I find that to be pretty common, officiating “expert” says one thing. The outcome is the opposite. Happens often with targeting. Just shows how dysfunctional BIG officiating is.
There are 2 things I learned tonight
- Thread starter Zenophile
- Start date
PennState C+ game? Certainly not the offense. They were B+ despite the two INTs. The PSU defense was probably a C. The untimely penalties were momentum killers and requires some action from the coaching staff this week like running some stadium steps. That cannot occur in the playoffs.
Need a Poz in the middle to pop these little WRs once or twice so they don’t get too comfortable. We don’t have a Poz (Carter is Carter but he’s rushing more often).
Was at the game, the Oregon WRs seems extremely fast compared to us.
I seldom saw linebackers in the passing lanes obstructing passes down the middle. Linebacking is a problem area for this team
PSU's defense was virtually non existent. Oregon expected PSU to bring the heat so they countered with quick release passes over the middle. PSU didn't adjust.
37 pts should be enough to win.
I'm amazed how bad PSU's WRs are. Wallace is a pretty good athlete but he loses a lot of 50/50 balls. Who else do we have?
20 completed passes. 4 by Wallace and 1 by Evans. What happened to Fleming? I understand that he never lived up to his 5* rating but he did very little for PSU. He had 34 catches for 533 yds for OSU in 2022 and that was playing behind Harrison & Egbuka. As a 5th year senior he should have found a spot with a weak receiving room at PSU. 14 catches for 176 yds.
I guess PSU needs a $million Travis Hunter type transfer. It doesn't seem like 4* recruits Saunders or Ivey are the answer.
So, I am going to jump in for my game observations in this thread
1. Lucas Oil Stadium is very nice. 65/30 PSU fans, and the remaining 5% (based solely on the college sweatshirts) were other Big Ten schools/MAC schools. I had no issues with any Oregon fans - The few that I spoke to seemed genuinely nice. I do suspect Oregon, much like Alabama and Ohio State, has a significant number of "Walmart" fans - i.e. fans who only like the football team and are not really connected with the University in any way. However, you need that to support your program - PSU has the same thing.
2. One overlooked thing this past week is that OSU fans had to dump their tickets at a loss. That does not hurt my feelings.
3. The first half was the worst defensive first half since Bowling Green. Linebackers and secondary simply looked lost. Too many chunk plays and too many plays were their RB/WRs were way too open.
4. That said, the defense only gave up 14 points in the second half (obviously that is all that Oregon needed however). First time all year giving up a score in the 3rd quarter.
5. My flight out had about 40% PSU fans, and the pilot made a point to mention the game during his pre-takeoff note to the passengers.
6. PSU has speed. Oregon has speed AND quickness. It was clearly evident on Saturday. They have SEC level skill positions. Only Ohio State is close to that.
7. Offensively,. Rucci played a hell of a game on the offensive line. This was the best running game PSU has had all season. I was impressed at how PSU was able to get big yardage against Oregon in the run game. sometimes, I get a little annoyed with all the pre-snap movement - just line up and run the play.
8. The final int was a mix of bad play calling AND poor decision by Allar. At 10 yards a run, they should have easily been able to run for a first down when they 2nd and 1.
9. I have to think that Lanning probably thought PSU would fold when it was 28-10.
10. I had issues with the 2 point conversion, but after hearing some of the way the analytics breaks down, I can see why they went for it. The play call was not good though.
10. Ultilmately, given the way the seedings worked out, this turned out best for PSU. It would have been nice to be Big Ten champs, but their path in the playoffs is potentially much cleaner. They are favored against SMU, they should be favored against Boise, and then it's Indiana/Notre Dame/Georgia in the Semi finals in the Orange Bowl. I firmly believe PSU is better than IU and given Georgia's current QB situation, I think PSU could do well against them. Notre Dame is tough, but I hate them so I will assume PSU can beat them. So, it would not surprise me to see PSU/Oregon in the final game, in the heart of SEC country.
FTG
1. Lucas Oil Stadium is very nice. 65/30 PSU fans, and the remaining 5% (based solely on the college sweatshirts) were other Big Ten schools/MAC schools. I had no issues with any Oregon fans - The few that I spoke to seemed genuinely nice. I do suspect Oregon, much like Alabama and Ohio State, has a significant number of "Walmart" fans - i.e. fans who only like the football team and are not really connected with the University in any way. However, you need that to support your program - PSU has the same thing.
2. One overlooked thing this past week is that OSU fans had to dump their tickets at a loss. That does not hurt my feelings.
3. The first half was the worst defensive first half since Bowling Green. Linebackers and secondary simply looked lost. Too many chunk plays and too many plays were their RB/WRs were way too open.
4. That said, the defense only gave up 14 points in the second half (obviously that is all that Oregon needed however). First time all year giving up a score in the 3rd quarter.
5. My flight out had about 40% PSU fans, and the pilot made a point to mention the game during his pre-takeoff note to the passengers.
6. PSU has speed. Oregon has speed AND quickness. It was clearly evident on Saturday. They have SEC level skill positions. Only Ohio State is close to that.
7. Offensively,. Rucci played a hell of a game on the offensive line. This was the best running game PSU has had all season. I was impressed at how PSU was able to get big yardage against Oregon in the run game. sometimes, I get a little annoyed with all the pre-snap movement - just line up and run the play.
8. The final int was a mix of bad play calling AND poor decision by Allar. At 10 yards a run, they should have easily been able to run for a first down when they 2nd and 1.
9. I have to think that Lanning probably thought PSU would fold when it was 28-10.
10. I had issues with the 2 point conversion, but after hearing some of the way the analytics breaks down, I can see why they went for it. The play call was not good though.
10. Ultilmately, given the way the seedings worked out, this turned out best for PSU. It would have been nice to be Big Ten champs, but their path in the playoffs is potentially much cleaner. They are favored against SMU, they should be favored against Boise, and then it's Indiana/Notre Dame/Georgia in the Semi finals in the Orange Bowl. I firmly believe PSU is better than IU and given Georgia's current QB situation, I think PSU could do well against them. Notre Dame is tough, but I hate them so I will assume PSU can beat them. So, it would not surprise me to see PSU/Oregon in the final game, in the heart of SEC country.
FTG
I liked the last blurb about us from the Bill Connelly article that I just read on ESPN ($) breaking down each team...
This team has a bit of a "can't win the big one" reputation at the moment, but there's nothing fundamentally keeping it from doing so -- it just hasn't yet. And in countless times throughout sports history, the team that couldn't win the big one suddenly did. This is one of the most well-rounded teams in the playoff field, one capable of winning rock fights or track meets, and it's going to take a great team's A-game to knock Penn State out of the CFP.
Great point. The price is pain and nobody paid. State CRUSHED Miami receivers in the natty
BGSU QB was 25-39 for 254 yds.
USC QB was 20-34 for 220 yds.
Oregon QB was 22-32 for 283 yds.
All 3 used our aggressiveness against us by attacking our aggressiveness with quick release passes. Oregon has a little more talent and was able to avoid turnovers.
The 5th DB is usually Reed who comes up to support the run or create an explosive play on defense.
Any chance Franklin can get Manny Diaz (and his hair) for a playoff run?
I'd have to rewatch the game but it seemed to me that no. 13 may have been pulled in the second half.
Lots of over penetration, poor pursuit angles and sloppy tackling on D. We must have watched 2 different games, because I didn't see anything soft about the offense. Oregon ran alot at Carter which is right out of the basic coaching handbook. You don't need to worry about speed if you run right at it. 1 reason he might have been more effective in this game at LB.
If we had 1/2 of an Oregon WR we'd win this thing going away.
I like your post but would modify a bit. I think they got an A- game from our offense and a C from our D. Agree about the refs, it had an impact. But regarding the D, was Oregon just that much faster on O and harder to tackle or did we really f up with our scheme, responsibilities/assignments and tackling skills. I think a little bit of both is true here. I think you have to give their athletes some credit, and I'm sure they were a bit fresher than us coming off the bye.
I expect PSU to come out absolutely on fire agains SMU at home. I think we are gonna start peaking now learning some lessons from Oregon. I hope they are angry and LTFI.
Absolutely fair assessment and I agree with that; Defense is more deserving of a poor grade. Offense put up 37 points and nearly 300 yards rushing with 2 backs going over 100. That should have been enough to hoist up the B1G trophy.
Oregon points scored vs:
24 - Idaho
37 - Boise
34 - UCLA
31 - MSU
32 - OSU
35 - Purdue
38 - ILL
39 - Maryland
45 - PSU
You could argue that the defense was a D-
It is nearly unbelievable that Penn State..."Linebacker U"...should lack linebacker depth.
Check Joe’s Bowl record…best big game coach of all time!