Hello all. Long time lurker, first time poster (be kind). I went back to rewatch the game during the long weekend and thought I’d offer up some of my own observations on the game, focusing on the position groups and some key places during the game. These are just my thoughts and opinions, as I am not a professional coach, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Here we go...
Offense
1. Coaching - Watching the game live I was concerned about our playcalling and game plan, but a rewatch of the game calmed me down some. While it wasn't perfect, I feel Rahne called a good, if not solid, game. I would have liked to see more downfield passing routes, as App State's safeties played within 10 yards of the LOS on many plays. While we did throw some go routes to Johnson that we couldn't connect on (more on that later), I hope that we see more creativity in getting our receivers downfield. Also, I feel like James Franklin had his best game from a game management standpoint. He utilized his timeouts at the most crucial times and seemed much more engaged with everybody on the field and sidelines that I have noticed in the past.
2. QB - man are we lucky to have Trace. Not his best game as he slightly overthrew a few deep balls but was money when it counted. Not sure if it is new, but I didn't notice it as much last year, but on both of Trace's TD runs, he was moving downhill on what look like RPOs. That downhill momentum gave the defense even less time to react.
What a play on the game tying TD in regulation. Looks like we had an RPO called (WRs on top of screen went out to block), and with an untouched blitzing player coming right at his face, McSorley had about 0.01 second to recognize the defense and hit Hamler with a pinpoint throw for the TD off his back foot. Amazing.
3. RBs - Did anyone else love Sanders leaping a defender on his first carry as a starter? It was almost like he said, I know you guys will miss Saquon, but I got this. Was a little worried about the drop off coming into the season but came away very impressed with Sanders toughness and ability to break tackles.
Allen did some good things, and I think he deserves playing time. A tough north/south runner. While I expect Sanders and Slade to be 1-2 as the season goes on, I'd be comfortable with Allen getting in on the action to spell those guys.
Slade was very impressive. Hits the hole quick. Will be a valuable asset (*note: Slade's TD run is a great example of the craziness of the in-game thread. During Slade's drive I remember seeing a comment along the lines of "why do we keep running Slade up the middle, get him in space." Next play: TD right up the middle.)
4. WRs - I am a little worried about Juwan Johnson's drops. Not so much the short passes, as he has proven he can catch the 7-10 yard out routes, but he has showing nothing in the way that he can be a deep threat (in the mold of Godwin, A-Rob, even to help replace Gesicki). During his time at Penn State, I'm not sure he has ever gone up for a deep ball and brought it in. The physical tools are there, but if we don't have a big guy that can go up and get it in traffic that's going to really limit our offense.
Hamler is special. Looks like he is playing at a different speed that the rest of our WRs. He may end up being our deep threat by the end of the season.
Thompkins had a rough day blocking, although I expect that to get better with more live game action. Polk played well with his time at the position. Great grab on 4th down in 4Q.
Overall, I hope we find more ways to get the ball in Hamler's hands, I think he's a game breaker in a way that Johnson just hasn't shown he can be.
5. TEs - I didn't focus too much on this group. I don't see anyone on the roster that will be a consistent receiving threat this year. Hope I'm wrong. Blocking looked good from the group.
6. O-Line - It is hard to assess the o-line without the All-22 tape and seeing each responsibility, but a few things stood out. We struggling identifying and picking up blitzing players - there were too many free rushers in McSorley's face. We should be able to correct that this week.
As others have stated, the lack of negative rushing plays was refreshing to see.
Will Fries played a great game and I expect him to be the full-time starter moving forward. The main reason is his run blocking. We pull our RT a lot on the running game and in the 1st half it was painfully obvious that Wright isnt quick enough to get around and make a block. On both Slade's TD run and one of Trace's TD runs, the ability of Fries to pull and seal the LB made the difference of a 5 yard run and a long TD.
7. DL - again, hard to assess without the endzone view (hard to tell gap responsibilities) but as many have stated, it was pretty underwhelming play. Miller played solid but was unable to make a difference in pass rush. YGM looks like an NFL DE and played solid, but again wasn't a difference maker in the pass rush.
DTs played pretty poorly, no push, couldn't get off blocks. Even more concerned now than heading into the season.
8. LBs - a lot of you aren't going to like this, but after rewatching the game, Jan Johnson was probably our best linebacker in that game. He was the only LB that consistently made tackles at the LOS. And while everyone says most of his tackles came 10 yards down the field, a lot of those were from Brown or Farmer not reading their keys or keeping contain, leaving Jan there to clean up. Despite not having the star recruiting ratings, he played a solid game and I hope he continues to get better. (Note* from my count Jan Johnson had 5 tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage, which is more tackles than either Brown or Farmer had all game).
I'm not sure if Brooks is quite ready to play at MLB. He looked lost while he was in the game and got pushed around. I expect we see more Johnson and less Brooks moving forward.
The real concern in our LB unit is Farmer and Brown made very few plays. I want Koa to succeed but he just disappears in games. Brown seems more aggressive but on tape looks like he peers into the backfield too often instead of reading his keys. We need a lot better at these positions.
Parsons looked great in his 2Q action, flying to the ball. in the 4Q not so much, as he was slow to get into his drops or to fight off blockers. The raw materials are there, and we will need them sooner than later.
Jarvis Miller also impressed big time in his limited reps. Contained the edge which may be big vs. Pitt in a way that Brown hasn't shown he can do. Hope Miller plays more.
I'm going to take a stab based on 1 game, but I wouldn't be surprised if our starting LBs are Parsons, Johnson, and Miller by the time Ohio State comes to town.
9. CBs- TCF looked like our best DB on the field, the only one to consistently have tight coverage. Excited to see him on the field more and more this season.
Reid was rusty but I'm not worried, he didn't play as bad as you might remember. For the most part App State stayed away from him during the game. He did get burnt once for a TD which stands out very poorly, but you have to give credit to App State for play design as Reid's WR came out like he was going to block for a swing pass, which froze Reid just enough for the WR to run by him for the TD. Reid will be okay.
Amani on the other hand had a rough game. I'm not sure if he was being targeted intentionally, but he got a lot of action and missed some tackles, gave up some yards in the pass game. The INT was obviously huge and a special play, but I really hope we see some consistency here.
10. Safeties - Nick Scott played a good game and was the only DB that showed he could make a tackle and hit someone. Pass coverage was solid as well. We'll miss Marcus Allen, but Scott showed he can play.
Taylor played an up and down game, hopefully he improves with more playing time as it doesn't look like Wade is a starter yet.
Other random thoughts
- Focusing on the 4Q, App State played (nearly) 15 perfect minutes of football. Everything went right for them. Their backup QB comes in on 4th and 3 and drops a perfect pass for 1st and goal. I would guess that the double DB blitz that resulted in a TD was a blown coverage, but if it wasn't, App State had the perfect play call on. The onside kick was inexcusable on our end to not be ready for, but give their Kicker credit, perfectly executed. Even their freshman punter got in on the action, pinning us on our own 4 with 4 minutes to go.
- After the rewatch, we definitely weren't letting App State score at TD as we had some clock and TOs to work with, but we are probably lucky that it worked out how it did.
- That said, are we also lucky that Hamler didn't take that final kick off to the house? The way our defense played, probably so.
- We got the win, and a lot of players on film to really work on their game.
- Like many have noticed, the substitutions were plentiful, bordering on cockiness by our coaching staff to run out so many freshman with the game so tight. I think this happened because, as Franklin has stated, there are numerous positions that nobody has separated themselves to earn more playing time. Having so many guys in during high pressure situations should give the coaches a better idea of who is earning playing time.
- We got the W. On to Pitt
Here we go...
Offense
1. Coaching - Watching the game live I was concerned about our playcalling and game plan, but a rewatch of the game calmed me down some. While it wasn't perfect, I feel Rahne called a good, if not solid, game. I would have liked to see more downfield passing routes, as App State's safeties played within 10 yards of the LOS on many plays. While we did throw some go routes to Johnson that we couldn't connect on (more on that later), I hope that we see more creativity in getting our receivers downfield. Also, I feel like James Franklin had his best game from a game management standpoint. He utilized his timeouts at the most crucial times and seemed much more engaged with everybody on the field and sidelines that I have noticed in the past.
2. QB - man are we lucky to have Trace. Not his best game as he slightly overthrew a few deep balls but was money when it counted. Not sure if it is new, but I didn't notice it as much last year, but on both of Trace's TD runs, he was moving downhill on what look like RPOs. That downhill momentum gave the defense even less time to react.
What a play on the game tying TD in regulation. Looks like we had an RPO called (WRs on top of screen went out to block), and with an untouched blitzing player coming right at his face, McSorley had about 0.01 second to recognize the defense and hit Hamler with a pinpoint throw for the TD off his back foot. Amazing.
3. RBs - Did anyone else love Sanders leaping a defender on his first carry as a starter? It was almost like he said, I know you guys will miss Saquon, but I got this. Was a little worried about the drop off coming into the season but came away very impressed with Sanders toughness and ability to break tackles.
Allen did some good things, and I think he deserves playing time. A tough north/south runner. While I expect Sanders and Slade to be 1-2 as the season goes on, I'd be comfortable with Allen getting in on the action to spell those guys.
Slade was very impressive. Hits the hole quick. Will be a valuable asset (*note: Slade's TD run is a great example of the craziness of the in-game thread. During Slade's drive I remember seeing a comment along the lines of "why do we keep running Slade up the middle, get him in space." Next play: TD right up the middle.)
4. WRs - I am a little worried about Juwan Johnson's drops. Not so much the short passes, as he has proven he can catch the 7-10 yard out routes, but he has showing nothing in the way that he can be a deep threat (in the mold of Godwin, A-Rob, even to help replace Gesicki). During his time at Penn State, I'm not sure he has ever gone up for a deep ball and brought it in. The physical tools are there, but if we don't have a big guy that can go up and get it in traffic that's going to really limit our offense.
Hamler is special. Looks like he is playing at a different speed that the rest of our WRs. He may end up being our deep threat by the end of the season.
Thompkins had a rough day blocking, although I expect that to get better with more live game action. Polk played well with his time at the position. Great grab on 4th down in 4Q.
Overall, I hope we find more ways to get the ball in Hamler's hands, I think he's a game breaker in a way that Johnson just hasn't shown he can be.
5. TEs - I didn't focus too much on this group. I don't see anyone on the roster that will be a consistent receiving threat this year. Hope I'm wrong. Blocking looked good from the group.
6. O-Line - It is hard to assess the o-line without the All-22 tape and seeing each responsibility, but a few things stood out. We struggling identifying and picking up blitzing players - there were too many free rushers in McSorley's face. We should be able to correct that this week.
As others have stated, the lack of negative rushing plays was refreshing to see.
Will Fries played a great game and I expect him to be the full-time starter moving forward. The main reason is his run blocking. We pull our RT a lot on the running game and in the 1st half it was painfully obvious that Wright isnt quick enough to get around and make a block. On both Slade's TD run and one of Trace's TD runs, the ability of Fries to pull and seal the LB made the difference of a 5 yard run and a long TD.
7. DL - again, hard to assess without the endzone view (hard to tell gap responsibilities) but as many have stated, it was pretty underwhelming play. Miller played solid but was unable to make a difference in pass rush. YGM looks like an NFL DE and played solid, but again wasn't a difference maker in the pass rush.
DTs played pretty poorly, no push, couldn't get off blocks. Even more concerned now than heading into the season.
8. LBs - a lot of you aren't going to like this, but after rewatching the game, Jan Johnson was probably our best linebacker in that game. He was the only LB that consistently made tackles at the LOS. And while everyone says most of his tackles came 10 yards down the field, a lot of those were from Brown or Farmer not reading their keys or keeping contain, leaving Jan there to clean up. Despite not having the star recruiting ratings, he played a solid game and I hope he continues to get better. (Note* from my count Jan Johnson had 5 tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage, which is more tackles than either Brown or Farmer had all game).
I'm not sure if Brooks is quite ready to play at MLB. He looked lost while he was in the game and got pushed around. I expect we see more Johnson and less Brooks moving forward.
The real concern in our LB unit is Farmer and Brown made very few plays. I want Koa to succeed but he just disappears in games. Brown seems more aggressive but on tape looks like he peers into the backfield too often instead of reading his keys. We need a lot better at these positions.
Parsons looked great in his 2Q action, flying to the ball. in the 4Q not so much, as he was slow to get into his drops or to fight off blockers. The raw materials are there, and we will need them sooner than later.
Jarvis Miller also impressed big time in his limited reps. Contained the edge which may be big vs. Pitt in a way that Brown hasn't shown he can do. Hope Miller plays more.
I'm going to take a stab based on 1 game, but I wouldn't be surprised if our starting LBs are Parsons, Johnson, and Miller by the time Ohio State comes to town.
9. CBs- TCF looked like our best DB on the field, the only one to consistently have tight coverage. Excited to see him on the field more and more this season.
Reid was rusty but I'm not worried, he didn't play as bad as you might remember. For the most part App State stayed away from him during the game. He did get burnt once for a TD which stands out very poorly, but you have to give credit to App State for play design as Reid's WR came out like he was going to block for a swing pass, which froze Reid just enough for the WR to run by him for the TD. Reid will be okay.
Amani on the other hand had a rough game. I'm not sure if he was being targeted intentionally, but he got a lot of action and missed some tackles, gave up some yards in the pass game. The INT was obviously huge and a special play, but I really hope we see some consistency here.
10. Safeties - Nick Scott played a good game and was the only DB that showed he could make a tackle and hit someone. Pass coverage was solid as well. We'll miss Marcus Allen, but Scott showed he can play.
Taylor played an up and down game, hopefully he improves with more playing time as it doesn't look like Wade is a starter yet.
Other random thoughts
- Focusing on the 4Q, App State played (nearly) 15 perfect minutes of football. Everything went right for them. Their backup QB comes in on 4th and 3 and drops a perfect pass for 1st and goal. I would guess that the double DB blitz that resulted in a TD was a blown coverage, but if it wasn't, App State had the perfect play call on. The onside kick was inexcusable on our end to not be ready for, but give their Kicker credit, perfectly executed. Even their freshman punter got in on the action, pinning us on our own 4 with 4 minutes to go.
- After the rewatch, we definitely weren't letting App State score at TD as we had some clock and TOs to work with, but we are probably lucky that it worked out how it did.
- That said, are we also lucky that Hamler didn't take that final kick off to the house? The way our defense played, probably so.
- We got the win, and a lot of players on film to really work on their game.
- Like many have noticed, the substitutions were plentiful, bordering on cockiness by our coaching staff to run out so many freshman with the game so tight. I think this happened because, as Franklin has stated, there are numerous positions that nobody has separated themselves to earn more playing time. Having so many guys in during high pressure situations should give the coaches a better idea of who is earning playing time.
- We got the W. On to Pitt
