the MAC and WAC? Puh-leeze.

Tennessee may have had six losses last year, but a 5-6 Tennessee team out of the SEC is still better than a 7-4 Louisiana Tech team out of the WAC. Had the two played on a neutral field, Tennessee probably would have been somewhere in the neighborhood of a 10 point favorite.

Your problem is that you assume everything can be boiled down to opponents' records when evaluating strength of schedule. It can't. 9 of the 11 teams on Fresno State's schedule were not part of a BCS conference. That's only true of 2 of 11 teams on ND's schedule last year.

Degenerate · Post by **Degenerate** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 5:14 pm

I'll go against the grain and say the Domers cover.

Good to see these two teams playing again. War Jerome Bettis catching the winning two point conversion in the snow.

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 5:15 pm

Terry in Crapchester wrote: Tennessee may have had six losses last year, but a 5-6 Tennessee team out of the SEC is still better than a 7-4 Louisiana Tech team out of the WAC. Had the two played on a neutral field, Tennessee probably would have been somewhere in the neighborhood of a 10 point favorite.

Tenn lost to vandy last year. The vandy team that lost to middle tenn state or something like that.

Ok take out Nevada and LaTech. Even though LaTech has beaten bama before and has played FSU tough. Still these four are good teams....

Oregon - the ducks had a good year
Boise State - They have been pretty good the past couple of years
Toledo - Ask some big 10 schools about this team
USC - Fresno about beat them, yall about beat them.

So lets get rid of b.s. teams and common opponents....

ND played Michigan.
Fresno played Oregon, Boise, and Toledo.

Teams that ND played who sucked last year....
Tennessee
Navy
Syracuse
Stanford
Michigan St.
Washington
Purdue
Brigham Young
Pittsburgh

9 easy wins yet yall only won 8.

Terry in Crapchester · Thu Sep 07, 2006 5:26 pm

Mr T wrote:Teams that ND played who sucked last year....
Tennessee
Navy
Syracuse
Stanford
Michigan St.
Washington
Purdue
Brigham Young
Pittsburgh

9 easy wins yet yall only won 8.

Two problems with that . . .

1. Only two of these teams lost more than six games (Syracuse and Washington). I'd say a 5-6 team from a BCS conference is a pretty dangerous opponent, at least one capable of rising up and scaring somebody.

2. You assume that all of these teams played with the same consistency throughout the season. That simply isn't the case, and Michigan State last season provided a very good example of that.

Michigan State at one point was ranked as high as #14, a few weeks into the season. At the time they played us, they were still playing very well. In fact, their entire season turned on a dime on a single game, in this case, a single play, even: the blocked FG attempt at halftime of the tOSU game. Sparty actually had tOSU on the ropes in the first half, the FG on the last play of the half was blocked and returned for a touchdown, resulting in a 10-point swing, and John LLLLLL went into a meltdown the likes of which I've never seen before in a college coach. We all know the rest of the story. Bottom line is that Michigan State in November was an entirely different team than Michigan State in September.

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 5:27 pm

Degenerate wrote:I'll go against the grain and say the Domers cover.

Good to see these two teams playing again. War Jerome Bettis catching the winning two point conversion in the snow.

The infamous Snow Bowl...a bitter memory, but still a classic game.

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 6:00 pm

Terry in Crapchester wrote:
Michigan State at one point was ranked as high as #14, a few weeks into the season.

So was Pitt, Tenn, and probaly some other teams on your schedule.

Still doesnt validate it as a good one.

"They were ranked high early in the season. So there"

Well, they were ranked low at the end of the season. You know the end, as when it matters.

Terry in Crapchester · Thu Sep 07, 2006 6:04 pm

Mr T wrote:
Terry in Crapchester wrote:
Michigan State at one point was ranked as high as #14, a few weeks into the season.
So was Pitt, Tenn, and probaly some other teams on your schedule.

Still doesnt validate it as a good one.

"They were ranked high early in the season. So there"

Well, they were ranked low at the end of the season. You know the end, as when it matters.

But we didn't play them at the end of the season. We played them before they melted down.

And in this case, that made all the difference.

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 6:13 pm

You played them before they got shown as the frauds that they were.

Just because someone ranks you high doesnt make you a good team. Your play on the field justifies the quality of the team.

And michigan state was below .500.

OSU started the season off at #1 this year. If they lose two games or more, it more than likely wont mean shit at the end of the year.

Terry in Crapchester · Fri Sep 08, 2006 12:36 am

Back to the topic at hand . . .

This site completely blows out of the water your theory that Fresno State had a tougher schedule last season than ND. Let's compare opponents' rankings, shall we?

ND

USC -- 2
Michigan -- 18
Stanford -- 36
Purdue -- 42
Michigan State -- 43
Tennessee -- 46
Navy -- 55
BYU -- 58
Pittsburgh -- 63
Washington -- 76
Syracuse -- 103

Fresno State:

USC -- 2
Oregon -- 8
Boise State -- 48
Toledo -- 61
Nevada -- 65
Louisiana Tech -- 69
Hawaii -- 87
Utah State -- 107
San Jose State -- 110
Idaho -- 112
New Mexico State -- 119 (last in 1A)
Weber State -- 1AA

The toughest team on each schedule is a common opponent, so that's a wash. Fresno has the edge with respect to the second toughest team on the schedule, but it's all ND from that point on.

Killian · Post by **Killian** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 3:18 pm

Bettis caught the touchdown, Reggie Brooks caught the 2pt conversion.

As for this game, I don't think PSU has a decided speed advantage at any position. Yes, your WR's are very fast but so is ND's secondary. How they cover said recievers is a totally different question. If ND can bottle up Hunt and make Morelli try to beat ND through the air without the aid of play action, I think ND will win this game. If they can step up and get pressure on Morelli, I think they can pull away in the 4th quarter.

I don't know if PSU will try to mix up the defense and blitz Quinn the way GaTech did, but if they don't get any pressure on him, I think he will have a good day against the young PSU secondary.