To be honest, I find it almost sad that people feel genuinely surprised that Beau came in and played well in the second half last night.
His performance was pretty much what I expected. PSU shifted to his package of plays and he took care of business.
My thinking at halftime was PSU needed to get to 17 points, a number I felt may be enough to win but should at least get the game to OT. Wisconsin, in my mind, wasn’t a very good football team. PSU was a dropped pass and a botched QB sneak away from having the game under solid control. And this season’s history of solid halftime defensive adjustments gave me confidence the Wisky offense would do little the second half. And when PSU got the quick pick-six, it lifted a ton of weight off the offense. It was just a matter of time before PSU took the game under control.
As of this afternoon, I’m not very optimistic about a victory over Ohio State. (I hope I’m embarrassingly wrong!) The Bucknuts will be far and away better than anyone PSU has played to date with the speed factor that will give Penn State trouble.
OSU will also be well prepared for the Beau package and will limit him as a running threat.
PSU’s defense is going to have to play a far better first half than typical, and PSU made need a couple breaks along the way. Coming from behind in the second half with a healthy Allar would be a lot to ask. Trying to do that with a backup QB will be next to impossible.
