Because I was covering Pius X’s district football game Saturday I didn’t get a good chance to closely watch Penn State’s romp over Michigan State. I did see enough to point out the good and bad (there wasn’t much of that) from the Nits’ 10th victory of the season.
- Just two weeks after I was sure that Sean Lee wasn’t healthy, the senior linebacker had his best game of the season. Maybe it just took time to get used to the brace he’s wearing on his previously sprained knee. Lee was all over the field against the Spartans, picking off a pass and creating nightmares for all players wearing green and white.
- Good to finally see Curtis Drake get some meaningful playing time. The kid is an outstanding athlete who reminds me a lot of Derrick Williams when he was a true freshman back in 2005. Drake plays with a lot of energy and confidence and that’s infectious on a young team like Penn State.
- Navorro Bowman will not be back. That’s not inside information or a declaration by the junior linebacker, but there’s no way he can pass up entering the NFL draft. Bowman is a physical specimen who runs like a running back. There aren’t many players out there like that and Bowman needs to cash in because of it.
- Good to see the Penn State running game churn out 188 yards against a pretty good run defense. Evan Royster had a bounce in his step that he hadn’t all season and the offensive line played perhaps their best game of the season.
- The game plan in the second half was great. The wheel route to a wide open Joe Suhey was a perfect call and so was the deep touchdown pass to Graham Zug the first play after Nick Sukay’s pick. It was nice to see Andrew Quarless so involved in the passing game, too. One can only what kind of career he would have had if wasn’t such a knucklehead at the start.
- Collin Wagner is probably a good kid, the kind of kid Joe Paterno likes to reward for being loyal, working hard and staying out of trouble, but he is not a Division-I kicker. Missing a 38-yarder is inexcusable. I’ll give him a break on the 51-yard attempt at the end of the first half, but missing anything from 40 yards and in can’t happen.
- I’ve been pretty hard on Jeremy Boone the past month or so, but the senior looked really good against Michigan State. Five punts, all five dropped inside the Spartans’ 20, with just two being returned for 1 yard total. That Michigan State have to drive the length of the field against an outstanding defense.
I think that’s about it. Now all we can do is wait to see what bowl Penn State ends up playing in. I have a hunch it is going to be the Capitol One Bowl in Orlando. I just can’t see PSU going to a BCS game over Iowa no matter how well the Nittany Lions and their fans travel.
