September 8th, 2009
Christopher Morelli, editor of Blue White Illustrated
Morelli OnLion: Looking Back
Week one is in the books.
While it wasn’t the prettiest victory in recent
memory, Penn State’s 31-7 win over Akron on Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium
answered several questions. However, it also showed that there are some holes in
the 2009 version of the Nittany Lions.
In today’s edition of Morelli
OnLion, we’ll take a look back at the 24-point win over the Zips, look ahead to
this week’s game with Syracuse and feature another member of the Class of
2009.
Let’s start with the Zips.
Evan Royster found the yards tough to come by against the Zips.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Looking Back: Akron
Penn State
jumped out to a 31-0 lead on Saturday, which was nice to see. The Nittany Lions
put it in cruise control after that, though, and failed to score in the second
half. Many fans will argue that coach Joe Paterno called off the dogs, but I
don’t think that was the case. I believe Penn State got complacent with the
31-point bulge, and that resulted in sloppy play, mistakes and a failure to
score a single second-half point.
But first, let’s go over the
positives.
1. Wide receivers — I thought the receivers played extremely
well, especially considering that they got very little playing time last season.
Derek Moye and Chaz Powell stood out, and Graham Zug was more than solid. While
they’re not going to make people forget about Deon Butler, Jordan Norwood and
Derrick Williams in Week One, give them a few more games like the one against
the Zips and those names will begin to fade into the rearview mirror faster than
expected.
2. Daryll Clark — The senior quarterback gave himself a C, but
his numbers were pretty solid. At the end of the day, he completed 29-of-40 for
353 yards and three TDs. His lone interception of the day came on a tipped ball
that probably should have been caught.
3. Defensive line — The Penn State
defensive line did a fantastic job limiting the Akron run game and the Zips had
zero first downs in the first half. Jared Odrick and Jack Crawford were
especially impressive. Crawford will continue to get better, and Odrick will
probably draw some double teams by midseason.
Now, for the areas of
concern:
1. Kicking game — Paterno seems to have an infatuation with
State College Area High School product Collin Wagner. Wagner missed two very
makable field goals on Saturday, not a good sign. If he’s shanking field goals
in a noon game against the Zips, what is he going to do when the pressure is on
in a primetime game? Keep in mind, there’s one of those looming just a few weeks
down the road.
2. Offensive line — Overall, I thought the O-line played
well and did a good job keeping Clark upright, which is pretty much the key to
the entire season. As I’ve said before, if Clark goes down, the Nittany Lions
can pretty much cancel the season. They did a nice job pass protecting, but
failed to open holes for the ground game, which brings us to the No. 3 weakness
...
3. Running backs — Heading into the year, everyone (myself included)
believed that Evan Royster and Stephfon Green would be a strength of the Nittany
Lions. But on Saturday against the Zips, the ground game was definitely a
weakness. The two combined for just 71 yards on 21 carries. Green especially
struggled, but some of that can be blamed on the PSU coaching staff. The coaches
continue to run Green up the gut, and that’s just not his strength. How about a
sweep? How about a bubble screen? Until they change the way they use Green, he’s
going to continue to get miniscule yardage.
Looking Ahead:
Syracuse
Syracuse played better than expected last week, taking visiting
Minnesota to overtime before falling, 23-20, in overtime at the Carrier
Dome.
This week, the task gets a little tougher for the Orange, as they
face one of the best teams in the Big Ten on the road in front of over
100,000.
Quarterback Greg Paulus leads the Orange (0-1), who got
embarrassed last season, 55-13, to a Penn State team that pretty much had its
way with them.
It will be another easy win for the Nittany Lions and it
will give them a chance to work on playing a full 60 minutes instead of just 30.
We like Paulus, but he doesn’t stand a chance against PSU. Lions in a
laugher.
Gantdaily.com prediction: Penn State 44, Syracuse
14.
Class of 2009: Mike Wallace
Following a great senior year at Good
Counsel, cornerback Mike Wallace earned a scholarship offer from the Nittany
Lions and quickly pounced on the opportunity.
Rated as a two-star cornerback
prospect by Rivals.com, Wallace earned all-Metro status following the season and
in the process, got the attention of Penn State’s coaching staff.
“I
think Mike had an incredible senior year,” Good Counsel head coach Bob Milloy
said. “Larry (Johnson) knew about him last year, and they weren’t really
recruiting him. They came through in December and saw his highlight tape, and
said, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, we’ve got to look again at this.’
“They
offered him to come visit and offered him when he got up there. He’s a guy who
based on his senior year performance, earned himself a scholarship to one of the
best colleges in the country.”
According to coach Milloy, the Nittany
Lions landed quite the prospect, although he isn’t without some question
marks.
“(Wallace) is a good player, a three-year starter who runs track,
too,” Milloy said. “He’s a wonderful, wonderful kid, he’s got a great GPA. He
just plays hard. He’s very fast, he’s a good corner, he’s just a great high
school player, and I think they got a great player there.
“He’s a little
small right now, but his dad is a big man, about 6-2, 255, and he was also a
good high school athlete. He’s small now, but he’s going to be
fine.”
Although it is still unclear right now, Wallace could end up as a
greyshirt, which would mean he’d enroll at Penn State in January of 2010.
However, that will depend on the total scholarship availability when the class
is settled and the current roster shakes itself out.
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.
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