Reality check time for PSU

[tboyer]

It is always a gift to get a game that re-grounds a team without it costing you an L.

PSU played great at Iowa City in many ways, but the game also exposed quite a few fairly big weaknesses that they will have to address -- and address SOON.

1) PSU D has to learn how to play Pry's pressure schemes without giving up long easy TDs. That is mostly on the safeties. Safeties are called safeties for a reason. The No. 1 reason football teams have safeties is to prevent long easy TDs.

2) LBers have great aggressiveness, but they need to get better reading and positional discipline. Difficult balance but they have to do it. A spectacular TFL means nothing if the following play you overcommit and get caught inside and give up a 50 yard gain right through the spot that you were responsible for.

3) The whole offense has to get used to the way defense are going to play them this year -- Iowa, Pitt, and to some degree USC have shown how to do it. You play safeties back, take away the deep ball, you pressure McSorley IN the pocket but focus on containment rather than sacks. When McSorley uses his legs he is probably the best QB in the Big Ten but if you take that part of his game away, he is the short QB who lacks an NFL arm. So even if people are free downfield he won't see them and if you get him backpedaling he won't be able to deliver the ball 50 yards downfield.

Funny to say this after a 579 yard performance, but I think the O has a ton of work to do. There will come a game (and maybe it's this week) when Barkley is not good for 300 yards of offense. PSU has to have more of a downfield passing game than they had Saturday. I think personnel wise they should be able to do it, but they need help from Moorhead and the coaches on scheme.

There are offensive scheme responses to the Iowa-Pitt type defensive approach. But I don't think Moorhead has gotten them installed yet. They need to do that soon.

Moorhead's whole thing is to take advantage of aggressive blitzing Ds like PSU saw last year. But last year is last year. This year everything will be different. The Iowa game should make that clear just how different things are going to be this year.

Indiana is a hell of a good team. They have scary players. They have a LOT more matchup advantages vs. PSU than Iowa did. Even at the Beav, this game scares me. PSU is going to have to really be sharp to beat them.

 

[psuro]

We. Are. Doomed.

 

[psuro]

Seriously - you are worried about Indiana? They have defeated Penn State once in the 23 or so years Penn State has been in the conference - and we all know what was going on with the program at that time.

 

[ILLINOISLION]

I'm just happy......very happy.....that we play Indiana in Happy Valley this week and not in Bloomington or Indy.

 

[NitneLiun]

Yeah, Indiana has excellent WR's and that is a mismatch in their favor. Indiana's problem is that their D will be on the field for most of the game.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

(5) R.E.M. - It's The End Of The World - YouTube


Bwhahahahahaha.....

Reality check for you maybe.... lol

 

[Burb]

It is always a gift to get a game that re-grounds a team without it costing you an L.

PSU played great at Iowa City in many ways, but the game also exposed quite a few fairly big weaknesses that they will have to address -- and address SOON.

1) PSU D has to learn how to play Pry's pressure schemes without giving up long easy TDs. That is mostly on the safeties. Safeties are called safeties for a reason. The No. 1 reason football teams have safeties is to prevent long easy TDs.

2) LBers have great aggressiveness, but they need to get better reading and positional discipline. Difficult balance but they have to do it. A spectacular TFL means nothing if the following play you overcommit and get caught inside and give up a 50 yard gain right through the spot that you were responsible for.

3) The whole offense has to get used to the way defense are going to play them this year -- Iowa, Pitt, and to some degree USC have shown how to do it. You play safeties back, take away the deep ball, you pressure McSorley IN the pocket but focus on containment rather than sacks. When McSorley uses his legs he is probably the best QB in the Big Ten but if you take that part of his game away, he is the short QB who lacks an NFL arm. So even if people are free downfield he won't see them and if you get him backpedaling he won't be able to deliver the ball 50 yards downfield.

Funny to say this after a 579 yard performance, but I think the O has a ton of work to do. There will come a game (and maybe it's this week) when Barkley is not good for 300 yards of offense. PSU has to have more of a downfield passing game than they had Saturday. I think personnel wise they should be able to do it, but they need help from Moorhead and the coaches on scheme.

There are offensive scheme responses to the Iowa-Pitt type defensive approach. But I don't think Moorhead has gotten them installed yet. They need to do that soon.

Moorhead's whole thing is to take advantage of aggressive blitzing Ds like PSU saw last year. But last year is last year. This year everything will be different. The Iowa game should make that clear just how different things are going to be this year.

Indiana is a hell of a good team. They have scary players. They have a LOT more matchup advantages vs. PSU than Iowa did. Even at the Beav, this game scares me. PSU is going to have to really be sharp to beat them.

Poop!

 

[Obliviax]

I hope we don't kill #26. We've got Indy then NW (away) before the bye. He took a beating Saturday night and I don't know how much that takes out of a kid over the long term. Again, we've got to stop making him run 25 yard gassers before trotting our offense on the field. I really believe this is one of the most ridiculous things I've seen in football this year.

 

[Howie'81]

Seriously - you are worried about Indiana? They have defeated Penn State once in the 23 or so years Penn State has been in the conference - and we all know what was going on with the program at that time.

What did you expect from the OP? Happiness? Never gonna happen.

 

[Howie'81]

Yeah, Indiana has excellent WR's and that is a mismatch in their favor. Indiana's problem is that their D will be on the field for most of the game.

How the hell is that a mismatch in Indiana's favor? Our secondary has played very, very well.

 

[bdgan]

I hope we don't kill #26. We've got Indy then NW (away) before the bye. He took a beating Saturday night and I don't know how much that takes out of a kid over the long term. Again, we've got to stop making him run 25 yard gassers before trotting our offense on the field. I really believe this is one of the most ridiculous things I've seen in football this year.

Barkley also takes a hit every time McSorley keeps the ball on the RPO.

 

[sss]

Is this a repost from Hebrie telling us how good Indiana was in week 1 when OSU played them? This is the same Indiana that has gone, at best, 6-7 in the last decade, right? Yet somehow they match up better with PSU than the 7 other teams they lose to every year? No doubt, this is one of their better defenses in many years and if we play poorly they can win. But I would be more worried if I was Indiana about match-up problems.

 

[Ranger Dan]

I actually love the aggressive defensive philosophy. It gets the defense off the field quickly, hopefully via a 3 and out, so that they can be fresh late in the game. With the aggressive offensive philosophy and the difficulty getting 3rd and short conversions, our offense can't guarantee time of possession.

 

[Bobpsu]

It is always a gift to get a game that re-grounds a team without it costing you an L.

PSU played great at Iowa City in many ways, but the game also exposed quite a few fairly big weaknesses that they will have to address -- and address SOON.

1) PSU D has to learn how to play Pry's pressure schemes without giving up long easy TDs. That is mostly on the safeties. Safeties are called safeties for a reason. The No. 1 reason football teams have safeties is to prevent long easy TDs.

2) LBers have great aggressiveness, but they need to get better reading and positional discipline. Difficult balance but they have to do it. A spectacular TFL means nothing if the following play you overcommit and get caught inside and give up a 50 yard gain right through the spot that you were responsible for.

3) The whole offense has to get used to the way defense are going to play them this year -- Iowa, Pitt, and to some degree USC have shown how to do it. You play safeties back, take away the deep ball, you pressure McSorley IN the pocket but focus on containment rather than sacks. When McSorley uses his legs he is probably the best QB in the Big Ten but if you take that part of his game away, he is the short QB who lacks an NFL arm. So even if people are free downfield he won't see them and if you get him backpedaling he won't be able to deliver the ball 50 yards downfield.

Funny to say this after a 579 yard performance, but I think the O has a ton of work to do. There will come a game (and maybe it's this week) when Barkley is not good for 300 yards of offense. PSU has to have more of a downfield passing game than they had Saturday. I think personnel wise they should be able to do it, but they need help from Moorhead and the coaches on scheme.

There are offensive scheme responses to the Iowa-Pitt type defensive approach. But I don't think Moorhead has gotten them installed yet. They need to do that soon.

Moorhead's whole thing is to take advantage of aggressive blitzing Ds like PSU saw last year. But last year is last year. This year everything will be different. The Iowa game should make that clear just how different things are going to be this year.

Indiana is a hell of a good team. They have scary players. They have a LOT more matchup advantages vs. PSU than Iowa did. Even at the Beav, this game scares me. PSU is going to have to really be sharp to beat them.

Jeez..i thought we won!

 

[Obliviax]

I actually love the aggressive defensive philosophy. It gets the defense off the field quickly, hopefully via a 3 and out, so that they can be fresh late in the game. With the aggressive offensive philosophy and the difficulty getting 3rd and short conversions, our offense can't guarantee time of possession.

If you'd have told me Iowa was only going to score 19 points, I'd have been the house on PSU and the +12. I've got no problem with defense. To me, our problems were red zone scoring both in TD's and in FG (one missed, one blocked).

 

[bdgan]

It is always a gift to get a game that re-grounds a team without it costing you an L.

PSU played great at Iowa City in many ways, but the game also exposed quite a few fairly big weaknesses that they will have to address -- and address SOON.

1) PSU D has to learn how to play Pry's pressure schemes without giving up long easy TDs. That is mostly on the safeties. Safeties are called safeties for a reason. The No. 1 reason football teams have safeties is to prevent long easy TDs.

2) LBers have great aggressiveness, but they need to get better reading and positional discipline. Difficult balance but they have to do it. A spectacular TFL means nothing if the following play you overcommit and get caught inside and give up a 50 yard gain right through the spot that you were responsible for.

3) The whole offense has to get used to the way defense are going to play them this year -- Iowa, Pitt, and to some degree USC have shown how to do it. You play safeties back, take away the deep ball, you pressure McSorley IN the pocket but focus on containment rather than sacks. When McSorley uses his legs he is probably the best QB in the Big Ten but if you take that part of his game away, he is the short QB who lacks an NFL arm. So even if people are free downfield he won't see them and if you get him backpedaling he won't be able to deliver the ball 50 yards downfield.

Funny to say this after a 579 yard performance, but I think the O has a ton of work to do. There will come a game (and maybe it's this week) when Barkley is not good for 300 yards of offense. PSU has to have more of a downfield passing game than they had Saturday. I think personnel wise they should be able to do it, but they need help from Moorhead and the coaches on scheme.

There are offensive scheme responses to the Iowa-Pitt type defensive approach. But I don't think Moorhead has gotten them installed yet. They need to do that soon.

Moorhead's whole thing is to take advantage of aggressive blitzing Ds like PSU saw last year. But last year is last year. This year everything will be different. The Iowa game should make that clear just how different things are going to be this year.

Indiana is a hell of a good team. They have scary players. They have a LOT more matchup advantages vs. PSU than Iowa did. Even at the Beav, this game scares me. PSU is going to have to really be sharp to beat them.

I think PSU blitzes too often. Lots of sacks and hurries but also exposed to big plays. I was impressed by the pressure we got vs. Iowa with just a 4 man rush.

PSU certainly needs to find a way to convert 3rd and 2 runs. They also have to do better in the red zone. I'm not a fan of throwing to Polk, Thompkins, or Hamilton down there. Throw it up high to Gesicki, Johnson, & Charles in the back of the EZ.

I'm not sure how good Indy is but they were beating PSU last year until 4 minutes left in the game. They led OSU at half this year. PSU will probably need to start a new streak of 30+ point performances in order to beat them. I think they will.

 

[83wuzme]

Indy gave us some trouble last year on the road. Saquon didn't have a great day rushing. We piled up some points late in the game, including a defensive TD that made the final score a little deceptive.
Indy has a lot of people back on defense, but their run defense has been a disappointment this year. They have a QB in Lago who has an arm as powerful as anybody in the NFL and some good wideouts.

I would like to see some of our other backs shine in this game. We can't expect 300 yard efforts on a regular basis from Saquon.

 

[psu_83_drummer]

Yeah, Indiana has excellent WR's and that is a mismatch in their favor. Indiana's problem is that their D will be on the field for most of the game.

PSU's secondary to date has not exactly been swiss cheese.

 

[tboyer]

Seriously - you are worried about Indiana? They have defeated Penn State once in the 23 or so years Penn State has been in the conference - and we all know what was going on with the program at that time.

I don't call it worrying I call it reality. You'd think the fans on this board would have had a little dose of reality Saturday night but..no. Everybody's taking solace in 579 yards and everybody has glossed over this little fact that Penn State was losing at 14:56 in the fourth quarter.

Did you not see last year's Indiana game. This is not the Indiana team that PSU fans think of when they think of Indiana. They are totally capable of beating PSU if the stars align. They gave PSU all they could handle at a time when PSU was playing great last year. That game was a nailbiter and PSU might very well have lost if not for Indiana turnovers.

Yeah, it's a given that PSU is favored and deserves to be favored. Likelihood is high that PSU wins by 2-3 scores. Stars aligned a little bit at Iowa and it's unlikely that happens a second week in a row, plus home field is a huge huge thing.

But I can't fathom how people on this board don't take other Big Ten teams seriously.

You'd think 20 years of playing in the B1G and losing quite often to the likes of Northwestern, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota -- and yes, even Indiana -- how long will it take before PSU fans realize it isn't ever going to be like the way it was being Beast of the East in the 1970s when the only question was whether PSU would win by 10 or by 50.

I happen to like a competitive schedule week in week out. I find it fun to look at matchups and discuss strengths and weaknesses. A lot of PSU fans no doubt were looking at the Iowa game in disbelief Saturday night -- I was looking at it and thinking -- yep, this is Big Ten football, night game, crazy place. This is what happens.

 

[Howie'81]

I don't call it worrying I call it reality. You'd think the fans on this board would have had a little dose of reality Saturday night but..no. Everybody's taking solace in 579 yards and everybody has glossed over this little fact that Penn State was losing at 14:56 in the fourth quarter.

Did you not see last year's Indiana game. This is not the Indiana team that PSU fans think of when they think of Indiana. They are totally capable of beating PSU if the stars align. They gave PSU all they could handle at a time when PSU was playing great last year. That game was a nailbiter and PSU might very well have lost if not for Indiana turnovers.

Yeah, it's a given that PSU is favored and deserves to be favored. Likelihood is high that PSU wins by 2-3 scores. Stars aligned a little bit at Iowa and it's unlikely that happens a second week in a row, plus home field is a huge huge thing.

But I can't fathom how people on this board don't take other Big Ten teams seriously.

You'd think 20 years of playing in the B1G and losing quite often to the likes of Northwestern, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota -- and yes, even Indiana -- how long will it take before PSU fans realize it isn't ever going to be like the way it was being Beast of the East in the 1970s when the only question was whether PSU would win by 10 or by 50.

I happen to like a competitive schedule week in week out. I find it fun to look at matchups and discuss strengths and weaknesses. A lot of PSU fans no doubt were looking at the Iowa game in disbelief Saturday night -- I was looking at it and thinking -- yep, this is Big Ten football, night game, crazy place. This is what happens.

They were winning at 0:00 of the 4th quarter. And who says other B1G teams aren't taken seriously? They all are. Every team has strengths and weakness, but your tendency is to over magnify our weaknesses, while minimizing our strengths. If that's what you think reality is, it isn't. Can Indiana win? Yeah, sure they can. Is it likely. No. That's reality.

 

[tboyer]

PSU's secondary to date has not exactly been swiss cheese.

No but PSU has not seen anything close to great receivers. Nor an arm even faintly resembling Lagow.

I'm super excited about the PSU secondary, as excited as anybody. They have incredible potential and games like this one coming up are going to test them and show them how much further they have to go.

Really the schedule could turn out to be drawn up really well for PSU. The first three conf games are all winnable but all really tough in different ways.

After Indiana, then you have to worry about fatigue and another team, NW, that plays literally twice as big when they're in front of their own fans.

At some point the PSU offense is going to kick it into gear and really kill it, they're going to play perfectly. I don't know when that will be but I hope it's vs Northwestern.

 

[PeetzPoolBoy]

I don't call it worrying I call it reality. You'd think the fans on this board would have had a little dose of reality Saturday night but..no. Everybody's taking solace in 579 yards and everybody has glossed over this little fact that Penn State was losing at 14:56 in the fourth quarter.

Did you not see last year's Indiana game. This is not the Indiana team that PSU fans think of when they think of Indiana. They are totally capable of beating PSU if the stars align. They gave PSU all they could handle at a time when PSU was playing great last year. That game was a nailbiter and PSU might very well have lost if not for Indiana turnovers.

Yeah, it's a given that PSU is favored and deserves to be favored. Likelihood is high that PSU wins by 2-3 scores. Stars aligned a little bit at Iowa and it's unlikely that happens a second week in a row, plus home field is a huge huge thing.

But I can't fathom how people on this board don't take other Big Ten teams seriously.

You'd think 20 years of playing in the B1G and losing quite often to the likes of Northwestern, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota -- and yes, even Indiana -- how long will it take before PSU fans realize it isn't ever going to be like the way it was being Beast of the East in the 1970s when the only question was whether PSU would win by 10 or by 50.

I happen to like a competitive schedule week in week out. I find it fun to look at matchups and discuss strengths and weaknesses. A lot of PSU fans no doubt were looking at the Iowa game in disbelief Saturday night -- I was looking at it and thinking -- yep, this is Big Ten football, night game, crazy place. This is what happens.

I enjoy your posts. They're well-written and raise points/issues that merit further thought and discussion. It's always good to have some objective/competing perspectives around this joint.

 

[Howie'81]

I enjoy your posts. They're well-written and raise points/issues that merit further thought and discussion. It's always good to have some objective/competing perspectives around this joint.

Sure it is, but his posts aren't that objective.

 

[Madsol]

Sure it is, but his posts aren't that objective.

Yep. Negative/pessimistic is not automatically objective.

 

[CampbellLION]

Yeah, Indiana has excellent WR's and that is a mismatch in their favor. Indiana's problem is that their D will be on the field for most of the game.

Isn' their best WR out for the year?

 

[tboyer]

Thank you! So tired of people who are so enamored of their team that they forget that other teams have players too. You'd think we just blew out Iowa but last time I checked the score was still 21-19.

I like Pry's scheme. Lots of PSU fans were praying for aggressive defense, well now we have one.

Blitzing doesn't work well when it becomes predictable and PSU started to become too predictable Saturday night. I'd like to see more blitz looks and then drop back people into passing lanes. That worked well against Indiana last year. I expected Pry to try to bait Stanley into interceptions but I didn't see evidence of it, it was just full on blitz almost every passing down.

The 3rd and 2 -- we may be talking about that all year. It's just the big structural weakness of the spread option. You just don't have a power running gear in that formation, and I think Franklin has been clear they're not going to put McSorley under center or run anything like I formation. And faking handoff and having McSorley run doesn't work if the defense is all bunched up in the center.

So they have to fake inside go outside, or throw the ball. Anything else seems to have a low likelihood of success.

I think PSU blitzes too often. Lots of sacks and hurries but also exposed to big plays. I was imSpressed by the pressure we got vs. Iowa with just a 4 man rush.

I think PSU blitzes too often. Lots of sacks and hurries but also exposed to big plays. I was impressed by the pressure we got vs. Iowa with just a 4 man rush.

PSU certainly needs to find a way to convert 3rd and 2 runs. They also have to do better in the red zone. I'm not a fan of throwing to Polk, Thompkins, or Hamilton down there. Throw it up high to Gesicki, Johnson, & Charles in the back of the EZ.

I'm not sure how good Indy is but they were beating PSU last year until 4 minutes left in the game. They led OSU at half this year. PSU will probably need to start a new streak of 30+ point performances in order to beat them. I think they will.

 

[BoulderFish]

I think PSU blitzes too often. Lots of sacks and hurries but also exposed to big plays. I was impressed by the pressure we got vs. Iowa with just a 4 man rush.

PSU certainly needs to find a way to convert 3rd and 2 runs. They also have to do better in the red zone. I'm not a fan of throwing to Polk, Thompkins, or Hamilton down there. Throw it up high to Gesicki, Johnson, & Charles in the back of the EZ.

I'm not sure how good Indy is but they were beating PSU last year until 4 minutes left in the game. They led OSU at half this year. PSU will probably need to start a new streak of 30+ point performances in order to beat them. I think they will.

There was NO reason for us to blitz like we did Saturday night. Our front four, while not dominating, were getting solid pressure on their own. The reward/risk factor of blitzing was very low. Then add in the fact that our blitzes were terrible (essentially removed one or two players from our defense), it was just a dumb idea to blitz. Our blitzing on defense was every bit as frustrating as our RZ offense IMO.

 

[lein]

well, at least your goalposts are movable in that the big fear, Iowa pounding the ball down the field over and over again towards their 55 mins of time of possession.

 

[tboyer]

They were winning at 0:00 of the 4th quarter. And who says other B1G teams aren't taken seriously? They all are. Every team has strengths and weakness, but your tendency is to over magnify our weaknesses, while minimizing our strengths. If that's what you think reality is, it isn't. Can Indiana win? Yeah, sure they can. Is it likely. No. That's reality.

A lot of fans didn't take Pitt seriously. Even more people here didn't take Iowa seriously. Vast majority not taking Indiana seriously. Whatever floats your boat, if you want this to be the Penn State is always great board, fine. But to me that's boring.

I'd rather talk Xs and Os. It's not magnifying weaknesses but I do find it more interesting to talk about what the actual matchups will be and what opposing teams will do -- and that is going to be determined by PSU's weaknesses, of which the coaches are much more aware than we. Just makes for more interesting discussions.

I could spend all day posting superlatives about Barkley but how can you say something that hasn't already been said 1000 times by people who are a lot more articulate than me?

Doesn't mean I don't appreciate every second Barkley's on the field. We will never see anything like him at Penn State, certainly not in my lifetime.

 

[BBHorn86]

I hope we don't kill #26. We've got Indy then NW (away) before the bye. He took a beating Saturday night and I don't know how much that takes out of a kid over the long term. Again, we've got to stop making him run 25 yard gassers before trotting our offense on the field. I really believe this is one of the most ridiculous things I've seen in football this year.

Didn't seem to effect Christian McCaffery at Stanford.

It is always a gift to get a game that re-grounds a team without it costing you an L.

PSU played great at Iowa City in many ways, but the game also exposed quite a few fairly big weaknesses that they will have to address -- and address SOON.

1) PSU D has to learn how to play Pry's pressure schemes without giving up long easy TDs. That is mostly on the safeties. Safeties are called safeties for a reason. The No. 1 reason football teams have safeties is to prevent long easy TDs.

2) LBers have great aggressiveness, but they need to get better reading and positional discipline. Difficult balance but they have to do it. A spectacular TFL means nothing if the following play you overcommit and get caught inside and give up a 50 yard gain right through the spot that you were responsible for.

3) The whole offense has to get used to the way defense are going to play them this year -- Iowa, Pitt, and to some degree USC have shown how to do it. You play safeties back, take away the deep ball, you pressure McSorley IN the pocket but focus on containment rather than sacks. When McSorley uses his legs he is probably the best QB in the Big Ten but if you take that part of his game away, he is the short QB who lacks an NFL arm. So even if people are free downfield he won't see them and if you get him backpedaling he won't be able to deliver the ball 50 yards downfield.

Funny to say this after a 579 yard performance, but I think the O has a ton of work to do. There will come a game (and maybe it's this week) when Barkley is not good for 300 yards of offense. PSU has to have more of a downfield passing game than they had Saturday. I think personnel wise they should be able to do it, but they need help from Moorhead and the coaches on scheme.

There are offensive scheme responses to the Iowa-Pitt type defensive approach. But I don't think Moorhead has gotten them installed yet. They need to do that soon.

Moorhead's whole thing is to take advantage of aggressive blitzing Ds like PSU saw last year. But last year is last year. This year everything will be different. The Iowa game should make that clear just how different things are going to be this year.

Indiana is a hell of a good team. They have scary players. They have a LOT more matchup advantages vs. PSU than Iowa did. Even at the Beav, this game scares me. PSU is going to have to really be sharp to beat them.

How soon can you get to State College? This staff needs your input desperately! I can't see how they navigate the balance of the season without your insight. Thankful we have fans like you to straighten out the coaches. Who knows what they do to pass time between games...

 

[83wuzme]

So far, I think the BIG is tougher this year than last top to bottom. Even Rutgers, while not winning, appears much improved. Teams so far appear the same as or better than last season with the possible exception of Nebraska and Illinois.

 

[tboyer]

well, at least your goalposts are movable in that the big fear, Iowa pounding the ball down the field over and over again towards their 55 mins of time of possession.

Absolutely. I went in thinking Iowa could pound the ball but PSU was very well prepared. Iowa started with the pin and pull play that worked so well for Pitt and they got stoned. They couldn't run at all until the 4Q when Pry bet the farm on pass and didn't bother to cover the run off tackle.

Yeah it was partly scheme -- Pry put LBers and safeties into running lanes all night. But it was partly talent and passion, as well as confidence in the PSU corners who played very well. I loved it. If PSU can run stuff like that the rest of the season, that is a foundational block for them. I thought DL played very, very well.

Now the secondary's turn to get tested comes on Saturday. I'm expecting they will pass the test too.

 

[Lion8286]

It is always a gift to get a game that re-grounds a team without it costing you an L.

PSU played great at Iowa City in many ways, but the game also exposed quite a few fairly big weaknesses that they will have to address -- and address SOON.

1) PSU D has to learn how to play Pry's pressure schemes without giving up long easy TDs. That is mostly on the safeties. Safeties are called safeties for a reason. The No. 1 reason football teams have safeties is to prevent long easy TDs.

2) LBers have great aggressiveness, but they need to get better reading and positional discipline. Difficult balance but they have to do it. A spectacular TFL means nothing if the following play you overcommit and get caught inside and give up a 50 yard gain right through the spot that you were responsible for.

3) The whole offense has to get used to the way defense are going to play them this year -- Iowa, Pitt, and to some degree USC have shown how to do it. You play safeties back, take away the deep ball, you pressure McSorley IN the pocket but focus on containment rather than sacks. When McSorley uses his legs he is probably the best QB in the Big Ten but if you take that part of his game away, he is the short QB who lacks an NFL arm. So even if people are free downfield he won't see them and if you get him backpedaling he won't be able to deliver the ball 50 yards downfield.

Funny to say this after a 579 yard performance, but I think the O has a ton of work to do. There will come a game (and maybe it's this week) when Barkley is not good for 300 yards of offense. PSU has to have more of a downfield passing game than they had Saturday. I think personnel wise they should be able to do it, but they need help from Moorhead and the coaches on scheme.

There are offensive scheme responses to the Iowa-Pitt type defensive approach. But I don't think Moorhead has gotten them installed yet. They need to do that soon.

Moorhead's whole thing is to take advantage of aggressive blitzing Ds like PSU saw last year. But last year is last year. This year everything will be different. The Iowa game should make that clear just how different things are going to be this year.

Indiana is a hell of a good team. They have scary players. They have a LOT more matchup advantages vs. PSU than Iowa did. Even at the Beav, this game scares me. PSU is going to have to really be sharp to beat them.

Congrats to tboyer on winning this for a fourth consecutive week.

 

[NitneLiun]

How the hell is that a mismatch in Indiana's favor. Our secondary has played very, very well.

Our secondary hasn't played anyone this season who has WRs at anything approaching the level of Indiana's WRs. I've watched three Indiana games this season. They are very good.

 

[Howie'81]

Our secondary hasn't played anyone this season who has WRs at anything approaching the level of Indiana's WRs. I've watched three Indiana games this season. They are very good.

Maybe not, but that doesn't mean there's a mismatch.

 

[Obliviax]

Didn't seem to effect Christian McCaffery at Stan


How soon can you get to State College? This staff needs your input desperately! I can't see how they navigate the balance of the season without your insight. Thankful we have fans like you to straighten out the coaches. Who knows what they do to pass time between games...

yeah....I couldn't care less about Christian and would tell you that he was far more the exception and not the rule. I'd also tell you he sat out the bowl game to not get hurt. Perhaps he felt he was being over-used. He was also good at it, so there's that. Finally, we've got a killer schedule. The next two weeks are challenging (Indy and NW). And then we get tOSU back to back. If we lose #26, season is over. There isn't another player on the team we can't afford to lose.

 

[tboyer]

I apologize for mistakenly thinking that Iowa could beat Penn State! In fact we saw proof Saturday night that no team will ever beat Penn State, ever again.

So I think we can pretty much abolish the board. Clearly there is no need for any kind of substantive discussions about Penn State's opposition or matchups, because every victory is preordained and inevitable.

You really should get the word out to the player and coaches. Knowing they'll be awarded victories in advance, they could save a lot of time and trouble and watch movies instead of practice.

Congrats to tboyer for winning this for a fourth consecutive week.

 

[Lion8286]

I apologize for mistakenly thinking that Iowa could beat Penn State! In fact we saw proof Saturday night that no team will ever beat Penn State, ever again.

So I think we can pretty much abolish the board. Clearly there is no need for any kind of substantive discussions about Penn State's opposition or matchups, because every victory is preordained and inevitable.

You make people hate watching football. Maybe you should be a coach? You seem to be good at finding faults in everything.

 

[NitneLiun]

Maybe not, but that doesn't mean there's a mismatch.

The eye test tells me there is.

 

[HangTen Lion]

It is always a gift to get a game that re-grounds a team without it costing you an L.

PSU played great at Iowa City in many ways, but the game also exposed quite a few fairly big weaknesses that they will have to address -- and address SOON.

1) PSU D has to learn how to play Pry's pressure schemes without giving up long easy TDs. That is mostly on the safeties. Safeties are called safeties for a reason. The No. 1 reason football teams have safeties is to prevent long easy TDs.

2) LBers have great aggressiveness, but they need to get better reading and positional discipline. Difficult balance but they have to do it. A spectacular TFL means nothing if the following play you overcommit and get caught inside and give up a 50 yard gain right through the spot that you were responsible for.

3) The whole offense has to get used to the way defense are going to play them this year -- Iowa, Pitt, and to some degree USC have shown how to do it. You play safeties back, take away the deep ball, you pressure McSorley IN the pocket but focus on containment rather than sacks. When McSorley uses his legs he is probably the best QB in the Big Ten but if you take that part of his game away, he is the short QB who lacks an NFL arm. So even if people are free downfield he won't see them and if you get him backpedaling he won't be able to deliver the ball 50 yards downfield.

Funny to say this after a 579 yard performance, but I think the O has a ton of work to do. There will come a game (and maybe it's this week) when Barkley is not good for 300 yards of offense. PSU has to have more of a downfield passing game than they had Saturday. I think personnel wise they should be able to do it, but they need help from Moorhead and the coaches on scheme.

There are offensive scheme responses to the Iowa-Pitt type defensive approach. But I don't think Moorhead has gotten them installed yet. They need to do that soon.

Moorhead's whole thing is to take advantage of aggressive blitzing Ds like PSU saw last year. But last year is last year. This year everything will be different. The Iowa game should make that clear just how different things are going to be this year.

Indiana is a hell of a good team. They have scary players. They have a LOT more matchup advantages vs. PSU than Iowa did. Even at the Beav, this game scares me. PSU is going to have to really be sharp to beat them.

Indiana still plays terrible defense. I don't know how sharp we will have to be to beat them at home....

 

[Howie'81]

The eye test tells me there is.

Maybe Indiana hasn't faced this good of a secondary. Don't say OSU. They've been torched by any team with pulse. Hell Baker Mayfield is the only guy challenging Barkley for the Heisman right now because of how he torched OSU.