It was very brief. In many ways I can encapsulate my experience of the game and the day in general in that short sentence. I was having too much fun to notice how fickle time acted around me. My dad was visiting from Los Angeles and since our lovely university is located in the middle of nowhere, we only got to spend the one day together. I showed him the usual things most college kids show their parents. We walked around campus for a bit and then grabbed some lunch. We talked about our usual inside jokes and my life at State College. Then once the day was winding down we talked about Penn State Football.
“You guys are looking pretty good” he said.
” Yes, yes we are” I replied.
The Bad: We committed a few too many penalties but to be honest some of them were ticky-tacky at best. Also it would’ve been nice to have kept the shutout…..but I’ll still take win.
The Good:
Well people this team just keeps getting better and better. The defense was solid. The offense was explosive. Combined they were an explosive wall……..wait that didn’t come out right. Combined they proved to the nation (and certainly to Iowa) that we deserved to be the number 12 team in the country.
Saqon Barkley continued to do what Sapon Barkley does and tallied up 167 rushing yards and a nice 44 yard touchdown catch to boot. Trace McSorely didn’t disappoint either as he threw for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns as Penn State absolutely destroyed Iowa 41 to 14.
The offense was clicking on all cylinders as the Nittany Lions both rushed and passed for over 200 yards on the Hawkeyes of Iowa who despite their totuted run defense, seemed powerless on both lines of scrimmage as the game went on.
The new and increasingly healthy defense continued to play well highlighted by the fact the held Iowa to only 30 rushing yards the entire game. Not to mention the fact that starting linebacker Jason Cabinda is starting to do some ridiculous things to opposing teams. So all in all the defense is starting to get better as each week passes. Heck, this team in general is getting better and better as each week passes.
As if this weren’t already enough good news, Ohio State’s demolition of Nebraska know gives a great shot to possibly go to the Rose Bowl if we can win out and have a couple of things go our way.
- We need to win out
- We need Michigan to beat Ohio State
- We need Wisconsin to lose one more game ( this isn’t a total necessity but it would be really nice if it were to happen)
If those three things can happen, we’ll be smelling roses.
The Awesome:
I wanted to leave this week with a simple reminder of why Saqon Barkley owns this campus.
Exhibit A:
GO NITTANY LIONS
works cited:
http://www.oregonlive.com/collegefootball/index.ssf/2016/11/penn_state_nittany_lions_footb.html
www.youtube.com
cdn.fansided.com
www.sn.com