Penn State football preview part I

Although I will have more in depth previews of each game before they happen, and reviews of games after they happen, I will enlighten the world by giving a rough overview of the 2007 campaign starting with the offense.

I expect great things from this offense that returns almost all of its skill players. The holes to fill are big ones however with the loss of one of the best offensive lineman in recent PSU history in Levi Brown. Another major loss is Tony Hunt who carried the load for Penn State the past three seasons putting up under-appreciated numbers. The loss of BranDon Snow could be harmful as well since he was a terrific lead blocker, but now with Matt Hahn taking over full time, it will give PSU another passing option. All of the receivers return, but it will take better performances from them this year to beat teams like Notre Dame, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Drops, bad routes, and lack of size hurt this group last year. A real flaw in the offense was in the red zone where a mix of bad playcalling and a lack of a go-to receiver led to terrible production inside of the 20. Now with the emergence of Chris Bell and the newly transformed WR in Brent Brackett, it seems that PSU should have some better options. Austin Scott and Rodney Kinlaw should perform fairly well in the offense with more speed than Hunt had, but the tough yards will be missed. Look for a lot more passing this year as Morelli goes into the season with a lot of confidence after having one of his best games in the Outback Bowl victory over Tennessee. The offensive line will be anchored by center A.Q. Shipley. Overall the line will have more experience, but it lacks the automatic blocks of Levi. The offense has the ability to look like the '94 squad and put up a lot of points through the air and on the ground, but it all comes down to players like Derrick Williams, Anthony Morelli, and Austin Scott who came into college with the highest expectations. If they can emerge to become what we all expected, then the sky is the limit. The defense will always keep this team in ballgames so it will simply be a matter of scoring more points than the other team, as John Madden likes to say.