I Give a Hoot..

Figure 1-2: "Mr. Owl, does Temple playing at the Linc have anything to do

with the Eagles being cursed?"

Bloggers note: again, this is not the format i was going for. please bear with me.

That's owl-humor. Get it? Yeah, like you could come up with something better, so back off.

So now onto Temple, and then Michigan State, or as I like to call it, the Ashley Simpson part of the schedule. Not nearly as exciting as their more talented predecessors, but still good enough to masturbate to.

I will be heading up to Philly for the game. Apparently, the lots open 5 hours before kickoff, meaning that I will be openly intoxicated by 8 AM. What's on the menu? Brats, leftover beer from the Michigan road trip(American Ale gets better with time, right?), chips, and the coup de grace, 8 lbs. of roasted pork for sandwiches served with extra sharp cheese, and maybe some broccoli rabe. That's food that Britney Spears would sell her kid for.

What do I expect?

• Temple is actually better this year, so it will not be a blowout until the second half.
• Kinlaw gets the lion share (another mascot pun. am on a roll) of carries when the game is in hand.
• Morelli doesn't see the 4th quarter.
• We open up throwing deep

I am kind of interested to see who will be getting the reps in the 4th (knock on wood).

Prediction:

PSU 41, Temple 17

It's the DWill Show!

Figure 1-1: Best game since being a frosh. Kind of a good thing.

Note:this is the fourth time i have reworked the format of this post. And it still reverts to some f'd up form that was not intended. Hence the lack of spacing, odd text centering, etc.

Caught the game at the CarPool again down here in Arlington with some friends. Better service, better food, same PSU results. Good times.

To make matters better, I decided to give myself the day off (from drinking) to watch multiple games. Let's just say I took some perverse pleasure in eating an entire bag of Doritos, half-nekid, in my bed while watching ND collectively soil theirs.

Of course, my slovenly bliss was cut short by my brother, who texted me that Michigan and FSU were now going to lose. Jerk. At least Rutgers and Nebraska were soundly thrashed.

Just to recap:

Defense

They rushed 6 almost every passing down, with good results. Yes, we did get burned a few times, but there was definite pressure on Painter to make the hurried throw. In short, we looked much better against a lesser offense.

Game balls go to Lee, Evans, Taylor, and yes, JUSTIN FREAKIN' KING.

Lee single handedly changed the face of the game on the goal line. Instead of stripping out the RBs soul, he decided to settle for the ball. Some say offensively we did nothing after the turnover, but getting from your own 1 yard line to midfield definitely improved our field position during the game. So we had that going for us, which is nice.

Even though the play on the line improved, Taylor and Evans stood out for the pressure applied.

Justin King. Wasn't exactly in "shutdown", but at least he looked angry enough to respond to those critical of him. Myself included. He knocked away a sure touchdown, tackled well, and played his best game of the season.

Offense

Derrick Williams gets the first game ball and highest praise. When the game was still up in the air, King caught everything thrown his way. He didn't waste time trying to make a move; rather, he just turned upfield and ran. And run he did, scoring off of a beautiful end-around. Shout out here for Lawlor, who sealed the deal with an excellent seal block. When he turned upfield on that play, I had visions of him blowing past Hawk....Keep it up, DWill.

Game balls to Evan Royster and the offensive line. The line performed admirably, giving Morelli all day to throw, and Royster highway-sized running lanes. I always say the tone of the game is set at the lines-in this case, the OL provided the means for lengthy drives, and ground up the Purdue DL. The culmination of which was Royster busting a 26 yard jailbreak to the endzone. Look again at Purdue's D after that play. They were done.

Morelli-didn't go for the extra mile on the run, didn't fumble, and provided enough accuracy on the pass in coverage that it couldn't be intercepted. The only really bad toss i my mind was when he missed butler streaking down the sideline toward the endzone. This exact route worked perfectly on Wisconsin, and ended in 6. Regardless, he made the right plays.

A smack in the head to Quarless. Way to kill a great drive on the goal line. Just unacceptable. And to make things worse, he jumped the gun again, but this time the results weren't as dire.

Jay and Galen-once again, great playcalling. Joe finally trusts these two-enough where we can go for it on 4th and 2 when we are only winning by 3 in the second half. And they called a qb sneak-again, thank you Lawlor for improving the position. You know what i mean.

Special teams

Someone take Kelly out. Seriously, kneecap him. To start, he isn't kicking the ball deep enough. Yes, I realize it is colder, but still, every time he kicks it short and in the middle of the field, we get burnt.

We put together a great drive at the end of the half, and he misses the chip shot. Luckily, Purdue was boneheaded enough to make contact with him.

Overall Thoughts

• It really disconcerts me that many bloggers picked PSU to lose, and then overly criticize them when they performed beyond expectations. Man up, and give the kids some credit.
• Someone needs to prohibit a mummer's horn in a bar during an early game. They don't go well with hangovers. My impression of the jackass who was toot-happy: What a great play, I think I'll blow this foghorn. Wait, nobody is responding positively. You know what, THAT JUST MEANS I'LL HAVE TO BLOW LOUDER!
• Thanks go out to the underclassmen who sent the seniors out with a victory.
• Dan Connor surpassed Poz's record, bully for him. I still think Poz would win in a fight.
• O, and I gave myself some love, European style, for the prediction of what we need to do for this game. I am so smart. S-M-R-T. If I can state what needs to be adjusted to win and the other team doesn't read my blog, it's there own damn fault they lost. There, I said it.
• Dorito crumbs are surprisingly edible the next morning. Even when picked out of one's chest hair. O, DON'T ACT DISGUSTED. I AM WHO I AM. I CAN HEAR YOU JUDGING ME.
• The reffing. The effing.

Lastly, I got a good look at Purdue Pete. Let's just say this flashed across my mind:

=

+

@%#!$%!$#%!$#^%

This site just lost today's post. Twice. Am too furious to write, because that was blog GOLD. I'm so angry i have to eat something. That had parents.

Purdue its gold and black....

Figure 1-2: Great Iron Horse Come to Valley

This Saturday Purdue rolls into town; it's Senior Day in Beaver Stadium. My, where does the time go. Just seemed like yesterday Connor was cranking ex-coaches.

I can't speak for the team, but I just feel deflated. Our normally formadable D was shredded last week. Whether by injury or not, the PSU D has been the one constant in my universe for awhile. Even during the bad years, It always showed up in one form or another.

So now we come to the pass-happy Boilermakers. Repeat: pass-happy. The same style of offense that killed us in the past two weeks. What can we possibly do to stop them? What possible hope do we have?

For one, Coaching needs to get their collective heads unf_cked. Against OSU, bringing blitzers kind of worked in that it forced Boeckman to make quicker decisions, with some good results on our side. When we rushed four, we got destroyed. Seriously, we should have just put in 3 extra DBs and rushed one lineman.

Secondly, keep running the ball. We were having noticeable success in the running game, and our coaches decided to put the game in Morelli's hands. Bad move. This strategy also doubles to keep the already struggling defense off of the field.

Third, play like you want to win. Words cannot describe what went through my head when we punted on their 38, especially when the running game was working. Let's just say it took me three cigarettes and a bar full of slutty Halloween costumes to get ready for the second half. 10-17, or heaven forbid, 14-17, does wonders for a teams' ego going into halftime, especially when you start the second half with the ball. Prolonged drives and intestinal fortitude will win out against Purdue.

Fourth, tell DWill to stop moving like Austin Scott. Pick a path and take it. Stop dancing. Don't go down in token contact.

Fifth: Quarless, Golden, Norwood, repeat.

Sixth: No more screen passes. Morelli had overshot the RB in screen passes 4 games in a row. By a lot. It just so happenned that OSU was well aware of this fact.

I am not sold on putting Clark and/or Devlin in yet. Clark is still far too inaccurate, and Devlin just isn't ready.

What do I think will happen? I am fully confident that our offense will employ the run early and often. However, this game will be won based on the ability to force Painter's hand. Rush 6 from every conceivable angle.

Final score: PSU 27 PUR 23

A Complete Disgrace

A rumor floating around from the '05 game was that people were throwing bags of urine at the OSU band. Great, that's just the image I want people to have of my school. Fortunately, nobody to this date has come forth with a shred of credible evidence to back this story up.

Then this season started. Rumors persisting about a minority of students/alum treating the visitors incomprehensibly. I always thought/hoped the real story to be far less worse than the truth.

Then last weekend happenned. Then this video surfaced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3bxuKEL6VE

Fucking great. Now, every stupid rumor about my beloved campus will instantly be believed as true. Think about this video being circulated nationally, and then add the fact that on live TV one of the GameDay crewmembers had a beer thrown at them.

Now compile that with the urine toss, and everything else (bad) you've heard about PSU tailgating.

So now what will happen?

We probably just lost the GameDay crew. Given the reports coming out of State College right now, we probably just lost any night game for any good team in our future schedule. Way to go students.

First, I hope they find that jackass who pushed, and then later threw a beer at, that OSU fan. Of course, the original video was taken down, but thanks to someone's quick thinking, it has now made its way around. Scrawny punk is probably shaving his hair off as we speak. Fuck him. If he is a student:

1. Charge him with assualt
2. Let him clean the stadium
3. 10 year ban from attending a PSU football game at home.

Secondly, the guy with the camera knew him. Let's find out who the cameraman was. Put the screws to him, see who else can get ratted out. See above punishments.

Third, I hope every alumni will see this.

Fourth, I hope Spanier sees this, and takes some kind of action.

May no act of ours bring shame,
To one heart that loves thy name

Foggy Memories

Figure 1-1: The second biggest letdown of the year.

Caught the game at Front Page whilst touring the Nightmare on M street. So many pretty girls dressed...well......If'n I ever do have kids, they can't be girls. Big ups to the staff at FrontPage for putting the PSU game on the flatscreen right in front of us.

All signs were positive coming into this game-our D would figure out what is wrong, the students were into it, beautiful weather, and 2 dollar Miller Lights. Hell, even the wings I ordered were good, which is somewhat of a rarity down here in DC.

Then the game started. Kind of. Hard to tell with all the commercials. The PSU D hit the field first, and promptly got lit up. OSU got 3 out of it because we were rushing LBs from the outside, forcing Boeckman to make his reads faster.

Then the PSU offense took the field and came out flying. Unbridled enthusiasm at the bar.

So with PSU up 7-3, what did the defense do on the next drive? Rush 4. That's right. They were getting blown up by OSUs line, so we decided to put no pressure on Boeckman. From that point on, things get kind of foggy. 2 dollar Lites combined with that steaming pile will force what's left of your brain into blackout mode.

But this is what someone told me: OSU picked us apart the rest of the game-all sides of the ball were screwed.

What does this tell you? We definately got outcoached. Tressel et al. did their homework, and put together THE perfect gameplan. They threw where we weren't, and blocked where we were.

Does OSU have better talent? I really don't know. I can't tell what this PSU team has at this point. After the Iowa and Wisconsin games, it was thought that we definately have the pieces. I am not so sure after this mudhole stomping.

If we lost a close game, I could prob handle it better than this. At least then we had a chance of winning this game.

I am still too disturbed to properly write about this game. All I can do is sputter out terse statements. More tomorrow. For now, I just feel entirely let down.

weather update

Figure 1-4: The ultimate military leader. Egotistical, caring, and batshit crazy.

What ho? The weather seems to be clearing. Enter the awesome George Patton quotes:

Chaplain: You wanted to see me, General?
Patton: Oh, yes, Chaplain. I'm sick and tired of Third Army having to fight the Germans, the Supreme Command, no gasoline, and now this ungodly weather. I want a prayer... a weather prayer.
Chaplain: A weather prayer, sir?
Patton: Yes, let's see if you can't get God working with us on this thing.
Chaplain: It'll take a pretty thick rug for that kind of praying.
Patton: I don't care if it takes a flying carpet.
Chaplain: I don't know how this is going to be received, General. Praying for good weather so we can kill our fellow man?
Patton: I assure you, sir, because of my intimate relations with the Almighty, if you write a good prayer, we'll have good weather. I expect that prayer within an hour.

Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee of Thy great goodness to restrain this immoderate weather with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee, that armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory and crush the wickedness and oppression of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.

The weather's perfect. Cod, get me that chaplain. He stands in good with the Lord, and I want to decorate him.
--General Patton, the day after the Weather Prayer worked