first, I'm very happy with 11-2, but recognize it should have been 12-1 as this team shouldn't have lost to Minnesota. lot's to like with this team, but a few concerns as well. let's start with the offense
RB's. I really like Journey Brown. kid can take it to the house from anywhere and he showed real toughness the last half of the year. his stride reminds me of LJ, but JB is faster. he and Cain are a great one-two combo, and though Ford seems talented as well, I would focus on those two next year. you always hear about RB's needing to find a rhythm and i think our constant shuffling is preventing these guys from doing so.
QB. Clearly the most important position on the field and in my opinion the position that we need the most improvement Clifford is a tough kid, but I'm not sure he has the skills needed to get this team to elite status. He is clearly too amped up early in games, and he never seems comfortable in the pocket, unless we are playing Idaho. I know this was his first year starting, but I expected him to get more comfortable as the season wore on and it didn't seem to happen. he also doesn't seem to be able to get through his progressions. maybe KJ leaving will actually help here as he won't be able to focus on him exclusively. (hopefully he doesn't now lock onto Freirmuth exclusively). finally, he doesn't seem to actually do any "reading" when running the RPO. maybe he was hurt and didn't want to or coudn't run, but the last half of the season there were many, many opportunities to keep the ball and get around the end but he almost always handed it to the running back. if we are going to run an RPO, the QB needs to be able to make the right reads. buy the end of the year, Clifford was reminding me of a faster John Schaffer, which would be great in the eighties, but isn't going to cut it in the 20's. Need to see significant improvement from him or the position if we are going to obtain elite status.
OL. A good group overall and hopefully the new coach can help these guys recognize stunts in pass protection. if some of the younger guys can develop like Walker is, we will be really good shape the next few years.
TE/Wr. Freirmuth is a beast; now we need one of the younger guys to step us to provide some depth and allow us to go two tight ends when needed. Wr's. Dotson seems to have talent and maybe he will shine next year with KJ gone. but we need three or four other kids to step up in a big way (I'm talking improvement like Gisecki and Bryant Johnson made during their careers) We just can't continue to have the drops we have experienced. they are drive and morale killers. I don't know if it is George, CSB or Shorter (if he stays) or one of the new guys, but some of these guys have to show they can catch the basic passes all the time, and occassionally make the spectacular catches as well. if Elite is the goal, you have to be able to throw and catch the ball, and we haven't been able to do this against the good teams with consistency for two years now.
OC. We have a new one, and maybe he will make the difference. Qb's during Franklin's tenure have not seemed to progress (which is not a good sign for Clifford,) Maybe this new guy can work the same magic he worked ont he Minny QB. But one thing that helped Minny was they had several NFL receivers on their squad and we can't say the same, at least not right now. i will be very interested in the schematic changes he brings. Rahne rarely used certain portions of the field and almost never called certain plays like screens to the RB's. Moreover, rahne never seemed to be able to scheme anyone open. maybe it's because he didn't get to play against our pass defense, but he never seemed to be able to take advantage of the other team's defense (save a deep bomb or two against Mich, but everyone does that!) and never seemed to be able to make timely adjustments
i know i started out by saying I was happy with the year and then went on a rant, but if you look at our schedule and the talent we have we should not be surprised to have won 11 games last year. which of the 11 teams we beat should have, or even could have beaten us? Mich maybe, Indy? It's winning the two or three challenging games on your schedule that is the difference between good and elite.
Finally, a note on Franklin. I think he is perfect for PSU. he understands and has bought into our culture. he is a great recruiter and spokesman for PSU. but he is not a game coach. anyone who doesn't recognize he has clock management issues is simply in denial. I'm not sure how this gets fixed, either, the guy has been around football all his life and if he hasn't gotten it yet, he's not going to suddenly get it. the end of the first half of the Cottom Bowl was a perfect example. after the first timeout, i wondered what in world he was doing. and then he called another one. someone on the staff has to be brave enough to call him on this. imagine making the CFP one year and losing the game on a clock managment issue. maybe the new OC will have the stones to discuss this with James.
Thats all for now. will discuss the defense later. have at it.
RB's. I really like Journey Brown. kid can take it to the house from anywhere and he showed real toughness the last half of the year. his stride reminds me of LJ, but JB is faster. he and Cain are a great one-two combo, and though Ford seems talented as well, I would focus on those two next year. you always hear about RB's needing to find a rhythm and i think our constant shuffling is preventing these guys from doing so.
QB. Clearly the most important position on the field and in my opinion the position that we need the most improvement Clifford is a tough kid, but I'm not sure he has the skills needed to get this team to elite status. He is clearly too amped up early in games, and he never seems comfortable in the pocket, unless we are playing Idaho. I know this was his first year starting, but I expected him to get more comfortable as the season wore on and it didn't seem to happen. he also doesn't seem to be able to get through his progressions. maybe KJ leaving will actually help here as he won't be able to focus on him exclusively. (hopefully he doesn't now lock onto Freirmuth exclusively). finally, he doesn't seem to actually do any "reading" when running the RPO. maybe he was hurt and didn't want to or coudn't run, but the last half of the season there were many, many opportunities to keep the ball and get around the end but he almost always handed it to the running back. if we are going to run an RPO, the QB needs to be able to make the right reads. buy the end of the year, Clifford was reminding me of a faster John Schaffer, which would be great in the eighties, but isn't going to cut it in the 20's. Need to see significant improvement from him or the position if we are going to obtain elite status.
OL. A good group overall and hopefully the new coach can help these guys recognize stunts in pass protection. if some of the younger guys can develop like Walker is, we will be really good shape the next few years.
TE/Wr. Freirmuth is a beast; now we need one of the younger guys to step us to provide some depth and allow us to go two tight ends when needed. Wr's. Dotson seems to have talent and maybe he will shine next year with KJ gone. but we need three or four other kids to step up in a big way (I'm talking improvement like Gisecki and Bryant Johnson made during their careers) We just can't continue to have the drops we have experienced. they are drive and morale killers. I don't know if it is George, CSB or Shorter (if he stays) or one of the new guys, but some of these guys have to show they can catch the basic passes all the time, and occassionally make the spectacular catches as well. if Elite is the goal, you have to be able to throw and catch the ball, and we haven't been able to do this against the good teams with consistency for two years now.
OC. We have a new one, and maybe he will make the difference. Qb's during Franklin's tenure have not seemed to progress (which is not a good sign for Clifford,) Maybe this new guy can work the same magic he worked ont he Minny QB. But one thing that helped Minny was they had several NFL receivers on their squad and we can't say the same, at least not right now. i will be very interested in the schematic changes he brings. Rahne rarely used certain portions of the field and almost never called certain plays like screens to the RB's. Moreover, rahne never seemed to be able to scheme anyone open. maybe it's because he didn't get to play against our pass defense, but he never seemed to be able to take advantage of the other team's defense (save a deep bomb or two against Mich, but everyone does that!) and never seemed to be able to make timely adjustments
i know i started out by saying I was happy with the year and then went on a rant, but if you look at our schedule and the talent we have we should not be surprised to have won 11 games last year. which of the 11 teams we beat should have, or even could have beaten us? Mich maybe, Indy? It's winning the two or three challenging games on your schedule that is the difference between good and elite.
Finally, a note on Franklin. I think he is perfect for PSU. he understands and has bought into our culture. he is a great recruiter and spokesman for PSU. but he is not a game coach. anyone who doesn't recognize he has clock management issues is simply in denial. I'm not sure how this gets fixed, either, the guy has been around football all his life and if he hasn't gotten it yet, he's not going to suddenly get it. the end of the first half of the Cottom Bowl was a perfect example. after the first timeout, i wondered what in world he was doing. and then he called another one. someone on the staff has to be brave enough to call him on this. imagine making the CFP one year and losing the game on a clock managment issue. maybe the new OC will have the stones to discuss this with James.
Thats all for now. will discuss the defense later. have at it.
