My thoughts USC’s 38-24 win over Penn State:

• The bright side: Penn State scored one more point than I predicted.

• I was shocked that Penn State was so unprepared — so many mental errors. When was the last time that Penn State was penalized that much?
• Somebody finally figured out to attack the Nittany Lions secondary. That unit needs a major upgrade, so that maybe Tom Bradley won’t feel the need to play 10 yards off the line.
• How did USC lose to Oregon State?
• Why no on-side kicks in the fourth quarter?
• Why a field goal instead of going for six?
• I appreciated the Nittany Lions pulling it together in the second half and getting several scores. They did not quit, good for them.
• Sadly, a healthy Evan Royster would not have made that big a difference I think.
• The offensive line, Penn State’s best in over a decade, did not look too good yesterday.
• QB Daryll Clark had a solid outing and will hopefully learn from it.
• I am really going to miss Derrick Williams, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood. Those three provided four excellent years of football. Hopefully they have not played their last games. I know Williams has not and think Butler can get a job in the NFL. Norwood? I don’t know.
• So, how far did Aaron Maybin‘s draft status fall yesterday? I want him back.
• I won’t miss Anthony Scirriotto at all. That he never missed game time for his stupidity on April 1, 2007 is a major error by Joe Paterno. I won’t miss watching Scirriotto get beat deep any more. Good riddance, jerk!
• I thought the officiating was poor and favored USC, but ultimately, it was about 0.05% of the reason Penn State lost.
• Overall, this was a shockingly good season. I figured replacing Anthony Morelli was +2 wins, but losing Sean Lee was -1. Had Lee been healthy, they would be playing in the BCS title game, though they would not have necessarily fared better than they did yesterday. Still, a Big11Ten title is a lot to be proud of, especially since they exorcised their Michigan and Columbus demons. Apparently, the big one left is Iowa.

Penn State, Nittany Lions, Rose Bowl, USC