Notre Dame Gameweek

5 days until Penn State ventures into South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish. Not really sure what to expect. I know Notre Dame struggled vs Ga Tech, but I think that was to be expected. I don't see them that out of synch on Saturday.

I think the fact that the Nits went to a 3-4 defense on Saturday says a lot for the coaching staff's willingness to use the best players as effectively as possible. Sean Lee is going to have a monster career at Penn State, and getting him meaningful game experience will only serve the program well next year.

Some other observations from this past weekend:

• Dan Connor looked awesome. If the coaching staff can keep him off of the phone, he should have a monster campaign.
• I thought Tony Davis looked a little rough, and I was really disappointed with the tackling of Justin King. Jeff Smar....however it's spelled...is a big, physical receiver. King has to show more than he did vs Akron. Davis got beat a couple of times, and Scirotto was left on an island during the Zips final touchdown. I think the D-line is still not good enough to let the secondary play aggressive, so it is key to keep the big plays in front of the DBs.
• I hope Levi Brown's "words of encouragement" were taken to heart by the other O-linemen. These guys are going to see all kinds of blitz packages from defenses a hell of a lot more athletic than Akron. I'm not sure the passing game is going to be able to set up the run if the running game can't get out of the blocks.
• Would it kill Tony Hunt to get a little more emotional? I know he's a quiet, reserved guy, but if I'm getting hit 3 yards deep every time I touch the ball, then someone is going to hear about it. I would think he'd want to be a 1,000 yard rusher again, but you'd never know he was disappointed by the effort on Saturday.
• DWill had more than 100 yards (all purpose) on Saturday. This guy has to get more than three catches per game. I guess it is a result of the wealth of talent they have at WR. And, with Chris Bell playing, it gets more crowded. My fear is that DWill becomes disenfranchised (if he's a team guy, then there is no worry, but...). In order to get Norwood, Butler, Williams, Bell, etc the ball, the game will now be 5 quarters with a minimum 50 pass attempts.
• Ahhh for the days of a pass catching TE. Jordan Lyons had a couple of big drops. Where o where is Troy Drayton?
• Deion Butler, for the first time I can remember, let a pass slip through is hands. It was perfectly thrown, just dropped. Chalk it up to the weather, which from what I hear was worse than it looked on TV.
• I want no more games done by Pam Ward, though the broadcasts are better with Mike Gottfried (and not Dave Norrie).
• AJ Wallace is FAAASSST. The #12 (like Stewart Mandel said) was a bit unnerving, since I immediately thought of MRob...
• Odrick, Wallace, Bell are just some of the talented freshmen to get in the game. I hope this is a wise use of some redshirts--doesn't look like we're going to have a lot of 5th year seniors for the next couple of years. But kudos to the coaching staff on putting the best players on the field.
• I think Penn State may have one of the fastest teams in the conference. And they're young. If they develop at all, speed in Happy Valley will be a luxury, and not centered on one or two players (Ernie Terrell, Chafie Fields).

Watching the ESPN Full Circle presentation of the FSU/Miami game...the matrix screen (ESPN2) almost gave my dog a seizure. And, I like Colin Cowherd, but sometimes it's just nice to watch the game normally...

Some of my predictions this past week were right on, and some were atrocious (USC/Ark). Will put out more this week.

For the Glory...