His points are valid, but for those who are romanticizing the Moorhead era please keep in mind:
1) His team averaged 36 PPG. Current team averages 35 PPG
2) He had Saquon Barkley (no offense to our current RBs who I love but they are not Saquon)
3) In 2016, they only scored 10 points against Michigan and 14 points against OSU (other TD coming on special teams).
I'm not sure he's the answer.
I agree with your overall sentiment. I don’t know if JoMo is the answer. Second acts often don’t work in football, and I believe there could very well be somebody younger who can do a better job.
However, I’m going to disagree with some of your points.
1) Your averages are correct for JoMo’s 2016 team and this year’s team. But 2016 was Moorhead’s first year. This is Yurcich’s third year. JoMo’s 2017 PPG were a tad higher than 2016.
But averages are deceiving because they can be skewed. This year’s team dropped 63 on an FCS school (Delaware) and 63 on arguably the worst FBS program (UMASS). Moorhead didn’t face an FCS school or an FBS school as bad as UMASS. Add that to the B1G being abysmal top to bottom and it really skews this year’s numbers.
2) I see the argument being made that JoMo had Barkley as if that’s a strike against him. Yes, he had Barkley, who is better than either running back this year. Moorhead also had more talent at receiver.
The question should be “how did he use Barkley?” Moorhead schemed really well to get Barkley his touches. He was ultra creative in that way because he realized PSU’s OLine wouldn’t be able to line up and run at people.
Compare that to this year. Has PSU done anything creative to accentuate their strengths offensively? I can’t think of many.
There are many, and I’m not accusing you of being in this camp, who seem to think because PSU didn’t line up under center, with a fullback, and hand it to Barkley 25 times a game from the I formation that he was somehow misused. That wouldn’t have worked with that OLine. It also wouldn’t have properly utilized some of the other talent on the team.
All that being said, Barkley was a running back. Offenses run through the qb, and JoMo had McSorley, who has nowhere near the potential of Allar. Please don’t misunderstand, Trace McSorley is one of my favorite Penn Staters ever. He was a 3 star recruit that more than maximized his potential, but he was limited. The optimism for this year was in Allar’s potential, something PSU hasn’t had in a qb in a few years. That potential was nowhere near realized and why PSU is now looking for their 6th OC in 10 years.
3) Moorhead’s offense scored 17 on OSU in 2016. I’m not sure why you didn’t count the fg. If we aren’t counting field goals then the PPG in point 1 are off. And if we aren’t counting field goals then I don’t know why we would count extra points. I digress.
I’m not sure if you realize, but JoMo was the OC in 2017 as well. His offense scored 41 on Michigan and 31 on OSU that year. His average over two years (4 games) against OSU and Michigan was just about 25 and trending up.
Plenty of criticisms of JoMo’s offense. At points it seemed to score too quickly and didn’t manage the overall game well. The offense was often times, especially in 2016, MIA in the first half and required offensive explosions in the second half to win. PSU seemed to lack a short yardage package. Franklin and JoMo almost seemed stubborn and out to prove a point by not having one.
