Pros and Cons: Penn State vs West Virginia

[NittanyChris]

Some sloppiness, but overall a lot more Pros than Cons last night! Good start to the season.

PROS:
1. All analysis of this game must defer to this one point: Drew Allar is the REAL DEAL. Poise in the pocket, stepping up to extend plays, arm strength for days, recognizing his open men, checking down, etc. This kid will only get better, too, but we haven't had a talent and an arm like this at QB in many years. Enjoy the ride, folks!
3. Singleton and Allen - Didn't have fantastic games but both were very solid. Singleton may have looked stronger than last season. He's gonna have a massive season. Also, I think we'll see them more involved in the passing game as the season progresses.
2. Keandre Lambert-Smith, Tre Wallace, Malik McClain and Liam Clifford erased any doubts about our WR room. Partly because of Allar, sure, but these guys consistently made plays and, for the most part, showed really great hands. Very impressed.
3. JB Nelson and Vega Ioane - Losing Tengwall was a big blow, no way around that, but I was very impressed with these 2 O Linemen last night. Aggressive, blocking downfield, big and hungry. Loved it.
4. Safeties - Particularly Reed and Winston, Jr. Very notable that Winston came out with the starting lineup. It says a lot. Both these guys looked very good in coverage and tackling.
5. Curtis Jacobs - Quietly led the team in tackles with 7/3 Tackles/Assists and a Sack. Strong, veteran presence needed among all our young talent.
6. Gabe Nwosu - great on kickoffs, well into the end zone every time.
7. Shout out to Elliot Washington for a very nice tackle on punt coverage. He could be a special teams force.

CONS: So, I hate to talk negatively about kids but if you're grading performance, you have to be honest.
1. D gave up too much rushing yardage on first down. The bright side is the first unit gave up only 7 points. I'll take that every time.
2. H Beamon is simply not a Big 10 caliber DT. He's not. Did anyone expect him to get a push forward on any of those short yardage plays? More optimistically, I thought Ellies was solid. Maybe van den Berg will step up. I'm a huge Franklin guy and I'm very glad we signed him long-term, but is it a weakness of his that he's "too loyal" to veterans who underperform? It's open for debate.
3. T Elsdon - Slow, out of position, and missing tackles. Nothing more need be said. See the comment on Franklin above.
4. FG Kicking - Simply cannot miss 2 FGs under 40 yards. Can't do it. Doesn't mean the kid can't bounce back, but I'd see what Felkins can do for a while.
5. Theo Johnson - Maybe not even his fault, was he even targeted once last night? Expecting big things from him this year but he was MIA last night.

On opening nights there are often kinks to be worked out, but overall a very nice performance against a team that was fired up. The WV QB and O Line were actually pretty impressive. Take the W and build on it.

WE ARE!!!

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

Some sloppiness last night, but overall a lot more Pros than Cons last night! Good start to the season.

PROS:
1. All analysis of this game must defer to this one point: Drew Allar is the REAL DEAL. Poise in the pocket, stepping up to extend plays, arm strength for days, recognizing his open men, checking down, etc. This kid will only get better, too, but we haven't had a talent and an arm like this at QB in many years. Enjoy the ride, folks!
3. Singleton and Allen - Didn't have fantastic games but both were very solid. Singleton may have looked stronger than last season. He's gonna have a massive season. Also, I think we'll see them more involved in the passing game as the season progresses.
2. Keandre Lambert-Smith, Tre Wallace, Malik McClain and Liam Clifford erased any doubts about our WR room. Partly because of Allar, sure, but these guys consistently made plays and, for the most part, showed really great hands. Very impressed.
3. JB Nelson and Vega Ioane - Losing Tengwall was a big blow, no way around that, but I was very impressed with these 2 O Linemen last night. Aggressive, blocking downfield, big and hungry. Loved it.
4. Safeties - Particularly Reed and Winston, Jr. Very notable that Winston came out with the starting lineup. It says a lot. Both these guys looked very good in coverage and tackling.
5. Curtis Jacobs - Quietly led the team in tackles with 7/3 Tackles/Assists and a Sack. Strong, veteran presence needed among all our young talent.
6. Gabe Nwosu - great on kickoffs, well into the end zone every time.
7. Shout out to Elliot Washington for a very nice tackle on punt coverage. He could be a special teams force.

CONS: So, I hate to talk negatively about kids but if you're grading performance, you have to be honest.
1. D gave up too much rushing yardage on first down. The bright side is the first unit gave up only 7 points. I'll take that every time.
2. H Beamon is simply not a Big 10 caliber DT. He's not. Did anyone expect him to get a push forward on any of those short yardage plays? More optimistically, I thought Ellies was solid. Maybe van den Berg will step up. I'm a huge Franklin guy and I'm very glad we signed him long-term, but is it a weakness of his that he's "too loyal" to veterans who underperform? It's open for debate.
3. T Elsdon - Slow, out of position, and missing tackles. Nothing more need be said. See the comment on Franklin above.
4. FG Kicking - Simply cannot miss 2 FGs under 40 yards. Can't do it. Doesn't mean the kid can't bounce back, but I'd see what Felkins can do for a while.
5. Theo Johnson - Maybe not even his fault, was he even targeted once last night? Expecting big things from him this year but he was MIA last night.

On opening nights there are often kinks to be worked out, but overall a very nice performance against a team that was fired up. The WV QB and O Line were actually pretty impressive. Take the W and build on it.

WE ARE!!!

The team gave up 3.5 YPC the 1st game of the season. Yes, there was sack yardage removed from the run plays but the 7 points came off of two blown coverages. I am not ready to declare Hakem Beamon or any DT unfit for the B1G yet.

Wise men throw out the first half of the first game for the most part when judging team long-term prospects.

My take on the D is Elsdon is still to slow for this level, that has not changed. Glad there are practice games coming up to work out some kinks.

 

[YYZ86]

Big pro for me was after a little adversity from a lesser team that had a good plan, they came out and ended it with a 17-0 2nd half until subs.

 

[NittanyChris]

The team gave up 3.5 YPC the 1st game of the season. Yes, there was sack yardage removed from the run plays but the 7 points came off of two blown coverages. I am not ready to declare Hakem Beamon or any DT unfit for the B1G yet.

Wise men throw out the first half of the first game for the most part when judging team long-term prospects.

My take on the D is Elsdon is still to slow for this level, that has not changed. Glad there are practice games coming up to work out some kinks.

However, my comment on Beamon is not based on one game. It's based on an assessment of his entire time here at PSU. I know he gained some weight this year, but the young man just gets pushed around too easily. I stand by my opinion.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

.. I did not see what you did in his performance yesterday and Beamon's performance Drew positive comments from the people calling the game. I will keep watching closely as the season progresses.

 

[creamery]

I agree on the Dline. I thought their performance was disappointing and I realize WVU had a good line but that performance won’t cut it vs UM and OSU. Franklin has recruited really well everywhere else but hasn’t hit it on the Dline. I realize that is a tough spot to recruit but hope that doesn’t hurt us against the good teams.

 

[creamery]

Also thought the TEs played a big role last nite just not in the passing game. Yurcich played a lot of double TE and often uses them as a fullback. Not sure why they weren’t more involved in the passing game.

 

[olelion]

I agree on the Dline. I thought their performance was disappointing and I realize WVU had a good line but that performance won’t cut it vs UM and OSU. Franklin has recruited really well everywhere else but hasn’t hit it on the Dline. I realize that is a tough spot to recruit but hope that doesn’t hurt us against the good teams.

WVU had barely 300 yds of offense with a lot coming on that final td drive against back ups. Can we just relax a bit

 

[NittanyChris]

I actually think Ellies looked pretty darn good. I'd love to see van den Berg get more time and I think a healthy Izzard can help a lot as well. I think we'll be ok.

 

[creamery]

WVU had barely 300 yds of offense with a lot coming on that final td drive against back ups. Can we just relax a bit

WVU had barely 300 yds of offense with a lot coming on that final td drive against back ups. Can we just relax a bit

WVU had barely 300 yds of offense with a lot coming on that final td drive against back ups. Can we just relax a bit

 

[creamery]

WVU had barely 300 yds of offense with a lot coming on that final td drive against back ups. Can we just relax a bit

WVU had barely 300 yds of offense with a lot coming on that final td drive against back ups. Can we just relax a bit

WVU had barely 300 yds of offense with a lot coming on that final td drive against back ups. Can we just relax a bit

 

[psu1969a]

Also thought the TEs played a big role last nite just not in the passing game. Yurcich played a lot of double TE and often uses them as a fullback. Not sure why they weren’t more involved in the passing game.

My guess -- WR were getting wide open!

 

[91Joe95]

No injuries was my favorite part.

 

[bluehair666]

impressive debut by allar...having said that, WV is one of the worst teams in the big 12..knowing that WV had almost zero pass game, psu was still vulnerable to runs between the tackles..can't really scheme around that, especially when you come up against a team that can run and pass

 

[SLion]

impressive debut by allar...having said that, WV is one of the worst teams in the big 12..knowing that WV had almost zero pass game, psu was still vulnerable to runs between the tackles..can't really scheme around that, especially when you come up against a team that can run and pass

I am not sure WV is one of the worst teams in B12. They played first road game with 110K loud in stands, against elite secondary. They tried to throw but simply blanketed or slightly off. Coached well enough to not force a bad pass. No TOs and a few penalties but mostly clean game. Even Neal said was happy with performance. WV had several chances to keep up but not enough playmakers at WR. I think they will be better than last year. That OL is damn fine. Let's see what they do at home against Pitt. I hope they clobber them. Also, from games yesterday, TCU and Baylor are now winnable.

 

[NCLION]

I think part of problem is that some of our players were so hyped up there was no way this game was going to live up to our expectations. Ironically I was a little worried about Allar starting slow being a first year starter and he exceeded my expectations. So did our WR group. I like the upside on #11 and #2.
The OLine was supposed to be a strength and was only average at beat. Our De‘s for all the speed got manhandled a lot
Same for DT. The LB unit was biggest disappointment. Got killed by blockers and bad angles. Carter looked hurt.
Secondary was solid. Kicking game a worry.

Did I see a playoff contender yesterday? No
Did I see a better start than last year at Purdue? Yes
we have a lot to improve and could have won 44-7 if we make kicks and keep starters in,

 

[Obliviax]

impressive debut by allar...having said that, WV is one of the worst teams in the big 12..knowing that WV had almost zero pass game, psu was still vulnerable to runs between the tackles..can't really scheme around that, especially when you come up against a team that can run and pass

WVU is going to surprise you this year

 

[royboy]

No injuries was my favorite part.

also gotta like no turnovers and only 1 penalty

 

[NittanyChris]

also gotta like no turnovers and only 1 penalty

Yes, good point. Only one penalty on opening day is excellent.

 

[bdgan]

WV had almost zero pass game, psu was still vulnerable to runs between the tackles..can't really scheme around that, especially when you come up against a team that can run and pass

I think some of it is weak DT & MLB play but some is also scheme. Diaz is always moving guys around trying to make an explosive play. That leaves some gaps open.

 

[bdgan]

also gotta like no turnovers and only 1 penalty

We also didn't create any turnovers. How often do you see a zero turnover game?

 

[lazydave841]

impressive debut by allar...having said that, WV is one of the worst teams in the big 12..knowing that WV had almost zero pass game, psu was still vulnerable to runs between the tackles..can't really scheme around that, especially when you come up against a team that can run and pass

If WVU is one of the worst, it will come out in the wash.

 

[royboy]

Just my .02, but I suspect Abdul Carter is going to have an uncomfortable time when the coaches review the tapes. He was credited with 1 tackle, which was also a sack. Yes, he created some pressure additional times, but those are not All-America type stats.

He was flying around, but not always under control. Needs more positional discipline and to take better angles. Of the LB corps, Curtis Jacobs had the best game IMO.

 

[jimarnp]

WVU is going to surprise you this year

Their O-line is very good ( maybe top 10). Their QB is good, and doesn’t make mistakes….so that can make him very good. Their running back is good ( 230+ pounds). Their defense is undersized, but solid….and full of gamers.— If WVU has no major injuries, they will win some big games, and be a wild card in that conference

 

[Obliviax]

Their O-line is very good ( maybe top 10). Their QB is good, and doesn’t make mistakes….so that can make him very good. Their running back is good ( 230+ pounds). Their defense is undersized, but solid….and full of gamers.— If WVU has no major injuries, they will win some big games, and be a wild card in that conference

That is where I am on the issue. I think they beat Pitt and end up upper middle (edit) big12. But first games are always tough. Everyone is undefeated, intense aspirations of winning the national championship. Look at Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan State all struggled with lesser competition. Purdue darn near beat us last year.

 

[creamery freak]

Some sloppiness, but overall a lot more Pros than Cons last night! Good start to the season.

PROS:
1. All analysis of this game must defer to this one point: Drew Allar is the REAL DEAL. Poise in the pocket, stepping up to extend plays, arm strength for days, recognizing his open men, checking down, etc. This kid will only get better, too, but we haven't had a talent and an arm like this at QB in many years. Enjoy the ride, folks!
3. Singleton and Allen - Didn't have fantastic games but both were very solid. Singleton may have looked stronger than last season. He's gonna have a massive season. Also, I think we'll see them more involved in the passing game as the season progresses.
2. Keandre Lambert-Smith, Tre Wallace, Malik McClain and Liam Clifford erased any doubts about our WR room. Partly because of Allar, sure, but these guys consistently made plays and, for the most part, showed really great hands. Very impressed.
3. JB Nelson and Vega Ioane - Losing Tengwall was a big blow, no way around that, but I was very impressed with these 2 O Linemen last night. Aggressive, blocking downfield, big and hungry. Loved it.
4. Safeties - Particularly Reed and Winston, Jr. Very notable that Winston came out with the starting lineup. It says a lot. Both these guys looked very good in coverage and tackling.
5. Curtis Jacobs - Quietly led the team in tackles with 7/3 Tackles/Assists and a Sack. Strong, veteran presence needed among all our young talent.
6. Gabe Nwosu - great on kickoffs, well into the end zone every time.
7. Shout out to Elliot Washington for a very nice tackle on punt coverage. He could be a special teams force.

CONS: So, I hate to talk negatively about kids but if you're grading performance, you have to be honest.
1. D gave up too much rushing yardage on first down. The bright side is the first unit gave up only 7 points. I'll take that every time.
2. H Beamon is simply not a Big 10 caliber DT. He's not. Did anyone expect him to get a push forward on any of those short yardage plays? More optimistically, I thought Ellies was solid. Maybe van den Berg will step up. I'm a huge Franklin guy and I'm very glad we signed him long-term, but is it a weakness of his that he's "too loyal" to veterans who underperform? It's open for debate.
3. T Elsdon - Slow, out of position, and missing tackles. Nothing more need be said. See the comment on Franklin above.
4. FG Kicking - Simply cannot miss 2 FGs under 40 yards. Can't do it. Doesn't mean the kid can't bounce back, but I'd see what Felkins can do for a while.
5. Theo Johnson - Maybe not even his fault, was he even targeted once last night? Expecting big things from him this year but he was MIA last night.

On opening nights there are often kinks to be worked out, but overall a very nice performance against a team that was fired up. The WV QB and O Line were actually pretty impressive. Take the W and build on it.

WE ARE!!!

Pros. I don't believe we had a penalty!

Con. Payback will be hell by the BIG officials when we play the OSU and Michigan.

 

[mcpat]

All in all, it was an okay performance. Nothing that makes me think they’re better than I thought. WR maybe showed better than expected.

Special teams were not good, though:
- two missed FGs
- a shanked punt
- a punt that WVU almost (and prob should have) blocked
- blocked WVU player into our own trying to make a fair catch
- a fair catch at our own 5 or 6
- calling for fair catch and sprinting up 15 yards to barely make the catch

Lots to straighten out there.

A lot of sketchy snaps had me concerned too. Luckily Allar handled them all.

I was impressed at how the WVU offense handled the crowd noise. I though it was pretty loud and it seemed to have no affect on WVU getting the play calls communicated and being in sync on snapping the ball.

 

[Obliviax]

Pros. I don't believe we had a penalty!

Con. Payback will be hell by the BIG officials when we play the OSU and Michigan.

One for five yards

 

[lazydave841]

blocked WVU player into our own trying to make a fair catch

They replayed that and determined that the WVU defender threw our player into our return guy. Should have been a penalty, but was inconsequential.

 

[GregInPitt]

WVU has a better team than what I was expecting. And also has a number of very talented players. Their QB, RB, overall OL, and a couple of standouts on D.

There were two upsides to that for me.
1. It was a better test for the Lions than what I was expecting and caused more consternation for the team for about 3 quarters of the game. Adversity forces the team to make adjustments and in some cases personnel changes. The team was tested which will keep them level headed and working hard, and I'm hoping that Elsdon and Wallace spend more time on the bench going forward. They both are weaknesses for their units and there seems to be better players that can step up if Franklin can get over his case of s-e-n-i-o-r-i-t-i-s.
2. WVU showed enough talent and grit that it will be fun to watch them beat Pitt!!

 

[LongJakk]

- a punt that WVU almost (and prob should have) blocked
- blocked WVU player into our own trying to make a fair catch

I rewatched it and he wasn't that close to blocking the punt. He was deep enough, but off to the side.
The WVU gunner should've been called for face mask. That's how he threw our guy into the returner. i was shocked that the announcers didnt pick it up. He had it for 3 or 4 steps.

 

[LeatherHelmets]

I put the numerous high snaps to Allar firms in the con category. Good thing he's 6'5". That has to affect the timing on hamdoffs, at least slightly. Got to fix that before it becomes a turnover.

Also, there were several plays where there was some confusion before the snap, at least one timeout burned and several times the play looked rushed to get the snap off to beat the play clock. First game issues maybe?

 

[Obliviax]

I put the numerous high snaps to Allar firms in the con category. Good thing he's 6'5". That has to affect the timing on hamdoffs, at least slightly. Got to fix that before it becomes a turnover.

Also, there were several plays where there was some confusion before the snap, at least one timeout burned and several times the play looked rushed to get the snap off to beat the play clock. First game issues maybe?

Good catch. The OC was in the booth for the first time. Maybe that had something to do with it

 

[mcpat]

I rewatched it and he wasn't that close to blocking the punt. He was deep enough, but off to the side.
The WVU gunner should've been called for face mask. That's how he threw our guy into the returner. i was shocked that the announcers didnt pick it up. He had it for 3 or 4 steps.

Okay; thx. From my seat in the end zone, me and the folks around me were wondering how he got the punt off, but I haven’t watched it on tv yet. Lots of things get missed watching live.

 

[KCLion]

How do they fa

That is where I am on the issue. I think they beat Pitt and end up upper middle ACC. But first games are always tough. Everyone is undefeated, intense aspirations of winning the national championship. Look at Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan State all struggled with lesser competition. Purdue darn near beat us last year.

How do they fair in the Big12, 😀?

 

[Sportfan2017]

West Virginia had a better that average center and they got plus yardage every time they went there. Most of their rushing yards were up the middle. How many short down 3rd and 4th downs did WVU convert? Too many. But most likely less than Michigan and Ohio State will convert. Especially Michigan. That will need to be fixed to beat Michigan. Probably Ohio State as well. Really hoping it happens.