Blue & White Roundtable :: Regular season finale

No. 8 Penn State hosts Indiana No. 15 Michigan State this week , as we all try to cope with the Iowa loss for the Big Ten Championship. I thought some questions were appropriate.

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

1. So, are you freaking out this week? Did you honestly think Penn State would be in this position, going into the last week of the season? How about Michigan State?

ZN: I pegged Penn State to finish (See this Post) tied with Ohio State for first place. I didn't think we would beat the Buckeyes, but I felt we would finish with the same conference record. As for Michigan State, (again, See this Post)if Penn State beats them, they will finish exactly where I predicted them to, third.

2. What would you like to see more of/less of this week?

ZN: I want to see more Evan Royster. A LOT MORE. He hasn't had a 100-yard outing since the win over Michigan. That's inexcusable for this coaching staff. But I guess it all starts up front, so I could direct that request to the offensive line coaches. This was probably the best blocking line since 2002, but recently have looked more like the 2003 or 2004 lines. Contrary to popular belief, Michigan State can be pushed around. Penn State should be able to do that with this line. SO DO IT!

3. What are your feelings towards Derrick Williams' career as a Nittany Lion? Has he lived up to the hype? How? If not, who's to blame?

ZN: This is something else I touched on previously. I wrote an entire post prior to last season, explaining why Derrick Williams has absolutely served his purpose at Penn State. I think people get too caught up in the on-field value of a player like Williams. This leads to the fan base quickly forgetting that he was the one responsible for recruiting Justin King, and giving this program the mental spark it needed after 2004. That's right, I think all this program needed was a jolt of energy to the head. We'd been bogged down with ourselves, thinking it would never end. Then Williams, the annointed savior, arrived.

As for on-field production. You have to remember this, Williams showed up and freaked out the opposition. Other teams knew he was good, but didn't believe Penn State would use him in the kind of role we all saw. I do think the coaching staff has screwed up a bit with him. That can be seen at the tail-end of nearly every season he's been here. Note that his production always goes up during the final few games. That indicates to me that the coaching staff has taken more than half the season to figure out the best way to use Williams on that year's squad. Bad coaching.

4. The national media is back-pedaling on their summertime pro-SEC propaganda, now saying that conference in overrated. What gives? Haven't we (basically, everyone outside the SEC) been saying that the whole time? How would Penn State stack up against the top few SEC teams, like Alabama, Florida and Georgia, on a neutral field?

ZN: I just had to ask this question because I hate the love-fest that goes on with the SEC. They're not that fast, they're not that good top-to-bottom, and they aren't the NFL-lite. I would definitely take Penn State over any SEC team, except for maybe Alabama and Florida. Those are the two teams Penn State could lose to. But I just don't see it happening against Georgia, LSU or, well, that's really it for good teams in the SEC this year.

Bonus/Lightening/Whatever you want to call it, Round...

Daryll Clark throws a pick?

Nope.

Royster scores? How many times?

I'll go with Three TDs.

Did you go to any games this year? How many?

Just one, dammit!

*Ed.-coming this afternoon: Guest Blogger, The Enlightened Spartan!