OK, so by now you’ve heard that 10 guys, including some PSU football players, broke into an apartment on East College Avenue where a party was taking place and assaulted several of the fine, upstanding, beer swilling citizens attending said party.

(Run Up the Score sheds an interesting light on the subject, with some commentary that he captured before it was deleted elsewhere. While it could be bullshit, the commenter implicated Anthony Scirrotto in calling in his boys after an incident involving his girfriend and him earlier. )

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Well, one of our great hopes for the sadly deficient offensive line has bitten the dust. After weeks of speculation and Internet bullshit, the truth finally emerged from University Park—Antonio Logan-El has left the team. The highly touted five-star recruit is gone and won’t be coming back.

“Yes, it is true, I am done playing football at Penn State,” he said. “There is a chance that I go somewhere else to ball because I am a football player and I love the game. Things just didn’t go the way me and my family wanted.”

Yeah, well “me and my family” isn’t scholars—that’s for sure. But we don’t need grammarians. We need hired hands to build an offensive line. The brightest (OK, poor choice of words) of the prospects is out the door. Now what?

The Turkey will be leaving for a camping trip immediately after the Outback Bowl, which will deny me the opportunity to write detailed commentary on the entire game. Thus, I am here with observations about the first half.

First, we seem to have witnessed the maturation of Anthony Morelli—finally. He’s throwing passes crisply and efficiently. He’s getting rid of the ball when he has to. If THIS Morelli had played all year, it would have meant at least two more victories for PSU.

Tony Hunt is looking good.

Ed Johnson, the dick, once again is in trouble, suspended from this game for violating team rules. A leopard doesn’t change its spots…

…which brings us to the offensive line. They still can’t block worth a shit. Seems like our coaching brain trust is calling more rollouts, which a good idea when the pocket is short-lived or nonexistent.

The offensive drives have been impressive, but the first one fizzled, as the erratic Kevin Kelly once again missed a relatively easy 45-yarder. My thought was, “Here we go again!”

The defense has been reasonably good up front, with a couple of obvious lapses. Ed Johnson’s absence has hurt. However, we’re still seeing soft coverage at the corners and vestiges of the famous Sandusky prevent defense. Sean Lee screwed up big time on Tennessee’s 42-yard touchdown run at the end of the first half. He should have had Coker in the backfield. The sideline shot after the play showed a seated Lee, head bowed, appearing to be sucking his thumb in self-condemnation. The Vols were supposed to be able to beat us getting passes behind our corners; they weren’t supposed to be able to beat us with the run.

Tennessee incurred a roughing the passer penalty with 20 seconds left and the score at 10–10, giving Penn State an opportunity to take the lead at halftime, positioning the Lions at the 50 yard-line. Giving Kelly the ball for a 54-yard try was not what I wanted, but it was, um, close. (It ain’t horseshoes, man!)

So, the game continues apace, but I’ll have to hop off this train now. It is fitting that it is tied at halftime. I wish you all a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2007, and I’ll be back next week with some closing comments about this season.