Good afternoon, readers. Eller here, coming at ya from the comfy couch in photo editor Nate Smith's living room.

It's been two days since Penn State's season ended at the hands of the Trojans with a 38-24 loss in the Rose Bowl. After reading countless articles, message boards and blogs you've been able to see nearly every person's excuses behind Penn State's loss. So what happened? Where is the blame to go? The defense? The coaching staff? Joe? Daryll Clark?

Well, while I cannot speak for the rest of the Collegian crew, but I myself had a few observations.

Now before I can go any further, I must admit I was not able to see any of the game. I fell victim to the stomach virus that spread around the Penn State media, and actually spent the game in the emergency room, so the first time I saw any of the game was yesterday when I watched the recorded tape from this very same couch. Happy new year, lol.

Anyway, here's what I noticed.

It's clear Penn State did not play its best ball, but in my opinion, their best may not have been enough to beat the Trojans. USC is just too talented. Props to the Lions for putting up 24 points on a staunch USC defense, however. Mark Sanchez played out of his mind. The argument that Penn State's secondary played terrible is certainly valid, but keep in mind...a number of Sanchez's passes were so well-timed, it wouldn't have mattered how close the cornerbacks were on their receivers. Other times, the defense did look lost, which for a very experienced secondary, was a little weird to watch.

Where the secondary should've improved is in its defensive schemes. Playing a defense which puts the cornerbacks virtually 10 yards off the line of scrimmage, gave the USC receivers no resistance while running routes. And Sanchez is certainly talented enough to put the ball only where the receiver can catch it.

I haven't seen very much blame being put on Daryll Clark, and rightfully so. Clark played very well, showing good awareness and grittyness with some tough runs. Clark did have two interceptions, but one was tipped, and the other came with less than a minute left to play.

But what seemed to doom the Lions from the get-go was something so uncharacteristic of a Penn State team. Mistakes, turnovers, and penalties cost the Lions any sort of momentum. It was capped by Aaron Maybin's offsides call, on which he was able to force what he thought was the game's first turnover.

But, the game is past, and now you guys can worry about how we make it home safely. That's right on today's agenda...GO KARTS!!!!!

Let the carnage begin. No, not really. I myself cannot take it too hard seeing as how less than 48 hours ago I was in the ER with an IV in my arm.

Odds are Travis and Wible will get into a death match on the track, so we'll keep you posted on that. It's our last night in California, so we're not sure what's on tap, but rest assured, it may or may not involve another trip to the hospital.

Hey, we can only hope.

Eller, out.