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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Phase Reversal in Victory over Temple

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Lions win first half, then lose second half with Temple

Our Nittany Lions (2-1) exacted revenge upon Temple (1-2) on a nice day in St. Joe Memorial Stadium at Beaver, where the stands were noticeably far short of being packed to the rafters. The final score was 34-27, and it avenged last year’s loss to the Owls in Philly.

The Lions, who normally sleepwalk through the first half of noon kickoff games, must have had an early morning wake-up call from James Franklin, as they appeared alert and awake from the git-go. However, after emerging from the locker room at halftime with a 24-17 lead, Penn State allowed the mighty Owls to hang around and be in it until the end. Temple outscored Penn State in the second half 17-13. So the early morning wake-up apparently made them sleepyheads when the second half rolled around. No one would have or did, in fact, predict this phase reversal. [Read more…]

Owls’ Meat, Birdivorous Lions

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Nittany Lions (1-1) host Temple Owls (1-1)

Owls’ meat will be served up in large doses at St. Joe Memorial Stadium at Beaver on Saturday, along with a controversial side dish of St. Joe memorializing. The latter has detracted somewhat from the majesty of this in-state rivalry clash as opposing sides square off, spout off, and generally jack off.

Temple OwlsIf people want to commemorate St. Joe’s mythical 50th anniversary, so what? I know that the opposition believes that we all should move on and put the embarrassment of the past five years (and more that was kept under wraps) behind us. But hell, it’s a fucking football game and lionizing a formerly revered football coach is all that’s going on here. No one is validating the Tickle Monster’s behavior or that of the administration, which might well have swept it under the rug (because that’s what universities do), or the that of the coach who might have been complicit in the subrugxation. This is about football — the well-known culture of football at Penn State — says the Turkey tongue-in-cheek. [Read more…]

Going to Temple

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Temple OwlsThis is going to be a relatively short article. (I can hear the sighs of relief out there as I write this.) I’ve had some demands on my time that have impinged on my Wednesday blogspace but a promise is a promise. I said I’d be back on Wednesday, and here I am.

I don’t think you’ll find many writers establishing great angles on this game that can make anything interesting of it. Perhaps the Al Golden angle will be beaten to death. Will the PSU coaches pull up their rampaging steed to thwart embarrassment of “one of their own?” Even if that thought enters their mind, this Turkey does not recommend it, inasmuch as the offense will take care of that by acting as usual. Oy! We’re in the red zone. Let us pray…

Another angle is that this is really a home game for Penn State, because of the 70,000 expected fans at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday, probably 50,000 of them will be rooting for the Blue and White.

My feeling is that our defense, which has become shaky of late, will be most assuredly up to the task of handling Temple. The Owls (3-6) are ranked #107 and #63 in rushing and passing offense, respectively. They’re #108 in scoring offense with an average of just over 18 ppg primarily against MAC opponents. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions rank #12 in total defense. They should throttle the Owls until midway through the third quarter, when the bench begins to be emptied. It’s even worse for Temple than it looks, because they’ve lost their star quarterback, Adam DiMichele, for the season. His replacement, Vaughn Charlton, is known to  be quite immobile.

Things are more even, as one would expect, when the Penn State offense has the ball. The mediocre PSU offense is ranked #56, while Temple is ranked #55 in total defense. Looking at these stats is somewhat deceptive, as Temple ranks #77 in rushing defense whereas the Nittany Lions rank #30 in rushing offense. The Lions should be able to run on these Owls all day long. Remarkably, Penn State is #76 in passing offense versus Temple’s #28, a flip-flop vis-a-vis the running situation.

This Turkey is of the opinion that Joe Paterno and his boys will not want to put the big hurt on Temple. I’m looking for a boring ground game from the Lions and a BBDB defense that can give us the usual scares. I couple of screwups here and there with penalties, turnovers, and red zone ineptitude in general can turn this presumably easy win into a nightmare, by which I mean that the game will not be decided by the second quarter. I am hoping that the Lions open it up early and grab a quick lead, but my fear is that they’ll come out with the intent of grinding it out and revert to beginning of season form, in which they don’t get started until the second quarter.

We’ll be seeing a plethora of clean jerseys in this one if Penn State can jump out to an early lead. The risk there is that Temple will hang around the entire game. I don’t expect starters to be playing very much in the second half. Save them for the all-important Moo U. game, which could mean the difference between the Valero Alamo Bowl and the Champ’s Sports Bowl. (BFD!)

The gambling line is 24 points, with Penn State favored, and the over/under at this time is 46.5. If the money votes are accurate, it would point to about a 35-12 Nittany Lions win.

This brings us to the Official Turkey Poop Prediction for this week. I think Temple will be held to three points in the first half, while the Lions rack up 27. In the second half, the PSU defense will loosen up, and the offensive play calling will grow more conservative. Temple could well win the second half, but they won’t. Alas, it will be hard for them to surmount the first half deficit. Penn State 44, Temple 13.