Blue & White Roundtable :: Big Ten opener

This week's BWRT is brought to you by the fine folks at TNL.

The usually unusual suspects:
There is No Name on My Jersey
Tangled Up in White and Blue
Y. F. Yurasko
Happy Hour Valley
Black Shoe Diaries
The Nittany Line
We Want the Lion
Zombie Nation
Nittany Whiteout

*warning - painfully obvious question alert* Penn State gets its first ‘real’ test this weekend facing a ranked opponent when the Fighting [None-Offensive-Mascot]s come to town. Gaze into your crystal ball and give us a short description on how Saturday night’s events will unfold. Or if you’re lazy just fire up NCAA 2009 and tell us what the Xbox thinks.

ZN: I'm not going into specifics, as that's why we all do our previews. What I will say is that Penn State will be fired up in front of a sell-out, drunken crowd. The offense will roll, but the defense might give up a few too many first downs. No one will care in the end though, as Penn State's signature 'bend, but don't break' style will hold true.

Saturday’s game is on the big stage at 8:00 with most of the football world watching. It’s a white out and Penn State is favored by two scores (as of Monday). Is this a lose-lose situation (the only way they could look good is by winning big) for Penn State or golden opportunity to show the world what the Spread HD is all about?

ZN: It's only a lose-lose if Penn State plays like crap. If Penn State plays a clean, strong game against a good team, it will look like a good win regardless of the score. It's all up to the defense to hold down the Illini. That's what people will look at most in the box score: How many did PSU's defense give up?

Now that all the fluff questions are out of the way do Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma get significant playing time?

ZN: Not significant, if at all. Penn State's defensive line has been playing lights-out, making us all forget that we're missing four of the best players on that front. Mo and Abe will dress, but probably not play.

Lightening Round

Back in 2007, Illinois Basketball fans made my skull crack open in rage slightly angered me when they befouled the statue of Joe Paterno. Do you hate the Illini like me or not so much?

ZN: Not so much. They only beat PSU for the third time ever last season. While I don't think they'll be as bad as they were in the last few seasons of Ron Turner's tenure, or the first two Ron Zook seasons, they're not on the level of Ohio State or Wisconsin. Next year, however, will be a different story.

It’s a night game please quantify the amount of alcohol you will consume before gametime (if you don’t drink please quantify the amount of fatty foods you will eat).

ZN: I like a plethora of everything, so, yeah...

Put it on the line – final score:

ZN: 187-5. Penn State stops Illinois on the one-yard line with two seconds left in the game. Rather than punt, Jeremy Boone runs around in the end zone before taking the safety. Time expires. For a real score prediction, check out my full game preview later today.