Big Ten Preview: Penn State

College football season is approaching and for the next couple of weeks I'll be giving you some quick previews of the Big Ten. All ten....ummm eleven teams will be featured. Today, the Nittany Lions of Penn State.

Okay, so Joe Paterno forgot to retire again. He's old, it happens. Penn State has gone through its share of problems in the offseason, losing running backs Rodney Kinlaw (graduation) and Austin Scott (rape charges), quarterback Anthony Morelli, and various other players to graduation and the slammer.

Wide receiver Derrick Williams is the top returning player on an offense that will break in two new quarterbacks to replace Morelli. Penn State has flirted with the idea of the spread offense, which it used in its successful 2005 campaign, but shockingly JoePa has decided to play it conservative with the smashmouth game. Williams' fellow wideout Deon Butler will also be an impact player, assuming one of these new QBs can throw.

Defensively, Penn State is seemingly always strong, but attrition along with injury will test the team this season. On the line they lose a couple DTs who had a knack for beating the shit out of fellow students, but DE Maurice Evans returns and he is the real deal. As for the linebackers, Sean Lee was in line to be the next great white MLB hope, but tore his ACL. In the back, the Lions lose CB Justin King, but return All Big Ten Overrated 1st Team Safety Anthony Scirotto.

Oregon State is the only moderate test in the non-conference schedule, but we'll see what this team is all about when they host Illinois September 27th under the lights in Happy Valley. Other notable games are night games at Wisconsin and Ohio State and Michigan at home to try and snap that horrendous losing streak before JoePa retires.

Overall, it's about the quarterbacks and linebackers. If one of the new signal callers steps up and a replacement for Lee is found, Penn State will easily finish in the top four or five in the Big Ten.