Observations on a 20-0 victory over Penn State!

1-Wow! Walker is phenomenal; 9 catches for 85 yards and 1 TD! Bellamy did catch a wide open TD pass, and his speed showed; it is great to see his knee or ankle problem has healed. Bell didn't get involved enough. Edwards, Combs and Butler are still non-factors here, but good backups.

2-Navarre was 17 of 31 for 246 yards, 2 TDs, 0 picks. We were 9 of 21 on 3rd down efficiency and zero for one 4th down efficiency. 81 plays for 410 yards (5.1 per play). Time of possession favored us by over 7 minutes. We had 21 first downs to Penn State's 14.

3-The loss of Julius Curry really hurt us today. On defense, it hurt us with some long passes and those solid hits he puts on. On punts, it really hurt us. Hope he is back soon. Drake replaced him and did a decent job; he is also a hard hitter. June did his usual fine job including one pick; Jackson also had a pick.

4-Our defense is again solid! We pitched a shut out! We had 4 sacks. Of course, the Lions are probably the worst offense in the Big Ten. Still, Rumishek had a solid game (3 sacks) along with Hobson (9 solos). Best thing so far is that Penn State couldn't establish any running game. 26 rushes for 25 yards. Kudos to Herrmann & company! Penn State was 4 of 15 in 3rd down situations and zero for one in 4th down.

5-LeSueur looked terrible during some plays! He gets beat often. He did have 5 tackles tough. I'd like to see Jackson and Howard at the corners. LeSueur may be better in the nickel role and/or coming from the bench. Markus Curry, LeSueur and Brandon Williams are back-ups to Jackson and Howard on my depth chart.

6-B.J. Askew had 122 yards on 27 carries; he looks solid. He also had 4 catches for 56 yards; 178 yards total. Walker adds 85 yards. Askew and Walker accounted for 263 of our 410 yards. It is good to see Perry finally back, and Underwood looked good. Did Underwood come in before Cross?

7-Our offensive line doesn't look very good. We were sacked 3 times. Solomon got hurt, and Morgan replaced him for much of the game. 48 rushes for 147 yards isn't very good. In five games, our offensive line hasn't yet achieved a 200 yard rushing game. Teams like Michigan State and Ohio State will further expose our weakness here. When we are up against stellar defenses with blitz packages, we will have a hard time protecting Navarre as well as running enough to keep our passing game effective.

8-Epstein has 6 punts for 40.2 yard average, and is 2 of 3 field goals. Good but could be better. He is hardly the All-American kicker we expected. I would really be nervous if the Michigan State or Ohio State games came down to a field goal with Epstein kicking.

9-Shamar Finney was all over the place for the Lions with 8 tackles, 4 for a loss including 2 sacks. Isn't he from Detroit?

10-I applaud Carr for his fake field goal call; it was only inches shy. Only one penalty with two minutes to go in the game; good team discipline and composure. I also applaud Carr & Company for the respectful game plan in beating Penn State in a truly respectful way (if there is such a thing). I don't think we'd have treated Illinois the same way given a similar situation. Now, we are the only team to defeat Penn State five years in a row.

11-Evan Coleman played in his first game today this season along with Andy Mingery. He must be out of the "doghouse" although Carr said he doesn't have a doghouse.