August 25th, 2009
Christopher Morelli, editor of Blue White Illustrated
Morelli OnLion: Pressing Questions
With the 2009 football season rapidly approaching, we'll spend today's edition of Morelli OnLion taking a closer look at the big questions facing the 2009 Nittany Lions. We'll also have our top moment of the year in Penn State athletics and feature another member of the Class of 2009.
That's a lot of ground to cover, so let's get started!
Pressing Questions
There’s only one problem with success.
Failure.
When you are successful at something, whether it be athletics or life in general, people have a tendency to expect it. When the Penn State football team was dominant back in the 1980s, fans grew to expect 9-,10- and 11-win seasons. They didn’t care who was injured or who filled out the roster. The majority of those teams were good, if not great, and winning was a way of life.
Then came the 1988 season, when the Lions went 5-6. That was coach Joe Paterno’s first losing season. Unfortunately, there would be more. As the football program headed toward the new millennium, all was not well in Nittany Nation.
Penn State experienced losing seasons in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004. But all the losing turned around in 2005 when the Nittany Lions racked up 11 wins, including a thrilling triple overtime victory over Florida State in the Orange Bowl.
After two better-than-average seasons in 2006 and 2007, the Nittany Lions experienced another resurgence last season as they posted 11 wins (again) before stumbling in the Rose Bowl against USC.
So here comes the 2009 version of the Nittany Lions.
Will the new offensive line be able to protect Daryll Clark? (Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
After capturing Big Ten titles in 2005 and again last season, much is expected of this team, which enters the campaign ranked in the top 10 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. Fans are expecting another big season — another 11 wins, perhaps, and another Big Ten title.
Is this team capable of doing that? Absolutely. Are there some question marks? You bet.
With the season upon us, it’s time to look at the five biggest questions facing your 2009 Nittany Lions.
Q: Is the offensive line ready?
A: That remains to be seen. Offensive linemen comprise one of the most important elements of a football team. When they perform well, it usually goes unnoticed. When they perform poorly, everyone notices.
The success of this team hinges on the offensive line. If it can keep Daryll Clark upright and give him time to throw the football, he is capable of picking teams apart — we’ve seen that.
If the line can open holes for Evan Royster and Stephon Green, that will help take the pressure off Clark. Losing Gerald Cadogan, A.Q. Shipley and Rich Ohrnberger hurts, without a doubt. Those three players are in NFL camps this summer. Their replacements have big shoes to fill.
Q: Will the wideouts be as productive as their predecessors?
A: Like the offensive line, the current crop of wideouts is untested. Losing players like Deon Butler, Jordan Norwood and Derrick Williams hurts a great deal, but if just one or two of the current group of wide receivers on the roster can step up, this is an area where the Lions should be OK.
We’re guessing that Brett Brackett, Derek Moye, Chaz Powell or Graham Zug are more than ready to start making plays.
Sure, there are going to be some dropped balls early on, but those growing pains will help the Lions prepare for the road ahead.
Q: How about the secondary?
A: In this writer’s mind, the secondary is the biggest area of concern. Every starter from last season is gone, which means plenty of new faces back there.
While there is some experience in players like A.J. Wallace, there is a great deal of inexperience with players like D’Anton Lynn patrolling the secondary. Certainly, you remember what USC’s Mark Sanchez did to an experienced Lions’ secondary. Here’s hoping the 2009 secondary is new and improved.
Q: What happens if Clark goes down?
A: Well, if the offensive line allows the opposition to get to Clark, then there are problems.
Let’s face it: There’s not much experience behind Clark. Actually, there’s no experience behind Clark. You’ve got a true freshman (Kevin Newsome) and a walk-on (Matt McGloin) backing up a senior.
Both Newsome and McGloin looked solid in the Blue-White Game, but keep in mind that was a scrimmage and you can’t gauge a lot from that. We’re guessing that Newsome will back up Clark.
Just keep your fingers crossed that Clark remains healthy.
Because if Clark goes down, Penn State’s season will likely go with him.
Q: Will the non-conference schedule prepare the Nittany Lions for the rigors of the Big Ten?
A: Negative.
If you think that playing the likes of Akron, Syracuse and Temple prepares PSU for teams like Illinois, Ohio State and Michigan State, then you are delusional.
What the three-game non-conference slate will do, however, is give the aforementioned units (offensive line, wideouts, secondary) a chance to jell before the real fun begins on Sept. 26 when Iowa visits Beaver Stadium.
I’m guessing that under the glare of the primetime lights, we’ll find out just what the 2009 Nittany Lions are made of.
There’s certainly a little mystery to this year’s squad, which should make things in Happy Valley very interesting.
No. 1 Moment: Women’s Volleyball Team Repeats Championship
In one of the most dominating seasons in NCAA women’s volleyball history, Russ Rose’s team repeated its NCAA championship.
Penn State finished the season 38-0, one of only four teams in NCAA history to do so. And, even more impressively, the Lions were 114-2 in games, losing only two games to Nebraska in the national semifinals.
The Lions also ran their NCAA-best match winning streak to 64. The last time they lost was Sept. 15, 2007, in a five-game loss to Stanford.
Penn State is just the sixth team to win back-to-back championships.
John Urschel is one of the new offensive linemen in the Class of 2009. (Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated). Class of 2009: John Urschel
At one time, Buffalo (N.Y.) offensive lineman John Urschel was pegged for the Ivy League, having received acceptance packages from Princeton and Cornell. But then Penn State recruiting coordinator Mike McQueary stopped by his high school with a scholarship offer to Penn State.
The offer was too good to turn down.
The 6-foot-3, 275-pound prospect made his decision days before visiting Penn State on the weekend of Jan. 16. He made his intentions clear on Jan. 17.
“I think it was the perfect mix between academics and athletics,” he said. “The fan support added in, and just how much the students at Penn State support the program — I think those three things just sold me 100 percent.”
Urschel just doesn’t excel on the field, he is also a standout in the classroom, as he boasts a 94 GPA and scored a 2190 on the SAT. Before Penn State, and other schools like Boston College came into the picture, Urschel was pretty sure that the focus of his college years would be on engineering, with a minor in football.
“Before, I was probably thinking Ivy League. I was planning to play in the Ivy League before my senior year, and then, I mean, things were pretty quiet for me still, and I didn’t really think about sending film anywhere else,” he said following from his decision. “I didn’t really know what constituted a really good player and what does it for them. I wasn’t sure how good I was, and I was playing against Buffalo talent. I didn’t know how I could compare myself to all of these players playing across the nation. My coach took the initiative of sending my tape to all these places, and I got a lot of good feedback. So I really owe a lot of it to my coach.”
On the field, he was named first team all-state and first team all-Western New York, as well as winning the Trench Trophy, which is given to the top lineman in western New York. He was also named the defensive MVP of his conference. Urschel recorded 77 tackles and four sacks on the year.
Chris Morelli is the award-winning editor of Blue White Illustrated, a weekly publication devoted to Penn State athletics. He is also a regular on “Sports Central,” which airs on ESPN Radio in Altoona and State College. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com. This column does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of BWI’s writers or publisher.
|
|
