“Oklahoma and Florida use the empty backfield at least 80 percent of the time with a four- or five- receiver set.  That is called the spread offense and nobody has stopped it yet.” - December 14, 2008

11-1.

I’ve been here.  I just been in a funk where I’ve ignored my blog for a few weeks.  I think everybody does it from time to time.  I can only think of two excuses for my hiatus.

1. I’m too busy.  This is a good excuse, but it’s probably not very true.  I am busy, but not too busy to keep things up and running.  It takes just a few moments to read that one special page of the morning newspaper, another moment for blood pressure to rise, and just a few additional moments to draft up a response.  There’s no reason that I can’t make this a part of my morning routine…. and I will.
2. I’m bored.  I think this excuse might be more accurate than any.  You know what, I really don’t care about your prediction for the score of the 2009 Rose Bowl (or Aloha Bowl (or any other bowl, for that matter)).  Still, I do believe that these predictions need to be recorded, so you’ll notice that I have added pages for “USC will Win” and “PSU will Win.”  These calls are undeserving of any other response.

So, as we approach the New Year, I resolve to be better… and you can expect more frequent updates to FixTheFanLine, and I hope to get back onto the daily schedule that this blog once new.

Happy Holidays!

“I really hope the Lions aren’t the first team to go winless in the NFL. I’d like to save that honor for the Eagles some day.” - December 17, 2008

Sorry, but that honor has already been taken.

1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 0-14

“If Utah and Boise State wind up as the only undefeated football teams in the country, then what?” - November 25, 2008

It’s difficult to say.  If you’re suggesting that either of those teams should play in the National Championship Game, please just pack your bags and go home.

I think it’s likely that Utah will get invited to a BCS bowl, but it depends a bit on how the rest of the regular season pans out.

Here is a worst-case scenario (for both Utah and the BCS):

Oregon State wins the Pac 10 and Missouri wins the Big 12.  That would mean that 4 of the 10 BCS spots would be occupied by teams outside of the Top 10 (thank you Big East and ACC).

With only 6 spots remaining, two of them would need to go to Penn State (Big 10 Champion) and the Alabama vs. Florida winner (SEC Champion).

That leaves four remaining spots, and it’s awfully tempting to take: USC, the Alabama vs. Florida loser, and a 2nd Big 12 team.

The leaves one BCS spot and I think Utah would claim it.

“Penn State’s fall from grace in college wrestling is going to be very notable this year. They didn’t take advantage of a great recruiting opportunity after finishing No. 3 in the country last year. What a disappointing year so far.” - November 25, 2008

Not quite so fast.  It is still very, very early in the collegiate wrestling season, and it’s not time to panic yet.

Unlike football, a dual-meet loss or two in November has no late-season impact on the team.  The real goal is to put yourself into position to wrestle your best matches in March.

After dropping a disappointing opening dual meet to Hofstra, the team got much needed wins over #24 Virginia and #15 Edinboro.  Look at what the individual Penn State wrestlers did this past weekend.

125 - Brad Pataky defeated #17 Ross Gitomer of Virginia.
133 - Tim Haas defeated #15 Rick Deubel of Edinboro.
141 - Frank Molinaro defeated #3 Mike Grey of Cornell.
149 - #2 Bubba Jenkins continued to look impressive.
157 - #2 Dan Vallimont has had a slow start this season, but you still have to figure that he’s as good as anyone in the country.
165 - Mark Friend lost an 8-5 match to #6 Jarrod King of Edinboro, and he’s shown that he’ll wrestle hard against anybody.
174 - True Freshman Quentin Wright, having already defeated #6 Alton Lucas of Hofstra, continued to look strong as he gains experience at the collegiate level.
184 - Phil Bomberger has had a slow start to the season, but he was a national qualifier last year.
197 - It’s never easy to replace a national champion, and injuries at this weight have made things even more difficult.
HWT - Cameron Wade lost a tough 7-6 match to #10 Zach Hammond of Cornell.  Wade is a redshirt freshman, and you have to figure that he’ll continue to improve as he see more collegiate matches.

So, give them a chance.  You might be surprised by the time the Big 10 and NCAA championships come around.

“I have two points to make regarding the comment about Donovan McNabb being average and agreeing with Rush Limbaugh. First, Donovan McNabb is way, way above average. Secondly, don’t ever listen to Limbaugh.” - November 20, 2008

I have two points to make regarding your call.

First, although Donovan McNabb has had some brilliant games this season, when you look at the overall picture, Donovan McNabb has been way, way average (at best) this season.  See for yourself.

Completion %: 58.8, ranks 22nd among qualified QBs in 2008
Yards / Attempt: 6.9, ranks 18th among qualified QBs in 2008
TDs: 14, ranks 10th among qualified QBs in 2008
Interceptions: 10, ranks 23rd among qualified QBs in 2008
Passer Rating: 81.1, ranks 20th among qualified QBs in 2008

Your second point wasn’t really a point, but I appreciate your advice regarding Rush Limbaugh.  Even still, the one point that you did make happened to be one point more than Donovan managed to put on the scoreboard this past weekend.

“The fans who want Joe to stick around are as clueless as he is.” - November 19, 2008

Clueless about what?  In his last 4 seasons, his overall record has been 43-10 with 2 conference championships and a 3-0 record in Bowl games.

To say that he’s earned his right to continue coaching, after 43 years of Hall of Fame service, is obviously an understatement.

To say that fans are clueless for wanting Joe to coach another year insinuates that there is a problem.  Where’s the problem?  I see an 11-1 team that’s heading to Pasadena.

“When JoePa does leave, the program will be lucky to approach, just like the basketball team, a .500 season every year.” - November 19, 2008

OK.  So, you’re implying that Joe is coaching and is having a positive impact on Penn State’s football program, not just serving as a figurehead Shhh… don’t speak too loudly around here!!

“I think that it’s amazing that Joe Paterno trying to reach 400 games is putting his own personal goals above the team. Joe should leave as a winner, which he is, and stop putting the program in jeopardy with his own goals.” - November 20, 2008

You’ve got your coaches mixed up.  It has been Bobby Bowden who has openly stated that 400 wins is a goal of his.  Paterno has never mentioned the number.  He has repeatedly asserted that the record is meaningless to him.

“Stop putting the program in jeopardy with his own goals” - I’m lost.  See recent results above.

“I do not want to open up a can of worms, but you have to wonder what would have transpired had Joe Paterno taken the Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coaching job when he was offered the position in the late 1960s after Bill Austin was fired. This is when Chuck Noll took over the team. I guess you can only imagine.” - November 21, 2008

…. and it my aunt had balls, she’d be my uncle.

“I don’t understand the BCS rankings. Pitt beats Iowa, then Iowa beats Penn State, but Penn State is ranked higher than Pitt. I don’t understand it.” - November 16, 2008

This is always great logic.  Using these types of scenarios, it’s possible to argue almost anything.

I guess I don’t understand the CBSSports.com Top 120 rankings.  Pitt loses to Bowling Green, and Bowling Green loses to Eastern Michigan.  Eastern Michigan is ranked #115.  Shouldn’t Pitt be ranked somewhere behind them?

“With Joe Paterno’s conservative approach in big games, Penn State could play South Carolina 100 times and not score 56 points like Florida did.” - November 17, 2008

Forget the 56 points.  They don’t matter.

The Penn State defense is holding their opponents to 263.9 yards per game (4th best in the nation) and 12.4 points per game.  The Florida defense is holding their opponents to 278.7 yards per game (12th best in the nation) and 12.0 points per game.

South Carolina scored 6 points on Florida.  It’s reasonable to think that the Penn State defense would be just as successful at shutting down the Gamecock offense.

Penn State could play South Carolina 100 times, and they would score more than 6 points… like Florida did.

I guess you could say that I’m crawling out of the hole.  I had to take a nearly one week hiatus from even thinking much about college football.  But, now it’s time to take a deep breath, reflect, and move forward.

The Fan Line has been busy for nearly a week talking about every aspect of the Penn State @ Iowa game last weekend.

What is the Fan Line’s response to Iowa defeating the Nittany Lions?

Blame The Officials

“The officials gave the game to Iowa.” - November 9, 2008

No, they didn’t.  There were some questionable calls, especially in the last few minutes, but Penn State did not play well enough that they could expect to defeat Iowa.  Officiating didn’t help their cause down the stretch, but the game never should have come down to the final 3 minutes to begin with.

“Bob Flounders, the only thing questionable about the pass interference call is your eyesight. And I’m a Penn State fan. Give credit where credit is due. The better team won, no excuses. Considering what that football team went through this year, with the flooding and all, God bless them.” - November 11, 2008

The pass interference call was very questionable.  It wasn’t necessarily a good call.  It wasn’t necessarily a bad call.  It was certainly questionable, but again, Penn State can’t blame their loss on that call.  To give credit where credit is due, Iowa played well enough to keep themselves in the game.  While Penn State played poorly enough that they didn’t deserve to win the game, you cannot say that the better team won.

Here’s the interference video.  What’s your take?

“The roughing the kicker call against Iowa was one of the worst I’ve ever seen in college football.” - November 9, 2008

Personally, I’m not a big fan of the way roughing the kicker is called.  If a defensive player even lays a finger on the kicker/punter without blocking the ball, roughing will be called every time.  Many times, it seems as though the punter will actually kick his foot towards a defensive player in effort to draw the flag.

Regardless, there really wasn’t anything “bad” about this call.  Roughing the kicker is in the rulebook and that’s the way it’s called.

You obviously  haven’t watched much college football if that’s one of the worst calls you’ve ever seen.

Blame The Coaches

“Derek Williams and his teammates played a great game. They deserved a better play-calling game from their coaches.” - November 9, 2008

Yes, Derek Derrick Williams played a great game.  It’s hard to say what else he could have done to help the Nittany Lions win at Iowa.  His teammates, however, did not play a great game.  Good play-calling or bad play-calling, the on-field execution was just not there.

“That’s great, Paterno. You play a quarterback who isn’t healthy when you have a competent backup to play.” - November 13, 2008

To some extent, I’m in this club.  I think Pat Devlin should have played for a least one series.  At the very least, this would have provided a change of pace.  Maybe it would’ve caught the defense off guard.  Clearly, our offense needed some form of spark, and I don’t see any reason that Devlin didn’t see at least a few snaps.

“I hope when the grades come out for the Penn State coaches, they get an F.” - November 10, 2008

The overall coaching performance was disappointing.  Starting the game with three consecutive passes into the wind (especially if they were concerned with Clark’s health) is surprising.  Not giving Devlin any snaps was questionable.  Clock management in the final minutes of the game was poor.  There’s no reason that we couldn’t have used our timeouts ensure that we’d see more than 1 second with the ball.

“I wish David Jones and Bob Flounders would write it. With Joe Paterno sitting in the press box, he was hindering the offensive coaches from calling the right plays.” - November 10, 2008

Here’s what I don’t know (I feel like I haven’t known this for years), and I’m guessing that a lot of PSU fans are in the same boat.  Who’s really calling plays?  Who’s really making strategic decisions (substitutions, clock management, etc).  Did any of the coaches suggest giving Devlin a shot?  Did Paterno veto that decision?  There’s not much way of knowing.

The one thing that you’re certainly wrong about is your notion that Paterno is hindering the offensive coaches any more (or less) because he is in the press box as opposed to being on the field.

“I’m 17 years old and all my life I’ve been raised to live and die on Penn State football. How awful it is to have your championship season thrown away by the coaches. Thanks, Tom Bradley!” - November 10, 2008

See above.  Who deserves the most blame? Bradley? Hall? Jay? Joe? etc, etc, etc.

Blame The Players

“Who was that team in Iowa Saturday? They didn’t show up.”  - November 10, 2008

You’re right.  The boys in blue and white didn’t show up.  They came out flat, without fire, and things never improved throughout the game.

“Daryll Clark, don’t get down on yourself. It was a team loss. There was enough blame to go around. You proved you are a man. You weren’t like yellow-belly Morelli. You came out and faced the media afterwards.” - November 11, 2008

Yeah, it was a team loss.  As I said above, Derrick Williams (and I guess, Kevin Kelly) are probably some of the only people who can look back on that game without much regret.

Listen to Some Kind Advice

“Listen, Penn State got beat. No big deal. Do you realize one-third of the top 25 teams in the country lost? The fact that you were one of them is unfortunate, but you will be in a big time bowl and probably win it because you can’t give Joe Paterno a month to prepare. Just ask Texas A&M, Tennessee and Florida State. You had a good season and will be Big Ten champs. Losing to Iowa is no big deal.” - November 11, 2008

…slowly… stepping…back…from…the…ledge….

Other Randomness

“You have 100 guesses where Tyler Thigpen, the Kansas City quarterback that almost upset San Diego, went to college and the first 99 don’t count. It is Coastal Carolina. He is the new quarterback sensation and almost pulled a monumental upset. They went for the win and didn’t get it, but the kid is from Coastal Carolina. What a shock.” - November 11, 2008

See.  Penn State’s non-conference schedule isn’t that bad.

“I think the Eagles should get rid of Donovan McNabb and send Andy Reid with him.” - November 11, 2008

That’s a shocker.  From here, I can almost hear Charlie Manuel and Ryan Howard giggling right now.

“I’ve been watching Joe Paterno coach, or at least try and coach, for 45 years. If Penn State had a coach, they would go 13-0 and win the national championship.” - November 11, 2008

If you’ve watched him coach for 45 years, you’d know that he’s the winningest coach in D1 history.  He’s had five undefeated teams, and “2 National Championships.”  Get off his back.

“Life is so sweet. Pitt wins and Penn State loses to an unranked team.” - November 10. 2008

Cough!  Bowling Green.  Cough!  Rutgers.

“So, Iowa beats Penn State. Pitt beats Iowa. What does that say, Penn State fans?” - November 10, 2008

It probably says the same thing as this.  Pitt lost to Rutgers and Bowling Green.  Those teams lost to: Fresno State, North Carolina, Navy, West Virginia, and Cincinnati.  Going further down the line, we get losses to: Nevada, Louisiana Tech, Hawaii, and more.

“Pitt would destroy Iowa right now. The passing game has finally taken off. They have as much talent on that team as anybody else, and I mean anybody. They’ll finish strong this year and have one heck of a 2009 season.” - November 13, 2008

Pitt has shown us that they are capable of losing to anybody (and I mean anybody) this season.  They can hang their hat on a nice win at South Florida, but I can’t take Pitt seriously after losing at home to both Bowling Green and Rutgers.

“Penn State should have played at least one other Top 10 team in the first half of the season if they wanted to be ranked at the top. They needed a touchdown to get a win at Ohio State.” - November 9, 2008

Believe it or not, sometimes even Penn State needs a touchdown to win.

The Clincher

“You take the two top teams in each conference and you have a playoff system. It will never be done because it’s too simple and newspapers wouldn’t have anything to write about.” - November 5, 2008

Okay, our first two-year-old has stepped up to the plate.  You think you have a simple solution on your hands?

Do you mean just the BCS conferences?  That makes a 12-team playoff.  That doesn’t work out evenly into bracket format, so who gets the byes?  What about Utah?  They’re undefeated and ranked #8.  Shouldn’t they get a chance to play for the National Championship?

If you don’t mean just the BCS conferences, that makes a 24-team playoff.  Again, who gets byes?  How are you going to find the time to play all of those games?  Will fans travel to each round of the playoffs?  Where will the games be played?  Troy is the 2nd place team in the Sun Belt Conference.  They’re currently 5-3.  Do they really deserve a chance to win the National Championship?

What about Notre Dame?  Do they need to finally join a conference?  Are they always included in your tournament?  Never included in your tournament?

Finally, since the Big 10 is “super-weak” this year, does 2nd place Ohio State / Michigan State really deserve a shot at the National Championship, when Oklahoma (3rd place in the “super-strong” Big 12 conference stays at home?

What about the bowl games?  The Rose Bowl still wants to exist, and they would really prefer to see a Big 10 team and a Pac 10 team square off.  Have you taken them into consideration?

There’s really nothing simple about it.

“It is ridiculous to make any suggestions that Beanie Wells was the same football player last Saturday that he has been for the last two years. He was a shell of himself against the PSU defense.” - October 31, 2008

BREAKING NEWS: The Ohio State football player wearing the #28 jersey in the Buckeyes’ game against Penn State was indeed Chris “Beanie” Wells.

The back’s inability to effectively run the ball against the Nittany Lion defense led many Fan Line contributors to believe that an impostor may have taken Wells’ place.

The Buckeyes repeatedly tried to give Wells the ball, hoping that their Heisman hopeful would eventually break through for “the big one.”  The big one never came, as Wells rushed the ball 22 times for 55 yards.  His longest run was an 8 yard gain.

Many Fan Line contributors believe that it was a toe injury sustained by Wells in the Buckeyes’ opening game against Youngstown State that caused Big Beanie to be so ineffective.  However, those Fan Line Faithful don’t have an explanation for some of Beanie’s more successful games following the injury.  14 carries for 106 yards against Minnesota.  22 carries for 168 yards against Wisconsin.  22 carries for 94 yards against Purdue.  31 carries for 140 yards against Michigan State.

It seems that Wells’ lackluster 55 yard performance against Penn State came out of nowhere.  Or maybe, just maybe, that 6th-ranked Penn State defense, allowing just 266 yards-per-game, isn’t too shabby after all.

They’re Right!

“All Penn State had to do was schedule a decent opponent that wasn’t Coastal Carolina or Temple. They would be No. 1 if that would have happened.” - November 4, 2008

We’ve killed the strength of schedule point on here.  Everybody plays their “cupcake” (where has that term gone?).  Oregon State is in the hunt to win the Pac 10.  Ohio State was BCS #9 when Penn State played the Buckeyes.  Michigan State could quite possibly be Top 15 in the BCS by the time Penn State plays that Spartans.

“How could Penn State be No. 3? Oklahoma could put their second-string team in and beat them handily.” - November 4, 2008

Maybe they should have played those second-stringers against Texas?

They’re Wrong!

“These BCS rankings are a joke. The Big 12 cannot play defense, and USC always seems to lose their focus and are never a major player. Penn State should be ranked No. 2 in these rankings ahead of an offensively minded Texas Tech squad.” - November 4, 2008

It really doesn’t matter right now.  If Texas Tech didn’t jump Penn State, but then proceeded to beat Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and win the Big 12 Championship game… they would have jumped Penn State eventually.  Why not now?

“How can you possibly jump five spots in the rankings ahead of a team that is undefeated, just because that team was off?” - November 4, 2008

See above.

“I cannot believe that Texas Tech jumped from 7 to 2 after barely beating Texas at home. Penn State should be No. 2. The BCS just made a big mistake.” - November 4, 2008

See above.

“Congratulations to Texas Tech for beating Texas in an instant classic. That, however, does not justify their jumping of five spots ahead of Penn State.” - November 4, 2008

See above.

“Alabama has only one win against a ranked team this year, the same as Penn State. The only reason they are ranked ahead of them is because of an opening win against a highly overrated Clemson team. These rankings are garbage that make no sense.” - November 4, 2008

Good job.  Somebody read their Black Shoe Diaries.

“I am done with college football until a playoff system arrives.” - November 4, 2008

Don’t hold your breath.

“A 2-year-old could make a better system for determining a national champion.” - November 4, 2008

OK.  Then what’s your system?

They Don’t Matter!

“As a Penn State fan, I would like to thank the BCS for keeping us ranked No. 3. This guarantees that we will not be playing in a trap game, rather, the team will be playing their hearts out on every play for the rest of the season.” - November 4, 2008

“Guarantees” scares me, but in general, I agree.

On this note, I received this statement in an e-mail from the Penn State Alumni Association yesterday: “Official Penn State Bowl Tour” Planned - With the Nittany Lions’ hard fought victory over the Buckeyes, Penn State fans know JoePa’s 2008 team is going to a BCS bowl-and hoping that it will be the BCS Championship Game. But whether it’s Miami on Jan. 8, Pasadena on Jan. 1, or somewhere else, the Penn State Alumni Association is already planning the “Official Penn State Bowl Tour.”

Do we really know that? Hmmm.

“Penn State fans need to realize that the rankings right now do not mean much. It is where you are in another month. That is when it matters.” - November 4, 2008

Thank you.

You’re Wrong!

“Penn State fans, you should be lucky that the BCS doesn’t factor in strength of schedule anymore. Penn State would be ranked No. 5 if that were the case.” - November 4, 2008

Strength of schedule is in there, my friend.  It’s built into the computer rankings, and that’s why Penn State is ranked No. 4 (computers) instead of No. 2 (humans).

I can’t wait for tomorrow!  Bring on another day of endless and meaningless BCS banter, strength of schedule arguments, hypothetical bowl game matchups and outcomes, and additional nonsense.  It’s going to be great.

“OK. So the Phillies won the championship. It’s not the first championship for Philadelphia because the Soul won the Arena League championship. A championship is a championship no matter what sport it is.” - November 1, 2008

Riiiiight. I’m sure that the Soul’s championship was real satisfying for Philadelphia fans.  The Arena Football League couldn’t make Philadelphia feel like it’s 1983.  Congratulations to the Phillies for ending the drought.

“Penn State’s No. 3 ranking is completely bogus. They have played no one, and the Big Ten is one of the weakest conferences in college football.” - October 31, 2008

Here were my predictions for key arguments from the Fan Line following Penn State’s win over Ohio State.

“The Big Ten is still super-weak this year.  Penn State got lucky that Pryor fumbled.  How can Penn State be ranked #3 when they haven’t played anybody respectable other than Ohio State?  Ohio State is just another cupcake.  Paterno is a manager, not a coach.”

This call covers two of my predictions.  I had a hunch that Ohio State would qualify as another “nobody.”

As far as strength of conferences, don’t let ESPN brainwash you too much.  The Big 10 is actually one of the strongest conferences in college football.  I calculate it as 3rd strongest.

Big 12 - 5 teams in the Top 25.  4 of them ranked in the Top 10.
SEC - 4 teams in the Top 25.  3 of them ranked in the Top 10.
Big 10 - 4 teams in the Top 25.  1 ranked in the Top 10.
ACC - 3 - teams ranked in the Top 25.  Florida State leads the charge at #16.
Mountain West - 3 teams ranked in the Top 25 (Utah, TCU, and BYU)
Pac 10 - 2 teams ranked in the Top 25.  USC is ranked #7.  Otherwise, this is an empty conference this year.
Big East - South Florida is the only ranked team (#24), and they’ll be exiting the polls next week.  The UConn/West Virginia winner should enter the Top 25, and Cincinnati may have a shot, and Pitt could have a shot with a win over Notre Dame.
WAC - Boise State is coasting through the WAC.  Only their game against Fresno State will stop them from running the table.
Mid American - Ball State is coasting through the MAC.  Only their game against Central Michigan will stop them from running the table.
CUSA - Tulsa is still undefeated in Conference USA.  Can they survive Arkansas this weekend?