I know there's a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth around here, but some things to remember:
Penn State (aka Cow College), has one of the best run defenses in the country. We have a patchwork offensive line with only Dawkins and Friend very good college players. They did exactly what would be expected: Shut our run game down and allow them to pin their ears back and blitz P.J. all afternoon.
I think we're all disappointed that after the ECU and Memphis games where P.J. showed progress in not forcing passes, he seems to have lost some composure. Keep in mind, the kid is 19, he's playing in front of probably the biggest crowd of his life, and he's probably frustrated with the amazing amount of drops. He can make all the throws, he responds to coaching (passing both left and right), and he's a bright kid. He'll continue to progress.
Our defense is MUCH improved from last year with good depth in the secondary and a solid rotation on the DL. We pretty well hung in against a big talented OL. Our reported lack of speed wasn't a major factor. Sean Chandler appears to be the next rising star.
We've got two games where we have a shot to win in Cincy and Tulane, and a bye week to put this in the rear view mirror and hopefully heal up Jalen, Pretlow and Kenny. We're in mid November and playing for Bowl Eligibility whereas last year we'd won ONE game at this point.
We have the second youngest 2 deep in the country, and we're not graduating any key players.
Yeah, it sucks to loose to a Cow College and their smug, self righteous fans. But we're a program on the rise and a couple of years more of Rhule bringing in his players, and times like these will be a memory.
