We Have Our Volunteers

So, Penn State draws Tennessee in the Outback Bowl this year. Penn State’s defense should do well in this game. The question, as always, is whether or not the offense is up to the task. The shame of it all is that JoePa’s offense has not improved much at all as the season went on – highly disappointing. One would’ve thought that by now, Morelli and company would’ve given us some real hope for next season, but instead, we might have a legitimate qb controversy on our hands next season.

It’s certainly not all Morelli’s fault. The offensive line, which was blessed to have Michael Robinson erase many mistakes last season, has been exposed as weak. The offensive play-calling has regressed to what it was 2-3 years ago. And, with Tony Hunt graduating, the Nits probably won’t have as potent of a running attack to bail them out. Combine that with a special teams unit that has been, at times, embarrassing, and next season may not be as fruitful as we hoped.

Maybe these guys can build some momentum by beating a very good Tennessee squad. Hopefully, they can do it with more than just the defense. Only time will tell … actually, we’ll know by the time dinner is served on New Year’s Day.

One final note. It is an absolute joke that Notre Dame is playing in one of the BCS bowl games. How many years do we have to go through with Notre Dame getting trounced in these games, before the “mystique” of the University wears off? Seriously, I’m pissed about this. I always thought the BCS was supposed to have the BEST teams play, not the teams that are the most “popular.” It is ridiculous to say the least. Notre Dame benefits from being a powerful independent that gets to play many weak games the entire season, AND being invited to BCS bowl games they really have no right in playing in. They lost twice this season. They shouldn’t be rewarded for this. They don’t play in a conference (unless you count their annual squashes against the military academies as a conference), and they should be penalized for this (if they lose games). Just ridiculous. By the way, I hope LSU wins by at least 30.

One more thing. I feel bad for the Wolverines. They probably should’ve gotten the rematch. However, Florida played a very tough schedule in a very underrated SEC. Either way, thanks to the wonderful BCS system, somebody was going to get screwed. The good news is, we got two great games – Florida vs. Ohio State, AND USC vs. Michigan.