Wow.
That’s really all you can say about Penn State’s Whitehouse on Saturday night in Beaver Stadium. Although they got a scare early, the Nittany Lions bounced back from an early 7-0 deficit to dominate Notre Dame before the second largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history.
In this week’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll take a look back at the big win over the Fighting Irish and look ahead to Buffalo.
(Linebacker Dan Connor had a big game against Notre Dame.
Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated)
Looking Back: Notre Dame
In the Nittany Lions’ 31-10 win over ND, there were several key performances. At the end of a hockey game, they always name the top three stars.
There’s nothing like that in football, so let’s take a look at the big performances of the night.
1. Dan Connor — The senior linebacker was all over the field against the Irish, racking up 12 tackles, including eight solo jobs. It was the 13th time in his career that he had double digit tackles. After the game, Connor talked about avenging last season’s loss to the Irish.
“It was fresh in everyone’s memory … coaches, players,” Connor said.
“It was embarrassing. It was humbling going out there and just getting spanked in a year where we thought we could be one of the top teams in the country. We had this game circled.”
2. Austin Scott —Despite struggling in the first half, Scott finally got his legs in the second half and wore down the Irish defense. After a sub-par effort against Florida International in the season opener, Scott picked it up in the second half on Saturday to finish with 116 yards. It was his first 100-yard effort since the 2006 FedEx Orange Bowl.
He did put the ball on the ground in the early going, but bounced back nicely. He finished the night with 28 carries. He’s not Tony Hunt, but he’s getting there.
“It felt great to run a lot more. I was fine with it,” Scott said. “I could’ve ran more. I’m thankful. I thank God that the coaches are giving me the opportunity to run with the ball.”
Scott had just 46 yards against FIU. What a difference a week makes.
3. Derrick Williams — The Lion receiver/return specialist finally broke a big one, a 78-yard punt return that swung momentum to Penn State’s side of the field. It was a long time coming for Williams, who hasn’t lived up to the hype when he came to Happy Valley from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Md. He was a five-star recruit, according to rivals.com.
Until Saturday night, his other lone punt return for a touchdown came against lowly Temple last season.
Let’s hope that the performance against the Irish is a sign of things to come.
(Recruit D’Anton Lynn was one of several big names on the sidelines.
Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Recruits at the Game
If you were at the game, you saw plenty of bodies along the sideline.
Some of those people were Penn State recruits. There were many big name recruits at the game. It was easily the biggest night of recruit visits in recent memory.
The biggest names were: wide receiver Deion Walker (Christchurch, Va.), defensive back D’Anton Lynn (Celina, Texas), Mark Wedderburn (Springfield, Pa.) and offensive lineman Dalton Freeman (Pelion, S.C.).
But the biggest name was definitely Terrelle Pryor (Jeannette, Pa.) The all-everything quarterback played in a high school game on Friday night, then made the trip to Happy Valley for the game. He is rumored to be down to Penn State and Ohio State, and would like to play basketball as well as football.
If he’s going to pick a school based on successful basketball, I guess we know where he is going.
Week Three: Buffalo
After a week in the national spotlight, it’s back to the cupcakes and the Big Ten Network. Penn State (2-0) will take on Buffalo (1-1) one of the worst programs in Division I-A. There’s not a whole lot to breakdown. The Bulls are coached by former All-American Nebraska signal caller Turner Gill.
Although the Bulls are coming off a big win over Temple, they will have little luck at Beaver Stadium on Saturday. The crowd won’t be as crazy as it was against ND, but fans will be excited to see the Lions go to 3-0.
Let’s just hope they aren’t looking ahead to Michigan.
Gantdaily.com prediction: Penn State 49, Buffalo 3.
In addition to writing for gantnews.com, Chris Morelli is the editor of Blue White Illustrated, a sports publication devoted to Penn State sports. He is also a regular on “Front and Center,” which airs on ESPN Radio in State College and Altoona. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com.