Fix the Fan Line

Iowa 24 - Penn State 23

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

“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?

It’s really never been my intention to pick on Pitt’s football program every time that they lose.  I’ve actually been quite impressed with the Panthers, overall, this season.  I never saw them beating South Florida.  Unfortunatly, Saturday brought Pitt their second embarrassing loss of the season.

Rutgers (yes, Rutgers) - 54

Pitt - 34

“I talked to a lot of smart football people and everybody feels that Pitt has the positive momentum and Penn State has a negative momentum. You can see it, feel it, and it is definitely happening.” - August 17, 2008

How do you feel about the momentum now?

“I’m a Pitt fan in his mid-30s and I like seeing Joe Paterno as coach at Penn State. Not because I like seeing them lose, but because every fall he’s the coach there it’s like I haven’t grown any older.” - July 26, 2008

How much do you like seeing Joe Paterno coach now?

“As a diehard Pitt football fan since 1979, I can tell you for sure that this returning Pitt football team is as great as the teams that were returning during the Marino era.” - July 21, 2008

Mmmmm….. no.

“The college football championship will be between Pitt and Auburn. Auburn will win 17-3. Penn State will not even be in the Top 25 this year. Go, Auburn.” - July 21, 2008

Mmmmm….. no.

Pitt (5-2, 2-1 Big East)

Auburn (4-4, 2-3 SEC)… Go, Auburn.

“Pitt doesn’t need Penn State to sell out Heinz Field. They have LeSean McCoy.” - July 12, 2008

Mmmmm….. no.

Rutgers @ Pitt attendance… 51,161

Heinz Field capacity… 65,050

Pitt - 26

#10 South Florida - 21

This should get the Fan Line excited.  I can’t wait for tomorrow.

“This is a question for the Fan Line. Why would Penn State, who is 5-0, be ranked No. 6 in the country and Connecticut, who is also 5-0, barely in the top 25? I think I know the answer, but give it to me anyway.” - October 1, 2008

Oooh, you think you know the answer.  You’re a confident little bugger aren’t you?  It reminds me of playing along with Jeopardy at home.  I think I know the answer, but I’m going to let the television genius tell me anyway.  Better him making a fool of himself than me, right?

College football polls are a very difficult thing for many people to understand.  In short, a college football poll is a subjective ranking of football teams compiled from the opinions of a collection of individuals who are charged with the responsibility of estimating which teams are the best.

So, it is the perception of a group of pollsters that Penn State has a better football team than Connecticut.  That’s why the Nittany Lions are shown at #6, and the Huskies are shown towards the end of the Top 25.

Where would they get this crazy notion?  Let’s take a look.

You’re correct.  Both teams are currently 5-0.

The key difference is that many pollsters are still skeptical with UCONN.  Admittedly, neither PSU nor UCONN played anything that resembled a strong non-conference schedule.  Still, UCONN didn’t survive their non-conference schedule with nearly the same ease as the Nittany Lions.  A 12-9 win over Temple isn’t going to turn many heads.  A 31-28 win over Baylor won’t do much more.

Time will tell, and Connecticut will get their chance to earn some respect.  It starts this weekend when they will travel to North Carolina to face a team that beat the Hurricanes in Miami a week ago.  Later in the season, they’ll travel to South Florida to face a team that could be ranked in the Top 10.

There’s far too much football left to be played to get overly concerned with who’s who in the polls.

How’s that for an answer?  I’m sure that’s pretty close to what you were thinking.

“Well, Big East fans, you’re embarrassing yourselves again. North Carolina hasn’t won outside of North Carolina in years and here they are crushing Rutgers. When is the Big East going to get on national TV and show us something?” - September 13, 2008

Interesting Point.  UNC hasn’t won a football game outside of the state of North Carolina since beating Arizona State in Tempe, AZ in 2002.  While 2008 should be one of the better seasons that North Carolina has seen in a long time, it looks like it could be a long year for Rutgers.

South Florida put on a pretty good show for the Big East on national television last night, beating AP #13 Kansas.  I’ve posted about South Florida before, and I wouldn’t consider this game an upset, but it was probably the most exciting game I’ve seen yet this season.

“Talk is cheap when it comes to Pitt fans in the preseason. Now they’ve turned green … Bowling Green. That’s the problem when you play in a league that has one decent team — West Virginia.” - September 3, 2008

• Please tell me how playing in a weak conference has anything to do with fans promoting their team in the preseason or a team losing to Bowling Green.
• Less than one week ago I wrote about South Florida.

“I realize, Penn State fans, you do have a lot of talent in your skill positions, but you’re playing Coastal Carolina. Anybody could have looked good against them. The Big Ten is super weak this year and it looks like they might have three or four teams that might be decent.” - September 3, 2008

A super weak conference?  Wow.  And I thought the ACC was down-and-out this year.  So… what makes a team decent, by your standards?  How about being ranked in the Top 25?  That’s a pretty tough standard for decency, and the Big 10 currently has four of those.  Does being bowl eligible make a team decent?  The Big 10 will likely have seven (and possibly eight) bowl eligible teams.

Only the season will tell how each conference’s teams will stack up in 2008, but for now, it’s easy to compare the conferences based on the number of teams that are currently ranked in the AP Top 25.

1. SEC - 6
2. Big 12 - 5
3. Big 10, Pac 10 - 4 each
4. Big East, Mountain West - 2 each
5. ACC, WAC - 1 each

“I like Mark May but he’s going through a hallucination. Question was, “What team could wind up in the top 10?” Surprise, he says Pitt. I had to giggle. He says South Florida could be a tough game for them. South Florida. Please.” - August 30, 2008

Giggle all that you want, but South Florida will be a tough game for Pitt. When the two teams play on October 2, South Florida will likely be favored by at least 14 points. South Florida could quite possibly go 10-2, 11-1, or 12-0 this year.

South Florida may have only had a football program since 1997, but this is 2008, and they’re legit.