Blue White Roundtable returns

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Blue White Roundtable - Pre-Bowl Season Edition


1. Penn State finished off this season with 10 wins, but lost the only two games that were really in question. What will your lasting memory of the 2009 season be?

This program is finally back. Sure, we all said "We're Back!" in 2002, 2005 and 2008. But I thought for a while that 2009 would be the real measuring stick for the program's progress since the dark years. For Penn State to win 10 games, after losing entire units from a Rose Bowl squad, that is the sign of a powerhouse program. I don't care that Penn State lost to two teams that are going to BCS games. In case you didn't hear me, that was two teams that are going to BCS games.

2. Though they miss out on a BCS Bowl, the Nittany Lions will face off with a highly ranked SEC opponent in a New Year's Day bowl. What are your initial thoughts about the matchup with LSU in the Capital One Bowl?

I love it. With the prospect of facing Georgia Tech, Boise State or TCU in a bowl game, I was hoping for the Capital One bowl. LSU has won two national titles this decade (though, shaky ones), and hasn't lost a bowl game under Les Miles. You want to see the best non-BCS bowl game, watch this one.

3. When it's all said and done, where will Daryll Clark rank among Penn State QBs? What will you remember about Clark thinking back on the 2008 and 2009 seasons a few years from now?

He was a winner. I don't care about the "Big Game" dig on Clark. He won a shit load of games for Penn State, brought the team to a Rose Bowl and a Captial One Bowl. He's not going to be Wally Richardson 2. And if you can't see the differences between the two quarterbacks, then God help you.

4. Which seniors are you most sad to see go? If you could bring one of them back in 2010, who would it be?

I wish Sean Lee had one more shot. He was fantastic in all the games he played this season, and would have been a sure lock for 1st Team All-America had he not been injured. Lee's the kind of leader any great defense needs. He deserves more credit than he's being given right now, but the injuries have really hurt his draft stock. If he had one more season to play fully healthy, I think he would have gone down as the greatest linebacker ever to play at Penn State.

5. What are your feelings on the Fiesta Bowl matching up the two undefeated mid-majors, instead of setting up Iowa-Boise State and Georgia Tech-TCU matchups? Does it support a playoff argument?

I never got around this year to posting my playoff solution (like every other blog/writer), but I do like that the Fiesta Bowl is going to allow there to be fewer undefeated teams at the end of the season, no matter what. If TCU and Boise played GT and Iowa, the two Mid-Majors could win those matchups. Then, what if Cincy beat Florida? You'd have FOUR undefeated teams after the bowls. It's not nearly what I wish to see overall (have one more BCS standings come out right after the New Years bowls are played, then take the top two to the MNC), but three undefeated teams are better than four.

Lightning Round:
1. Do either Bowman or Royster (or both!) skip their senior seasons and enter the NFL Draft? Definitely Bowman, probably Royster. We haven't been so lucky lately in this area.

2. Who wins the MNC Game, Alabama or Texas? I'll hold out for Texas, for now.

3. Will you be heading down to Orlando to watch the Capital One Bowl live? Who wins? It's called a recession; and of course, Penn State wins.

4. Predict the draft stock of the following Nittany Lion seniors:
a) [Bowman/Royster] - Bowman: late 1st / Royster (if he goes): late 3rd, early 4th
b) Jared Odrick - 2nd
c) Sean Lee - 2nd
d) Andrew Quarless - 2nd, or early 3rd
e) Dennis Landolt - 5th to 7th
f) Daryll Clark - 4th to 6th
g) Mickey Shuler - free agent
h) A.J. Wallace - free agent