THINKS THE EAGLES STOLE ONE
Penn State went 0-2 at home against Iowa and Ohio State, the only two nationally ranked teams on its schedule. The Lions were shut out in the second half of both games. The only use fans had for their white T-shirts after the games was to dab the tears from their eyes.
But coach Joe Paterno has news for those mourning the season: It's not over yet. While there's no Rose Bowl and probably not a BCS bowl in their future, the Nittany Lions still can finish the regular season with 10 victories.
The Lions (8-2 overall, 4-2 Big Ten) start that drive today at Beaver Stadium in their home finale against Indiana and can finish it off next weekend at Michigan State. Then it's probably a bowl game in Florida, not a bad place to be on Jan. 1.
"You know, 8-2 isn't a disaster," Paterno said this week. "That's where we are, all right? Obviously, when you lose to a couple of good football teams at home, you don't score a point against either one of them in the second half, you've got concerns.
"But I still think we have a bunch of kids that want to go out there and do well. For me to go out there and do anything but encourage them, that's just not my style. We'll practice hard this week and see how good we are. I'm not going to get into what expectations people have."
Those expectations, naturally, started out with the thought the Lions would be in the mix for the national championship. That dream turned into a faint flicker after the rain-soaked loss to Iowa and was snuffed out completely last week by Ohio State.
Now, the Lions must take satisfaction where they can find it.
"Winning those last two games would make it a success for us," linebacker Sean Lee said. "Will we accomplish our goal of winning a national title? No. But we can win our last two games and go to a bowl. I know every game we've played our hearts out and, to me, that means we've been successful."
Quarterback Daryll Clark called a 10-2 finish "our main goal right now, and we'll be extremely disappointed if we're not able to do it."
It can be argued that, of all the Nittany Lions, Clark wants to erase the bitter taste of the loss to the Buckeyes most.
"Either we go into the tank and lose those last two games or we work hard and win," Clark said. "The coaches aren't going to allow us to do that. With the leadership on this football team, we're going to make sure that everyone . . . focuses on Indiana."
They had better. The Hoosiers (4-6, 1-5) may be the conference's unluckiest team, losing three league games by three points or fewer. They had chances to win at Michigan and at Iowa.
"Our guys have played pretty well in those environments this year," Indiana coach Bill Lynch said. "They played well at Michigan and Iowa. Fortunately, our guys have been [at Beaver Stadium] and understand what they are getting into."
The Hoosiers run the pistol offense, with a running back standing 3 to 4 yards behind the quarterback, who is lined up in the shotgun. Quarterback Ben Chappell is second in the Big Ten in passing yards at 237.7 per game, and receiver Tandon Doss has 65 catches for 843 yards and four touchdowns.
Defensively, senior end Jammie Kirlew is one of the best in the Big Ten, with 13.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. The Hoosiers, with the league's top kickoff-return man in Ray Fisher, could give the Lions' beleaguered special teams some problems.
So Penn State will have its hands full today as it tries to chase down a reset but attainable goal.
"I think if we end up 10-2," Paterno said, "that's a pretty good year - if we end up 10-2."
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