“Penn State is not going to be able move the ball with McGloin. They’re going to struggle at home.”

Yeah, how’d that prediction work out for you, Kirk Herbstreit?

In all fairness, it’s not like anyone could’ve blamed him for that pick. Sure, Michigan’s defense is abominable, but it’s not like Penn State had been an offensive juggernaut this year. Even with Rob Bolden on the field, this was an offense that struggled in just about all facets of the game–in finishing off drives, in establishing the run, in pass-blocking, in catching the ball. And now, they were replacing their quarterback with a walk-on nobody’s ever heard of.  It’s not like Herbie was saying anything that plenty of Penn State fans weren’t thinking.

And yet, last night, it all changed. Maybe that’s the benefit of playing the #106 defense in the country–and the #117 pass defense (out of the 120 1-A teams), but Penn State put together their most complete offensive performance since, what, Michigan State in 2009?

Needing just 31 yards to become Penn State’s all-time rushing leader, it was almost a given that Evan Royster would surpass Curt Warner at some point last night. But the way his year has gone, you half-expected it to come on a 3-yard carry in the 3rd quarter on the way to another 50-yard game. Quite the opposte–Royster flipped the script on his season and put the team on his back. Frankly, it was the kind of game we expected would be the norm for Evan–a career high 29 carries, 150 yards, and a pair of TDs. That record-breaking run was a 20-yard gash up the middle, where Royster had more success than when he stretched outside. But the most important run of his night was just a 2-yarder–on 4th and 1, when he seemed all but stopped, but fought and wiggled his way for the first. It was that kind of a night for Evan, and, for all the grief he’s taken, he deserved it.

That said, I feel bad for Royster, because his incredible night is going to be overshadowed by the remarkable performance of Matt McGloin. Matt did everything you could’ve possibly asked from him–and then some–en route to 17/28, 250 yard passing day. The most important statistic, though, was 0 interceptions from a guy we’ve come to know as a gunslinger, a risk-taker. The real credit, honestly, has to go to the coaching staff, because Jay and Galen did an absolutely tremendous job putting McGloin in a position to win the game. Rarely was he asked to sit in the pocket and throw down the field–of McGloin’s 17 completions, at least a good half of them came on roll-outs and screen passes. His mobility was better utilized than Bolden’s has this year.  They threw the ball on first down as much as they ran it.  They shrunk the field, and took away the toughest part about being a QB.

That said, anybody who calls for McGloin to start next week against Northwestern is still high on the emotions from last night. McGloin had the benefit of facing what might be the worst pass defense in the country, and a highly scaled-back playbook–and that his receivers actually caught the ball. And while I’m proud as hell for what he was able to accomplish, there’s a reason he’s a walk-on who didn’t get other D-1 scholarship offers. He throws a nice fade pass, but lacks the arm strength to throw the ball down the seam (which, ironically, might be Rob Bolden’s greatest strength). And I think a lot of the attributes that could be chalked up to “intangibles” and “leadership”–like Penn State’s success on 3rd down–were really more the product of a heinous Michigan defense. Last night, Matt accomplished everything he could’ve ever dreamed of. But if Penn State’s lucky, that’s the last time he’ll ever make a start.

The defense wasn’t quite so good–but given the dominance of Denard Robinson and the myriad injuries this defense is nursing, they did enough

to win. To borrow a phrase from Dan Patrick, you can’t stop Denard Robinson, you can only hope to contain him. I’m not sure the defense even did that–he threw for 190 yards and ran for another 191–but, except for a few exceptions, they made him work for it. The threat was very real that on every run he could break it for a touchdown, but with the exception of his 32-yard score he never really broke into the second level. And the secondary did a very good job–with the exception, of course, of the 60-yard touchdown–giving up the short pass but not letting the Wolverine receivers get behind them. Robinson was just 11 of 23, his worst passing day of the season. D’Anton Lynn rarely even gets tested these days, and Chaz Powell looked good in his first start at cornerback.

I can only imagine how Penn State would’ve dominated this Michigan offense last year, when they had Jared Odrick–a guy who could actually penetrate into the backfield and cause havoc. At best, the defensive line was a stalemate–not getting past the line of scrimmage, but refusing to get bullied at the point of attack. That led to a lot of 4, 5, and 6 yard gains, but prevented all but the rare stuff. Amongst the linebackers, I’m honestly not sure why Bani Gbadyu ever starts, since he inevitably comes out halfway through the first quarter for a backup–Khairi Fortt in previous weeks and Gerald Hodges last night. Bani’s a great kid, and his story is an incredible one, but he’s only hurting the team by being on the field–especially against a speed-based offense like Michigan’s. Chris Colasanti seemed to play better last night than he has all year, but once again the best linebacker on the field was Mike Mauti, who is really going to be a special one.

One last note: it really is absolutely incredible how far the special teams have come in just one season. Anthony Fera only punted twice, and each was about 50 yards. His kickoffs were just as good–half went for touchbacks–and the coverage was good too, with one minor hiccup. Collin Wagner has become a truly consistent and clutch kicker–I never thought I’d be confident seeing him line up for a 42-yarder, but man has he improved from last season until now. And the return units were solid, too. All around, a great job by the special teams–made all the more impressive when Michigan is bobbling kickoffs and shanking punts.

In the end, little feels as good as beating Michigan. I know, they’ll never be a “real” rival, but after all their years of domination, it’s great to get some measure of revenge, and to contribute to DickRod’s annual nosedive. And to respond to the critics, answer some of those pressing questions–and to do so in front of not just nearly 109,000 fans, 22,000 and then some clad in whie, but a couple dozen high school kids who were, no doubt, impressed–makes it all the more better.

For the first time this season, it was actually fun to watch Penn State play. I missed that. And hopefully some of those nattering nabobs of negativism–the incessant voices calling for JoePa to retire, amongst others–will take this as a cue to shut the hell up. Next week, we’re going to beat Northwestern, and then, who knows. Crazier things have happened.