Lions Will Not Be Badgered

Here it is people, we've just witnessed the turning point in the season. The Lions rolled today to a 38-7 victory over the 19th ranked Wisconsin Badgers. Morelli finally looked like all the talent he has, completing 16 of 28 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown. The most important stat in this game was in the turnover column. Penn State had just one fumble on a punt return, but there were no interceptions and no fumbles with the quarterback under center. It wasn't just Morelli's fine performance that sealed the deal today. Rodney Kinlaw had another 100+ yard game, and he also rushed for a score. Evan Royster, the freshman, also had a fine game rushing 8 times for 70 yards and a score of his own. These guys have left Penn State fans and the media saying, "Austin who?" We've seen Larry Johnson, we've seen Tony Hunt, and now we are seeing the future of the Penn State backfield. Even the senior fullback, Matt Hahn, had a rushing touchdown today on the first drive. Hahn also had a great day blocking for counterparts, Kinlaw and Royster. I won't bore you with the play by play, but there were some particularly fine plays today that deserve some mention. With 13 minutes to go in the first half, the Lions found themselves 29 yards from their second score. Morelli dropped back and faked to the left before turning back to the right and finding Deon Butler for a 29 yard strike on a beautiful pass and catch. That play was set up by an interception by Lydell Sargeant. Again in the second quarter, Wisconsin had driven into Penn State territory on a long catch and run by Wisconsin WR, Kyle Jefferson. On first down Wisconsin ran a very similar play to their previous successful pass play and Scirotto read it perfectly making a leaping interception that led to a missed field goal by Kevin Kelly, but it was still a nice display of hands by Scirotto. The Lions offense made very few mistakes today. The stars were Morelli, Kinlaw, and Deon Butler, but it could be any one of the WR's from week to week. Now, lets talk defense. The Lions had another great day, even better than against Iowa. The Lions held P.J. Hill, who looked very good after his first quarter fumble which set up a Matt Hahn score, to just 70 yards on 19 carries. They also intercepted Tyler Donovan twice, one INT coming from Scirotto and one from Lydell Sargeant. Dan Connor and Sean Lee were also having a tackle race today which is evident when you look at P.J. Hill's 70 yard performance. Tyler Donovan was also sacked 5 times, again from mainly a 4-man rush. The Lions future is unclear though, it is really a toss-up as to whether Illinois' loss to Iowa is a good thing or a bad thing for us. It is slightly better in my eyes for Iowa to have won because anyone who watched PSU and Illinois knows how many times the Lions could have sealed that game but didn't. Michigan and Ohio State will both have to lose 2 conference games for Penn State to at least share the Big-Ten title, and that outcome does not seem probable with the way both teams are rolling. So, the biggest victory left for the Lions will be a 10 win season, and that is not an easy feat considering the Lions still have to play Ohio State and travel to Michigan State the last game of the season. Any Big-Ten game, however, can be a tough one. The Nittany Lions did what they needed to do today, and they did it very well. That is all I could ask of them, well besides a fantastical voyage back in time to correct the errors against Michigan and Illinois. Check back next week for the Lions' next match-up, an away game at Indiana (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten). Until then, We are...Penn State!!