One Down and Ten to Go!
Lynn Meredith
Teamkong

The PSU Gorillas started the season strong by defeating Lincoln University 56-0 last Saturday night. In gaining the victory, I was impressed with many of the things I saw.

1) Overall team speed is vastly improved .
The Gorillas were definitely faster on Saturday night than they have been in a few years. It seemed that every position has upgraded with speed and quickness.

2) Offensive/Defensive Lines looked good .
Especially for the first game of the year! These units worked well together and improved throughout the game.

3) Running Backs have a lot of potential .
Joe Taylor was strong when he ran, but lost his feet a few times, while the two freshmen give us lots of hope.  Bean, a redshirt Freshman is a strong, straight ahead runner, while Race, a true freshman, is a quick change of direction type runner. Race is faster than Bean, but both will work well in our system.

4) Receiving Corp is a deep unit.
This group has it all….size, speed, good hands. The Gorillas will definitely be able to throw this season.

Still to be determined….

Linebackers and Defensive Backs…. These groups were untested with the “no passing” game of Lincoln. The LB’s seem faster and more aggressive, but quality opponents will tell how much improvement is there. 

Quarterbacks…. Both looked good at times, with Philpot having more yards passing. Majors seemed much quicker and the offense had a noticeable “spark” when he played.

Kicking Game…. Both punt and kick had good and bad moments. The Punt game only had two chances and I think we’ll be okay there. Place kicking struggled throughout the night and the snap, hold, kick timing was horrible! And one thing about the kicking game…once something bad happens, it has a tendency to snowball! At least that is something that can be worked out in practice. The kicker has a strong leg…we’ll be fine there as well.

How good is St. Cloud????

Well, pretty good! It features a team that is 2-0 and has trounced their opponents, plus a Harlan Hill candidate in quarterback, Keith Heckendorf.  St. Cloud has played no one of any quality, but come from the traditionally strong North Central Conference, where they are slated for a top tier finish this year. 

The Husky offense is prolific. In addition to Heckendorf, Sophomore Running Back Matt Birkel has ran for numerous td’s and their offense has totaled 110 points in 2 games.  But their defense could be suspect…having given up 523 yards to Western Washington last week.

So here is my take on the game…..

It’s PSU’s 2^nd game of the year. That means the Gorillas will be vastly improved over last week. It is well known that teams improve the most between the 1^st and 2^nd games.  As a result, PSU will move the ball well and score points…. St. Cloud will move the ball well at times, and score some points….

BUT the Gorillas play better defense and despite our shortcomings in the Defensive Backfield… our Defensive Line and Linebackers make up the difference in this game….It will be tight early, but the Gorilla D will take over in the second half.

Offensively, the Gorillas have a strong day running the option and throwing at the right times… no matter which quarterback in running the team!

Look for the Gorillas to score more points than the Huskies…. PSU 38-17.