In the Footsteps of a Legend: John Rogers of Penn State

[Big Six]

I purchased Bowl Bound yesterday and have been spending some time getting a feel for how the game works. I've really enjoyed myself, and have decided to embark upon my first dynasty for the forum. I'm an avid Penn State fan, so I've chosen to feature the Nittany Lions. In the "universe" I've created, the 2004 season has just come to a close. Legendary coach Joe Paterno has decided to resign after 39 years as Penn State's head football coach. JoePa made his wishes concerning the future of the Penn State football program very clear. "I have a coach on my staff who will make Penn State proud," he stated. That coach is John Rogers, who served as Paterno's offensive coordinator for the past four seasons. Rogers is a Penn State product, graduating in the class of 1995. As a senior, Rogers backed up Kerry Collins at quarterback. The son of a high school coach, Rogers quickly realized that coaching was in his blood, and upon graduation took a position on Paterno's staff as a graduate assistant. He has remained at Penn State ever since; before taking the reins of Paterno's offense, he coached the Nittany Lion quarterbacks and demonstrated a knack for recruiting. Rogers' youth--he is only 33 years old--has caused some skeptics to doubt his ability to handle the Penn State job. Some of the more outspoken members of Nittany Nation protested his hiring loudly, wanting the school to pursue a veteran coach with a proven track record. Others are encouraged by the fact that Rogers is a Penn State man, and by the decision of every member of Paterno's 2004 staff to remain on board. Can John Rogers return Penn State to the ranks of the elite, or will he be remembered as the man who let Joe Paterno's proud legacy wither? I'll tell Rogers' story, through letters, journal entries, news reports, and a variety of other sources. Soon, we'll be off to Happy Valley...

[ckuesper]

Looking forward to seeing how The Nittany Lions respond...:)

[Big Six]

Thanks, ckuesper. I've been spending some very enjoyable time playing the game, getting a feel for how different features work so I won't ruin the Lions' chances by making a bunch of newbie mistakes. If I doom Coach Rogers to a place of villainy in Penn State lore by making football-related mistakes, so be it. I just don't want to ruin a good dynasty by messing up some aspect of the game play.

[Big Six]

The job is mine [b]From Coach Rogers' journal July 20, 2005[/b] Sometimes I sit at the desk in my office and take a look around, still trying to believe it [i]is[/i] my office. A part of me might always consider this Coach Paterno’s office; his presence is still very real here. As it should be, because the man is truly a legend. Tonight I’m writing from my study, and among the photos on the desk in front of me is a shot of me and Coach Paterno, shaking hands before the Blue-White game my senior year. His presence is very real at my house, too. I’m on the phone with Joe every day, but I always call him. During one of the many conversations we had about this transition, he assured me he would never meddle; that I was now the head coach of the Pennsylvania State University football team. He promised me I could always look to him for advice, and also that he would never offer it without me asking for it first. Coach Paterno didn’t leave the cupboard bare when he retired, but we still have a long road ahead of us. We're not ranked in the preseason polls, and we probably shouldn't be. The fact that we’re also picked to finish eighth in the Big Ten says a lot about both our program's current state and the strength of our conference. Michigan is the media’s preseason #1, and Purdue is also in the top ten, at #9. Of course, all of us who have had any connection to Penn State football for a while aren’t satisfied with the way things are in Happy Valley right now. Our fans expect to win, and win a lot. I’ll be expected to have the Lions contending for a national championship before very long. From our meetings, I’ve gathered that our AD, David Navarro, has more realistic expectations for me in my first season on the job. Privately, he's told me he’ll be satisfied if we stay out of the conference cellar. I asked Coach Paterno about that, and he thinks that’s fair for a first-year head coach. He took his beatings when he started out, too. The alumni and boosters are a little harder to read. I know they would like to see a victory over Michigan State, who has evolved into our biggest rival since we joined the Big Ten. And, they undoubtedly hope to make plans for a bowl trip in December or January. I know most coaches would love to be able to tell the alumni where to stick it sometimes, but they buy the tickets and contribute to the program. Here at Penn State, the football program is self-supporting, without any funds from the university's general budget. That means the alumni's voices have to be heeded. Right now, there’s another voice that has to be heeded. My three-year-old son, Matt, is giggling like a maniac, chasing our dog down the hall, and I have to investigate the situation. My wife Kristin and I have three children: Matt; his older sister Caitlin, who is almost six; and their older brother John, Jr. who just turned eight. Johnny and Matt are both going to play quarterback for the Nittany Lions like their dad, and I hope they get more playing time than I did! Caitlin is going to be a cheerleader. I notice none of them are saying they want to coach yet. So now I’m off to pursue a three-year-old.. Before long I’ll be pursuing seventeen-year-olds with scholarship offers in my hand. Somehow I think it’ll be a lot easier to corner Matt.

[Big Six]

Meet the Nittany Lions [b]August 1, 2005[/b] Since it looks like I’ll be keeping a fairly detailed journal of my experiences this season, I thought it was time to introduce you to the players I’ll be coaching this season. On the whole, I’m fairly satisfied with our talent. Sure, I’d like to have five-star guys all over my three-deep chart, but that’s hardly realistic. I believe we can win some games with the ones I do have. [b]Quarterback[/b] [b]Mitchell Schmitz[/b] (6’2”, 193, sr) is clearly the #1 man here. He’s a senior, smart and tough, and the other players naturally look to him as a leader. Mitchell is a classic dropback passer with a very strong arm. For a change of pace, we can go with [b]Robert Turner,[/b] (6’6”, 198, jr) who is much more mobile than Schmitz. [b]Running Backs[/b] The key to our offense this season will be [b]Stephen Sanchez[/b], who has the ability to be one of the best in the country. He’s a big back—almost 250 pounds on a 5’11” frame—but he combines his bulk with great agility and a surprising amount of speed. He has good hands, too, so we can use him in our passing game. When we use a fullback, we go with [b]Justin Murphy.[/b] (6’0”, 203, sr) He’s an excellent blocker for a guy his size, and he can catch the ball too. Our backups here have some talent, but they’re young and unproven. [b]Receivers[/b] This is one area where I can see lots of room for improvement. Our best receiver is junior [b]Darrell Miller.[/b] (6’1”, 198) He’s the only true speedster among our wideouts, and he also has the best hands among the group, although Sanchez seems to have a better feel for catching the ball. Miller is perhaps the hardest worker on the team. After him, the quality drops off fast. One of our recruits, [b]Scott Downing,[/b] (6’3”, 190, fr) might start at flanker. I would love to redshirt him, but we might need him right now. We’ll be looking to bring in a real stud in our next recruiting class. [b]Tight End[/b] The starter will be [b]Edward Keys,[/b] (6’5”, 238, jr) who is a good receiver with great speed for a tight end. He isn’t a devastating blocker, however, and we’ve thought about splitting him wide in some formations. One of the best players in our recruiting class is a tight end: [b]Michael Lee[/b] (6’4”, 238, fr) He has a lot of the skills Keys has, but should be a more effective blocker. [b]Offensive Line[/b] We will really need some players on this unit to step up if we’re going to win many games in the Big Ten this year. Many of our most talented players are young, possibly a year away from being able to contribute at this level. The leader of the O-line is the left guard, [b]John Matos.[/b] (6’5”, 296, sr) John is a candidate for conference and All-America honors. He’s strong, quick, aggressive, and a tireless worker. Beside him at tackle, senior [b]Jackie Durbin[/b] (6’3”, 300) starts ahead of younger players who probably have more potential, but still need seasoning. Durbin is a better run blocker than pass protector. Junior [b]William Staley[/b] (6’7”, 286) has the inside track at center; he’s solid but unspectacular. Big [b]Michael Sanders[/b] (6’1”, 309) will start at right guard. Michael is a sophomore, and has considerable upside. For now, [b]Michael Lee[/b] (6’8”, 343, jr) is listed at the starter at right tackle, but he’ll be pushed hard by [b]Steven Richards (6’6”, 332, so).[/b] Both of them are huge, strong, and surprisingly agile. It’s possible that one of them might move to the right side. In a year or two, we could have one of the best offensive lines in the nation, but we’re not there yet. [b]Defensive Line[/b] Our base defensive set is the 3-4. At right end, senior [b]Ricardo Robinson[/b] (6’5”, 267, sr) gets the nod. He’s a better-than-average pass rusher and tackler with outstanding football instincts. The nose tackle, [b]Juan Pressley,[/b] (6’5”, 293, sr) is very solid at the point of attack and keeps blockers off our linebackers. The left end will be [b]David Logsdon[/b] (6’6”, 301, jr), who is the team’s best pass rusher. Last winter, we landed one of the best high school defensive linemen in the country, [b]William Lowe.[/b] We would love to redshirt him and give him a chance to gain more strength. We’ll also make the D-line a recruiting priority this season. [b]Linebackers[/b] The linebackers are the strength of our defense; they’re athletic and aggressive, and they follow the ball all over the field. Our linebacking corps has depth and experience. We match up well with any team in the nation here. [b]James Ortega[/b] (6’0”, 243, sr) starts on the strong side. He is a very solid player who does everything we ask a linebacker to do, and does it well. The weak side linebacker is [b]George King[/b] (6’0”, 228, so). King has the potential to be one of the best linebackers Penn State has ever had, and that’s saying something. He is quick and agile, and he already excels in pass coverage. If we can get him to hit the weights, he will be equally good against the run. [b]John Schmidt[/b] (6’2”, 238, sr) is the best defensive player we have. He’ll be on the Butkus and Bednarik Award watch lists, and should have a good chance at All-Big Ten and All-American honors. Schmidt is a tremendous tackler, a strong pass rusher, and can cover running backs effectively when we drop him back in coverage. He had a few off-the-field issues to deal with over the summer, but we’re hoping he’ll be ready to concentrate on school and football when camp begins. The other inside spot will be manned by [b]Thomas Ortega[/b] (6’2”, 244, jr). Tom is a tireless worker who is constantly doing something to make himself a better football player. He is an outstanding pass rusher, and is improving at the point of attack. There are three young linebackers in the program we’re really high on, too: [b]Ryan Davis, Craig Swanson, and Terry Paul.[/b] All three of these players project as future starters, possibly future stars. [b]Secondary[/b] I’m generally pleased with this unit, too. We have four solid starters here; none of them are spectacular, but they are certainly capable of getting the job done. [b]Lawrence Willis[/b](5’11”, 202, jr) and [b]James Frazier[/b] (6’1, 181, jr) are the starting corners. Willis is a true shutdown corner, and he’s only going to get better. He’s also incredibly strong for a player his size. Frazier is fast and instinctive, and is particularly good in zone coverage. Our free safety, [b]James Prince,[/b] (6’3”, 175, so) has tremendous potential. He’s a coach’s dream: smart, hard-working, and athletic. I got to know him well while I was recruiting him. He’s from Factoryville, a small town up in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania where Christy Mathewson grew up. At strong safety, [b]Joseph Buck[/b] gets the starting nod. (5’9”, 185, sr) He has solid all-around skills, but he will have to work hard to keep ahead of one of our recruits, [b]Henry Pierre.[/b] He’s a five-star guy with a huge upside. [b]Special Teams[/b] We have one of the best kickers in the conference in redshirt freshman [b]Jason Terry.[/b] He has great range and is very accurate, and he’s developing the leg strength to boom kickoffs out of the end zone. [b]Richard Wilkinson[/b], a senior, is our punter, and again, he’s above average. We have a good recruit, [b]Douglas Billings,[/b] who will be ready to take over when Wilkinson graduates. [b]James Jones,[/b] a reserve offensive lineman, is our long snapper, and [b]Robert Turner[/b] is our holder. [b]Ryan Davis[/b] is the leader of our kick coverage teams. Our best kickoff returner is reserve wideout [b]Mark King,[/b] and [b]Darrell Miller[/b] will return punts. We’ll probably use backup DB [b]Ralph Merritt[/b] and reserve WR [b]Alex Jenkins[/b] as return men, too. Overall, I believe we have a talented team, one that can be a very good one if some of our players develop quickly into the players we think they will eventually be.

[Big Six]

[b]Last week of preseason, 2005[/b] We’ve reached our final week of preseason practice, and we’re gearing up for our first opponent. We open up at home against South Florida, a Big East school. Here is our complete 2005 schedule: [code] Week Opponent 1 SOUTH FLORIDA 2 MARSHALL 3 at Brigham Young 4 Open 5 WISCONSIN* 6 OHIO STATE* 7 at Purdue* 8 at Michigan State* 9 MINNESOTA* 10 INDIANA* 11 at Northwestern* 12 at Illinois* Home games in all CAPS. Big Ten conference games marked with an asterisk* [/code] Four of our Big Ten opponents are ranked in the preseason Top 25: Wisconsin, Ohio State, Purdue, and Minnesota. We aren’t playing Iowa or Michigan this year, so as tough as our conference schedule is, it could be worse. We’re running a balanced offense this year. Most of our plays are run out of a pro set or an I formation; occasionally we’ll drop our QB back into the shotgun. Our base defensive set will be the 3-4. Against South Florida, we’ll play man coverage a little more than half the time, and we’ll blitz them fairly heavily. Our recruiting class was rated as high as #14 in the nation, and some of our freshmen will be counted on to contribute right away. Scott Downing won the starting job at flanker, and several have moved up to the second teams. We like the aggressiveness some of them are showing on punt and kickoff coverage. We’re getting tired of hitting each other, and we’re more than ready to test what we have against a live opponent. There will be close to 100,000 people in the stands, and we plan on giving them something to cheer about.

[Big Six]

Happy Valley [b]Week One, 2005[/b] If I retire today, I’ll have the distinction of going undefeated in my career as a head college football coach. We were expected to win, but I’m very pleased with the fashion in which we accomplished it. We executed well, both offensively and defensively. Our defense held South Florida to 81 yards rushing, and they completed less than a third of their pass attempts. Meanwhile, we had over 500 yards of total offense, 216 of that on the ground. Stephen Sanchez hurt his elbow, but he should be fine for next week’s game. In fact, he could have kept playing if he had to, but there was no need to risk a more serious injury. Before he left, he gained 79 yards on 13 carries, and caught a short pass and turned it into a 71-yard gain. Brian Alvarez came in for him and gained 117 yards on 17 carries; he really showed a knack for accelerating into the holes quickly. It’s great to have two dependable running backs, because they take such a pounding over the course of a season. Mitchell Schmitz threw the ball very well, going 21-29 for 282 yards. Edward Keys caught eight balls, and Darrell Miller had seven. Miller dropped one ball, or we would have been 16-16 on passes to the two of them. I can’t complain too much about that one drop. John Matos graded out almost perfectly on the O-line. He opened up great holes on three running plays that went for big yardage, and we credited him with four pancakes. If he can do anywhere close to that well against Big Ten opponents, he’ll be an All-American. Defensively, John Schmidt had a great game: nine tackles and a sack, and he broke up a pass. Lawrence Willis had the best game among our DBs, with an interception, five tackles, and two passes defended, while Juan Pressley was the most effective defensive lineman. He sacked their QB once, and pressured him into bad throws two more times. The stadium was almost full, and that was a great sight. There’s nothing like winning a game in front of a big home crowd, and I’m glad our guys got to enjoy that feeling today. [code] [b]TEAM 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q FINAL South Florida 7 3 0 3 13 Penn State 10 17 14 3 44 SCORING SUMMARY First Quarter[/b] USF TD 12:17 7-0 Roger Rees 28 YD Run (Robert Barajas Kick). PNST TD 10:06 7-7 Stephen Sanchez 9 YD Run (Jason Terry Kick). PNST FG 05:33 10-7 Jason Terry 26 YD [b]Second Quarter[/b] PNST FG 11:48 13-7 Jason Terry 46 YD PNST TD 06:19 20-7 Robert Turner 1 YD Run (Jason Terry Kick). USF FG 01:52 20-10 Robert Barajas 47 YD PNST TD 00:14 27-10 Mike Hamilton 1 YD Pass from Robert Turner (Jason Terry Kick). [b]Third Quarter[/b] PNST TD 10:39 34-10 Justin Murphy 2 YD Run (Jason Terry Kick). PNST TD 01:36 41-10 Edward Keys 9 YD Pass from Mitchell Schmitz (Jason Terry Kick). [b]Fourth Quarter[/b] USF FG 14:26 41-13 Robert Barajas 30 YD PNST FG 02:02 44-13 Jason Terry 38 YD [b]TEAM STATISTICS USF PSU[/b] First Downs 14 28 Rushing 4 14 Passing 8 13 Penalty 2 1 3rd-down Efficiency 6-16 7-14 4th-down Efficiency 0-0 0-1 Total Net Yards 293 508 Total plays 65 80 Average gain 4.5 6.4 Net Yards Rushing 81 216 Rushes 31 47 Average per rush 2.6 4.6 Net Yards Passing 212 292 Completed-attempted 11-31 23-31 Yards per pass 6.8 9.4 Sacked-yards lost 3-18 2-7 Had intercepted 3 1 Punts-average 6-36.5 3-37.0 Return Yardage 135 171 Punts-returns 1-14 5-90 Kickoffs-returns 6-105 4-65 Interceptions-returns 1-16 3-16 Penalties-yards 4-23 6-45 Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1 Touchdowns 1 5 Rushing 1 3 Passing 0 2 Extra Points 1-1 5-5 Field Goals 2-2 3-3 Red Zone Efficiency 1-1-100% 7-8-87.5% Time Of Possession 25:49 34:11 [/code]

[Big Six]

Winning ugly [b]Week Two, 2005[/b] Well, it was a win. It was hardly a thing of beauty. We couldn’t score a touchdown against a team that allowed almost 600 yards and 34 points to Florida State in its first game. They had 40 more yards of total offense than we did, which I don’t think too many people expected to happen. We forced five turnovers, and Jason Terry was on his game…otherwise we might have been whipped. Terry hit six field goals, so I have nothing but praise for him. Otherwise, we just did not look sharp offensively. We didn’t even average three yards a carry, for Pete’s sake! The only pass play we completed that was longer than 15 yards was a catch-and-run to the fullback, Mike Hamilton, that he broke for 46 yards. Mike also broke a nice run on a trap up the middle, going for 20 yards. On the next play, he broke his jaw. That’s the way our luck ran yesterday. Thomas Ortega, one of our starting inside linebackers, got hurt too. He tore cartilage in his thumb, so he might be gone for the year. I especially hate to see that happen to him, since he works so hard. Joseph Gough, a junior, will get the opportunity to show us what he can do now. Gough is a great kid, and he’s tough against the run. We really need him to step up now. John Schmidt had nine more tackles, two for losses, and James Prince came up to play the run aggressively, too. Defensively, we got the job done, but we have to do a better job of getting the ball into the end zone or the Big Ten season will be a very long one. [code] [b]TEAM 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q FINAL Marshall 0 7 0 0 7 Penn State 3 3 9 3 18 SCORING SUMMARY First Quarter[/b] PNST FG 09:32 3-0 Jason Terry 33 YD [b]Second Quarter[/b] MRSH TD 12:42 7-3 David Johnson 33 YD Run (Bradley Wagoner Kick). PNST FG 01:35 7-6 Jason Terry 46 YD [b]Third Quarter[/b] PNST FG 07:34 9-7 Jason Terry 38 YD PNST FG 03:03 12-7 Jason Terry 33 YD PNST FG 01:06 15-7 Jason Terry 38 YD [b]Fourth Quarter[/b] PNST FG 06:34 18-7 Jason Terry 26 YD [b]TEAM STATISTICS MRSH PNST[/b] First Downs 14 17 Rushing 7 5 Passing 7 10 Penalty 0 2 3rd-down Efficiency 6-16 9-21 4th-down Efficiency 1-1 0-1 Total Net Yards 355 313 Total plays 64 80 Average gain 5.5 3.9 Net Yards Rushing 146 140 Rushes 29 51 Average per rush 5.0 2.7 Net Yards Passing 209 173 Completed-attempted 14-35 16-26 Yards per pass 6.0 6.7 Sacked-yards lost 0-0 3-5 Had intercepted 0 1 Punts-average 7-39.9 5-44.0 Return Yardage 88 67 Punts-returns 2-5 2-32 Kickoffs-returns 5-83 1-35 Interceptions-returns 1-0 0-0 Penalties-yards 8-50 2-10 Fumbles-lost 6-4 0-0 Touchdowns 1 0 Rushing 1 0 Passing 0 0 Extra Points 1-1 0-0 Field Goals 0-1 6-6 Red Zone Efficiency 0-0-0% 5-5-100% Time Of Possession 23:55 36:05 [/code]

[Big Six]

Dee-fense [b]Week 3, 2005[/b] We traveled away from Happy Valley for the first time this week, for a game at BYU. Again, I could not be more pleased with the way our defense has played. We didn't allow BYU to score a touchdown; that makes two games with only one TD scored against us. Our pass russ was absolutely relentless, sacking their QB TEN times. Ricardo Robinson had three, and the other end, David Logsdon, had two with one "hurry." John Schmidt was dominant again, with three sacks and nine tackles. He's on the Butkus Award watch list, and he should be. James Prince had a great game, too: ten tackles and a sack. We're ranked #13 in total defense, and we've allowed only 23 points in three games. Offensively, we were much, much more productive with our passing game. Mitchell Schmitz connected with three different receivers on long pass plays. Two of them--to Scott Downing and Edward Keys--went for touchdowns, and the third--to Darrell Miller--set up our first touchdown. That came on a 2-yard pass play to Stephen Sanchez. We still didn't do much running the ball, however. Sanchez wasn't at full strength because he got his toe mashed in practice and the thing got infected. We gave John Shaw, a sophomore who has been running third string, 22 carries; he got 60 yards. It's certainly not all John's fault. The O-line missed way too many blocks. We made a change at center this week; Steve Triplett had looked great in practice and we started him ahead of Will Staley. Triplett missed five blocks, so Staley will be starting against Wisconsin. Our other touchdown came on a terrific punt return by Darrell Miller. Right now, he's our biggest threat to break long plays, so we need to find ways to get the ball into his hands more often. We have a bye week next week, so we'll have two weeks to prepare for the start of our Big Ten season. We will be playing four ranked teams in the next five weeks. That will show us just how good we really are. Neither the coaches nor the media have ranked us yet, which has angered a few of our players. Guys lilke Schmidt and Matos are talking about the need to make teams respect us, and I like to hear that. [code] [b]TEAM 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q FINAL Penn State 7 10 10 7 31 Brigham Young 0 0 3 0 3 SCORING SUMMARY First Quarter[/b] PNST TD 01:46 7-0 Stephen Sanchez 2 YD Pass from Mitchell Schmitz (Jason Terry Kick). [b]Second Quarter[/b] PNST TD 01:29 14-0 Scott Downing 67 YD Pass from Mitchell Schmitz (Jason Terry Kick). [b]Third Quarter[/b] PNST FG 06:47 17-0 Jason Terry 20 YD BYU FG 01:55 17-3 William Simon 35 YD PNST TD 00:28 24-3 Edward Keys 78 YD Pass from Mitchell Schmitz (Jason Terry Kick). [b]Fourth Quarter[/b] PNST TD 02:22 31-3 66 YD Punt Return by Darrell Miller (Jason Terry Kick). [b]Team Statistics PSU BYU[/b] First Downs 17 16 Rushing 7 6 Passing 9 8 Penalty 1 2 3rd-down Efficiency 5-16 3-16 4th-down Efficiency 0-1 0-0 Total Net Yards 428 228 Total plays 65 85 Average gain 6.6 2.7 Net Yards Rushing 127 74 Rushes 42 39 Average per rush 3.0 1.9 Net Yards Passing 301 154 Completed-attempted 13-23 18-36 Yards per pass 13.1 4.3 Sacked-yards lost 0-0 10-43 Had intercepted 1 3 Punts-average 8-42.8 10-42.1 Return Yardage 114 140 Punts-returns 3-89 2-26 Kickoffs-returns 1-15 5-114 Interceptions-returns 3-10 1-0 Penalties-yards 4-49 3-20 Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0 Touchdowns 4 0 Rushing 0 0 Passing 3 0 Extra Points 4-4 0-0 Field Goals 1-2 1-2 Red Zone Efficiency 2-3-66.7% 1-2-50% Time Of Possession 30:19 29:41 [/code]

[Big Six]

Nobody scores on the Lions [b]Week 5, 2005[/b] This week we opened our Big Ten season against a Wisconsin team that was probably the best 1-3 team I’ve ever seen. Two of their losses came against ranked teams, on the road. The other was against Memphis, who is proving to be tougher this season than anyone expected. Our defense stepped up once again and turned in another great performance. Wisconsin had only nine first downs and gained 208 net yards. We haven’t allowed a touchdown since the first minutes of the second quarter of the Marshall game. Heck, they’ve only allowed two touchdowns all year! They’re starting to receive some national recognition, which they richly deserve. One of the ESPN guys called them “perhaps the toughest defense in the nation,” over footage of our guys stuffing a Wisconsin running back. John Schmidt led the way again: another ten tackles, two QB hurries, and an interception, which he returned 17 yards to set up a touchdown. We joked with him later about the fact that he was brought down inside the five, since he was a fairly highly regarded running back in high school, too. Offensively, we failed to get the ground game going again. We averaged under three yards a carry, and that put a heavy burden on Mitchell Schmitz. He’s developing a good rapport with our receivers, especially Darrell Miller. Our receiving corps suffered a big loss this week, though. Scott Downing went down with a neck injury, and he’ll probably miss the rest of the season. Alex Jenkins came in for him and caught four balls, and we’ll need him to play well the rest of the way. Again, we aren’t getting much respect from the coaches or the media. We’re still unranked in those polls, while the GDCS has us at #19, and the CPU has us at #4. Something’s wrong there; I suppose we’ll soon see who’s more right. It was cool and rainy on Saturday, but there were still over 100,000 fans in the stands, and we sent them home happy. We have an even tougher test on Saturday, with Ohio State coming in to play us. We have a few things to work on before then. [code] [b]TEAM 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q FINAL Wisconsin 6 3 0 0 9 Penn State 0 10 3 17 30 SCORING SUMMARY First Quarter[/b] WIS FG 13:22 3-0 Damian Oakes 35 YD WIS FG 06:16 6-0 Damian Oakes 51 YD [b]Second Quarter[/b] PNST FG 10:53 6-3 Jason Terry 31 YD PNST TD 02:59 10-6 John Shaw 10 YD Run (Jason Terry Kick). WIS FG 00:12 10-9 Damian Oakes 25 YD [b]Third Quarter[/b] PNST FG 06:24 13-9 Jason Terry 37 YD [b]Fourth Quarter[/b] PNST TD 14:37 20-9 Alex Jenkins 15 YD Pass from Mitchell Schmitz (Jason Terry Kick). PNST TD 08:13 27-9 Brian Alvarez 8 YD Run (Jason Terry Kick). PNST FG 02:10 30-9 Jason Terry 36 YD [b]Team Statistics WIS PSU[/b] First Downs 9 27 Rushing 1 8 Passing 8 17 Penalty 0 2 3rd-down Efficiency 4-14 9-18 4th-down Efficiency 0-0 1-1 Total Net Yards 203 406 Total plays 57 84 Average gain 3.6 4.8 Net Yards Rushing 67 128 Rushes 22 49 Average per rush 3.0 2.6 Net Yards Passing 136 278 Completed-attempted 14-32 24-34 Yards per pass 4.2 8.2 Sacked-yards lost 3-11 1-5 Had intercepted 1 0 Punts-average 8-43.2 4-41.5 Return Yardage 137 127 Punts-returns 2-14 5-71 Kickoffs-returns 6-123 2-39 Interceptions-returns 0-0 1-17 Penalties-yards 6-60 6-50 Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1 Touchdowns 0 3 Rushing 0 2 Passing 0 1 Extra Points 0-0 3-3 Field Goals 3-3 3-3 Red Zone Efficiency 2-2-100% 6-7-85.7% Time Of Possession 22:43 37:17 [/code]

[Big Six]

Reality check [b]Week 6, 2005 #7 Ohio State 41, Penn State 23[/b] This week we learned how good Ohio State is, how good we truly are, or both. The Buckeyes were the first team to move the ball effectively against our defense, and when they got inside the red zone, they converted every time. We were behind 20-3 at halftime, and 34-9 at the end of the third quarter. The two late TD's came after Ohio State had begun to rest their starters. We got Stephen Sanchez back this week, and our offense began to click again. We actually outgained OSU by 20 yards, and had 24 first downs (they had 23). Sanchez ran for 130, while Mitchell Schmitz had another good day passing (23-36, 276 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT). Sanchez is a very good receiver, and he caught eight passes, while Darrell Miller had seven catches. John Matos had another good game for our offensive line, but otherwise, we had trouble handling the speed rushers OSU kept throwing at us. Steven Richards was overmatched by a good redshirt freshman DE they have, Wes Ledbetter. He beat Steven for two sacks. We made lots of big plays on defense--seven sacks and two forced fumbles--but otherwise we weren't nearly as sharp as we have been. I think John Schmidt is playing as well as any linebacker in the nation, and he's moving up the watch list for the Butkus Award. He definitely has a future in the NFL. This coming week won't be an easy one, either. We'll travel to Purdue, who just lost a tough one to Northwestern, 38-35. The Boilermakers are 1-2 in the conference, so they can't afford to lose another one. For that matter, neither can we. Another Big Ten loss and we'll lose any realistic chance to contend for the conference championship. Here are the Big Ten standings so far: [code] 1. Iowa 3-0 2. Michigan 2-0 2. Ohio state 2-0 4. Michigan State 2-1 4. Minnesota 2-1 6. Northwestern 1-1 [b]6. Penn State 1-1[/b] 8. Purdue 1-2 9. Indiana 0-2 10. Illinois 0-3 10. Wisconsin 0-3 [/code] [b]Elswhere in the Big Ten this week:[/b] #4 Michigan 45, Michigan State 19 Minnesota 26, Illinois 13 Northwestern 38, #10 Purdue 35 Iowa 25, Wisconsin 22

[Big Six]

Second half lightning [b]Week 7, 2006 #21 Penn State 38, #13 Purdue 13[/b] We finally showed up in the media and coaches’ Top 25 this week, after a nice win at Purdue. Our offense didn’t get moving until the second half, thanks to some nice adjustments by Jason Lewis, our offensive coordinator. In the third quarter, Schmitz made great throws on two long patterns to Darrell Miller and Mark King. Both of them went for 77-yard TDs, and that broke the game open. Sanchez had 114 yards on the ground; he’s back to 100% now. It’s obvious how essential he is to our offense. When he’s not in the lineup, our ground game isn’t strong enough to keep defenses honest, and that puts a greater burden on our defense to keep the game close. Speaking of defense, Schmidt had ten more tackles, two behind the line, and James Prince had nine stops. Schmidt’s stats aren’t eyepopping—56 tackles, six stuffs, and five sacks in six games—but our defense has played so well that very few teams sustain drives against us. That will keep his tackles total down somewhat. I was very impressed with our punter, Richard Wilkinson. He kept pinning Purdue deep in their own territory, and he knocked two balls out inside the 10. I don’t think a lot of fans realize how important field position is. If the other team has to move the ball 95 yards to score, their job is much more difficult than it would be if they only need to move it 65. Next week, we’re going out to Michigan State for the Land Grant Trophy game. Our alums like to see us win this one, since the Spartans have emerged as such a rival since we entered the Big Ten. MSU has an explosive offense, led by a very talented QB named Rickey Banks. They bounced back from a whipping by Michigan to hang 59 points on Iowa. Our defense will have its work cut out for itself containing Banks and that Run N’Gun attack the Spartans use. We're developing a special gameplan this week to counter their reliance on the passing game. To them, a short pass is equivalent to a running play. On another front, we’re spending an increasing amount of time on recruiting lately. There’s a stud wideout in Maryland, a guy named Combs, that we really like. Our scouting service has him listed #12 overall in the nation. We’re also interested in a kid from Virginia named Dunn who is very fast. He’s ranked #60, but from what I’ve seen he’s as talented as Combs is. We’re also looking to bring in some good D-linemen, and one of the best in the nation is close to home. His name is Crawford; he’s about 6’1”, 265. He seems much quicker than you’d expect, and gets to the passer in a hurry. None of them have expressed much interest in playing for us yet, but it’s still very early. We have plenty of time to help them change their minds. [b]Elsewhere in the Big Ten:[/b] Michigan State 59, Wisconsin 34 Northwestern 21, Indiana 18 #2 Michigan 38, Iowa 6

[Dale And Elis Dad]

Hey Six, I know you started this before I started mine but I thought since we have different writing styles it could work. I hope you don't mind.

[Big Six]

It's totally cool with me. I haven't written in this dynasty for a while, mostly because I wasn't sure if a new patch was forthcoming. I've been spending the time practicing my recruiting, so I don't stick the Nittany Lions with a bunch of chumps because I haven't learned how to recruit yet. :) You'll have a loyal reader right here, and I hope you'll follow mine, too. :)

[Big Six]

Now that 1.1 has been released, I'm going to re-start my Penn State dynasty. The basic premises will remain the same; in fact, I'll just copy and paste my first post to get it underway.