Ladies and gentlemen, something is going on here with sports voters getting things right for once in their lives and frankly, it's getting scary. Instead of horribly screwing things up per usual, the baseball voters correctly picked Joe Mauer as AL MVP, Zack Greinke as AL CY Young winner and Tim Lincecum as NL Cy Young winner — all correct. Now the Big Ten voters have gone and properly named Jared Odrick the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, despite ridiculously uninformed sour grapes from Michigan State fans, who clearly display they know as much about football as I do about women.
While players like Adrian Clayborn, Brandon Graham, O'Brien Schofield, Greg Jones and even his own teammates Navorro Bowman and Sean Lee are all fine, talented players who will be making their living on Sundays, Odrick has been the best defensive player on the best defense (statistically, I'd argue Ohio State's defense is better as a whole) all season long. Hell, he's been the best player on Penn State for two years now. And what people like Pete Rossman, who authored this travesty of a post, fail to realize is just how incredibly dominate Odrick has been and how important he is to the Penn State defense.
Unlike Graham and Clayborn, two scary good players, Odrick is a defensive tackle, not an end. Therefore, each and every play, Odrick had very little choice but to face double teams. I'm not saying Graham and Clayborn did not, because they most assuredly did, but being on the outside, they have the advantage of going wide and avoiding extra blockers much more easily than an interior lineman such as Odrick. Yet Odrick still disrupted an insane amount of plays in the backfield, got to the quarterback and proved he was an unblockable force. His combination of size and speed was unmatched at defensive tackle, and I'd be surprised if he isn't the first defensive lineman in the Big Ten drafted. He's that good.
The true testament to Odrick is the way he has made the players around him better. Yes, Sean Lee and Navorro Bowman are studs in their own right, but they get to maximize their ability because Odrick does such a tremendous job eating up blockers, allowing Bowman and Lee to use their incredible speed and instincts to make plays. And his value was even more evident this season when both Bowman and Lee were out for considerable amounts of time dealing with injuries. The defense didn't miss a beat with the likes of Nathan Stupar, Bani Gbadyu and Chris Colasanti filling in — and none of those guys will ever be mistaken for Bowman or Lee. Hell, he even made Josh Hull, one of the worst players I've ever seen, look decent at times. Trust me, that's an incredibly tough thing to do.
The shocking thing to me is that the voters got this one right. Much like Mr. Rossman, people tend to heap praise on the players who get gaudy sack numbers and have almost running back speed. That's why a guy like Aaron Maybin, who wasn't even half the player Odrick is, jumped up the draft charts and into the top 10. But this year, the voters ignored mere stats and truly looked at the players. And defensively, there was none better than Odrick. He's equally adept at putting pressure on the quarterback as he is at stuffing the run. His motor is so high and his conditioning so good that he rarely has to take a play off. And he can handle a double team, even against the better linemen, which will do him well on Sundays. Odrick has not only been the best player on the Penn State defense, not only the best player on Penn State period, but he has clearly been the best defensive player in the entire conference. It's nice to see him vindicated for his hard work and tremendous play.
In a senior class that was void of a ton of talent, Odrick is the one Penn Stater I will miss the most. More than Daryll Clark. More than Dennis Landolt. More than Sean Lee. I'm sad to see him go, but I'm happy to see him take home the hardware he most definitely earned. And I'll be thrilled to watch him in NFL next season. I just hope he doesn't get drafted by a team I hate.
Obviously, with winning the award, Odrick was named First Team All-Big Ten. He was one of six Nittany Lions named to the first team. Joining him were Daryll Clark, Dennis Landolt, Evan Royster, Stefen Wisniewski and Navorro Bowman. Now, I have a problem with three people in particular on this list. First off, Daryll Clark is a fluke fraud who has never once played well against a good team. He should not be first team. Then again, looking at the Big Ten quarterbacks, he certainly put up the best numbers and he's better than Ricky Stanzi or Terrelle Pryor. Still, perhaps Mike Kafka of Northwestern or Kirk Cousins of Michigan State would have been better choices. Then there are Landolt and Wisniewski. Listen, Landolt did a decent job last season, and Wisniewski was awesome at guard in 2008. But in 2009, these two were on a terrible line that should not have a single player on the first team. Landolt was probably the best offensive lineman for Penn State all season, but he wasn't great. And Wisniewski gave it the old college try, but the guy isn't a center. He's a guard, and he needs to get back there. He had more than a subpar season, and it's a joke he was named first team. Conversely, Royster and Bowman were locks, and both deserved first team recognition.
Three Penn Staters were named to the second team. Josh Boone definitely deserved it. He was the only player on the Penn State special teams worth a damn, and if he figures out a way to get the punts off a little quicker, he may make it to the NFL one day. Maybe. Sean Lee also is the right fit here. When he played, he was his usual awesome self. The problem is, he was limited to time on the field with injuries, so while he is definitely first team talent, he didn't quite deserve it. Second team is appropriate. Then there is Josh Hull. He shouldn't even be on the Penn State roster, let alone making the All-Big Ten second team. I've given him plenty of abuse over the past two seasons, so I'll spare it simply by saying I can't wait for him to graduate. That selection makes me sick.
But all I have to do is look at Jared Odrick's name on that Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award and everything is all right. Congrats, Jared. You'll be missed.
That should be the new motto for Andy Reid. Fat? Check. Stupid? Unquestionably. Drunk? How else can you explain some of his play calls? Year in and year out, Andy Reid puts the Eagles right in the playoff hunt, more times than not making it beyond the 16 regular season games. He transformed a terrible franchise into one of the elite in the NFC, and every year, the Eagles are considered contenders. Yet year in and year out, the Eagles make the same stupid, inane mistakes and ultimately come up short. Every. Damn. Year. Third-and-short. Time management. Insane challenges. Two-minute offense. Failure to adjust in-game. Too many penalties. Abandoning the run. We know the list all too well.
Yesterday, it was more of the same. After falling behind 14-0, the Eagles marched right down the field behind the arm of Donovan McNabb, which it seemed Andy Reid was determined to make fall off, and wound up with a 1st-and-goal at the 1-yard line after a pass interference penalty on San Diego in the end zone. On first down, they ran the ball up the middle with Leonard Weaver, a smart call in my opinion. It got stuffed, 2nd down. On second, of course, the Eagles passed, failing to convert again, 3rd down. With Brian Westbrook back, naturally you'd expect him to be the one to get the ball on a 3rd-and-goal at the one, or for the Eagles to pass. Well, Reid and Marty did call a run play, but it wasn't for Westbrook. Well, then, surely it had to be for Weaver or LeSean McCoy, right? Wrong. On 3rd-and-goal at the 1-yard line, already trailing 14-0, Andy and Marty thought it would be a good idea to put the ball in third-string tailback Eldra Buckley's hands. The same Eldra Buckley who had a total of three carries on the season before the game for a grand total of 10 yards. Shockingly, the third-string running back who barely made the team out of training camp couldn't punch it in.
The Eagles, trailing 14-0 against an offense that the defense didn't seem too capable of stopping, decided to kick the field goal instead of go for it on 4th-and-inches at the goal line. A questionable decision indeed, but then again, the Eagles just failed to get a yard on three chances, and failed to do the same thing last week against Dallas, last year against Washington and the past decade-plus with Andy Reid as the head coach, so chances are they'd probably blow it anyway. Take the points, I guess. It's sad that a team has so little faith in its offense — the line, backs and quarterback — that they wouldn't even consider going for it down 14-0 and just inches from a touchdown. But that's the reality of this team.
And seriously, Eldra Buckley? You try telling me Andy isn't drunk and stupid. Why wasn't Westbrook in the game? He hadn't left yet with another concussion. Or why not give it to Weaver again? Yes, he was stopped on first down, but he has rarely been pushed back this year. And if not Westbrook in there behind Weaver, why the shit wasn't McCoy — you know, the second round pick who has played pretty damn well in place of Westbrook — in the game and getting his number called? It makes no damn sense. Was Andy's entire logic that it would be nice for Eldra to get a touchdown against his former team? Honestly, I'd like to know. Because that decision made absolutely no god damn sense. None.
It's appalling just how terrible this team is and has been in short yardage situations over the years. On Saturday, I was in Beaver Stadium to watch Penn State take on Indiana in the final home game of the season. In that game, Indiana gained four yards on a 3rd-and-2 on a QB sneak, and Daryll Clark gained five yards on a QB sneak on a 2nd-and-1. Two college teams, with supposedly inferior players more prone to make mistakes, executed short-yardage QB sneaks and made the first down easily. The Eagles, a team with a 240-plus pound quarterback, enormous offensive line and a coach with 5 NFC Championship games under his belt, can't get a foot on a QB sneak and are so unconfident in their ability to execute one that they won't even try it on the goal line on 4th-and-inches down 14-0. It's incredible, but nothing new.
Compared to the Eagles game, the Penn State game was a joy to watch. And that's saying something, because the Nittany Lions played like dog shit, especially in the first half. On senior day, you'd think Penn State, fresh off another tough loss at home to Ohio State, would come out fired up and take out their frustration on Indiana. It didn't exactly work out that way. Daryll Clark, in his final home start ever, was awful, proving once and for all that despite his great numbers and record, he's a fraud. He came out and threw two interceptions in the first quarter and the Hoosiers built a 10-0 lead. It was terrible.
Much like the entire senior class in general. Clark was the headliner on offense, and truth be told, I'm happy to see him go. The guy had a fine career, playing pretty well the past two seasons as the starter and leading Penn State to a Big Ten title last year. But in every big game he's played in, he's come up really, really small. Ohio State and Iowa last year, then Iowa and Ohio State again this year. And really, in his final season, he hasn't played well from start to finish except for in a few games. And this team's opponents were horrible, for the most part. I wish Pat Devlin was still around.
The one senior on offense I will miss is Andrew Quarless. From the moment he stepped foot on campus, I had high hopes for the talented tight end, as did just about everyone who follows Penn State. Unfortunately, off-the-field problems, drops and fumbles led to the feeling that perhaps he was a lost cause, a waste of talent. Quarless, for all the natural ability that he had, wasn't living up to expectations. Then he came out this season and just played football, and he's done it really well. Finally, in his last season, he put it all together, staying out of the doghouse and quietly having a very nice season. Instead of L.J. Smith, Quarless looks like a player that could be a late-round steal in the draft.
Of course, the best two seniors on this team reside on the defense. Jared Odrick is simply the best player on the team and quite possibly the best defender in the Big Ten. He's a first-rounder for sure, and the way he's played the last two seasons, don't rule out the top 10. He doesn't have the inflated sack numbers that Aaron Maybin did last season for Penn State, but he is unquestionably a more well-rounded, more complete, hell, better player right now than Maybin ever will be. He's a beast of a tackle, too big to handle and to fast to stay with. And on the next level, he could play some end too. He has enough strength and speed to move inside and out in the NFL. The scouts must be salivating over him.
Joining Odrick in the senior day celebrations was Sean Lee, the defensive captain and very good, very talented linebacker. Lee had a very good career, forming an insanely talented unit with Dan Connor and Paul Posluszny as a freshman and developing ever since. He missed last season to injury and has battled even more injuries this season, but he'll be playing somewhere in the NFL you have to think. If Navorro Bowman leaves as well, Penn State will have some holes to fill in the linebacking corps.
And my favorite player, Jerome Hayes, also played in his final home game. Maybe. The fifth-year senior is considering asking for a 6th year of eligibility after sustaining two ACL tears in consecutive seasons to both legs.
Other notable seniors leaving include punter Jeremy Boone, cornerback A.J. Wallace and tight end Mickey Shuler. Oh, and Josh Hull and Knowledge Timmons graduate too, but both of those guys completely suck.
As for the game, well, it was horrible for the most part. Evan Royster had a strong game, rushing for 95 yards on 17 carries and touchdown, along with hauling in 4 catches for 39 yards and another score. Clark was pedestrian against a pedestrian team, and early on, it looked as though Penn State had given up, quit on the season following last week's loss. But then they woke up and took control of the game to win 31-20. Bowman's 71-yard interception return was the highlight of the game, and freshman Curtis Drake (from Philadelphia) showcased his insane speed and looked like a guy who will have an impact next year. Other than that, the game was a bore, the offensive line looked terrible again, and Penn State beat an inferior opponent again.
The game was made infinitely more enjoyable, even for being a pretty awful game, by the fact that for the second week in a row, those assholes that sit in our section weren't there. That was nice. And truth be told, I'm relieved the home schedule is over with. Between the travel, the lack of sleep and trying to work around Arkansas Fred's stupid, horrible, adult schedule that prevented him from being a good season ticket partner and prevented me from enjoying my old college town the way I should, along with the terrible schedule, I was ready for this season to be done. It was killing me. It's a lot work having season tickets.
The good news is, even though Penn State didn't have a great year, what with losing to the only two real teams they played at home, there are some players I really look forward to seeing develop. Justin Brown. Curtis Drake. D' Anton Lynn. Stephon Morris. This season isn't over yet, and next year surely will be a tough transition season, but there always seems to be an intriguing crop of players that I grow to love (and hate) each and every season. I guess that's why I put myself through all the work.
Though compared to being an Eagles fan, traveling to State College is a walk in the park.
There were many plays that swung the outcome of the game yesterday in San Diego, but when push comes to shove, that was a game lost by the coaching staff. From the onset, the Eagles decided this was going to be a game where running simply was not an option. On their first possession, the Eagles ran the ball twice, on first and second down, gaining 6 yards with Westbrook. Then they proceeded to pass damn near every play after that. Certainly, the early deficit played into it, but for a game that ended in a 31-23 score and a game that was 14-6 at halftime, the Eagles made life incredibly easy for San Diego by abandoning the run. The Birds ran the ball 13 times and passed 56 times. A 13-56 run-pass ratio.
LeSean McCoy, who has proven time and again this season that he is a dangerous, talented weapon, had just three carries. In a game that Brian Westbrook had to leave with a concussion. And he only had three catches too, meaning the most talented, healthy running back on the roster had six touches. That's a joke. A complete and utter joke.
No, Andy was dead set on throwing the football, and there was nothing anyone could do to convince him otherwise. Sure, that made for some great numbers in the passing game — McNabb's 450 yards, Jason Avant's 8 catches for 156 yards, DeSean with 8 for 91, Maclin with 6 for 76 and a touch, Celek 6 for 47 and a score. Hell, even Reggie Brown had two catches for 36 yards. But it also made San Diego's job easier, only playing the pass and getting just enough stops to hold on. It was an awful game plan, and truth be told, even with all those gaudy numbers, only Avant really seemed to be playing as well as the stats indicated. And he made an insane catch (3 minutes in):
The rest of the numbers look great, but they came in a come-from-behind situation that came up a bit too short. And the reason they had to come from behind was the terrible defense the Eagles played early and late yesterday.
We all knew things would be different and probably not as successful with the loss and tragic death of Jim Johnson. Great defensive coordinators don't grow on trees. So everyone knew a transition period was coming and that Sean McDermott would have to go through some growing pains. After a quick start to the season, minus the Saints game, and a defense that has been forcing turnovers left and right, it looked like McDermott had learned well from his predecessor. But here's the thing … McDermott has not been adjusting his game plan, his style whatsoever for the teams he faces. Not at all.
There was a misnomer about Johnson that all he did was blitz, blitz, blitz. Yes, it's true that Jim Johnson liked to bring the heat, built a defense around hitting the quarterback. That's no secret. But contrary to popular belief, his defenses didn't blitz every play. In fact, as his personnel changed over the years, his blitzing schemes changed a bit and his frequency of blitzes varied. In the early years, yes, he blitzed a large amount of time. Uncoincidentally, he had Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent, two of the best cover corners in the NFL, roaming his secondary. He could send more people, take more chances because Bobby and Troy didn't get beat deep. Like ever. He could count on them to hold the fort, at least not give up a big play.
As Taylor and Vincent got older and the transition to Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown took place, Johnson still brought the heat, but not as much. Lito and Sheldon, fine corners in their own right, weren't as dependable as Bobby and Troy. Occasionally, they'd give up big plays, so Johnson didn't put them in position to get burnt on them as much. And that continued the past few years. He still blitzed, but not as much or as often depending on the opponent. And always, he designed and hid his blitzes well, catching teams off-guard.
McDermott, thus far, seems to be trying to live up to the Jim Johnson hype, believing he needs to blitz, blitz, blitz, ignoring the fact that the reputation didn't quite reflect reality. So McDermott, on just about every damn play, sends the house. No one is surprised by this, no one is caught off-guard, and the blitzes generally have been ineffective. Even worse, against a team like San Diego with a smart quarterback and a head coach who has been a wildly successful and lauded offensive coordinator, the blitzes are counterproductive. All game long, Rivers read the blitz, checked down to the hot route and torched the Eagles. The blitzes didn't confuse him one bit, and the Birds got burned. Yet he kept sending the house, play after play. And most of them were poorly designed, telegraphed blitzes. The Chargers feasted on them, and in the end, the Eagles couldn't get enough stops to help out the offense.
Certainly injuries didn't help. Sheldon Brown got hurt in the game, Hobbs is on IR and Joselio Hanson was shockingly taking steroids and is suspended, leaving nothing but scrubs beyond Brown and Asante Samuel. That is, when Asante isn't being a scrub himself. Because yesterday, he was terrible. He can't tackle worth a shit, which is annoying but something you can deal with when he's picking off passes and shutting down wide receivers. But when he's just letting guys run free and looking completely disinterested like he was yesterday, well, then, at least be able to tackle someone. Asante may have been the worst player on the field defensively for the Eagles yesterday not named Chris Gocong.
It's been another maddening season through 9 games. The Eagles are still right there, definitely in this thing. They're only a game behind Dallas, and really, with the exception of New Orleans and Minnesota, there are no juggernauts in the NFC. But it just seems like a team with all this talent should be better than 5-4, especially given the fair schedule to this point. Then again, the Eagles, despite a plethora of starting talent, have holes. There is no depth, evident by the offensive line. Jason Peters is hurt, and Shawn Andrews MIA again. Todd Herremans has missed time. So has Stacy Andrews. Winston Justice and Nick Cole have been starting regularly, and that was not in the plans. Add in injuries to Donovan and now repeated ones to Westbrook, and the offense hasn't quite looked as expected. On defense, the linebackers, besides Will Witherspoon, are awful. Chris Gocong is a pass rusher disguised as a linebacker. He's slow, dumb and terrible. Akeem Jordan is hurt. Moise Fokou looks like he's not quite sure what he's doing. Joe Mays can't get on the field. Jeremiah Trotter is actually on the team — that's a big enough indictment on the linebackers. Tracy White should only play special teams. You get the idea. The defensive line has some nice players, but they don't generate enough pass rush on their own enough. And the secondary, filled with an overabundance of talent to start the season, is hurting. Asante, despite his awful game yesterday, is good. As is Sheldon, though he's hurt. And Quintin Mikell is a steady, reliable safety, while Sean Jones has clearly won the other safety spot. But Quintin Demps is hurt, Macho Harris has been ineffective, Joselio Hanson is suspended (and not that good anyway) and Ellis Hobbs out for the year. The patchwork didn't look pretty against the Chargers.
It's another Eagles team that we really don't know much about. All we know is they're still right in the thick of things … and they still make the same maddening mistakes that every other Andy Reid led team has made. More of the same, yet again. A team that can look great dismantling the Giants and look awful losing to the Raiders. A team that is effective and nearly impossible to stop when they're balanced on offense, and one that is easy to defend when they get pass-happy. A team that can rack up points but can't get a yard. A coach who prepares them incredibly well Monday-Saturday, but can't adjust to save his life on Sunday. I've seen this show before, and it always ends the same way. Frankly, I'm getting tired of the reruns.
That's right, 82-0. The Flyers played their first two games over the weekend, and they looked as advertised, shutting out the Hurricanes 2-0 on Friday and lighting up Martin Brodeur and the Devils on Saturday 5-2.
The team is on pace to surrender just 41 goals all season, on pace to score 3.5 per game. Jeff Carter and Mike Richards just very well may score in every game this season. They both have so far. What I'm trying to say is, this team is good. Real good. And they aren't waiting around to show it like they did last season.
Obviously, the Flyers won't go 82-0. Ray Emery won't finished with a 1.00 goals against average, and there will be plenty of games where Mike Richards and/or Jeff Carter do not find the back of the net. But if those first two games don't make you excited, well, I'm not sure you're physically capable of feeling the emotion of excitement. On Friday night, against a fundamentally sound, tough Carolina team, the Flyers played smart, physical hockey.
Ray Emery lived up to his moniker, playing razor sharp in his first game in orange and black. The new netminder stopped all 28 shots he faced, and the most impressive part about it in my eyes was how he rarely gave up rebounds. While Cam Ward, who did have a fine game himself, was leaving pucks out all over the place, Emery was swallowing every shot fired at him.
And he had plenty of help from his defense. The Flyers bore down, from forwards to defensemen, to limit Carolina's chances. Sure, they still took way too many penalties, giving the Hurricanes 8 chances on the power play, but it didn't matter. The penalty kill, which was so good a season ago, looks like it has the potential to be even better. The Flyers killed off all 8 Carolina man advantages, and their depth of penalty killers will be a huge advantage all season long. Blair Betts, Ian Laperriere, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell, Claude Giroux, Jeff Carter, Mika Pyorala and Darroll Powe were all used to kill penalties Friday night. Name another team with nine forwards they trust in those situations.
As far as defense goes, Braydon Coburn and Kimmo Timonen look as though they've recaptured their magic from two seasons ago, and Chris Pronger, in his first game as a Flyer, only led all players in ice time with 27:41, having a particularly awesome shift on the penalty kill in the third period. It was a stellar game for both headlining newcomers, with Emery getting the shutout and Pronger lending a helping hand.
But there is no question that the Flyers look to Mike Richards and Jeff Carter to lead them, and the two did not disappoint. Thanks to a four-minute double minor by Sergei Samsonov right before the first intermission, the Flyers had 3:30 of power play time to open the 2nd. Twenty-five seconds in, Jeff Carter lit the lamp to put the Flyers up 1-0. Still on the power play, Richards matched his fellow all-star, scoring just 22 seconds later.
That duo wasn't finished. On Saturday, Carter got the Flyers started, scoring the first goal of the game, and Richards followed suit in the second, putting the Flyers up 3-0 following an uncharacteristically weak goal surrendered by Martin Brodeur at the hands of Ian Laperriere. Even more surprisingly, the Flyers jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Brodeur and netted five goals in all on just 27 shots. It was nice to see the Flyers dominate Brodeur for a change.
But again, it was the penalty kill and goaltending that stole the show for Philadelphia. In the first, the Flyers killed off a 2-minute 5-on-3, demoralizing New Jersey, and while they did surrender one power play tally on the night, they also killed off three other chances. And Emery followed up his shutout debut by stopping 24 of 26 shots, several of them in remarkable fashion, like this one:
Through two games, Emery has stopped 52 of 54 shots, good for a .963 save percentage. So far, so good. After the first two contests, the team resembled what I expected, playing strong defense, killing penalties, scoring goals — both even strength and on the power play — and getting excellent goaltending.
Also this weekend, Penn State's offensive line actually resembled a good offensive line against Illinois. Well, for a half at least.
Penn State did rebound nicely, handling Illinois 35-17 in a game that wasn't even really that close. The Illini scored two late touchdowns to make the final look a little more respectable.
Now, the first half was one of the most boring halves of football ever played. After a scoreless first quarter that basically saw neither team do anything on offense, Stephfon Green broke a 52-yard touchdown run in the 2nd to put Penn State up 7-0.
Illinois responded to make it 7-3 before the half, and Craig James actually said that both offenses were playing well. In a 7-3 game. After 30 minutes of football. Craig James is an idiot. If by playing well, you mean not scoring points and generally not moving the football very much, then yeah, they were playing well. What I think he meant to say is that both offenses weren't making mistakes, as in turning the ball over. Because they weren't. Both teams took care of the football in the first half. At least that's what I hope he meant, because if he thinks those offenses played well in those opening 30 minutes, well, he should get his head examined.
Fortunately, in the second half, the Penn State offense did play well. Really well. The offensive line that has been missing in action through the first four weeks finally seemed to put things together, blowing the Illinois defense off the line of scrimmage and manhandling an inferior opponent. For the first time all season, Penn State ran the ball at will, racking up 338 yards on the ground, led by the two-headed monster of Stephfon Green and Evan Royster, who each rushed for over 100 yards, with Green gaining 120 yards on 13 carries (9.2 ypc) and Royster going for 105 on 17 touches (6.2 ypc).
Hell, Daryll Clark even remembered he could run, adding 83 yards on the ground of his own on just 7 carries. It was the dominant run game we've come to expect from Penn State over the years. The one that had been absent so far this season. All six Nittany Lion scores came on the ground, with Royster and Green each scoring once, Clark twice and Brent Carter adding one for good measure. It was the offensive line that led the way. Finally, this looked like a unit that's ready to play big-time college football. Too bad it came one week too late.
But it was a nice bounceback game for sure. Clark rebounded from his horrific performance last weekend, completing 68 percent of his passes and finding his running legs again. And that game really had to feel good for an offensive line that has been much maligned through the first four weeks of the season. Good win on the road against a conference opponent. No complaints here.
Oh, and the Phillies played or something this weekend. Apparently, they lost Friday and Saturday, ruining any hope of the best record in the NL, but they did win Sunday to clinch home field for the first round, where they take on Colorado.
On a sour note, in a big fuck you to all us Philadelphia fans who actually have jobs, the Phillies are slated to play at 2:37 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. What the fuck? That's some bullshit right there. I hope Bud Selig and the schedule makers choke on a dick and die. And of course, I hope the Phillies can return the favor of 2007, handing the Rockies a quick 3-game sweep.
Now, I know that Ohio State is probably going to destroy Penn State in November. The Penn State offensive line is atrocious and the OSU defensive line is awesome. But so what? That doesn't mean I can't take great joy in Spencer Hall's hilarious commentary on Terrelle Pryor and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel:
We’ll Always Have Tempe scouts Terrell Pryor and comes away with unkind words for his feet. He is only a sophomore, meaning Jim Tressel has two more years to not develop him as a quarterback before turning him loose in the Arena Football League. (We’re Florida fans. Believe us, we know from college qbs groomed for the CFL, AFL, Finnish men’s club leagues, and grad school flag football squads.)
If it wasn't for yesterday, I may have either committed suicide or homicide this weekend. Well, not suicide. Then I wouldn't be able to get to the office today and complain to all three of you people. So homicide. If it wasn't for yesterday, I probably would have murdered someone or something, that's how incredibly awful Friday and Saturday were.
On Friday, I headed back to my parents' house in preparation for Arkansas Fred to pick me up there at 9:30 a.m. Saturday to head out to Penn State. During the drive home, I listened as Cliff Lee got pounded for four two-out runs in the first inning. By the time I got to my parents' house and settled in, the Phillies were down 8-4 in the bottom of the eighth. Of course I watched the end, because what else would I do?
Though I had little hopes of the Phillies prevailing, I couldn't turn away. After all, this team has a penchant for coming from behind. After Sergio Escalona struck out the side to keep the game at 8-4 going into the ninth, the Phils started to get something cooking. Greg Dobbs finally resembled the pinch-hit machine of last year, leading things off with a single pinch-hitting for Pedro Feliz. Then Andy Tracy of all people got a pinch-hit single, putting runners on first and third with no one out. The comeback looked to be full on. But then Milwaukee brought in the second best closer of my lifetime, who got the third straight pinch-hitter, this time Matt Stairs, to pop out.
Still, the Phils had a shot, albeit a small one. Jimmy Rollins came to the dish down four runs and seemed to be playing things smart. He took the first two pitches for balls, going up 2-0, and looked as though he was wisely working Trevor Hoffman any way he could to get on base and bring the tying run to the dish. But of course he wasn't. That was all an illusion, because on the third pitch of the at-bat, Rollins swung at a low, inside pitch and popped it up. That's when I lost it, storming out of my seat and then out of the room ranting and raving: "Jimmy, you dumb fuck! You have to take a strike! Even if you hit a fucking home run there, you're still down a run, you moron! This team doesn't know what see a fucking strike means! You dumb asshole!" It was something along the line of that.
That play just drove me so mad. I really don't think this team does know the meaning of taking a strike. In that situation, down 4 runs, everyone on the planet knows the batter's job is to get on base to bring up the tying run, not to try to hit a three-run bomb so you can still be losing. Well, everyone but Jimmy Rollins. That stupid motherfucking completely extinguished any hope, as Shane Victorino grounded out to end the game. Stupid baseball by an 11-year veteran. Not a good start to the weekend.
And that was only the beginning. Arkansas Fred showed up at my parents' house shortly after 9:30 the next morning and we were off to seek revenge on Iowa. After a relatively smooth and uneventful drive, we arrived in State College with the rains falling the second we got there. With 7-plus hours to kill before we wanted to get to the game, we wandered around town a little bit before settling in an uncrowded bar so as to get a seat to drink some brews and watch some of the noon games. We settled upon the bar formerly known as Sports Cafe, now called the 797 Lounge.
Now, before the place went to shit, the Sports Cafe was pretty cool. It always had games on there, cheap drinks and a nice outside area to sit. It was a nice place to get drunk and watch games. However, now, I have to believe the place is poorly run. For starters, Arkansas Fred and I had a tough time determining if the bar was even open yet. The entranceway is pitch black dark, with no lights whatsoever. Honestly, it's like a bat cave. I'm not making this up. We almost decided to keep walking, thinking it was closed, before we noticed the small open sign in the window. Note to owners of pretty much any business: Don't make your entranceway all black with absolutely no lighting. People will logically think you're closed.
While the rest of the bars we passed by were pretty packed, we entered and to our delight found a bar with college football on the TVs, beer flowing and not a crowd in sight — unquestionably due to the horrible entranceway. We gladly took two empty seats at the bar, put down a couple beers and watched as Michigan struggled with Indiana. Then we decided we were hungry, but the food there was entirely too expensive, especially for a shitty bar that was poorly lit. So we instead headed over to Rotelli to take advantage of their lunch special — a half a sub, slice of pizza and choice of soup or salad for $6 — and high definition televisions. We ate and drank for a while as we watched Virginia Tech absolutely destroy Miami and stayed as long as we could since it was pouring outside. In fact, it had been raining nonstop from the moment we arrived and didn't relent all day and night.
Tired, worn out and still not even five yet, we decided to head to Arkansas Fred's car to gather our rain gear and then either find another spot on campus to watch the games or take a quick cat nap. Hell, we even threw around the idea of taking a nap in the car. We're old men, you know. And once we got to Fred's car, the rain began to fall even heavier, so we said fuck it and caught a few Z's. By the time we awoke, it was 6 o'clock and we were primed to finally make our way toward the stadium.
We ventured to Findlay Commons in East Halls for old times sake, bought some drinks and slowly walked around a bit. Finally, we got into the game about 50 minutes before kickoff to watch some warmups, rain still coming down. And it was during warmups that I should have known this game was not going to go well. In every passing drill, the Penn State players were dropping the ball left and right. No joke, in a simple drill where the receiver runs 10 yards down field uncovered and nabs passes from the quarterback, the ball was dropping to the wet turf way more than it was being hauled in. In warmups. Uncovered. Rain or no rain, that's just pathetic.
And pathetic was the theme of the game. Though we would all be fooled into thinking the opposite early on. Iowa received the opening kickoff and proceeded to go three and out. Starting at their own 21 yard line, the Nittany Lions went deep on the first play. Off play action, Daryll Clark hit a streaking Chaz Powell in stride. Powell pulled away from the defender and took it to the house. Just 2:34 in, Penn State was up 7-0, scoring on the first play from scrimmage, a 79-yard touchdown.
Just like that, it looked as though Penn State was primed to avenge last season's loss. And things looked even better after Penn State forced a turnover — an interception by Nick Sukay — on Iowa's ensuing possession and began to drive. Again starting at their own 21, Penn State methodically moved down the field, chewing the clock and getting into the red zone. But the drive stalled at the Iowa 11, and Penn State had to settle for a field goal. Still, after one quarter of play, Penn State held a 10-0 lead and had outgained Iowa 147-26. So far so good.
One problem, it was the final good thing to happen in the game. Penn State would not score again. Instead, the Nittany Lions turned the ball over four times and made mistake after mistake. And I hated every second of it. I hate the cold, rainy weather that is a staple of State College. I hate the offensive line, who can't block anyone. I hate the horrible special teams that surrendered a blocked punt that was returned for the touchdown. I hate the Tom Bradley's stupid zone defense that leaves gaping holes for quarterbacks to find receivers. I hate Josh Hull, who can't cover anyone, and I hate Tom Bradley for being so stupid as to leave Josh Hull in on obvious passing downs. I hate dumb penalties. I hate Daryll Clark's infuriating penchant for coming up small in big games, for routinely running himself into pressure, for throwing passes so mystifyingly horrible that it makes you wonder who he was even throwing to. I hate giving up safeties. I hate Iowa. Boy do I hate Iowa. I hate the band and its retarded band director that routinely plays music while Penn State is on offense and even WHEN THEY'RE FUCKING RUNNING THE NO HUDDLE JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU STUPID BAND DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE AND BEING QUIET WHEN YOUR TEAM IS ON OFFENSE I HOPE YOU ALL DIE HORRIBLE DEATHS. I hate stupid, jerkface, asshole "fans" who leave at halftime of a 10-5 game because it's too rainy and too cold — just fucking stay home then. And I really, really hate even more stupid, jerkface, asshole "fans" who fucking start singing and dancing along to faggoty Bon Jovi songs, stupid, out-of-place "Sweet Caroline" and every other horrible fucking song when your team just gave up the lead to go down 11-10 on a god damn blocked punt returned for the touchdown. I hate it all. I hate it all so very much. Why couldn't I have just gone to school in the south or in California or anywhere else where the weather is nice, the women are attractive and the football team doesn't suck horribly? Oh yeah, because I suck. Just like Penn State.
Outside of that first play, there was nothing worthwhile that happened. Iowa simply played better and smarter than Penn State. The Penn State offensive line is horrendous. Not a single player is even remotely good, Stefen Wisniewski included. Iowa's front four manhandled the horrific Penn State line. And Daryll Clark, for all the good numbers he's accrued as the starter, has not once beaten a single good team.
Last year against Ohio State, he played like shit. In fact, it was Pat Devlin who led the Nittany Lions on the game-winning drive in Columbus, not Clark. Against Iowa last season, he singlehandedly lost the game for Penn State. And in the Rose Bowl, he was unimpressive in a game that was never close. Then this season, after looking pedestrian against the likes of Akron, Syracuse and Temple, he made exactly one good throw against Iowa, which just so happened to be his first throw of the game. From there, he completely shit the bed: 12 of 32 (37.5 percent), 198 yards, 3 interceptions. Yes, the one interception went right through Evan Royster's hands, but the other two were just flat awful. Sure, Clark got hit a ton, but the fact of the matter is that he comes up small in the biggest games. Seriously, who has the guy beaten? Look at his wins as a starter: 2008, Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, Syracuse, Temple, Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan, *Ohio State*, Indiana, Michigan State; 2009, Akron, Syracuse, Temple. The only respectable team in the bunch, besides Ohio State (where Clark sucked) is Oregon State. The rest of those teams were terrible. Daryll Clark hasn't beaten anybody, and more alarming, he's played horrible against good teams.
The guy had a tremendous 2008 overall, don't get me wrong, but he just isn't a smart quarterback. Who the hell was he throwing the ball to on that third-quarter interception? Why does he refuse to run when the open field is there? How many times have you seen him move directly into the pressure, stand stagnate when the rush is closing in? The guy has a horrible pocket presence, and it gets worse the bigger the game. Until proven otherwise, Daryll Clark simply cannot be labeled a big-game quarterback. Because he isn't. It sure would be nice if Penn State even had a backup to call upon when Clark plays as horrendous as he did Saturday. Although, when they did last year, Penn State still refused to pull Clark in favor of Devlin at Iowa despite the fact that Clark was throwing the game away.
Of course, Clark had plenty of help in giving the game away Saturday. I already touched upon the offensive line that just isn't very good, and then there was Evan Royster. The usually sure-handed tailback made two crucial errors as Penn State was driving in the 4th quarter attempting to come back. The first came early in the final quarter, when Daryll Clark found an open Evan Royster inside the Iowa 40 yard line. Clark fired a very catchable pass to Royster, but the ball went through his hands and tipped up, getting picked off. The interception was returned all the way to the Penn State 24 and three plays later Iowa got into the end zone to go up 18-10.
Then on Penn State's very next drive, after a 35-yard kickoff return by Chaz Powell and a late hit out of bounds put the ball on the Iowa 36, it looked as though the Nittany Lions still had a chance. On the first play, Royster finally broke free, scampering deeper into Iowa territory on a long run. But as he was hit, he fumbled. It was recovered by Iowa, and at that moment, the game was essentially over.
Sadly, it wasn't a bad game for the defense, but then again, I couldn't name you a single defensive player that had a good game. While the d didn't give up many points, the defensive line that had been so dominant in the first three games was silent. Iowa's experienced offensive line handled Ollie Ogbu, Jared Odrick and Jack Crawford easily. Ricky Stanzi was clean almost the entire game. There wasn't a signature player for the defense all night.
In the cold, rainy, sloppy weather, there wasn't really a single Nittany Lion that played well. Maybe Andrew Quarless, but his opportunities were limited. Other than that, it was much like last year. In terrible weather conditions, Iowa simply made fewer mistakes, played a cleaner game and came out victorious.
The loss, combined with the never-ending rain, made for a not-so-pleasant ride back home. The rain followed us the entire way home, and to add insult to injury, we found out the Phillies lost yet again, at which point I said, "Are they going to get swept by the Marlins and lose to the Astros too, like the Mets? This team sure is looking like the Mets the past few years all of the sudden." As you can tell, I was in a great mood.
Thankfully, yesterday gave me a reprieve from the awfulness. The Eagles came out and did exactly what they were supposed to do against the Chiefs, dominating in a 34-14 game that was never close. Actually, it was 14-7 at one point because Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg called the worst 4-and-1 play in the history of 4-and-1 plays. LeSean McCoy was running wild and the Eagles have a big offensive line and an actual, real fullback. Not to mention they've had tremendous success running the ball out of the wildcat. Yet when they had a 4-and-1 at the KC 44, they rolled out Kevin Kolb and had him try to make a pass. It did not work. What a stupid play call.
But that was really the only dumb thing about that game. The Chiefs are just dreadful. There isn't a single good thing I can say about them after watching that debacle they put forth. The team is bad. And the Eagles trounced them as they should, highlighted by DeSean Jackson's 64-yard touchdown catch.
I guess the groin is doing all right. The Eagles really had a field day. Against a horrible team, Kolb threw for more than 300 yards in his second straight game, becoming the only quarterback in the history of the NFL to throw for 300 yards in his first two career starts. Not bad. He finished 24 of 34 (70.6 percent) for 327 yards and two touchdowns, and added a rushing touchdown for good measure on a qb sneak.
The Seans each had themselves nice games as well. DeSean continued his ascent to an elite wide receiver, nabbing 6 balls for 149 yards and the aforementioned touchdown while LeSean picked up 84 yards on 20 carries in his first career start, scoring a touchdown himself.
And then there was Brent Celek, who had himself another excellent game, catching 8 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. Celek is quietly putting up insane numbers, also climbing the ranks of playmaking tight ends in the NFL. Basically, he's becoming everything L.J. Smith was supposed to be. It's nice to see Celek blossoming early in the season.
Defensively, well, the line played outstanding, giving Larry Johnson absolutely no room to run whatsoever, and that allowed Omar Gaither to run around and make plays. It was the first time this season the linebackers made a true difference, and Gaither was the one making the majority of plays. Glad to see them take care of business rather easily against a clearly inferior team.
And to top things off, the Phillies finally won, bringing the magic number down to three, but again, it wasn't easy. After building a 6-1 lead, the Phils pitched it into a save situation to make it dicey. However, Ryan Madson actually did get the job done, and the Phils held on for the 6-5 win. Thank god. I don't think I could handle a Mets-like collapse, which it seems almost as if the Phils have been headed for this September. They better just take care of the Astros and get this thing over with. After all, they owe them.
I watched that ending at my grandparents' house, there for a family party. As the evening approached, two of my cousins decided they were going to Atlantic City, so of course I went along for the trip. I walked into the Taj with $200 dollars and walked out with $260 thanks to betting on trusty old red 19 at the roulette table. That put a nice capper on the night, though getting home at 1 a.m. made for a rude awakening this morning.
But hey, it sure as shit beats everything that happened on Saturday.
For those of you looking for some Phillies commentary, this won't be it. I spent my Friday night traveling out west to State College with silver fox and then getting entirely too drunk, followed by the Penn State-Temple game Saturday and football all day yesterday. All I saw was the rain-delayed game from yesterday, and I really have nothing to add to that outing. This weekend was all football all the time.
We'll start with Saturday, which was easily the worst 31-6 victory in the history of 31-6 victories. No question. I should have known the day was not going to go well. For starters, we had stayed out entirely too late on Friday night, meeting up with first my roommate and then my sister and some of her friends. Then, when we returned to my cousin's apartment, NHL Network was replaying the Flyers-Maple Leafs 2004 playoff series, so of course, in our drunken state, we had to watch, sleeping be damned.
By the time we got to sleep, it was past 4 a.m. … and Saturday's game started at noon. God I hate noon games. Up before 8 a.m., we were running on no sleep but surprisingly feeling good. Must be something about that central PA air. We met up with some family who traveled out to the game for a mild tailgate before heading in for the kickoff about 20 minutes prior to game time.
For a short while, I thought perhaps we'd be awarded the pleasure of being without brokeback. Ten minutes before game time, still no sight of them. Five minutes, their seats two rows in front of us still empty. I was beginning to get excited. But of course I couldn't be that lucky. Literally a minute before kickoff, the ambiguously gay duo showed up.
Great. And that was just the beginning. No matter what any Penn State apologist might tell you, the No. 5 Nittany Lions played like complete dog shit on Saturday. And it started with the playcalling. For the first time all season, Penn State was having tremendous success running the football. The young offensive line was blowing the Owls off the ball on run plays, and Evan Royster was being his usual self, setting up his blockers and getting big chunks of yards.
Conversely, Penn State was struggling mightily in pass protection. Each time Daryll Clark dropped back to throw, he was getting decked. Temple clearly has some good athletes on the defense and some speed on that side of the ball, but size-wise the Owls couldn't compare. Thus, Penn State was dominating on the ground, averaging over 5 yards a clip, led by Evan Royster, who rushed for 134 yards on 19 carries along with a touchdown and who was head and shoulders the best player on the field Saturday.
Despite that, Penn State kept calling passing plays early and often in the first half, and Clark kept getting plastered by the Temple defense. I honestly didn't think Clark was going to make it out alive. Eventually, when the game was well in hand, Penn State started running more, but the excessive pass plays early on against an inferior opponent did nothing but put unnecessary hits on Clark.
And the passing game just wasn't clicking. With the offensive line struggling in pass protection, Clark was horrible throwing the football. He struggled to hit receivers all game long, routinely underthrowing his long ball and overthrowing open receivers on the short passes. All in all, it was a bad day for the senior quarterback and the passing attack. In fact, the only receiver who did anything was Andrew Quarless, who showed why he keeps getting chances despite his issues on and off the field. Hopefully Quarless can keep it up and make good on all his potential this season.
Defensively, the Lions looked good again against a terrible offensive team. The defensive line has the potential to be one of the best in the country. Jared Odrick is a bona fide All-American candidate and the best player on that defense. Ollie Ogbu had a tremendous game, and Jack Crawford simply looks like a stud. Then there are the linebackers, who have been excellent all season … and that's without Navorro Bowman. Sean Lee is absolutely 100 percent back. He looks bigger and faster than ever, and he's making his mark once again. And as much as I hate Josh Hull, and I absolutely do, the guy has now had back-to-back good games. It pains me to write that.
While the defense dominated and the offense did enough to get a big win, it was a sloppy game. Penn State allowed Temple to recover a pop-up onside kick, and they let the Owls stay in the game entirely too long. There weren't a ton of highlights, but you can check out the few that occurred here:
After the game, silver fox and I headed to Hooters for the sights and sounds. We watched Washington somehow upset USC — the same Washington that won 0 games last season. That was pretty sweet. Then we debated staying in State College and going out or heading back home to get some sleep. Considering we both almost fell asleep numerous times throughout the later games, we opted to head back to Philadelphia to enjoy the NFL in our homes on Sunday.
As far as the Eagles game is concerned, well, it was not their best performance. Once again, the Birds let their opponents come out and march down the field for a touchdown on the opening drive. Last week, it was a 70-yard drive by the Panthers. Yesterday, it was Drew Brees leading the Saints 74 yards on 8 plays to go up 7-0. Not good.
However, my mood quickly reversed when Kevin Kolb, in his first start in the NFL, hooked up with DeSean Jackson on a 71-yard strike. Mid-play, my doorbell rang with my pizza, as I was yelling, "FUCK YEAH, DESEAN! FUCK YEAH!" Once the play was over, I answered the door, and the delivery guy, wearing a throwback Randall Cunningham jersey, asked me what happened. He was pissed that it happened as soon as he got out of the car, but thankful for my telling him what had just occurred.
Sadly, the game would not continue on in a positive manner. Brees, who has become a great quarterback over the past few seasons, shredded the Eagles defense for 311 yards and three touchdowns. With the exception of Akeem Jordan's athletic interception, Brees was flawless, connecting on 73.5 percent of his passes. But for a while, the Eagles were right in this thing.
For as awful as Kevin Kolb was last season in his relief appearance against Baltimore, the Texan looked poised and polished in the first half yesterday. Right after Brees led the Saints on that opening touchdown drive, he hit DeSean to tie the game. Then, after Eagles surrendered a field goal, he answered again with a 15-play, 68 yards drive that stalled at the three. Kolb did almost throw an interception on the final play of that drive, and a touchdown would have been nice, but he got the team in position to tie it with a field goal, which David Akers did.
However, the game turned on a boneheaded play. With the game tied 10-10, the Saints faced a 3rd-and-24 at their own 16. It looked as though the Eagles were primed to get good field position with a chance to take the lead before the first 30 minutes came to a close. Then they gave up a 22-yard play on third down, moving the ball out, meaning the field position wouldn't be quite as good as expected. The defense still did the job and forced New Orleans to punt with 1:43 left in the half. And that's when things went wrong. For some unknown reason, DeSean Jackson decided to field said punt inside the 5-yard line. Every retard this side of Pittsburgh knows you rarely should ever even field a punt inside the 10, let alone the 5. The rule as far as fielding punts inside the 5 is pretty simple: NEVER FUCKING DO IT. EVER. FUCK. Why is DeSean Jackson so insanely stupid?
But no, DeSean decided to put his stupid hat on yet again and field it. Yes, he had a nice return, but there was not one but two block in the back penalties, resulting in the Eagles starting with the ball on their own 3 with 1:40 left. Speaking of penalties, what the hell is going on with the special teams? On almost every return or kick, it seemed like the Eagles were being flagged for something or other. That's not a good trend, and it definitely hurt them yesterday, not the least of which included those blocks in the back on that final Saints punt in the first half.
After two runs, the Saints used their final two timeouts, leaving a 3rd-and-5 at their own 8 with 1:33 left. Instead of running the ball and bringing the clock way, way down, the Eagles threw an incomplete pass to stop the clock, then punted. I wasn't happy with calling a pass, but to be fair, the play was there. All Kolb had to do was hit his receiver and the Eagles would have had a first down. Then they could have decided whether or not to go into half tied 10-10 or try to score to take the lead. Instead, Kolb threw way behind, failing to convert.
The Saints got the ball at their 46 and two plays later were in the end zone. 17-10 New Orleans. Instead of having a chance to go up 17-10 or 13-10 to close out the half, the Eagles let the Saints take the lead. Kolb did do a nice job getting the Eagles into field goal range before the half was over, cutting it to 17-13, but that's where the game changed forever. The Saints had all the momentum and never looked back. They scored 17 points in the third quarter and 14 more in the 4th, blowing out the Eagles.
Sean McDermott couldn't figure out any way to get pressure on Drew Brees, and the birthmarked one picked apart the Eagles with ease. There were Saints running free routinely, and Brees never felt hurried or rushed.
Offensively, the Eagles broke out the wildcat left and right in the first half, which seemed to work well, but when push came to shove, the offense couldn't keep pace with the Saints. Make no mistake, it was the defense that lost this game, but the second-half turnovers didn't help. Kolb was up and down, looking very good in the first half and not so much in the second. But then again, when you're one-dimensional due to a large deficit, you're much easier to defend.
My overall feeling of the game is that Kolb certainly didn't lose the game for Philadelphia and instilled a lot more confidence as the backup than he did prior to yesterday. However, for any moron who thinks the Eagles are better off without Donovan McNabb, yesterday made it abundantly clear that McNabb is a far superior quarterback than Kevin Kolb will ever be. Yes, the 391 yards and two touchdowns look nice, but Kolb threw three picks to a Saints defense that isn't very good. Hell, the Lions scored more points against New Orleans in week 1 than the Eagles did yesterday.
Really, it's hard to find any true positives in a 48-22 loss. Brent Celek had a nice game, but his damage was done while trailing. The defense looked awful, getting no pressure and leaving players wide open. Asante Samuel routinely got burned by Devery Henderson, and for some reason the Eagles insisted on playing Joselio Hanson on Marques Colston. That did not turn out well. Oh, and the Eagles linebackers stink. A lot. They can't cover or even tackle all that well, and Jeremy Shockey had himself a good game because, as I just said, the linebackers can't cover. It was just one game against an elite offense with a terrifyingly good quarterback, so maybe you shouldn't read too much into the defense's performance, but it is clear that Sean McDermott has his work cut out for him. Let's hope he's up for the task.
And please, Donny, get well soon. I need some sleep.
The OL couldn’t manufacture a push against a DL with a weight limit. This does not bode well when you’re facing Everson Griffen and the USC defense the following week…barring a miracle. The tackles in particular were the guiltiest parties as the interior of Michael Brewster and Justin Boren were adequate. Back to the tackles…you have no chance if you can’t keep a Navy defender in front of you. Uber-recruit Mike Adams is likely out for the USC game thanks to a suspension, allegedly, for weed, so…yea, I’m concerned.
The Buckeye secondary is also a hot plate of bullshit. Anderson Russell, he of Quan Cosby’s Fiesta Bowl burninating, obviously hasn’t learned his lesson and got burnt by a Navy WR in exactly the same fashion. And to make matters worse, he did it, yet again, later on in the drive, only on a terrible angle from an option pitch. If you’re a DB and resemble burnt toast after playing a team that RUNS THE FUCKING TRIPLE OPTION, you just suck.
Iowa: Here’s a rule of thumb for this series all year long that you’ll pick up on before conference play starts…if you almost get Appalachian State’d, you’ll end up on this countdown. A close win that required two, last minute miracles against NORTHERN IOWA is something that fits this criteria, almost to a T.
And these guys are supposed to be Penn State's toughest opponents. Bad news for the Big 10.
Now, Clark did make some poor throws, but he had a very good game with insane numbers. Something tells me this guy is going to be the best quarterback in the Big 10 for the second straight year.
-Pat Devlin is undefeated as a starter in college. Just saying.
-Watch out for these guys to break out in 2009-10:
Forward: Thaddeus Young, Philadelphia 76ers Simple and plain, Thad is hot. His name may not be a household one as of yet because the 76ers are flying under the radar. That being said, you can’t deny a talent like Young’s, tall and athletic with quickness to boot. Put him alongside Andre Igudola and Philly have a fast-breaking, strong frontcourt with talent and tenacity. Think of how good this Philadelphia team can be with not only this combination but the return of a healthy Elton Brand. It’s evident that in Brand’s absence Thaddeus benefited from extended minutes; however, good numbers don’t lie. Young last season averaged 15.3 ppg and 5 rebounds — not bad for a second year man. Thad also went for a career high 31 last season against Chicago, which shows he can lead his team and put up star numbers on the boards. When Brand returns from injury Thaddeus will have to share the ball more, but his numbers still may improve. If he manages to start alongside a healthy Brand and Iguodala then he will help give the Sixers one of the most potent frontcourts in the L.
-Danny Briere is on a mission, and that's good news for the Flyers.
With Joffrey Lupul and Mike Knuble gone, the Flyers are going to need Briere to be healthy and productive this upcoming season if they hope the addition of Chris Pronger can put them over the top.
-Someone thinks Andre Iguodala will score 20+ points per game this year:
4. Andre Iguodala - Whereas these other guys will probably end up averaging 20+ points per game as part of their team’s development, Iguodala needs to average over 20 a game in order for the Sixers to remain competitive. After steadily increasing from 9.0 to 12.3 to 18.2 to 19.9 points per game over the first four years of his career, Iguodala only averaged 18.8 last season. Even with Elton Brand back in the mix, Andre will need to call his own number more often this year.
For all the money fast Eddie paid him, he sure as shit better. Then again, given his shot selection at times, maybe it's best if he doesn't.
If Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks come back, John Calipari will steer Kentucky to the SEC title. You heard it here first. Hell, even if they don't come back, Kentucky still might win the SEC.
-Ladies, take notice, Ryan Church likes to skip third base and head straight for home.
-I get really, really happy when RomanWarHelmet has to write nice things about the Phillies:
The Beltran: This one hurts me. I had this all fired up to go to David Wright. He has been tremendous. Here is his line .565/.643/.739 1.382OPS 0HR 9RBI and 5SB. He should win it. But I am going with some one else. Raul Ibanez. He has been great all season in Philly. The one constant and a huge reason they have been winning everyday.
…
Team of the Week: Your 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies! A 5-2 week. A 4 game sweep in 3 days of the Marlins and a win over LA. Ibanez was tremendous. Hamels looked back to form with 7IP and 1ER with 7 scattered hits. But they did beat on the Nats. So take it with a grain of salt.
Much like BSD, I agree 100 percent with these choices, but just like BSD, I wonder if Jerome Hayes was considered. He should have been and should be a captain as well, because Jerome Hayes is the boss.
-I saw this on Saturday at the bar, and it was great:
Your accomplishments are legendary - (i) massive league expansion in the southern U.S., where hockey is about as appealing as a rectal scoping (genius!), (ii) moving the NHL from NBC to the highly-esteemed Versus Network (brilliant!), (iii) the introduction of the glowing puck (really?), (iv) four bankruptcies, with a fifth on the way (ok, no one is perfect…), (v) three franchise moves (umm…), (vi) two lockouts (are you even trying?!?!).
-Five NBA draft questions to ponder, but the best part isn't even a question:
(Actually, my favorite story from Williams is when he was the general manager in Philadelphia and drafted Darryl Dawkins in 1976. He called Dawkins and was surprised to hear him answer the phone thusly: “This is Dawk and I’m ready to talk.” Williams said one of his great regrets is that he did not reply, “This is Pat and I’m ready to chat.”)
And yes, the NBA draft lottery is tonight.
-Thirty-five years ago today, the Flyers beat the Bruins to win the Stanley Cup, as Kate Smith sang "God Bless America" beforehand:
-Your National League Player of the Week: Raul Ibanez.
Tonight we get game 2 of the Red Wings-Blackhawks series at 7:30 and game 1 of the Lakers-Nuggets at 9. Enjoy.
It wasn't long ago that I was calling for Daryll Clark's head. After all, Penn State's senior junior (Clark was granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA) quarterback played horrible against Ohio State before getting concussed and played equally shitty against Iowa.
Truth be told, Clark had a phenomenal year for a first-year starter, and Saturday was his best game yet. His efforts did not go unnoticed, as Clark was named Big 10 Player of the Week for his 341-yard, 5 touchdown day (4 passing, 1 rushing).
Clark finished the regular season with 2,319 yards through the air, 17 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions. He completed 60 percent of his passes and added the running dimension that was absent the last two years with Anthony Morelli under center. He finished third on the team in rushing with 362 yards behind Evan Royster (1,202) and Stephfon Green (521). He also added nine rushing touchdowns, second on the team only to Royster's 12.
When Clark was the named the starter back in August, I was not happy. I thought with this team, three talented senior wide receivers not to mention the receiving talent of Andrew Quarless (bust), Pat Devlin should have been the guy. He's a pocket passer known for his accuracy and his arm. Daryll Clark's passing acumen was unknown to fans, seeing as he was rarely asked to do anything but run when he spelled Morelli. Turns out, I was dead wrong. Even when I got on Clark for his pitiful games at OSU and Iowa, it was clear Daryll Clark was the right choice. He had a great year, brought the Nittany Lions within a game of playing for the National Championship.
Just imagine if Clark had been given the opportunity to win the starting job last season, when it was evident heading in that Anthony Morelli was nothing more than a big-armed ball of suck. With a full year under his belt heading into this season, perhaps the Nittany Lions would be getting ready to take on Florida. Or Oklahoma. Or Texas. Or Alabama. Or whoever the computers deem worthy.
Alas, that wasn't the case. But what should not be overlooked, especially by assholes like myself who like to complain about bad games, is that Penn State won the Big 10 for the third time ever due in large part to the play of Daryll Clark. They are playing in the Rose Bowl thanks in large part to Daryll Clark. And Penn State will be considered a favorite in the Big 10 next year—even with the departure of its three top wide receivers, four of its five starting offensive linemen, its fullback, its starting safeties, a starting corner, a starting linebacker and a (formerly) starting defensive end—because of Daryll Clark.
Congrats on the POW, Daryll. Now get ready to destroy some PAC-10 ass in Pasadena.
Um. What exactly just happened? Did Penn State really just lose to a 4-loss Iowa team that dropped games to Illinois, Northwestern and Pitt? I mean, that actually happened?
Yeah, it actually happened, and it completely ruined my weekend. Coming off a bye week, the undefeated Nittany Lions had everything in the world to play for. They had just gone into the hostile territory of the Horseshoe the week before the bye and slugged it out with Ohio State, coming away victorious. All that stood in the way of an undefeated regular season now was a trip out to Iowa followed by a home game against Indiana and another home game against Michigan State. Plus, the entire nation seemed convinced that Penn State didn't belong in the national title game, adding some motivation to a team that was leaped during its bye week.
So naturally, I though Penn State would come out fired up. I was dead wrong. In fact, in cold temperatures and a swirling wind, Penn State decided to start the game with three straight passes. Who the fuck was calling these plays, Andy Reid? And the results of those three plays were disastrous. Daryll Clark showed he was primed to have another God-awful game, refusing to move out of the way of a defensive lineman directly in front of him on the first play from scrimmage, resulting in him getting hit as he threw for an incomplete pass.
It is official: I suck when my team needs me.
Clark then managed to miss a wide open Jordan Norwood on the second play and then was sacked for a 19 yard loss, fumbling the football in the process (which should have been ruled a touchdown by Iowa, by the way), after refusing to get rid of the football. It was pathetic.
And while we're on the subject of pathetic, let's pile on Mr. Clark some more. Two weeks ago against Ohio State, Daryll Clark had his worst game of his career. In fact, he did everything in his power to try and have the Lions lose against Ohio State, missing wide open receivers all night. Thankfully, he was knocked out of the game just in time for Penn State to win.
Then this week, Clark somehow managed to be even worse. He completed just 9 of 23 passes in the game, again missing a plethora of wide open receivers. Of course, a few of those incompletions weren't his fault, as Jordan Norwood and Andrew Quarless decided to drop a few passes that a one-armed blind person could have caught. But this does not excuse Clark, who managed to throw for just 86 yards and tossed a crippling interception at the end of the game, which eventually led to Iowa's game-winning drive.
So to sum things up, with Penn State nursing an undefeated record and a chance to play for the national championship, Daryll Clark has completely shit the bed the last two games. I'm actually going to throw out everything he did up until the Ohio State game, because it has been proven that the teams he did manage to beat weren't very good. When Clark had to actually play some good teams with good defenses on the road, he choked. Saturday, he should have been benched at some point during that game, because he simply could not make a throw to save his life. Maybe Pat Devlin deserved another look.
I'd also like to call out Tom Bradley here. I know the man has done a masterful job all year, and hell, the last 5 years, but Saturday was a joke. I just can't figure out why he keeps playing players that simply aren't good at all when he has better players behind them. Like Josh Hull. As I've said before, Josh Hull sucks. He can't cover. He can't tackle. He isn't fast. Basically, he is everything you don't want in a football player. Same thing with Tyrell Sales, who did manage to get an interception by some divine intervention. And Mark Rubin. And you know what, ever since Brandon Minor used Anthony Scirrotto as his personal doormat, Scirrotto has sucked. And he did again on Saturday. Why aren't Mauti and Gbadyu starting at linebacker with Navorro? And why the hell didn't Drew Astorino play safety at all? He's faster, smarter and a better tackler than Rubin and, at this point, Scirrotto too. I'm just dumbfounded by Bradley's insistence that these players who suck can get the job done.
But wait, there's more. Why didn't Penn State blitz the shit out of Ricky Stanzi. All we've heard all season is Shonn Greene is a stud and Stanzi is not very good. So on every play, Penn State should have had 9 guys in the box and blitzed on every passing down. Make Stanzi beat you with pressure in his face. Instead, Bradley routinely rushed only four, and Iowa had no problems blocking an undersized Penn State defensive line. It made no sense, and Stanzi got more and more confidence as the game went on and he had more and more time to sit in the pocket. It was maddening.
Truthfully, Penn State did not deserve to win. They showed they could have won, but with all the mistakes, they didn't deserve to win. When only three players show up to play, it spells trouble. And beside Derrick Williams, who had a huge game, Evan Royster, who was getting 5 yards a pop with ease throughout most of the game, and Jared Odrick, the only defensive player who seemed to give a shit, the rest of the Nittany Lions didn't look all too interested in playing. And that sucked.
But, I still say that was not pass interference on Scirrotto. The ball was essentially a jump ball, and Scirrotto went for it. He touched the ball, and it was about a foot over the receiver's head. Scirrotto has every right to that ball, and he went for it. When he jumped to get it, the receiver ran into him. That was a bad call. Also, it was dumb for Scirrotto to even attempt to pick that, for fear of pass interference, but I really don't think it was interference.
Also, on that final drive for Iowa, I don't understand how that one where Stanzi threw the ball away as he was about to get sacked wasn't intentional grounding. He certainly wasn't outside the tackle box, and I sure as shit didn't see a receiver. Unless he was 5 yards upfield, which could be the case because ABC did a shitty job with the camera work. But it looked like intentional grounding to me, and that would have been huge.
But still, you won't win many games when your worst player is your quarterback. And on Saturday, Daryll Clark was the worst player on the field.
The Flyers also lost, and the Eagles are still the worst clock management team in all of football. Good to see that even after 10 years, Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb can't figure out how to manage the clock.
It was nice to see Asante shadow Plax, who did nothing except that one touchdown (why was Dawkins covering Plax?), but the Eagles could not stop the Giants' running game, and they lost. I just hope Andy Reid leaves my life some time soon.
