Look, Penn St just isn’t good enough. That qb from Oregon was incredible. Franklin tried to get him and couldn’t. And recruiting may be Franklins strongest asset. And Oregon had 10 other players (maybe more) just like him at different positions. I love PSU n Coach Franklin but the saying ‘their Jimmy’s were better than our Joe’s’ applies. Perhaps PSU will catch lightening in a bottle at some point but against these top tier programs we’re just not good enough - ie as talented as them. We get really good players and our program is really good but the OSUs and Oregon’s get more (5 stars) and are better. I hate to say it but it’s the truth. And the competitor in each of us will want to say ‘but this’ and ‘if we could just get that’ but the truth is we’re just not elite - very very good in a lot of areas but not elite. And sometimes you have to face reality and just be honest. Having said all that I’ll still support the program. There’s a lot of season left and perhaps we may just catch that lightening. But….,
Honest conversation
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Sheriff Coffee
Well-known member
The game was lost because our OL got dominated. Period.
They also started three true freshmen who played great. And their NIL rebuilt OL played well but our D was awesome but wore down.
They also started three true freshmen who played great. And their NIL rebuilt OL played well but our D was awesome but wore down.
LionDeNittany
Well-known member
We didn't lose the game because of our OL.
We have no passing game, and Singleton blows.
Both of those make teams able to tee off on our OL
Hard to argue, however, Michigan won a championship with similar talent so it is possible. We need our own Stalions.
I'm not sure any one thing accounted for the loss. It was truly a team effort with various parts of the team taking turns failing at critical times.
Word is we have an elite D. It took Oregon 4 plays to put two TDs on the board in two overtimes.
Had the D played well to that point? Yes. Was it worn down by that point? Yes. I recall our great 1986 D being worn down after dealing for almost 60 minutes with a Miami offense that was arguably the best of the decade in college football. But various players came up big at the crucial moment with the Canes knocking on the door.
That 1986 team had the "it" factor big-time. Our great teams of the past have as well. Somewhere along the line we've lost that.
All true, but that qb was the difference IMO. How many times did we get pressure and he scrambled either gaining yardage or finding a receiver down field. I don’t believe we ever did sack him.
That said, our secondary played really well other than defending the quick screen and scramble drill completions.
The Offensive line has been a big disappointment so far this season.
Forester Gump
New member
What caused the big difference btwn the first 3 quarters of the game and the last quarter? Same offensive line. Did the Oregon D just wear out? Or was there a change in the game plan? If it was the game plan, why so long to adjust?
WeR0206
Well-known member
I agree but I think the larger problem is that Franklin isn’t mentally tough (bad ability to focus etc) so by extension neither are the teams he leads. How do I know he’s not mentally tough? Besides all the turtling his teams tend to do in big games, A perfect example is last season after another tough loss to OSU A fan called him out for sucking and instead of being mentally tough/professional Franklin snaps and bizarrely demands to know the kids name as if that was even remotely relevant. Sums him up in one clip.
LionDeNittany
Well-known member
That's a stretch... at best.
That's always been true but it's now more true than ever due to NIL. I don't know the numbers but it seems like PSU's NIL is somewhere around 15th in the country and 4th in the BiG. There are 134 DI football schools and 90% of them would love to have PSU's NIL money but PSU would love to have Oregon or OSU's NIL money.
Just think what an extra $5-10 million would do? That would probably be enough extra to land 3 or 4 5* players. I have to give credit to teams like Indiana and Illinois who are competitive with less money than PSU. Of course they haven't beat OSU or Oregon either.
The incongruous Kotelnicki-Allar-Franklin triangle. Franklin has his loyalties. Kotelnicki has his style as does Drew. And one bigger unresolved elephant in the room is, with a few exceptions, why the receivers don't get separation as illustrated by the Drew's pick and contrasted by UO's winning TD in the second OT. Is it the talent, Kotelnicki, or Hagans? Most other teams have more plays where receivers are open by five yards.
PSU may or could have good NIL money. UO has provided the template. You gotta pay to play.
It’s brutal to give Michigan any credit but the Oline on that team was excellent, they were able to run the ball (which is critical for any good team), and they used play action really well. We can’t seem to do any of that right now
Where's the money going to come from? If it was that easy everybody would do it.
I haven't done a deep dive but I'm pretty sure that Nike > West Shore.
Columbus is home to 10 Fortune 1000 companies and 3 Fortune 500 companies. State College is home to none.
I still didn’t think the Oline was great even when we got going in the 4th q. Better but never great.
The touchdown to Ross was a max protect situation that only had 2 receivers in the play I believe. Now why didn’t AK do that earlier and more frequently (or move the pocket with rollouts)? That’s a ‘fair question’.
The 2nd TD was a beautiful counter play and that raises another very fair question of AK - when playing teams with a very aggressive D, why not run more counters, draws, or screens and slants to counter their aggressiveness? I’m sure the coaching staff is discussing this as we speak.
Wesauking Lion
New member
Ok…. Honestly, I think we can put the rest The fact that Singleton is nothing but an average back. I posted in another place about him having no vision no ability to break a tackle and falls down at first contact. He absolutely lived up to that in this game. Added to that is his longest run was a 6 yard run. I can’t remember how many carries he had, but they were wasted.
Allar has a big arm, but doesn’t show up for big games. It is evidenced by the last three years of his play. I find it amazing that other teams can start a quarterback and have them move into an offense and be very functional. Penn State needs to have a fourth year starter. Allar is not as good as he’s advertised as evidenced by his numbers and his performance and big games. He’s one of the oldest quarterbacks in the country and ranks in the top five or six with starts and the fact of the matter is he doesn’t get it done. I’m not interested in how well he does against Villanova.
AK is an average offensive coordinator best. The entire country has no idea what he was doing for the first three quarters How is it that Penn State can have an off week to prepare for a big game and come out and just lay an egg every single time. it’s the same thing over and over. Unfortunate for Penn State is you have to actually play 4 quarters and not all of a sudden pull your head out of your *** in the last quarter. I believe I saw a stat that said… Maybe it was Franklin …they were averaging in the first half being third and nine. That tells me that the first two plays got one yard in each of those series . Think about that for a second we literally gained nothing on first and second down in all of those series. Just read the numbers. Hope this isn’t gonna win your game.
The fact that the offense could not move the ball for 3/4 just destroyed the defense and they were gassed and everybody saw it. You can question them not making the stops in overtime, but they played the whole **** game because the offense couldn’t maintain a drive in the first half
James Franklin takes responsibility at every single press conference in these big games and guess what it doesn’t change. His coaching style doesn’t change . He is a good guy? Yep, he’s a great guy good representative for the team and Penn State football. But his record speaks for itself. he knows that everybody else knows it Just such a sad performance after having an off week. We sit and expect that after an off week, we’re gonna see some new plays new wrinkles ..when we see the same tired stuff that doesn’t catch anybody off guard. With Franklin it always comes down to who you gonna replace him with. I don’t have the answer, but it would be nice to win one big game once in a while, and we don’t do that.
I apologize for being honest. I’m sure I’ll get my *** kicked for this post.
Allar has a big arm, but doesn’t show up for big games. It is evidenced by the last three years of his play. I find it amazing that other teams can start a quarterback and have them move into an offense and be very functional. Penn State needs to have a fourth year starter. Allar is not as good as he’s advertised as evidenced by his numbers and his performance and big games. He’s one of the oldest quarterbacks in the country and ranks in the top five or six with starts and the fact of the matter is he doesn’t get it done. I’m not interested in how well he does against Villanova.
AK is an average offensive coordinator best. The entire country has no idea what he was doing for the first three quarters How is it that Penn State can have an off week to prepare for a big game and come out and just lay an egg every single time. it’s the same thing over and over. Unfortunate for Penn State is you have to actually play 4 quarters and not all of a sudden pull your head out of your *** in the last quarter. I believe I saw a stat that said… Maybe it was Franklin …they were averaging in the first half being third and nine. That tells me that the first two plays got one yard in each of those series . Think about that for a second we literally gained nothing on first and second down in all of those series. Just read the numbers. Hope this isn’t gonna win your game.
The fact that the offense could not move the ball for 3/4 just destroyed the defense and they were gassed and everybody saw it. You can question them not making the stops in overtime, but they played the whole **** game because the offense couldn’t maintain a drive in the first half
James Franklin takes responsibility at every single press conference in these big games and guess what it doesn’t change. His coaching style doesn’t change . He is a good guy? Yep, he’s a great guy good representative for the team and Penn State football. But his record speaks for itself. he knows that everybody else knows it Just such a sad performance after having an off week. We sit and expect that after an off week, we’re gonna see some new plays new wrinkles ..when we see the same tired stuff that doesn’t catch anybody off guard. With Franklin it always comes down to who you gonna replace him with. I don’t have the answer, but it would be nice to win one big game once in a while, and we don’t do that.
I apologize for being honest. I’m sure I’ll get my *** kicked for this post.
Graduates. A ton. Many multi-millionaires. Retire alums with over $10 million in net worth. Like Texas Tech and most other schools. And they don't need to live in State College. Like Pegula is from Buffalo (but may live in Santa Barbara, for all I know).
One other thing while I’m on a roll.
Always have thought our Dline was undersized and/or lacked impact lineman. Now this is a really tough area to recruit but the great teams have a stud or two there. I’ll leave it at that
At WR. our portal pickups were good but we didn’t get a game changer and that’s what we need to beat Oregon. It’s a bit confusing bc in Franklins first few years we had really good WRs - Godwin, Hamler to name a few.
The Oline is a bit confusing to me bc we have recruited well there and that was an area that is better for us now but so far this years group hasn’t played well. I think that’s the first thing I’d be discussing in meetings today if I was CJF. Hey coaches - what the heck is going on with our Oline? We returned almost everyone and we’re playing worse than last year. What’s changed?
Always have thought our Dline was undersized and/or lacked impact lineman. Now this is a really tough area to recruit but the great teams have a stud or two there. I’ll leave it at that
At WR. our portal pickups were good but we didn’t get a game changer and that’s what we need to beat Oregon. It’s a bit confusing bc in Franklins first few years we had really good WRs - Godwin, Hamler to name a few.
The Oline is a bit confusing to me bc we have recruited well there and that was an area that is better for us now but so far this years group hasn’t played well. I think that’s the first thing I’d be discussing in meetings today if I was CJF. Hey coaches - what the heck is going on with our Oline? We returned almost everyone and we’re playing worse than last year. What’s changed?
LionDeNittany
Well-known member
Singleton is below average as a running back. And he singlehandedly has lost some big games for us with his lack of vision and running into the backs of his defenders.
I can't imagine just how frustrating it is for the OL to create these holes and then get a helmet into their lower back time and time again.
Not sure why it has taken the rest of you so long to catch up to what I've been saying for almost 18 months now.
Interestingly, when we lined up Singleton as a WR, or when he goes out on WR routes, he's open.
One positive this week was we started Allen. In the direct snap (which was idiotic), but at least the staff is catching up.
Singleton is a good example of why in statistics there' an average and a median. Singleton had good averages (below Allen but still decent) but his median run was terrible.
0,0,0,0,0,0,0,90,0,0,0,0 is not good for a RB. That's Singleton.
Defenses know this. Cover the pass if he's in the backfield.
LdN
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