Well, you knew it had to end sooner or later.
In front of a national TV audience, the Penn State Nittany Lions went out and laid an egg, falling 37-17 to top-ranked Ohio State on Saturday night.
Although they led 7-3 at one point, things quickly went downhill and Penn State trailed 17-7 at the intermission.
So what led to Penn State’s quick demise Saturday night? In this edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll take a look back a the debacle against the Buckeyes, look ahead to the game with Purdue and have our weekly non-rev feature.
(Dan Connor racked up 18 tackles in the loss to Ohio State.
Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated)
Down and Out
The Nittany Lions were outclassed in Saturday night’s 20-point loss.
If you’ve followed Penn State for the past several seasons, this shouldn’t come as a big surprise.
Personally, I expected a loss. But I thought it would be closer. I never thought they would get blown out at home on national television.
After the game, Penn State coach Joe Paterno said the usual things. He looked, quite frankly, like he was ready for bed. And at 80, it’s clear that Paterno can’t coach the Lions to wins against the nation’s elite teams. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Lions lost to Michigan and Ohio State this season. We’ve come to expect it.
After the game, the players looked worn out and numb. It’s almost like they don’t care anymore. They’re learning that attitude from their coach. He doesn’t believe his team will beat the top teams in the conference, so why should they?
I’ve said it before and I will say it again — Penn State will not beat Michigan or Ohio State until Paterno retires.
Write it down.
Looking Back: Ohio State
There wasn’t much to be happy about if you were a Penn State fan. It was tough to re-capture the magic of 2005, try as the Lions might.
Heck, they even had Tamba Hali — off with an NFL bye week — ride to the stadium with the team.
Too bad they couldn’t sneak Hali onto the field.
Despite the loss, we’ll try to find the silver lining in the dark clouds over Happy Valley.
Here are our top three stars of the game, Penn State style, of course.
1. Dan Connor — What can you say about the kid? He goes all out whenever he’s on the field.
He racked up 18 tackles and is closing in on Paul Posluszny’s record of 372. He should break the record against Purdue this week.
Connor was all over the place on Saturday, but the 18 tackles were of little solace for the senior linebacker.
Following the game, Connor talked about the defense’s inability to get off the field on third down.
“That is what killed us and will kill you in every game,” Connor said.
“Every single time they converted on third down. They did not punt that much at all. We have to learn from this.”
2. Rodney Kinlaw — The senior running back carried the ball 14 times for 81 yards (5.8 yards per carry). He also scored Penn State’s lone offensive touchdown. But he was taken out of the mix because the Nittany Lions fell behind by so much early in the third quarter.
Kinlaw said that the lack of offense following the first drive was tough to take.
“It was frustrating because we thought we were going to be able to come out right after that first touchdown and keep the momentum going.
We just slowed down too much,” Kinlaw said.
3. Jeremy Boone — The sophomore punter continues to impress. He punted four times for 154 yards, an average of 38.5 per boot. He placed two inside the 20-yard line.
When the punter is a star, you know it was a long night.
(Joe Paterno was outcoached by Jim Tressel in Saturday’s loss.
Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated)
Looking Ahead: Purdue
The Lions will have to quickly lick their wounds and bounce back from the 20-point loss.
Purdue visits Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon, a game which will kickoff at noon and be televised by ESPN.
The Boilermakers (7-2 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) are fresh off a 35-17 win over Northwestern. The Nittany Lions posted a 12-0 win over the Boilers last season, but this is a team that cannot be taken lightly.
Quarterback Curtis Painter is a capable signal caller and running back Jaycen Taylor is coming off a career game, racking up 157 yards on the ground against the Wildcats.
Still, we like the Lions to bounce back. It won’t be easy, though.
Gantdaily.com prediction: Penn State 24, Purdue 17.
Non-rev roundup: Swimming & Diving
The Nittany Lion swimming and diving teams opened the 2007-08 season on a positive note, sweeping dual meets with West Virginia on Oct. 18 at McCoy Natatorium. The women’s team topped the Mountaineers, 227-73, while the men’s squad won by a 194-106 score.
The women’s team captured first place in 14 out of the 16 events contested while the men’s team finished first in 10 of their 16 events. Three swimmers on the women’s team and two swimmers and one diver on the men’s team each won two individual events to lead the teams.
For the women, Kelly Nelson won both the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly events and was also a part of both the first place 400 freestyle and 400 medley relay teams. Caitlin Meehan took both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events and was also on the same first place 400 medley relay team.
Kaitlin O’Brien won both the 1000 free and 200 IM.
On the men’s side, Pat Schirk won both the 100 and 200 backstroke events and was on the first place 400 medley relay team. Tim Williams won both butterfly events, the 100 and 200. Josh Bonner made his debut with the Nittany Lions a memorable one, winning both the 1- and 3-meter springboard diving events.
Penn State is idle until Nov. 9-10, when it hosts a quad-meet.
In addition to writing for gantnews.com, Chris Morelli is the editor of Blue White Illustrated, a weekly publication devoted solely to Penn State Sports. He is also a frequent guest on “Front and Center,” which airs on ESPN Radio in State College and Altoona. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com.