Official PSU vs. Northwestern Game Thread!

[Classof09]

This place is like a morgue. So what? They didn’t look good today. It’s not like we go directly into the Michigan game. It’s a W. Why predict the rest of the year based upon this game? Makes no sense. Rest em and coach em up in the next 2 weeks.

Fyi for many of you - the new national suicide line is simply 988.

 

[WestSideLion]

Probably better than 5-0 at this point (eye roll).

And better than 12-12 the past two years (eye roll right back, Potsy).

 

[PSU12046]

Snapping the ball with 15 seconds left on the play clock....there's that attention to detail.

I mean, who called the ball to be snapped? He's a sixth year player. Maybe he was thinking too much about his NIL company that he needs to address after the game

 

[Nitwit]

The bye week is coming at the right time. We have some things to work on to clean up mistakes on the offensive side. The defense looks pretty good as it is. Except for OSU we look to be competitive with the remaining teams on the schedule as no one seems to be that strong.

 

[Shadow99]

Wide open receiver and Clifford gets happy feet and misses the throw badly. It’s the same mistakes week after week.

I am not a Clifford detractor, but the thing is about the throw you are referencing, there wasn't even any significant pressure at the time of the throw.

 

[PSU12046]

year after year he is a 6th year senior

 

[Moogy]

How about that halftime coaching job by Franklin’s buddy Ja Juan Seider? RB’s continued to leave the ball unprotected during the second half….but he’s a good recruiter

Today showed why this team finishes 7-5.

Franklin's team: 5-0

BW Lion: 0-for-life

 

[BiochemPSU]

Too many freshman and RS freshman being too heavily involved. They are all getting scouted now.

LBs are a liability in pass covergaeDiaz can hide them, not so sure for how much longer.

Clifford is what he is. We ride or die with him until the end.

 

[Bkmtnittany1]

This place is like a morgue. So what? They didn’t look good today. It’s not like we go directly into the Michigan game. It’s a W. Why predict the rest of the year based upon this game? Makes no sense. Rest em and coach em up in the next 2 weeks.

Fyi for many of you - the new national suicide line is simply 988.

The good news is that Neeli and Kraft can come to this board to find the next coach to make PSU as good as any team Saban has ever had! And what is truly amazing, none of these geniuses ever spent one day coaching football!!!

 

[CDLionFL]

And then there's this...

 

[Ludd]

And better than 12-12 the past two years (eye roll right back, Potsy).

Based on his 4-13 in the past year and a half? Give me a break. He may not have the same talent as Penn State, but he has better than MAC talent and FCS talent and lost to both….coaching genius.

 

[Big_O]

My wife can’t believe SC is a 6th year senior. After watching him play today she asked me what year is he, like sophomore or something? I told her he was a 6th year senior and she literally thought I was kidding her. She then asked me if they had anyone better because he doesn’t look like he should be the starter.

 

[Big_O]

I will have to say the defense is looking better, except for 3rd and long, which has been a thorn in Penn State’s side for awhile, and it hasn’t gotten any better.

 

[Moogy]

5 turnovers. Ugh. That's not the weather, but they haven't been turnover prone this year either. Let's hope it's a one off.

4 games played in decent weather prior to this one ... 1 fumble by a RB (recovered) in those 4 games.
1 game played in awful, slippery weather ... 4 fumbles by 3 different RBs (all lost) in that 1 game.

91Joe95 ... "it wasn't the weather"

It's expert analysis like this that keeps me coming back to read the comments.

 

[Bkmtnittany1]

4 games played in decent weather prior to this one ... 1 fumble by a RB (recovered) in those 4 games.
1 game played in awful, slippery weather ... 4 fumbles by 3 different RBs (all lost) in that 1 game.

91Joe95 ... "it wasn't the weather"

It's expert analysis like this that keeps me coming back to read the comments.

The shame of it all is that ASU and Nebraska could have come to this site and found their next coach that would have taken them to the promised land! And who woulda thought that having coached before was such a meaningless requirement.

 

[Nitt1300]

My wife can’t believe SC is a 6th year senior. After watching him play today she asked me what year is he, like sophomore or something? I told her he was a 6th year senior and she literally thought I was kidding her. She then asked me if they had anyone better because he doesn’t look like he should be the starter.

sure

 

[Bison13]

Let’s see, special teams was outstanding. Made a field goal in crap weather made both extra points no blocking issues and our Punter, even though his average was down a bit today, still kept putting balls inside the 20.

Defense was outstanding. Allowed three plays where because our middle linebackers are a bit too slow but other than that defensive line was excellent even if they didn’t get any sacks in the secondary only had the one mess up waiting to the TD.

offense was lousy but that’s because Clifford was lousy. Running backs couldn’t hold onto the ball and missed a couple opportunities for long runs but still averaged 4+ a carry.(over 210 yards on 52 carries)

So two out of three units play well, one plays not so well and still get a 10 point win with five turnovers. I’ll take it.

 

[Nitwit]

sure

Your wife sure knows her football.

 

[VaDave4PSU]

Thank you Dish and ESPN for saving me from what seems like one of the crappiest games to watch.

Illinois last year was worse. This felt the same way at times, but we have enough talent to get to 14 before we turtled up the play calling. Diaz has more variety on defense as well.

Sloppiest game I’ve ever seen PSU play. Looks like a team who listened to the hype after the auburn game.

Gladly that's over.

 

[WestSideLion]

Based on his 4-13 in the past year and a half? Give me a break. He may not have the same talent as Penn State, but he has better than MAC talent and FCS talent and lost to both….coaching genius.

His teams generally play hard and punch above their weight. Not every year, but I’d bet if you compared talent to overall B1G results, Fitz has outperformed Penn State based on expected outcomes over the past 4-5 years. Possibly even longer.

The guy is generally a good game day coach.

 

[Ludd]

His teams generally play hard and punch above their weight. Not every year, but I’d bet if you compared talent to overall B1G results, Fitz has outperformed Penn State based on expected outcomes over the past 4-5 years. Possibly even longer.

The guy is generally a good game day coach.

Expected by whom?

 

[Midnighter]

And then there's this...

Damn. We have the weirdest results with 5 star kids. I was hoping Ford would have a breakthrough year - tons of talent. Good luck to him.

 

[BW Lion]

Franklin's team: 5-0

BW Lion: 0-for-life

It’s never a good thing to have a mocktail named after you, but you somehow managed to accomplish this.

 

[Midnighter]

Great pics….

 

[WestSideLion]

Expected by whom?

Analytics expectations. SP+, ELO, etc. They aren’t perfect, but approximate general program advantages into estimated wins. I’d bet NW under Fitz performs very well through that lens.

 

[Ludd]

Analytics expectations. SP+, ELO, etc. They aren’t perfect, but approximate general program advantages into estimated wins. I’d bet NW under Fitz performs very well through that lens.

3-9 two of the last four years can’t be great under any analytics.

 

[PSU12046]

Analytics expectations. SP+, ELO, etc. They aren’t perfect, but approximate general program advantages into estimated wins. I’d bet NW under Fitz performs very well through that lens.

Whuutt? It's either a win under the lens on Saturdays or not

 

[Tom McAndrew]

 

[Tom McAndrew]

 

[Tom McAndrew]

 

[Tom McAndrew]

 

[Tom McAndrew]

 

[Tom McAndrew]

 

[91Joe95]

4 games played in decent weather prior to this one ... 1 fumble by a RB (recovered) in those 4 games.
1 game played in awful, slippery weather ... 4 fumbles by 3 different RBs (all lost) in that 1 game.

91Joe95 ... "it wasn't the weather"

It's expert analysis like this that keeps me coming back to read the comments.

Believe it or not rain did not knock the ball out of the RB's hands on a single play. Go watch again, it did not. Singleton got absolutely clocked on one, it happens. The rest were a failure to properly secure the ball in known conditions. You can blame that on the weather all you want, but RB's get taught to use both hands in conditions like that. Watching Allen trying to spin over a tackle with one hand on the ball in the 4th quarter while trying to protect a lead is not about the weather, its about poor focus and a lack of attention to detail. You can whine about the weather all you want, but there is a simple adjustment for it, and that is to use both hands. The backs were not doing that.

 

[laKavosiey-st lion]

I think we compete against Michigan and get smoked by OSU, and I’m okay with that. I’m also super happy I watched that game from my sweet wrap around.

 

[Moogy]

Believe it or not rain did not knock the ball out of the RB's hands on a single play. Go watch again, it did not. Singleton got absolutely clocked on one, it happens. The rest were a failure to properly secure the ball in known conditions. You can blame that on the weather all you want, but RB's get taught to use both hands in conditions like that. Watching Allen trying to spin over a tackle with one hand on the ball in the 4th quarter while trying to protect a lead is not about the weather, its about poor focus and a lack of attention to detail. You can whine about the weather all you want, but there is a simple adjustment for it, and that is to use both hands. The backs were not doing that.

So, then, you're saying it was the weather. Got it.

If I'm allergic to pollen, and I've walked through a hallway a dozen times and had no allergic reaction, and then someone puts a bunch of pollen-filled plants in there, and I walk through it and sneeze, and my eyes get all itchy ... when someone asks me why I'm reacting like that, I say "it's the pollen" not "it's my failure to prepare for the pollen."

Maybe one day you'll be walking down the street and someone comes up to you, tells you they're going to punch you right in the face, and they do so. And when you come to, and want to press charges, the cops will laugh and say "his punch didn't knock you out ... it was your failure to defend against his punch that knocked you out."

Again, these guys have had ZERO issue with ball security this year. Prior to this they've been in plenty of situations (heavy traffic, getting whalloped, hit from behind, etc.) where you need to protect the ball more than normal and they ... didn't fumble. Suddenly, one game, with rain ... and the ball's popping out like popcorn. But it wasn't the weather.

 

[dcf4psu]

I sat through the entire game yesterday. Terrible weather. The good: Winning the game. Over 200 yards rushing for the team. Holding NW to 7 points even with the offense committing 5 turnovers (it felt like more than that at the game). Pinegar making a big field goal after NW had scored their TD to make it a two score game again. Our kicking game in overall was good. The bad: Too many turnovers, too many missed opportunities by the 6th year QB. Too much booing for the home team and QB. I did a lot of swearing under my breath, but I cannot and will not ever boo Penn State from the stands.

 

[Midnighter]

 

[JakkL]

Why didn't our RBs, TEs, WRs and DBs wear rain gloves?

 

[91Joe95]

So, then, you're saying it was the weather. Got it.

If I'm allergic to pollen, and I've walked through a hallway a dozen times and had no allergic reaction, and then someone puts a bunch of pollen-filled plants in there, and I walk through it and sneeze, and my eyes get all itchy ... when someone asks me why I'm reacting like that, I say "it's the pollen" not "it's my failure to prepare for the pollen."

Maybe one day you'll be walking down the street and someone comes up to you, tells you they're going to punch you right in the face, and they do so. And when you come to, and want to press charges, the cops will laugh and say "his punch didn't knock you out ... it was your failure to defend against his punch that knocked you out."

Again, these guys have had ZERO issue with ball security this year. Prior to this they've been in plenty of situations (heavy traffic, getting whalloped, hit from behind, etc.) where you need to protect the ball more than normal and they ... didn't fumble. Suddenly, one game, with rain ... and the ball's popping out like popcorn. But it wasn't the weather.

I hope you didn't spend a lot of time thinking of that because it is utter nonsense and a non sequitur. If you really need an analogy, in those weather conditions you take smaller steps so you don't slip. It's simple, it works, and they teach you it in pee wee football. Same thing with two hands on the football.