marylovesthelions
Well-known member
And not called targeting AFTER REVIEW
Week 13: Nebraska at Penn State (7:00 pm, NBC) Game Thread
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Really bittersweet feeling after the big win last night. Sweet because it was dominant on both sides of the ball. Bitter because this game and the last few weeks, to include the last-second loss to Indiana, show clearly what this team could have done this year...and should have done...if Andy K didn't engineer an offense designed to play with one hand tied behind its back and if our head coach, after allowing that to happen, hadn't mentally checked out after the disastrous overtime loss to Oregon.
As for the upcoming selection of a new head coach, well, I said this here exactly one week ago: >>I'm warming to the idea of giving Terry a chance at the head coaching job. I mean, a lot of names are dropping off the list as they sign extensions and really what you're left with is paying some guy who put together a decent season or two a mint to come in and start over. Whereas Terry knows the program. He's a Penn State guy through and through.<<
I sure didn't see anything last night to change my mind on that sentiment.
As for the upcoming selection of a new head coach, well, I said this here exactly one week ago: >>I'm warming to the idea of giving Terry a chance at the head coaching job. I mean, a lot of names are dropping off the list as they sign extensions and really what you're left with is paying some guy who put together a decent season or two a mint to come in and start over. Whereas Terry knows the program. He's a Penn State guy through and through.<<
I sure didn't see anything last night to change my mind on that sentiment.
LionDeNittany
Well-known member
The fact that Singleton was still starting at Oregon over Kaytron tells you thst Franklin checked out way before the OT loss.
It was very clear that Singleton was not a top 25 Div1a starting RB late last season. And against our scrub opposnents to open the season, he regressed.
Go back and watch the second half of last season.
LdN
I was very impressed with the offense (OL, TE, WR) blocking. Idon't think we were dominant on defense. I think Nebraska playing without Raiola made us look better than we were.
The defense vs UCLA was a total embarrassment. We were already in tough shape without Rojas but nobody shadowed Imaleava. The blame has to be shared between Knowles & Franklin. Then the poor clock management that the announcers mocked before half. The offense opened up in the second half but the rally came too late. Lose by 4 pts.
The defense continued to struggle against Northwestern without Rojas. To be honest the whole team looked uninspired. We still had a good chance to win until Allar got hurt with 4+ minutes to go. We brought Grunk in on 4th and 3 but he wasn't prepared for that situation. Lose by 1 pt.
The Rojasless defense continued to struggle against Iowa as QB Gronowski ran wild for 130 yds. Here are his rushing numbers against other BiG teams: Minny 24, Oregon 25, USC 32, MSU 57. That kid isn't a runner but he absolutely killed PSU. How bad are our other LBs? How bad is Knowles defensive scheme to allow this to happen? Another 1 pt loss.
So what "could this team have done"? I think we underestimated the weakness at DT & LB and were likely headed for a 9-3 season even before the injuries. One Rojas got hurt and Knowles scheme failed to adjust we were destined to be no better than 8-4. Then Allar got hurt and Grunk took a few weeks to find his footing. Throw that in and we're looking at 6-6.
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Well maybe "dominant" overstates the performance of our D, but we were good. We controlled the Nebraska offense. We held their running game, which is pretty decent, in check. We gave up a total of 10 points. That's a very solid showing.
OK, their starting QB was hurt. It happens. So was ours. And as you say, we were missing a guy on D, Rojas, who we may never have realized was as critical as his absence proved him to be.
I think this team had the talent to be 11-1 with the proper coaching. You can't win without a downfield passing game and it will always remain a mystery to me why Andy K's game plans tried to do exactly that. We've seen the last few weeks the wonders that can happen when you hit some intermediate or deep throws. The running game becomes more effective. The defense becomes more effective. Life suddenly becomes easier.
We took a top-5 Oregon team to overtime, briefly held a lead, and then lost the game. It's difficult to overstate how devastating that loss turned out to be...how much it took out of the team and out of the coaching staff. I mean, it seemed to me that Franklin was just going through the motions after that...until Kraft mercifully put him out of his misery.
So after two bad losses that brought the curtain down on Franklin, Terry Smith took over a demoralized program with an inexperienced redshirt freshman QB running the offense. It took Terry a couple weeks to put things back together, to win the confidence and respect of the players. Meanwhile, despite all this, we lost by one to a strong Iowa team at their place and by two to a top-5 Indiana team on the last play of the game. Ohio State...well...Ohio State. Say no more.
The last two weeks things have come together under Terry. We've looked like the team we were supposed to be. I think if we were playing Indiana next week instead of a few weeks ago, we win the game. Same for Iowa.
To me, this was a season pissed away. I mean, I get your argument...and I suppose there's a temptation to take some consolation in the belief that, well, we were never that good anyway. Personally, however, I'm not buying that.