Another bogus "SEC Speed" argument

◊ Year, after year, after year they do it. This time it's Stewart Mandel. On SI's front page, Mandel wrote a feature story on first-year Purdue coach Danny Hope's recruiting adventures. It's a nice piece, but one that is flawed. Towards the end of the story, Mandel (I assure you, he's not the only culprit) tries to argue that if a team wants to be successful, it must recruit and sign players from the South, specifically Florida, like Hope is this season. The problem is, Mandel contradicts what he's writing... blatantly.

"...Ohio State has been [recruiting Florida players] for years, luring recent standouts Chris Gamble, Michael Jenkins, Santonio Holmes and Nate Salley, among others..."

Mandel wrote that towards the top of his story, and for the most part, it is true, as those were all very, very good, if not great football players. Then, in the fourth-from-last graph in the story, Mandel observes what Penn State has done, to contrast against his argument. It's a fully admirable (and responsible) way of writing this kind of story, providing the exception to the rule, while arguing your own point.

"Not everyone in the Big Ten is jumping on the Florida bandwagon. Penn State's current crop of 26 commitments is, like most classes in the program's recent history, heavy on Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York/New Jersey players. Not a single player hails from Florida or any other SEC state... That being said, Penn State has won four of its past five bowl games, including games against Florida State and Tennessee."

Holy crap, did he just make a sensible, honest counterpoint to the "SOUTHERNSPEEDISSOAMAZING!!!!" lie? It seemed like it. But then, it happened. You almost wish Mandel left it there. The article would have been more than worth reading, if not praising. Nope, Mandel had to regress back to his roots in the main stream media.

"However, the discrepancy in athleticism (particularly on defense) between Penn State and USC was plainly obvious in last month's Rose Bowl, as it was for Illinois the year before. To help erase that gap, Big Ten schools will need to continue looking beyond their backyards when it comes to recruiting."

Yes, Penn State was beaten soundly by USC, as was Illinois. HOWEVER, let's revisit what Mandel wrote earlier in the story, and quoted at the top of this post.

"...Ohio State has been [recruiting Florida players] for years, luring recent standouts Chris Gamble, Michael Jenkins, Santonio Holmes and Nate Salley, among others..."

Didn't Ohio State, with all that fantastic Florida talent, get BLOWN OUT by Florida in '06, LSU in '07 and USC this year, then lost to Texas?

That there is the problem with this entire premise. Where your talent comes from means NOTHING. Stewart Mandel just proved it to everyone, even if that wasn't (of course it wasn't) his intention. Sorry, but you can't hold up a pencil and tell me it's a pen, just because you want me to think it's a pen. Florida and USC, among other really good teams, aren't blowing out northern and midwestern teams because they recruit kids from Florida.

Why is it that, even though Mandel did mention PSU's wins over Florida State and Tennessee, these guys always fall victim to selective memory? Michigan over Florida in 2007? Wisconsin over Arkansas in 2006? Wisconsin over Auburn in 2005? Iowa over LSU in 2004? Iowa over Florida in 2003? Ohio State over Miami in 2002?

Those must have all been just flukes, right? Just like Utah over 'Bama this year? West Virginia over Georgia in 2005?

And didn't Penn State just beat Ohio State in Columbus?

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

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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.

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Penn State in the Polls; Dennis Dodd hates Hippies

Some, rather unexpected sportswriters are buying into Penn State this season. Others aren't so keen on the idea that the Big Ten isn't quite the Sun Belt. The rankings are out--the AP, Coaches, Computers--and some of the voters made known their feelings towards Penn State.

College Football Poll--which named Penn State national champs in 1994--puts PSU No. 12 this week, up from No. 14 last week, and No. 19 preseason.

Meanwhile, College Football News has PSU No. 13:

The run defense stuffed Oregon State, while the offense was flawless. The Beavers might be reeling, but it was still as tight a game as the Nittany Lions could ask for.

Sports Illustrated seems to have bought into Penn State this year, and one of those "Penn State haters," Stewart Mandel had nothing but good things to say in his column following the Oregon State win.

"The Nittany Lions' 45-14 rout of Oregon State was eye-opening to say the least. I would not have guessed that their "Spread HD" would click so thoroughly, so quickly."

Of course he wouldn't have guessed. Then again, none of us guessed either.

Another SI.com writer, Mark Beech is already adding fuel to the Heisman flame under Evan Royster:

"It will be little tricks like that -- as well as a solid offensive line -- that could just make running back Evan Royster a serious Heisman-Trophy candidate. While the Beavers were trying to figure out what was coming next, the smooth-running Royster ran right over them, picking up 141 yards on 17 carries and scoring three touchdowns. That gives him six scores in the season's first two games. Were you watching, Heisman Pundit?"

Even The Sporting News likes what Penn State is doing right now. Dave Curtis thinks PSU could come out as a top-tier squad this season

Some media outlets and their writers still won't give Penn State an inch. And where else would that come from other than the SEC's own version of FoxNews, CBS Sportsline? First it was the CBS Sports Top 120, which actually dropped Penn State two spots to No. 21. (CBS vaulted Oregon up one spot to No. 17, after beating UTAH STATE) But that wasn't the best part.

Dennis Dodd--who makes Mandel look like the world's biggest PSU fan--has officially made it his own personal crusade to bring down Penn State. Yeah, he's always been in bed with the SEC, secretly pillow-trash-talking about the Big Ten. But this time, he just couldn't hold back when talking about Penn State Saturday. I normally don't include so much in a quote, but Dodd's belligerent rant was just too good to chop up. In its entirety:

"Some talking head suggested Saturday that the recent problems at Penn State (2-0 after beating beating Oregon State 45-14) should be blamed on the players. Huh? Dude, this is why these coaches are paid millions of dollars, to make sure the players don't rob banks (Ed. See: Yellow Journalism) or blow hippie lettuce. It's ultimately up to the coach to recruit kids of character.

Boys will be boys, sure, but what's happening at Penn State would be a national scandal if it was anyone else http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifbut Joe Paterno as coach. It's funny that other programs have leadership from its veteran players. Paterno had to suspend three of his senior guys last week a couple of weeks after ESPN portrayed the dearth of the off-field problems. Is it possible that in his zeal to win, JoePa took some chances on kids of questionable character?"

I'm not going to go on a big rant about this. After all, he's just one "talking head" in a crowd, and as I said above, there's so much Yellow Journalism in there, it's ridiculous. But I will offer this one big of advice: Don't worry, Dennis, as long as you keep it up, it will continue to be the "national scandal" you're hoping for.

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Dodd and Mandel: Gotta love hatin'em

Dennis “Douche” Dodd over at CBS(EC) joined our good buddy Stewart Mandel, in choosing Pittsburgh over Penn State in the really early rankings. I just don’t get it. These guys get paid?

What they’re saying, through ranking Pitt over PSU, is that Dave Wannstedt’s three non-winning seasons will translate into a higher ranking than Penn State’s three nine-plus winning seasons, a conference title, a BCS Bowl win, and three straight bowl wins against the ACC, SEC and Big XII in that same timeframe. Unbelievable.

I really don’t want to go through this whole thing again. So, I’ll just refer you back to my original Pitt/PSU rankings argument I posted just after Stewie released his back in January.


Email: ZombieNationPSU@gmail.com

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Article of the day

I generally try to feature an article each day from another blog. Usually they're from Penn State or Big Ten blogs, sometimes from other sites. Please check out the author's Web site. I always supply the link in the introduction.

Yet again, Stewart Mandel has blessed us with his college football wisdom. He posted his very early 2008 top 25 power rankings. I'm not going to post the whole list here, as it's way to long. So, let's just say Penn State is about where it should be ranked.

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Straight from Stewart Mandel's cave: Pitt in the top-10?!

Yes, a new season is beginning, and SI.com's resident overlord of college football has bestowed his wisdom onto us once again. In his early preseason top-10, he is not that far off:

Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC, Missouri, West Virginia, Florida, Kansas, LSU and Wisconsin.

They all have good chances to reach or remain in the top-10 come August. I have no beef with Mandel on that. But, then take a look at his teams on the cusp. Remember, this is the TOP-10 we're talking about:

Auburn, Clemson, Illinois, Texas Tech and Pittsburgh.

Yes, you read that correctly, PITTSBURGH. My oh my how the world changes. Not too long ago, Penn State was mired in the worst stretch of football in its history, while Pitt was playing in the Fiesta Bowl. Then the tables turned, with the Nittany Lions roaring towards an Orange Bowl victory, while Pitt was struggling to win five games. Now, things are finally evening out. Sure, Pitt is on the rise with guys like Pat Bostick and LeSean McCoy, but are they really a top-10 possibility? Are they, in the warped mind of Mandel, better than Penn State right now? Let's find out, shall we? (Try opening the stats in a new window for size's sake) Probably the most telling stat is the number of returning starters on both teams. Had there been fewer starters coming back, most of the statistics would have been useless; if a team is senior-laden, the following season is usually very different, statistically. But in this case, both squads return key players on both sides of the ball, which means each team should improve next season.

Penn State's defense was a bit of a worry going into 2007, but shaped up to be very, very good, especially on the young defensive line. 2008 should see increased quarterback sacks, which is scary enough. Most of the Lion's secondary will be seniors. The last time there were four seniors in the back field, Penn State went 11-1. On offense, all five offensive linemen return, and all three senior wide recievers.

Pittsburgh is the epitome of a young, talented team. Bursting with raw ability, the Panthers lack something many top-25 teams have, experience. While the defense will be stout once again, it wasn't all-world in 2007. Some of the losses on each level of the defense could adversely affect it's ability to clamp down on opponents in crunch time. On offense, there's possibly no more exciting freshman east of Ohio than LeSean McCoy. Ripping through defenses for almost 1,400 yards is no accident. But Bostick, as improved as he will be, could be this offense's Achilles' Heel.

Pittsburg is not close to a top-10 team, in 2008. Maybe in 2009, and definately in 2010, if McCoy stays. But not now. Penn State should start the season somewhere in the top-20. Granted, that's what this team deserves after choking away three games in 2007. But there is no way, when including teams like Pitt, Clemson and Texas Tech, that Penn State shouldn't be on the short list of possible top-10'ers. But this is the fun of the off season. The worst part, is that we have another seven and a half months to go until football kicks in again. I guess watching overpaid NFL babies complaining they don't get the ball enough, will have to sufice for now.

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Stewart Mandel's lack of logic strikes again

Is it just me, or does SI.com columnist Stewart Mandel consistently represent everything that's wrong with the current college football polling system? In his power rankings this week, he listed Illinois (27) ahead of PSU (28). Now, I understand that the Illini beat PSU head-to-head, but look at where the teams were ranked the week before: Illinois 32, PSU 28. The Nittany Lions didn't move an inch in Mandel's rankings after beating a 7-2 Purdue team, while Illinois jumped up five spots following a beatdown of 1-7 Minnesota. Make sense to you? Me neither.

In fact, Mandel proved my point for me, saying "The Illini -- whom Oregon fans, no doubt, are praying can knock off top-ranked Ohio State on Saturday -- head into Columbus with what on the surface appears reasonable amount of momentum. Ron Zook's crew gained 655 total yards on Saturday in a 44-17 rout of Minnesota. Rashard Mendenhall ran for 201 yards, and Juice Williams ran for 133, but those stats don't mean all that much. The Gophers' run defense is ranked 115th in the country; the Buckeyes' is ranked third. The Ducks faithful would be better off pinning their hopes on Michigan."

Thank you Stewie. Is it such an accomplishment to beat a team that lost to Florida Atlantic and North Dakota State? Apparently, it is to Mandel. I would hope Illinois rolled up that many yards and points on the worst team in the conference (and probably other conferences, too). But apparently for PSU, holding one of the best Big Ten offenses to ZERO touchdowns isn't that impressive to him.

Illinois leapfrogs PSU for beating a horrible, one-win team, while PSU remains stagnant for beating a quality, bowl-bound opponent. And this guy gets a vote each week?

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