Post game thoughts

A win's a win, decisive or not. While I wouldn't characterize the Lions as a team likely to challenge for Big Ten supermacy this year, I'm convinced in the early stages of the season that they will have a good year.

I think the offensive line continues to be a key weak area for this year's team. The guard and center slots need to improve their blocking and pass protection skills if the QB and RBs are going to have success against B10 competitors. I've been a QB Mike Robinson supporter for a long, long time and I'm not ready to jump on the Morelli bandwagon just yet. If JoePa avoids QB platooning, Robinson's performance should improve with a few more games. To be competitive, Robinson has to convert 3rd downs with passes, lest he become too predictable attempting to pick them up with draws and scrambles all the time. Improve the O line and 3rd down conversion play balance and I think the offense would be more consistent.

Any one who watch the game knows there were many "glimpses of hope" in what we saw with the Freshman (5 true frosh and 5 redshirts saw action) contributions. Derrick Williams and Justin King were amazing! The "D" looks solid and played well most of the game. I think this is the 11th or 12th game in a row that State's defense held another opponent to 21 or less points. If we get squared away on offense, we have a defense that can make a difference in the "must win" games later in the schedule.

Next week's opponent is Cincinnati, another Big East team. The UC quarterback, Grutza is a gun slinger and maybe the best QB we'll see early in the season. UC squeaked out a win against Eastern Michigan, but they'll surely give PSU more of a challenge than Southern Florida. Our first win of the season shouldn't have been the struggle it was . . . time for the "O" to explode with scoring drives!