Penn State Phriday Preview

Yinzers,

Long time reader, first time blogger...first off: LOVE THE SHOW!
I will be your new correspondent from Happy Valley. I will be bringing ynz weekly updates with what is going on in the Mecca of college football, Beaver Stadium.


There is a reason the Princeton Review, Reader's Digest and other publications say that the #1 thing every college student should do, regardless of university, is "Attend a home Penn State football game." Every year, ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit makes his pre-season picks for the "Best-of," these are called "The Herbies." Every year it is the same thing: #1 student section goes to the Nittany Nation (that was the headline pic from ESPN.com last week, who is that handsome man next to Tim Tebow?). So what does Nittany Nation have to look forward to this weekend?

Only the least intimidating mascot in the country. This week's game pits the Nittany Lions of Penn State against the Orange of Syracuse. Last week, the Orange were beaten in overtime by one of the bottom feeders of the Big-10, the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Don't get me wrong, the 2009 Orange are much better than the Orange we saw in our 53-13 rout last year in the Carrier Dome (ironic that the Carrier Dome has NO AIR CONDITIONING), but this year should be much the same. The Orange are making the trek past Philthadelphia and through Pennsyltuckey to State College. This year, the Blue Dev---MY BAD----Orange are lead by QB Greg Paulus. He had 163 yards and a touchdown in his debut, but I think he will find that it is a little harder to rain 6-pointers on Penn State's campus rather than 3-pointers (but I can't razz on the basketball team, we won the NIT).

As for your Nittany Lions, coming off of a 31-7 win over Akron, we still have some questions to answer. Even though we defeated the Zips handily last week, there were some dimpled chads. The question of how Darryl Clark will respond to his "lack of leadership" criticism was answered with smart decisions, throwing precision and straight up control. The run defense...well they simply took the Zips yards away from them to the tune of -27 in the first half. This week, however, the defense will be without #11 Navarrow "the Bone-crusher" Bowman. Early in the game last week, Bowman aggravated his knee. He will most likely be a game-time decision this week and personally, I say give the man a break. There were some "holes," however. I had to raise an eyebrow at our offensive line and our secondary. There was no reason for Darryl Clark to have less than eternity in the pocket, but he was still rushed quite a few times. As for the secondary, more hot and cold. The only scoring drive Akron mustered up, they picked apart our secondary fairly easily. It's ok, though. Both squads are young and trying to replace a lot of seniors. I'm sure JoePa will have the guys working hard.


It is also a theme weekend for the best band in the nation, the Penn State Blue Band (my cousin/trombone player Nate "the Boy" Law and my twin brother). This week is "Classics Week" including "Age of Aquarius," "Respect," and "Long and Winding Road." As always, the Blue Band, led by Dr. O. Richard Bundy and Greg Drane, will knock 'em dead. The fans are encouraged to wear their psychedelic Penn State tie-dyes...but I will be wearing my jersey. No matter the case, we'll be seeing roughly 108,000 at the Beav and a myriad more watching across the country from their bars and their homes.


As for a prediction...well there is no need for one. The only thing left at Beaver Stadium this weekend will be trash and Orange Juice.

Have a great weekend and if you're in State College, hit up The Phyrst, The Rathskellar, Zeno's, The Dark Horse Tavern, or any other of the 16 great bars in State College. And remember, being the #1 party school also comes with responsibility. Drive and walk safe,

B. Brog