Next on the docket this week is the Northeastern Huskies. This is the obligatory Div I-AA or FCS team that most Div-I or FBS (I can’t stand those acronyms am I the only one?) team’s schedule. Heck there are BCS teams that schedule more than one of them.

What we know:

Well, not much. As far as cupcakes go, this one is should come with a glass of milk. Last year they finished at 3-8 with wins to Northwestern St, New Hampshire and Hofstra. Losses were to Northwestern, Richmond, UC Davis, James Madison, UMass, Maine and Rhode Island. They return QB Anthony Orio, a four year starter and returns 15 starters from last year’s team. Does it matter?

As for the spring game, I think we found someone we outdrew, but not by much.

Quick fact:

ESPN SportCenter anchor Michelle Bonner is an alumni.

Why we can win:

Let’s just say that there won’t be many games where we are favored. Even in this darkest of eras, GRob has managed to take care of the one game everyone thought we should win. Well this is that game on the schedule.

Why we can lose:

Look no further than last year as big bad Michigan fell to FCS Appalachian St. While Northeastern isn’t even at Appalachian St’s level, we aren’t exactly at Michigan’s are we?

ZHK says:

Yeah, so what. Are you really reading this? I probably could have typed, blah, blah, blah and you might not even have noticed. If the Cuse were to lose this game, I and the rest of Orange Nation would probably have to hide the steak knives, and probably put Linkin Park’s Given up on permanent rotation. The season and GRob’s job would be effectively over. But alas, this should be a relatively easy game. It will be the third of four straight at the dome, and should be a good game to move the ball on the ground and hopefully get the 2nd and third stringers some PT in advance of the BE opener the following week against Pitt.

Thoughts? Talk to the Zero Hand…

Well, well, well, look who is back on the schedule.  After an 18 year hiatus, the Penn St Nittany Lions are back to renew a rivalry that dates back to 1922.   Well it really isn’t much of a rivalry, as the season series is lopsided to the tune of 23-40-5.  In the eyes of many Orange fans, it was becoming a rivalry, when we took consecutive games in ‘87 in the dome and ‘88 in Happy Valley.  It would have been interesting to see how the teams would have played in the 90s.  However, the series halted when SU failed to give in to more home games at Penn St and the Big East failed to envision itself as a football conference when it shunned overatures by PSU to join the conference.  With that, the concept of “Eastern” football died.

What we Know

The Nittany Lions went 9-4 last season, doing most of their damage in Happy Valley.  Wins over Florida Int, Notre Dame, Buffalo, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue, Temple and Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl.  Losses were to Michigan, Illinois, Ohio St and Michigan St.

Conventional wisdom has this team in the Top 25 even though they could finish 4th or 5th this season in the Big 10.  I would hesitate to say that a 10 win season is attainable, especially considering the Cuse is probably the marquee game on a non-conference slate that includes Coastal Carolina, Oregon St and Temple all at home - yikes!

Spring developments

When you think of Penn St, you think of those generic white uniforms and Joe Paterno.  Paterno has personified longevity, coaching for an absurd 42 years.  And with that stability you would expect tranquility but alas, the Lions had their share of off the field hijinks and it pails in comparison to sneaking in to steal equipment.

On the field, LB Sean Lee went down w/ an ACL tear, leaving the Lions w/o the Big 10’s 2nd leading tackler. Fortunately, potential conference Def POY candidate Maurice Evans is around.  A sack machine who registered 12.5 last season, Evans leads an experienced Dline that returns 7 players who saw significant time.  The line was a prime reason the D was stingy against the run, rating 7th in the nation.

On offense, the major concern will be at QB as Joe Pa could be placing junior Daryll Clark and sophomore Pat Devlin on the proverbial merri-go-round.  Their offensive line will be a strength w/ AQ Shipley at C and guard Rich Ohrnberger both starters for the 3rd straight year.  The trio of WRs Deon Butler, Derrick Williams and Jordan Norwood are in the top 10 in receptions in school history.  Throw in RB Evan Royster who rushed for over 500 yds as a frosh and its easy to see that the Lions should maintain their 30.3 pts per game average next season.

As for the spring game, well let’s just say that they drew a few more fans than we did  and leave it at that.

Quick fact

Despite a long and proud tradition, the Lions have only one Heisman and that’s John Cappelletti in 1973

Why we can win

One need only look at last year’s stunning win over Louisville to see that there is hope that a top 20 foe can be knocked off.  The game is at home, where the Loud House can have influence.  Even PSU blogger There Is No Name on My Jersey gives us a punchers chance, albeit before the suspension of Mike Williams.  Teams were able to hang and beat PSU via the air last season and that will likely be the way such an upset would occur this season.

Why we can lose

The strength of PSU on both sides of the ball is their lines.  Evans and company may have a field day harassing ARob if the line reverts to its porous sack numbers.  A stout run defense could make life miserable for Hogue/Carter and Brinkley. I could see Joe Pa calling out mobile qb Pat Devlin to run roughshod on the LBing core, similar to how Jake Locker did last season against us in the dome.

ZHK says:

While its nice to see some old school rivals on the schedule,  this team is ill prepared to handle a team that is as balanced as Penn St.  Of course we said that last year at Louisville too and that game came off of demoralizing efforts against Washington and Iowa.  The stands should be filled, hopefully in orange.  Still, this game seems tailor made for a loss. How big of a loss will determine how well the program is received with FCS foe Northeastern in town next week.

Next week  Norhtheastern

Now talk to the Zero Hand…

In this installment of the ZHK, we will break down SU’s 2nd opponent, the Akron Zips.

This is the home opener for the Cuse, and thanks to my negative prediction last week of a loss to Northwestern, AD Darryl Gross can safely estimate an opening day crowd of 27K to watch us battle this MAC foe. On a side note, any chance of building some kind of rabid fan base with this blog probably went south with that pick too. Oh well, at least my pick was etched in pencil. But seriously, many fans will be taking a hard look at the program this season and that first game will either bring a full chorus of vitriol on Greg Robinson or maybe it could signal a Rich Brooks led Kentucky like resurrection of the program, or maybe neither.

Now back to the Zips.

What we know:

The Zips went 4-8 last season with wins over Army, Kent St, Western Michigan, and Ohio. Losses were to Ohio St, Indiana, UConn, Temple, Buffalo, Bowling Green, Miami OH, and Central Michigan. The Zips really struggled on Offense, ranking 97th in scoring, 90th in rushing (although at 127.8 yds per game its more than double our total 62.8 per game), and 100th in passing yds. The offense returns 7 of those starters, including All-Mac left tackle Chris Kemme.

Spring Developments:

On the positive front, Akron broke ground on a new on campus football stadium. On the not so positive front, expect Akron to lose 5 scholarships thanks to the NCAA. The defense plays an unconventional 3-3-5 defensive set. Only 4 starters return on D and to put more talent on that side of the ball, All-MAC RB Bryan Williams moved to the secondary. Several transfers from BCS schools (Miami, WV, Iowa) are expected to fill in and play critical roles.

Chris Jacquemain runs the offense. He may be pushed by redshirt frosh Matt Rogers. To continue to mock our spring fling, Akron split their team into a Blue vs Gold matchup and played a full game. None of this offense vs defense crap.

Most pundits are picking Akron as a middle of the pack team in the MAC with a potential to contend if things fall into place. The Quad ranks Akron as the #103 team out of all Div-I schools.

Quick fact:

Akron sports NFL Man of the Year/Dancing with the Stars runnerup Jason Taylor as a prominent alumni.

Why we can win:

On paper, Akron appears to offer a one dimensional ground attack. With the sheer number of changes going on the defensive side, this game is tailor made for the offense to establish something positive on the ground.  We also should have some success working in our youngsters at WR. The lack of productivity on the passing game for the Zips will alleviate our inexperience in the secondary.

Why we can lose:

Anyone that watched last season’s game against Miami Oh knows what we are capable of. Akron’s strength’s will be their OLine and depth of RBs. If they can run the ball and minimize mistakes they could hang around.

ZHK says:

This game should shape up as a solid indicator of where the team is heading. Typically, teams show their greatest improvement between the first and second games. A decisive win would do well to put fannies in the seats for the remaining home schedule. Struggling in this game, will cause me to rethink the merits of blogging this program. Plus it all but guarentees that next week’s game w/ PSU will feel more like a game at the Happy Valley then a home game.
Fortunately I’m not picking that. I expect to see Delone Carter make a big splash and rush for 100 yards. This is a game that we shouldn’t miss the services of Instant Six (Who I will forever reference as Deep Sixed from this point forward). The knob is turned down to simmer on the Grob seat this week. Chisel this game in stone as the Cuse gets a nice win. Hope springs eternal as Penn St rolls in next week.

Next week on ZHK: Penn St.

Thoughts? Talk to the Hand…

Well, I think Hee Haw’s bit really hits home here for Greg Robinson:
Hee Haw - Gloom

It has been one strange circumstance after another w/ top flight players and the SU program. As chronicled by Donnie Webb , the football program has been hit by one painful event after another since Greg Robinson took over as coach.

So what to make of Williams departure? Is there any chance for his return?

Judging by the sounds of it, I’m not guessing that he will be back this season. That leaves a giant hole at WR. So what are the team’s options? Do they move Merkerson back to WR? Do they just hope that Lobdell can take over as #1, a man who has 13 career catches? Does Donte Davis or Dan Sheeran now move up automatically? What about promising frosh like Marcus Sales or Trey Fairchild. The pressure will be on for them to step in and produce immediately.

Now how does it effect gameplanning? We already saw that teams would crowd the line of scrimmage and make us one dimensional. Now there will be even more concern that the line can run block effectively. We can expect even more blitzing to take advantage of our now REALLY inexperienced set of WRs.
Browning’s hands may be tied as to just how much the offense can do. What really hurts is that Williams’ dismissal comes after spring practice, when the team could have spent time dealing with his loss.

Does this change Gross’ impression on expectations for this season? Is GRob the proverbial dead man walking? Will anyone care, as attendance continues to plummet? Could you blame GRob if he started hitting the bottle pretty heavily right now? I think I would be inclined to pass my paper bag stash over to him as well.