Obli's Observations: The case of the missing "W"

[Obliviax]

• Lets face it, expectations for this team were way too high. We are starting LB's that wouldn't start for Illinois. We have two DT's and are playing a OG at DT. Out secondary is OK but certainly won't carry a team. We get zero pressure on the QB and can't blitz because our corners can't be counted on to defend a screen. We have to commit our S to stop the run. That is the defense. On offense, the OL is under achieving. We've abandoned the deep ball. Stevens has been a non-factor. JJ and the rest have been iffy in pass catching (at best). We have no senior leadership from any kid whose first name doesn't rhyme with Brace. We are starting a true Fr at TE and WR.
• Why were expectations so high for this team? There were those of us that predicted a 3 or 4 loss season and were told we were being too negative. Fact is, we over performed against tOSU and under performed against Sparty. Don't forget Appy St took us to OT. This isn't a good team, fellas.
• With all of that, we suffered death by a thousand cuts. Penalties, officiating, TO's, lack of TOs, dropped balls, an uncharacteristic off day for #9....all led to a last second loss when we were winning the entire game. And this was to a team that many expected to win the B1G East. So life isn't so bad.
• Players?
  • Trace seems to have lost confidence in JJ. And JJ is never going to be the kind of guy that gets open the way a Hamler or Thompson can. JJ isn't that fast, he's not going to separate. His skill is that he is HUGE for a WR. Gotta let him make plays when he is covered.
  • Where has the deep ball been all season? We've got guys that can go deep in Thompkins, JJ, Hamler and Polk. This has been a hallmark of our offense the last two years and it is simply missing this year.
  • OL has under achieved. I'll just leave that there. They haven't pass blocked very well at all. Trace has to leave the pocket a lot. As a result, Trace seems to not trust his stuff and think too much.
  • Speaking of Trace, I feel he is trying to carry this team and is trying to do too much. He isn't trusting anyone to catch the ball anymore. Its like he is afraid to fail.
  • DE's have not done much, perhaps because it is easy to DT them when 30 isn't in the game. Our LB'ers are just not good at blitzing and our CB's are not good at tacking. This makes us very susceptible to traditional and bubble screens. A problem with playing well coached teams early in the season is that they give blueprints to teams on how to beat you.
  • The one bright spot has been Sanders, at RB. Kid has been awesome. It appears we simply do not have a second string RB. This is where I think 2 could have been utilized better, if only to take some pressure off of Sanders.
  • The True Freshmen have pretty much disappeared.
• It appears the coaches decided to concentrate on the basics and didn't put anything in on the bye week. I always wonder about bye weeks. They do allow you to heal but the team always seems to play flat the following week.
• Back to the game, it was so frustrating as Sparty was ready to fold so many times. The fumble by Trace when we were driving to go up by 10 or 14 in Q1 might have killed Sparty. Then, we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot and letting them hang. Momentum is such a big issue in football, we just could sustain it. Way too many self inflicted wounds but it always seemed like Sparty was the beneficiary of a lucky bounce or call.
• With all of the problems of our defense, the offense was the real problem. Trace's worst game and no back up RB to spell Sanders really hurt us. And, we don't have that possession WR that we had last year to keep the ball. Then, Trace running OOB was simply inexcusable. We ran 11 seconds off the clock in our final possession. 11 seconds....and we allowed them to keep a TO. Why was that important? It allowed them to use the middle of the field in the final drive knowing they had a TO in their pocket if they didn't get a first down or go OOB.
• Why do we not get turnovers with this defense? INT's almost nonexistent but we don't seem to recover fumbles either.

In the end, we've seen the fourth quarter failures way too much. To me, it is part depth and part scheme. Our thin D is gasses at DT, DE and LB in the 4th quarter. It used to be sanctions, now it is injury and youth. The scheme doesn't have a way to maintain drives without throwing the ball. And when you throw and it is incomplete, it stops the clock. In addition, it is risky from a TO perspective.

This is a critical year for CJF. It is the first non-Barkley year. He is showing, with the Giants, how big of a loss he is. But we also lost a ton on D at S and LBer. I am fine with the defensive coaching, given what we have. But the O has been a mess. The OL isn't there, the WR's aren't improving and the coaches need to understand we need to have a large lead going into the 4th Qtr. Or, we need to add to the offensive scheme. I have to ask, would you rather be up by six or down by six going into the 4th quarter? I am honestly not sure. The task now is to win a game and feel good again. Indy is a critical game....and its on the road.

In the meantime, Michigan looked good but it is crazy that Wiscy didn't try to pass in the second half? Wiscy is a very beatable team. UM seems to be gaining momentum and their QB is improving game by game.

Bottomline? This team is what it is. We aren't really that good and the over expectations have hurt the team's attitude. Honestly, we lost a one-point game to one of the best teams in the nation. we then lost to a team many expected to contend. Had we lost both games by ten points, and played well, we'd probably feel differently. We need to reconsider that this is a 3 to 4 loss team. Next year, IMHO, will be a better year.

 

[danvillenit]

I think JJ has been a big problem for the offense. Every passing attack need a go to guy in the clutch and that was supposed to be JJ. I hate to say it but he appears soft to me. Doesn’t like to go over the middle and doesn’t fight for contested balls. Same with his blocking. This offense would look very different with ARob or Godwin

 

[fastlax16]

So you agree the team underperformed on saturday?

Next year is a first year starting QB, giving you an out now.

 

[Nitwit]

I think you’re overlooking Slade.

 

[Obliviax]

I think you’re overlooking Slade.

I believe he played a few plays to spell Sanders and had one carry.

 

[Get Nasty]

A huge play in the game that was effort MSU and not being aware PSU was the PSU pick in the 3rd quarter. The MSU olinemen hustled and dove and just caught the feet of Taylor. If taylor was more aware he had plenty of room to make sure he didn't get touched and then he runs in untouched for the TD to go up 21-7. I think that huge of a momentum would have carried PSU to the win.

Max effort and focus goes a long way.

 

[Obliviax]

So you agree the team underperformed on saturday?

Next year is a first year starting QB, giving you an out now.

I believe #2 will be a good QB and while there will be drop off, it won't be huge. I expect the OL, DL, LB and WR to be considerably better.

 

[Still in State College]

What I have seen are WR's not are not getting separation and a defense that tries to blitz relentlessly at the end of games. I know that fans don't like prevent at the end of games but percentage-wise it works. You can't keep giving up TD's in a minute.

 

[Obliviax]

A huge play in the game that was effort MSU and not being aware PSU was the PSU pick in the 3rd quarter. The MSU olinemen hustled and dove and just caught the feet of Taylor. If taylor was more aware he had plenty of room to make sure he didn't get touched and then he runs in untouched for the TD to go up 21-7. I think that huge of a momentum would have carried PSU to the win.

Max effort and focus goes a long way.

Agree. I felt like I saw a couple of guys lollygagging in the final desperation pass as well. Never give up, never.

 

[artsandletters]

I think you’re overlooking Slade.

The staff is overlooking Slade. Sanders has been great but I expected that Slade would play more of a role. And please don’t say that Andre R wouldn’t look good in the backfield now ( don’t care what he’s not doing at Del, just know what he did at PS).

 

[CDLionFL]

Expectations have nothing to do with yakking a 26-14 lead at home with 8 mins left and the inability to get just one GD first down at home with under 2 mins left. This thinking of ‘well, we shouldn’t think they’re that good’ is just dumb. They should be 6-0 and continuing to improve.

 

[bdgan]

• Lets face it, expectations for this team were way too high. We are starting LB's that wouldn't start for Illinois. We have two DT's and are playing a OG at DT. Out secondary is OK but certainly won't carry a team. We get zero pressure on the QB and can't blitz because our corners can't be counted on to defend a screen. We have to commit our S to stop the run. That is the defense. On offense, the OL is under achieving. We've abandoned the deep ball. Stevens has been a non-factor. JJ and the rest have been iffy in pass catching (at best). We have no senior leadership from any kid whose first name doesn't rhyme with Brace. We are starting a true Fr at TE and WR.
• Why were expectations so high for this team? There were those of us that predicted a 3 or 4 loss season and were told we were being too negative. Fact is, we over performed against tOSU and under performed against Sparty. Don't forget Appy St took us to OT. This isn't a good team, fellas.
• With all of that, we suffered death by a thousand cuts. Penalties, officiating, TO's, lack of TOs, dropped balls, an uncharacteristic off day for #9....all led to a last second loss when we were winning the entire game. And this was to a team that many expected to win the B1G East. So life isn't so bad.
• Players?
  • Trace seems to have lost confidence in JJ. And JJ is never going to be the kind of guy that gets open the way a Hamler or Thompson can. JJ isn't that fast, he's not going to separate. His skill is that he is HUGE for a WR. Gotta let him make plays when he is covered.
  • Where has the deep ball been all season? We've got guys that can go deep in Thompkins, JJ, Hamler and Polk. This has been a hallmark of our offense the last two years and it is simply missing this year.
  • OL has under achieved. I'll just leave that there. They haven't pass blocked very well at all. Trace has to leave the pocket a lot. As a result, Trace seems to not trust his stuff and think too much.
  • Speaking of Trace, I feel he is trying to carry this team and is trying to do too much. He isn't trusting anyone to catch the ball anymore. Its like he is afraid to fail.
  • DE's have not done much, perhaps because it is easy to DT them when 30 isn't in the game. Our LB'ers are just not good at blitzing and our CB's are not good at tacking. This makes us very susceptible to traditional and bubble screens. A problem with playing well coached teams early in the season is that they give blueprints to teams on how to beat you.
  • The one bright spot has been Sanders, at RB. Kid has been awesome. It appears we simply do not have a second string RB. This is where I think 2 could have been utilized better, if only to take some pressure off of Sanders.
  • The True Freshmen have pretty much disappeared.
• It appears the coaches decided to concentrate on the basics and didn't put anything in on the bye week. I always wonder about bye weeks. They do allow you to heal but the team always seems to play flat the following week.
• Back to the game, it was so frustrating as Sparty was ready to fold so many times. The fumble by Trace when we were driving to go up by 10 or 14 in Q1 might have killed Sparty. Then, we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot and letting them hang. Momentum is such a big issue in football, we just could sustain it. Way too many self inflicted wounds but it always seemed like Sparty was the beneficiary of a lucky bounce or call.
• With all of the problems of our defense, the offense was the real problem. Trace's worst game and no back up RB to spell Sanders really hurt us. And, we don't have that possession WR that we had last year to keep the ball. Then, Trace running OOB was simply inexcusable. We ran 11 seconds off the clock in our final possession. 11 seconds....and we allowed them to keep a TO. Why was that important? It allowed them to use the middle of the field in the final drive knowing they had a TO in their pocket if they didn't get a first down or go OOB.
• Why do we not get turnovers with this defense? INT's almost nonexistent but we don't seem to recover fumbles either.

In the end, we've seen the fourth quarter failures way too much. To me, it is part depth and part scheme. Our thin D is gasses at DT, DE and LB in the 4th quarter. It used to be sanctions, now it is injury and youth. The scheme doesn't have a way to maintain drives without throwing the ball. And when you throw and it is incomplete, it stops the clock. In addition, it is risky from a TO perspective.

This is a critical year for CJF. It is the first non-Barkley year. He is showing, with the Giants, how big of a loss he is. But we also lost a ton on D at S and LBer. I am fine with the defensive coaching, given what we have. But the O has been a mess. The OL isn't there, the WR's aren't improving and the coaches need to understand we need to have a large lead going into the 4th Qtr. Or, we need to add to the offensive scheme. I have to ask, would you rather be up by six or down by six going into the 4th quarter? I am honestly not sure. The task now is to win a game and feel good again. Indy is a critical game....and its on the road.

In the meantime, Michigan looked good but it is crazy that Wiscy didn't try to pass in the second half? Wiscy is a very beatable team. UM seems to be gaining momentum and their QB is improving game by game.

Bottomline? This team is what it is. We aren't really that good and the over expectations have hurt the team's attitude. Honestly, we lost a one-point game to one of the best teams in the nation. we then lost to a team many expected to contend. Had we lost both games by ten points, and played well, we'd probably feel differently. We need to reconsider that this is a 3 to 4 loss team. Next year, IMHO, will be a better year.

JJ doesn't just drop passes. He gets pushed around at the LOS. Very disappointing. We need a big target that can catch the ball in traffic.

Sanders looks good but had a critical fumble vs. OSU and another one vs. MSU that wasn't called.

I expected struggles at DT and LB. Poor recruiting in those areas cost us and that could continue next year. Who are the underclassmen that show promise? Matos but who else?

You didn't mention the play calling. The late losses aren't just a lack of depth. It's been happening since Franklin arrived (MD, ILL, NW). He sounds knowledgeable during interviews but IMO his shorts get tight on offense when trying to hold a lead. Last 5 losses by a total of 12 pts isn't bad luck. It's choking IMO. He seems to go by the book without having a feel for the momentum of the game.

It was sad to see MSU stop our offense without any adjustments. No screens, wildcat, reverses, etc. Just kept doing the same thing that wasn't working. Clearly outcoached the last 2 weeks.

 

[fastlax16]

Expectations have nothing to do with yakking a 26-14 lead at home with 8 mins left and the inability to get just one GD first down at home with under 2 mins left. This thinking of ‘well, we shouldn’t think they’re that good’ is just dumb. They should be 6-0 and continuing to improve.

Preach.

 

[Connorpozlee]

The lack of true freshman impact besides Freirmuth has been a surprise to me. Shorter has been injured, they seem to be afraid to give the ball to Slade, and Parsons doesn’t look like he has any idea what he’s doing out there. You never know what you’re going to get out of a true freshman, but I thought it would be more than we’ve seen so far.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

I can't agree that expectations were too high. Especially since we've given away the two games we lost this year. The difference between being undefeated and having two losses is literally one or two plays (make a tackle, make an INT that hits in you in the hands, don't cross the LOS when throwing, stay in bounds, etc.) per game. It's not hard to figure out. We have some personnel issues for sure, but we've been good enough to win every single one of our last five losses. And for the stuff that the players can't control (play calling and half-time adjustments), Franklin has to dig in there and make some 'corrections'. Not killing the clock when you have the chance, or being prepared for trick plays (we've been killed by onside kicks and this year, the HB pass and fake punt) is on Franklin. The offense, especially, has been a tremendous disappointment - especially in the second half.

Lots of other good points, but really, this team is there for the most part - just have to get it together.

 

[psuro]

I wish we were Nebraska.

 

[Obliviax]

What I have seen are WR's not are not getting separation and a defense that tries to blitz relentlessly at the end of games. I know that fans don't like prevent at the end of games but percentage-wise it works. You can't keep giving up TD's in a minute.

I feel, in the case of JJ, he will NEVER separate the way a typical WR will. Trace just has to trust that he can out physical at CB to the ball. Trace is great but he has holes in his game. One of his holes is that he is awful at throwing the fade pattern, which is where a JJ should excel (but he often can drop a dime on a 40 yard fly pattern, go figure).

 

[Nitwit97]

Expectations have nothing to do with yakking a 26-14 lead at home with 8 mins left and the inability to get just one GD first down at home with under 2 mins left. This thinking of ‘well, we shouldn’t think they’re that good’ is just dumb. They should be 6-0 and continuing to improve.

Thank you. I stated this in another thread. Expectations are one thing, but when you have the moment there to be taken and botch it time after time, that is where the frustration of the fan base lies.

I agree. Anyone who says we should not be undefeated is mistaken in logic. Doesn’t matter what the expectations were to start the season, the reaction you are seeing is based on blowing chances and coming up small in losing fourth quarter leads.

 

[Obliviax]

I can't agree that expectations were too high. Especially since we've given away the two games we lost this year. The difference between being undefeated and having two losses is literally one or two plays (make a tackle, make an INT that hits in you in the hands, don't cross the LOS when throwing, stay in bounds, etc.) per game. It's not hard to figure out. We have some personnel issues for sure, but we've been good enough to win every single one of our last five losses. And for the stuff that the players can't control (play calling and half-time adjustments), Franklin has to dig in there and make some 'corrections'. Not killing the clock when you have the chance, or being prepared for trick plays (we've been killed by onside kicks and this year, the HB pass and fake punt) is on Franklin. The offense, especially, has been a tremendous disappointment - especially in the second half.

Lots of other good points, but really, this team is there for the most part - just have to get it together.

Agree....but that is youth. Inexperience means a) ass tightens up in crunch time b) stupid penalties and c) other mistakes (missed assignments, turnovers, etc.). This does not mention the fact that kids are not as physically developed so fade in the Q4. This is where we cannot be so down on ourselves. With a much younger team, we outplayed tOSU and Sparty and shot ourselves in the foot. Future is still bright.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Agree....but that is youth. Inexperience means a) ass tightens up in crunch time b) stupid penalties and c) other mistakes (missed assignments, turnovers, etc.). This does not mention the fact that kids are not as physically developed so fade in the Q4. This is where we cannot be so down on ourselves. With a much younger team, we outplayed tOSU and Sparty and shot ourselves in the foot. Future is still bright.

Future is bright, but we're talking about now. Gotta quit playing for the 'future'.

 

[Obliviax]

Thank you. I stated this in another thread. Expectations are one thing, but when you have the moment there to be taken and botch it time after time, that is where the frustration of the fan base lies.

I agree. Anyone who says we should not be undefeated is mistaken in logic. Doesn’t matter what the expectations were to start the season, the reaction you are seeing is based on blowing chances and coming up small in losing fourth quarter leads.

Agree. but "expectations" cause one to be frustrated and lose sight of things. People are upset at CJF because of "expectations." If PSU played well but lost both games to physically superior teams, we wouldn't feel as bad. But we outplayed them and lost so people are upset. IMHO, we are ahead of schedule. Going into the year, I expected tOSU to throttle us and for us to not be able to stop Sparty's running game. What we need to fix is under our control. That is the good news.

 

[Obliviax]

Future is bright, but we're talking about now. Gotta quit playing for the 'future'.

Agree...my concern is the heat CJF is taking when, in my mind, we over performed against tOSU and shot ourselves in the foot versus Sparty. What needs to be fixed can be fixed. We are a very young team except at QB.

 

[royboy]

Need better performance at WR to be sure. Thinking back to 2016, that team had good experienced WRs in Godwin and Hamilton, with Gesicki making plays at TE. I like Hamlin a lot, and Friermuth is a good player who will get better, but we're way below the performance of the 2016 group overall.

Unless they're injured or just totally not ready, I'd like to see what Shorter and Dotson (and George, too, for that matter) can do.

Michigan State did a really good job defensively against Trace; 4-man rush for the most part, but they got consistent pressure on him, and the LBs were always looking for his run threat. Don't know if Trace didn't have time to look downfield, or there was nobody getting separation (maybe both?) but the Offense struggled. Who's left on the schedule that can defend like Sparty did? Well, certainly Michigan, and possibly others?

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Agree...my concern is the heat CJF is taking when, in my mind, we over performed against tOSU and shot ourselves in the foot versus Sparty. What needs to be fixed can be fixed. We are a very young team except at QB.

It's what he gets paid for. Anyone wanting him gone is insane, but he's ultimately responsible for the program. There is zero excuse for losing to a depleted MSU, at home, with two weeks to prepare. None.

 

[ram2020]

A huge play in the game that was effort MSU and not being aware PSU was the PSU pick in the 3rd quarter. The MSU olinemen hustled and dove and just caught the feet of Taylor. If taylor was more aware he had plenty of room to make sure he didn't get touched and then he runs in untouched for the TD to go up 21-7. I think that huge of a momentum would have carried PSU to the win.

Max effort and focus goes a long way.

He also got caught from behind in the OSU game after a pick and we did not socre on that drive when he was tackled at their 30. Which brings me to another point, the opponents 35-25 yard line is the WORST place of the field for this offense to be. It's no mans land from a play-calling standpoint. our offense tends to bog down at this point of the field, our Kicker is basically a non-option from there, and Franklin is constantly confused about whether to punt or go for it from there. I could not believe how man times, in both losses, we are at the opponents 35 and just total bungle play-calling and that situation as a whole. Our players seem to always slip before a first down in this territory too, think Miles twice against OSU. We had this great red-zone average, but we have had an impossible time getting into the red zone the last few weeks.

 

[Obliviax]

It's what he gets paid for. Anyone wanting him gone is insane, but he's ultimately responsible for the program. There is zero excuse for losing to a depleted MSU, at home, with two weeks to prepare. None.

Agree..but it is one game. We don't know what is going on internally. I am shocked that Thorpe is playing meaningful time....why? Also, what was up with Trace and the WR's? Gotta trust CJF, don't have a choice. He's bringing in the talent. We have two coordinators that are learning on the job as well.

 

[PSU10]

There were 100 little things that had they gone differently, Penn State would have won the game. It’s aggravating to think about so I’ll leave it there.

A couple things. One, do we have a halfback screen in our playbook? Sanders was our best player on Saturday and Michigan State is great at stopping the run. It became evident after about 2 quarters that we weren’t going to get much on the ground unless Miles made an outstanding individual play. Why not help him out and get him the ball in space?

I’ve seen about enough of Parsons at linebacker. It’s obvious he oozes athleticism and talent and would likely develop into a good linebacker. But a team that continuously loses games because they don’t have a pass rush can’t put the premier high school pass rusher in the nation at backup linebacker where he’s merely serviceable. They can’t make the switch midseason so I won’t harp on it the rest of the way, but Parsons needs to be an edge rusher next year.

Also, props to Garrett Taylor, that kid has turned into a pretty good safety. His pick and return should have been enough to put Sparty away except of course the offense immediately went 3 and out.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Agree..but it is one game. We don't know what is going on internally. I am shocked that Thorpe is playing meaningful time....why? Also, what was up with Trace and the WR's? Gotta trust CJF, don't have a choice. He's bringing in the talent. We have two coordinators that are learning on the job as well.

I trust CJF - but he deserves heat for our recent losses. We haven't beat anyone with a pulse at all this year (and probably should have lost to App. State). Bottom line is you're never going to have a 'perfect' team full of upperclassmen. OSU and Alabama don't adjust expectations based on personnel. I know we're not there yet and may never be, but we've been close enough to topple OSU twice and couldn't make one play when needed.

We'll see how the rest of the year goes - still lots to play for and of course, anything can happen.

 

[CF LION]

• Lets face it, expectations for this team were way too high. We are starting LB's that wouldn't start for Illinois. We have two DT's and are playing a OG at DT. Out secondary is OK but certainly won't carry a team. We get zero pressure on the QB and can't blitz because our corners can't be counted on to defend a screen. We have to commit our S to stop the run. That is the defense. On offense, the OL is under achieving. We've abandoned the deep ball. Stevens has been a non-factor. JJ and the rest have been iffy in pass catching (at best). We have no senior leadership from any kid whose first name doesn't rhyme with Brace. We are starting a true Fr at TE and WR.
• Why were expectations so high for this team? There were those of us that predicted a 3 or 4 loss season and were told we were being too negative. Fact is, we over performed against tOSU and under performed against Sparty. Don't forget Appy St took us to OT. This isn't a good team, fellas.
• With all of that, we suffered death by a thousand cuts. Penalties, officiating, TO's, lack of TOs, dropped balls, an uncharacteristic off day for #9....all led to a last second loss when we were winning the entire game. And this was to a team that many expected to win the B1G East. So life isn't so bad.
• Players?
  • Trace seems to have lost confidence in JJ. And JJ is never going to be the kind of guy that gets open the way a Hamler or Thompson can. JJ isn't that fast, he's not going to separate. His skill is that he is HUGE for a WR. Gotta let him make plays when he is covered.
  • Where has the deep ball been all season? We've got guys that can go deep in Thompkins, JJ, Hamler and Polk. This has been a hallmark of our offense the last two years and it is simply missing this year.
  • OL has under achieved. I'll just leave that there. They haven't pass blocked very well at all. Trace has to leave the pocket a lot. As a result, Trace seems to not trust his stuff and think too much.
  • Speaking of Trace, I feel he is trying to carry this team and is trying to do too much. He isn't trusting anyone to catch the ball anymore. Its like he is afraid to fail.
  • DE's have not done much, perhaps because it is easy to DT them when 30 isn't in the game. Our LB'ers are just not good at blitzing and our CB's are not good at tacking. This makes us very susceptible to traditional and bubble screens. A problem with playing well coached teams early in the season is that they give blueprints to teams on how to beat you.
  • The one bright spot has been Sanders, at RB. Kid has been awesome. It appears we simply do not have a second string RB. This is where I think 2 could have been utilized better, if only to take some pressure off of Sanders.
  • The True Freshmen have pretty much disappeared.
• It appears the coaches decided to concentrate on the basics and didn't put anything in on the bye week. I always wonder about bye weeks. They do allow you to heal but the team always seems to play flat the following week.
• Back to the game, it was so frustrating as Sparty was ready to fold so many times. The fumble by Trace when we were driving to go up by 10 or 14 in Q1 might have killed Sparty. Then, we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot and letting them hang. Momentum is such a big issue in football, we just could sustain it. Way too many self inflicted wounds but it always seemed like Sparty was the beneficiary of a lucky bounce or call.
• With all of the problems of our defense, the offense was the real problem. Trace's worst game and no back up RB to spell Sanders really hurt us. And, we don't have that possession WR that we had last year to keep the ball. Then, Trace running OOB was simply inexcusable. We ran 11 seconds off the clock in our final possession. 11 seconds....and we allowed them to keep a TO. Why was that important? It allowed them to use the middle of the field in the final drive knowing they had a TO in their pocket if they didn't get a first down or go OOB.
• Why do we not get turnovers with this defense? INT's almost nonexistent but we don't seem to recover fumbles either.

In the end, we've seen the fourth quarter failures way too much. To me, it is part depth and part scheme. Our thin D is gasses at DT, DE and LB in the 4th quarter. It used to be sanctions, now it is injury and youth. The scheme doesn't have a way to maintain drives without throwing the ball. And when you throw and it is incomplete, it stops the clock. In addition, it is risky from a TO perspective.

This is a critical year for CJF. It is the first non-Barkley year. He is showing, with the Giants, how big of a loss he is. But we also lost a ton on D at S and LBer. I am fine with the defensive coaching, given what we have. But the O has been a mess. The OL isn't there, the WR's aren't improving and the coaches need to understand we need to have a large lead going into the 4th Qtr. Or, we need to add to the offensive scheme. I have to ask, would you rather be up by six or down by six going into the 4th quarter? I am honestly not sure. The task now is to win a game and feel good again. Indy is a critical game....and its on the road.

In the meantime, Michigan looked good but it is crazy that Wiscy didn't try to pass in the second half? Wiscy is a very beatable team. UM seems to be gaining momentum and their QB is improving game by game.

Bottomline? This team is what it is. We aren't really that good and the over expectations have hurt the team's attitude. Honestly, we lost a one-point game to one of the best teams in the nation. we then lost to a team many expected to contend. Had we lost both games by ten points, and played well, we'd probably feel differently. We need to reconsider that this is a 3 to 4 loss team. Next year, IMHO, will be a better year.

Meanwhile Troy Reeder is killing it at Delaware. A coworker is a big UD fan. He went to the UD game Saturday and told me that Reeder was a man among boys, making several tackles in the offensive backfield. Would be nice to have him this year.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Meanwhile Troy Reeder is killing it at Delaware. A coworker is a big UD fan. He went to the UD game Saturday and told me that Reeder was a man among boys, making several tackles in the offensive backfield. Would be nice to have him this year.

Or Bowen, or Charles, or any of the other 'retirees' who could have helped. Really weird how we lost so many guys before the season.

 

[Obliviax]

There were 100 little things that had they gone differently, Penn State would have won the game. It’s aggravating to think about so I’ll leave it there.

A couple things. One, do we have a halfback screen in our playbook? Sanders was our best player on Saturday and Michigan State is great at stopping the run. It became evident after about 2 quarters that we weren’t going to get much on the ground unless Miles made an outstanding individual play. Why not help him out and get him the ball in space?

I’ve seen about enough of Parsons at linebacker. It’s obvious he oozes athleticism and talent and would likely develop into a good linebacker. But a team that continuously loses games because they don’t have a pass rush can’t put the premier high school pass rusher in the nation at backup linebacker where he’s merely serviceable. They can’t make the switch midseason so I won’t harp on it the rest of the way, but Parsons needs to be an edge rusher next year.

Also, props to Garrett Taylor, that kid has turned into a pretty good safety. His pick and return should have been enough to put Sparty away except of course the offense immediately went 3 and out.

Agree....if Amari holds onto that INT with 58 seconds left, nobody is in a snit today.

 

[royboy]

There were 100 little things that had they gone differently, Penn State would have won the game. It’s aggravating to think about so I’ll leave it there.

Yeah, there are many. At the top of my list, interceptions that should be made and are dropped. Arrgh.

**I see Obli was thinking along the same lines.

 

[Obliviax]

Yeah, there are many. At the top of my list, interceptions that should be made and are dropped. Arrgh.

For whatever reason, we've been an awful team in getting INT's in the last five years or so. Why is that?

 

[LoyalandTrueLion]

• Lets face it, expectations for this team were way too high. We are starting LB's that wouldn't start for Illinois. We have two DT's and are playing a OG at DT. Out secondary is OK but certainly won't carry a team. We get zero pressure on the QB and can't blitz because our corners can't be counted on to defend a screen. We have to commit our S to stop the run. That is the defense. On offense, the OL is under achieving. We've abandoned the deep ball. Stevens has been a non-factor. JJ and the rest have been iffy in pass catching (at best). We have no senior leadership from any kid whose first name doesn't rhyme with Brace. We are starting a true Fr at TE and WR.
• Why were expectations so high for this team? There were those of us that predicted a 3 or 4 loss season and were told we were being too negative. Fact is, we over performed against tOSU and under performed against Sparty. Don't forget Appy St took us to OT. This isn't a good team, fellas.
• With all of that, we suffered death by a thousand cuts. Penalties, officiating, TO's, lack of TOs, dropped balls, an uncharacteristic off day for #9....all led to a last second loss when we were winning the entire game. And this was to a team that many expected to win the B1G East. So life isn't so bad.
• Players?
  • Trace seems to have lost confidence in JJ. And JJ is never going to be the kind of guy that gets open the way a Hamler or Thompson can. JJ isn't that fast, he's not going to separate. His skill is that he is HUGE for a WR. Gotta let him make plays when he is covered.
  • Where has the deep ball been all season? We've got guys that can go deep in Thompkins, JJ, Hamler and Polk. This has been a hallmark of our offense the last two years and it is simply missing this year.
  • OL has under achieved. I'll just leave that there. They haven't pass blocked very well at all. Trace has to leave the pocket a lot. As a result, Trace seems to not trust his stuff and think too much.
  • Speaking of Trace, I feel he is trying to carry this team and is trying to do too much. He isn't trusting anyone to catch the ball anymore. Its like he is afraid to fail.
  • DE's have not done much, perhaps because it is easy to DT them when 30 isn't in the game. Our LB'ers are just not good at blitzing and our CB's are not good at tacking. This makes us very susceptible to traditional and bubble screens. A problem with playing well coached teams early in the season is that they give blueprints to teams on how to beat you.
  • The one bright spot has been Sanders, at RB. Kid has been awesome. It appears we simply do not have a second string RB. This is where I think 2 could have been utilized better, if only to take some pressure off of Sanders.
  • The True Freshmen have pretty much disappeared.
• It appears the coaches decided to concentrate on the basics and didn't put anything in on the bye week. I always wonder about bye weeks. They do allow you to heal but the team always seems to play flat the following week.
• Back to the game, it was so frustrating as Sparty was ready to fold so many times. The fumble by Trace when we were driving to go up by 10 or 14 in Q1 might have killed Sparty. Then, we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot and letting them hang. Momentum is such a big issue in football, we just could sustain it. Way too many self inflicted wounds but it always seemed like Sparty was the beneficiary of a lucky bounce or call.
• With all of the problems of our defense, the offense was the real problem. Trace's worst game and no back up RB to spell Sanders really hurt us. And, we don't have that possession WR that we had last year to keep the ball. Then, Trace running OOB was simply inexcusable. We ran 11 seconds off the clock in our final possession. 11 seconds....and we allowed them to keep a TO. Why was that important? It allowed them to use the middle of the field in the final drive knowing they had a TO in their pocket if they didn't get a first down or go OOB.
• Why do we not get turnovers with this defense? INT's almost nonexistent but we don't seem to recover fumbles either.

In the end, we've seen the fourth quarter failures way too much. To me, it is part depth and part scheme. Our thin D is gasses at DT, DE and LB in the 4th quarter. It used to be sanctions, now it is injury and youth. The scheme doesn't have a way to maintain drives without throwing the ball. And when you throw and it is incomplete, it stops the clock. In addition, it is risky from a TO perspective.

This is a critical year for CJF. It is the first non-Barkley year. He is showing, with the Giants, how big of a loss he is. But we also lost a ton on D at S and LBer. I am fine with the defensive coaching, given what we have. But the O has been a mess. The OL isn't there, the WR's aren't improving and the coaches need to understand we need to have a large lead going into the 4th Qtr. Or, we need to add to the offensive scheme. I have to ask, would you rather be up by six or down by six going into the 4th quarter? I am honestly not sure. The task now is to win a game and feel good again. Indy is a critical game....and its on the road.

In the meantime, Michigan looked good but it is crazy that Wiscy didn't try to pass in the second half? Wiscy is a very beatable team. UM seems to be gaining momentum and their QB is improving game by game.

Bottomline? This team is what it is. We aren't really that good and the over expectations have hurt the team's attitude. Honestly, we lost a one-point game to one of the best teams in the nation. we then lost to a team many expected to contend. Had we lost both games by ten points, and played well, we'd probably feel differently. We need to reconsider that this is a 3 to 4 loss team. Next year, IMHO, will be a better year.

Then why were people bashing national writers and people who picked against Penn State. Why did people feel so disrespected.

Why the comments we are trending up, Michigan is trending down.

Are those people not smart?

 

[PSU10]

For whatever reason, we've been an awful team in getting INT's in the last five years or so. Why is that?

And Amani’s been our best at it by far, which makes it even worse.

 

[RickinDayton]

What I have seen are WR's not are not getting separation and a defense that tries to blitz relentlessly at the end of games. I know that fans don't like prevent at the end of games but percentage-wise it works. You can't keep giving up TD's in a minute.

If WRS are put in motion it helps get some separation. Why no motion in this offense? Don'T understand why thst could not have been added during off week. Easy adfition.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Agree....if Amari holds onto that INT with 58 seconds left, nobody is in a snit today.

Right. But it's that, poor play-calling, dropped passes, and lack of 'situational awareness' against OSU, and not adjusting in the second half to both teams last year after having double digit leads. We're never going to blow OSU off the field - these are the kinds of games we're going to have and are going to have to find a way to win. I don't know how much better we need to be to beat App. State and MSU without issue, but on paper, this team should have handled both. Guess we need a new paper.

 

[PSUcup1]

There were 100 little things that had they gone differently, Penn State would have won the game. It’s aggravating to think about so I’ll leave it there.

A couple things. One, do we have a halfback screen in our playbook? Sanders was our best player on Saturday and Michigan State is great at stopping the run. It became evident after about 2 quarters that we weren’t going to get much on the ground unless Miles made an outstanding individual play. Why not help him out and get him the ball in space?

I’ve seen about enough of Parsons at linebacker. It’s obvious he oozes athleticism and talent and would likely develop into a good linebacker. But a team that continuously loses games because they don’t have a pass rush can’t put the premier high school pass rusher in the nation at backup linebacker where he’s merely serviceable. They can’t make the switch midseason so I won’t harp on it the rest of the way, but Parsons needs to be an edge rusher next year.

Also, props to Garrett Taylor, that kid has turned into a pretty good safety. His pick and return should have been enough to put Sparty away except of course the offense immediately went 3 and out.

Taylor has been decent, but he also dropped an easy pick on Saturday in MSU territory during the 4th quarter. still not sure how he dropped that

 

[GregInPitt]

Couple things:

Penn State has played at a level equal to OSU over the 1st half of the season...… are OSU fans' expectations - if they are expecting better than a 3 or 4 loss season - too high?
.....

Not sure what you had for breakfast but the above statement is 100% in left field. OSU came into Beaver Stadium and won in a tough environment. OSU is starting a new QB that is getting game experience and getting better each game. OSU has quality depth at every position, and was able to withstand the loss to injury of one of the top 5 players in all of college football and still win on the road at PSU. I could go on, but it is unnecessary. PSU and OSU are going in opposite directions this season. OSU may not win out, may not beat UM, but they are a far superior team to PSU and have a much better chance to finish strong than PSU does.

 

[BBrown]

• Lets face it, expectations for this team were way too high. We are starting LB's that wouldn't start for Illinois. We have two DT's and are playing a OG at DT. Out secondary is OK but certainly won't carry a team. We get zero pressure on the QB and can't blitz because our corners can't be counted on to defend a screen. We have to commit our S to stop the run. That is the defense. On offense, the OL is under achieving. We've abandoned the deep ball. Stevens has been a non-factor. JJ and the rest have been iffy in pass catching (at best). We have no senior leadership from any kid whose first name doesn't rhyme with Brace. We are starting a true Fr at TE and WR.
• Why were expectations so high for this team? There were those of us that predicted a 3 or 4 loss season and were told we were being too negative. Fact is, we over performed against tOSU and under performed against Sparty. Don't forget Appy St took us to OT. This isn't a good team, fellas.
• With all of that, we suffered death by a thousand cuts. Penalties, officiating, TO's, lack of TOs, dropped balls, an uncharacteristic off day for #9....all led to a last second loss when we were winning the entire game. And this was to a team that many expected to win the B1G East. So life isn't so bad.
• Players?
  • Trace seems to have lost confidence in JJ. And JJ is never going to be the kind of guy that gets open the way a Hamler or Thompson can. JJ isn't that fast, he's not going to separate. His skill is that he is HUGE for a WR. Gotta let him make plays when he is covered.
  • Where has the deep ball been all season? We've got guys that can go deep in Thompkins, JJ, Hamler and Polk. This has been a hallmark of our offense the last two years and it is simply missing this year.
  • OL has under achieved. I'll just leave that there. They haven't pass blocked very well at all. Trace has to leave the pocket a lot. As a result, Trace seems to not trust his stuff and think too much.
  • Speaking of Trace, I feel he is trying to carry this team and is trying to do too much. He isn't trusting anyone to catch the ball anymore. Its like he is afraid to fail.
  • DE's have not done much, perhaps because it is easy to DT them when 30 isn't in the game. Our LB'ers are just not good at blitzing and our CB's are not good at tacking. This makes us very susceptible to traditional and bubble screens. A problem with playing well coached teams early in the season is that they give blueprints to teams on how to beat you.
  • The one bright spot has been Sanders, at RB. Kid has been awesome. It appears we simply do not have a second string RB. This is where I think 2 could have been utilized better, if only to take some pressure off of Sanders.
  • The True Freshmen have pretty much disappeared.
• It appears the coaches decided to concentrate on the basics and didn't put anything in on the bye week. I always wonder about bye weeks. They do allow you to heal but the team always seems to play flat the following week.
• Back to the game, it was so frustrating as Sparty was ready to fold so many times. The fumble by Trace when we were driving to go up by 10 or 14 in Q1 might have killed Sparty. Then, we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot and letting them hang. Momentum is such a big issue in football, we just could sustain it. Way too many self inflicted wounds but it always seemed like Sparty was the beneficiary of a lucky bounce or call.
• With all of the problems of our defense, the offense was the real problem. Trace's worst game and no back up RB to spell Sanders really hurt us. And, we don't have that possession WR that we had last year to keep the ball. Then, Trace running OOB was simply inexcusable. We ran 11 seconds off the clock in our final possession. 11 seconds....and we allowed them to keep a TO. Why was that important? It allowed them to use the middle of the field in the final drive knowing they had a TO in their pocket if they didn't get a first down or go OOB.
• Why do we not get turnovers with this defense? INT's almost nonexistent but we don't seem to recover fumbles either.

In the end, we've seen the fourth quarter failures way too much. To me, it is part depth and part scheme. Our thin D is gasses at DT, DE and LB in the 4th quarter. It used to be sanctions, now it is injury and youth. The scheme doesn't have a way to maintain drives without throwing the ball. And when you throw and it is incomplete, it stops the clock. In addition, it is risky from a TO perspective.

This is a critical year for CJF. It is the first non-Barkley year. He is showing, with the Giants, how big of a loss he is. But we also lost a ton on D at S and LBer. I am fine with the defensive coaching, given what we have. But the O has been a mess. The OL isn't there, the WR's aren't improving and the coaches need to understand we need to have a large lead going into the 4th Qtr. Or, we need to add to the offensive scheme. I have to ask, would you rather be up by six or down by six going into the 4th quarter? I am honestly not sure. The task now is to win a game and feel good again. Indy is a critical game....and its on the road.

In the meantime, Michigan looked good but it is crazy that Wiscy didn't try to pass in the second half? Wiscy is a very beatable team. UM seems to be gaining momentum and their QB is improving game by game.

Bottomline? This team is what it is. We aren't really that good and the over expectations have hurt the team's attitude. Honestly, we lost a one-point game to one of the best teams in the nation. we then lost to a team many expected to contend. Had we lost both games by ten points, and played well, we'd probably feel differently. We need to reconsider that this is a 3 to 4 loss team. Next year, IMHO, will be a better year.

Good points.

The LB'r situation is concerning and they aren't going to get any better sitting on the bench.
They need more playing time not the current starters, outside of Johnson he's the best LBr we have.
DT and DE's have been a disappointment but I thought Windsor has played pretty well the last 2 games.
I'm just not seeing it with the DE's outside of Miller.
The OL and WR's are the biggest disappointments to me. I'm not seeing the push I thought I would from the OL. and according to the snap counts they have played 120 minutes of the last 2 games. Really no subs? Why? I know Chasz has some issues with speed rushers but its Fries had his lunch handed to him for the last 2 games.
And I have no Idea whats going on with the WR's I don't know if its them, (The drops are on them) but the routes are very questionable like why does JJ only have sideline routes for the last 2 games? Thompkins is completely MIA and made at least 1 really head scratching decision in the punt game on Sat. Nothing deep for Polk or Hammler or Hippenhammer when that was the blueprint given to us by EVERYONE who's played MSU. I don't get it.
Also whats up with the camp phenom Dotson?
The O coaches, Rahne, Limegrover and Corley have a lot of questions to answer.

One thing I do disagree with is as amazing as Barkely is he isn't the biggest loss. For me its Hamilton. He must have taken all the pressure off JJ and Thompkins.