No. 17 PSU vs. FIU Preview

School: Florida International University (FIU), Golden Panthers
Conference: Sun Belt
Head Coach: Mario Cristobal, 1st Year, 0-0
2006 Record: 0-12
Record Last Five Years: 15-41; 0-0 in bowls; 0-7 non-conference

Key Players, Defense: CB Lionell Singleton, DT Roland Clarke, CB Robert Mitchell

Key Players, Offense: OL Andy Leavine, FB John Ellis, any of the 3 possible QBs

What to look for: I feel sorry for HC Cristobal. But he asked for a tough schedule, and boy did he get one. FIU can only hope to put up any points against PSU. Of course, it's bad enough its offense was the problem all of 2006, and now it has to attempt performing in front of 107,000 people. QB's Hughes, Colt and Mann are young, and very inexperienced. What will make things even more difficult is that RB's Ned and Reeves rushed for 770 yards and 5 TDs in 2006 COMBINED. Don't expect much from the FIU ground game against PSU. However, the FIU defense is its strength, which fits perfectly into any slim hopes of pulling the upset, as PSU's offense will still be working out the kinks. Although DT's Clarke and Murrell bring experience and size, pressure on PSU will have to start with the inconsistent DE's Warthen and Penerton. Unfortunately for FIU, it won't happen. CB Singleton picked off five passes in 2006, and is actually highly regarded by experts as one of the better CB's in the nation. I think FIU will try to lock him on PSU's Williams or Butler. Singleton also averaged 28.7 yards per kick return (1 TD) and 10 yards per punt return in 2006. FIU will need all the help it can get. While it will be a much improved team from 2006, this game will not show it.

Fun Stat: Average PPG in games 1-4, FIU 16- OPP 18.75. Average PPG in games 5-12, FIU 6.3- OPP 29.75.

School: The Pennsylvania State University (PSU), Nittany Lions
Conference: Big Ten
Head Coach: Joe Paterno, 42nd Year, 363-121-3
2006 Record: 9-4 (5-3), Won Outback Bowl (1/1/07) vs. No. 20 Tennessee
Record Last Five Years: 36-25; 1-1 in bowls; 7-4 non-conference

Key Players, Defense: LB Dan Connor, CB Justin King, S Anthony Scirrotto

Key Players, Offense: QB Anthony Morelli, WR Derrick Williams, FB Matt Hahn (I'll explain in a minute)

What to look for: If PSU can't run the ball against this defense, it's going to be a long year. But I think PSU will do what it has done best in recent years, using the deep pass to set up the run, to set up the short-mid range play action pass. The loss of TE Quarless will surely hurt, but there are more than enough targets for QB Morelli. This game will be crucial for the OL. They need to overcome the youth and position changes, and jell quickly. As long as they give Morelli enough time (unlike 2006), this should be a good warm up before Notre Dame. Now, I said FB Hahn would be important to the offense because he has a knack for coming up with big plays when he actually gets the ball. The Paternos love to throw Hahn's way out of the backfield for big chunks of yards, and if PSU needs to get something going, he's the perfect safety valve. Nothing should surprise anyone on PSU's defense. I'm calling for a great (as usual) outing by LB's Connor, Lee and Sales. It will be interesting to see if LB Hayes sees time at DE, similar to how Tim Shaw was used in 2006. The return game should offer some fireworks now that the kickoffs have been moved to the 30. Either WR Williams or CB Wallace will score on a return.

Fun Stat: 2006 PSU scoring defense in games 1-7, 19.8 ppg, games 8-13, 8 ppg.

ZN's GAME PREDICTION: PSU will rest its starters midway through the third quarter, as FIU will score in the first half, but miss the PAT. Going into the locker room, PSU will hold an uncomfortable lead, by only 14-17 points. Paterno will give them a good smacking upside the head, and will have his team come out roaring in the second half. The bulk of PSU's scoring will happen within a three to five-minute span in the begining of the third quarter, somewhere between 17-24 points. FIU will get a fumble recovery late in the game, get a meaningless FG, but will in turn prevent PSU from covering the spread.

PSU 45, FIU 9

VEGAS:

PSU (-38) FIU

ACTUAL SCORE:

PSU 59, FIU 0

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It's Wednesday

What else do I have to do at work? Something productive? Yeah, right.

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Paterno vs. Bowden

You know, a couple day/weeks ago-whatever-I got a comment on my ZN's Top 25 Preseason Rankings. The comment asked how I could have FSU ranked so high, yet Joe would pass Bowden. Well, here's my simplified answer, which totally slipped my mind at the time. Shame on me.

Joe Paterno doesn't actually need four more wins than Bowden this year, due to the fact that in the real world, Bowden is 27 wins behind Joe. 31 of Bowden's wins were not in current D-IA schools, which shouldn't count. It's not like the 61 homeruns record or any other record that is affected by how long a season is. Bowden was playing Crap Community College, while Paterno was playing Maryland, North Carolina St., Pitt, Syracuse and other at-the-time powerhouses. The NCAA needs to step up and take an official stance with this, and settle the matter once and for all.

If Bobby Bowden leads Joe Paterno in career victories, and the Samford years are officially included (which they are by the NCAA's standard), then Eddie Robinson should, in fact, actually be the all-time leader in career victories with 408-167-15 at Gramblind State. Try proving me wrong on that one.

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Paterno's Press Conference

JoePa was surprisingly jovial towards the press Tuesday at his weekly press conference. But that's hardly shocking. He's won 20 games in two years, two January bowls, a Big Ten title, five All-America selections and gets paid, well, enough. I thought it was most interesting how he handled the Quarless/Harriot situation.

-----"Right now, neither one of them will play this week and they may not play for three or four weeks, I don't know yet. I had told them both to get going and some of the kids on the team got together with the captains, (Terrell) Golden, (Dan) Connor and (Anthony) Morelli. They elected them captains; I didn't appoint them as was suggested by some people. They were elected. They said (to me), 'how about we let them back on and you do some other things to them,' and I said, 'well, okay.' So that's where we are. They're practicing with us, but they're not going to play for us (this week)."-----

Did we hear that correctly? Is Joe now allowing his team leaders to actually lead AND his coaches to actually coach? Holy crap, the sky is truly falling in Happy Valley! Joe has kicked kids off the team for almost any reason in the past, mainly to keep up the clean image PSU has enjoyed.

Most times, I'm sure he didn't like doing it because everyone would get on his case about being too strict to even the best players. This time, Joe got a huge win-win situation.

Quarless and Harriot go out after hours. They get trashed. Joe comes down hard, actually wants to kick them off the team completely. Team captains step in, knowing PSU needs those idiots to win a championship this season. Penn State keeps two very good, very key players on the team, while Joe Paterno can still maintain the "you mess up, you get out" image the college football universe praises him for.

All I have to say is Joe better swallow his pride by September 22, when PSU plays THEM in the Pig House. Look for the AN FIU/PSU preview tomorrow! Full of fun facts, stats and, of course, predictions.

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ZN's Top 25, Preseason

Here you go, the First Edition of the Zombie Nation Top 25 College Football Rankings:
Each week's rankings will be posted sometime Sundays.

1. USC - Is there anyone else who should absolutely be ranked ahead of them?
2. Oklahoma – Remember, it’s Bob Stoops.
3. Louisville – Brohm is better than you think, scared?
4. LSU – Matt Flynn is overrated, but the rest of the Tigers aren’t.
5. Wisconsin – O-Line, O-Line, O-Line, we eat you up.
6. Florida St. – New coaches means no lil’Bowden, which means wins.
7. West VA – I like Slaton and White. He can throw better than you think.
8. Texas – I’m not sold on the ‘Horns, especially McCoy. Sweed’s overrated.
9. Michigan – I just can’t rank them higher. They’ll just blow it again.
10. VA Tech – Emotions will carry the Hokies into the top-10.
11. Florida – Tooooooo, much hype over Tebow.
12. Ohio St. – Good team, not great. Offense won’t click. Tressel-ball time.
13. UCLA – I like the Bruins, but they won’t beat USC again.
14. Cal – Win a big game when it matters, then you’ll be higher.
15. Penn State – I want them higher, Lions gotta work for it first. Joe passes Bowden.

16. Nebraska – Big XII North champs, nothing more - again.
17. Tennessee – Ten wins, no big whup. Ainge will go in the 1st round.
18. Auburn – The lower the Tigers start, the better they do.
19. Georgia – Matt Stafford it a year away yet.
20. Rutgers – Again, another team that has to work for a higher ranking.
21. Arkansas – No QB or WR to go to. RB’s will struggle. What?! Yes.
22. Oregon – Shouldn’t have beaten Sooners, but did. Solid team.
23. Texas A&M – Could flirt with top-10 this year. But won’t.
24. Virginia – My left field pick. Just watch the Cav’s pull a big upset.
25. Missouri – Lose tiebreaker to Huskers, then disappoint in bowl.

Others that could easily make the Top 25 by September:
26. Alabama - Hate Saban. Love the Tide. Run the ball well and you’re in.
27. Ga. Tech – Offense will actually be better without CJ. Great defense.
28. South Fla. – Remember the Louisville game two years ago?
29. OK State – One of the best skill trios in the nation. Will scare Sooners.
30. TCU – Will storm into the BCS by year’s end. Just not this early.

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More Gas from the Cesspool of the West

Mike Hart just gave birth to 500 new Michigan Wolverine haters across the nation. The quotes speak for themselves. Hart made these comments in a great Mark Schlabach articlepointing out just how disappointing Michigan has been the last four years.

"There would have been no Levi Brown at No. 5," Hart said. "Levi Brown owes Jake some of that signing bonus. Jake's better than Joe Thomas, too, but Thomas got all the hype."

Hart’s mouth, which makes up 80 percent of his 5’9” 190lb frame, made Long look like a moron, too. But the classy lineman showed why he’s a better guy than Big Mouth, Lil’Hart.

"Levi Brown was a great player and deserves everything he got," Long said. "I was happy for him. I'm working so next year that's me."

Come on Hart, even Penn State has beaten OSU, and won two bowl games since you first arrived at the “Cesspool of the West.”

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Pre-Preseason Top 25

While I may not be playing with the big boys yet, my time will come. So as the other blogs start spouting out their preseason top-25’s, I would like to take my time and give you a realistic poll.

There are some points I should explain before I get into it:
1. Schedule, Schedule, Schedule. Oh, did I mention Schedule? Contrary to popular belief, top-25 polls in college football are about the schedules. There is no more important single item that determines how a team will fare than who it plays and when they play. So with that said, remember I will be taking into account each team’s sked as the main gauge for their ranking.

2. How they finished last year. Momentum can birth national champions. Or, at least can forecast improvement or faltering of almost any team. I use certain Big Ten examples, because I’m most familiar with them. Penn State 2001: started out 0-4, finished 5-2 with two close losses. 2002 saw the Lions go 9-3, with a 2K rusher, and all three losses to No. 1 OSU (13-7), No. 3 Iowa (42-35 OT) and No. 10 Michigan (27-24 OT). Ohio State 2004: started out 3-3, finished 4-1 beating Rose Bowl-bound Michigan. 2005 saw the Buckeyes go 9-2, with close losses to No. 1 Texas (25-22) and No. 3 PSU (17-10).

3. Depth. Can that team survive if it loses a starting lineman? Look at USC; as much as I hate to say it, their depth is fantastic. There are three TB’s there who could start for any other team in the country. They have five-star recruits on the scout team. Certain teams could have been great “if only…” The injury bug can kill championships. The loss of Ted Ginn, Jr. in last season’s BCS championship totally messed with OSU’s psyche. What if he played more than the first kickoff?

4. Don’t get caught up in the hype. In 2005, Purdue was everyone’s darling in the Big Ten. This was mainly the result of all 11 starters returning on a pretty good defense the year before and the elimination of both OSU and Michigan from the schedule. Well, the defense imploded and missing the “big two” only meant the difference between 5-6 and 3-8. Another example is Auburn 2003. Started the season No. 6 and got off to a great start with an embarrassing loss to No. 1 USC 23-0. The Tigers finished 8-4.

5. Do I like you? Well, this isn’t a real reason. But sometimes you get hunches about a team and go out on a limb.

The first Zombie Nation Top-25 College Football Rankings will post Thursday Morning. Check back then and get those angry emails and comments ready.

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Tight End Turbulence

Great thanks go out to Andrew Quarless. We Penn State fans are thrilled you've been able to work hard enough and concentrate on football enough to find time to go out drinking. I'm sure you were just done with your homework early, probably ahead for next this week's studies. That must be the reason you saw it necessary to stroll back to your Nittany Apartment at 2:50 in the morning wasted out of your mind.



Now, I know he wasn't the only one, as backup defensive back Willie Harriot and another female accompanied Quarless Friday night. But let's be realistic, who is the only one we care about? Of course, the starting TE. Over the last few games of the 2007 season, Quarless was easily the best offensive player on the field. Now, he's just being offensive.

We can only be so lucky that JoePa will suspend him for the first few games. Not like Penn State needs him against the Irish's oh-so-talented secondary. But if the Nittany Lions line up for the first snap at the Pig House, and any TE starts ahead of Quarless, he can only hope to start later in the game. (Think: Dan Connor, Northwestern 2005)

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Whistle While You Work, Part 2

"College football is about tradition!"

"We don't want to be like the NFL!"

Blah, blah, blah... Just shut up. No other sport in the United States has a more civilized relationship between amateur and professional than football. College football will never lose its mistique. Marching bands, cheerleaders without implants, fans waiting in line hours before the game, the tailgating. No, pro will never match college... except for the rediculous game clock rules.

We now enter the second installment of how the clock rules need to be changed in order to maintain the integrity of the game. Swallow your pride and just freaking adopt the NFL rules for stopping the clock during games. How much faster would college games end if the clock didn't stop on first down? If that's too much, then stop the clock on first down inside two minutes of each half. I don't care how you do it, just don't stop that clock every time the head coach sneezes.

What's one thing NFL scouts preach come draft time? Speed, speed and more speed. Not just physical speed, but mental speed. Honestly, how many running backs are taken in the first round just because he "knows the game" or has the "mental toughness?" Now, how many quarterbacks have their careers made for them if they show the smarts NFL scouts are looking for? College football has coddled its QB's for way too long, and it's about time they had to get up and get the ball in the air or in the RB's gut... fast!

Yet, there's something wrong with how the college football rules committee figured this thing out. The new rule change for the 2007 season reads as such:
"Rule 3-3-7-a
A team timeout is 30 seconds plus the 25-second play clock interval. This provision will only apply to televised games. Conference television contracts will supersede this rule. (For example, if a team calls a timeout and a conference television agreement allows for a television timeout to be used, this timeout extends to a full media timeout. The television partners – through normal protocols – make the decision through their timeout coordinator when the ball should be whistled ready for play.)
Rationale: This change eliminates 30 seconds from team timeouts. The committee believes many timeouts are called to simply stop the clock (or when a team has formation, substitution or play clock problems). This reduction in time will save about three to six minutes, depending on how many timeouts are used during the game."

The television partners make the decision when the game should be played? Really?! Well there's a freaking surprise. Hold on, I saw a blatant holding penalty on that play. You saw it, television partners have college football by the balls and don't plan to let go anytime soon. Someone could get hurt out there, like the fans who pump in billions of dollars into the football coffers each year.

So now, televised college football games will be played differently and have alternate rules applied to them just because some network needs to stick in another Cialis commercial? Come on. Although some of the clock changes are good (like reverting to the old kickoff clock rules) most of them do nothing but allow for less game and just as many commercials before. The rulers of college football should stop trying to mask the problem of game length with butterfly BandAids when the wounds call for stitches.

If the clock continues to roll on first downs, like in the NFL, would we have memories like the one of Ryan Leaf rushing his Washington State Cougars to the line of scrimmage in the 1998 Rose Bowl versus Michigan? What if the clock kept running? Time would have run out long before the teams lined up for the last play. You would also see many more coaches throwing to the sidelines during the final two minutes. Wouldn't it look better to the scouts if your possible first-round QB had game tape showing his proficiency running an NFL-style two-minute drill? We'll see, some day.

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I rest my case

While the lateest fad is sweeping the college football web,CollegeFootballNews.com held a roundtable disscussion for national college football writers. Dennis Dodd of CBSsportsline.com was invited as one of the "experts" to weigh in on the questions. The roundtable took place on August 7.

Question: What one thing on the field would you change?

Dennis Dodd's answer: "Two things, sorry. More day games and less TV timeouts. When those new rules were instituted last year, TV didn't budge one inch. Therefore, we got less football instead of less commercials which make the games so long. Maybe I'm naive but to shave one 90 second break off a game doesn't seem like too much to ask."

Sound familiar? I guess that puts me on the same level as the "experts." See you all later for part two.

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Whistle While You Work, Part 1

Wouldn't it be great to take a ref's whistle to work with you every day?

Think about how great it would be to find yourself in the middle of the boss's bitching (you know, the kind of complaining when you're trying to get work done, but they are taking up your valuable time by telling you how your work attitude needs to improve, then wonder why you need to stay later that day just to get the story done) and you whip out the whistle to blow the play dead. Sometimes all it would take to make an employee happier would be to take a media time out once in a while. After all, they do it in college football practically everytime the game clock is stopped.

That takes me to my real topic - the constant debate over how clock rules should be altered to keep the games from lasting forever. There's really two arguments that come from this conversation. The first being my personal gripe with college football in general, that there are WAY too many commercial time outs during games. The other being the obvious solution, which is to adopt the NFL clock rules for college football.

In today's part of this two part post, we'll tackle the media timeouts mentioned above. I understand that money drives sports in modern times, but it has gotten to the point where college football games feel like breaks between commercial segments. It was only a few years ago that commercial breaks during broadcasts were few and far between, mainly due to the fact that it was a live telecast and anything could happen. Why would you want to risk missing a key argument on the sidelines between a coach and his star Cue-Bee? What if the commercial break runs over a few seconds and the viewers miss that 68-yard TD grab on the first play from scrimmage?

Well, just look no further than those fellas in red standing on the field. You know, those guys who look like refs, but have a 100-foot cord running from their headsets to the broadcast station on the sidelines. They are controling the game clock. You thought it was the officiating crew? HA!

NCAA officials, the media outlets and school officials claim that the games were entirely too long, sometimes lasting as much as 4-5 hours at a time. True, I completely agree. But if you want to cut down on the wasted time, don't pump out silly rules like starting the game clock on the kick off, or on the change of posession. Cut down on the freaking media timeouts!

The next time you're at a game, or someone you know is going to a game (hopefully I'll be able to report on this firsthand at the Florida Int'l game for all of you) watch to see how many times the teams are in the huddle, ready to break to the line of scrimmage, yet they have to wait for the media to give them the OK to start playing again. It's not the game itself, it's the people running the game that are the problems with wasted time. The only reason they're changing the clock rules (and stupid rules they are) is to allow the same amount of commercial time, while placing a BandAid on the bigger problem of very long football games.



In part 2, I'll explain why the adoption of NFL clock rules can only help college football, and why some call me dumb for thinking so.

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