Nobody can dispute that the 2012 season is a crossroads for PSU football given the events of last fall as well as having our first new head coach since 1966. Michael Mauti more than any other player has symbolized this team’s willingness and ability to work through adversity and make all PSU fans proud of the team for what they have done and stood for on and off the field. Although this team has no season captains it is clear to me that Mauti is the leader of this team.

In terms of ranking Mauti I would put him 4th among the linebackers to play at PSU during the past 32 years. By going back only to 1981 I am excluding some greats-most notably Jack Ham-but if I did not see someone play while he was at PSU I cannot honestly evaluate him in comparison to those I have seen. The pnly linebackers I would rank ahead of Mauti are Shane Conlan, Paul Posluszny and LaVar Arrington. I should say that these 3 players are in my top 10 of all time favorite PSU players that I have seen play. I believe that Michael Mauti both because of his play on the field and his actions and words off it will be thought of in the same light as those three all time greats.

For the most part I was satisifed. I thought the running game lacked consistency although that may be due to injuries to Belton and BOB’s apparent decision to redshirt Akeel Lynch. On defense I saw some of the same porblems as were present during Ohio and Virginia, namely a less than stellar pass defense.

Fortuantely our next opponent Temple is 110 out of 122 FBS schools in pass offense. Hopefully this bodes well for this coming Saturday. As for the season as a whole the B1G is down so perhaps my 7-5 pre-season prediction will still come true.

Personally I think even if Lynch stays, Belton has the inside track to starting in the opener which is less than a month away. Having gone through spring practice as a running back he does have some familiarity with what O’Brien expects. Given the uncertainty throughout the team as this season approaches I think that it is best for the team to have as much experience as possible at the running back position.

Of course, should he stay at Penn State, Lynch will certainly have an opportunity to carry the ball early and often. However, the same is true at Iowa, which has been decimated at the running back position with nine departures since 2009, including one in the past couple of days. Nothing against the Hawkeyes but I think Lynch’s depature could be a real blow to Penn State’s running game this season-and beyond.

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