Hype begins to build for Lions' October gauntlet

While other places have probably tackled this issue, the York Daily Record is the first one--that I know of--that's dedicated a whole story on Penn State's rough October schedule. Road games at Purdue and Wisconsin, then home for Michigan, followed up by a visit to Ohio State isn't a stretch any team would want to navigate. In Frank Bodani's mind, October will be make or break for Penn State's conference and national title hopes. I'd have to agree.

"Playing at Purdue will be difficult as always, but there are no excuses for failing there. Same for breaking the curse against Michigan, particularly since the game will be played at Beaver Stadium, and the Wolverines could be shaky with a new coaching staff, a new offense and a new quarterback.

But 8 p.m. kickoffs in Madison and Columbus with the Wolverines in the middle?

It's difficult seeing the Lions winning at night in delirious Camp Randall Stadium or in Columbus, where they have lost all seven times since joining the Big Ten.

The key for Penn State and its own new quarterback will be damage control. A 3-1 October would be saluted, a 2-2 month very acceptable."

If Penn State comes out of October at 8-1, you'll start to hear talk of a BCS bowl bid. I'm not saying the Lions could actually make it to that record after the first nine games. It's likely Penn State will sit at a comfortable 7-2, which I'd have no problem with.

However, the only game in October which history is completely against Penn State is the trip to Columbus. The Lions beat Wisconsin in Madison before, and has taken down Michigan in Beaver Stadium. Purdue isn't good enough to beat Penn State this season, and the September opponents don't pose as much of a threat as they'd like us to believe. I'm not going to make any official predictions yet, but I like where Penn State is, going into 2008.

*Note: Mike at BSD also had a good write-up on this Daily Record article--NINE HOURS (cough, cough) AFTER I churned out the first post here about the same article. (COUGH!)