The man that started his Penn State coaching career 11 years before Barack Obama was born, now enters his 60th season on the sidelines in Happy Valley, PA. Another chapter will be written in the legendary career of the winningest D-1 Coach of All-Time. Will that chapter be pleasant or disappointing? The answer to that question hinges upon a few things.
The Nittany Lions enter 2010 coming off an 11-2 season, capping it with a strong Capital One Bowl win over SEC Powerhouse, LSU. To have an equally successful season or better, the first question that has to be answered is Who will play Quarterback for the Blue and White? The early favorite for the position is Sophomore QB Kevin Newsome. Newsome got playing time sparingly last year behind star QB Daryl Clark, but nothing of significance. In the spring, he held off a tough charge by fellow sophomore Matt McGloin to win the starting job heading into fall camp. But in the summer, Blue Chip 5-star recruit Robert Bolden arrives on campus. He is projected as the future of the Nittany Lions program and he will be given a chance to earn the job according to Offensive Coordinator Galen Hall. A dual threat guy, he is said to be as fast as Michael Robinson with passing skills that rival Kerry Collins… comments that have PSU fans everywhere giddy.
The Running game will by far be the best part of Penn State’s attack. Senior RB Evan Royster returns after rushing for 1,169 yards and 6 TDs. While those numbers weren’t as good as his 1,300 yards and 12 TDs from 2008… anything over 1,000 in the Big Ten is to be commended. A 3-year starter now, Royster will go into this season running behind the most veteran Offensive-Line in the Big Ten as the Nittany Lions return 4 starters up front, including 2009 All-Conference selection C Stefan Wisniewski. Backing up Royster will be Junior Stephfon Green who is capable of a few big plays himself. He will be used primarily on 3rd downs as a “change of pace” back, but could easily fill in for Royster should the injury bug strike.
A unit that was expected to be down last year (the WRs) really took most of the Big Ten by surprise. Led by Derek Moye and Graham Zug, the young crew stepped up to provide quite the weapons for Daryl Clark and this bunch should make the transition for the new starting QB easier than most expect. Chaz Powell is another guy to keep an eye on lining up as a tough cover in the slot.
Defensively, the Lions are stout (as usual) and they return 7 starters. Interestingly, with superstars Sean May and Navarro Bowman leaving for the NFL, the one position that lacks experience for Joe Pa’s crew is the LB position. But expect Linebacker-U to stick in a couple of Blue-Chip athletes and not miss a beat. Senior DT Ollie Ogbu will anchor one of the tougher Defensive Lines in America and CB D’Anton Lynn has a chance to be the best cover-corner in the nation.
This years schedule sets up well. After an early season clash with defending champion Alabama, the Nittany Lions will navigate through a schedule that should have them favored in all but 2 of their last 10 games (OSU and Iowa). A key 3-game stretch late in the season against Michigan, Northwestern, and Ohio State will let us know if Joe Pa should make plans for a BCS game or an Outback Bowl. But regardless, this team should win at a minimum 9 games… and we will undoubtedly see Joe Pa crack the 400 win mark this year (he is currently at 394).
Key Returning Players:
RB Evan Royster
WR Derek Moye
WR Graham Zug
WR Chaz Powell
C Stefan Wisniewski
DT Ollie Ogbu
CB D’Anton Lynn
S Nick Sukay
Key Games:
Sept 11 - @ Alabama
Oct 2 - @ Iowa
Oct 30 - Michigan
Nov 13 - @ Ohio State
Nov 27 - Michigan State
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment