Sad Valley

It's Halloween and I have a business law test tomorrow, but what's really important was the sad state of Penn State's student section last Saturday.

Leaving early? Since when does "the best student section in the country" leave the game with 5 minutes left. Absolutely humiliating. I think it'd be okay to leave one of those Thursday night debacles early. Football was not meant to be played on weeknights, and some people might have something to do the next day. But on SATURDAY NIGHT!? Abandoning the student section just to get a couple of pregame tequila shots in? I used to be proud to be a part of PSU's student section.

Besides a competitive football game, another thing we missed on Saturday night was Ohio State's wonderful marching band. 2 years ago, we were fortunate enough to see the script "Ohio" written on our home field, dotted "i" and all. That same year, someone came up with the brilliant idea to tell everyone in the student section to turn around and salute the OSU band with their middle fingers in the air.

Thanks a lot, guys. It's no surprise that OSU left their band at home this time. Those of us who actually appreciate college football traditions missed out on one of the best bands in the country. I bet listening to the Blue Band play the OSU fight song was a lot more enjoyable.

Of course, Ohio State won the actually football game 37-17. The game wasn't as close as the score made it seem.

The Buckeyes dominated their offensive line of scrimmage all night long. Their o-line got tremendous push that allowed both Chris and Maurice Wells to get momentum running up field. The result was Penn State's linebackers being driven backwards upon contact. This, in turn, led to 3rd down and shorts, which OSU converted regularly.

When Ohio State wanted to throw the ball, the pocket held steady. Penn State's pass rush always seemed to arrive a second after QB Todd Boeckman found the hole in the zone. When PSU blitzed, wide outs Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline were too quick for their defenders. Converted DB Ray Small pitched in with a 60-yard reception early in the game. The only stat worth mentioning is that Ohio State punted 0 times, with a Dan Connor interception late in the 2nd quarter being the Lions' only form of resistance all night.

When Penn State had the ball, things did not go that much better. On the first drive, QB Anthony Morelli connected with TE Andrew Quarless on a play-action pass for 30 yards, which led to a RB Rodney Kinlaw touchdown. After that, things went downhill. AM's throws were mostly ineffective. In fact, he only passed for 62 yard after the first drive (111 yards total). That was good(?) for a 5.3 yards per attempt average. It didn't help that he only got to throw 21 times, but that's what happens when the other team has the ball for 37 minutes and 52 seconds.

Another factor affecting Morelli's PT was him being pulled after unofficially ending the game by throwing a TD pass to OSU DB Malcolm Jenkins in the 4th quarter. I was pretty far away (about 50 rows up), but I can say it was one of the 5 worst throws I've ever seen in my life. And I am a survivor of the Dave Brown era of New York Giants football.

The interception inevitably led to the exodus from Beaver Stadium that I mentioned earlier.

Last Saturday we also got a sneak-peak at the 2007-08 PSU Basketball team in their Blue v. White scrimmage. I'll write about how excited I am after tomorrow's mid-afternoon madness event. W00t w00t.