This One's on the Coach...

Easy as it might be to blame Anthony Morelli, Austin Scott, or even the "Referines", the fault for Penn State's 14-9 loss at Michigan on Saturday lies squarely at the doorstep of Coach Paterno. Nowhere else.

Really good teams (and I'm still convinced Penn State is) exploit other team's weaknesses. The Nittany Lions didn't even bother to try because of their fear of losing. The coach is either too set in his ways or has a severe lack of confidence in his signal caller.

What happened to the imagination and the aggressiveness we saw from the offense in '05 with essentially another first year starter at QB? (By the way, I recall pundits and fans wondering aloud after the cupcake appetizers that year whether Michael Robinson was a guy who could lead Penn State out of the doldrums.) How do you know if you have a leader at QB if you don't give him a real shot? Sure, Morelli didn't play well and really hasn't stepped up in a big regular season game...yet. He did in the Outback Bowl, though, when some of that imagination was put into the game plan. My take is that it's extremely difficult to be successful when the only time you're allowed to throw is in obvious passing situations (second/third & long or trying to come-from-behind late). Let the guy throw in some running situations to establish some confidence while, at the same time, giving an opposing defense something to think about.

Austin Scott has seemingly fumbled away his opportunity to be the Lions' #1 tailback the rest of the season. No question his miscue inside the Wolverines' 10 hurt. His fumbles against Buffalo did allow the Bulls to stay close and score their only points of the first half last week. All of that said, what did those turnovers really cost Penn State? About a minute on the clock vs. Michigan (as the Wolverines' fumble gave it right back) and three points to Buffalo. I'm not being a Scott apologist here, just pointing out that he wasn't the reason Penn State lost in the Big House or the sole culprit in a closer-than-desired 28 minutes of football against the Bulls.

What about the "Referines"? The Scott fumble was a really close call that even replay didn't clear up. I would have been fine with the ruling either way. The touchdown call on Hart's second-effort lunge was questionable, but Tom Bradley even pointed out that it was going to be third-and-inches if he was ruled down. The interference penalty? I thought the clutching and contact by Sargeant was pretty apparent--even moreso than the call State got the benefit of in Minnesota last season.

No, the culprit in the loss in Ann Arbor and close first half vs. Buffalo was the gameplan/play calling. Coach scared and your team will play that way. Frustration was written all over the faces of the highly-touted (and rightfully so) corps of receivers. Like Morelli, they didn't get a true chance to show what they could do.

One Penn State alum was so disheartened he told me he probably wouldn't pay much attention to recruiting anymore, because even the most talented QBs/WRs may not be given a chance to do their thing in big games. Wow. I didn't have the heart to pile on and say, "How many top recruits at the skill positions are going to want to come to Penn State after watching yet another close-to-the-vest loss?"