Wisconsin-Penn State preview

My first memory of Penn State came in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl. They were playing Miami that year, and Miami had beaten my favorite team at the time - Oklahoma - earlier that season, and I wanted them to lose bad. Then they showed up at the stadium wearing fatigues and cultivating a bad boy image. I really wanted them to lose bad. Knew next to nothing about Penn State - the only player from that team I can remember is Shane Conlan - but I was a big fan that night. And they won.

Time wore on, and when PSU joined the Big Ten I was happy, it was a nice expansion for the league. Joe Paterno's 1994 team was awesome, with Kerry Collins, Ki-Jana Carter (my wife's favorite player from that team), Kyle Brady, etc. They should have won the national title that year, not Nebraska. I remember watching their bowl game at Froehlich's that year with him and Burch yelling "Penn State! (clap clap) Penn State! (clap clap)"

And for the most part they've remained one of my least-hated teams in the conference. We've had some great games with them (even losses) and great wins against them over the past 15 years. A few things bother me about their program now, though:

1. Lot of troublemakers in the program ... although we could apply the glass house rule here, too.
2. JoePa's rant at the end of the first half of last year's game, when Bielema had the kick coverage team go offside time after time, was ridiculous - there was nothing being done against the rules of the time. It wasn't the first time Paterno had gone apesh!t on a ref recently, and that sort of behavior is unbecoming when it's consistent.
3. After Erasmus James took out Michael Robinson a couple years ago, Robinson's mom prayed for Ras to get hurt, and he eventually did.
4. Will said that when he went to the '05 game at Beaver Stadium, the fans were not as classy and dignified as I had previously thought, in fact it was just the opposite. That and the Badgers' loss made it a less than pleasurable experience for Will.

On the field this year, the teams look pretty even - flawed squads with some talent who were legitimate preseason contenders but are now on track to go 5-3 or 4-4 in the Big Ten and fight for a berth in the Outback Bowl. Either team could get hot and run off a bunch of wins, but their performance to date doesn't indicate that's likely.

Both teams lost at Illinois by about a touchdown. PSU somehow played a worse non-conference schedule than UW. PSU lost at Michigan, but UW probably would have lost that game at that time as well. PSU had an easier time with Iowa at home, but they caught the Hawkeyes two games further into what looks to be a monumental collapse.

Luckily for Bucky, PSU's QB, Anthony Morelli, is immobile. Unluckily, he's got a nice arm and talented wideouts. I think we can handle them. Their best back is one of the scofflaws and he's out, but his replacement is fine.

PSU's defense seems to be as good as usualy, featuring great linebackers. Dan Connor and Sean Lee get a lot of press, and they should - they were probably better than Paul Posluzny last year, and he was pretty damn good himself. We'll have a tough time running on them, but I thought the same thing last year and PJ had his best game of the stretch run. Many analysts are saying our passing game is shot with Swan out, but I think otherwise. Still, it'll be tough to move the ball on these guys.

PJ: 23 carries, 79 yards, 1 TD (whoops, originally typed 29 yards, my bad)
Donovan: 19-29, 211 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Beckum: 8 catches, 94 yards
Jefferson: 3 catches, 49 yards
Graham: 1 catch, 7 yards, 1 TD
Ike: First pick of the year
Shaughnessy: 1 sack, generally disruptive
Hayden: 1 sack
Levy: 1 sack

Score: Penn State 20, Wisconsin 17