Football fans of the 2011 Penn State Nittany Lions football team should normally be very happy and excited about their football team getting off to a 6-1 start to their season you would think so, right. The Nittany Lions are also off a 3-0 record in Big Ten Conference play. Penn State is even ranked 21st in the first BCS Poll released for the 2011 season. The team also this past week became bowl eligible as well. All should be well in the sea of white at Beaver Stadium. Not so fast all you Penn State supporters out there. Do not be fooled by this teams
6-1 start.
The 2011 version of Penn State football had a lot of questions to be answered coming into the season. The season is now seven weeks old those questions coming into the season are still to be answered by this years team. Head coach Joe Paterno had major questions at the quarterback position. Rob Bolden or Matthew McGloin. Who would step up as the leader of the offense? Thus far at this point of the season, the Nittany Lions are seriously missing a true leader on the offensive side of the football. The leader of the offense should usually be your
quarterback.
This offense has really struggled thus far and needs to figure it out quickly before the true tough part of the schedule gets here. For this Penn State team to be successful this season, it will need more productivity from the offense. Better running attack and ball control.
They will also need to put more points on the scoreboard than they have thus far. On the other side of the ball, the defense has been what has given Penn State their 6-1 record. With the monster part of the schedule to come, this defense can not be on the field for long periods of time. They will be worn down by the likes of Nebraska, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.
The Nittany Lions have five games left on their regular season schedule. All are Big Ten games. Penn State has struggled in their first three conference games against Indiana (16-10,win), Iowa (13-3, win), and Purdue (23-18, win). Penn State travels to Evanston, Illinois on Saturday October 22nd to take on a Northwestern team that has given them problems over years.
The road then gets extremely tough for Penn State after that. Home against Illinois (6-1) on October 29th, home against Nebraska (5-1) on November 12th. Then if the schedule could not get any tougher, they close out the regular season with two roads games. November 19th at Ohio State (4-3) and then close out the regular season November 26th at Wisconsin (6-0).Not an easy schedule by any means.
Penn State fans if the Nittany Lions do not win at Northwestern do not be surprised if the 2011 football team finishes the season 6-6. The remaining schedule is so tough and there are so many questions about this team that still need to be answered. They better answer them quickly because they are going to be taking on the elite of the Big Ten the remaining part of their schedule.
Happy times in Happy Valley. Well come back in five weeks and we will have the answers.A 6-6 season looks to be on the horizon for the 2011 Penn State football team. The question that will be asked at the end of the season should be. Will Joe go!!!!!!!
My questions are: Why is Pa not producing great college players every yr. If we are(we are not according to Rivals or Maxpreps) why don’t they go to Penn State? Why don’t players come here if we have JOE PA? If TCU and Idaho States(other schools) are not top recruiting (usually never in top 25) WhY DO they finish in top ten every yr and We suck? Forget Joe Pa coaching skills, i think Penn State needs a coach that players will flock here…i understand Paul one time mention that alot players don’t come cause too much travel for families. Players go to other states all the time!! schools still win when they have worse recruiting then us..What’s our problem?????
Penn State sold it’s soul when it joined the Big 10 .. The Mid-Atlantic Recruiting (Pa,MD,NJ,NY,Ct is not what it used to be where kids and families can see their kids more often and not travel 700-100 miles to do so.. They lost a lot of the recruiting pipeline from MId-Atlantic High Schools and bottom line, just cannot compete with the Big Boys of the Midwest.. Have you been to State College.. it’s the middle of nowhere and 2-3 Hours from any Metropolitan area making travel an inconveiniece for many families who have closer and better options.. I just never understood why a Program like Penn State left it’s core.. It’s booster,fans and alumni who are mostly from NY To Washington DC and throughout Pa …but this prgram abandoned it’s roots and the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic regions and now they suffer the consequences.. This Program is a shadow of what is used to be Joe Pa or no Joe PA, they have had lots of NFl Busts over the last 20 years or so and even have seend their #’s Decline who even get Drafted in the NFL anymore.. As far as this Season Goes, I think the lose to Northwestern tonight, beant an overrated Illinois team next week at home and then lose the final 3 games for finish 7-5 which is about what they are.. An average program who is on their way down..
This article had no mention of Silas Redd, therefore, I will not give it any type of opinion.
Just trash.
With the defense Penn State has, it has the ability of jumping into the national title scene.
Someone get a real Penn State Football reporter in here if you’re going to report on them.
Yes, I went to state college before (4 yrs). It is definitely a change of scenary for a city dweller. It will never compete with a school in S. Cal, or FL in terms of sunshine and city life. It seems like there is a lot of loyalty, honor and intangibles that goes in the recruiting process. Old fashioned, maybe, but thats the value that JoePa instills into the program. With that said, I believe with the rise of Pitt, it has taken a lot of top prospects from PSU. As great as JoePa is, I believe it is time for a change if PSU wants to be back in the national title hunt again. Of course, this will never happen unless Joe steps down.