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Prepare for disappointment in Happy Valley, as there’s no way Joe Paterno and his Nittany Lions can come close to last season’s 11-1 record with an Orange Bowl win.
Quarterback Michael Robinson, last season’s Big 10 offensive player of the year, was Penn State’s offensive powerhouse last season and defenses were forced to build game plans around them.
Anthony Morelli doesn’t have an ounce of Robinson’s running ability, which will eliminate the constant dose of quarterback drafts and option plays the Nittany Lions dazzled us with last year. With a limited offensive attack, which will now come down mostly to back passes and turnovers to running back Tony Hunt, the Nittany Lions’ offense will be much easier to defend this season.
Penn State desperately needs to run the ball down the opposition’s throats this season to take some of the pressure off freshman starter Morelli. But this could be a tall order since 4 starting offensive linemen have started. Hopefully, this won’t trigger a throwback to the 2003 and 2004 seasons, in which Penn State finished ninth in the Big 10 in rushing. I don’t think we’ll see as big of a drop since Paterno is more talented than he was then, but the offense won’t work as well this season as it did last season.
I wish I could tell Penn State fans not to worry about offense because defense will take over, but with the loss of Big 10 sacks leader Tamba Hali as well as 2 of the other front 4 who were so good last season, the Nittany Lions could be in trouble. Fortunately, they get Paul Posluszny back, who would likely be preparing for his rookie NFL season were it not for a knee injury suffered in the Orange Bowl against Florida State. Last year’s Butkus Award winner will have to lead the defense along with Connor and Shaw, who make up perhaps the strongest core linebacker in the Big 10. However, with the Lions not as strong up front, it will make life that much more difficult. on sponsors.
Penn State is likely to finish in the middle of the pack in the Big 10 in 2006. They will have an early yardstick in Week 2 when they head to South Bend to take on the Irish. They will go to Ohio State on September 23 and Michigan on October 15. The biggest stretch of the season for the Lions will be their last 3 Big 10 games that will run from October 28 to November 18 against Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan State. From what I can see these games are on the line and this could be the difference as to whether or not Penn State and Joe Pa will bowl this season.