Review, Game 11: Penn State 34, Indiana 7

I’ll go through each unit and the coaching, sizing up how each one performed against the Hoosiers.

OFFENSE :: C

Line – Can we start asking ourselves, "where the hell has this line gone?" Daryll Clark had a bit more time to throw this week, but still not enough, considering it was Indi-freaking-ana! Clark was sacked, twice. Pat Devlin was sacked. Not only was it bad to surrender that kind of pressure on the passers, it came from the worst possible place–the blind side. Gerald Cadogan has taken a big step back the last two weeks, consistently getting beat by speed-rushing ends. And when he does keep them off the passer, he's ususally holding them, drawing the penalty. Tackles and TEs coach Bill Kenney better get on these guys' cases this week. The run blocking as a whole still needs fine tuning, which is ridiculous at this stage of the season. I'm not sure, but it looks like Mr. Kenney's boys, especially the tight ends, could use some blocking drills, pronto. Moving Stefen Wisniewski and Rich Ohrnberger back to their old guard spots worked better. I'm not eve sure why they did that for Iowa, as even the Big Ten Network announcers this week said it was a bad idea, and that Penn State regretted the move. That begs the question, then, "why didn't Penn State's coaches switch the two back at halftime of the Iowa game?" We'll never know, moving on.

Receivers – I thought they had a good day. The best play called all day was the TE Drag to Mickey Shuler for a big gain on third down. Penn State was able to get its receivers in open space more this week, something we haven't seen since the first half of this season. Derrick Williams had probably his all-around best day as a Nittany Lion (123 rushing/receiving yards, 2 TDs), while Deon Butler finally grabbed a touchdown (and passing Bobby Engram as career receptions leader at PSU), and Jordan Norwood made up for his bad day at Iowa, with 7 catches for 69 yards this week. I'm already getting choked up thinking about these guys graduating.

Quarterbacks - Clark looked more like Zack Mills than the quarterback once known as Daryll Clark. There was little zip on the ball. The two times he threw long, they were under-thrown (one was bailed out by Williams' great TD catch, the other was intercepted). He was nervous in the pocket, and made several mistakes. But overall, he got the job done, throwing for 240 yards and two scores. Like I said, it really brought me back to the "Zack Attack" days. You spend most of the game wondering why Clark can't play well the whole game. But it was alright, since Penn State never felt it would lose, even when leading by only 3 at the half. Overall, I thought it was a good cushion game for Clark, before the Big Ten Championship Game next week.

Rushers – You have to give Evan Royster credit. No, not for his outstanding running. But rather for dealing with the obvious lack of carries he's getting. For the last two weeks, he's been in a position to take over a game, but the coaches go to someone else, just when Royster's getting in his rhythm. But that aside, his 19-yard touchdown run was probably the best individual-effort play of the game. I would love to see Stephfon Green and Royster in the backfield at the same time. Green has been very effective, and while he didn't gain super stats against Indiana (10 car, 30 yds), he got the job done as a sub for Royster. Imagine the aneurism Penn State could give opposing defenses, if Penn State lined up Royster, Clark and Green in the backfield, and then threw Williams in motion from the slot, just for fun?

DEFENSE :: A

Line – I thought the pressure put on Kellen Lewis was fantastic this week. Aaron Maybin registered his 12th sack of the year, while Jared Odrick was again a menace in the backfield. I know I've been praising Odrick's play a lot lately, but I really think he's the biggest factor–figuratively and literally speaking–on the defensive front for Penn State. Against Indiana he only logged three tackles, and one TFL, but he was constantly penetrating the IU offensive line, disrupting both the pass and run. He is easily a first-team all-Big Ten selection this year. Saturday, we also saw the re-emergence of Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma, who both made four tackles, with Evans getting one for loss. It's a big deal to see these two slowly returning to form, with Javon Ringer coming to town next week.

Linebackers – I don't know if it was just that Iowa had really good blitz protection, or Indiana is really that bad at picking up the pressure, but Penn State had much more success this game at putting pressure on Lewis. Josh Hull could still stand to be a step quicker, but remember that Lewis is a very fast quarterback, who's ankle sprain looked perfectly fine against Penn State. I was a bit discouraged by some missed tackles, and still getting jammed in the middle of plays, like on the 57-yard touchdown run. I thought the linebackers did a much better job this week, though, getting into position to make some good plays. Navorro Bowman might have had an interception, had the ball not been thrown full speed from ten yards away. I'd say the biggest problem I had was the shaky tackling. Again, something that can't happen against Michigan State.

Secondary – Has there been a better individual-coaching job than what the staff has done with Mark Rubin. I know, the interception was practically gift-wrapped for him, but Rubin was alert enough to make a huge play on the ball. Penn State held Indiana to 57 total passing yards, one interception and two sacks. Lewis completed 9 of 21 passes. Indiana came in averaging almost 200 pass ypg. This wasn't a very daunting test for the Penn State secondary, so there's not much learned from the performance. Indiana completed a few passes, but mostly when Lewis was on the run away from pressure, after the plays were broken. We can't be sure the defensive backfield can come through until the Spartans offense takes the field, unfortunately.

SPECIAL TEAMS :: A+

Kickers – Kevin Kelly missed a field goal. Oh well, he's still be outstanding this year, and should be first-team all-Big Ten. On top of that he contributed to the field position battle, dropping a pooch punt downed inside the two. Jeremy Boone boomed both of his punts for a 51-yard average. Kelly's kickoffs have also been a thing of beauty this year, usually nailing them just deep enough to force the returner to take them out, right into the teeth of Penn State's vastly improved coverage units.

Returners – Williams took a few that I didn't think he would, with one longer return being called back on a horrible block-in-the-back call. Indiana didn't score, so there weren't any real kickoff returns.

Coverage – Field position was key in the win, and it wouldn't have been possible without the Penn State coverage unit's hustle to get down the field, and in front of the kicks. Nate Stupar is easily the special teams player of the year (if there was one), having gotten a piece of another punt this week. Long snapper Andrew Pitz made the biggest play of his career, downing a punt inside the two.

COACHES :: B

I'll admit, it was better, but not good. Penn State shouldn't have had any problems with Indiana. We should have been watching Devlin, Green, Brandon Beachum and James McDonald for the entire second half, not the first-teamers frantically trying to put the game away like it was some upper-echelon BCS team. I said earlier that the play-calling did a better job of getting guys open, but still not the way Galen Hall and Jay Paterno were getting them open during the first half of the season. Where's the "Spread HD" that was once all the rage in college football? Penn State rumbled for 400+ yards against Indiana, but it should have been somewhere around 500+. Sorry, I know it was raining. I was there, wet, cold and frustrated. But Penn State should have been able to handle Indiana like a championship team would. I'm going to give Penn State a mulligan this week, considering it was the first game after that gut-wrenching loss in Iowa City, Clark was still getting back into his groove, and the weather was extra-Pennsylvania-autumn crappy. These Nittany Lions are good, and can win a championship. So let's see it.