Hi, friends. Luann here.
I grew up on a dairy farm in Centre County, I set for the volleyball team back in the day, and I love exactly two things with my whole heart: Creamery ice cream and Penn State linebackers. Sometimes in that order. Sometimes not.
So here's where we are. My Lions are 3-4 and 0-4 in the Big Ten, and we've lost four in a row. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Sugarcoating is for ice cream, and even then the Creamery doesn't need it. But I'm also not going to sulk, because my mama raised me to milk the cows whether it's sunny or sleeting. You show up.
We Are... correct. Let's go.
Part 1: So Close in Ann Arbor
Michigan 21, Penn State 18, Saturday, Oct. 17, at Michigan Stadium, in front of 110,731 people.
Let me start with the good news, because there was plenty. For a half, our defense had Michigan's offense stuck in the mud like a tractor in April. We led 3-0 at halftime on Ryan Barker's 24-yard field goal, and Josiah Zayas and Zion Tracy each intercepted Bryce Underwood in the second quarter. Michigan was so frustrated that it benched its quarterback at halftime.
That's where the story turned. Tommy Carr came in, and Michigan scored twice in the third quarter: a 43-yard touchdown run by Bryson Kuzdzal and a 1-yard run by Jordan Marshall, set up by Carr's 22-yard draw. 14-3.
But we came back, friends. Early in the fourth, Carson Hansen scored from 2 yards, and Rocco Becht threw the two-point conversion to Benjamin Brahmer. 14-11. We had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, and then Becht lost a fumble at our own 16, and Carr scored from 12 yards out three plays later. Becht came right back and threw a 24-yard touchdown to Chase Sowell with 1:11 left, but Michigan recovered the onside kick.
Three points. Again.
The Good Stuff
Chase Sowell was spectacular: 11 catches for 151 yards and that touchdown. Becht completed 28 of 44 passes for 267 yards. Tony Rojas, a true Linebacker U linebacker, made 12 tackles with a sack and two tackles for loss. Michigan threw for just 90 yards all day.
The hard stuff: we ran 30 times for 65 yards, and we turned it over three times. Becht said afterward that the game is super humbling, per the AP. Spoken like a young man raised right.
The Ice Cream Rankings
I rank every defense by Creamery flavor. Our defense this year? It's Peachy Paterno. Sweet, steady, and a little underrated. We allow 18.9 points a game, and opponents throw for just 141.3 yards a game against us. The trouble is the other side of the menu. We've lost to Wisconsin 24-20, at Northwestern 34-13, to USC 31-23 and at Michigan 21-18. Three of those four were one-score games. That's not a bad team, friends. That's a team one scoop short.
Part 2: A Week Off, Then Purdue
Penn State has an open date this Saturday, Oct. 24. That's the honest schedule note. No game. The boys get a week to heal, regroup and remember who they are, and coach Matt Campbell, in his first year here after coming over from Iowa State, gets a week to fix the run game. Campbell said after Saturday that he believes this group is pounding away, and I believe him.
Then on Saturday, Oct. 31, Purdue comes to Beaver Stadium. Kickoff time hasn't been announced. Halloween in Happy Valley, friends. I'll be dressed as a cone of Death by Chocolate. Fitting for the Boilermakers' afternoon, I hope.
Now, Purdue deserves respect. It's 3-4 and 2-2 in the Big Ten, and it's won at Illinois 24-17 and beaten Minnesota 41-13. Ryan Browne has thrown for 1,822 yards. Fame Ijeboi has 568 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Purdue scores 31.3 points a game. Barry Odom is a good coach.
But let me tell you about Purdue's Friday night against Washington. Purdue forced five turnovers, three interceptions and two fumbles, and the Huskies' quarterback was making his first start. Washington's own coach, Jedd Fisch, said you're not usually minus-4 in the turnover battle and win. Well, Washington won 38-26. Friends, if a farmer gets five free cows and still ends up with fewer cows, somebody has to look at the fence.
And Purdue's defense allows 32.3 points a game and 161.6 rushing yards a game. Ijeboi ran for 19 yards on 13 carries against Washington. Odom himself said Washington's defensive front won the day. Well, we've got Tony Rojas and a week of rest.
Purdue's Ice Cream Flavor
Purdue's defense, in the Luann Kessler Creamery Rankings, is Vanilla With a Hole in the Bottom of the Cone. It looks fine, it tastes fine, and then it's all over your shoes.
Who to Watch
Chase Sowell, receiver: 34 catches, 510 yards, three touchdowns, and coming off his best day.
Rocco Becht, quarterback: 1,664 yards, 12 touchdowns, five interceptions.
Tony Rojas, linebacker: 55 tackles and five sacks, our leader in both. Linebacker U, friends.
Carson Hansen, running back: 278 yards and four touchdowns.
Fame Ijeboi, Purdue running back: 568 yards, nine touchdowns, and our run defense needs to tighten up, because we allow 172.3 rushing yards a game.
Asaad Waseem, Purdue receiver: 38 catches for 588 yards, and nine for 116 against Washington.
The History
Penn State leads the series 17-3-1, according to CollegeFootballData.com, and has won the last six meetings, including 49-10 in 2024. I won't call it a streak. I'll call it a family tradition.
Town Report: A Tale of Two Towns
State College. The largest borough in Pennsylvania, with 40,501 people at the 2020 census, and the heart of Happy Valley. The name goes back to the Great Depression, when the area held up so well economically that folks started calling it happy. Beaver Stadium seats 106,572, the second-largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere. And then there's the Berkey Creamery, founded in 1865 and the largest university creamery in the country, making more than 100 flavors and selling about 750,000 hand-dipped cones a year. Creamery ice cream has been part of football weekends since 1896. There's one rule: no mixing flavors in one cone. I'm told a former president once got an exception, and then didn't the next time. That's the Creamery for you. Rules are rules, even for presidents.
West Lafayette. Now, West Lafayette is a sweet little town of 44,595 on the Wabash River. And Purdue has a wonderful claim to fame. Twenty-seven of its graduates have become astronauts, including Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, and Eugene Cernan, the last. They call it the Cradle of Astronauts.
Friends, I love that for them. I do. But I'd point out that 27 Purdue graduates have left the planet, and on Saturday, Purdue's defense let a first-time starting quarterback leave West Lafayette with 302 passing yards. Purdue seems to be very good at helping folks go places.
Their mascot is a train, the Boilermaker Special, and their marching band has the "World's Largest Drum," built back in 1921. That's a big drum, and it makes a big noise. But on Halloween, in a stadium with 106,572 people in it, I'm not sure anyone in Beaver Stadium will hear it.
Final Scoop
Here's how I see it. Our team has lost four straight, but three of those losses came by a single score, our pass defense is one of the best in the country, and we get a week of rest at home before Purdue comes in. Purdue just lost a game where it won the turnover battle by four.
One scoop at a time, friends. We Are... correct. And Penn State!