Thoughts from the couch….

[STPGopherfan]

1. Good win. This was needed for the squad, the staff, and most importantly for the BWI Legion of Coaching Excellence.

2. Minnesota‘s Tight End (88) is a freaking monster. If MInny would have targeted him more, he could have had a phenomenal game.

3. Not sure if there was any kind of wind issue inside the stadium - it seemed that Minny’s punts and the INT thrown by Clifford seemed to sail. Caused some probable trying to catch the ball.

4. One difference for this game is it looked like the WRs were going up for the 50/50 ballls. Since CJF has been here, he has WRs who would go up for the 50/50s - Blacknall, Godwin and Dotson come to mind right away-not so much this year, before this game.

5. I was actually excited that Minny got called for false starts. Crowd was energetic.

6. Good pass blocking by the OL - and Clifford stayed in the pocket, which gave him the opportunity to hit he receives, especially TEs. That is not been a luxury at times this year.

7. Speaking of TEs - WOW! Finally!! Got all three TEs involved and it’ss nice to see a breakout by Theo Johnson.

8. I was impressed with the mechanics of how Minny’s OL blocks for the running backs - They do a great job of sealing off the defenders and creating a lane between the tackles. Penn State does not seem to do that.

9. The relationship between Sean Clifford and the fans is at best….complicated.

10. Defense really played well and with a couple of minor exceptions, pretty much controlled Minny. On the Minny TD drive at the end of the first half, you have to give the QB and WR credit for the great catch along the sideline. Perfectly placed.

11. Conversely, Clifford’s pass and catch by Tinsley along the PSU sideline was also great placement and great catch.

12. Someone mentioned no PI on the PSU int. I thought it was going to get called, but watching the replay it did not seem like it - the recivver seemed to slip down on his own. However, in the first drive after Minny got their FG, the Minny defender interfered with the WR - and nothing called. So….to whomever mntioned PI calls - II think PSU got hosed more than Minny.

13. Nice to hear the commentators gush abou the White OUt. As usual, it looked greeat on TV.

14. Anyone thinking that CJF should have put Allar in for “highlight” is an idiot. Clifford had one of his better outings, was moving the ball and leading the team. It was his game.

15. So ultimately, the squad, the staff and most importantly the BWI Legion of Coaching Exellence got a good win over a team they should have gotten a good win against. I don’t gamble, but I saw the line was minus 5 and obviously (LOL) PSU exceeded whatever expectations were out there for this game.

16. We all know who is coming to the Beav next week. I hope the crowd is as loud next week as they were this week. I also echo something CJF said in his post game - don’t sell your tickets to OSU fans.

17. Ultimately, PSU is 6-1 will move up in the polls, and 10-2 is not out of the realm of possibility for the program this year. Those who feel like they get to decide what the ”standard” is, can decide whether that is an acceptable aspiration or not.

FTG

Wonderful and more than fair summary. We too wondered why our TE wasn't used more. He was really the only thing working. It might have made it more cosmetically appealing.

 

[LaJollaCreek]

I can tell you that a 9 or 10 win season at osu or bama or georgia would lead to calls to fire their coach.

"expectations" vary. At psu, it's 8-9 wins. At elite schools it's 11. We ain't elite.

EDIT: under Allar we have the opportunity to BECOME elite. We'll see.

Pssst, Allar could have started against UM and PSU would have lost. Not a knock on him either, the lines were torched and no QB's is fixing that when you give up 400 on the ground. PSU has had 11 win seasons under Franklin and if you want to take that next step.....start bankrolling the team HEAVILY as there is no secret on how to become elite at the college level. Even prior to the NIL PSU was behind the curve there. Bama and UGa were handing out trucks and Chargers for a long time now. Also move PSU down to Jacksonville so it can poach between FL and GA....that will be a good start as one thing the northeast is lacking is the talent numbers.

PSU hasn't been elite consistenly in close to 3.5 decades outside of a season or two here or there. If you think one player is the only reason, I'll disagree. PSU's class last year was very good, but it wasn't winning a MNC this year. A bit of reality as to where PSU is at. Let's say they go 10-2 this year.....4 NYD 6 bowl games in 7 years. While not elite, it's actually a step up from the last 2 decades.....if we are trying to be objective.

Schools trying to get and stay elite.

USC, UT, UT, UF, Miami, FSU, Oregon, Auburn, A&M,.......etc and it keeps going. There are 4-5 schools that make that elite claim currently.

 

[PSUSignore]

I can tell you that a 9 or 10 win season at osu or bama or georgia would lead to calls to fire their coach.

"expectations" vary. At psu, it's 8-9 wins. At elite schools it's 11. We ain't elite.

EDIT: under Allar we have the opportunity to BECOME elite. We'll see.

Cool, then fire the coach and see if we turn into the next Texas or Nebraska, with .500 and losing seasons becoming the norm while we go through a repetitive cycle of new head coaches every 3-4 years as we try to become an annual 9 win top 25 team again.

 

[PSUSignore]

BTW, did anyone notice that Tinsley did a rather poor job of downfield blocking on the big Singleton screen pass? This isn't to take away from a mostly positive performance vs. Minn, it's just one of the small improvement opportunities that jumped out at me. If he sustains that block, Singleton probably takes it to the house. Just a minor criticism I noticed in real time, and I'm sure the coaches always find little examples like that to work on every week. I think we ended up getting a TD on that drive so it didn't really have an impact but one of the little things I really enjoy seeing is when WRs block downfield resulting in big chunks of added yardage.

 

[psuro]

Cool, then fire the coach and see if we turn into the next Texas or Nebraska, with .500 and losing seasons becoming the norm while we go through a repetitive cycle of new head coaches every 3-4 years as we try to become an annual 9 win top 25 team again.

You said that better than I have been trying to say it. The thought that a coaching change guarantees CFP every year is simply ludicrous.

 

[PSUSignore]

You said that better than I have been trying to say it. The thought that a coaching change guarantees CFP every year is simply ludicrous.

Based on how many other programs we see it happen to, I'd wager that if we were to fire Franklin right now the odds of becoming the next "has been" program churning through coaches are significantly higher than successfully making the jump up to Georgia, Bama, OSU levels. Coaching isn't the only difference at the top programs. Those schools make massive investments in their programs and are all aligned on the importance of the football program from the board to the president to the AD and on down the line. PSU doesn't have that level of commitment.

 

[Midnighter]

You said that better than I have been trying to say it. The thought that a coaching change guarantees CFP every year is simply ludicrous.

It doesn’t. But, after a decade, you sort of know what you have. How many coaches (aside from Saban) since 2000 won a NC in their 10th (or greater) season at one school? Might do some research on this. That said, Nebraska, Texas, Tennessee, USC, LSU, etc. aren’t content with what they’ve been getting. Admire them for making moves - even if they don’t pan out. Shows they’re serious about winning.

 

[Midnighter]

National Championship Teams since 2000 - and number of years the HC took to win it:

2000 - Oklahoma, Bob Stoops - 2
2001 - Miami, FL, Larry Coker - 1
2002 - Ohio State, Jim Tressel - 2
2003 - LSU, Nick Saban - 4, USC, Pete Carroll - 3
2004 - USC, Pete Carroll - 4
2005 - Texas, Mack Brown - 8
2006 - Florida, Urban Meyer - 2
2007 - LSU, Les Miles - 3
2008 - Florida, Urban Meyer - 4
2009 - Alabama, Nick Saban - 3
2010 - Auburn, Gene Chizik - 2
2011 - Alabama, Nick Saban - 5
2012 - Alabama, Nick Saban - 6
2013 - Florida State, Jimbo Fisher - 4
2014 - Ohio State, Urban Meyer - 3
2015 - Alabama, Nick Saban - 9
2016 - Clemson, Dabo Swinney - 8
2017 - Alabama, Nick Saban - 11
2018 - Clemson, Dabo Swinney - 10
2019 - LSU, Ed Orgeron - 3
2020 - Alabama, Nick Saban - 14
2021 - Georgia, Kirby Smart - 6

Average time to win a first National Championship is about 3.6 years. All power five conferences represented. Seems like if you don't win one early, you won't.

 

[FTLPSU]

Why I previously said if u make a change there is only 1 Coach who can make PSU successful in less than 3 years. Again, it ain’t Rhule.

So sticking with what we got…please make some in game adjustments When we need too, give ur boys a chance.

Lastly, if we play OSU close like we have in the past then that basically tells us it’s the same ole story and we mostly get run over by Michigan..

Unfortunately, I think OSu rolls us and thats nothing more than the Jimmy’s and Joes. No adjustments changing that.

 

[MacNit]

Cool, then fire the coach and see if we turn into the next Texas or Nebraska, with .500 and losing seasons becoming the norm while we go through a repetitive cycle of new head coaches every 3-4 years as we try to become an annual 9 win top 25 team again.

How is that different than the current state?

With zero signs anything will change…

 

[NB4PSU]

Pssst, Allar could have started against UM and PSU would have lost. Not a knock on him either, the lines were torched and no QB's is fixing that when you give up 400 on the ground. PSU has had 11 win seasons under Franklin and if you want to take that next step.....start bankrolling the team HEAVILY as there is no secret on how to become elite at the college level. Even prior to the NIL PSU was behind the curve there. Bama and UGa were handing out trucks and Chargers for a long time now. Also move PSU down to Jacksonville so it can poach between FL and GA....that will be a good start as one thing the northeast is lacking is the talent numbers.

PSU hasn't been elite consistenly in close to 3.5 decades outside of a season or two here or there. If you think one player is the only reason, I'll disagree. PSU's class last year was very good, but it wasn't winning a MNC this year. A bit of reality as to where PSU is at. Let's say they go 10-2 this year.....4 NYD 6 bowl games in 7 years. While not elite, it's actually a step up from the last 2 decades.....if we are trying to be objective.

Schools trying to get and stay elite.

USC, UT, UT, UF, Miami, FSU, Oregon, Auburn, A&M,.......etc and it keeps going. There are 4-5 schools that make that elite claim currently.

I totally agree on all counts (i never advocated for DA to start UM -- although would have been ok if it were the "other" UM lol -- and have little doubt we'd have lost by even more if we had... now, down the road with some experience, we'll see what we see).

 

[NB4PSU]

Cool, then fire the coach and see if we turn into the next Texas or Nebraska, with .500 and losing seasons becoming the norm while we go through a repetitive cycle of new head coaches every 3-4 years as we try to become an annual 9 win top 25 team again.

Not what I am advocating (although I won't cry a river if it comes to pass). I happen to like James, just feel he's overmatched in this league because he doesn't have the DT studs needed (and yeah, that is on him to a degree... it isn't his fault if he can't close on a target). And no, I am not confident in his game day coaching.. but i sure as hell have seen much worse.

I think if we make a change and hire the right guy, we might step things up... maybe. Big risk. But our philosophy at penn state seems more finesse than brawn, and I don't think you can win the B1G without being more brawn. That's what I think.... i might be mistaken... but so far, tougher teams win and finesse teams don't. [At one point JVP woke up to the reality that we simply were physically overmatched and began a full on effort to remedy that. Doesn't happen overnight. And it didn't.]

 

[NB4PSU]

Based on how many other programs we see it happen to, I'd wager that if we were to fire Franklin right now the odds of becoming the next "has been" program churning through coaches are significantly higher than successfully making the jump up to Georgia, Bama, OSU levels. Coaching isn't the only difference at the top programs. Those schools make massive investments in their programs and are all aligned on the importance of the football program from the board to the president to the AD and on down the line. PSU doesn't have that level of commitment.

Here's the deal. James is a very good recruiter. It's awfully hard to fire a guy who brings in arguably the BEST rb class and possibly the best QB in the nation. And is playing those kids right now... starting the RB's... and if Sean goes down James won't bat an eye before inserting Drew.

OK. But you need to win at some point or that won't be sustainable. If we run 7-5 (7-6/8-5) with no sign of upswing, we won't get those kids and we'll start having 18-30 type classes. At that point, the game is over. If he can't win with top 10 classes.... you get the point.

So the leash is getting tighter. We finish 8-4 and lose the bowl game, the leash becomes a noose. Anything with 9 or 10 wins and the promise of next year under Allar with 2 fantastic RB's in the stable and kids and fans will hang around. My prediction is that next year is the mark... he needs to post 10 wins or the wolves will be howling. The sad thing is that THIS year's schedule was our easiest in like forever... so i'm hopeful we finish 10-2 and win a good bowl game. 11-2 keeps us in the game.

IMO. Of course. I might be FOS. Time will tell

 

[PSUSignore]

Here's the deal. James is a very good recruiter. It's awfully hard to fire a guy who brings in arguably the BEST rb class and possibly the best QB in the nation. And is playing those kids right now... starting the RB's... and if Sean goes down James won't bat an eye before inserting Drew.

OK. But you need to win at some point or that won't be sustainable. If we run 7-5 (7-6/8-5) with no sign of upswing, we won't get those kids and we'll start having 18-30 type classes. At that point, the game is over. If he can't win with top 10 classes.... you get the point.

So the leash is getting tighter. We finish 8-4 and lose the bowl game, the leash becomes a noose. Anything with 9 or 10 wins and the promise of next year under Allar with 2 fantastic RB's in the stable and kids and fans will hang around. My prediction is that next year is the mark... he needs to post 10 wins or the wolves will be howling. The sad thing is that THIS year's schedule was our easiest in like forever... so i'm hopeful we finish 10-2 and win a good bowl game. 11-2 keeps us in the game.

IMO. Of course. I might be FOS. Time will tell

My thought is that Franklin's future is tied to the success of the team with Allar over the next 2-3 years. Next year will be a building year as it's Allar's first as a starter. 2024 is going to be vital. Also Franklin's buyout starts to come down as we go forward. I also think Kraft is going to be more favorable to the program than Sandy was, giving Franklin some more support than maybe he hasn't had previously. Add all of it up and I think Franklin's job is 100% safe for at least 2 more years, but after that he might have some pressure from the AD.

 

[NB4PSU]

My thought is that Franklin's future is tied to the success of the team with Allar over the next 2-3 years. Next year will be a building year as it's Allar's first as a starter. 2024 is going to be vital. Also Franklin's buyout starts to come down as we go forward. I also think Kraft is going to be more favorable to the program than Sandy was, giving Franklin some more support than maybe he hasn't had previously. Add all of it up and I think Franklin's job is 100% safe for at least 2 more years, but after that he might have some pressure from the AD.

Agree. I figure we have 2 more years before we lose our backfield. I'm hopeful we can land an exceptional WR and one more great TE to provide Allar with plenty of dynamic weapons. [Granted we'll be adding other QB's and RB's but epecting them to be of this calibre might be asking a little much... so this is the crew that is going to need to make it happen (most likely).]

2023 doesn't look too bad and '24 opens favorably (presuming we go to wvu and win the opener)... along with osu coming here. Not easy, but manageable.