Best article yet written regarding Saturday's aftermath

[Midnighter]

It wasn't Jay. More complicated than that. If you want to point a finger at one individual try Fester.

How long would he have stayed either way? NFL was all over him.

 

[delcoLion]

Not enough talent. Could those coaches win more games with this squad? Maybe but we are still a 10-15 program across the depth chart and what you saw last Saturday was the divide. Harbaugh has been able to string enough big bodies together to play 5-10 football as if they were the '85 Bears. He'll get out athleted if he gets into a playoff under the current system. I give him credit for giving them a chance unlike us. We have no chance of being 12-0, 11-1 imho -- Allar/Singleton and DDS/Rojas need more help for '23 and '24.

I think it’s a very young team, also.

 

[PSUFTG]

I think it’s a very young team, also.

I am not sure how PSU compares to every team in the Big Ten, but they (PSU) are significantly "older" than either Michigan or Ohio State.
Penn State has just 36 scholarship players who are in their 1st or 2nd years of college ball (a couple of them had two years at JUCO). Part of that is due to the number of kids who took advantage of the "super senior" option due to COVID, which left fewer spots for freshman signees (Clifford, Brown, Sutherland, Mustipher. Tinsley may also be a "super senior")

 

[ApexLion]

Nutshell: a great many people believe that Franklin and ONLY franklin could get the likes of Singleton and Allar and Allen etc to psu... so without the God of very Gods, these players would not be assembled for the devine powers to design, develop, and run plays that actually work and make us the 8-4 team we were always meant to be.

Now, on another planet not too far away, there are people who believe there are coaches who could assemble players like these AND coach them to a level we've never seen. Like maybe, 11-1, 10-2, 12-0. Just sayin.........

It's the overall numbers, not the ability to get some talent. I think Franklin is able to get some talent but its obvious when they play OSU and yes, Michigan when they get a squad together every so often, that PSU is not a 1-5 squad or even really 1-10. Is Franklin getting more talent each year? Sort of. DDS, Allar, Allen and Singleton are really good players but the 1-5 programs have 8 of those caliber players on each side of the ball.

I'd love 10-2 this year btw. I thought 8-4 (good at many positions, average in others) and it wasn't because of Franklin's coaching. Hell, if he want 10-2 I might give him coach of the year or at least give him some votes for it. I just don't see enough playmakers on this squad. Singleton, maybe. J'ayir is a pro. Tinsley maybe. Olu, yes. Who else is a playmaker and can scare you on tape? Mustipher, maybe? Jacobs, good not great.

To be really good...Realistically, we need a DE, a DT, a LB, a Kicker, an OT, an OG and a receiver at a higher level than we currently have. Not to mention our QB is average and our star in the making still needs a lot more snaps. That's 7 better college players needed and an iffy QB situation right now. IMHO, that adds up to 'we should be ranked 15-20 and in let's win a bowl game' mode. Disagree?

 

[delcoLion]

I am not sure how PSU compares to every team in the Big Ten, but they (PSU) are significantly "older" than either Michigan or Ohio State.
Penn State has just 36 scholarship players who are in their 1st or 2nd years of college ball (a couple of them had two years at JUCO). Part of that is due to the number of kids who took advantage of the "super senior" option due to COVID, which left fewer spots for freshman signees (Clifford, Brown, Sutherland, Mustipher. Tinsley may also be a "super senior")

Before my comment, I was looking at the depth charts posted (and since deleted, apparently) which showed 13 FR/So players in the 2 deep offense and 11 FR/So on the 2 deep defense.

So on 2nd thought, you're right.

 

[PSUFTG]

Before my comment, I was looking at the depth charts posted (and since deleted, apparently) which showed 13 FR/So players in the 2 deep offense and 11 FR/So on the 2 deep defense.

So on 2nd thought, you're right.

Keep in mind, different schools use different conventions - especially since COVID. For example, Penn State may list a kid as a freshman - who is actually in his 3rd year (2020 not counted due to COVID - even if he played, 2021 treated as a redshirt, 2022 still listed as a freshman). FWIW, that is the way PSU's athletic department generally list things - and a lot of 3rd year kids are listed as freshmen.
Some other schools do it the same way - some do it differently.

So if one wants to compare apples-to-apples they would need to actually dig into the various team rosters and get the actual info. That takes a bit of work (I did it in detail for PSU, Michigan, and OSU and thus know PSU is "older" than either of them, for sure) - and a quick look throughout the conference shows PSU to be one of the oldest rosters in the Big Ten.
But I wouldn't want to spend the time to do it for every program in the country, to be sure.

 

[GrimReaper]

How long would he have stayed either way? NFL was all over him.

No question that O'Brien was ultimately destined for the NFL. He would have gone after year one had he found a situation to his liking and not been burdened with a monstrous buy-out (half-again Franklin's current number even though he made less than a third of what Franklin gets).