The Nittany Turkey

Primarily about Penn State football, this is a tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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The Victors

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For the first time in 13 years, the #13 Nittany Lions (7-1, 3-1 Big Ten) took care of business in da Big House, annihilating the perennial nemesis Michigan Wolverines (5-3, 1-3 Big Ten) 35-10.

Daryll Clark had the kind of day we all knew he could have, throwing four touchdown passes while going 16-27 for 230 yards. Three of the four touchdown passes went to Graham Zug, who also had a breakout day. Meanwhile, the ground game was clicking, although Stephfon Green did not make the trip due to “an ankle.” Evan Royster powered the ball forward 20 times for 100 yards.

For his effort in leading Penn State to the big win, Daryll Clark was awarded Big Ten Player of the Week honors. Aside from his individual performance on the field, Clark’s leadership was a key factor in this game.

Say what you will about Michigan and its 1-3 Big Ten record, but winning in Michigan Stadium has been a rare event in the annals of Nittany Lions history. Make no mistake: this win was big spiritually. It provided renewed hope for a big New Year’s Day payday. It was a helluva confidence builder. ????? ????

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PSU-Michigan Game Day Notes

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Here are some game day rumblings:

  • Mark Snyder of The Detroit Free Press predicts that Penn State will beat the Wolverines convincingly, 30-20. He thinks that they will try to pound the ball up the middle with Brandon Minor, but will fail because of “the impressive front seven.” That will necessitate that Tate Forcier throws with a presumably healed shoulder. Interestingly enough Snyder says, “The DB to avoid is A.J. Wallace.” (A.J. made his mark in the Minnesota game after being largely absent for the first six games.) He also believes that Penn State will need to go to the air, as Evan Royster will have limited success against a stiffening rush defense.
  • Angelique S. Chengelis of The Detroit News thinks that senior defensive end Brandon Graham will be up to the challenge of containing the Lions’ offense. Responding to Evan Royster’s declaration that Penn State is the better team, Graham responded, “He’s just going to have to show it. They better come hard, because we’re coming.” (That was almost as brilliant a statement as Royster’s.) Chengelis also thinks that avoiding turnovers will be key: “This one is kind of obvious — limit or eliminate turnovers. No kidding. But if there’s precipitation today, and there is a slight chance, that clearly makes the field slick and the ball tough to handle. That aside, turnovers are what cost both teams in their losses to unbeaten Iowa, Penn State losing at home because of a sloppy fourth quarter, and Michigan losing the ball five times at Iowa. Michigan has now lost 14, three more than it has gained, but the Wolverines will have to be error-free today.”
  • From AnnArbor.com, a quote from Wolverines linebacker Stevie Brown demonstrates the muted swagger of the Rodriguez era at Michigan: “We just look at it as a game that we need to win and that we want to win. We don’t look at it like if we beat Penn State then we can say we’re part of an elite group in the Big Ten. We just know it’s another team on our schedule, it’s another team in the Big Ten and if we want to get where we want to get in the Big Ten we’ve got to beat all the teams.”
  • Courtney Ratkowiak of The Michigan Daily wrote, “The Wolverines started talking this week about how Saturday’s game is the start of their ‘second season.’ The last time they said this was before the Wisconsin game last year, and Michigan came back from a 19-0 halftime deficit to pull out the win.” Meanwhile, Andy Reid of the same publication wrote about Joe Paterno’s Michigan Stadium woes.
  • Meanwhile, Jay Paterno tweeted this: “Great message at church service: Are you living a life of fear or one of hope and confidence?” Perhaps he can pass this on to his Dad to see if he can relate it to the potential sphincterization of this game.
  • This Turkey thinks there’s a lot riding on this game for both teams. For Penn State, it’s still a longshot possibility to get into a BCS bowl and to get at least a piece of the Big Ten championship. For Michigan, bowl eligibility is at stake. I don’t think you’ll see either team leaving anything in the locker room.

A Time-Trip with the Lions

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This Turkey, a foul old fowl, occasionally takes a nostalgia trip back to his own Penn State days. Perhaps some of the others in my vast audience who are getting a little grey around the temples (or who have lost their feathers entirely) will be able to relate to some of the ancient history I present here.

I took lots of pictures back then. Although many have been lost through the years, I am fortunate to have stumbled upon a few. One of them in particular captured a Nittany Lions defensive play (a failure, alas) against Oregon on October 4, 1964. That picture is the inspiration behind this post.

It was the 15th annual Band Day at Beaver Stadium, with sixty bands from Pennsylvania high schools performing on that early fall day. A capacity crowd of 44,000+ was present to watch the 0-2 Nittany Lions battle their distant foe from the Pac-8 conference.

Bob Perry Hits a Deep One
Bob Berry Hits a Deep One

Here, you see the Nittany Lion defense being stretched by a deep pass from Ducks’ quarterback Bob Berry (#15) to flanker Steve Bunker (#88). (Click on the picture to enlarge it.) While that play did not hit pay dirt, it sent a message about the deep threat. After that, the Penn State defense dropped the safeties back to guard against the bomb, in the process making them susceptible to the option run, which Oregon head coach Len Casanova did not hesitate to employ.

The Lions probably would have won this one, if it were not for six fumbles lost. The game started out pretty well for the home team. Thanks to Berry’s only mistake of the day, a fumble late in the first period on the Penn State 26, which was recovered by All-America middle guard Glenn Ressler, PSU was able to keep it close in the first half. Two plays later, Ed Stuckrath ran it in from the two yard-line, and Penn State took a 7-6 lead into the locker room at halftime.

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