Many people have wanted to jam a square peg into a round hole, stubbornly drawing parallels between the 2005 Penn State football team and this year's team. Forget that. Let's dust off the 2-year-old blueprints. Maybe then we'll see the differences and realize that this new thing doesn't quite fit correctly.
There haven't been connections so far between the open-minded success of '05 and the predictably pedestrian '07 team. And the big reason is the coaching. Penn State has decided to turtle away from any creativity it showed two years ago, leaving the Nittany Lions listless on offense. So the comparisons should end because these Lions haven't been put in good spots. And unless Penn State changes the closed mindset it carried into the Michigan game, the Lions could be doomed for mediocrity.
Right away, though, the talk began about the teams' similarities. And it was fairly reasonable to see why. These Lions have a senior quarterback and some flashy wideouts. They have the imposing linebackers, a few speedy defensive linemen and a secondary full of stars.
"You can tell when you have a great team, how the guys get along in the locker room and what they do off of the field," wide receiver Derrick Williams said earlier this year. "It's a great vibe going around. I think everybody has their best interest in their heart. I think this could be a team like '05."
The cosmos started to shift in Penn State's direction -- just like '05. Michigan lost to a school that plays in the Football Championship Subdivision. Wisconsin has been unimpressive. Ohio State has a young quarterback. Who better than Penn State?
Sure, you could say, there is a fundamental difference between then and now. You could make an argument that there's a lack of leadership now.
But then again, there's also no offensive adaptability. That's the real issue. That might be a bigger problem.
"I have a great coaching staff," Joe Paterno said yesterday. "I really do. I think it's as good as anybody has. Sometimes I may stick my two cents in there and screw them up a little bit. I think that's the part that I've got to be careful of. I've got to let them run it a little bit. When I say 'run,' let them do some things that I may not quite agree with."
You wonder what happened, exactly, between then and now. We saw an offense that was overhauled to fit its talent in '05. It worked to perfection. Sure, Michael Robinson could improvise and make a broken play whole again. But the offense was smartly molded around him. The offensive coaches visited the Texas Longhorns that summer to study how they used Vince Young. The coaches' willingness to restructure the offense was proportional to the success it had.
Nothing has been done to maximize quarterback Anthony Morelli. Why not take a few shots downfield? Penn State hasn't used the tools in its shed. That is, if you actually believe Morelli can be a big-time quarterback. But that's another issue entirely. At a minimum, he's been given little chance for success because of the playcalling.
Austin Scott up the middle, Scott up the middle again, flare to Williams, punt.
Repeat.
When are the Lions going to throw the deep ball? When will we see Morelli throwing across the middle, throwing slants instead of short outs and curls? Why has Williams seen, almost exclusively, screens and end-around plays? And how come wideout Chris Bell hasn't been used more? Why doesn't Evan Royster figure in the running game?
Asked why Penn State didn't get more creative or pass more against Michigan, Joe Paterno said, "You play the game. You don't go in with the idea you're going to throw the ball 100 times or 40 times. You do what you can do."
That's what Penn State probably should've done. That's probably what would've suited the Lions best with their players. But Penn State is stuck in the same place, unwilling to change to fit the players like in '05.
The Lions still haven't dashed hopes of recreating a magical 2005 season this year. But perhaps that will happen this weekend against Illinois or further down the road. Unless the offense is revamped, the Lions will continue on a predictable path.
All the coaches need to do is look back, dust off those old blueprints and put them into use. The way to turn around a team, by being adaptable to its talent, has already been done at Penn State. People have made the connection that this year's team could make moves in the Big Ten if given the chance.
Now it's the coaches' turn.
Mark Viera is a junior majoring in journalism and English and a Collegian football writer. His e-mail address is mcv5009@psu.edu.
