Does spring practice answer our biggest questions…

[creamery]

The biggest question marks for PSU this fall - And if not, then what?

-the Receiver room - does spring practice show JF if he has what he needs in that room? If not, what’s Plan B? This was a problem last year when Dante Cephus was believed to be the portal answer…
-Oline - some great young prospects but was the addition of Nolan Rucci enough? What will be plan B if not?
-Corner - will our portal adds plus backups we saw in the Peach bowl be enough for Tom Allen’s defense to be successful?

**I just don’t want to see another Ta’quan Roberson situation from 2021 - if we need additions, now is the time…

 

[JWB389]

Honestly, my biggest concern that nobody seems to mention is at QB. I get the WR issues, but was some of that on Drew?

 

[bvillebaron]

Honestly, my biggest concern that nobody seems to mention is at QB. I get the WR issues, but was some of that on Drew?

Always room for improvement and I realize he did not play well against OSU and Michigan (who did?). However, as a first year starter he had a 25-2 TD-INT ratio. I think he was hamstrung by poor WR play and lousy play calling by MY but time will tell.

 

[blair10]

The entire 2024 season hinges on the WR play. Last season was a disaster worsened by a very bad WR portal evaluation by the staff related to Cephas who was a bust.

There is still a possibility of outside help via the spring portal.

I seriously doubt all the current 15 WRs on the roster will be on the team in September 2024.

 

[blair10]

The biggest question marks for PSU this fall - And if not, then what?

-the Receiver room - does spring practice show JF if he has what he needs in that room? If not, what’s Plan B? This was a problem last year when Dante Cephus was believed to be the portal answer…
-Oline - some great young prospects but was the addition of Nolan Rucci enough? What will be plan B if not?
-Corner - will our portal adds plus backups we saw in the Peach bowl be enough for Tom Allen’s defense to be successful?

**I just don’t want to see another Ta’quan Roberson situation from 2021 - if we need additions, now is the time…

I just pray there will be some legitimate competition at the LT position. I don’t believe Shelton is a very good option at LT especially given his poor performance against Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl. A team not known for their defensive prowess.

 

[Obliviax]

The biggest question marks for PSU this fall - And if not, then what?

-the Receiver room - does spring practice show JF if he has what he needs in that room? If not, what’s Plan B? This was a problem last year when Dante Cephus was believed to be the portal answer…
-Oline - some great young prospects but was the addition of Nolan Rucci enough? What will be plan B if not?
-Corner - will our portal adds plus backups we saw in the Peach bowl be enough for Tom Allen’s defense to be successful?

**I just don’t want to see another Ta’quan Roberson situation from 2021 - if we need additions, now is the time…

No. Not at all.

 

[EPC FAN]

Honestly, my biggest concern that nobody seems to mention is at QB. I get the WR issues, but was some of that on Drew?

He was a first fargin’ year starter. How will he ever get better? 🙄

 

[creamery]

just curious —- Have we ever added an impact player via the portal AFTER spring practice?

 

[GregInPitt]

I just pray there will be some legitimate competition at the LT position. I don’t believe Shelton is a very good option at LT especially given his poor performance against Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl. A team not known for their defensive prowess.

The DE that was blowing by Shelton in the Ole Miss game was a legit big time player. I'm hoping that Rucci competes with Shelton and wins the LT starting job. Or maybe Donkah moves over to LT as the PSU QB's need a legit LT to protect their blind side..... Besides the WR competition LT seems to be the most interesting battle within Spring practice.

 

[lazydave841]

The spring game would be a fun time to let an FCS school scrimmage an FBS school. This is when we should play Delaware. Trot your definite starters out for a series or 2 then begin your subbing. Running clock. QBs with red jerseys. Donate a portion of the gate to charity or the chips and dip fund. Whatever.

Realistically speaking, the game could say a lot without us realizing. Last year, Allar was sub 50% accurate and under heavy pressure. Sounds like what we saw in our toughest games, no?

 

[ryoder1]

Honestly, my biggest concern that nobody seems to mention is at QB. I get the WR issues, but was some of that on Drew?

How Allar develops under Kotelnicki will be a key to our success. I agree the WRs, O -Line and CBs are important but QB is the most important position. Hopefully he takes the next step this season. We need him to be excellent especially in our games versus the better teams.

 

[The Spin Meister]

How Allar develops under Kotelnicki will be a key to our success. I agree the WRs, O -Line and CBs are important but QB is the most important position. Hopefully he takes the next step this season. We need him to be excellent especially in our games versus the better teams.

Yep, the new OC and how he blends his system with our talent is the key. Seeing how the kids learn and respond vs how the OC responds will tell the tale.

But a couple weeks of spring practice is just the first step. True adaptions will take all summer after he sees what he has.

We won’t know the answers until a noisy night in Morgantown!

 

[bvillebaron]

The spring game would be a fun time to let an FCS school scrimmage an FBS school. This is when we should play Delaware. Trot your definite starters out for a series or 2 then begin your subbing. Running clock. QBs with red jerseys. Donate a portion of the gate to charity or the chips and dip fund. Whatever.

Realistically speaking, the game could say a lot without us realizing. Last year, Allar was sub 50% accurate and under heavy pressure. Sounds like what we saw in our toughest games, no?

Confused by your post. Allar completed 59.9 % of his passes over the whole season.

 

[lazydave841]

Confused by your post. Allar completed 59.9 % of his passes over the whole season.

Our defense was top 3. Allar was sub 50% vs them in the spring game.

Allar had sub 50% vs Michigan and OSU, the other top 3 defenses.

 

[ryoder1]

Our defense was top 3. Allar was sub 50% vs them in the spring game.

Allar had sub 50% vs Michigan and OSU, the other top 3 defenses.

Yep and if that does not improve then no playoff for us.

 

[RickinDayton]

Confused by your post. Allar completed 59.9 % of his passes over the whole season.

He struggled mightily in the big games. His stats are misleading. He has to be better this year in big games for this team to reach the 12 team playoff.

 

[blair10]

He struggled mightily in the big games. His stats are misleading. He has to be better this year in big games for this team to reach the 12 team playoff.

In fairness to Allar, the guy is surrounded by the worst positional WR talent in the Franklin era. His struggles were directly related to the fact that Penn State does not have a single true #1 WR who is reliable, consistent, and dangerous to opposing defenses.

Until the staff upgrades the WR talent level, the offense will continue to see stacked boxed defenses with man coverage. The Penn State WRs are simply not respected by opposing defenses. There are too many project and possession type WRs who are pedestrian at best.

 

[ryoder1]

In fairness to Allar, the guy is surrounded by the worst positional WR talent in the Franklin era. His struggles were directly related to the fact that Penn State does not have a single true #1 WR who is reliable, consistent, and dangerous to opposing defenses.

Until the staff upgrades the WR talent level, the offense will continue to see stacked boxed defenses with man coverage. The Penn State WRs are simply not respected by opposing defenses. There are too many project and possession type WRs who are pedestrian at best.

WRs were not good. But that does not completely excuse him of the poor play in the big games last year. We got him as an elite 5 star talent who can overcome some of the deficiencies around him and make others better. He showed no ability to do that when faced with good competition.

 

[ryoder1]

I think he was being over-managed. He was fearless in the WVU game (granted not a great D). But the coaches seemed fixed on him taking the checkdowns, not throwing deep or over the middle. Then I think it got into his head. I blame this on both the old OC and Franklin. As Drew became a checkdown guy and good teams started to crowd the LOS, the receivers (who were not that good anyway) lost confidence and patience. All of this compounded the problem.

This is why the new OC and a new potential WR1 are critical. It's a new start. Hopefully they open it up and play to win instead of never throwing an INT ever. He was being held back IMO. I want to see what he can do if they let him be a 5-star QB.

I agree the coaching was poor and Franklin needs to take accountability for that. After all he was Yurcich's boss. This could be just all/mostly mental as in lack of confidence in himself due to poor coaching and feeling the coaches didn't have confidence in him. Also, not having good chemistry with the WRs. I bet Yurcich was a lousy collaborator/leader on the staff so my sense is he did not work well with the WR coach and that cascaded down to the QB and WRs being disjointed all season. That doesn't explain all of the reason for the terrible WR performance but it had to be a part of it

Hopefully with Kotelnicki he can just relax and not play so scared and stiff. He has a lot of pressure on him so that is tough but he needs to just go out there and perform like an elite QB.

 

[bvillebaron]

He struggled mightily in the big games. His stats are misleading. He has to be better this year in big games for this team to reach the 12 team playoff.

The initial post said he was sub 50% which is false. Which opposing QB played great against OSU and Michigan? He also was a first year starter with a 25-2 TD-INT ratio playing with one of the poorest WR groups I can recall and some lousy play calling which ultimately got the OC rightfully fired. Allar certainly has lots of room for improvement but lots of other players have to play better, especially on offense, for the team to make the playoffs this year.

 

[lazydave841]

Realistically speaking, the (spring) game could say a lot without us realizing. Last year, Allar was sub 50% accurate (in the spring game) and under heavy pressure. Sounds like what we saw in our toughest games (vs Michigan and OSU) , no?

The initial post said he was sub 50% which is false.

I may not have been clear enough in my initial post for someone who is overly sensitive to Allar criticism. If you look above, I quoted my INITIAL post and edited it (in bold) to clear up any confusion. I could be wrong about Allar being sub 50% in the spring game, but you never provided #s to refute me and I didn't look it up either.

 

[blair10]

Allar completed 63% of his passes in the 2023 Blue White game.

Blue Tops White, 10-0, In Annual Spring Game - Penn State Athletics

On a rainy Saturday afternoon in Happy Valley, the Penn State football team took to the field in Beaver Stadium for its annual Blue-White Game. The Blue team took

gopsusports.com

 

[ryoder1]

Allar vs Ohio State 18-42, 191 yards vs Michigan 10-23, 70 yards

Total: 28-65, 261 yards

Some improvement needed against the good teams on our schedule in 2024.

 

[olelion]

for the first time since 1966, I can honestly say I don't give a $hit

 

[#1PSU]

Always room for improvement and I realize he did not play well against OSU and Michigan (who did?). However, as a first year starter he had a 25-2 TD-INT ratio. I think he was hamstrung by poor WR play and lousy play calling by MY but time will tell.

still never threw downfield

 

[voltz99]

for the first time since 1966, I can honestly say I don't give a $hit?

Were you the kid who told people he was never going to talk to them again

 

[olelion]

Were you the kid who told people he was never going to talk to them again

no, I'm not. The game has now passed me by. The expansion to 12 teams is just the beginning. More expansion will come rendering most games during the season irrelevant. Winter Madness is on its way complete with participation trophies. Enjoy

 

[ryoder1]

no, I'm not. The game has now passed me by. The expansion to 12 teams is just the beginning. More expansion will come rendering most games during the season irrelevant. Winter Madness is on its way complete with participation trophies. Enjoy

A 12 team playoff does not make the regular season games irrelevant. Yes, a little more margin of error as in one more loss but it's not like 6-6 gets you into the playoff.

 

[olelion]

A 12 team playoff does not make the regular season games irrelevant. Yes, a little more margin of error as in one more loss but it's not like 6-6 gets you into the playoff.

It's not going to be twelve teams for long, its going to grow

 

[The Spin Meister]

It's not going to be twelve teams for long, its going to grow

Hope not. Twelve is too many. Should have been eignt.

 

[GregInPitt]

Hope not. Twelve is too many. Should have been eignt.

Eight or sixteen. Football is too physical and injuries too impactful to give any team a bye. The best teams already have an advantage of being able to rest their best players during the season and still win. JMO