Gettin' to be That Time

Whoa Nellie. It's getting real close to College Football season. Two signs are out that confirm this.

1. This just came out today, which I will be getting this week sometime.

2. ESPN has early early rankings and analysis out already.

So let's look at beloved PSU.

The link is here, but it's an Insider link, so I'll have to detail it.

Essentially, they have PSU ranked #9 in this pre-season look. That sounds about right to me. PSU should open up in the 'real polls' anywhere between 7 and 12.

It's a big story about the offense and losing the three wide receivers. I agree that they'll, rightly so, rely more heavily on the running game at first, until the new starters get their feet wet a bit.

Clark, the Big Ten/Eleven Offensive Player of the Year last year, should be back to his running roots with Royster and Green in the backfield.

About those new starting receivers though:

"These guys have all played games," Paterno said. "Graham Zug and Brett Brackett have been there. They've had key moments." (The same could be said of Derek Moye and Chaz Powell.)

"Zug caught the winner at Ohio State," Paterno added. "A lot of times, we'd have four and five guys out there, and the guys coming back were one or three of those guys."

Good point. But being 'the man' is much different than being 'a man'.

I think that this here will be the key to success:

"the more Penn State ran the football, the more games it won.

Paterno insists the offense will make both the pass and the run a priority.

"We're looking to be a 200-200 team," he said, referring to a goal of gaining 200 yards on the ground and in the air every game. ""

Last year, they started throwing too much with Clark, especially in the Iowa game. Use him mainly for what he is, a deadly running qb that throws when he needs to. Don't turn him into a 7 step dropback passer.

Some charts from the article:

Penn State, scoring and turnovers, 2008

	2008	Big 10 Rank
TD	56	1st
Punt	39	1st
Turnovers	14	2nd
3 & Out pct.	14.2	2nd
Scoring pct.	48.7	1st

More running seemed to translate into more wins.

	2008	2007	2006
Record	11-2 (7-1)	9-4 (4-4)	9-4 (5-3)
Run Pct.	57	56	52
Pass Pct.	43	44	48
Rush yds/gm	205.8	193.8	150.0
Rushes/gm	39.3	40.6	35.2
Yards/rush	5.2	4.8	4.3
Rush TD	36	27	16

Yards per rush by down, 2008

	Penn State	Big 10 rank
1st	5.2	3rd
2nd	6.0	1st
3rd	4.0	1st
Overall	5.2	1st

So it's simple. Get to the 200 yards rushing and you win. The qb is in place. The running backs are there. The line is reloaded.

Do it.

Here though is a main reason for optimism in PSU this year:

The Lions have done it again with scheduling. They don't even leave Beaver Stadium in September, and kick off the season with the frightening prospect of an Akron-Syracuse-Temple buffet. Then they get Iowa, the team that took a divot out of their perfect season last year. Penn State's two toughest roadies will be at Illinois and Michigan State; the Lions will miss Wisconsin and get Ohio State at home.

Obviously, they wouldn't be in the title hunt as a 1 loss team, but they can run the table with a schedule like that. So if you're looking to place a small wager on a team to win the National Title, and you want some decent odds that you won't get with the Floridas and Oklahomas etc, look at PSU.

There will be more previews to come, but an early look never hurts.