Good:
Fatman > Heisman (nominee) -- Kaytron Allen (17 rush, 134 yds) should have been player of the game, IMO. Warren had two TD catches, yes, but Allen was the key to the offense as Boise State could not stop him.
Allen struggled for much of the regular season, at one point leading some pundits to say Nick Singleton had clearly become the #1 RB. However, Allen has played the best football of his career over the past three games, displaying improved speed, cutting ability, and especially grinding yards after initial contact.
"2nd Team" All-American -- On a day where the pass game was... well, more on that later... let's just say it's a damn good thing Tyler Warren is 6'6" and ridiculously good.
Opposing defenses have been selling out to shutdown Warren, and they still can't do it as he hauled in 6 catches for 63 yards and two spectacular TD grabs. It's equal parts insulting and hilarious that Warren was relegated to 2nd Team All-American. GTFO of here with that garbage!
O-line -- Penn State netted 216 rushing yards, despite heavy blitzing from Boise State. We can't undersell the degree of control the Nittany Lions have exerted over opposing defenses this year. They're the unsung heroes of this 13-2 (and counting) season.
Middling:
Still waiting for the 5
-- I debated whether Drew Allar was "middling" or "poor" in this game.
Once again, in a big game, Drew looked pretty lost. His throwing mechanics were atrocious, and Boise State was able to figure out what many of us have known for 2 years now: if you blitz Drew Allar, he panics and becomes virtually incapable of making good decisions.
Drew made enough plays to keep the offense going, including 3 spectacular TD passes. But let's face some harsh facts: Allar had yet another game where he barely completed 50% of his pass attempts, and he frequently threw high, behind, and long on his targets.
15 games into the season, it's fair to ask: "Why hasn't Drew Allar been coached to pick up and react to the blitz?" And if he HAS been properly coached, "Why can't he do it?"
Defense -- There were radical momentum shifts in this game. Penn State defense sold out to stop Ashton Jeanty, and was largely successful in that endeavor, limiting a guy dubbed "a generational talent" to just 3.5 yards per carry, and only allowing him to break off one "big" run that went for 26 yards. If you remove that outlying data point, Jeanty's average y/c crashes to just 2.6!
However, mediocre-at-best QB Maddux Madsen threw for over 300 yards, and completed 65% of his passes. His receivers were WIDE open all day as the PSU secondary played a marshmallowy soft zone, effectively allowing Boise State to make catches, and surrendering chunk yardage that resulted in the Broncos racking up 412 yards of total offense (ultimately out-gaining the Nittany Lions).
PSU did make Madsen pay with 3 picks, and won the turnover war 4-1, but the offense turned those colossal mistakes in for a grand total of 0 points. More on that later.
Abdul Carter was injured in the game and unable to play the entire second half. His absence was apparent, and there was a sense that the Penn State D was treading water much of the time. They were definitely looking tired in the second half, though the tackling was much improved this week.
Boise State remained very much in this game until late in the 4th.
Bad:
Play-calling? Hello? Bueller? -- When an opposing defense brings the blitz on every snap, your QB can't pick it up, and you insist on hurling the ball down field (ignoring the fact that your run game is dominating), you have to wonder what the coaches aren't seeing.
Andy Kotelnicki's refusal to call quick slant patterns (the kind Boise State and Oregon used effectively against Penn State) was, at a minimum, confusing.
It seemed like he was determined to stick to what he wanted to do, regardless of what the Bronco defense was doing. No doubt a good many of us were shouting at our TVs, “Take what they’re giving you!”
There are ways to deal with a perpetually blitzing D and the Penn State offense could not figure it out. This is a MAJOR problem, and has been dating back to last year.
Beau Pribula could have put this game out of reach early with his mobility. This is one example of how bad this offense misses him. Not saying he's better than Drew, but I am saying he's better equipped to deal with aggressive blitz packages.
As previously mentioned, the Penn State offense turned 4 Boise State turnovers into 0 points. This is inexcusable, and it should be raising the eyebrows of even the biggest apologist fans.
You can absolutely argue that there was a lack of execution on the part of the players, but I would say that's a pretty blind take.
AK struggled to find plays that could solve a defense that, let's be honest... it's the G5 representative, for crying out loud! This offense should have rolled all day, and instead our QB looked incredibly shaky much of the time.
After jumping out to a 14-0 lead, Penn State fumbled away the ball on their 3rd possession, then punted on 5 of their next 7 possessions before finally icing the game with 4:54 remaining in the 4th quarter.
Absolutely credit Boise State for playing over their heads. But we need better consistency on both sides of the ball in order to punch our ticket to the championship game.
In the meantime, here's hoping Abdul Carter will be healthy, and WE ARE...!
Fatman > Heisman (nominee) -- Kaytron Allen (17 rush, 134 yds) should have been player of the game, IMO. Warren had two TD catches, yes, but Allen was the key to the offense as Boise State could not stop him.
Allen struggled for much of the regular season, at one point leading some pundits to say Nick Singleton had clearly become the #1 RB. However, Allen has played the best football of his career over the past three games, displaying improved speed, cutting ability, and especially grinding yards after initial contact.
"2nd Team" All-American -- On a day where the pass game was... well, more on that later... let's just say it's a damn good thing Tyler Warren is 6'6" and ridiculously good.
Opposing defenses have been selling out to shutdown Warren, and they still can't do it as he hauled in 6 catches for 63 yards and two spectacular TD grabs. It's equal parts insulting and hilarious that Warren was relegated to 2nd Team All-American. GTFO of here with that garbage!
O-line -- Penn State netted 216 rushing yards, despite heavy blitzing from Boise State. We can't undersell the degree of control the Nittany Lions have exerted over opposing defenses this year. They're the unsung heroes of this 13-2 (and counting) season.
Middling:
Still waiting for the 5
-- I debated whether Drew Allar was "middling" or "poor" in this game.Once again, in a big game, Drew looked pretty lost. His throwing mechanics were atrocious, and Boise State was able to figure out what many of us have known for 2 years now: if you blitz Drew Allar, he panics and becomes virtually incapable of making good decisions.
Drew made enough plays to keep the offense going, including 3 spectacular TD passes. But let's face some harsh facts: Allar had yet another game where he barely completed 50% of his pass attempts, and he frequently threw high, behind, and long on his targets.
15 games into the season, it's fair to ask: "Why hasn't Drew Allar been coached to pick up and react to the blitz?" And if he HAS been properly coached, "Why can't he do it?"
Defense -- There were radical momentum shifts in this game. Penn State defense sold out to stop Ashton Jeanty, and was largely successful in that endeavor, limiting a guy dubbed "a generational talent" to just 3.5 yards per carry, and only allowing him to break off one "big" run that went for 26 yards. If you remove that outlying data point, Jeanty's average y/c crashes to just 2.6!
However, mediocre-at-best QB Maddux Madsen threw for over 300 yards, and completed 65% of his passes. His receivers were WIDE open all day as the PSU secondary played a marshmallowy soft zone, effectively allowing Boise State to make catches, and surrendering chunk yardage that resulted in the Broncos racking up 412 yards of total offense (ultimately out-gaining the Nittany Lions).
PSU did make Madsen pay with 3 picks, and won the turnover war 4-1, but the offense turned those colossal mistakes in for a grand total of 0 points. More on that later.
Abdul Carter was injured in the game and unable to play the entire second half. His absence was apparent, and there was a sense that the Penn State D was treading water much of the time. They were definitely looking tired in the second half, though the tackling was much improved this week.
Boise State remained very much in this game until late in the 4th.
Bad:
Play-calling? Hello? Bueller? -- When an opposing defense brings the blitz on every snap, your QB can't pick it up, and you insist on hurling the ball down field (ignoring the fact that your run game is dominating), you have to wonder what the coaches aren't seeing.
Andy Kotelnicki's refusal to call quick slant patterns (the kind Boise State and Oregon used effectively against Penn State) was, at a minimum, confusing.
It seemed like he was determined to stick to what he wanted to do, regardless of what the Bronco defense was doing. No doubt a good many of us were shouting at our TVs, “Take what they’re giving you!”
There are ways to deal with a perpetually blitzing D and the Penn State offense could not figure it out. This is a MAJOR problem, and has been dating back to last year.
Beau Pribula could have put this game out of reach early with his mobility. This is one example of how bad this offense misses him. Not saying he's better than Drew, but I am saying he's better equipped to deal with aggressive blitz packages.
As previously mentioned, the Penn State offense turned 4 Boise State turnovers into 0 points. This is inexcusable, and it should be raising the eyebrows of even the biggest apologist fans.
You can absolutely argue that there was a lack of execution on the part of the players, but I would say that's a pretty blind take.
AK struggled to find plays that could solve a defense that, let's be honest... it's the G5 representative, for crying out loud! This offense should have rolled all day, and instead our QB looked incredibly shaky much of the time.
After jumping out to a 14-0 lead, Penn State fumbled away the ball on their 3rd possession, then punted on 5 of their next 7 possessions before finally icing the game with 4:54 remaining in the 4th quarter.
Absolutely credit Boise State for playing over their heads. But we need better consistency on both sides of the ball in order to punch our ticket to the championship game.
In the meantime, here's hoping Abdul Carter will be healthy, and WE ARE...!
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