Do you think this game sucked…..I give you 6-4

[The Spin Meister]

Iowa game. Absolute incredibly terrible.

Penn State passing was 9-28 …… with four interceptions! Last three possessions…while behind only 6-4…,. Interception, interception, fumble.

Was so bad that Iowa gave up an intentional safety with over eight minutes left to allow PSU to get to within two points…..fully confident we couldn’t get a field goal.

Not surprising since Robbie Gould…..yeah the guy that had a very long record setting NFL career…. already had missed a 25 yard attempt. And a 51 yarder.

Walking out it seemed as if Penn State football was over. Never to be a top team again.

Penn State History Lesson: Penn State Football's 2004 6-4 Loss To No. 25 Iowa

If you thought the 2023 offense was bad...

onwardstate.com

 

[91Joe95]

You're not doing Franklin any favors, I'll take late season Paterno over Franklin any day. More physical and better prepared teams, with much more attention to detail. Paterno, with Franklin's class recruiting sizes would destroy Franklin's teams. There, I said it

 

[Jerry]

Iowa game. Absolute incredibly terrible.

Penn State passing was 9-28 …… with four interceptions! Last three possessions…while behind only 6-4…,. Interception, interception, fumble.

Was so bad that Iowa gave up an intentional safety with over eight minutes left to allow PSU to get to within two points…..fully confident we couldn’t get a field goal.

Not surprising since Robbie Gould…..yeah the guy that had a very long record setting NFL career…. already had missed a 25 yard attempt. And a 51 yarder.

Walking out it seemed as if Penn State football was over. Never to be a top team again.

Penn State History Lesson: Penn State Football's 2004 6-4 Loss To No. 25 Iowa

If you thought the 2023 offense was bad...

onwardstate.com

Spin, yes, as a technical matter of performance on the football field that 2004 loss was worse than yesterday's. I mean, it was so bad that it was actually comical and entertaining in a twisted sort of way.

But bigger picture, yesterday's loss was worse...a lot worse.

We didn't have a good team in 2004 -- we ended up with only 4 wins on the season -- and nothing much was expected of us, which is why we entered that game as an underdog to an Iowa team that was ranked (barely) in the top-25 at the time.

Yesterday, in contrast, we entered the game as 24-point favorites against a UCLA squad that had been considered one of the worst in the country. Despite the backbreaker to Oregon last week, we were still ranked in the top-10 and still had playoff aspirations.

I'd take the 2004 Iowa loss any day of the week and twice on, er, Saturdays over what we saw yesterday at the Rose Bowl.

 

[sr108]

Spin, yes, as a technical matter of performance on the football field that 2004 loss was worse than yesterday's. I mean, it was so bad that it was actually comical and entertaining in a twisted sort of way.

But bigger picture, yesterday's loss was worse...a lot worse.

We didn't have a good team in 2004 -- we ended up with only 4 wins on the season -- and nothing much was expected of us, which is why we entered that game as an underdog to an Iowa team that was ranked (barely) in the top-25 at the time.

Yesterday, in contrast, we entered the game as 24-point favorites against a UCLA squad that had been considered one of the worst in the country. Despite the backbreaker to Oregon last week, we were still ranked in the top-10 and still had playoff aspirations.

I'd take the 2004 Iowa loss any day of the week and twice on, er, Saturdays over what we saw yesterday at the Rose Bowl.

Are we sure this team is as talented as we thought? Last year we had Warren and Carter. Apparently we miss them more than we realize.

I don’t see an elite pass rusher.
I don’t see a go to receiver
After the loss of Rojas, I don’t see a sideline to sideline linebacker

All that said, the biggest disappointment is the OLine. I’m not sure if it’s the lack of talent or the disjointed play calling.

 

[Jerry]

Are we sure this team is as talented as we thought? Last year we had Warren and Carter. Apparently we miss them more than we realize.

I don’t see an elite pass rusher.
I don’t see a go to receiver
After the loss of Rojas, I don’t see a sideline to sideline linebacker

All that said, the biggest disappointment is the OLine. I’m not sure if it’s the lack of talent or the disjointed play calling.

I don't think this team is as talented as it was billed to be. In fact, coming into the season I really didn't get the national championship hype.

That said, there's still a lot of talent...enough to take a top-5 Oregon team into overtime last week after holding their high-powered offense to 3 points in the first half. And by any measure, there's a lot more talent than UCLA has at its disposal.

I don't think the talent is being properly exploited by the coordinators and I think the team was not ready to play yesterday...and for that the buck stops with the head coach. Except I think he was in a mental funk too.

 

[The Spin Meister]

Are we sure this team is as talented as we thought? Last year we had Warren and Carter. Apparently we miss them more than we realize.

I don’t see an elite pass rusher.
I don’t see a go to receiver
After the loss of Rojas, I don’t see a sideline to sideline linebacker

All that said, the biggest disappointment is the OLine. I’m not sure if it’s the lack of talent or the disjointed play calling.

TEs have been very disappointing. They have dropped 3-4 catches every single game. To the point they don’t get targeted much in second half.

The O line is just terrible when they were projected as one of the best. Oregon just toyed with them.

Receivers don’t have any speed. With Allar’s cannon a speed receiver should get deep and scare the hell out of opponents. Instead opponents don’t even worry about any deep threats and play run first.

Move Singleton to slot as he looks like he could be the next Antonio Brown without the headcase issues. Let him go deep early in games to back up the d backs.

 

[The Spin Meister]

I don't think this team is as talented as it was billed to be. In fact, coming into the season I really didn't get the national championship hype.

That said, there's still a lot of talent...enough to take a top-5 Oregon team into overtime last week after holding their high-powered offense to 3 points in the first half. And by any measure, there's a lot more talent than UCLA has at its disposal.

I don't think the talent is being properly exploited by the coordinators and I think the team was not ready to play yesterday...and for that the buck stops with the head coach. Except I think he was in a mental funk too.

I never bought the natty talk or Allar being a top QB. Said so mid season last year and got hammered for daring to speak the truth.

He is good but not great. Has shown to be a huge fighter in the fourth qtr of the last two games by power running but that is not his job.

He just isn’t a great QB and makes bad decisions late in games. He feels it’s on him to win the game so he forces bad throws.

Fixes: move Singleton to slot receiver to use his speed deep. Katron is back #1. Use TEs across middle more. Throw deep at least three times in first gtr…..assuming we actually do more than three and outs.

If it’s third and long throw a 50-60 yd jump ball. Even if intercepted it’s as good as a punt. Just tell receivers to make sure they make the tackle if they can’t catch it. At least make the d backs play deep.

Going to be very interesting to see how team reacts. And very telling about Franklin’s future.

 

[IANit]

I'm not excusing the loss. But people go on about how terrible the UCLA team was. Yes, they were terrible in their first 4 games. But they didn't have 0-4 talent. When you fire the coach and coordinators mid-season, it means they were failing the players. UCLA came out with a go-for-broke attitude. Jerry Neuheisel called a smart game, using Nico the way he should be used. We sleep walked through the first half - something I expected before the season matter what happened against Oregon. I didn't like the way this game set up when I first saw the schedule. Emotional letdowns are a thing. You have a whiteout game then travel to the West Coast to play in warm weather before a quiet crowd, and you'll usually start slow. That's OK, as long as you wake up and start playing later in the game and don't coach badly. The problem is that almost nobody woke up. Drew Allar played well, Kaytron also. Everyone else and the coaches sucked yesterday. Terrible situational awareness. All should have to pay back their game checks because they are stealing right now.

 

[Frank Lee]

Would OSU or UGA have lost this game? How long has Franklin been coach? How long ago were the sanctions? There is something wrong within the program whether it's coaches and/or level of talent. It's not some spurious alignment of the planets.

 

[IANit]

Iowa game. Absolute incredibly terrible.

Penn State passing was 9-28 …… with four interceptions! Last three possessions…while behind only 6-4…,. Interception, interception, fumble.

Was so bad that Iowa gave up an intentional safety with over eight minutes left to allow PSU to get to within two points…..fully confident we couldn’t get a field goal.

Not surprising since Robbie Gould…..yeah the guy that had a very long record setting NFL career…. already had missed a 25 yard attempt. And a 51 yarder.

Walking out it seemed as if Penn State football was over. Never to be a top team again.

Penn State History Lesson: Penn State Football's 2004 6-4 Loss To No. 25 Iowa

If you thought the 2023 offense was bad...

onwardstate.com

Don't forget that Robbie Gould was 0-3 that game. He was a great NFL kicker, but not so much at PSU. Coach Ferentz's father died earlier that week and he'd travelled back for the funeral separately, rejoining the team on game day. Hugely emotional win for him in the most Iowa way possible. Iowa was 10-2 that year after a 2-2 start, winning a share of the Big Ten. The first loss was 44-7 at ASU, then a loss at Michigan to start Big Ten play. He did a great job of righting the ship. I don't think our defense gave up more than 21 points that year. I suggested we had a very good defense despite our 4-7 record and people said it was mainly just the other teams not opening it up on offense since our offense was so bad. Pretty much the same defense helped us go 11-1 the next year. Iowa beat LSU and Nick Saban on a walk off TD pass 30-25 in the Capital One Bowl, I think it was.

 

[IANit]

Would OSU or UGA have lost this game? How long has Franklin been coach? How long ago were the sanctions? There is something wrong within the program whether it's coaches and/or level of talent. It's not some spurious alignment of the planets.

It's OK to get punched in the mouth. But true Top 10 teams usually answer the bell and then some. To be fair, some of Ohio State's wins over us when we were a bad team (2003, 2014) were hugely referee assisted. So yes, Ohio State likely would have "found a way" to win this game.

 

[The Spin Meister]

Spin, yes, as a technical matter of performance on the football field that 2004 loss was worse than yesterday's. I mean, it was so bad that it was actually comical and entertaining in a twisted sort of way.

But bigger picture, yesterday's loss was worse...a lot worse.

We didn't have a good team in 2004 -- we ended up with only 4 wins on the season -- and nothing much was expected of us, which is why we entered that game as an underdog to an Iowa team that was ranked (barely) in the top-25 at the time.

Yesterday, in contrast, we entered the game as 24-point favorites against a UCLA squad that had been considered one of the worst in the country. Despite the backbreaker to Oregon last week, we were still ranked in the top-10 and still had playoff aspirations.

I'd take the 2004 Iowa loss any day of the week and twice on, er, Saturdays over what we saw yesterday at the Rose Bowl.

6-4 was far worse. It looked like we had zero talent and zero future. Didn’t do a single thing right all day. And the ultimate insult to surrender a safety with eight minutes left knowing we couldn’t even get a lousy field goal. Walking out it seemed we would never be a top ten or even a top twenty team again.

This game was a mess but winnable. We had momentum in the 3qtr, closed their lead to seven points, had UCLA in a 3rd and long ……9 yds IIRC…., and their QB rambled off for 51 yds!!! The scored two play later.

If we force them to punt there the momentum stays with us. If we tied the game we could have gone on to win by two TDs. That one play changed everything.

We win it still in the natty chase. Still top ten. Still a building power.

Iowa game we never had a chance.

 

[The Spin Meister]

Don't forget that Robbie Gould was 0-3 that game. He was a great NFL kicker, but not so much at PSU. Coach Ferentz's father died earlier that week and he'd travelled back for the funeral separately, rejoining the team on game day. Hugely emotional win for him in the most Iowa way possible. Iowa was 10-2 that year after a 2-2 start, winning a share of the Big Ten. The first loss was 44-7 at ASU, then a loss at Michigan to start Big Ten play. He did a great job of righting the ship. I don't think our defense gave up more than 21 points that year. I suggested we had a very good defense despite our 4-7 record and people said it was mainly just the other teams not opening it up on offense since our offense was so bad. Pretty much the same defense helped us go 11-1 the next year. Iowa beat LSU and Nick Saban on a walk off TD pass 30-25 in the Capital One Bowl, I think it was.

Yeah, He missed a 25 yrd field goal. Basically an extra point.

They were laughing our offense. The ‘receivers’ never got 5-7 yds beyond the line of scrimmage. Just tied up at the LOS. I was watching them in the second half and they quit even trying.

The next year brought in D Williams and King. And everything changed.

 

[IANit]

6-4 was far worse. It looked like we had zero talent and zero future. Didn’t do a single thing right all day. And the ultimate insult to surrender a safety with eight minutes left knowing we couldn’t even get a lousy field goal. Walking out it seemed we would never be a top ten or even a top twenty team again.

This game was a mess but winnable. We had momentum in the 3qtr, closed their lead to seven points, had UCLA in a 3rd and long ……9 yds IIRC…., and their QB rambled off for 51 yds!!! The scored two play later.

If we force them to punt there the momentum stays with us. If we tied the game we could have gone on to win by two TDs. That one play changed everything.

We win it still in the natty chase. Still top ten. Still a building power.

Iowa game we never had a chance.

We were under .500 for the decade at the time of the 6-4 game. We were actually punching above our weight as Iowa had won 10 or more games the last 2 seasons, while we were 3-9 the year before, and 4-7 that year. This game was supposed to be a walk over for a CFP team, and we trailed the whole game. This was a much worse performance based on expectations.

 

[Jerry]

We were under .500 for the decade at the time of the 6-4 game. We were actually punching above our weight as Iowa had won 10 or more games the last 2 seasons, while we were 3-9 the year before, and 4-7 that year. This game was supposed to be a walk over for a CFP team, and we trailed the whole game. This was a much worse performance based on expectations.

Exactly.

I mean, it all depends on what's being measured, the quality of the team and its performance in purely technical terms or the expectations, stakes, and damage done by losing.

If the former, then sure, the 2004 loss was worse. If the latter, then it's not even a close call, yesterday takes the cake.

 

[The Spin Meister]

We were under .500 for the decade at the time of the 6-4 game. We were actually punching above our weight as Iowa had won 10 or more games the last 2 seasons, while we were 3-9 the year before, and 4-7 that year. This game was supposed to be a walk over for a CFP team, and we trailed the whole game. This was a much worse performance based on expectations.

You just made my point. We sucked totally against Iowa and beyond and not just one game. The feeling was we were never going to be a contender again.

No one went to bed last night thinking Penn State would never make the playoffs or be top ten again.

Many probably gave up on this season. Worried about next year with all the graduates. But we all know we will contend again and soon.

Huge difference.

 

[IANit]

As

You just made my point. We sucked totally against Iowa and beyond and not just one game. The feeling was we were never going to be a contender again.

No one went to bed last night thinking Penn State would never make the playoffs or be top ten again.

Many probably gave up on this season. Worried about next year with all the graduates. But we all know we will contend again and soon.

Huge difference.

But despite the gloom and doom feelings at the time, Joe had taken us to the mountain top, and most of us were OK with Joe leaving on his terms and figured we were a couple of years away from his retirement when a new coach would awaken the giant. I never felt we wouldn't be a contender again, just that it may not be under Joe. This situation sucks because Franklin may well be the ceiling of PSU football in this era. You did not have the recruiting superpowers in those days like Ohio State, Alabama, Texas, and Georgia, even Notre Dame. Maybe USC and Miami were close. As long as Franklin won the games like this, you could talk yourself into saying we're close. Now, not so much. Do we just accept this is where we are or move on? We don't know what happens if he's fired. It's likely a step back for a few years, and we may not even get back to where we've been under Franklin. But sometimes you have to make the move and worry about the fallout later.

 

[91Joe95]

Even during the 6-4 debacle half the team was still great. Paterno said they were only a couple players away, and he was right. Give Paterno 20-25 Franklin sized annual recruiting classes instead of the paltry classes that had shrunk to as low as 12 and he would have had those players earlier than 2005.

 

[bdroc]

Iowa game. Absolute incredibly terrible.

Penn State passing was 9-28 …… with four interceptions! Last three possessions…while behind only 6-4…,. Interception, interception, fumble.

Was so bad that Iowa gave up an intentional safety with over eight minutes left to allow PSU to get to within two points…..fully confident we couldn’t get a field goal.

Not surprising since Robbie Gould…..yeah the guy that had a very long record setting NFL career…. already had missed a 25 yard attempt. And a 51 yarder.

Walking out it seemed as if Penn State football was over. Never to be a top team again.

Penn State History Lesson: Penn State Football's 2004 6-4 Loss To No. 25 Iowa

If you thought the 2023 offense was bad...

onwardstate.com

That game was not even close to as bad as this one.

Iowa was 10-2 that year (UCLA was 0-4 against bad opponents)
We played good defense in that game (UCLA scored 42 against us)

PSU didn't forget to have a man up to recover a short kickoff. They didn't forget to use timeouts. They didn't forget to rush a punter who was trying to run clock. They didn't keep their best RB on the sideline for most of the game much less critical situations.

4-6 was a gem of a game compared to this one.

 

[27Pellis]

6-4 was far worse. It looked like we had zero talent and zero future. Didn’t do a single thing right all day. And the ultimate insult to surrender a safety with eight minutes left knowing we couldn’t even get a lousy field goal. Walking out it seemed we would never be a top ten or even a top twenty team again.

This game was a mess but winnable. We had momentum in the 3qtr, closed their lead to seven points, had UCLA in a 3rd and long ……9 yds IIRC…., and their QB rambled off for 51 yds!!! The scored two play later.

If we force them to punt there the momentum stays with us. If we tied the game we could have gone on to win by two TDs. That one play changed everything.

We win it still in the natty chase. Still top ten. Still a building power.

Iowa game we never had a chance.

Yeah 6-4 was clearly bad….as was most of the 2003 to 2004 seasons. The big difference was/is the existing talent. We have at least a dozen better athletes on the current team, that makes Saturday’s loss much more troubling……much of this downturn is mental/emotional. These kids and coaches need to pop their heads out of their collective a**es and play football hard, and for FUN…and tune out all distractions. They truly need to view the season as 1 game at a time from here on in.