Last Updated on Friday, 02 November 2012 17:52 Friday, 02 November 2012 17:04

Written by Mark Dent

1. Control Purdue's wide receivers - Adrian Amos said that Purdue had some of the best skill position players in the Big Ten. It may be the case that the Boilermakers have struggled throughout the Big Ten season, but Amos isn't entirely exaggerating. Purdue has talent with Adavian Edison, OJ Ross and Gary Bush, and it's been a while since Penn State has faced a signifcant passing attack. If the Boilermakers can turn it around, then Penn State's secondary is in for a challenge.  

2. Start off like they did against Iowa - This is hugely important. Obviously Purdue is not Ohio State but the Nittany Lions can't afford to be conservative again on offense. As we saw, it just doesn't work. It takes them out of their flow; it's unnatural. Penn State is at its best when throwing the ball early and then having that open up the run game. Of course, rushing will be plenty easier against a Purdue rushing defense that ranks 11th in the Big Ten.

3. Block - The offensive line had a rough go last week. That's an understatement. The whole 32 yards thing did not refelct well on the group. John Urschel said the group might have been too hyped up, which foiled the communication. Bill O'Brien said that, unlike the rest of the team, it's far more important for the line to stay level-headed. On the road, in a weak environment, that shouldn't be a problem on Saturday.

4. Kickoff returns - O'Brien went as far as to call the kickoff return play terrible last week. He said he needed to plot a better scheme for it and that the blocking/running needed to improve. I wonder if we will see someone else return kicks. Bill Belton did not look comfortable back there on Saturday, and it's a competition every week.

5. Figure out three different quarterbacks - Purdue is probably going to use three quarterbacks in Caleb Terbush, Robert Marve, the starter, and Rob Henry. In one sense, this is great for Penn State. If Purdue has to use three quarterbacks, it must mean that not one of them is very good. And judging by Purdue's record this has often been the case. But there is still a complication. As players said, they must be more aware on defense and have to refocus each time a different one enters the game. But truthfully, all three are very similar. None of the three is known to be a major rushing threat.  

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