Bob Davie inching closer to Mark May status

Bob Davie, former Notre Dame head coach (1997-2001) that amassed a 35-25 record while coach of the Irish, hosts a Question & Answer section on ESPN's weekly College GameDay Kickoff article. This week as I was reading the main article, the mention of Penn State was absent. So I searched the rest of the page and found Penn State mentioned in Bob Davie's Q&A. I was stunned when I read this:


3. Penn's State's D is overrated. I love Nittany Lions D coordinator Tom Bradley, but I wasn't impressed by Penn State's play against Notre Dame. I don't think the Nittany Lions are as good as people are predicting. In fact, this could be the year that a team like Purdue comes out of nowhere to win the Big Ten. -- Bob Davie


What!?!? Overrated? Penn State? Linebacker U? The defense with arguably the best linebacker, cornerback, safety trio in all of College Football this year? Let's talk about Penn State's defensive statistics through the first 2 games (yes, I know that FIU and Notre Dame blow, but good teams are supposed to beat inferior teams easily...which PSU did):

Penn State defense vs FIU
Points Allowed: 0
First Downs Allowed: 7
Total Yards Allowed: 114
Passing: 117
Rushing: -3
3rd Down Conversions: 1-15
Turnovers: 5

Penn State defense vs Notre Dame
Points Allowed: 10 (realistically it was 3 because their TD came from an INT return)
First Downs Allowed: 9
Total Yards: 144
Passing: 144
Rushing: 0
3rd Down Conversions: 2-16
Turnovers: 1


Again, I know Florida International and Notre Dame are terrible. But those statistics are still really great. Besides the opening drive in each game, the Penn State D easily handled each team. This should continue against Buffalo and, the way Michigan looks, against them as well. This D is good, possibly better than each of the last 2 years. In 2005 and 2006 Penn State's defense was ranked in the Top 10 nationally in almost all the major categories. This defense is good. Bob Davie is stupid. Mark May is preparing your membership card to ESPN's "Terrible Analyst" club.