Kurt Streeter: From the Rose Bowl, a prayer answered
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GAME ON!
A few sputtering drives into this game and then -- wham! -- USC marches down the field like the Penn State Nittany Lions are the Washington State Cougars and one big thought starts running through the head: Please, God of All College Football, don’t let this be another blowout. Don’t give us a repeat of last year’s game, a snoozer once a few minutes had ticked off the second half. This game deserves better.
Then Penn State, bless them, they run and they pass and they move their guys around in just the right way and, for at least one series, they make you wonder how it was exactly that USC’s defense ended up with all those accolades. The Best Defense Ever? Well, they’re good, but probably not that good, and this drive helped prove it.
The score is 7-7, after the extra point, the Penn State crowd is absolutely apoplectic (they’re largely dressed in white T-shirts and waving pom-poms), and suddenly, thankfully, maybe even stunningly, we’ve got us a contest!
(Wouldn’t you know it. As I typed this post and readied to send it, USC answered back with a six-play, 80-yard drive. It’s 14-7 now. Can Penn State keep up? Please, God of the BCS, make it so....)
-- Kurt Streeter
