Although it didn’t come in a win, Penn State did show some of the things I asked last week against USC. They showed some signs of life, they showed some ability, but ultimately they couldn’t get it done. Let’s see if those signs of life carry over to Ann Arbor.
All or nothing
Yes, it’s true that, against Michigan, Penn State won’t have to score touchdown after touchdown in order to win. The Wolverines don’t have the firepower this season to match what USC, or even Northwestern, have done. All that said, if the Lions
find themselves in a situation where they can score a touchdown, I want to see them either score a touchdown or come away with no points.
If the team is going to lose, I’d much rather see it be because they went down swinging, instead of what we saw last week, where a 23-31 loss looked better, but would have been no different than a 17-31 loss, or maybe even a 24-31 loss if they’d actually tried to go for the touchdown.
And, unlike USC, I don’t know that Michigan would be able to drive 99 yards if they miss a few of those goal line situations on Saturday.
Aiming for a home run
At times, it appears as if the only back actually trying to go for a big play is Quinton Martin, and Martin is not exactly part of the main rotation right now. I’d like to see Carson Hansen and James Peoples actually try to make a play, wait for the blocks to develop, and bounce a few runs for big gains.
To the naked eye, it sometimes feels like they’re content with gaining three yards and a cloud of dust (Hansen more so than Peoples), and when that doesn’t happen, it puts the entire offense in a bind.
A miracle
A miraculous recovery by Kobe Howard would be nice, but I’m not holding my breath.
