The media's love affair with Penn State

Following a slew of upsets, and the consequential rise of Penn State in the national polls, a love affair has begun yet again between the main stream media and the Nittany Lions. Every few seasons, Penn State puts together a dynamite team, makes a run at the national title, and sports writers across America take back all those nasty things said in the off season. You know, like "Joe Paterno's lost his touch," and "Penn State will remain mired in mediocrity." But with the emergence of Penn State's explosive offense, and traditionally stout defense, Paterno & Co. have become, once again, poster children for college football.

ESPN columnist Ivan Maisel points out this week:

"Penn State, like Williams, is performing in a way that is attracting national attention. During a weekend when six ranked teams lost, the Nittany Lions overcame two early Illinois leads and won their league opener. That might not sound like much, but Penn State had lost eight of its previous nine Big Ten openers... Penn State looks real. Williams looks like a star..."

And a traditional skeptic towards Penn State, Stewart Mandel had nothing but praise for the Lions.

"...at least one of this conference's teams will be playing in Pasadena, if not Miami -- and the Nittany Lions look more and more like they could be that team. I had been leaning toward Wisconsin, but the Badgers' offense leaves a lot to be desired. While Michigan's fourth-quarter surge ultimately did in Bucky, the seeds were sown when it failed to convert any of the Wolverines' five first-half turnovers into a touchdown.

In its first game against a ranked opponent (Illinois), Penn State showed exactly what the skeptics were waiting to see: An explosive spread offense with a plethora of weapons and a defense that wasn't exactly immune to big plays but produced enough turnovers (three) and key stops that the Illini couldn't close the gap. The Nittany Lions are the league's most complete team right now."

But that's not all, folks. After giving into the Penn State gush-fest, Mandel later went off about Beaver Stadium and Penn State's "White Outs."

"If I was a Circuit City employee trying to woo a customer into buying a $2,000 HD plasma TV, the first thing I would show him is Saturday night's broadcast of the Penn State-Illinois game. Even seeing it for a third time, it was impossible not to be awed by the visual grandeur of Penn State's "White Out," which manages to turn a 110,000-seat stadium one enormous flashbulb. It's powerful, it's organized (right down to the block "S" in one corner) and, quite frankly, it's awesome... Two words of advice to all the other schools trying to mimic it: Just stop. Seriously."

Gene Mendez is SI.com's resident Heisman pundit (no relation), and for the first time in years, a Penn State player has cracked his top 10 list. The scary thing about it, though, is that Evan Royster isn't the guy. It's the Penn State quarterback! What?! Yup.

"8. Daryll Clark, Penn State, QB, Sr. (*Ed-This is misleading, as Clark was granted a fifth season of eligibility for 2009)
Last week: 14-of-20 passing, 181 yards, 2 TDs; 11 rushes, 50 yards, 1 TD in a 38-24 victory over No. 22 Illinois.
Season: 62-of-98 passing, 896 yards, 9 TDs, 1 INT; 23 rushes, 131 yards, 3 TDs.
Heisman-o-meter: Penn State running back Evan Royster has been on the verge of breaking into this list and could easily be here instead. Teammate Derrick Williams had a sensational all-around night Saturday. But Clark is the choice. While he ran more against the Illini than he ever has in college, Clark is a capable passing quarterback who just happens to have the ability to tuck the ball and take off. With him, the Nittany Lions have found balance on offense, averaging 267.6 yards on the ground and 247.6 through the air, while becoming the team to beat in the Big Ten.
Up next: Saturday at Purdue."

Not wanting to be left out, College Football News' editorial staff weighed in this week on where the top teams should be ranked. Not one disagreed that Penn State is a title contender.

Pete Fiutak:

"Penn State - Top five. I'm still not sold on Daryll Clark when the pressure is on in a really tight game (and I hate having to look up how to spell Daryll every time I refer to him). However, the offensive line is among the best in America, the receiving corps is playing like the veteran group that it is, and the running game is tremendous. It's unfortunate, but this team might get dragged down in the court of public opinion because of the bad PR problem for the Big Ten."

Rich Cirminiello:

"Penn State – No. 5. The only thing I’d alter here is to bump the Lions ahead of Texas, which will wind up getting exposed over the next month, and has yet to beat an opponent that’s remotely close to being ranked."

Matt Zemek:

"Penn State should be somewhere around seven or eight. Top 10-worthy for sure, but not yet able to graduate to the head of the class. Beat Wisky and Ohio State, and we can reserve a comfy spot in the top three for JoePa."

Those were all fair, balanced assesments of where Penn State is, and should be, right now. Penn State is not the best team, nor should it be ranked in the top three, but it has definately proven to be top-10 worthy. But one last CFN writer doesn't see things that way.

Steve Silverman:

"Penn State -- I would make Penn State No. 7 right now. In addition to how I spelled things out for Alabama, I think Texas and Texas Tech deserve to be ranked higher than the Nittany Lions. I know JoePa bashing has gone out of fashion, but I just think Mike Leach's Red Raiders would be more prepared for a head-to-head meeting than Penn State. Texas Tech would whip them big in Lubbock and would be competitive for 60 minutes in Happy Valley."

Looking at Silverman's view towards Penn State as the outlier, this is still a program that the media and fans want to win. College football just seems right when Penn State, Alabama and Notre Dame are in the title discussion. Why do you think 2005 was labeled as "The Greatest Season" by so many? Which teams did very well that year? You guessed it. There's no way to predict--rationally, at least--just how well all of these teams, including Penn State, will do this year. But for now, college football as a whole should just sit back and enjoy.