Penn State got robbed again last weekend in Michigan … by some highly questionable officiating. Sound familiar? But it’s probably not what you think.

The Nittany Lions blasted the Wolverines 35-10 on Saturday for its first win at Michigan Stadium since 1996. And at one point in the first half, there was yet another time clock incident (prompting PSU play-by-play man, Steve Jones, to scream: “Why is the clock stopped?” over and over and over). But that wasn’t the miscarriage of justice.

It happened 90 miles away in East Lansing, where a series of controversial fourth quarter calls all went Iowa’s way, contributing to the Hawkeye’s final-play 15-13 victory over Michigan State. Even though the Lions were not on the field, it was ultra important to Penn State because it may wind up preventing the Lions from earning a share of the Big Ten crown and/or another spot in the Rose Bowl.

Due to a 21-10 setback to Iowa in September, PSU (3-1, 7-1 overall) is a full game behind the Hawkeyes (4-0, 8-0) and needs some outside help to catch up. The Spartans were primed to provide that help, but then the refs intervened. The worst was a personal foul call on a hit that happens dozens of times in just about every college game and is rarely, if ever, penalized. Plus, the call came embarrassingly late, keeping a drive alive that led to a field goal, and a 6-6 tie.

“If you are calling that, there needs to be consistency,” complained Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio. “This is a tough game. It’s a violent game. We don’t want to hurt people, but it’s hard to tell a defensive player to stand there and let the offensive player run you over.”

The next controversial call was a clear fumble by the Hawkeyes that was never officially reviewed and resulted in another kick that made it 9-6. And the third was a holding call on a defensive back, who was engaged with an Iowa wideout (within five yards of the line of scrimmage). The call could have gone either way, but ended up wiping out a Michigan State interception, and a few plays later Iowa scored the game-winner as time expired.

If any one of those three calls goes the other way, the Hawkeyes almost certainly do not win the game, and Penn State is now tied for first place.

Instead, Iowa is now in total command. It’s only difficult remaining game is at Ohio State. And even if the Buckeyes win that one – and PSU takes care of business and wins out -- the Hawkeyes would hold the tiebreaker due to its head-to-head victory at Beaver Stadium.

Afterwards, even Iowa coach Kirk Ferenz said his team was “fortunate to win.” – NEIL GEOGHEGAN

The Penn State defense limited visiting Minnesota to its lowest output of total offense of the 2009 season during last weekend’s 20-0 shutout. But it’s doubtful anybody took more self satisfaction out of the contest, and the outcome, than the Nittany Lions’ revamped secondary.

With four new starters, the unit endured a lot of preseason questioning and doubts, but came through impressively against the Golden Gophers and superstar wideout Eric Decker. It was 20-0 and clearly mop-up time when Decker finally hauled in his only pass reception of the day early in the fourth quarter.

“We kept getting attacked all the time because nobody really knew about us,” said sophomore safety Drew Asterino. “We had never really played, so instead of just saying, ‘we haven’t seen them play,’ we kept hearing, ‘(the secondary) is the worst part of the defense.’

“That stuff fuels us.”

Playing with a chip on its collective shoulder, the secondary was rock solid against Minnesota – particularly senior cornerback A.J. Wallace, who shadowed Decker all over the field and came up huge in his first start of the season.

“It was great to see,” said PSU’s Jared Odrick. “As a defensive lineman, you really don’t notice those type of things until the end of the game. (After the game) you realize (Decker) was really taken out of the game.”

Despite going against Decker and strong-armed quarterback Adam Weber, the Lions secondary helped limit the Gophers to just 101 passing yards and another 37 on the ground. Afterwards, head coach Joe Paterno acknowledged that the coaching staff had challenged Wallace in his head-to-head matchup with Decker.

“I take great pride in being challenged,” Wallace said. “I had some big stuff on my plate and I was ready to eat.”

When asked if getting a shutout, and shutting down Decker, was extra satisfying, Asterino said: “A win is satisfying, and all of the other stuff is a plus.”
-- NEIL GEOGHEGAN

Is it possible that exactly half way through the 2009 season, we still don’t really have an accurate grasp of just what kind of a football team Penn State has?

Nittany Lions head coach Joe Paterno, and his son Jay, the PSU quarterbacks coach, seem to think so.

“I wish I could (assess where we are),” JoePa said after steamrolling Illinois State 52-3 on Saturday. “I don’t know. I think we’ve got to play a couple tough games coming up. Minnesota’s a good football team. We’ll have to see where we are when we play them.

“We’ve got six tough games now. We’ll take them one at a time and see where we are. We’re not anywhere near as good as we will have to be, but we are getting better. I think we are better football team today than we were three or four weeks ago.”

It’s mid-October. How can the jury still be out on the Lions? Well, the lineup of non-conference patsies revealed next to nothing, and five of the six games have taken place in the friendly confines of Beaver Stadium.

Penn State outscored Akron, Syracuse, Temple and Illinois State by a combined 142-23, and downed an Illinois squad that has been one of the nation’s biggest disappointments. But in the season’s only contest against a quality opponent, the Nittany Lions blew an early 10-point lead and fell to Iowa, 21-10. And even though the Hawkeyes are now ranked 11th, they were unranked when they beat PSU.

“We’ve still got to get in a tough fourth quarter game and win,” said Jay Paterno. “We haven’t done that yet. Part of it is because five of them we’ve been in control of the game. And the sixth game we didn’t win, we just did not compete in the fourth quarter like we should have.

“Right now, we have to get in a dog fight and come out and win it. And I think we will -- that’s coming.”

It opportunity will likely be on Saturday, when the Golden Gophers (4-2) provide the Homecoming opposition. Minnesota is a half-game ahead of Penn State in the Big Ten standings at 2-1, with wins over Northwestern and Purdue, and also has non-conference victories against Air Force and Syracuse. The Gophers are 2-0 in road games this season. – NEIL GEOGHEGAN.

Joe Paterno won’t come right out and say that Saturday’s non-league game against FCS (Div. I-AA) Eastern Illinois isn’t coming at a very good time for his program, but it really is. Following a momentum-building 35-17 win at Illinois, the No. 14 Nittany Lions really would have benefited from getting right back into the heart of the Big Ten race while it is seemingly on a roll. A bye week right now wouldn’t hurt either because PSU is kind of battered.

Taking on an underdog from a lower division is just about the least advantageous scenario you can think of. Let’s be honest: this game has absolutely no up-side for Penn State. An easy win is expected. A loss would be a complete disaster. A closer than expected win will only hurt PSU’s reputation.

And it’s pretty obvious reading between the lines to see where Paterno weights in on the issue. He was unusually testy and sensitive when questioned on Tuesday about why his team is playing this opponent.

“We had an open date,” he said, voice rising. “We had a chance to play 12 games. All right? Which means money so we can support the other 28 sports on this campus. All right?”

So this is purely about money?

Paterno then went through a lengthy list of other major programs to play Div. I-AA opponents this season. But what he didn’t address is that Penn State’s non-conference slate has already been so ridiculously non-competitive this year, it has already had an adverse effect. There is strong argument to be made that one of the reasons the Lions failed so spectacularly in the last three quarters against Iowa because they just weren’t prepared for the heightened level of play. While PSU was beating up on Akron, Syracuse and Temple, the Hawkeyes blasted Iowa State of the Big 12, on the road, and then topped Arizona of the Pac-10.

It was also telling that Paterno stated openly that a bye week right about now would be preferable.

“I would obviously prefer an open date if we can have one,” he said. “I think after you've gone as far as we've gone (pre-season and five games) and you're banged up -- and we're banged up -- you would like to have an open date.”

For the next two seasons, Penn State has a home-and-home non-conference set with Alabama, which will certainly get the Lions ready for the rigors of conference competition. But Eastern Illinois – played in the middle of the conference schedule – isn’t going to help at all, except for one thing: another big payday because 100,000-plus will show up no matter who is the opponent. -- NEIL GEOGHEGAN.

It’s pretty common these days for the media and the fans of college football to make some snap decisions about a lot of teams based on a few early season performances. That sure seems to be happening right now with Penn State.

Obviously, the Nittany Lions’ conference opening setback to Iowa at Beaver Stadium was disappointing. But it hardly means that PSU’s season is doomed to failure.

The Lions have an ugly blemish on their record, but it’s just one. And there are eight more Saturday’s left in the regular season. Things can turn around awfully quick.

“You learn from your mistakes and listen to your coaches,” said linebacker Navorro Bowman. “Those guys know what they are doing. As a team need to … trust our strategies. We need to focus on the little things that made us lose. It was a tough loss but I’m sure we will bounce back from it.”

Penn State is favored by a touchdown at Illinois on Saturday, and will likely be favored in the next five outings. If PSU is 8-1 heading into the Ohio State showdown on Nov. 7, who’s to say the Lions have no chance against the visiting Buckeyes? It has the look of a toss-up right now.

Let’s face it: nobody in the Big Ten is without glaring flaws. Iowa may be the flavor of the week right now, but they have a brutal schedule ahead, including road trips to Madison, Columbus and East Lansing. Michigan’s defense is surrendering an average of 386 yards per game so far against lackluster opponents like Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and Indiana. And the only other teams without a conference defeat are Minnesota and Wisconsin, and they play each other this weekend.

The point is that Penn State is OK right now. It may not be able to recover enough for a berth in the BCS Championship Game, but they are still a major player in the Big Ten race. Even if the offense continues to struggle, the Lions will win a lot of games due to their stout defense.

And winning the conference crown should be PSU’s prime goal anyway. Keep in mind that in 16 seasons since joining the Big Ten, Penn State has won just three league titles, so it certainly isn’t beneath the program to aim for a goal that is a bit more realistic. How many times have the Lions played in the BCS title game anyway?

“Big Ten titles are pretty hard to come by,” said safety Drew Asterino. “We still have to work for that and there is still a long season ahead.”
-- NEIL GEOGHEGAN