Cat fight in Happy Valley

Aug 29, 2007, 15:28 GMT

University Park, PA - In what appears to be one of the most lopsided matchups of college football's opening weekend, the 17th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions of the Big Ten welcome the Florida International Golden Panthers of the Sun Belt Conference to Happy Valley.

Florida International continues its transition to the major college level, and last season was tough to endure for fans of the program. Not only did the Golden Panthers lose all 12 of their outings, they also made national headlines for all the wrong reasons. An ugly brawl against Miami-Florida played a major role in the firing of head coach Don Strock, and Mario Cristobal, who ironically was an assistant for Miami, takes over as head coach.

Penn State has no instability at head coach, as Joe Paterno opens the season with an outstanding roster and yet another chance to add to his legend. The Nittany Lions finished 8-4 during the regular season a year ago, and Paterno improved his all-time bowl record to 25-12-2 with a 20-10 win over Tennessee in the Outback Bowl. With seven starters back on offense and six on defense, Penn State should be able to compete with Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions have never faced the Golden Panthers in football.

Offensively, the Panthers have nowhere to go but up after averaging a Division I-A-worst 9.6 ppg in '06. They scored just five offensive touchdowns over their last nine games, and they averaged a dismal 233.1 total ypg. Eight starters are back for FIU, however, so there is at least hope for a turnaround. The team must break in a new quarterback in sophomore Paul McCall, and beginning his reign as the starter on the road against the Nittany Lions is a bit scary. McCall's transition into the starting role should be eased by the return of junior tailbacks Julian Reams and A'mod Ned. The duo complement each other and they should be able to build off the 770 combined rushing yards they amassed last season. The return of all five offensive lineman should also help the Panthers improve on the mere 56.8 rushing ypg they averaged a year ago.

Florida International was much better on defense than on offense a year ago, as the Panthers' ranked 28th in the nation in total defense (300.9) and fourth versus the pass (147.7 ypg). Six starters are welcomed back from last year's group, including three defensive linemen. Highlighting this trio is junior tackle Jonas Murrell, who has tremendous size (6-2, 305 pounds) to help shore up the run defense. Murrell has 33 career tackles to his credit and he could be a star in the making. Unfortunately, three starters at linebacker are gone, including SBC Defensive Player of the Year Keyonvis Bouie. Sophomores Mannie Wellington and Michael Dominguez will try to fill the void left by Bouie and company, but neither has much experience. As for the secondary, which was the best in the conference last season, three starters are welcomed back, including corner Lionell Singleton. The senior is the key to this secondary and he is coming off a breakthrough '06 campaign in which he posted a team-high five interceptions to go along with 11 TFLs and 38 stops.

In this opener and all season long, the Penn State offense will rely heavily on the arm of senior QB Anthony Morelli. A 53.9 percent passer in '06 who threw for more than 2,400 yards and 11 TDs, Morelli hasn't lived up to his promise thus far, but he will have arguably the school's best receiving corps on which to lean in his final season. The talented trio of juniors Derrick Williams, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood combined for 133 receptions, 1,549 yards and five scores last season, and finding the end zone more often will be crucial to the team's success this fall. Seniors Austin Scott and Rodney Kinlaw are expected to carry the load for the ground attack, and whether they succeed or not will hinge on the play of the offensive line. Scott has spent plenty of time in Paterno's doghouse as well as in the training room over the past couple seasons, but he has the talent to be a star.

Penn State did an outstanding job against the run last season, yielding just 87.5 ypg to rank seventh in the nation. As a result, foes put up a mere 14.4 ppg (ninth-lowest nationally), and while Paterno always seems to have an aggressive defense, there are some questions surrounding this year's bunch. Specifically, the defensive line returns only one starter in junior DE Josh Gaines. With former Butkus Award winner Paul Posluszny out of the picture, this is Dan Connor's time to shine. The 6-3 senior LB is one of the finest to ever play the position at what has affectionately been dubbed 'Linebacker U.', but he has lived in Posluszny's shadow the last few years despite making 113 stops in '06. Connor is joined by junior Sean Lee to form one of the better linebacking duos in the conference. Meanwhile, the Penn State secondary boasts some pretty good players of its own in juniors Anthony Scirrotto, Tony Davis and Justin King. Scirrotto led the Big Ten in INTs last year with six, and while he has endued some legal problems recently, the standout is expected to suit up for this opener.

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