Who has exceeded expectations and who has come up short PSU so far this year

The FG kicker has exceeded expectations. That is it.

Who has come up short? All our supposed stars except I guess Wheatley has been solid. Allar, Singleton, Allen, Durant, DDS, Rojas. None could make any kind of disruptive play last night. That goes for Wheatley also. The offense is a joke and the D can't get a turnover or stop in a key moment if their life depended on it.

This team better recalibrate, reset, regroup, recharge, reboot...throw any "re" word you want but this season could not have started worse given the high expectations.

I feel duped into thinking we were going to make a legitimate shot at a natty. Now I feel all these preseason reports about this guy looks great and this guy is the next All American and Drew Allar has made improvements is just BS. These media hacks covering practices can't be trusted any further than you could throw them.

All I can say to Franklin and the coaches is..."Wake the $$$ up and start earning your bloated, ridiculous salary!"
 
Frank Lee said:
From the various panned out replays, the receivers don't get open due to no confusing lining up and/or routes, and they don't mesh, juke, and/or make sharp cuts to separate. An out pattern from the slot guy, for example is go downfield seven yards, then change direction an run towards the sideline. Same technique in running a post (but it did worked for Ross on the TD). Again, a small sampling. Unless they're KJ Hammler, they're not going to be separating from many corners or safeties who have the same or greater speed.
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I only partially agree because I put some of the blame on Allar and the scheme.

My point is that none of these kids were even top 25 in the portal so my expectations weren't as high as yours. Besides,
Ross scored 2 TDs vs Oregon.
 
It appears that just about the entire fan base can see the problems on offense. Unfortunately, it does not seem as if the HC and the OC share our views.

I remember when, in 1967, a HC in his second year benched a slew of seniors and inserted a slew of sophomores (freshmen were not elkigible at that time) in their positions. The result: 29-1-1 record over the next 31 games.

With all due respect, I humbly suggest the following:

1. make Allen the #1 RB; i.e., he starts and gets the majority of carries
2. move Singelton to WR where his straight line speed might be a plus
3. move up the 3 freshmen RBs to a revolving backup to Allen
4. give Grunkemeyer legitimate series at QB early against UCLA with the first team offense and see what he can do. If he's a bust, try Smolik. It is so obvious that Allar is not the answer at QB.
5. move Donkoh back to RT; let Rucci sit until needed as backup.
6. move Cousins to C; let Dawkins sit until needed as backup.
7. get freshman WRs Howard and Denmark in as starters; let Hudson sit until needed as backup.

Of course, I have never coached organized football (outside of an intra-battery game at Fort Sill). Hence, I suspect my 7 moves would not likely produce positive results. But if I were playing APBA Football, I'd try them. ;) :rolleyes:
 
Old Siward said:
It appears that just about the entire fan base can see the problems on offense. Unfortunately, it does not seem as if the HC and the OC share our views.

I remember when, in 1967, a HC in his second year benched a slew of seniors and inserted a slew of sophomores (freshmen were not elkigible at that time) in their positions. The result: 29-1-1 record over the next 31 games.

With all due respect, I humbly suggest the following:

1. make Allen the #1 RB; i.e., he starts and gets the majority of carries
2. move Singelton to WR where his straight line speed might be a plus
3. move up the 3 freshmen RBs to a revolving backup to Allen
4. give Grunkemeyer legitimate series at QB early against UCLA with the first team offense and see what he can do. If he's a bust, try Smolik. It is so obvious that Allar is not the answer at QB.
5. move Donkoh back to RT; let Rucci sit until needed as backup.
6. move Cousins to C; let Dawkins sit until needed as backup.
7. get freshman WRs Howard and Denmark in as starters; let Hudson sit until needed as backup.

Of course, I have never coached organized football (outside of an intra-battery game at Fort Sill). Hence, I suspect my 7 moves would not likely produce positive results. But if I were playing APBA Football, I'd try them. ;) :rolleyes:
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I agree with much of this. But if I remember right, JoePa, kind of late to start coaching after biding his time under his mentor Rip Engel, was 5-7 at the time. It's funny how he did that in 1967 and then was so loyal to upperclassmen later. Franklin is under no such pressure, as much as we may complain. I don't see Allar being benched. His floor is still pretty high, even though he sometimes misses layups. I think the OL has quite simply sucked, but that could be because they aren't in sync, or they are demoralized because they know what we can obviously see - Kaytron is the best back and it's not close. They looked great, at least in the run game, at the end of last year, when Donkoh was out with an injury. I don't know if JB Nelson transferring out hurt anything. We supposedly had some real studs coming in as replacements, including Cousins, but that hasn't translated to play on the field. Dawkins did have a bad game Saturday. But I highly doubt that's going to happen. I would like to see the freshman WRs get a look at some point.
 
Old Siward said:
It appears that just about the entire fan base can see the problems on offense. Unfortunately, it does not seem as if the HC and the OC share our views.

I remember when, in 1967, a HC in his second year benched a slew of seniors and inserted a slew of sophomores (freshmen were not elkigible at that time) in their positions. The result: 29-1-1 record over the next 31 games.

With all due respect, I humbly suggest the following:

1. make Allen the #1 RB; i.e., he starts and gets the majority of carries
2. move Singelton to WR where his straight line speed might be a plus
3. move up the 3 freshmen RBs to a revolving backup to Allen
4. give Grunkemeyer legitimate series at QB early against UCLA with the first team offense and see what he can do. If he's a bust, try Smolik. It is so obvious that Allar is not the answer at QB.
5. move Donkoh back to RT; let Rucci sit until needed as backup.
6. move Cousins to C; let Dawkins sit until needed as backup.
7. get freshman WRs Howard and Denmark in as starters; let Hudson sit until needed as backup.

Of course, I have never coached organized football (outside of an intra-battery game at Fort Sill). Hence, I suspect my 7 moves would not likely produce positive results. But if I were playing APBA Football, I'd try them. ;) :rolleyes:
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There's no way that Franklin will sit Singleton or Allar. He feels like they stayed committed to PSU so the last thing he's going to do is destroy their NFL position by sitting them. I'm sure those players also have a lot of friends on the team that would be extremely upset. Franklin can't afford to lose the locker room.

That said I do agree that Allen should get more carries until things turn around. So far Singlton has 52 carries compared to 46 for Allen. I think Allen should get 60 of the next 100 carries. I also agree that I'd like to see some younger players get more meaningful PT. Of course that's a lot easier if you have a 20+ pt halftime lead. It's not so easy if you have a 10-0 lead like we did vs FIU. UCLA will be interesting. They're 0-4 but they played Northwestern tough. PSU is 25 pt favorites and they should have that covered by early 3rd quarter. If not I fear that Franklin has lost the team after Saturday's devastating loss.
 
Old Siward said:
It appears that just about the entire fan base can see the problems on offense. Unfortunately, it does not seem as if the HC and the OC share our views.

I remember when, in 1967, a HC in his second year benched a slew of seniors and inserted a slew of sophomores (freshmen were not elkigible at that time) in their positions. The result: 29-1-1 record over the next 31 games.

With all due respect, I humbly suggest the following:

1. make Allen the #1 RB; i.e., he starts and gets the majority of carries
2. move Singelton to WR where his straight line speed might be a plus
3. move up the 3 freshmen RBs to a revolving backup to Allen
4. give Grunkemeyer legitimate series at QB early against UCLA with the first team offense and see what he can do. If he's a bust, try Smolik. It is so obvious that Allar is not the answer at QB.
5. move Donkoh back to RT; let Rucci sit until needed as backup.
6. move Cousins to C; let Dawkins sit until needed as backup.
7. get freshman WRs Howard and Denmark in as starters; let Hudson sit until needed as backup.

Of course, I have never coached organized football (outside of an intra-battery game at Fort Sill). Hence, I suspect my 7 moves would not likely produce positive results. But if I were playing APBA Football, I'd try them. ;) :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
- Kaytron majority of reps (agree)
---Rotate Singleton & current best RB3 candidate for backup reps
- Try Cousins @ Center (agree)
- Move Donkoh back to starting RT (agree)
---Those two moves would necessitate Shanahan inserted @ RG
- Hudson moved out of starting WR role (Disagree - strong blocker, great hands, needs more targets)
- QB situation in next two games only: Give Grunk & Smolik each one series with the starting OL
- Freshman WRs situation in next two games: Give them each a series (separately) with first team OL/TE and one of the starting WRs.
- Experiment more with max protect in some passing situations
- Increased slant/quick hitting passes to WRs & TEs
- When Singleton is in, get him out on a wheel route
- Quit w/the WASTED motion before each offensive snap (not fooling anyone)
 
RickinDayton said:
Ross played well given his opportunities as did Pena. One of Allars "passes" to Hudson doinked off of Hudson's helmet. Kotelnicki's play calling and Allars accuracy/consistency issues continue to keep this offense from developing any rhythm and being able to sustain drives consistently throughout games.
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Bingo. Allar's inaccurate passing is a key component to the offense playing bad. The fastball that dinged off Hudson's helmet has to be in front of him. The same happened on 2 other passes to Reynolds (who could be great, but isn't making the Warren circus catches yet). Did Pena even have a target down field?
 
Lazy Dave said:
On our first 18 pass attempts, Oregon created pressure on 14 of them. The OL got outplayed very badly for 3 quarters.
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OK, but what did PSU do to help alleviate the pressure? Did you see any quick slants? Did they roll Allar out to buy some more time? Or did he just keep dropping back and work through his progressions?
 
bdroc said:
OK, but what did PSU do to help alleviate the pressure? Did you see any quick slants? Did they roll Allar out to buy some more time? Or did he just keep dropping back and work through his progressions?
Click to expand...

I would say they didn't do very much. Play calling seemed very disjointed.

One quick slant. Allar threw it high, dinged it off Hudson's helmet. A later slant to Reynolds was thrown behind him.

No bootlegs. Maybe one sprint out or 2.

Inaccurate QB + poor OL play = inept offense. I don't remember a pass to Hudson nor Reynolds that didn't require both to make a circus catch.

Another key item that needs addressed is how we don't run the ball with Allar under C enough to make all of the gimmicks and play action work.
 
RickinDayton said:
I am convinced this is a scheme/coaching problem with the WRs. Why can other teams have receivers running free in space?
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I would add to this..... Why can other teams:

Have their teams prepared after a bye week and look sharp

Have their teams ready to go in the first quarter and not be asleep half the game (this excuse is tiresome... )

Have a WR come in and be ready to start as a true fresh or soph. We cant get one and other teams have 2 or 3.

Have a RB come in and be ready to go as a fresh or soph. I understand you have to know how to block but figuring it out by your junior year is not cutting it.

Have a new QB come in and get settled with the offense and not have to have 3 years of starting.... (examples Sayin or Moore). These guys are starting... Are they perfect... Nope... but they look a way better than our 3 year starter. So many bullshit excuses on this one.... well.. he only has 10 starts... he only has 20 starts... Other teams start fresh and soph. and they look good.

Have a game plan that makes sense with a strategy. I had NO idea what we were trying to do for 3 quarter against Oregon...and I would say that for a lot of games. The play calling seems whacked... random ****, trick plays, running failed plays over and over..... PSU wastes 10 plays per game on stupid **** that makes zero sense.

Have a game plan which allows adjustments... if it is not working we should be able to switch it up instead of burning 2 or 3 quarters. That **** AK was trying was not working...and yet... we just kept doing it. I will give an unpopular example on defense from the past.... Sandusky... PSU would drop 10 points in the first qtr and he would make the adjustment on the fly and shut out a team for 3 straight quarters.. We make few adjustments even after half. WHY

Have new plays for the big games? We have 2 big games each year and we rarely throw things in there to throw off other teams. I hope it happens and yet.... it never does. I keep thinking there are so many plays you could run in a multiple back scheme....so much.. and yet.. nada
 
bdroc said:
There's no way that Franklin will sit Singleton or Allar. He feels like they stayed committed to PSU so the last thing he's going to do is destroy their NFL position by sitting them. I'm sure those players also have a lot of friends on the team that would be extremely upset. Franklin can't afford to lose the locker room.

That said I do agree that Allen should get more carries until things turn around. So far Singlton has 52 carries compared to 46 for Allen. I think Allen should get 60 of the next 100 carries. I also agree that I'd like to see some younger players get more meaningful PT. Of course that's a lot easier if you have a 20+ pt halftime lead. It's not so easy if you have a 10-0 lead like we did vs FIU. UCLA will be interesting. They're 0-4 but they played Northwestern tough. PSU is 25 pt favorites and they should have that covered by early 3rd quarter. If not I fear that Franklin has lost the team after Saturday's devastating loss.
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I agree that he will not sit Singleton because of his NFL chances.... He is not going to do **** in the NFL... he cant break a tackle, has no vision, goes down at first contact. In the NFL....everyone is as fast as he is. He will be out of the NFL in 2 yrs. Put him at receiver... get the young guys in the game.
 
Wesauking Lion said:
I would add to this..... Why can other teams:

Have their teams prepared after a bye week and look sharp

Have their teams ready to go in the first quarter and not be asleep half the game (this excuse is tiresome... )

Have a WR come in and be ready to start as a true fresh or soph. We cant get one and other teams have 2 or 3.

Have a RB come in and be ready to go as a fresh or soph. I understand you have to know how to block but figuring it out by your junior year is not cutting it.

Have a new QB come in and get settled with the offense and not have to have 3 years of starting.... (examples Sayin or Moore). These guys are starting... Are they perfect... Nope... but they look a way better than our 3 year starter. So many bullshit excuses on this one.... well.. he only has 10 starts... he only has 20 starts... Other teams start fresh and soph. and they look good.

Have a game plan that makes sense with a strategy. I had NO idea what we were trying to do for 3 quarter against Oregon...and I would say that for a lot of games. The play calling seems whacked... random ****, trick plays, running failed plays over and over..... PSU wastes 10 plays per game on stupid **** that makes zero sense.

Have a game plan which allows adjustments... if it is not working we should be able to switch it up instead of burning 2 or 3 quarters. That **** AK was trying was not working...and yet... we just kept doing it. I will give an unpopular example on defense from the past.... Sandusky... PSU would drop 10 points in the first qtr and he would make the adjustment on the fly and shut out a team for 3 straight quarters.. We make few adjustments even after half. WHY

Have new plays for the big games? We have 2 big games each year and we rarely throw things in there to throw off other teams. I hope it happens and yet.... it never does. I keep thinking there are so many plays you could run in a multiple back scheme....so much.. and yet.. nada
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Yep. To me, competition always included the "gaming" aspect. ...a plan that counters an estimation of the other guy's plan. AK should have had a game plan ready that would have helped neutralize the other team's crowding the LOS and double covering favorite WR targets to stop the run and confuse Allar ...the things AK should have known were coming.
Basketball better illustrates this as multiple pregame and in-game adjustments are made almost instinctively by most coaches to counter, say, a PG who's MO is to penetrate the lane, or an outside shooter who is lights out.
 
GregInPitt said:
Yep, none of them are better than Wallace. Collectively they may be an improvement, but I'm not believing that until we see what Denmark and Howard can do. Franklin brought in the 3 transfers and seems determined to play them no matter the results, which at this point in the season are not exactly much of an overall improvement. From what I've see so far I can't say that the transfers are more talented and would make more plays than Wallace, Denmark, and Howard.

The true freshman 5 star Oregon WR Moore was by far the best WR on the field last night and until Franklin directs enough NIL to go and get a top 5 high school WR with length and speed PSU won't likely have an offense that can get the chunk plays through the air that makes top 5 teams respect PSU's passing game enough to allow the running game to flourish in those games. He needs to set aside $1million for a top top WR talent, or whatever it takes. The odds of finding the next ARob among the 2-3 star WR's that Franklin and Hagans for the most part have brought in are slim and none.
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Keep an eye on Myles McAfee out of MD. '27 recruit, top 5 in the country. He is supposedly interested in us. He also has OSU as a target school. We will need to roll out the money to have a decent shot at him.

It is concerning and puzzling that neither Denmark nor Howard can see the field. We have like 10 WRs to suit up every game and we play 3, maybe 4. If Denmark and Howard are not good enough then I'm tired of this Mickey Mouse crap of getting so so portal guys and then hope the guys we have will improve enough. This formula is not working. Go out and get the best guy possible from the portal. I am still hopeful Howard and Denmark are going to be really good but then why are they not playing so I have my doubts. If they are not performing well enough to get on the field then I have my doubts they will transform into true #1 guys by next year. We thought this about KLS nope didn't happen, then it was Wallace III and Evans, nope. Saunders, nope. We are not developing WRs. That is obviously a coaching issue so Hagans needs to be shown the door. The only solution is a better WR coach and go out and get the elite guys through recruiting (McAfee) and supplement with the elite portal guys for at least '26 to bridge the gap.
 
Wesauking Lion said:
I would add to this..... Why can other teams:

Have their teams prepared after a bye week and look sharp

Have their teams ready to go in the first quarter and not be asleep half the game (this excuse is tiresome... )

Have a WR come in and be ready to start as a true fresh or soph. We cant get one and other teams have 2 or 3.

Have a RB come in and be ready to go as a fresh or soph. I understand you have to know how to block but figuring it out by your junior year is not cutting it.

Have a new QB come in and get settled with the offense and not have to have 3 years of starting.... (examples Sayin or Moore). These guys are starting... Are they perfect... Nope... but they look a way better than our 3 year starter. So many bullshit excuses on this one.... well.. he only has 10 starts... he only has 20 starts... Other teams start fresh and soph. and they look good.

Have a game plan that makes sense with a strategy. I had NO idea what we were trying to do for 3 quarter against Oregon...and I would say that for a lot of games. The play calling seems whacked... random ****, trick plays, running failed plays over and over..... PSU wastes 10 plays per game on stupid **** that makes zero sense.

Have a game plan which allows adjustments... if it is not working we should be able to switch it up instead of burning 2 or 3 quarters. That **** AK was trying was not working...and yet... we just kept doing it. I will give an unpopular example on defense from the past.... Sandusky... PSU would drop 10 points in the first qtr and he would make the adjustment on the fly and shut out a team for 3 straight quarters.. We make few adjustments even after half. WHY

Have new plays for the big games? We have 2 big games each year and we rarely throw things in there to throw off other teams. I hope it happens and yet.... it never does. I keep thinking there are so many plays you could run in a multiple back scheme....so much.. and yet.. nada
Click to expand...
The only thing I know at this point is we have problems on offense between AK, Franklin and now unfortunately Trautwein seems to not be the golden boy we thought. Couple that with shaky, inconsistent QB play where our QB does not play confidently or decisively for long stretches of the game. This equals an inept offense. Our OLine looks to be overrated and we don't have any dynamic playmaker skill guys. We had Warren last year but he ain't here. I don't think this can really be solved in season. I thought AK was better than this but his game plans are not good.

My hope and it is a stretch is...1) AK gets better at calling plays that puts Drew in a position to succeed and the offense to succeed. This means less gimmicks, sprinkle in QB runs, get Ross in space, run Kaytron more, feed the TEs, etc 2) Drew plays more consistently and gets more accurate; 3) The OLine drastically improves and we actually have a good and dependable run game while significantly limiting the pressure on Drew; 4) The passing game improves because of #2 and we have our WRs get open; finally #5) Singleton shakes out of his slump and can bust off some chunk runs and becomes a bigger receiving threat.

Those are 5 big asks but if we can get 3 or 4 of them that would be a huge boost. Priority is AK, Allar and O-Line being much better.
 
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