Couple thoughts

[LaJolla Lion]

• How about Nick Eury's TD run....so awesome to see.
• PSU has 4 really good RB's, really good.
• D was as advertised
• Brandon Smith in his first game as a true frosh...wow...wow...wow.
• Clifford's emotions while on the sideline was the most impressive thing to me...guy is a leader.
• Special teams are back...Hipp needs to do better, but kicking and punting....all good there.
• PSU has 4 really good RB's....really good.
• Clifford when throwing with touch looked good. Early on fired balls over peoples heads.
• Levis is TS part 2.....tough big runner.
• This team is pretty good, but they are also super young....great recruiting is starting to pay off.
• CJ Thorpe's reaction to B Smith's was an instant classic.
• Good job overall...Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo

 

[LemonEars]

More thoughts:

• Lamont Wade was brimming with confidence and was all over the place. He seemed like a different player from past years. Very encouraging.
  
• Joey Porter Junior played a lot. This was a surprise to me. He watched him in high school and I thought he was a good athlete but would be a "project" and be redshirted.
  
• Stout is a weapon. Not having to ever face a kickoff return is huge.
  
• The jury is still out on the OL. This team will go as far as the OL takes them.
• We have a very tough 7 game season. It starts with the Iowa game. Our first 5 games are against cupcakes and can be used as tuneups. The schedule is shaping up very well for a young team. The players can get experience and the coaches can try out new schemes without worrying about losing the game.

 

[PSULionsDub]

• How about Nick Eury's TD run....so awesome to see.
• PSU has 4 really good RB's, really good.
• D was as advertised
• Brandon Smith in his first game as a true frosh...wow...wow...wow.
• Clifford's emotions while on the sideline was the most impressive thing to me...guy is a leader.
• Special teams are back...Hipp needs to do better, but kicking and punting....all good there.
• PSU has 4 really good RB's....really good.
• Clifford when throwing with touch looked good. Early on fired balls over peoples heads.
• Levis is TS part 2.....tough big runner.
• This team is pretty good, but they are also super young....great recruiting is starting to pay off.
• CJ Thorpe's reaction to B Smith's was an instant classic.
• Good job overall...Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo

I agree with you on most of your points except for how well Clifford played. I thought he had a so-so game, and he kind of alluded to that during his post game interview. Some of his throws will get eaten up by opposing defenses, and I also saw him look to the ground on multiple attempted scrambles which is a huge No No. I love the running back committee, which should help us to tire out opposing defensive lines, and it will help our offensive line and play calling.

 

[83wuzme]

It’s hard to know where we are from a game like this. I can’t overemphasize that Idaho is truly awful. Maybe this sort of opponent helps a young team like ours with the basics of getting lined up, subbing, managing the clock and making calls. They get a little confidence, but they don’t necessarily get better from it.

 

[LaJolla Lion]

I agree with you on most of your points except for how well Clifford played. I thought he had a so-so game, and he kind of alluded to that during his post game interview. Some of his throws will get eaten up by opposing defenses, and I also saw him look to the ground on multiple attempted scrambles which is a huge No No. The love the running back committee, which should help us to tire out opposing defensive lines, and it will help our offensive line and play calling.

It was his first start. Trace struggled through 4 games. M Rob was a TURNOVER machine through 4 games. He was throwing high fast balls early on and that was clearly nerves....he'll be ok.

 

[manofsteel200]

This was the perfect tune up for a young team. Everyone gets game action. The offense saw a ton of reps which helps iron out issues. Clifford struggled early on but got better as the game went on. OL did not hold their blocks at the beginning of the game but improved after the first two possessions.

Shorter might be my unsung hero today.

The Bogeyman looks under his bed at night to make sure Nick Eury isn’t under there.

 

[manofsteel200]

And your second and third teams are on the field for important game experience.

 

[PS4814]

Will be interesting to see if we roll with a true 4 headed rbbc approach throughout the entire season or if once we start playing teams with a pulse Franklin goes to more of a 60-30-10 percent approach to carry distribution.

 

[LMTLION]

Compare this season opener to last year and it is night and day. The OL is not remotely as concerning as many are saying. The only concern I had was that Clifford did not show himself to decisively have a better arm than Trace but maybe that develops throughout the season.

 

[BriarwoodBash]

More thoughts:

• Lamont Wade was brimming with confidence and was all over the place. He seemed like a different player from past years. Very encouraging.
  
• Joey Porter Junior played a lot. This was a surprise to me. He watched him in high school and I thought he was a good athlete but would be a "project" and be redshirted.
  
• Stout is a weapon. Not having to ever face a kickoff return is huge.
  
• The jury is still out on the OL. This team will go as far as the OL takes them.
• We have a very tough 7 game season. It starts with the Iowa game. Our first 5 games are against cupcakes and can be used as tuneups.

Two things to add from Section WB:
D-line depth is like running back; going to paycdid idends in tough games. Speed at de is a plus. There was A third and long right in front of us with a 3man fromt, Matos in the middle, and Oweh and Toney at end. I said to my buddy watch this, this is not fair... BOOM, SACK in about a second! Vandals knew not what hit them.
Second, I have not had the feeling about freshman linebacker like Brandon Smith since we saw Poz go sideline to sideline in his first year to catch s running back. This kid is special.

 

[royboy]

Two things to add from Section WB:
D-line depth is like running back; going to paycdid idends in tough games. Speed at de is a plus. There was A third and long right in front of us with a 3man fromt, Matos in the middle, and Oweh and Toney at end. I said to my buddy watch this, this is not fair... BOOM, SACK in about a second! Vandals knew not what hit them.
Second, I have not had the feeling about freshman linebacker like Brandon Smith since we saw Poz go sideline to sideline in his first year to catch s running back. This kid is special.

Yeah, it's going to be hard to keep Brandon Smith off the field. He looks to be further along than Micah was early last season, probably due to LB being his high school position. Not only is Smith's length and speed impressive, but he seems to make quick reads and reactions.

Parsons, Smith, and Cam Brown are an amazing combo of length and speed.

 

[slykens]

From ND it appeared a few times that Hamler could have been open nearly the entire game. He easily slipped behind the Idaho defenders. Won’t be as easy in the meat of the schedule but was nice to see yesterday.

 

[psuro]

Watching the game on TV I have one comment-why was the BTN cameraman focusing on the kicking team running down the field and not the flight of the ball? It was disconcerting

Stop making me disconcerted!

 

[SR108]

Yeah, it's going to be hard to keep Brandon Smith off the field. He looks to be further along than Micah was early last season, probably due to LB being his high school position. Not only is Smith's length and speed impressive, but he seems to make quick reads and reactions.

Parsons, Smith, and Cam Brown are an amazing combo of length and speed.

Smith is a LB playing LB. Parsons was a DE playing LB last year.

 

[SR108]

It’s hard to know where we are from a game like this. I can’t overemphasize that Idaho is truly awful. Maybe this sort of opponent helps a young team like ours with the basics of getting lined up, subbing, managing the clock and making calls. They get a little confidence, but they don’t necessarily get better from it.

Idaho is not a good team, however, we played like we should have played vs a team like that. The games get progressively harder. Let’s see if we can get progressively better.

 

[a3psu]

Yeah, it's going to be hard to keep Brandon Smith off the field. He looks to be further along than Micah was early last season, probably due to LB being his high school position. Not only is Smith's length and speed impressive, but he seems to make quick reads and reactions.

Parsons, Smith, and Cam Brown are an amazing combo of length and speed.

Roy, I didn't see much of Parsons after the big 4th down stop he made in the 1st quarter. Was he dinged up or did Franklin just want to see more of the younger LBs early on?

 

[grinagrin]

Roy, I didn't see much of Parsons after the big 4th down stop he made in the 1st quarter. Was he dinged up or did Franklin just want to see more of the younger LBs early on?

And notice Parsons didn’t look happy after the game. Hopefully he’s not mad at his playing time...

 

[BoulderFish]

Second, I have not had the feeling about freshman linebacker like Brandon Smith since we saw Poz go sideline to sideline in his first year to catch s running back. This kid is special.

Yeah, it's going to be hard to keep Brandon Smith off the field. He looks to be further along than Micah was early last season, probably due to LB being his high school position. Not only is Smith's length and speed impressive, but he seems to make quick reads and reactions.

Parsons, Smith, and Cam Brown are an amazing combo of length and speed.

Yeah Brandon Smith. Wow.

 

[Judge Smails]

Stout only ran to the 20 on one of his kickoffs and slapped hands with the cover team. Franklin came running down the sidelines and made him go run to the goal line as they must do every kickoff.

On Idaho’s only touchdown “drive”, Isaac I think missed his coverage on the back coming out of the backfield. Franklin, Pry, Chaos all had conversations with him about it

Lots of mixing and matching on the offensive line. Miranda got lots of snaps at center. Menet had to go back in in the 2nd half when Miranda came out with a bloody nose. Wallace was in at RT in the fourth.

Evident that Clifford and Levis are close. Were deep in conversation after every series. Clifford warmed him up at the end of the half, looked like they were having fun with Clifford running mini routes and mock complaining about ball placement.

There were some moments of confusion with personnel on punt return teams. Luketa ran off late and should have been flagged if he was the 12th man. Lots of discussions about that. Have to tighten that up going forward.

Sad to see Hipp go to the bench and bury his head in his hands after his second fumble. There was a stream of players by to encourage him.

The rush package of Oweh and Toney on the ends with YGM lined up over the center, with Micah prowling behind them figuring out where he’s going to blitz from is going to be a problem. RIP quarterbacks.

Keaton Ellis looks like a vet already. He is going to be a star! Joey Porter Jr looks 6-3. Played a ton. Was on the look out for his Dad in the players family section but I never saw him. Is he coaching somewhere?

Franklin came running down and told the ref the ball never crossed the LOS on the grounding. Then the ref ran out and they changed the call. Never saw it changed that late.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

 

[Cosmos]

The rush package of Oweh and Toney on the ends with YGM lined up over the center, with Micah prowling behind them figuring out where he’s going to blitz from is going to be a problem. RIP quarterbacks.

^^ this! ^^

 

[danvillenit]

Happy for Wade. He was on the postgame show and you could tell he was really happy to finally be a major contributor

 

[NittanyChris]

What's going to be interesting is to see how the vast number of young, uber talented studs push for more prominent roles and what veteran players begin to lose time as a result. I cannot fathom how Brandon Smith can be kept off the field this year. He's a game changer.

 

[LaJolla Lion]

What's going to be interesting is to see how the vast number of young, uber talented studs push for more prominent roles and what veteran players begin to lose time as a result. I cannot fathom how Brandon Smith can be kept off the field this year. He's a game changer.

LB’s like him and Micah shouldn’t be that big and that fast. Luketa looks good too. #LBU IS BACK!

 

[81b&w]

Happy for Wade. He was on the postgame show and you could tell he was really happy to finally be a major contributor

I was never a big fan of Wade but he looked like a completely different player, like he finally bought in

 

[The Shelter]

PSU has 4 really good RB's, really good.

Make that 5!

 

[JoeDidntKnow]

This team is running the table. So much talent and coaching on display. 79 points!!! When was the last time we saw that?

 

[Locolion]

More thoughts:

• Lamont Wade was brimming with confidence and was all over the place. He seemed like a different player from past years. Very encouraging.
  
• Joey Porter Junior played a lot. This was a surprise to me. He watched him in high school and I thought he was a good athlete but would be a "project" and be redshirted.
  
• Stout is a weapon. Not having to ever face a kickoff return is huge.
  
• The jury is still out on the OL. This team will go as far as the OL takes them.
• We have a very tough 7 game season. It starts with the Iowa game. Our first 5 games are against cupcakes and can be used as tuneups. The schedule is shaping up very well for a young team. The players can get experience and the coaches can try out new schemes without worrying about losing the game.

Like you, really happy with how Lamont Wade looked. Brisker was a great pickup too
Kicker Stoudt = home run.
RB’s stellar across the board.
KJ and YGM - the usual standard of fantastic. Agreed that college football all comes down to O Line play. TBD.

Hard to tell too much as Idaho is Idaho. Great potatoes, bad football.

 

[LaJolla Lion]

This team is running the table. So much talent and coaching on display. 79 points!!! When was the last time we saw that?

Don’t know about that, but the scary part is how young they are. They will get better.

 

[RickinDayton]

• How about Nick Eury's TD run....so awesome to see.
• PSU has 4 really good RB's, really good.
• D was as advertised
• Brandon Smith in his first game as a true frosh...wow...wow...wow.
• Clifford's emotions while on the sideline was the most impressive thing to me...guy is a leader.
• Special teams are back...Hipp needs to do better, but kicking and punting....all good there.
• PSU has 4 really good RB's....really good.
• Clifford when throwing with touch looked good. Early on fired balls over peoples heads.
• Levis is TS part 2.....tough big runner.
• This team is pretty good, but they are also super young....great recruiting is starting to pay off.
• CJ Thorpe's reaction to B Smith's was an instant classic.
• Good job overall...Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo

Like those. Concerned about Levi's taking on defenders. Doesn"t need to do that and if he keeps it up against the B1G teams he has a good chance if being lit up. We can't afford that.
Question: We have 4 good running backs but do we have a 'banger back' who will get the tough 1-3 yards needed on a third & short or on a 4th down?

Defense is stout and deep. No other comments necessary.

Offense:
--Work in progress from OL standpoint.
--Waiting to see how Shorter does on longer patterns
--Westin Carr (the grad transfer WR) I believe will contribute more as season progresses. He looks like a smooth route runner and catches well with his hands.
Good to see Des Holmes get extensive PT and Walker used @ both OT positions.

1st serious test for this team will be @ Maryland for that Friday evening game.

Excited about this young team.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

I'll add even though he really only had the one catch, B. Strange made a tough one handed grab look easy. Really hope Freiermuth is OK though - he's an awesome weapon to have.

 

[olelion]

Compare this season opener to last year and it is night and day. The OL is not remotely as concerning as many are saying. The only concern I had was that Clifford did not show himself to decisively have a better arm than Trace but maybe that develops throughout the season.

I've been as critical as anyone throughout the years about the O-line. but yesterday, where they great? No. Hell, maybe not even good but compared to recent openers they did seem to be working together for the most part, and engaging blocks, and staying with them much more than recent openers. I'm encouraged

 

[Judge Smails]

Like those. Concerned about Levi's taking on defenders. Doesn"t need to do that and if he keeps it up against the B1G teams he has a good chance if being lit up. We can't afford that.
Question: We have 4 good running backs but do we have a 'banger back' who will get the tough 1-3 yards needed on a third & short or on a 4th down?

Defense is stout and deep. No other comments necessary.

Offense:
--Work in progress from OL standpoint.
--Waiting to see how Shorter does on longer patterns
--Westin Carr (the grad transfer WR) I believe will contribute more as season progresses. He looks like a smooth route runner and catches well with his hands.
Good to see Des Holmes get extensive PT and Walker used @ both OT positions.

1st serious test for this team will be @ Maryland for that Friday evening game.

Excited about this young team.

Franklin yelled in at Levis after one of his runs. Something along the lines of “Get down! You aren’t a fullback!”

 

[bkmtnittany1]

More thoughts:

• Lamont Wade was brimming with confidence and was all over the place. He seemed like a different player from past years. Very encouraging.
  
• Joey Porter Junior played a lot. This was a surprise to me. He watched him in high school and I thought he was a good athlete but would be a "project" and be redshirted.
  
• Stout is a weapon. Not having to ever face a kickoff return is huge.
  
• The jury is still out on the OL. This team will go as far as the OL takes them.
• We have a very tough 7 game season. It starts with the Iowa game. Our first 5 games are against cupcakes and can be used as tuneups. The schedule is shaping up very well for a young team. The players can get experience and the coaches can try out new schemes without worrying about losing the game.

Pitt will not be a tune up. They have talent but IMO are very poorly coached.

 

[rohrmd9]

• Special teams are back...Hipp needs to do better, but kicking and punting....all good there.

Kicking yes, punting...eh. I left with about 5 minutes to go and we had only punted one time and it was a 32 yarder that was either partially blocked or damn near blocked. Granted only one data point but not a very good one.

 

[BriarwoodBash]

I was never a big fan of Wade but he looked like a completely different player, like he finally bought in

Just got home from Bellefonte and SIAP but Wade running down their WR after a complete pass showing his speed was impressive.

 

[bdgan]

• How about Nick Eury's TD run....so awesome to see.
• PSU has 4 really good RB's, really good.
• D was as advertised
• Brandon Smith in his first game as a true frosh...wow...wow...wow.
• Clifford's emotions while on the sideline was the most impressive thing to me...guy is a leader.
• Special teams are back...Hipp needs to do better, but kicking and punting....all good there.
• PSU has 4 really good RB's....really good.
• Clifford when throwing with touch looked good. Early on fired balls over peoples heads.
• Levis is TS part 2.....tough big runner.
• This team is pretty good, but they are also super young....great recruiting is starting to pay off.
• CJ Thorpe's reaction to B Smith's was an instant classic.
• Good job overall...Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo

Eury's run was awesome. Will we ever see him again?

PSU definitely has some athletic RBs. My only concern is that they are all right around 200 lbs. I'd like to see one of them around 220lbs with a little more power.

Stout was great.

Idaho isn't a good team. Not a good measuring stick. UB is down vs. last year and Pitt lost to Virginia. Maryland might be the first real test.

 

[Judge Smails]

Just got home from Bellefonte and SIAP but Wade running down their WR after a complete pass showing his speed was impressive.

And leveled his ass when he got there.

 

[bdgan]

Question: We have 4 good running backs but do we have a 'banger back' who will get the tough 1-3 yards needed on a third & short or on a 4th down?

Work in progress from OL standpoint.

Waiting to see how Shorter does on longer patterns

Idaho isn't a good team. We didn't learn much yesterday.

Agree I would like to see a stronger RB.

The OL looked shaky early but Idaho's DTs faded. This group is probably the key to PSU's season.

I'm interested to see how Shorter and other young WRs do against more physical defenders. Will he/they be able create separation and catch the ball in traffic?

 

[djr4rebs]

What has to be realized is that we did to Idaho what really good teams are expected to do. Nobody played flawless yesterday in their opener. OSU started off with 4 great possessions then seemingly didn't do anything until midway through the 3rd. Michigan was losing in their game. Losing! Can you imagine the meltdown here if we were losing at any point yesterday?

Our WRs have hands. Our STs look greatly improved. Defense is fast. Offense has weapons. We are exactly where we thought we would be.