Penn State falls, 24-23

Here's some initial thoughts on Penn State's loss at Iowa. I'll have a full game review soon.

The Good: Most of the decent things I saw last night were individual efforts, so, yeah. Kevin Kelly went 3-for-3. He's become one of the most reliable kickers Penn State's ever had. I also really liked the gameplan for Derrick Williams. It was the sort of thing we've been begging for since 2005. Evan Royster had a pretty good game, considering the line didn't block for him. On defense, Jared Odrick was a monster yet again, highlighted by his sack of Ricky Stanzi. He got through the line so fast, it was scary.

The Bad: Wow, where to start. The offensive line didn't block; the wide receivers didn't catch the ball; Daryll Clark couldn't throw; the defensive line couldn't shed blocks; the linebackers got jammed in the middle; the cornerbacks and safeties gave up first down after first down; and the coaching/playcalling was some of the worst that I've seen since Galen Hall arrived at Penn State. Ok, so I think I made my point. Penn State played like absolute shit, and deserved to lose this game. I said that I liked the Williams-gameplan a lot, but the big problem with that was this: they didn't get the ball to anyone else! And when Clark did get the ball out, it was dropped, or it was six yards short of the first down. The red zone offense was horrendous again, mainly due to the lack of control up front. Tod McShay said a few weeks ago that this offensive line was overrated. I'm beginning to believe that now. I don't know, but it seemed like they were just off all day, with Rich Ohrnberger way out of whack. I just couldn't believe that Penn State felt the need to run right into the middle of the best pair of tackles in the Big Ten, when they were penetrating all night. I can't freaking believe that Pat Devlin wasn't put in for some of the second half. They weren't running Clark at all, so why not put in the best passer on the team?

Overall: This game had Joe Paterno written all over it. I won't go so far as to say it was any one person's fault, as this was a full team effort to lose. I have to congratulate Iowa for a fantastic gameplan, and for playing its heart out all night. However, I find it very interesting that Iowa had heaters on its sidelines, but Penn State had nothing, nada. It became very clear that Penn State was cold, affecting its ability to handle the ball. But we can't complain about that, really. This loss was one Penn State deserved in every respect. And it probably was due, because if we took that kind of team into Miami to face off with Florida, Alabama, Texas Tech or some other team with a pulse, Penn State wouldv't been Ohio State 2006 and 2007 all over again, and the Big Ten would've been forced to cease playing football. But onward and upward we must go from here. If Penn State wins out, we'll go to the Rose Bowl. If a few other teams lose-it's happened many times before-Penn State could end up back in the discussion. But, I'm sure we'll hear about this loss all week. Oh, and shut the hell up, Mark May.