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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Nothing to Bitch About!

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Wow, boys and girls! What a great game to stop a cynical Turkey in his tracks! Other than the first drive, this normally curmudgeonly and foul fowl could find nothing to pick on the entire night—and that includes coaching—as the Nittany Lions thoroughly thrashed, if not trashed, the Wisconsin Badgers 48-7 on their home turf. This morning, we’re seeing a lot of sportswriters’ clichés to describe the Badgers’ denouement; however, none could hold a candle to that which was offered by Artificially Sweetened in a text message to me during the game: “I’m watching the Badger creamation [sic]…”—a very apt description from my neologistical protégé.

I mentioned the coaching in my introductory paragraph. (If you can have a paragraph, can you have a parascope? Is the science of writing inscribing paragraphs called paracology? Enquiring minds want to know, but I digress.) Coaching—the bane of Penn State’s road performance for more years than this Turkey wishes to remember—was superb. Wisconsin’s defensive game plan appeared to anticipate Paterno Sphincter Mode. They did what they could to shut down the run, and they were somewhat effective. Finally showing some confidence in his offense, old Joe countered by opening up the passing game. With as many weapons as this team has, the Badgers never knew what hit them. They were down 17-0 before they could even work up a good cheese fart. It was just total annihilation.

The home crowd was never a factor, quietly sulking for most of the game. At The Cave, home theater of the Nittany Turkey and the Mouse Who Ate Xanax, there were many conjectures about which of the featured Badgers and Badgerettes would or would not get laid last night. Most of the worried looking, morose dweebs were not going to get any. We envisioned them crying in their 3.2 beer all night.

While PSU’s potent offense led by Daryll Clark has been the story all season, there have been doubts about the defense. In this game, the defense performed well, forcing four turnovers and holding Wisconsin to only 14 first downs for the game.

You can read all the detailed stats and play-by-play elsewhere. Suffice to say that the Badgers scored their lone touchdown in the second quarter and never got their heads above water. They could have gone home at halftime and been ahead of the game. Anyhow, by now, you know all about the game, so let’s talk here.

I was wrong about the way I thought this game would progress. I predicted PSU would win 23-20. That was predicated on two notions this Turkey held in his birdbrain. First, I felt that Paterno would put the clamps of conservatism on this important road game, playing “not to lose” instead of playing to win. Second, I felt that the PSU defense was not up to the task of shutting down the Wisconsin offense.

On each of the past two occasions on which the Nittany Lions had traveled to Camp Randall, they put a total of three big points on the scoreboard. Last week, at Purdue, they were able to manage only 20 points against one of the worst defenses known to modern man. Given the typical Paterno game plan, who would have thought that Joe would suddenly develop confidence in his offense and turn them loose? I was cringing all week thinking that Joe was developing a game plan in which the punter was regarded as an offensive weapon. Joe surprised me rather pleasantly, and I’m sure he surprised Brett Bielema, too, only not very pleasantly on his end! So there you have it. A 36 year-old upstart outcoached by an old master who is going on 82.

I thought that the Penn State defense could shut down P. J. Hill, as they have shown they can do in the past. However, selling out to protect the run is not a good thing if the opponents have a passing game. I feared that Wisconsin, especially with Travis Beckum being healthy, would be able to exploit the sell-out. They couldn’t, and the Penn State secondary deserves a lot of credit for making it that way.

Even the kickoffs and kickoff coverage were masterfully executed. Kelly kicked several times into the end zone. His leg seems to be getting stronger as the season progresses. Good coverage kept Bucky hemmed in, cowering in his badger hole much of the day.

The officiating was pretty strange. Not that I thought they particularly implemented bias one way or the other, but some obvious instances of holding that were visible to customers in the cheap nosebleed seats were left unpenalized. Penn State was penalized only once for seven yards, while Wisconsin had eight penalties for 72 yards. So, I’m not bitching. Much.

Paterno has done some bobbing and weaving, to be sure. He sure as hell made us all believe that he would play his typical, constipated road game. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I wonder what is in store for us at the Horseshoe on October 25th! What a game that is setting up to be. But let us not get ahead of ourselves. Major nemesis Michigan looms next week.

The bloom is off the Michigan rose this year. Their latest ignominious defeat was at the hands of MAC power Toledo, 13-10. Michigan had heretofore never lost to a MAC team. The Wolverines are quickly becoming irrelevant, although they still could theoretically win the Big Ten title by winning out from here. However, that ain’t likely, as they have yet to play the three conference leaders, Penn State, Michigan State, and Ohio State, each 3-0 in the Big Ten.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin joins the laggards of the Big Ten at 0-3. A decent bowl game is already out of reach for the Badgers, who at the outset of the season were everyone’s choice to be second best in the conference.

While Penn State was burying Wisconsin, them ol’ #11 Gators was busy knocking the snot out of da #4 Bayou Bengals, #17 OK State handled #3 Mizzou, and #5 Texas whipped #1 Oklahoma, creating a shake-up in the Top Five and opening the door for the Nittany Lions to be sucked into the vacuum created by the free fall of Oklahoma, Missouri, and LSU from the unbeaten ranks. #2 Alabama had the week off. So, the polls came out this morning, and Penn State is #3.

OK, look, folks. The polls still don’t mean much at this juncture. Give it another month and they might. In the meanwhile, let’s not put any BCS speculation carts before any on-field performance horses, OK? (Don’t you love dorks who finish their sentences with “OK?” They’re usually receptionists in doctors’ offices. For example, “The doctor has several patients before you [even though you arrived on time] so it will be a little while, OK?” NO, GODDAMNIT! IT’S NOT OK! Usually, you think it but you don’t say it. You know your place. They know you know. They’ve got you by the balls. But I digress.) Anyhow, let’s not get into these crapola bar room discussions that center around whether an undefeated Big Ten team could go to the Still Somewhat Mythical National Championship (SSMNC) game if there were a once defeated Big Twelve or SEC team contending for that slot. ESPN has been beating this one to death for a couple of weeks now. We all know that the Big Twelve and SEC have conference championship games and that 13th game makes it damn difficult for any team in those conferences to get through a season undefeated. SOME of us believe that the competition is stronger in both of those conferences than in the Big Ten. (This Turkey happens to believe that, at least for now.) Anyhow, there is a lot of football to be played yet for PSU, so why waste our time talking about things that might not even be an issue, and if they do become so, there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it, anyway.

Like my digressions? I’m crazy, you know. I once had a girlfriend who uttered the very same line in a matter-of-fact fashion when I took her for a walk on the beach after dinner. “I’m crazy, you know,” she said. She was and still is. It has been five years since I’ve seen her, but once in a while we exchange e-mails. I got one from her last night during the game. It said, “I live in kind of [a] convent now. I am telling you that because I think it will give you a smile.” Get thee to a nunnery! Good old Ophelia. She’s bonkers and so am I. Perhaps I belong in a convent, too. But I digress.

Here’s the deal. I’m going up to Homecoming. I’ll leave on Wednesday afternoon and will be gone for about a week. I might or might not get around to writing a preview of the Michigan game, but I will give it the old college try. If you make it to the game, I’ll be sitting in the club seats, second row from the top, right behind the goal posts. Look for the red wattles and the large beak.

Penn State will go into that game the overwhelming favorites with probably a wider spread than at any time ever in the past against Michigan. Michigan sure looks dreadful at this point, don’t they?

I’m fading out here.

Good night.

Badger Badger Badger

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It’s that great time of the fall football season when we get to direct you to one of our most favoritest web sites of all time. This just goes to show you what simple-minded fun this Turkey appreciates. This site evokes some very pleasant mammaries, as I recall some wilderness hikes with Artificially Sweetened in which the only communication was a recitation of the chanting, moaning, neurotic sound track of that cartoon work of creative genius. It has nothing to do with football at all. It is what it is. It is all good, cartoonologically speaking, that is.

So, why am I here? Oh, yes—I’m supposed to talk about the Wisconsin game. So that I shall do forthwith, already.

The Wisconsin Badgers (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) play host to our Nittany Lions (6-0, 2-0) at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday in prime time on ESPN. Fortunately, there’s a good crew of announcers including Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge, not to mention one of the better sideline blondes, Holly Rowe, so zbeard and I won’t have to engage in our traditional sound replacement procedure in which we inject the radio broadcast by the ever frenetic and loquacious Steve Jones and the laconic Jack ham into the home theatre system to make it seem like the low-fi, digitally compressed AM radio sound is emanating from my expensive big screen TV, requiring thousands of dollars worth of high fidelity preamps and amps to enact this distorted sonic ruse. Sometimes, though, there is no choice. The Big Ten network typically gives us no choice. ESPN sometimes gives us no choice, especially when Pam Ward is doing the broadcast. Finally, we must always have loudmouthed Steve and speech challenged Jack ready if ESPN/ABC/Mickey decide to pull the plug on one of our blowouts to broadcast the end of another blowout. We must be ever vigilant and quick to react.

Sound replacement most definitely would be necessary if Brent Musberger and Kirk Herbstreit were to be occupying the broadcast booth on Saturday night. Fortunately, they are safely collecting pine splinters this week as ABC covers NASCAR that night. Without needing the aforementioned sound injection, the idle hands time will enable this Turkey to concentrate more on the game than on synchronizing sound and picture via DVR manipulation. It will also facilitate being able to switch over to watch LSU-Florida and OK State- Missouri during the frequent, obnoxiously lengthy commercial breaks and allow this Turkey to take his time cooking his culinary masterpiece during halftime break, as it will now be possible to pause the DVR. This newfound freedom opens up all sorts of possibilities, as it were.

Besides, we’ll undoubtedly want to hear from Blackledge about where and on what he pigged out in Madison. Last year Blackledge started his now famous football food reviews, which became a regular feature of the Saturday football broadcasts in which he is involved. He even visited State College’s own New College Diner last year, and of course, highlighted the “grilled stickies,” those obnoxiously decadent, gooily glutenous breakfast treats that we all got fat on and developed diabetes eating during our time at Penn State. Blackledge travels around in a Maddenesque mobile home so he can get a feel for the local flavors and hot spots. Most of the cuisinolographic fare he lauds is high-calorie, high-cholesterol crap. Last week, he had some kind of huge eggs and cheese omelet thing in Madison, to which Mike Patrick, who had undergone bypass surgery a few years back, made an allusion to Blackledge’s arteries. Perhaps, being back in Madison again this week, he’ll give his cardiovascular system a rest and eat something wholesome. He seems to handle it well, though. Todd doesn’t appear to be getting much fatter than he was in 1982 when he and the Nittany Lions whipped Herschel Walker & Company in the Sugar Bowl for PSU’s first National Championship.

Come to think of it, why would ESPN send Patrick, Blackledge, and Rowe to Madison two weeks in a row? Maybe they put the broadcast crew up in a cheap waterbed motel to save money. I bet those guys have been cheesed to near death by now.

But I digress.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. Wisconsin.

The Badgers have been somewhat disappointing this year. Some of that disappointmentship was due to Travis Beckum’s injury, but essentially, they lost a couple of close games to Michigan and Ohio State the past two weeks. Still, they were expected to be second-best in the Big Ten this year and it doesn’t look like they’re going to be. Last year when they came to Beaver Stadium the Badgers were ranked #19 and they went down big time, 38-7. The Nittany Lions held one of the best runners in the conference, P. J. Hill, to 70 yards. That was last year, though, and that was at Beaver Stadium. By virtue of their defeat by Ohio State, the Badgers are now unranked, but they will be playing at home at Camp Randall Stadium and they will be pissed off over their crappy start in the Big Ten. The #6 ranked Nittany Lions are coming off a 20-6 win over unranked Purdue in which a conservative offensive game plan was painfully evident. Why painful? Because it portends more anal retentiveness in game plans for the tough road games ahead.

Last year, with blind idiot savant quarterback, Anthony Morelli, Paterno opened up the game plan, peppering Wisconsin’s secondary with deep passes. On the road, however, he clamps off the rectum and keeps the passes short and safe, and the runs inside instead of out. I know you’re sick and tired of hearing about “Sphincter Mode,” a term invented by Bob Flounders or David Jones of the Harrisburg Patriot-News. ( I forget which of them actually wrote it, but it doesn’t matter as they’re essentially Flounders-Jones in my mind. Coupla cynical bastards, just like your old Turkey.) Nevertheless, as long as it remains a reality of the conduct of away games, it is a prime suspect in the abysmally ineffectual road record against ranked opponents. So, this Turkey continues to cajole, to beg, to plead with the stubborn Paterno to open it the hell up! Let Sonny Boy Jay unleash that mighty Spread HD! We saw what even a dick like Morelli could do against Wisconsin last year with the long ball. Let’s jump out to an early lead and have them playing catch-up for a change. Please, Joe, none of that sit-out-the-first-quarter-with-three-and-outs-while-the-opponent-scores-twice crap! I’d rather listen to Brent Woody Musberger’s commentary or sit for three hours with my thumbs up my ass listening to our most favoritest web site than to go through yet another play-not-to-lose performance. Open it the hell up!

P. J. Hill is back again this year. It seems as if he’s been there long enough to be Professor Emeritus, but he’s only a junior. He’s carried the ball 108 times for 512 yards thus far this year, an average of 4.7 ypc. However, he’s not the only dangerous runner in Wisconsin’s backfield. Newbie redshirt freshman John Clay was impressive against OSU, and he gets the ball a lot, too. He has averaged 6.7 ypc. Whereas Hill is a 5’10”, 236 lb bowling ball, clay is a huge, muscular 6’2″, 237. As if that’s not enough, frequently used speedy sophomore Zach Brown can burn you on the outside. The Penn State defense is going to have to be at least as good against the run as they were last week against Purdue, when they shut down Kory Sheets.

The quarterback position has been a problem for the Badgers this year. Senior Allan Evridge hasn’t lived up to expectations as his quarterback rating has steadily declined through the year. He’s had four interceptions thus far, including two disastrous ones against Michigan and another against Ohio State. Wisconsin head coach Brett Bielema has stated that Evridge will start on Saturday, but he hinted that if Evridge screws up, he might be pulled in favor of junior backup Dustin Sherer. Sherer has only thrown two passes this year, but the bright side for Wisconsin is that he’s made two completions for 28 yards. He did not play against Michigan or Ohio State.

As you might recall, Wisconsin has senior Travis Beckum, a tight end sized beast who is used like a wide receiver, but still lines up at tight end. Due to injury, Beckum did not play the first two games this year, but the 6’4″, 235 lb behemoth is back. In the Ohio State game, he had six receptions for sixty yards. Last year, Beckum wound up just short of 1000 yards. Keep an eye on #9. He’ll figure in a lot of plays. He’ll also figure strongly in the NFL Draft next spring.

The remainder of Wisconsin’s young receiving corps is big and solid. Their problem has been in not having a stud quarterback like John Stocco to throw to them. Last year, 6’5″ Kyle Jefferson burned us with six receptions for 124 yards—as a freshman. This year, he’s back as a sophomore; he had two receptions against Ohio State, one of them a 35-yarder. The leading receiver, sophomore David Gilreath, has 14 receptions for the year. Junior Garret Graham is a big 6’4″, 235 lb whose body size will give PSUs secondary fits. Size is also a forte for sophomore Lance Kendricks. He’s 6’4″ – 227 lbs. These guys will be a handful for Davis, Sargent, Wallace, Scirrotto, Rubin, and Astorino. It is fortunate that Stocco is long gone, or it would be worse.

So, once again, the defense better show up. Wisconsin can pound Penn State’s depleted defensive line and linebackers with an incessant running attack behind a huge and effective offensive line, wearing their asses down and opening up the pass. Their big receivers will tax the back four. Throw in Beckum and the need to cover him with linebackers, and the defense will have a tiring day, much subsequent whirlpool time, and they can be expected to suffer at least a couple of costly lapses.

Meanwhile, Penn State has some injury issues hanging over from last week, but they might not be as bad as originally anticipated. Both Mickey Shuler and Jordan Norwood are listed as probable for Saturday.

As for Wisconsin’s defense, they held Ohio State to 17 first downs and a total of 327 yards in their 20-17 loss, but they couldn’t handle Beanie Wells, who ran for 168 yards. They gave up only 144 yards passing to the Buckeyes, intercepting Terrelle Pryor once. It is this Turkey’s hope that PSU’s offensive line will continue their solid performance, allowing Evan Royster to ring up some Beaniesque numbers. I just hope that if we see some success in the running offense, Paterno doesn’t completely shitcan the passing game in favor of the ground game. I have to believe that the temptation to do so is always there in the back of his mind when playing in someone else’s stadium.

Let us hope that we see a better damn performance than we did the last time the Nittany Lions traveled to Camp Randall. In that 2006 game, offensive anemia was in evidence and Paterno’s leg got broken on the sidelines. No, we don’t need nonna dat shit! Now, we have the Spread HD and just the right quarterback to run it. The Dow is tanking, we might get a socialist government, and this Turkey increasingly wants to find comfort in small things. One small thing I would take great comfort in, before I have to sell my big-screen plasma TV and the house it sits in, would be a big win against Wisconsin. So, open up that damn Spread HD and beat the crap out of these Badgers.

It ain’t going to be easy. Wisconsin sure as hell does not want to start off with an 0-3 Big Ten record. They’re at home and they’re pissed off. This has all the earmarks of a grueling game. Once again, I’ll beat a dead horse. We need four quarters of football from the Nittany Lions, on both sides of the ball.

These next three games against Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio State are the season. No more “tests.” These will be tough, smashmouth football games. It all starts at Camp Randall on Saturday night. You eternal optimists out there want a run at the still somewhat mythical national championship (SSMNC)? Then you better hope these Lions play ’em like they mean it, one at a time, all four quarters, with no first quarter lapses and no bridling of its potent offense. That is the way it worked for them in 1994 and that is the only way it can work now. We’ve already got dicks like ESPN’s Craig James posing season ending scenarios with Penn State finishing undefeated but with once-beaten SEC teams being favored to play for the SSMNC game instead because he thinks the Big Ten is a much weaker conference. He’s not alone in that line of thinking. While James is a total asshole and a long-time Penn State hater, you can be certain that with one loss Penn State will be completely out of the national championship picture—just as they would have been if they had lost that game in Illinois in 1994. Accordingly, even though the SSMNC game is still a serious longshot, they need to be able to open up the offense and play relentlessly—they need to put points on the board and they need to impress pollsters. No matter how scientific the BCS rankings purport to be, there is still a human element—a lot of Craig Jameses out there. So, Penn State has to consider that it is in a competition in which the rules are different. It is no longer good enough to win all one’s games. One has to win convincingly. If one’s conference is regarded as weak, such as the WAC typically is, one can indeed go undefeated and still not make enough of an impression to rise to the top of the BCE. So, the Nittany Lions will absolutely have to open the gates and let the bulls charge. Run up the score. Play to win, instead of not to lose. The defense might be far from perfect and the Lions might not be able to cover kickoffs worth a shit, but there is no doubt that the Spread HD offense is potent enough to put lots of points on the board if it is allowed to. In words often attributed to the late, great Vince Lombardi, “The best defense is a good offense.” We don’t need to see any 6-4 road games like the Iowa game of a few years back. Make those scoreboard numbers spin like a lathe, damnit, boys! Prove yourselves worthy of playing in that SSMNC game.

OK, so now, the weekly feature that most of you have been waiting for, and almost no one agrees with. Yes, friends, it’s time for the Official Turkey Poop Prediction. What is a Turkey to do? This is the Big Ten game of the week, and the gamblers have been favoring Penn State. I suppose, on the strength of Penn State’s record thus far and the humongous stats they’ve generated, it is reasonable that they should be favored. However, Wisconsin is pissed off and if they lose this one they will have lost two home games on two straight weeks, and three games overall in three straight weeks. If that ain’t a reason for a proud bunch of guys and a feisty young coach to be ornery and ready to kick some serious ass, I don’t know what is. So, these Nittany Lions better be ready and better play their asses off. The current spread is 6 and the over/under is 47. That suggests a final score of roughly 26.373 to 20.29836. Penn State just barely beat the 13.5 point spread last week in its 20-6 victory over Purdue. This week, they’re not going to beat the spread unless they open up the game plan. I don’t think they will. Still, I’m going with Penn State, 23-20.

Lackluster day for offense; great day for defense!

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It is sad to this Turkey that in Joe Tiller’s final year of coaching the Purdue Boilermakers, the fans in West Lafayette are so indifferent as to leave large expanses of the stadium unfilled, lending a new meaning to their purloined concept of a “black-out.” Furthermore, it seemed apparent that Purdue played like they were going to lose and, in fact, threw in the towel in the fourth quarter when the outcome was still in doubt in everyone’s minds but their own.

On this day in West Lafayette, the Nittany Lions (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten) stretched their thus far undefeated streak a week further, surmounting the hapless and inept Boilermakers (2-3, 0-1 Big Ten) 20-6 and beating the 13.5 point spread by the slimmest of margins. They needed Purdue’s help to bring that off. Particularly ineffectual was Boilermaker freshman place kicker Chris Summers, who missed two field goals and an extra point, in other words all the kicks he attempted.

Evan Royster had a career day, rolling up 141 yards against Purdue’s inept defense. Had the game plan been less sphincteresque, he could have probably had twice that many. Instead, Paterno Road Mode decried that Royster would have to run up the gut repeatedly, even though Purdue’s defense had sold out to protect just that.

Once again, it appeared as if Penn State didn’t wake up until the second quarter. I hope these guys get over that soon! It is one thing to fall asleep against Temple, while it is quite another to fall asleep against Wisconsin, Michigan, or Ohio State. Be warned, guys! You dig a hole for yourselves with the best of the Big Ten and you might not climb out.

The Nittany Lion passing game consisted of short, sphincteristic passes. The deep ball was not in evidence at all. Daryll Clark was not as sharp as usual. This Turkey does not know whether or not to blame Clark for some of his sideline throws that went incomplete. He seemed to be throwing way to the outside of his receivers such that the ball would have to be caught outside the field of play with at least one foot in bounds. A couple of these would have required the services of Yao Ming, but when last I checked, the NBA Houston Rocket center was not moonlighting at Penn State. Methinks, though, that coaching might have been more to blame than Clark, who went 18-26 with no touchdowns or interceptions. The “better incomplete than intercepted” philosophy seemed to apply. Risk taking was minimal in this game, boys and girls.

The turf conditions were downright crappy. Players on both teams were slipping and falling. Perhaps some of the constipated game plan resulted from this. Huge divots appeared all over the field, as time after time, Royster and Green would try to cut and wind up on their ass. Here’s a snippet about that from FOS:

The Penn State players slipping all over the place, yet the field was wet? There was no rain in the area the day before the game nor Saturday. Royster and backup tailback Stephfon Green both changed cleats at halftime and seemed to have better footing from that point. Interestingly, while writers where doing their jobs in the press box after the game, sprinkler heads came up and began spraying the field with more water.

What I want to know, as I mentioned to zbeard during the game after having seen enough of this crap, is why Penn State’s Athletic Footwear Coach did not step in to make a cleat change sooner. I mean, come on, with all the big bucks Nike pays to the program for advertising, you’d think there would be enough of a variety of shoes to handle any turf conditions. So, why wait until halftime? Is that when the bell rings for getting thumbs out of asses?

Let’s give credit where it is due—in fact, long overdue. Josh Hull had a great day on defense, logging 11 tackles. After taking much heat from blogboys and mainstream press media alike all season and being defended as a “good football player” in last Tuesday’s press conference by his head coach, Josh finally had a great day and proved the old man right. Hats off to Hull. We hope you show up again next week to manhandle Wisconsin’s running tandem.

The PSU defense sparkled all over, although Purdue, as expected, was able to drive on them. Nevertheless, the Boilermakers were kept out of the end zone until the game was nearly over. Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter, who has been throwing 42 passes per game went 13-22 with no touchdowns and one ugly interception that resulted in Tiller pulling him in favor of Joey Elliott, who was able to move his team effectively down the field. But by then, it was too late.

The defensive line put pressure on Painter and contained the Purdue running game for the most part. Vaunted senior running back Kory Sheets, who was playing in the aftermath of a slight shoulder separation suffered in the Notre Dame game, was held to 59 yards on 18 carries.

On special teams, the Lions have improved their kickoff coverage measurably. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition! Purdue had only 51 yards total for the three kicks they returned.

A couple of noteworthy injuries occurred in the second half. In this situation, the injured person could hire birth injury attorneys who can give legal counseling and represent their interests.Two tight ends, Andrew Quarless and Mickey Shuler, were both hurt. Their status is presently unknown. Meanwhile, Jordan Norwood, still nursing a hamstring injury, did not play. If you need help for denied social security disability claim, you can click here and find out! And to get personal injury and car accident injury claims, you can contact experienced attorneys from a reputed law firm.

This Turkey is happy about a few things. First and foremost, it is good to know that the defense is not as shaky as I thought it might be and that Hull will be a contributor rather than a detractor. Second, I think that a game like this can serve to be instructive and inspirational—I hope for the coaches as well as the team. And finally, as the Nittany Lions head to Camp Randall, they now have a close Big Ten game under their belts, reinforcing the need to come to play—every down.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Big Ten, #14 Ohio State (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) squeaked past #18 Wisconsin (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten), 20-17. Penn State will travel to Camp Randall Saturday to face a pissed off buncha Badgers, and we’ll be talking about that later in the week. You’ll also be pleased to note that Illinois (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) and The Juiceroo whipped the snot out of Rich Rodriguez’ Michigan (2-3, 1-1 Big Ten), 45-20. The Lions beat Illinois convincingly last week and will face the Wolverines for their Homecoming game in Beaver Stadium in two weeks.

Head coach Joe Paterno remains one ahead of FSU’s Bobby Bowden in career wins, as the Seminoles edged Miami in a shoot-out a Pro Player Stadium, 41-39. Paterno coached the Purdue game from the press box because of his painfully injured leg, but he was able to hobble out onto the field at the game’s conclusion to shake hands with old friend Joe Tiller.

I wanted to dash this off before I go up to Gainesville for a day or so. I’ll be back later in the week to squawk about P. J. Hill, Travis Beckum, and the rest of those pesky Badgers.