Beasts on Offense

I started this blog later than I wanted, but there are no rules as what to write. So I will go back a couple of months and write about something that impressed me in the Blue White game.

I'm a fan of smash-mouth football. Delicate receivers snagging tight spiral pass like a ballet dancer … well that is pretty and I can appreciate that, but it doesn't make me jump from my seat, pump my fists and let loose a guttural yell the way a big bruising player knocks over cornerback or safety as he rumbles through the secondary.

Let's talk about big bruising players:

Andrew Szczerba (pronounced like slurring and 's' and 'z' after two six packs with 'erba' on the end) really caught my attention at the Blue White game. Szczerba lead the team (Blue & White) in receiving with five catches for 65 yards. What's going on here? A tight end leading in receiving? Szczerba is 6'6", 252 lbs and a beast on the field. And he was catching passes up the middle.

Now that Andrew Quarless (6'4", 252lbs) is finished with his legal problems there are two beasts at tight end. We didn't see Quarless at the Blue White game, but we know what he can do (last season: 11 games, 14 rec. for 205 yds, 14.6 avg.). After Quarless there is the legacy player, Mickey Shuler (6'4", 241lbs), who had one catch in the Blue White game for 22 yards. I think too many Sad Jacks inappropriately knock Shuler. He is a talented, hard worker and deserves to get the ball. There is more to TE than blocking, Shuler should get some passes. And the same goes for fullback – yet another area that State has two bruisers.

Danny Lawlor (6'2", 244 lbs) and Larry Federoff (5'11", 237) will be first and second string at fullback this year. Federoff is just shy of being a really big bruiser when compared to Quarless, Szczerba, Shuler, and Lawlor. So what does an offensive coordinator do with big bruisers? Of course, make them block. But these guys are more talented to be left just to block.

There is one thing that I believe in when it comes to offense – go against the trends. Nearly every team is jumping on board with some form of spread offense. The problem with that is teams have learned how to defend a spread offense. Why did the wishbone go out of favor? Teams learned how to defend it. Minor note: Navy has lead college football for the past two years running an option offense, sometimes running the 'bone. Teams rarely see a multiple option offense these days, and it is going against the trend. What teams are seeing is a lot of spread offense. What would be the opposite of a spread offense? The compact offense.

Hmmm, so it gets me to thinking. There is a trend in pro football, where a double tight end formation is used with the shotgun to defend against a blitz. Yes, that is more blocking. Start with a double TE set, (tight ends on left and right side), then put Lawlor in the backfield as the lone running back, as he will be adding more pass protection. The QB will be in the shotgun. On the surface that looks like some sturdy pass protection for Clark, where there's an already good offensive line, two hunkin' TEs, and a fullback. Now the fun begins. Put a TE into motion. At this point a few of things can happen. The TE can overload one side, and handoff to Lawlor takes place. Or the TE can overload one side, Clark fakes a hand off to Lawlor, where Lawlor further overloads one side and Clark carries the ball. Or Lawlor takes a hand off from Clark, Clark trails for a pitch from Lawlor, with Lawlor blocking. Or from the same double tight end, QB in shotgun set, put one TE into motion and run a jet sweep. Once a jet sweep is recognized by the defense, then there are all kinds of other plays from the same formation including some beautiful traps and draws.

Does this put the beasts into more action? Yes, so the FB gets to run the ball some more, tight ends get to run the ball some more (like they had any carries to begin with), but what about passing? The same formations also lead to screen plays, and a TE can always cut loose up the middle for a pass. While everyone is spreading, bring those tight ends in, bunch things up, and let a fast wide-out go one-on-one. Defenses won't know what hit them.

My inspiration for this idea came from researching Oregon State (yes, I'll do a team-by-team analysis as the summer goes on) and the things I saw at the Blue White game. Oregon State runs a fly sweep, more as a trick play, but it's no longer is a trick play when it gets used consistently. I'm not a big fan of the fly sweep unless it develops quickly. A Jet sweep on the other hand, especially with a QB in the shot gun, can develop very quickly. While there is a speed element to a sweep, the big bruisers blocking up front make a big difference. I'll take a Jet sweep with meat for four yards and a cloud of dust, then add in some traps and draws for bigger gains. The real big gains come when you let loose a TE up the middle for a pass. The jet sweep will draw in the line backers, which leaves the secondary to deal with 6'4", 250lbs+ of pure muscle. Dang, the TE can just drag that 180lb cornerback into the end zone.

Did you know …?

Penn State has a stadium named after a politician and a library named after a football coach?

I just had to write that for my first "Did you know …?" post. My wife absolutely hates it when I say that, and because she hates me saying that, I say it all the more. It has turned into a nice family joke where all I have to say is, "Did you know?"

Tailgate Wednesday – Smoked Bluefish Dip

Each Wednesday I plan to share one of my favorite recipes for tailgating. It's actually Friday when I am posting this, and I made this recipe two weekends ago with no tailgating. But it still works.

I talked to my old man and told him I was making smoked bluefish. Let's just say his response to the idea of bluefish was ... well, he's not much a bluefish kinda guy. But ever since I was a kid, if I caught bluefish, I would eat it and so would he. I don't recall him grumbling about it much, but everyone has their own tastes. My dad lives in Florida now - poor guy, he gets to hear about Florida and FSU all the time, very limited PSU coverage. I'm sure if he was here in PA, he would try my dip, and I'd like to think he would even like it. Smoke does wonderful things to cheap meat - and bluefish falls into the cheap meat category (I wouldn't even call it inexpensive ... definitely cheap.) If you the idea of bluefish turns you off, you can always do this with trout - but why waste a good trout to make a dip? Personally, this is one of my favorite dips. It is different and you rarely see it (actually, I don't think I have ever seen it in Central PA). Have people try it, and then tell them what they ate. They will be asking you for the recipe.

If you make this recipe, you will need to know how to smoke fish. There are tons of sites to learn from and it really isn't that difficult. I smoked my Bluefish while I was smoking some pig (err, pork) butt. It doesn't take long; in fact the fish will dry out if you smoke it too long. I had my bluefish on the smoker for about an hour and the smoker was holding steady at 210 degrees. Your time will vary based on the size of your fish. I used a smallish fish, about 1 lbs in size. A large fish will take longer.

Ingredients
1 bluefish – gutted & cleaned (head, tail, skin left on)
½ cup heavy cream
Dash of Tabasco
1 TB lemon juice
Cream cheese
2 TB chopped fresh chives (I use scissors instead of a knife)

Directions
Smoke the bluefish until done. Remove the skin and flake out the meat. In a food processor, add the fish and heavy cream. Essentially what you are doing here is making a fish mousse. (You can do that with just about any fish or shrimp.) Run the processor until the consistency is relatively thick. Add the Tabasco and lemon juice to your taste. If the mousse is on the thin side, add some cream cheese a TB at a time until you get the consistency of a dip. Lastly, integrate the fresh chives (reserve some chives for garnish on top of the dip when you put it into a serving bowl)

Refrigerate until serving. (This dip will last a week in the frig, but you might have to whip it a little if the ingredients settle.)

Serve with your favorite crackers or chips.

Random Summer Thoughts - Zombie Nation vs. Seven Nation Army

I recently saw a discussion on a PSU forum that talked about getting rid of Zombie Nation and replacing it solely with Seven Nation Army. I have to admit that Zombie Nation might be getting a little stale, but stealing yet another European Football craze might not be the answer. Perhaps it is time to do something completely original. Anyway, Seven Nation Army for some reason reminds me of the FSU chant entirely too much. Maybe I have always disliked FSU, but that chant of theirs really makes me hate them.

Anyway, here's two videos for you to choose from. Which one pumps you up?



Zombie Nation


Seven Nation Army

PSU Football Tickets

Quick facts:
Beaver Stadium Seating Capacity: 107,282
Seats Available to Students: 21,500 (includes Blue Band)
2007 Home Games: 7
2007 Average Attendance: 108,917
2007 Total Attendance: 762,419 (2^nd in Nation next to scUM)

Beaver Stadium Attendance Records
1. 110,753 Sept. 14, 2002 Penn State 40, Nebraska 7
2. 110,134 October 27, 2007 Ohio State 37, Penn State 17
3. 110,078 September 8, 2007 Penn State 31, Notre Dame 10
4. 110,007 Oct. 14, 2006 Michigan 17, Penn State 10
5. 109,865 Nov. 5, 2005 Penn State 35, Wisconsin 14
6. 109,839 Oct. 8, 2005 Penn State 17, Ohio State 10
7. 109,754 October 13, 2007 Penn State 38, Wisconsin 7
8. 109,467 Oct. 29, 2005 Penn State 33, Purdue 15
9. 109,313 Sept. 1, 2001 Miami (Fla.) 33, Penn State 7
10. 108,951 October 6, 2007 Penn State 27, Iowa 7

Student ticket sales went more smoothly this year, if you got your ticket. I suppose that if you went through the pre-registration process, went online to purchase and then didn't get your ticket, it didn't go smoothly. For instance, the junior class had 8,200 students pre-register for 5,880 tickets available. It didn't go smoothly for about 28% of juniors that pre-registered. I'll assume that that most students that pre-registered wanted tickets.

So the happy side (remember I'm a Happy Jack) is there is no shortage of student enthusiasm. There's also no shortage of alumni and general fan enthusiasm. (See last year's attendance stats above.) On the sad side, there is a shortage of seats in Beaver Stadium.

Time to pull out a little history lesson … Eric Walker succeeded Milton Eisenhower as president of the university in 1956. He shared Eisenhower's goal to make PSU a nationally respected institution of instruction and research. Walker used to tell a story about a conversation he had with a friend, Vannevar Bush, a scientist. Bush said to Walker, "Eric, there are three ways to build a great university. You can build a lot of buildings. You can build a football team. Or you can build a faculty." Walker replied, "I am going to do all three."

There's wisdom in Walker's response. A truly great university is multidimensional; it relies on more than one thing to be great. Football is part of the equation. Football creates an atmosphere where incredible memories are formed. Those incredible memories, not the memories of studying for finals, are maintained for life and provide a strong basis for fund raising. (The alumni association is a topic for another day.)

The line of logic I wish to express is simple. Going to football games = great memories = long term $$$ for the university. Now we have a situation in which 28% of juniors are not able to obtain football tickets (at a reasonable price). Also, given the number of sellouts, there is a huge alumni base that can't afford to obtain football tickets. (The tickets exist, if you are willing to pay for them, but the university realizes no additional monies.)

So what can be done? Here's two ideas … 1.) the obvious – stadium expansion. 2.) alternative venues. First, the stadium expansion. You know it will happen, eventually. The university should start planning now and do it. Do it before (or at the same time) as scUM expands and be bigger and better than THEM. In the expansion – allocate more seats for students. This should be the first and foremost priority. Invest in the future funding stream of the university by creating great memories.

Now the notion of alternative venues … we all know half the fun of going to a game is tailgating, and in reality there are plenty without tickets that continue to tailgate during the game. So off the top of my head, I can think of two ways to meet the needs of fans in cow pastures. (Don't think about the folks with a $200,000+ motor coach with a foldout HDTV with satellite to watch the game.) Give the game to the masses. Designate parking lots that will have huge TVs to broadcast the game. Set it up in a way the people enjoy the game together. It has to be more fun that going to a sports bar and running into sPitt and Notre Lame fans. Of course, there is a money angle to this. The cow pastures with giant TVs should be arranged in a way that you can park, tailgate, and watch the game, for a premium over normal parking – sort of like an old drive-in movie.

Obviously, the premium would be less than a non-student ticket, say $30 per vehicle. This could easily add up to hundreds of thousands dollars of extra revenue.

The other alternative venue idea off the top of my head would be to use the Bryce Jordon Center. The old folks will like this one, especially in November when it gets nippy outside. Simply sell tickets at a greater premium over the cow pasture TV venue, but under the cost of Beaver stadium admission.

Let's tie this idea together. All venues are choreographed when it comes to TV coverage. Imagine ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/BTN scanning between 115,000+ in Beaver Stadium (remember stadium expansion), tens of thousands in cow pastures, and Bryce Jordan Center filled to the rafters. That might even impact recruiting in a positive way.

So get off your duff and start e-mailing the university, and while you're at it, e-mail the Gov. Tell Rendell, that there's uncompleted work on 322 on the way into State College – we need a super highway ALL the way from Harrisburg to State College.

Nothing Happier Than

pickin' on Notre Dame

Real Men of Genius - Hopeless Notre Dame Fan

A New Blog and Hopefully a New Page

It's that time of the year - very little is happening in the way of college football. The Big 33 game has come and gone, and even the East-West game. Now it is a waiting game - waiting for some real PSU football news.

So what better time to start a blog on Penn State Football! This is the initial post on PSU Happy Jacks and a HJ I will be. The first post will turn a new page and deal with all the garbage that has been going on at State for the last couple of years. Then, if the team can keep it nose clean, I won't ever have post about this topic again. I'll then be a complete HJ. The topic is, of course, the "legal problems."

If you follow PSU Football then you probably know a number of the "legal" stories. I haven't seen the whole story in one place, and while there is more to the "legal" problems than what I write (I wasn't there), here's my attempt at the rest of the story …

Incident #1

April 1, 2007 - Anthony Scirrotto and his girlfriend were assaulted and battered by two men on a street in State College. Later that evening, police allege that Scirrotto, Justin King, Jerome Hayes, Chris Baker, Lydell Sargeant, and Tyrell Sales were involved in a confrontation with Scirrotto’s assailants. A Pennsylvania District Judge found both of Scirrotto’s attackers guilty of harassment and criminal mischief. Centre County District Attorney Michael T. Madeira brought charges against the following PSU football players involved in the incident:

1. Anthony Scirrotto
Initial charges: Burglary, criminal trespass, and criminal solicitation, all felonies, simple assault and criminal solicitation, both misdemeanors, and summary harassment.
Outcome: Accepted a plea agreement to a reduced charge of misdemeanor defiant trespass; sentenced to one year of probation, 25 days of community service and a $500 fine.

2. Chris Baker
Initial charges: Burglary and criminal trespass, both felonies, as well as misdemeanor charges of simple assault, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, and a summary charge of harassment.
Outcome: Accepted plea agreement to misdemeanor simple assault; sentenced to probation

3. Justin King
Initial charges: Criminal trespass, a felony, disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and a summary charge of harassment.
Outcome: Charges dismissed.

4. Jerome Hayes
Initial charges: Criminal trespass, a felony, disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and a summary charge of harassment.
Outcome: Charges dismissed.

5. Lydell Sargeant
Initial charges: Criminal trespass, a felony, disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and a summary charge of harassment.
Outcome: Charges dismissed.

6. Tyrell Sales
Initial charges: Criminal trespass, a felony, disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and a summary charge of harassment.
Outcome: Charges dismissed.

Timeline
May 4, 2007 – Justin King, Jerome Hayes, Lydell Sargeant, and Tyrell Sales had all charges dropped in preliminary hearings due to a lack of evidence.

August 20, 2007 – Center County, Pennsylvania Presiding Judge Charles C Brown, Jr. granted, in part, a Motion for Habeas Corpus, dismissing four of the six charges brought against Scirrotto. Presiding Judge Brown rules that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (DA Madeira) failed to proffer the basic, prima facie evidence, necessary to submit Scirrotto to trial on charges of burglary, two counts of criminal solicitation, or assault. Judge Brown held that the Commonwealth (DA Madeira) did not offer any evidence that Scirrotto entered the apartment party with the intent to commit a crime therein. The Judge also ruled that there was no evidence that Scirrotto solicited any teammates to confront the men who had earlier attacked him. Additionally, Judge Brown held that there was no evidence that Scirrotto assaulted anyone in connection with the earlier attack upon him, or during the alleged apartment party confrontation.

February 14, 2008 – Penn State Hero Back, Anthony Scirrotto was sentenced to a year of probation after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor defiant trespass. Scirrotto must serve 25 days of community service and pay a $500 fine.

May 15, 2008 - Chris Baker accepted a plea agreement. Baker pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor simple assault — one count stemming from the HUB altercation and one count in connection with the apartment altercation in April 2007. Baker was sentenced to probation.

Incident #2

October 7, 2007 - Chris Baker, Navarro Bowman, Phil Taylor were involved in an altercation at the Hetzel Union Building (HUB) on campus. Several other football players were involved along with another male, who was injured and received medical attention. According to the complaint, the male said he was kicked and punched and had a bloody nose and split lip.

Cornerback Knowledge Timmons was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and defiant trespass stemming when Timmons turned over tables in the HUB after the initial altercation concluded. Timmons was searching for his iPhone.

Chris Baker, Navarro Bowman, and Knowledge Timmons were suspended from the team and did not play the final game of the regular season at Michigan State and the Alamo Bowl. Their suspension continued through spring practice.

7. Chris Baker
Initial Charges: Felony aggravated assault, simple assault, disorderly conduct, summary harassment and stalking.
Outcome: Accepted plea agreement to misdemeanor simple assault; sentenced to probation

8. Navarro Bowman
Initial Charges: Felony aggravated assault, simple assault, disorderly conduct, summary harassment and stalking
Outcome: Accepted plea agreement to disorderly conduct; one year probation and community service

9. Phil Taylor
Initial Charges: Summary harassment and stalking.
Outcome: Accepted plea agreement to disorderly conduct; one year probation and community service

10. Knowledge Timmons
Initial Charges: Disorderly conduct and defiant trespass.
Outcome: Accepted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program, a first-time offenders' program that will expunge his criminal record upon completion. One day of community service.

Timeline
May 8, 2008 - Cornerback Knowledge Timmons – who was charged for an altercation after the fight – was accepted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program, a first-time offenders' program that will expunge his criminal record upon completion. In addition to completing the 12-month program, Timmons will need to complete the standard one day of community service.

May 15, 2008 - Chris Baker accepted a plea agreement. Baker pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor simple assault — one count stemming from the HUB altercation and one count in connection with the apartment altercation in April 2007. Baker was sentenced to probation.

May 30, 2008 – Phil Taylor and Navarro Bowman were sentenced to one year of probation and community service. Bowman and Taylor pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charge. Charges of felony aggravated assault, simple assault, summary harassment and stalking were dropped.

Incident #3

October 12, 2007 - PSU Tailback Austin Scott was accused of raping a female student at the Nittany Apartments complex Oct. 5 at 4:16 a.m. after meeting her in a bar. Scott was suspended from the football team for violating an unspecified team rule. (Read that as out late and drinking before a football game.)

11. Austin Scott
Initial Charges: Felony rape, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, simple assault, indecent assault
Outcome: All charges dropped

Timeline
April 18, 2008 - Centre County’s district attorney announced that all charges against former Penn State running back Austin Scott were being dropped.

In withdrawing the charges, the Centre County district attorney’s office issued a statement saying its case was handicapped by a ruling to allow the defense to cross-examine the accuser about rape allegations she made in 2003 against a Moravian College student who was later acquitted.

In a written decision, Centre County Judge Thomas King Kistler cited as reasons to allow the cross-examination, 19 similarities between the two cases, including assertions that the woman never cried for help and that she kissed both men goodbye after intercourse.

Ongoing Incidents

Now if you throw in the really terrible charges … Imagine this! You go to Penn State. You are a college student. You drink adult beverages.

• Andrew Quarless – Underage Drinking – Guilty
• Willie Harriot – Underage Drinking – Guilty
• Joe Suhey – Underage Drinking – Guilty
• Ryan Breen – Underage Drinking – Guilty
• Tyrell Sales – Underage Drinking – Guilty
• Dan Lawlor – DUI – Guilty
• 25,000+ PSU Students each year – Underage Drinking - Guilty (perhaps not charged)

Analysis

Centre County District Attorney Michael T. Madeira was elected in November 2005 and was sworn in January of 2006. Since that time Madeira has a piss poor record of gaining convictions against Penn State football players. This is in part because there is little evidence. In the months of legal activities and thousands of dollars spent the most that Madeira could get was:

• Anthony Scirrotto – misdemeanor defiant trespass
• Chris Baker – misdemeanor simple assault
• Phil Taylor – misdemeanor disorderly conduct
• Navarro Bowman – misdemeanor disorderly conduct
• Knowledge Timmons – misdemeanor - searched for his cell phone

In the course of the Madeira’s legal actions, Penn State’s good name has been smeared; player’s lives have been in turmoil; and in general the football program has been disrupted. It is difficult to gauge how this has impacted Penn State’s recruiting efforts over the past two years.

In the past, Joe Paterno would handle these types of issues inside the program. There were three serious incidents (not counting the drinking related items). The Main Stream Media (MSM) gets a hold of the arrest records and within minutes it is plastered all over the Internet, on ESPN Sport Center, and a day later in the newspaper. There’s not much that JoePa could do about Austin Scott as a charge of rape is very serious in nature. As it turns out Scott was up late drinking before a game. That’s pretty serious if Scott really wanted to play football. In the end Scott got what he deserved. JoePa delivered the appropriate punishment to Scott. Unfortunately, JoePa had to continue that punishment beyond what is required for being up late and drinking before a game. The responsibility for that falls clearly on Madiera. I wonder how Madiera sleeps at night.

As for the other two incidents, it is good to see that PSU teammates are sticking up for each other. The real story behind these incidents has never been told. There is not an accurate picture of what happened. The final result is known, and when compared to initial charges, it seems the Madeira didn’t have a leg to stand on if these charges went to court. Madeira’s over zealous charges, felony after felony, against football players make it seem that he has it out for Penn State Football.

The police should have just gone to Joe and said, "Here are your boys, now take care of them." Keep Madeira out of the loop. Too bad, those days are gone.

At least now, you know the rest of the story.