Thoughts From The Valley: McGloin Fever

The Hangover

HOW I AM FEELING: Physically tired. And thrilled. I've been raking leaves and painting walls (new baby on the way, believe it or not, so we're shifting the kids' rooms around, and of course they all have seized upon this as an opportunity to redecorate their newly appointed quarters) all day. Hence the exhaustion. As for the happiness? Well, do the math, folks. My Beloved Penn State Nittany Lions just pulled off the biggest home comeback of The Incredibly Long Joe Paterno Era, rallying from a 21-0 deficit to claim a thrilling 35-21 win. It was one of the finest halves of football I have ever seen the Nits play. Oh, and there's this: The win was Saint Joe Paterno's 400th.

WHAT I AM DRINKING: Victory Hop Wallop. The bolder, bigger cousin of my longtime favorite, Victory Hop Devil, Hop Wallop is a "lite" beer drinker's nightmare. Reason: It has a flavor. A lot of it.

WHAT I AM LISTENING TO: Penn State fight songs. Because this week is Ohio State-Penn State week. And yes, that means you're gonna hear a lot about Ohio State-Penn State this week. Heck, maybe I'll just re-run last year's column. That was a good 'un.

VILLA UPDATE: One of the great things about my recently developed obsession with the English Premier League is the fact that my soccer-watching experience has been something of a lesson in the English sporting dialect. To wit: This Saturday, my EPL club of choice and The Most Beautifully Named Football Club In The World, Aston Villa, suffered absolute heartbreak when Fulham (home to American hero Clint Dempsey) scored an "equaliser" (i.e., tying goal) in the fifth minute of penalty time, robbing The Nation Villains of our much-deserved three points. Another draw. Blah. This one finished 1-1. And what did all of My Villain Twitter Friends—I mean, every single one—say about this draw afterward? Well, to a man (and woman) they said they were "gutted" by it. Yes, "gutted." What a great word. Visual. Visceral. Perfect. I will use it often. But hopefully not on Saturday around 7 p.m. regarding developments in Columbus.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE WEEKEND

I don't like to brag. I really don't.

But I'm going to brag, just for a moment, regarding two predictions I made last week. The second being more impressive than the first.

Here goes.

1. On last week's TCFA Podcast—BTW, please see the important note about the podcast at the bottom of this week's column—I told Co-Host Mike that I believed Iowa State—poor, long-suffering, ever-inconsistent Iowa State—would not only "cover" against the mighty Nebraska Cornhuskers, but actually throw a serious scare into those 'Huskers. As for why I believed this? Well, if you had listened to the podcast, you would know, but one of those reasons was simply this: "Jack Trice Stadium." Anyway, the Cyclones didn't beat the 'Huskers, but they did cover (ha!) and they did take the 'Huskers to overtime, eventually losing 31-30. I mean, this one went right down to the wire. Just like I said it would. I am proud of this prediction. 'Cause, you see, Nebraska was favored by 18.

2. In last Friday's print edition, embedded in my always insightful picks of the week, I wrote the following regarding to the Penn State-Northwestern game: "Matt McGloin is the greatest walk-on quarterback from Scranton that college football has ever seen. I don’t even think the kid is going to start this week. But he’s going to play. He’s going to rile up that Nits huddle. And he’s going to help The Suddenly Very Aged Joe Paterno win his 400th game."

Slam-dunk prediction there, folks.

As I predicted, McGloin did not start.

As I predicted McGloin did, however, play.

And as I predicted, McGloin did help Paterno get that 400th win--helped him get that win, it should be said, in truly spectacular fashion.

The Wizard Of West Scranton threw four touchdown passes on the day and led the Nits to touchdowns on five straight drives, engineering a remarkable, record-setting comeback win before 108,000 happy souls at Beaver Stadium. It was college football at its finest. And McGloin was the guy who made it happen.

Look, I don't want overstate things, of course. I don't want to put too much pressure on McGloin. I don't want to raise expectations too high—especially in advance of a road trip to Columbus.

But at this point, this simple truth must be acknowledged: This kid has done nothing less than save the Nits' season.

And it's been a whole lot of fun to watch.

THREE YARDS AND A CLOUD OF DUST

THREE: As you all know, I am a big supporter of Boise State. I was on the Bronco bandwagon long before ESPN's Pat Forde started that "bus" nonsense. And to this day, I still believe the Broncos could beat anybody in the country. But I also feel obliged to throw a bone to the good folks in Fort Worth. TCU absolutely crushed No. 5 Utah this weekend, 47-7, to solidify their position as the top non-AQ contender for the national title. It's a position they've earned with defense--very, very, very good defense, to be exact. How good? Well, since giving up 24 points to SMU back on Sept. 24, the Frogs have not given up more than seven points in a game since. Their winning scores over the last six weeks? Try this: 27-0, 45-0,  31-3, 38-7, 48-6 and 47-7. Wow.

TWO: Terry Saban, interviewed by the Birmingham News this weekend, on how her husband, SABAN, handled the loss to LSU. "Nick is up at the 6 in the morning, and he's just pissed."

ONE: Which college football team has the nation's longest winning streak? No, the answer is not Boise State. And no, the answer is not Mighty Mount Union. The answer is actually Wisconsin-Whitewater, Mount Union's top rival in college football's Division III, which earned its 24th straight win with a 48-21 victory over Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday. The program has also won six straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles.

TOUCHDOWN: In last Friday's edition of TCFA, I called Central Florida a "second- or third-tier team of the high order." It was an uninformed comment. 'Cause it turns out UCF is now 7-2, in the first place in the ever-nebulous Conference-USA, and ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in their history. Apologies, UCF fans.

OVERTIME: Co-Host Mike and I would like to apologize for our generally sleepy performance on last week's podcast. In a frank and often-difficult conversation this Saturday (well, a 2-minute conversation while Mike was tailgating at Clemson, drinking beer and eating Bojangles fried chicken), we committed ourselves to a livelier, funnier and more information podcast this week. Be sure to tune in, folks. It will be ... lively, funny and information. Also, please send us your feedback, as always, at podcasts@intelligentcollegefootball.com. We love listener mail.

For more searing college football insight, please check out my work over at About.com, where you can read my weekly Power Rankings, ponder the About.com Heisman Trophy Watch, get darn-near daily blog updates and more.