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Let's Talk Penn State Football (2 Viewers)

Tin Cup said:
While disappointing to lose (especially to Pitt), there are some things to be encouraged about:

  1. The offense looks capable of scoring more than 20ish points for the first time in years
  2. The coaches actually seem to be making effective halftime adjustments unlike the past couple of years
  3. We seem to have a real punter for the first time in forever who is capable of changing field position in an instant
To give up over 300 yards rushing, turn the ball over 4x, and give up a long kickoff return that led to an easy, late touchdown and still have the chance to win the game on the road  in the final two minutes against a P5 school is something the team can learn from and build on.

On to Temple (and some payback)
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All great points.

I thought the coaching staff seemed reluctant to throw the ball down field early on.  I hope that changes.  I think today showed that this offense is better running a little more wide open than relying on he read option and throws into the flat every down.

 
ClownCausedChaos2 said:
You think? I think McSorley played just fine.  He seems to throw the ball well amd has pretty good accuracy.

This was his second start, in a road game against a major rival.  You could definitely see the jitters and that last pass was a bad decision, but I like him.
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Yes. They have a heisman quality RB, an elite WR corps and a QB that would maybe start on one other Big 10 team

 
Barkley is a stud

that last pass was a terrible, terrible decision by the coaching staff and a poor throw by the QB. i thought maybe he was trying to throw it out of the back of the end zone but.......... no

 
mr. furley said:
Barkley is a stud

that last pass was a terrible, terrible decision by the coaching staff and a poor throw by the QB. i thought maybe he was trying to throw it out of the back of the end zone but.......... no
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It sounds as if the WR ran the wrong route too but no way do you throw the damn ball on what was it???  2nd down when you are in field goal range and could potentially tie the game up.  Terrible playcall/terrible decision.

I do agree that there were more positives than negatives taken from this game.  Pitt has mostly a senior laden team with talent and it took every ounce of effort to beat a very young PSU squad.  Not to mention a little luck.  Not to take anything away from Pitt though, congrats to them.

...Hamilton catches that easy TD pass though we're probably talking about a great PSU comeback win.

 
Just got back from the game.

Deceptive final score.

PSU generally dominated the game but a combination of poor red zone execution, continued carelessness with the ball, and some bad luck (especially the fluke turnover on the rugby punt) kept things closer than they should have been.

By my count, we left at least 15 points on the table in the red zone and gave up 14 points off red zone turnovers.

Easily could have been 49-13 which is what the game felt like (to me at least).

A win is a win, whether by 7 or 36.

On to Michigan.  Need to clean up the unforced errors to have a chance in that one.

 
Yikes.

I'm souring pretty quickly on Franklin.  I know I was the one saying to give him a chance, but it just seems as though he can't coach in big games.  He panics.

Going for it on 4th and 5 from midfield after Michigan went up 7-0 in the first quarter?

With a 1st and Goal from the 10, Barkley runs to the 3.  Then they pass the ball of 2nd and 3rd down?  Then on 4th down, down 28-0, they decide to kick a meaningless field goal.  And as the play clock runs down, he uses a timeout to save a five yard penalty that would move the attempt from the 3 yard line back to the 8 yard line?

But I think what really was the last straw for me was how he handled the Brandon Smith ejection.  It was a terrible call and Brandon Smith is a young guy who has been playing his guts out.  Smith gets tossed on a horrible, horrible call and Franklin gives the ref a few harsh sentences and then turns around with his hands in the air?  I think you have to give them hell at least until you draw your own flag there, maybe even get yourself escorted to the locked room to join your player.   Show some support for your guy.  That call was outrageous and Franklin needed to show some fire there.  That disappointed me. 

 
Sad. Program just cannot compete with the big boys anymore. I recall as a freshman being right up there with Ohio State and Michigan. Now look at this. I think Penn State just cannot recover from Sandusky and wont be near that top tier again unfortunately. 

 
Mama said there'd be days like these...

I expected us to get clobbered today, and we did.

Positives:

  • Cam Brown was pressed into action and had something like 10 tackles.  We may have seen the start of the next great LB31 in the tradition of Poz and Conlan.
  • Despite insurmountable odds, I didn"t see anyone hanging their heads or giving up.  The team kept plugging and fighting and trying which I think is a great sign.
  • Don't mess with Joe Julius!
Concerns;

  • Am beginning to wonder if this is all there is to the Moorhead offense.  Thought this offense was supposed to have "4 gears" but have seen pretty much the same thing all 4 weeks so far.  The read option does not seem to be working, yet they stubbornly stick with it.  McSorley does not seem to really want to run or be much of a threat to run.  Without the threat of the QB actually running, all we seem to be doing is putting Barkley at a disadvantage six yards from the line of scrimmage.  Most of the times, there are defenders there to meet him by the time he gets there.  I thought the whole offense was unimaginative and played scared all day today (kind of like Houston against the Patriots the other night)
  • Injuries.  I can't remember ever seeing anything like this.  With a young team to begin with, being down 5-7 starters every week makes an uphill climb almost impossible
  • 3rd down defense.  Most of the game, the depleted defense did ok on 1st and 2nd downs but could not close the deal and get off the field.
  • Poor and weak coaching.  Going for a field goal down 28 and burning a needless timeout doing so.  Not pushing for a review on the possible Barkley touchdown.  Not putting up more of a fight when Smith was ejected for targeting.  Sometimes, players need to see and know their coaches fighting for them and this staff fell flat in that area today.
All in all, we are a 2nd-tier Big Ten team right now.  We are not on the level of UM or TOSU.  And probably won't be for a few years yet.

But both those schools have had fairly recent losing seasons which is something we have not even in the face of what are now increasingly obvious crippling sanctions.

For this year and next, the priority is to beat the Marylands and Rutgers of the world to keep the regional recruiting pipeline viable.  Get the young kids experience.  Figure out a way to beat the Minnesotas and Indianas and stay relevant.

I'm as tired of the 7-6 records and lack of signature wins as anyone...but I still see signs of progress and think better days are ahead.  Who knows if those better days will ever be what we got used to in the 70s and 80s, but WE (still) ARE...

 
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ClownCausedChaos2 said:
Yikes.

I'm souring pretty quickly on Franklin.  I know I was the one saying to give him a chance, but it just seems as though he can't coach in big games.  He panics.

Going for it on 4th and 5 from midfield after Michigan went up 7-0 in the first quarter?

With a 1st and Goal from the 10, Barkley runs to the 3.  Then they pass the ball of 2nd and 3rd down?  Then on 4th down, down 28-0, they decide to kick a meaningless field goal.  And as the play clock runs down, he uses a timeout to save a five yard penalty that would move the attempt from the 3 yard line back to the 8 yard line?

But I think what really was the last straw for me was how he handled the Brandon Smith ejection.  It was a terrible call and Brandon Smith is a young guy who has been playing his guts out.  Smith gets tossed on a horrible, horrible call and Franklin gives the ref a few harsh sentences and then turns around with his hands in the air?  I think you have to give them hell at least until you draw your own flag there, maybe even get yourself escorted to the locked room to join your player.   Show some support for your guy.  That call was outrageous and Franklin needed to show some fire there.  That disappointed me. 
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So...see you next week?

 
Leeroy Jenkins said:
Sad. Program just cannot compete with the big boys anymore. I recall as a freshman being right up there with Ohio State and Michigan. Now look at this. I think Penn State just cannot recover from Sandusky and wont be near that top tier again unfortunately. 
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Eh, I don't know about that.  Powerhouse college programs have had there down years before.  Michigan had Hoke.  Tennessee hasn't really been that great.  I still think eventually PSU will be great again but it may not be with Franklin.  He is just not a great gameday coach and he may not be a great college football coach in general.  Which is astounding given what he was able to accomplish with Vandy in the SEC.  He can recruit but even that will go away if you can't win big football games (or even stay close) against big time ranked programs.

Another thing PSU has to overcome that the Tennessee's and the Michigan's haven't had is the worst college football scandal in the history of college sports.  I think we're seeing the effects of the sanctions still hitting hard.

 
Tin Cup said:
Only if he's buying drinks Homecoming weekend.  Or if he gives Meyer an atomic wedgie or purple nurple on national television later in the season during the White Out
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I don't think Meyer could handle such physical stress.  It would most likely lead to a 6th heart attack and another job change.

 
Quiet thread lately.

Team looked much better yesterday.  McSorley actually running the ball regularly seemed to open things up for Barkley who took care of the rest.

Not sure if yesterday says more about us or Maryland.  Either way, it felt nice to be on the right side of a blowout for a change.

A week to rest and plan before the Buckeyes come to town.  This will be the 6th time in the first seven games the team is facing an undefeated opponent.  We gave them a pretty good run when they were in Happy Valley back in 2014.

Go Lions!

 
Tin Cup said:
Quiet thread lately.

Team looked much better yesterday.  McSorley actually running the ball regularly seemed to open things up for Barkley who took care of the rest.

Not sure if yesterday says more about us or Maryland.  Either way, it felt nice to be on the right side of a blowout for a change.

A week to rest and plan before the Buckeyes come to town.  This will be the 6th time in the first seven games the team is facing an undefeated opponent.  We gave them a pretty good run when they were in Happy Valley back in 2014.

Go Lions!
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They may have played there best game of the season but still a lot of tackling issues but they're getting better.  I'm not going to say Maryland was a slouch at 4-0 but they played some of the worst teams in college football during that span (although Purdue did win also).

Things are getting better though, the talent CJF has recruited is really starting to come out.  With some more solid coaching this team could really start to turn it on in the second half of this season and then may be next season we are talking a consistent stay in the AP Top 25.

 
Tin Cup said:
Quiet thread lately.

Team looked much better yesterday.  McSorley actually running the ball regularly seemed to open things up for Barkley who took care of the rest.

Not sure if yesterday says more about us or Maryland.  Either way, it felt nice to be on the right side of a blowout for a change.

A week to rest and plan before the Buckeyes come to town.  This will be the 6th time in the first seven games the team is facing an undefeated opponent.  We gave them a pretty good run when they were in Happy Valley back in 2014.

Go Lions!
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I took the family to Kinzua to do the bridge/fall leaf thingy before they all fell off up there in McKean County. As a result, I missed the game. 

Family time >> everything else.

 
Had to work the past two Saturdays while we switched over to a brand new IT system.  Haven't been able to watch the games, but have been able to catch updates online.  Everything that I've read and heard this week seems to point to their best all-round game of the season.

Ohio State will be telling.  Franklin seems to do fine against lesser opponents, but can't coach up to big games (Pitt, Michigan this year).  No one expects Penn State to win against OSU, but with two weeks to prepare, let's see if Franklin and staff can at least keep it respectable. 

 
ClownCausedChaos2 said:
Had to work the past two Saturdays while we switched over to a brand new IT system.  Haven't been able to watch the games, but have been able to catch updates online.  Everything that I've read and heard this week seems to point to their best all-round game of the season.

Ohio State will be telling.  Franklin seems to do fine against lesser opponents, but can't coach up to big games (Pitt, Michigan this year).  No one expects Penn State to win against OSU, but with two weeks to prepare, let's see if Franklin and staff can at least keep it respectable. 
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They almost beat them two years ago.  You never know.

 
joffer said:
Yes. They have a heisman quality RB, an elite WR corps and a QB that would maybe start on one other Big 10 team
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Hey joffer...Just curious how you feel about McSorley now after a few more games.  I'm not asking tongue-in-cheek after a big win.  I'm genuinely curious as to whether or not he's growing on the skeptics.  

And I'm still glowing this morning.

 
Haven't woken up on a Sunday morning after a PSU game feeling this good about the program in a decade. What a win. 

The Defense played inspired football especially at the end getting pressure with 4. 

 
Penn State played well the whole game. If the play calling was not so horrible in the first quarter, PSU would probably have been leading the entire game. 

 
ClownCausedChaos2 said:
Hey joffer...Just curious how you feel about McSorley now after a few more games.  I'm not asking tongue-in-cheek after a big win.  I'm genuinely curious as to whether or not he's growing on the skeptics.  

And I'm still glowing this morning.
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He has definitely surprised me

what a great win

 
Let's have a little fun with this...

Let's say Michigan gets knocked off between now and the Ohio State game, then lose to Ohio State.  Let's also say that Penn State wins out.

 That would give Michigan two losses in the Big Ten.  Penn State and Ohio State would each have one.  Ohio State would have the better overall record, but Penn State would own the head-to-head match-up.  Does anyone know what the first tiebreaker is in the Big Ten divisions?  Could PSU conceivably win the division?

Honestly, I don't see anyone in the Big Yen challenging Michigan, so I think this is pretty far-fetched.  But hey, look at what happened last night.

ETA:  I just looked it up.  The first tie-breaker is the head-to-head.  In the above scenario, PSU would win the division.

 
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First road win in a while.  This team is rapidly gaining both experience and confidence.

First time scoring 60+ since 2008.

First time scoring 60+ against a Big Ten opponent since 2005.

Those 2005 & 2008 teams both went on to win the conference.

Just sayin'...

 
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