Archives for 2019

Minnesota 31, Penn State 26

Was it “that dullard look”?

Was it failure to execute?

Was it bad coaching?

I’ll tell you what it wasn’t. What I don’t want to hear about is bad officiating. If it’s bad, it’s bad, but excuses like that are for losers. ????? ???? ????? Whiners who use such excuses conveniently forget the bad calls, missed calls, and non-calls that go in their homeboys’ favor, too. It’s part of the game, no matter how we try to scientificalize the process of officiating, which I think is drudgerously ruining the damn game. ??? ???? ??????

Penn State came out flat and sucked on both sides of the ball. The better team won, and that’s that. ???? ????? Go Rodents! You have my respect.

Now it’s back to Beaver Stadium and bring on Indiana. The team psyche better rebound.

Turkey out.

(And you thought Wisconsin had a big O-Line…)

Oh yeah? Well take this: a 6’9″, 400 lb tackle and the guy next to him is 6’5″, 350. According to James Franklin, Minnesota has the biggest offensive line in the country including the NFL.

Now, that can punish a defense, particularly if the possessor of such a behemoth O-line happens to control IITOP (Increasingly Irrelevant Time of Possession). As if that’s not enough, Antonio Shelton’s suspension for a rather egregious and unneccessary unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for spitting in the direction of a Moo U. player leaves a hole in the middle of the Lions’ defensive line. They’ll be light one major piece for the entire game.

Penn State will have to deal with those realities, along with the early wake-up call of an 11 AM CT kickoff when the #5 Nittany Lions (8-0, 5-0) line up against the #13 Minnesota Auric Rodents, who possess an identical record. The Rodents will be bolstered by the news that their highly successful coach, P. J. Fleck, has signed a new seven-year contract subject to approval by the Board of Regents. But that happened to Franklin last year and we see how that has turned out. (I’m not sure what I meant by that). Anyhow, P. J. Flyspeck has the full faith of Goldengopherhood in the Land of the Frozen North, as it were. Put that in your pipe and freeze it!

[Read more…]

#6 Penn State 28, Moo U. 7

When do I start believing in these guys, who once again had an angel on their shoulder in the rain in East Lansing? Should my conclusion be that the rest of the Big Ten sucks except perhaps for Ohio State? Maybe the Schmuckeyes suck, too, only less. I’m so confused.

The Lions didn’t play exceptionally well, but it was good enough to win. They jumped out to an early lead. They took care of the ball under adverse conditions. They took advantage of turnovers. They ran by committee. Yet I damn near fell asleep (again) in the third quarter, which was decidedly not unexciting. ???? ???? ??????? ??? ????? And then, it seemed to drag on forever. Perhaps it’s my beta-blocker.

[Read more…]