Coaching: The team has yet to put a complete came together. With the amount of pastry on the schedule this year, I certainly thought that this team would dominate the early schedule. The team has either came out flat or lost interest at halftime and that my friends is coaching. The play calling has been fairly bland. This is what I expected for the first three games, but like every year, I thought they we holding something back for Iowa. Other than the first play of the game, Penn State played pretty conservative. Special teams have been horrible.
Offense: Up until last week the offense struggled to find balance as the offensive line wasn't generating much push. Clark has played comparable to last year, when he has time he delivers the ball. He has struggle with the deep ball, under throwing Moye on numerous occasions. Moye is putting together a nice season but he would have another couple hundred yards and a few more TD's if Clark has put the ball in his area code on a few more throws. The running backs have not lit the world on fire, but they have not exactly had a whole lot of room to work with until the Illinois game. The question is, is the offensive line get better or is Illinois that bad.
Defense: Its pretty tough to get a read on this unit due to mass casualties to injuries. The starting line backers have all been out/continue to be out with injuries. Every one's favorite Internet whipping boy Josh Hull has played well, leading the team in tackles and plugging holes nicely. Mauti was a loss but when Lee and Bowman are back on the field at the same time this unit will be "sick" as Alex Ovechkin would say. The Defensive Line is like tale of two cities. I think the interior ine has played exceptionally well. Odrick and Ogbu have gotten pressure despite constant double teams and allowed the LB to get in the back field. On the other hand, the DE have been less impressive. They have shown flashes of ability but have not collapsed the pocket consistently. The talent is there and I think this unit will come along as the season goes on. The secondary has been a pleasant surprise. The corners have looked solid and minus a few blown coverages the safties have played well. Lynn and Morris have really impressed me with their tackling ability. Teams that have tried to use bubble screens, when their running game was shut down have found no room.
Special Teams: Penn State has implemented the HD special teams package this year. HUGE DUD. With the exception of Jeremy Boone, this unit is a disaster, ranking at or near the bottom in every statistical category. The low line drive kickoffs have allowed the opponent to start across the 30 more times than not. I'm not sure how confident I would feel if Wagner trotted out there, with the game on the line, to make a 40 yard field goal. The punt block against Iowa completely change the dynamic of that game. If things don't get better this unit will cost the team another loss before the season is over.
Recruiting: This is the best class this team has had in a while. The amount of talent from top to bottom in this class is astounding and with the remaining target its only going to get better. Kudo's to the staff on this effort, it will pay dividends soon enough . The 2011 year is starting to look like a possible championship run for JoePa. What a way that would be to go out. Of course, knowing JoePa he would ask for a 10 year contract if they won it all in 2011.
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