It's not often you hear Joe Paterno tell his buddy Bobby Bowden "we're too old for this, it's past our bedtimes." In an epic battle between the two winningest coaches, the 5 hour defensive slugfest finally came to an end when PSU's freshman kicker, Kevin Kelly, knocked home the game-winning field goal from 29 yards out in triple overtime. Make no mistake about it, this was a defensive battle where each endured cramps and various injuries. PSU lost its starting running back early, its fullback, and Butkus award winner Paul Posluszny went down with a knee injury midway through the second half. FSU also endured their share, almost every play near the end, a different Seminole went down with cramps. The warm weather and long layoff is to blame for this. Kelly had a sad look on his face after he missed two potential game winning field goals, but in the end he was the one celebrating after just squeaking the field goal through from 29 yards to win the game. Tommorow is the game everyone is looking forward to, but I don't know how they are gonna top this one.

Florida St. PPs:

Leon Washington- Rushed 6 times for 30 yards. The Nittany Lion defense easily contained Washington as he was shut down. Late in the game though, Washington was found receiving the ball catching a team leading 6 passes for 24 yards: slightly negative

Pat Watkins- Looked real good. On a 3rd and 2 in the red zone he came up to make a nice stop on the runner, saved a touchdown. He has great acceleration and really good patience. Was really impressed by him: positive

Brodrick Bunkley- Andrew told me to watch out for his name tonight as his stock has been rising real fast; some even have him in the first round now. But I really wasn't that impressed with him. He did do a good job of penetration but it was the FSU LBs and not the defensive line that mostly made the plays. He does have a good first step and and got good penetration. He didn't do much negative, but I wouldn't hold my breath for him going in the first: neutral

Kamerion Wimbley- Was in Michael Robinson's grill all night long. He has a tremendous set of moves and put on a clinic in the game. However late in the game he committed a personal foul, roughing the QB, where he just threw down Robinson. This sustained a Penn St. drive and eventually led to a possibly game winning field goal. That showed immaturity and lack of discipline, but gamewise he is a stud: positive (character wise negative)

AJ Nicholson- Did not play suspended

Sam McGrew- Was inserted into the starting lineup because of the suspension to Nicholson. Did not show tremendous patience but played all in all pretty well. Would be a good pick late in the draft: slightly positive

Willie Reid- Was found often early but the Penn St. DBs (usually Zemaitis) shut him down. Can be a good player but he needs to be more consistent. He did return a punt for a record long 85 yards for basically the only big play for teh Noles all night. That play kept them in it: slightly positive

Penn St. PPs:

Alan Zemaitis- Guy is a stud. Has potential to be a shutdown corner at the next level. Uses his body well to shield out opponents and doesn't bite for any moves. I like him better than any corner in the country and yes that includes Hill and Williams. Very positive

Tamba Hali- Man is a pure pass rusher. He has great hands and that spin move he has just looses the offensive linemen. He was also great when pursuing Weatherford, showing off that great speed. Solidified himself as a first round pick if not higher in this one IMO: Very positive

Calvin Lowry- The 5th year senior was solid in this one. Did not hear his name mentioned often but that's good for a safety. Great in coverage down the field and should be a 3rd or 4th round pick: positive

Anwar Phillips- He had a history of getting beat by bigger possesion wide receivers. Not tonight, by only allowing Greg Carr 3 receptions for 25 yards. The only time he was really beaten was when he actually had good coverage but was simply outjumped by Carr. Is a very solid player: Very positive

LaVon Chisley- Did not play

Others: This PSU team is loaded with junior talent. Posluszny will be a top 10 pick next year if he stays (I would think so because of the injury). Jim Shaw is a junior DT that made a few spectacular plays. One where he moved the guard 3 feet back into the ballcarrier almost resulting in a safety. He'll be a great prospect next year.

Michael Robinson doesn't have much of a future at QB, his passes just aren't at a high enough level although his athleticism is. He will probably be moved to WR in the NFL.

Chris Harrell NEEDS a writeup. He's another senior DB who was really impressive. He has a great chance of being drafted in the middle rounds.


Overall a great game, and now I'm really excited about the Rose Bowl tomorrow!

Nice writeup Sam. I agree with you this game had it all. Some nice big hits, excellent skill play, and a good defensive battle.

Brodrick Bunkley:
To some extent I agree with your assessment about him from the game last night. I have been on the fence about him all year long. I really was unsure where to slot him and still am a little bit. I pretty much watched him exclusively during the game to try and get a final read on him. Sadly I am still quite unsure about him. He got consistent push all night long and on about 33% of the plays he got the deepest penetration of any of the defensive lineman including the ends. However, on PSU's first touchdown drive they really took advantage of Bunkley the entire drive. They would let him get penetration but turn him away from the play quite easily leaving a giant hole in the line that McGrew and Sims kept failing to fill. So at that point I was pretty low on Bunkley. However, as the game progressed he and the linebackers adjusted their rush and that hole was no longer there for the PSU rushing offense.

One thing for sure about Bunkley is that he doesn't have natural instincts for the position and sometimes finds himself deep in the opposing backfield but nowhere near where the play was. With a less agile quarterback Bunkley probably would have had two sacks in the game but Robinson is a tough QB to bring down.

What saved the day for Bunkley was his fourth quarter play and especially his play in overtime. In the fourth quarter he put consistent pressure on Robinson and flushed him 3 times. On the flush plays he showed good pursuit as well and caught Robinson from behind for a short gain. In overtime he really showed me something against the run which up until that point I was considering him a great liability against the run. He read the run very well and was on top of the runningback before he could get to the line of scrimmage on 4 occasions.

So my overall assessment of Bunkley is he is inconsistent with flashes of brilliance. Very good frame that could use a little weight re-distribution. Excellent speed and looks to be a 4.95-5.05. Definitely limited to a one gap scheme and prefers pass rushing to run defense. Needs a run stuffer partner in the middle of the defense either at the other tackle position or MLB slot. Has 5-10 sack potential. I would not take him in the first but he would be worth a flier in the second. Could create a nice buzz at the combine/pro day.

Pretty much the same opinion I have had of him all season long.

Loved Hali. Short, squat but was wading though guys all night. A real force.

I liked Posluszny too, sorry to see him injured. I didn't think he was in the class of Hawk but a good, heady player with good coverage skills. One time the Fla St lineman grabbed him and actually carried him out of the hole. Didn't appear that fast or powerful but always in good position.

I liked Fluellen better than Bunkley. What a load. He just drove into the guard on every play and drove him back several yards. He's only a soph and needs work but based on power and effort, I think he'll be a first rounder when he comes out.

I liked Watkins too. When your gunner catches the punt at the two and doesn't go into the end zone, that's a nice job.

Reid was sensational returning punts. Looked like he was going to break it whenever he caught one.

Haha sorry you couldn't get anything concrete on him Andrew. I agree with you though, he would be worth the risk in the second round. Poslusnzy is gonna be a hell of a player, he reminds me a lot of Urlacher in his rookie year.

Another guy I liked from Florida State was Ernie Sims. Not for everybody but a very fast, solid OLB. Played SLB against Penn State but was advertised as 6'0", 220. His size was the only negative I saw. I could see Tampa Bay or Lovie Smith really loving this kid. Have not seen a time on him but he looked really fast, under 4.5 fast.