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September 22, 2004

by Jared Bean

From the Parking Lot:

Hurricane? What Hurricane? If you were in the parking lot last Saturday at Beaver Stadium and you looked up, you would have never thought that several inches of rain had fallen only hours before. Parking lots were closed (yet not muddy Herb), traffic was a bear both going to and leaving the game, yet the Nittany Nation faithful made a better showing than expected, considering this underachieving team continued to frustrate the week before.

Most tailgates on this day were scaled back, moved, and contained a lot of thinking on the fly. But the food was still hot and fresh, and still tasted better because it was being consumed outside. It was tailgating after all, even when the weather almost didn’t cooperate.

The true adventure for the Tailgater was the trip home. Hurricane Ivan closed roads and turned 2 hour trips into 5, and 4 hour trips into 7.5. I can only imagine the frustration had the team lost. But make no mistake we will return in October with the long trips a memory and the thoughts of what new recipes we may try out and how many people might be there will once again be top of mind.

From the field:

Offense? What offense? Count with me. One, two, three, four, five, SIX. Six turnovers. And they all involved Zack Mills. And we won 37-13! Let’s face it folks, the only thing this game proved was that UCF is still in its infancy as a Division I program. It may have also proved that Zack Mills isn’t what he was when his college career was in its infancy.

Despite all the denials and verbal volleying JoePa had with reporters this week, Zack Mills is not the same. Joe can blame receivers not catching the ball and the offensive line not making blocks, and the center not being on the same page, but at the end of the day this is Zack Mills’ team. He is after all the Captain; and was before the “savior of the program.” Something needs to get better, it’s Zack Mills. This kid needs to be the leader of this team and show that it is HIS to lead. Otherwise the Morelli chants aren’t going to be far behind. Let’s face it, Michael Robinson is like Prince Charles; No one wants him to be “King.” The attention has turned to youth…Prince William…Anthony Morelli.

The defense on Saturday was like the weather. It looked a lot better than expected. That is of course once Derek Wake, the man consistently referred to as “this close” was firmly planted “this close” to the bench. Dan Connor is a flat out stud and shows the boyish energy that this team hasn’t seen since the 1990’s. There’s something to be said about football players with a nose for the ball and an attitude and work ethic to accompany it. Remember folks it is not always about the athletes on the team, as there is something to be said about heart and attitude.

We’ll see what we can bring to Wisconsin. The Fan will be making the trip and will file the next column from Camp Randall stadium. I’m sorry to say that the Nitts don’t fare well on the road when I’m there. Hopefully that trend will break this week.

See you at Beaver Stadium!

Until next time…GO STATE!

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