Our best this year
Our best game of the year impacting national implications occurs Saturday when we travel to State College to see No. 10 Penn State host No. 22 Auburn. The Big Ten and SEC have long seasons ahead and there is no reason to count these two out of consideration for the CFP. This first regular season meeting ever between these two historic programs will be played before a sold out, “white-out”, at 7:30 pm in front of a national TV audience.
Both sport records of 2-0, but PSU has been significantly more challenged than AU. The Nittany Lions defeated No. 18 Wisconsin in their opener on the road, 16-10. Last week they defeated defending MAC champ Ball State, 44-9. The Tigers defeated MAC doormat Akron, 60-10, and FCS Alabama State, 62-0 on their home turf known as “The Plains.” State College will be the first game at a campus north of the Mason-Dixon line since who knows when?…
AU comes in with new HC Brian Harsin after a successful eight-year stint a Boise with a 74-26 record. His new defensive coordinator is Derek Mason who succeeded PSU HC James Franklin after he left Vanderbilt. Franklin hired OC Mike Yurcich from Texas to add more firepower to the Lion offense. The Lions seemed to make progress from week one to week two. They will be more tested this week than last.
The key to this game will be more progress on the Nittany Lion O-line to protect QB Sean Clifford from a very good Tiger front seven. Auburn, of course, will be greatly tested on offense as Bo Nix and company have not faced the likes of the Penn State defense They averaged 575 yards per game and 61 points against lesser talent. The Lions allow 330 yards and 9.5 points per game. With 110,000 white jerseys backing them, the Penn State will pose a challenge the Tigers have not yet encountered. The key to the win will be the play between the o-line of Penn State and the front seven of Auburn. Can’t wait!
Cute, cuddly Aubie, Auburn’s mascot, will be venturing into territory unknown to him in The Happy Valley this weekend.
Stepping over the line?
We are very critical, to say the least, of the Navy offense as we reported in our last game review. Many others are as well. Navy AD Chet Gladchuk shocked many on Monday, including supposedly HC Ken Niumatatolo, when he “fired” Navy offensive coordinator Irvin Jasper. Talk about a knee-jerk reaction and over-stepping!
The AD has every right to be disappointed with the Navy performance so far this year. However, though there’s not much optimism for improvement, how can he target a successful coach who’s served the Academy for 14 years during one of the greatest stretches of football success it’s ever had? Much of that success has to be credited to Jasper who developed that triple-option offense and mentored the great QBs they’ve had up until now.
He overstepped Niumatatolo who rightfully convinced the miffed AD to rehire Jasper back a strictly the QB coach. This has to strain this relationship already. These look to be sudden, tough times for the Mids, but why was the OC coordinator targeted? Navy fans we talked to Saturday spoke about the overall decline of talent seen on this team – smaller offensive linemen, less depth in the backfield, no big, bruising fullback like in past seasons. The entire program has to be challenged and that starts with the HC who’s done a stalwart job with this program who has won over 100 games at Navy – more than anyone else.
Gladchuk has to put aside the emotional reactions and try to be problem solver for the overall program to succeed. Over-stepping and criticizing and changing personnel suddenly cannot solve the issues in the short term. The only positive envisioned here is possible wake-up call to the team. Maybe that is where the emotions need to be stirred. In the meantime, right this ship! Don’t scuttle it! Go Navy!
What does AD Chet Gladchuk’s move mean for the future of HC Ken Niumatalolo staying in Annapolis?
Review of games last week
Coastal Carolina knocked off Kansas as expected, 49-22. We just like to keep our eye on KU HC Lance Leipold who we respect as a HC based on previous successes. Optimism reins here that he will bring some measure of success to this downtrodden Jayhawk program. Don’t expect it this year, but we feel if anybody can turn this program around, it’s this guy… Coastal looks like it hasn’t skipped a beat from last year. The No. 16 Chanticleers are added to our schedule at Arkansas State on October 7… PSU’s win showed some improvement of offense we hoped to see in its win over Ball State, 44-9. However, room for improvement from the o-line still exists as reported in our preview above.
Army defeated Western Kentucky (1-1) at home, 38-35. The result indicates to us that WKU can be competitive. Failing to unravel Army’s triple option to trail the Cadets, 35-14, in the fourth, QB Bailey Zappe led the Hilltoppers back into the game to lose by three. The transfer from Houston Baptist threw three TD passes for 435 yards. Indiana (1-1) will bring more defense to Bowling Green on September 25, but the Hilltoppers will not be contending with an unfamiliar offensive style. The Hoosiers don’t seem up to par with where they were a year ago.
Army (2-0), seen in action against Navy here two years ago, will most likely be 3-0 after playing poor UConn this week. They won’t be challenged until Oct. 2 when they start a stretch of four games against Ball State, Wisconsin, Wake Forest, and Air Force.
Big Ten power exchange: Oregon knocked off Ohio State, 35-28, for the big upset of the day in Columbus demonstrating that the Buckeye’s offense has some chinks in it. OSU dropped down from three to nine and has some challenges still ahead. Iowa rose from No. 10 to No. 5 beating intrastate rival Iowa State 27-17. The Cyclones fell to No. 14. Penn State will visit the Hawkeyes on 10/9 and the Buckeyes on 10/30. On 10/30 the Hawkeyes visit Wisconsin. Much remains for the outcome of the Big Ten.
Week 3 games of interest
We’re on vacation this week in Delaware. The 2-0 Fighting Blue Hens, No. 6 in the FCS, visit the 2-0 Scarlet Knights of Rutgers this week. Several FCS teams have pulled some big upsets over the FBS thus far. This looks like the best chance for another this week…Purdue (2-0) at No. 12 Notre Dame (2-0): The Boilermakers were always a nemesis for the Irish in their heydays. Not sure if Purdue is up to par, but the Irish have just gotten by their first two opponents late in both games. Purdue pulled the last big upset in the Big Ten over Ohio State a few years ago…
Maybe Delaware, in blue, will intimidate Rutgers this week with uniforms similar to Michigan’s. RU has never beaten U of M since they joined the Big Ten.
Oklahoma hosts Nebraska in a nostalgic rivalry. Our interest lies in the amount of points the Huskers (2-1) will score in this one. Come on, 76-0 over Western Carolina? Why did the Sooners even schedule that one? They thought the Catamounts would create a distraction for this one?… No. 8 Cincinnati at Indiana. This was supposed to be a test for the “Other Five” team, but if not, Notre Dame still looms before AAC play…No. 1 Alabama visits No. 11 Florida in the Swamp. This is the first of three true tests for Bama from our perspective.
Cincinnati TE Josh Whyle snags pass from Derek Ridder (9) for a 29-yard TD pass against UCF last season. Cincy starts to challenge this week for a CFP spot in January.
