JUDGMENT CALL
Ramming
Speed
Penn State looks to make an impact
with Big Ten season ahead
W
ould you feel better about
Penn State's outlook heading
into the Big Ten season if you
knew that Bill O'Brien's leadership had evoked a comparison with
one of the great inspirational moments
in cinematic history? How about if the
inspirational moment in question was
from "Animal House"?
You remember "Animal House": toga
parties, pledge pins, beer, food fights,
road trips, "Shout, beer and, of course,
"
beer. You may also remember John
Belushi's impassioned speech in which
he mangles some of the finer points of
world history such as
which country
bombed Pearl
Harbor but nevertheless
inspires the Deltas to destroy homecoming. That's the scene that O'Brien
cited recently in describing his decision
to go for it on fourth-and-1 from his
own 35-yard line in the first quarter of
Penn State's opener against Syracuse.
Seemed pretty gutsy, even for an NFL
guy like O'Brien. But, as it turns out, he
thought the Nittany Lions had gotten a
first down on the previous play, so he
was operating on a different set of assumptions than the rest of his staff.
Even so, when he called the
play – a pass over the
middle – nobody on
the sideline or the
booth tried to stop
him. Said O'Brien,
"It was like Belushi:
'Just let him go, he's
on a roll.' "
Tight end Matt
Lehman ended up
gaining 16 yards on the
