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There were a handful of selected BCS teams that Penn State would have defeated, and there were 3 that were going to give them a lot of problems. Those problems arise because of Penn State's stubborn approach to their secondary. You can blame it on Buggs, you can blame it on Bradley, Paterno, or a combination of the 3, but this is the same philosophy that was in place when Jerry Sandusky was running this defense. Against top WRs and a top QB, they play a bend but don't break coverage. In almost every instance where PSU loses a game, it can be attributed to this secondary coverage.

It needs to change, it has needed to be changed for 40 years. It will not change, until the Big Ten attains about 4 teams who all crush Penn State because of that coverage weakness. Ohio State did it in 2007. Other than that, the Big Ten simply does not have teams who fit that mold. If it works well enough for you to win 2 conference titles in 4 years, its hard to change people's mindsets.

Yesterday, Penn State went up against a team that I knew was going to exploit that weakness. There is not a better head coach in college football when it comes to preparedness for big games. What PSU fans were hoping for was a Mark Sanchez that made a lot of mistakes. He did not. USC did everything they should have done to move the ball on Penn State. There's thousands of us would have written down the exact same gameplan for USC as the one USC used.

USC did take their foot off the gas, and that's probably a tribute to Joe, like Spurrier did a few years back when UF was destroying Penn State. But do you do a program a disservice by letting up? Maybe a 60 point drumming is what PSU needed on a national stage. I can tell you that me personally, listening to the commentators acknowledge that insane coverage time and time again was like I was digging a screwdriver deeper and deeper into my leg every time I heard it.

USC did take their foot of the gas, but it might not be as evident as it is at first glance. They DID keep the starters in the whole game, and that defense was definitely pretty irritated that PSU was moving the ball and scoring. It could be that the "let up" was simply that the game was pretty safe and the USC players knew it. But still though, it was a different USC team in the second half, and that needs to be acknowledged.

On to Penn State.

I never thought I would be saying this, but I thought the offensive playcalling was great. There was only one play that I felt was a disaster and a bad call, and that was the backwards pitch to Williams when PSU was inside the 10. I saw the same thing today with Ole Miss, and it was equally as fruitless. That's a bad playcall. Other than that, especially in the second half, I honestly think the offense played pretty well overall, minus the penalties. I thought Clark played a great football game with the few exceptions of holding on to the ball too long on a few occasions. There were a few tipped passes when the PSU receiver was open, and those are the breaks.

Defensively, the miscues cost them bigtime. The coverage we have already discussed. In addition to that, I thought Bowman played an exceptional game, but he needs to get a little better at grabbing a jersey or a foot when he can't make the tackle with his body. That will come with time. I think it is only good news that Sales is graduating, and it is also only good news that Lee will be back next season to replace Josh Hull, who's scholarship is grand larceny at this point. In limited duty, Mauti (freshman) looked great.

With the 4 starting members of the secondary leaving, people are going to use that against Penn State in the preseason rankings. But what PSU has had lately were a handful of small and relatively unathletic CBs, and two Safeties who play gritty ball but are overall ill-equipped against teams like they faced yesterday. But the point needs to be made again that it doesn't matter who is back there if you set them up for failure.

Clark played a great game. I saw a noticable increase in his quarterbacking yesterday versus this whole regular season, and that's great news. The bad news is that Royster is an injury prone kid, and the 3 starting WRs are leaving. The depth that PSU has been starting to slowly amass will need to be ready to step in in August and make a go of it. They have kids who are much highly regarded than Norwood and Butler were when they stepped on the scene. We shall see. I am however optimistic from what I have seen of Brackett, Zug, and especially Moye. There will be at least 1 freshman break into that WR eschelon, and I think it will be Derrick Thomas, a kid who is coming in right now as a CB. Curtis Drake is also listed as a CB, but he won PIAA player of the year this season as an offensive weapon. The offensive future does look bright, however young at some undesirable positions.

The kids on offense that I think will be stars in 2009, with the exception of the returning starters, are De'Onte Pannell, either Thomas or Drake, and probably Quinn Barham. I am also watching this Zordich switch from LB to FB, and I think the PSU FB quick-hitter we saw twice yesterday with Lawlor can become a big time play with a kid a step faster than Lawlor. I love that FB usage, and Zordich is the kid that can open this back up for us as a receiving threat as well, like it was with the under-utilized Matt Hahn.

Defensively, they are very impressed with the quick development of D'Anton Lynn, who will take over at the corner opposite Wallace. At Safety, it looks like Astorino is the obvious choice back there, and that's more of the same grittiness of Rubin and Scirrotto, but I do think that with another year under his belt, Astorino will have a better season than the serious disappointment that Scirrotto was all year, who was out of place many times, and also waited to be blocked in many instances. You also cannot say enough good stuff about Mauti and Nate Stupar, but you can only put so many LB's on the field at once. Mauti has all the makings of being a huge LB for the Nits like Connor, Conlan, Gelzheiser, Arrington, Short, Poz, Collins, to name a few recent ones. There is also a lot of love for Mike Yancich, but I dont know where they plan on putting all these kids. Devon Still is a kid who is really, really going to open eyes on the defensive line.

It is looking like Maybin and Evans are leaning towards going pro, which I honestly think is a huge mistake in both cases. That opens up both starting DE positions to the good depth Larry Johnson has accumulated. Jack Crawford is a kid that people seriously think will be on the top DEs in PSU history when it is all sad and done. I guess Latimore fills the other role, but that will be an open battle.

The special teams will be interesting. I doubt Powell assumes the kick return duties, and I think this competition will be opened back up. True freshman Anthony Fera will obliterate Collin Wagner in the offseason starting K competition, and will be a 4 year starter. Punter? I have no idea. I guess Ryan Breen, but I am thinking Fera will be back there for this as well, which I am not sure I agree with.

Looking around the conference... and with the nation's worst OOC schedule... Penn State should be favored slightly over Ohio State as the Big Ten favorites. They should also start the season around 10th nationally, depending on whether or not Maybin and Evans realize how unprepared they both are currently to go pro. But even so, I think Penn State will win the Big Ten, and it will of course be between PSU and OSU again, like this year.

It is time for PSU's fans to move on and look forward to a year in which that Penn State will be favored in probably every game at this point. That being said they are still way off the picture for a national championship run. I know that Lynn, Wallace, and Astorino will be starting in the secondary but the 2nd safety spot should be interesting. It looks right now that incoming freshman Gerald Hodges (though listed as a WLB right now) may get a shot at the position but that concerns me because he could be more of Rubin in a big hitter but a step behind (he runs a 4.55 forty).

I was very pleased with Bowman's performance but the linebackers were the biggest disappointment to me this season. "Linebacker U" should not have a walk-on from Penns Valley as their starting middle linebacker. Stubborn coaches need to make changes that benefit the team and stop worrying so much about giving playing time to players because they were "next in line." Astorino outplayed Scirrotto many times this year but the coaches were not willing to give him more playing time. Hull and Sales both needed replaced and that was never more evident than the Michigan game. Until the coaches realize that big-time programs make decisions based on giving the team the best way to win not on trying to satisfy everyone and keep them happy.

Next year IMO is the biggest year for this program. Why? well because in 2005 PSU went 11-1 and won the Orange Bowl. They followed the next two season with mediocre at best performances. In order to be regarded as one of the better programs in the nation PSU needs to have 2, 3, 4 straight 11 win seasons. Paterno can not only be successful on contract years which has been the case for past few years.

I'm glad you mentioned Hodges. I have seen a couple reels of his on Rivals and he played QB this season. That kid has got to be faster than 4.55, because he was destroying people. Many think that Hodges is the biggest gem in this whole recruiting class, and he might honestly be a 4-year starter.

Here's the thing on Hull. You have Hull, Mauti, and Colasanti at MLB. Hull is a walk-on who has the most experience. Mauti is a true freshman who plays 100 MPH, which sometimes puts him in bad positions. Colasanti was supposed to be the next great LB, and the staff is disappointed in his development so far. To me, Colasanti looks slow. I honestly think that Josh Hull got that nod over Mauti because he's slightly more disciplined... TODAY. He won't be in April. One guy on Rivals said yesterday that Hull looks like a traffic cop in NYC as cars and people whizz past him in all directions.

I don't see a scenario where Chris Colasanti is anything more than a career special teams player. That window is shut.

In this incoming class is another MLB that we are all going to be in love with. His name is Glenn Carson. He's a white kid from New Jersey who plays the same way as Poz, Connor, Lee, and Mauti. The great news is that PSU has a 2010 commit already named Mike Hull... MLB from the WPIAL that was a 4-year starter in HS and is supposed to be excellent.

As for Royster's injury-prone status... I thought Beachum played pretty well this season, and did fine against USC in limited duty. He's a true freshman. Next year, Curtis Dukes comes to town, a kid from upstate NY that is enormous and has good speed. He is a bulldozer and is a prototypical PSU back. Think of what they could have done with Dukes and Royster this season.

Its like Nick Saban said in that press conference... They are building a program, and you do not create quality depth in one or two years. It took the PSU staff 12 years to realize how to compete in the Big Ten. Since 2005, more emphasis has been placed on depth, and they are slowly starting to understand how to compete in today's game. You gotta remember.... we are dealing with 50 seasons of evidence that doing it "Joe's way" is the right way. Its hard to break that mentality. All you can ask for as a fan is a long-term plan to be in place and a commitment to that plan. I think the PSU athletic department is slowly realizing that you need to really have a plan and they need to actually make an effort. We shall see. I see progress and I am happy with it, but I do think it's been a lot slower than it should have been.

Great points on the depth needed to compete in the big ten. Looking forward to next season we will have great depth at RB, QB, DT, DE, OLB, and MLB. The areas everyone is concerned about is WR, DB, and OL the only places that the Lions do not return depth. Speaking of depth, what do the Nittany Lions do next year at the RB position. Green and Beachum are both set to run out of eligibility in 2011 which is one year after Royster. They now are bring in Dukes that will be set to run out in 2012. That is potentially 4 good running backs that will run graduate in a 3 year stretch. The only way to give them all a year at the helms, if you will, is to redshirt Beachum next year and Dukes the following year but I do not see that happening. I am very interested in how they treat the RB position probably more than any other. If the Nittany Lions could land Justin Brown that would be huge for the depth of the WR position because they have Powell, Zugg, Bracket, and Moye. I am impressed the most with Bracket and Zugg. If we can add Brown with Thomas who we already have gotten in this recruiting class all the sudden the depth problem is not as bad at the WR spot.

The biggest thing next year is fixing the perception problem so Penn State can not go out next year and have another 8-4, 9-3 season they have to win at least 10 going into their bowl game and 11 total if they want to become a USC, Ohio State, Flordia, and the rest of the programs that seem to be in the top 5 every year. If PSU fans could look to where we are at now compared to going into the 2005 season they would take it but Penn State can not settle being where they are at.

Don't forget about Jerome Hayes. He'll be playing LB or DE for PSU if he can ever keep his ACL's intact. Jared Odrick is also considering going pro, but it doesn't seem to be so serious. I think he would be a horrific loss for PSU on the D-line, more so than Maybin or Evans would be. Evans severely underperformed this year in my eyes. He had all the preseason hype of a huge year forth coming. He was supposed to be the guy that was having 12 sacks this year and getting double teamed. Well from "Smoke Gate" on, he didn't play very well at all. He often times saw 1 on 1 match-ups, and couldn't beat the man like Maybin could. On to Maybin. Maybin would be making a HUGE mistake by going pro. He needs to put on 20-30 pounds EASILY before he could compete in the NFL on a physical level. Do you honestly think he could take on McClain(who is a decent back, but no where near top echelon) from Baltimore and take him down? I don't think so. I think he'd get run over and whenever his evaluation comes back, hopefully it will say something to that effect. Both Evans and Maybin have a lot to improve upon and can do that next year in Happy Valley.

Astorino plays a very fast very physical game. If that kid puts on any weight and can maintain that speed, he'll be very very fun to watch the next few years for Penn State.

Just to add a few things to the defensive lineman conversation. Devin Still will be back next year and will tear up offensive lineman. He may be the best defensive lineman Penn State has. Correct me if I'm wrong but Maybin has only played about 10 full games in his college career and if it wasnt for Evans and Koroma getting suspended and Hayes going down with the ACL tear he might have even played less. He is no where near ready to go pro and by doing so he is throwing next year out the window in the terms of his career. If he does go pro he will not play next year he will spend the next 14 months in the weight room. If anyone from the d-line does go, however, no worries because with the depth and quality of players Penn State has at that position it will almost benefit them in opening up another scholarship.

Jared Odrick was the only player who showed up in the Iowa game. He's a physical force like Paxon was for PSU in 2005. You don't just replace a kid like that without losing something. I really really hope he stays around.

I thought Odrick said he was staying before the USC game?

Maybin may be even farther behind the 8-ball then we all thought. He is an extremely energetic kid who has a lot of problems keeping weight on. That's bad for an NFL team that wants Maybin to add size the "right" way, if you know what I mean.

I think Evans is a 4th or 5th at best, unless he has a monster combine. Huge mistake for these kids to leave, but remember... More kids in the NFL only helps the recruiting, so I guess it all comes out in the wash. The difference between PSU's current program level, and that of OSU, OU, USC, UF, etc.... is that when those schools lose kids to the draft, or injury, or graduation, they have someone else that is ready to play right away. I think PSU is GETTING THERE. But there's a lot of work to do.

As for the RB depth, don't even worry about it. Penn State will find a kid in next season's class that will be as good as Royster, Kinlaw, whoever. They're already chasing this Silas Redd kid, and I think the 2010 class is going to be the biggest and best we have seen in quite some time.

Maybin is gone. ESPN has him rated as the #6 player in this year's draft class. The fact that he has only played one season actually helps him because his weaknesses have not been exposed. I don't see how another year could improve his draft status. More often, when guys who are rated that highly stay in school, they drop the next year. Look at Matt Leinhart. Look at James Laurenaitis. Both would have gone considerably higher had they gone out as juniors.