Random Thoughts Post-Washington

[BiochemPSU]

You know you are in for a long night when you pull your uninjured senior QB and throw a freshmen in: on the road, in a white out, coming from a three hour time difference.

As fun as Warren is, he is the whole offense. They really can't do much of anything unless he is involved every few plays. Teams with NFL talent (OSU) on defense can scheme and take him away. The rest of these .500 teams have no shot.

Longest pass of the night went for 28 yards. I don't think you necessarily have to go throwing bombs all day long (like those early-years Franklin "chunk" plays that usually had us go 3 and out pretty consistently) and I know the game was in hand early on so why risk it, but there is no down field threat at all.

Once again Warren 8 receptions; WR squad 8 receptions.

The stage wasn't too big tonight for the players nor the coaches and they didn't let OSU beat them a second time this season. The timing of the white out was a good moral boost for everyone.

One day someone will be able to explain to me why James Franklin calls timeouts on his own kicker. I don't really know if that actually does anything negative to the kicker psychologically, but there is no way that it helps, right?

One thing the Franklin era did upgrade is the secondary. They always recruit and develop some studs back there. If they can ever convince a true 5 star DT to come along for the ride, the secondary would be that much better.

Calling it now, Alabama/Georgia at PSU for the first round playoff game. All of these SEC schools are going to have two losses and they are all going to be seeded 11 through 8. Pray to the football gods for a blizzard that day.

 

[Sunsox]

Franklin called timeout before the field goal because he wanted the extra time to review the Warren non-catch for a first down. Although Warren seemed confident he caught it, there did not appear to be enough to overturn, but the way the refs were calling things (Warren catch-fumble) who knows.

 

[Georgia Peach]

Penn State Football is what it has been for a few years now. We are a very good program with quality players deserving of NFL elevation. Players develop well physically, and they are coached well at most aspects of the game. We don't recruit well enough to hang with the best in college football and for reasons that escape me we cannot, on occasion, punch above our weight and beat the very best. But that measuring stick only applies to 4-5 teams in college football. It's a program that is, and should be, ranked between 6-10.

 

[stater02]

You know you are in for a long night when you pull your uninjured senior QB and throw a freshmen in: on the road, in a white out, coming from a three hour time difference.

As fun as Warren is, he is the whole offense. They really can't do much of anything unless he is involved every few plays. Teams with NFL talent (OSU) on defense can scheme and take him away. The rest of these .500 teams have no shot.

Longest pass of the night went for 28 yards. I don't think you necessarily have to go throwing bombs all day long (like those early-years Franklin "chunk" plays that usually had us go 3 and out pretty consistently) and I know the game was in hand early on so why risk it, but there is no down field threat at all.

Once again Warren 8 receptions; WR squad 8 receptions.

The stage wasn't too big tonight for the players nor the coaches and they didn't let OSU beat them a second time this season. The timing of the white out was a good moral boost for everyone.

One day someone will be able to explain to me why James Franklin calls timeouts on his own kicker. I don't really know if that actually does anything negative to the kicker psychologically, but there is no way that it helps, right?

One thing the Franklin era did upgrade is the secondary. They always recruit and develop some studs back there. If they can ever convince a true 5 star DT to come along for the ride, the secondary would be that much better.

Calling it now, Alabama/Georgia at PSU for the first round playoff game. All of these SEC schools are going to have two losses and they are all going to be seeded 11 through 8. Pray to the football gods for a blizzard that day.

I could see these matchups. Bama scares me. They have threats everywhere and looked like world beaters last night at LSU. Georgia would be a very winnable game. They’ve been shaky all season long and Beck turns the ball over. Their WRs are surprisingly nothing special. It’s amazing how far they’ve fallen in terms of total team quality since just last year.

 

[Marshall2323]

Penn State Football is what it has been for a few years now. We are a very good program with quality players deserving of NFL elevation. Players develop well physically, and they are coached well at most aspects of the game. We don't recruit well enough to hang with the best in college football and for reasons that escape me we cannot, on occasion, punch above our weight and beat the very best. But that measuring stick only applies to 4-5 teams in college football. It's a program that is, and should be, ranked between 6-10.

But...WE DESERVE BETTER!

 

[PSUHarry]

Franklin called timeout before the field goal because he wanted the extra time to review the Warren non-catch for a first down. Although Warren seemed confident he caught it, there did not appear to be enough to overturn, but the way the refs were calling things (Warren catch-fumble) who knows.

Franklin didn’t know it was already reviewed per his presser.

 

[Ludd]

You know you are in for a long night when you pull your uninjured senior QB and throw a freshmen in: on the road, in a white out, coming from a three hour time difference.

As fun as Warren is, he is the whole offense. They really can't do much of anything unless he is involved every few plays. Teams with NFL talent (OSU) on defense can scheme and take him away. The rest of these .500 teams have no shot.

Longest pass of the night went for 28 yards. I don't think you necessarily have to go throwing bombs all day long (like those early-years Franklin "chunk" plays that usually had us go 3 and out pretty consistently) and I know the game was in hand early on so why risk it, but there is no down field threat at all.

Once again Warren 8 receptions; WR squad 8 receptions.

The stage wasn't too big tonight for the players nor the coaches and they didn't let OSU beat them a second time this season. The timing of the white out was a good moral boost for everyone.

One day someone will be able to explain to me why James Franklin calls timeouts on his own kicker. I don't really know if that actually does anything negative to the kicker psychologically, but there is no way that it helps, right?

One thing the Franklin era did upgrade is the secondary. They always recruit and develop some studs back there. If they can ever convince a true 5 star DT to come along for the ride, the secondary would be that much better.

Calling it now, Alabama/Georgia at PSU for the first round playoff game. All of these SEC schools are going to have two losses and they are all going to be seeded 11 through 8. Pray to the football gods for a blizzard that day.

That was domination from start to finish last night…if you have problems with that game (as you obviously do) you won’t ever be happy.

 

[NittPicker]

I get your point about Warren but the staff needs to optimize the talent they have. If the most talented player is Warren then they need to feature him. As an example, name the two best players on the most recent Patriots dynasty teams. Brady and Gronkowski. (They even went to Tampa together and won a Super Bowl there.) Other offensive players who contributed in a dynastic way?? I got nothing. Gronk was the man and they fed him the ball. The defenses knew it and still couldn't stop him. His contested catches were incredible. OTOH, RBs and WRs came and went like people on a subway car.

And before anyone jumps my azz, I'm not saying PSU = the Patriots. Allar isn't Brady. Warren isn't Gronk. My point is you go with who gives you the greatest chance for success. Maybe next season other aspects of the offense will develop into threats which the defense will need to plan for. Year #2 for Kotelnicki will be interesting.

 

[Bvillebaron]

Penn State Football is what it has been for a few years now. We are a very good program with quality players deserving of NFL elevation. Players develop well physically, and they are coached well at most aspects of the game. We don't recruit well enough to hang with the best in college football and for reasons that escape me we cannot, on occasion, punch above our weight and beat the very best. But that measuring stick only applies to 4-5 teams in college football. It's a program that is, and should be, ranked between 6-10.

Penn State doesn’t “hang” with the best in college football. Gee I thought they lost by 7 to OSU, the best roster in college football money can buy, and had a chance to tie the game with 5 minutes left in the game. I guess two loss Georgia and Alabama suck too.

 

[Bvillebaron]

That was domination from start to finish last night…if you have problems with that game (as you obviously do) you won’t ever be happy.

And they never will be because THEY DESERVE BETTER.

 

[84lion]

That was domination from start to finish last night…if you have problems with that game (as you obviously do) you won’t ever be happy.

Agree on the "domination" for the first half. Second half - that very long, clock-eating drive was very impressive, but I don't know if you can call 7-3 "dominating." What Alabama did to LSU and arguably Ole Miss did to Georgia, now those performances were "dominating." I was a bit concerned when UW brought in their 2nd string QB and he seemed to be on the verge of bringing them back. At a 28-3 deficit, I don't think there was ever a chance of UW coming back to win, but they could've made it a lot closer.

I still think Penn State's defense never gets enough credit. They have been doing yeoman's work (especially when certain players are continuously held by the opposing offense). Their worst performances were Bowling Green and USC, both games still won by PSU. OSU was their third worst performance but they did score a defensive TD, so you could argue that the PSU defense kept OSU to a net 13 points. Tom Allen may not be everyone's cup of tea, but he looks like a great hire to me.

 

[LB99]

“Penn State Football is what it has been for 25 + years now.”

Fixed.

 

[Alphalion75]

You know you are in for a long night when you pull your uninjured senior QB and throw a freshmen in: on the road, in a white out, coming from a three hour time difference.

As fun as Warren is, he is the whole offense. They really can't do much of anything unless he is involved every few plays. Teams with NFL talent (OSU) on defense can scheme and take him away. The rest of these .500 teams have no shot.

Longest pass of the night went for 28 yards. I don't think you necessarily have to go throwing bombs all day long (like those early-years Franklin "chunk" plays that usually had us go 3 and out pretty consistently) and I know the game was in hand early on so why risk it, but there is no down field threat at all.

Once again Warren 8 receptions; WR squad 8 receptions.

The stage wasn't too big tonight for the players nor the coaches and they didn't let OSU beat them a second time this season. The timing of the white out was a good moral boost for everyone.

One day someone will be able to explain to me why James Franklin calls timeouts on his own kicker. I don't really know if that actually does anything negative to the kicker psychologically, but there is no way that it helps, right?

One thing the Franklin era did upgrade is the secondary. They always recruit and develop some studs back there. If they can ever convince a true 5 star DT to come along for the ride, the secondary would be that much better.

Calling it now, Alabama/Georgia at PSU for the first round playoff game. All of these SEC schools are going to have two losses and they are all going to be seeded 11 through 8. Pray to the football gods for a blizzard that day.

Did you know that Georgia's state of the art indoor facility can simulate blizzard conditions?....snow, rain, sleet...whatever.

 

[LB99]

Franklin called timeout before the field goal because he wanted the extra time to review the Warren non-catch for a first down. Although Warren seemed confident he caught it, there did not appear to be enough to overturn, but the way the refs were calling things (Warren catch-fumble) who knows.

This^^^

It was a good use of a timeout as overruling the incomplete pass to make it complete would have continued the drive. Why people continue to bash Franklin for TO management is ridiculous.

 

[olelion]

That was domination from start to finish last night…if you have problems with that game (as you obviously do) you won’t ever be happy.

You are so in right. Washington had been playing everyone tough. Their blowout loss at Iowa is deceiving as well. They moved the ball at will in that game. I was very impressed with the domination last night. How good is Ohio State? It will be interesting to see how they fare against Oregon on a neutral field

 

[Ludd]

Agree on the "domination" for the first half. Second half - that very long, clock-eating drive was very impressive, but I don't know if you can call 7-3 "dominating." What Alabama did to LSU and arguably Ole Miss did to Georgia, now those performances were "dominating." I was a bit concerned when UW brought in their 2nd string QB and he seemed to be on the verge of bringing them back. At a 28-3 deficit, I don't think there was ever a chance of UW coming back to win, but they could've made it a lot closer.

I still think Penn State's defense never gets enough credit. They have been doing yeoman's work (especially when certain players are continuously held by the opposing offense). Their worst performances were Bowling Green and USC, both games still won by PSU. OSU was their third worst performance but they did score a defensive TD, so you could argue that the PSU defense kept OSU to a net 13 points. Tom Allen may not be everyone's cup of tea, but he looks like a great hire to me.

Without the holding call, we’re up 35-0 out of the gate….that changed a lot then Warren’s fumble didn’t help. Even though the second half wasn’t domination in terms of the score, it was on the field. The question was never if Washington could come back and win, it was could they score a single TD.

 

[BiochemPSU]

That was domination from start to finish last night…if you have problems with that game (as you obviously do) you won’t ever be happy.

That was your take from that? Is it your time of the month?

 

[bdgan]

Penn State doesn’t “hang” with the best in college football. Gee I thought they lost by 7 to OSU, the best roster in college football money can buy, and had a chance to tie the game with 5 minutes left in the game. I guess two loss Georgia and Alabama suck too.

I think you're being picky about the term "hang". Yes we played OSU close but 1-11 speaks for itself. Georgia and Alabama both have weaknesses this year but they've been near the top year after year.

 

[saturdaysarebetter]

Washington's backup QB, Williams, a freshman, who played in the second half, man is he fast.

 

[ApexLion]

Tks you are a ray of sunshine.

What I saw: a pretty cool offense. Washington playing a giant zone freeing up Wallace and Warren. More giddy up in Allen. Corey the Jet for the future. A defense that is fast enough to play with a SEC team. Get in the playoffs, take your best shot!

 

[bdgan]

Did you know that Georgia's state of the art indoor facility can simulate blizzard conditions?....snow, rain, sleet...whatever.

PSU players can just go outside and experience the same thing

 

[ApexLion]

I get your point about Warren but the staff needs to optimize the talent they have. If the most talented player is Warren then they need to feature him. As an example, name the two best players on the most recent Patriots dynasty teams. Brady and Gronkowski. (They even went to Tampa together and won a Super Bowl there.) Other offensive players who contributed in a dynastic way?? I got nothing. Gronk was the man and they fed him the ball. The defenses knew it and still couldn't stop him. His contested catches were incredible. OTOH, RBs and WRs came and went like people on a subway car.

And before anyone jumps my azz, I'm not saying PSU = the Patriots. Allar isn't Brady. Warren isn't Gronk. My point is you go with who gives you the greatest chance for success. Maybe next season other aspects of the offense will develop into threats which the defense will need to plan for. Year #2 for Kotelnicki will be interesting.

No azz jumpin here.
Agree. Use Warren till they stop him. Who doubts he would have scored against OSU?

 

[Nitt1300]

No azz jumpin here.
Agree. Use Warren till they stop him. Who doubts he would have scored against OSU?

Did you see a lot of similarity between tOSU's Defense and Washingtons? Because I missed that.

 

[Ceasar]

This^^^

It was a good use of a timeout as overruling the incomplete pass to make it complete would have continued the drive. Why people continue to bash Franklin for TO management is ridiculous.

I agree with you about the excessive bashing. And icing the FG kicker aside, I do wonder who is in charge of communicating to CJF that a play needs to be reviewed. For example, in baseball, each team has a specific individual assigned to look at the replay and communicate to the manager whether to challenge. The manager is obviously not watching a replay. The play last night, IMHO, there was no point in reviewing. There were several very good replays that showed the pass was incomplete. So I wonder who told CJF that the play needed to be reviewed?

 

[CbusLion]

Without the holding call, we’re up 35-0 out of the gate….that changed a lot then Warren’s fumble didn’t help. Even though the second half wasn’t domination in terms of the score, it was on the field. The question was never if Washington could come back and win, it was could they score a single TD.

Cherrypicking which quarters were dominant is a little silly, it was a 35-6 game. Penn State is a very strong team, lacking only elite WRs and 1 elite DT. The overall improvement of the program has been significant.

 

[BiochemPSU]

I get your point about Warren but the staff needs to optimize the talent they have. If the most talented player is Warren then they need to feature him. As an example, name the two best players on the most recent Patriots dynasty teams. Brady and Gronkowski. (They even went to Tampa together and won a Super Bowl there.) Other offensive players who contributed in a dynastic way?? I got nothing. Gronk was the man and they fed him the ball. The defenses knew it and still couldn't stop him. His contested catches were incredible. OTOH, RBs and WRs came and went like people on a subway car.

And before anyone jumps my azz, I'm not saying PSU = the Patriots. Allar isn't Brady. Warren isn't Gronk. My point is you go with who gives you the greatest chance for success. Maybe next season other aspects of the offense will develop into threats which the defense will need to plan for. Year #2 for Kotelnicki will be interesting.

I agree you have to roll with Warren. And the guy is really good. Just trying to put some numbers to what we are seeing, and where the trends are.

also, gronk was so dominant that he forced defenses to let the other guys beat them. Warren sort of does the same thing, but no one else has really grabbed that opportunity. Not sure if that is on Allar, the talent at wr, or scheme/coaches. Probably all three is the answer.

 

[Alphalion75]

I wonder what's up with Singleton?

 

[blion72]

You know you are in for a long night when you pull your uninjured senior QB and throw a freshmen in: on the road, in a white out, coming from a three hour time difference.

As fun as Warren is, he is the whole offense. They really can't do much of anything unless he is involved every few plays. Teams with NFL talent (OSU) on defense can scheme and take him away. The rest of these .500 teams have no shot.

Longest pass of the night went for 28 yards. I don't think you necessarily have to go throwing bombs all day long (like those early-years Franklin "chunk" plays that usually had us go 3 and out pretty consistently) and I know the game was in hand early on so why risk it, but there is no down field threat at all.

Once again Warren 8 receptions; WR squad 8 receptions.

The stage wasn't too big tonight for the players nor the coaches and they didn't let OSU beat them a second time this season. The timing of the white out was a good moral boost for everyone.

One day someone will be able to explain to me why James Franklin calls timeouts on his own kicker. I don't really know if that actually does anything negative to the kicker psychologically, but there is no way that it helps, right?

One thing the Franklin era did upgrade is the secondary. They always recruit and develop some studs back there. If they can ever convince a true 5 star DT to come along for the ride, the secondary would be that much better.

Calling it now, Alabama/Georgia at PSU for the first round playoff game. All of these SEC schools are going to have two losses and they are all going to be seeded 11 through 8. Pray to the football gods for a blizzard that day.

hoping that we can win next 3 without injuries. Not sure what happened with Singleton. he was starting to look back to normal.

 

[PSUSignore]

This^^^

It was a good use of a timeout as overruling the incomplete pass to make it complete would have continued the drive. Why people continue to bash Franklin for TO management is ridiculous.

Normally I'd agree but it was pretty obvious that ball wasn't a catch. It was a waste of a TO in that situation as the replay was pretty clear.

 

[LB99]

Normally I'd agree but it was pretty obvious that ball wasn't a catch. It was a waste of a TO in that situation as the replay was pretty clear.

I get that in hindsight, but I disagree. I’ve seen replays where they say the receiver got a hand under the ball and it is a catch before it touches the ground. If PSU puts 7 on the board on that drive, it’s the knockout punch. It was worth a look.

 

[Nits74]

That was your take from that? Is it your time of the month?

In his case, it's a weekly thing.

 

[Ludd]

In his case, it's a weekly thing.

The humor well isn’t too deep for you, is it?

 

[blion72]

I wonder what's up with Singleton?

I was surprised that JF was not asked about this. star player disappears for 2nd half and not seen on the sideline.

 

[SleepyLion]

I was surprised that JF was not asked about this. star player disappears for 2nd half and not seen on the sideline.

maybe a lacky made an announcement prior to the presser...

 

[Nits74]

The humor well isn’t too deep for you, is it?

Just noticed your Avatar. Is it yours? Good looking Collie. Was raised around them. I have a Border now. Very smart, but a challenge.
Peace, and let's hope we win the last three.

 

[Nits74]

I was surprised that JF was not asked about this. star player disappears for 2nd half and not seen on the sideline.

If only a minor injury, sit him for next week's game.

 

[Bones80]

Was asked in presser. Said no comment. One reporter said he thought he might have had his bell rung. Possible concussion protocol.

 

[Ludd]

Just noticed your Avatar. Is it yours? Good looking Collie. Was raised around them. I have a Border now. Very smart, but a challenge.
Peace, and let's hope we win the last three.

Yes, it’s mine….he’s four now. He’s a challenge as well. I grew up with a collie, so I wanted another one. His name is Barkley.

 

[AvgUser]

hoping that we can win next 3 without injuries. Not sure what happened with Singleton. he was starting to look back to normal.

If we lose one, there aren’t any playoffs

 

[Corner Room Breakfast]

If only a minor injury, sit him for next week's game.

I think Corey Smith and Quinn Martin will fill in well, Corey has a burst without hesitation.