Thanks to Zombie Nation for the questions.

The other blogs that will be in on the answering:
There is No Name on My Jersey
Tangled Up in White and Blue
Y. F. Yurasko
Happy Hour Valley
Black Shoe Diaries
The Nittany Line
We Want the Lion
Zombie Nation
Nittany Whiteout

1. Name one unit-to-unit match up Penn State must win Saturday. How does PSU win that battle?

I think it’s going to be impossible for our secondary to totally contain Purdue’s wideouts, and our linebackers should have no trouble with a banged-up Kory Sheets.  Hence, our big battle is the DLine against the offensive line of Purdue.  Evans and Koroma’s return is huge here, because with time to throw, Curtis Painter can be lethal.  If we get in his face, we can force some mistakes and take advantage with our offense.

2. This trip to Purdue is setting up to be a classic trap game. Do you agree? Why or why not?

I would agree that coming off a big, emotional, primetime win against Illinois and with a huge game at Wisconsin in a week, this would have trap game written all over it.  But with all the off-the-field stuff, I think the senior leadership of this team is going to make sure everyone is up for each game.  True, after the Temple game a lot of guys said they were looking ahead to Illinois, but this is the Big Ten schedule, and there is no room for letdown.  I expect Penn State to win, not by a huge margin, but to cover the 12.5 point spread.

3. Purdue will be doing a “Black Out” this week. Putting aside that it’s going to raise money for charity (each shirt sold sends money to United Way), what are your feelings on other schools organizing “[insert color here] Outs?”

I like it.  It’s not like Penn State invented the White Out, that honor goes to the Winnipeg Jets.  And any time that a team can get all its fans together, it’s a positive.  I think that, if done right, an Orange Out, Black Out, Purple Out, or Green Out could look pretty cool.  The problem is that when done wrong, it is really unimpressive.  I’m not going to criticize teams for trying to boost spirit.

Lightening Round.

-Royster over 100 yards?

No.  He’s a little banged up, and I’d think they’ll give him as much rest as possible for next week’s big game.

-Curtis Painter throws first TD ever vs. PSU?

Yeah, it’s kind of inevitable.  Penn State can’t shut out Purdue, and if they’re going to score it’s going to be a Painter TD pass.

-Pat Devlin gets meaningful playing time?

No, the game’s going to be fairly competitive, and Clark could always use more exposure for Heisman voters.

Thanks, and go State!

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