- Allar had a horrible game. It happens! Nothing against the young man but my “expectations” of his performance were a lot higher based on his experience, hype and rating out of high school. I know Franklin is reluctant about pulling the starting quarterback out during the game and I know he was concerned that this game may come down to a single possession. In retrospect what do you think about having Pribula come in for a possession or two. I think he is capable of throwing short passes and he can run (something Allar cannot do). I would have even put Potts if for a couple of plays. Comments?
- I think the defense played well for the most part. Pass interference penalties hurt us on that one drive, but I was mostly surprised the soft cushion given to Harrison Jr. Not sure of the strategy here, but we had no answer to containing him. He made 11 catches for 162 yards. He burned us BAD!
- Hardy’s misjudging that punt hurt tremendously. Mistakes will be made but that cost at least a 35 yard swing, a short field to start the drive and with a couple of decent (if we got lucky) plays a red zone opportunity.
- Offense did not adjust as the game progressed. Example being 3rd and 4 yards to go and Ohio State constantly putting pressure on the QB, they dial up a 19 yard downfield pass! Allar had no time for the play to materialize and was running for his life. (Offense failed to convert on the first 15 3rd downs attempts). Not a way to win close games. Many threads were already posted about the coaching preparation (lack thereof) for this game.
- Help me out here on the logic for going for 2 points when we scored late in the 4th quarter. The percentage of making a 2 point conversion is low (especially based on our lack of offense performance during the game) compared to kicking an extra point. Why not kick the extra point in that situation. By some miracle if we recovered the onside kick and scored then again you have the option of going for the tie (extra point – low risk) or win with the 2 point play. By going for 2 points at the stage in the game and failing forced PSU to try another 2 point conversion if we scored again.
- Overall best will be a 10-2 team (hopefully not 9-3) this year. Michigan I feel is a better team than OSU and I am penciling that in as a lost. The score of 20-12 suggests the game was close. The score was not an indicator of a close game at all. Ohio State dominated the game.
Ohio State Game - My Comments
- Thread starter PSUMichFan
- Start date
I think that the rationale of going for two when they did starts with the decision to go for the win (as opposed to tie) then rather than later. Either way, you need to get a two-point conversion so you might as well get two shots at it. If you fail early then you go for it later for the tie. If you succeed on the first one, then it's a kick for the W on the next.
The 14 point swing in the 2nd quarter was the back breaker PSU could not recover from. To go from a 7 point defensive score, to giving up 7 points on the same drive was to me all she wrote for Penn State's chances and I said it at the time. Take away the late TD for PSU and the 14 point swing would have had the score 13-13. Obviously everything afterwards would not have played out as it did, but PSU would have had a much better chance of winning IMO.
This is where the high expectations were probably overdone. I'm no expert on judging football talent, but after watching him in all American, Blue White and regular season games both this and last year, I kept asking myself what is so special here. I may have posted this in the heat of the OSU game thread, but from what I've seen, Clifford was a better all around QB. Hope I'm wrong.
The game revealed the final distance between the gap between us and the Buckeyes. First, they had MHJ, we had nobody comparable. Ryan Day is a real time realist who said, I have him, you don't I will take my chances. JCF either didn't decide that I have Fashanu and you don't. The Buckeye LBs were not up to a pounding that we could have given them on the left side IMO. So we needed a stud and coach to ride him to the win. On the other hand, our D Line surprised me and held up which means we can beat Meatchicken if our coach can just man-up to the talent on the team he built. The first law of Madden has never been truer than in the OSU games, Great Players Play Great in Big Games. Ryan Day displayed that understanding on Saturday.
The other part of the game that irritates me to no end is that Lions fans have been watching 4 generations of Buckeye WRs running crossing routes in key moments win games for those bums. We did it once with Hamler. What the hell. We are none losses into not learning that lesson and integrating into our offense. For crying out loud
The other part of the game that irritates me to no end is that Lions fans have been watching 4 generations of Buckeye WRs running crossing routes in key moments win games for those bums. We did it once with Hamler. What the hell. We are none losses into not learning that lesson and integrating into our offense. For crying out loud
Yep, assuming that your 2pt conversion is about 50%, it's been mathematically demonstrated that going for 2 when down by 8 late in the game gives you a better chance to win. Glad that Franklin recognized this, although one can certainly make an argument that PSU had a lower than 50% chance to convert vs OSU. Many NFL teams do it now.
- Hardy’s misjudging that punt hurt tremendously. Mistakes will be made but that cost at least a 35 yard swing, a short field to start the drive and with a couple of decent (if we got lucky) plays a red zone opportunity.
Good assessment. I have some of the same questions. Why wasn’t Pribula and Potts given some reps? Nothing to lose there. The offense wasn’t moving the ball anyway. Maybe some designed QB runs to keep the defense honest? Or throw them off by letting him throw down field. I like Potts. He is decisive and runs hard. Also, the TE throws largely disappeared at times. I have more questions than answers.
I think recruiting, much like the NFL draft now, is largely dictated by the kid’s measurables and potential. Allar is a big kid with a cannon arm. He’s what the prototypical NFL QB “should” look like. Therefore, the potential is what everyone is after. Look at a school like Clemson. It appears that they have struck out on their last two highly rated QB recruits. They don’t all pan out like everyone would like. Allar only has a handful of starts under his belt. Time will tell on how this story ends.
I'm not a believer in playing two QBs- if the starter isn't getting it done (and he wasn't) pull him and play your #2- which I would have done for the entire 4th quarter
Even after a full college career the NFL is still taking a gamble on QB’s, as many a good college player just doesn’t pan out in the big leagues.
And I think the look of the “prototypical NFL QB“ is changing, as the threat to be able to run seems to be gaining in popularity.
You are not wrong. The NFL has been drafting on potential for awhile. PSU had a DE go very high in the draft a few years ago that didn’t have an overly impressive last season at PSU.
I think there was no reason to change QBs when it was a one score game. MY did nothing to help Allar out. Singleton and Allen ran fine; they just needed to run them more IMO.
My initial thoughts were the same as yours, but that offense was stale. It needed a spark and I think giving Pribula at least a series or two prior to it being a one score game. I am wondering if they have any RPO/read option packages for Pribula ala Trace/early Clifford.
You Time will tell on how this story ends.
the rick It ends 9-2 silly and a great nfl career, our first one in awhile
the rick It ends 9-2 silly and a great nfl career, our first one in awhile
- Franklin stated that they always have plays for Pribula but that they never had the opportunity situationally to bring him in/call for them. Seems a bit of a disingenuous statement or short sighted/self limiting to have packages that are contingent on success. Ryan Day's post game stated that OSU had multiple plays for their running QB which they DID employ (though he suffered an ankle injury)
- Speaking of Pribula, the drastic change in offensive performance between this season and last really does have me wondering whether Franklin's scheme needs a mobile QB to succeed.
- Ironically seems that Yurcich/Franklin felt they would dress up as Iowa for an early Halloween and field a stout defense and a mediocre offense and hope for the best. I think we can see the answer to the question of what would Iowa look like if they have even an average offense....
- If there was one bright spot it was the defense. Yes they allowed explosive plays, but they also were tough in the red zone. Keeping a team to 13 points well into the 4th quarter is all you can expect. Not sure why Franklin felt compelled to call out the "high tackling" by the defense, they clearly were not the problem. If I was Diaz I'd be fuming at any critique of the defense by Franklin after that offensive performance.
- Offense did not adjust as the game progressed: Agreed, it didn't. For the past year Franklin has been calling out the need to have receivers develop and clearly establish a #2 and #3 receiver. It hasn't happened yet it seems like the offensive game plan was predicated on receivers suddenly developing in the toughest game of the season. Franklin has also previously mentioned that if receivers didn't develop they could rely on more 12 personnel packages....not sure why tight ends have virtually disappeared this season after having been such a significant component last season. Is Brenton Strange's absence leaving that much of a drop off?
- As a side note I think Yurcich should be back on the sideline. IMHO with such a young offense they could benefit from having some "presence" on the sideline. If you look at Manny Diaz on the sideline you KNOW he is engaged with the defensive players. That role seems to have been relegated to some assistant coaches on the offensive side.
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