The Turkey has returned from vacation with a bad back and a case of Covid-19. I’m sitting here watching some weird college football on a bye week Saturday. For one, I am watching LSU get clobbered early by South Carolina. FSU, the self-destructing surprise of the year, is currently losing to Memphis. I can think of nothing better than watching Brian Kelly and FSU lose on the same day. Well, unless Notre Dame also loses. However, Alabama is now looking like Alabama after Wisconsin drew first blood, and the Tide now leads 14-3. So, now, my mind turns to Penn State.
Two weeks ago while on the road, I watched the WVU game, which gave me cause for increased optimism about the season. I suppose I am as stupid as the rest of the self-proclaimed experts who immediately concluded that the Nittany Lions were hot shit this year. A week later, the tune changed, although Sanguinarians are intent on minimizing the mail-it-in performance of the defense against Bowling Green. Fortunately, I did not watch that abomination because I was involved in a meeting that Saturday, but I received regular updates via text messages. Each time I picked up my phone I uttered, “WTF!?!?”
Sanity Break
The boys need a sanity break, so the bye weeks arrived just in time. Bye weeks? In my mind, the game with Kent next week provides a second bye week, but on second thought, I better keep my mouth shut. I hope that the Lions decide to show up and not deliver another “WTF?!?!?!” performance. Poor Kent won only one game last year and the Golden Flashes have already lost their first two this year. Facing Tennessee tonight, they’ll likely be 0-3 going into next week’s tilt. But i would rather the Penn State defense believes that they’re facing that other Ohio team that sports scarlet and gray. (Who is scarlet.)
My reflections during this bye week are trending toward deflation of my expectations for this team unless and until I see some serious commitment to defense. I’ll ask those of you who watched the Bowling Green game to tell me what the hell went on there? I have read game reports, but I would prefer cynically honest observations from my astute readers. Several of the reports expressed great optimism for the offense. Is this another way of saying that the defense sucks?
Still #8?
The AP voters are in denial. They preserved Penn State’s initial #8 over-ranking from the pre-season poll. The Coaches’ Poll put PSU at #7. They’re setting up the Lions for a Brett Bielema upset in the Big Ten opener two weeks from today. If the Illini can dispatch CMU this week and if they dump overrated Nebraska next week, they’ll be pumped up and ready. What could be better than knocking off #8 on their Penn State’s turf? This, of course, is fanciful speculation, requiring significant astral alignment to be brought to fruition, borne of my eroded confidence in Penn State.
“You’re not as bad as you think you are when you lose,…”
“… and you’re not as good as you think you are when you win.” That famous Saint Joseph (Paterno) quote comes to mind when I vacillate between thinking that the team sucks and it doesn’t. Beat WVU on their turf: doesn’t suck. Train Bowling Green for three quarters at home: sucks. So, wherever we left off is the direction my thinking inertia pushes me. That just paints me as a fair-weather fan, but you know better. I’ll follow the Nittany Lions whether they suck or not, which is validated by my history, which certainly includes (cue minor-key cello) THE DARK YEARS.
With two games now played, would any of you like to comment regarding adjusted expectations for the year, or do you believe that we have not yet seen a significantly large sample?
Now, back to coddling my Covid. (Take that whichever way you want).
I’ll be back mid-week with my further thoughts about Kent.
