Short yardage isn't by definition explosive. Ciarrocca had some nifty short yardage packages but we did away with those opting instead for....
What is it with this team and this coaching staff?
- Thread starter bdgan
- Start date
Not wrong.
Thing is, we don’t even have to be a pro style 2 back team like Iowa, or a pseudo- pro team like Illinois. Some of the teams that run spread and deploy an H or TE as a FB at times (top of my head):
Auburn
Ohio State
Michigan
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Cincy
Georgia
Penn State
But the big difference in our case is we have really tight ends that profile closer to WRs than FBs. Some time when 86 is in a Wing/Slot I, watch him block. Effort is there but he’s not committed. Johnson probably closer to that dude but I think that THEY think Strange is the starter, not playing head games by sitting him, and really if you only run it when 84 or 44 is in, teams pick up on that.
The obvious answer, outside of going out and getting an H more traditional, is play the guys who exhibit a willingness to block. But I’ve given up on any of these guys being held accountable. That ship sailed when the offensive line clearly was awful and starters kept starting this year, and in past years with other issues that just never got addressed.
See I don’t think we ever got KC’s entire offense in that I think it was influenced massively by JF. I say that because I see the same thing this year with MY. This is not the offense he runs, it’s an offense that looks like last year’s offense, and it’s clearly JF influenced.
They’re just not very good. Except when it comes to extortion and holding the program hostage. Let me know when the Franklin train departs the station. Will be there with bells on. Until then, hoping for the best but expectations are low.
Coach O goes 6-6 and gets fired
Big Game James goes 7-5 and gets a 10 year contract
Huh?
Big Game James goes 7-5 and gets a 10 year contract
Huh?
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Teams have to learn how to win, have confidence, get some breaks. Often comes down to leadership and not panicking in situations. Today, 2 fumbles at inopportune times. Porter's PI penalty at inopportune time. Inability to run the ball with this OL all season long. They couldn't even make a yard when they needed to. Some strange play calling with trying to run the ball rather than pass.
This season they seem to be having a Covid hang-over. Outside of the season having won the B!0, Franklin hasn't shown an ability to lead his team to the next level.
Have to go back to the year they won the B10 to see a Franklin team that had confidence to come back to win. And still against USC, they lost with a lead, but that team was almost better at coming from behind.
This season they seem to be having a Covid hang-over. Outside of the season having won the B!0, Franklin hasn't shown an ability to lead his team to the next level.
Have to go back to the year they won the B10 to see a Franklin team that had confidence to come back to win. And still against USC, they lost with a lead, but that team was almost better at coming from behind.
Lack of Attention to Detail
Lack of Accountability
Lack of Preparation
A Mentality of Alibis and Excuses
All of which start at the top. It is what it is.
“It always starts with I love you, and it always ends with I love you.” We are . . . Soft.
Sparty came into today DEAD LAST in the *COUNTRY* in pass defense - #130. How many passes did Clifford throw? 34. Not nearly enough. When you have a weak point in a D, you constantly expose it. Instead, Franklin and Yurcich are hellbent on running the same sweep for negative yards and the same dive play on 3rd/4th and short for not enough. Here’s a thought in short yardage - put the damn QB under center and get your back a running start rather than a flat footed RB dancing to find a hole. With that defense, today should have been all about the pass. But once again, the Windbreakers (heavy coats today) can’t figure it out.
Just remember how much PSU spent for this.
Just remember how much PSU spent for this.
Joe.had a strict regimen for everyone on the team on and off the field. Togetherness. Sadly, that appears to be lacking here.
Among the other things already discussed.
Among the other things already discussed.
IMO, Those stats belong to an offensive system that got scouted really well and no effective adjustments were made along the way (either because of a lack of talent, poor coaching decisions, or both). I agree with an earlier poster who said this offense is still Franklin’s scheme. Time to go back to formula on scheme because Barkley and co. aren’t walking out of that door.
Here, I think, is when Penn State's 2021 season was derailed - and why it was derailed. And why no amount of alibies and excuses - without a real honest-to-goodness come to Jesus between Franklin and the man in his mirror - is going to help to right the ship.
After losing a heart-breaking game to Iowa, Penn State had a two week break before playing Illinois.
Coming out of Iowa, a game that - sure - a lot of excuses could have been made as to how and why Penn State "should have won" the game, there were also some very drastic warning signs, or at least areas that clearly needed attention. One was the complete inability to establish a running game through the first half of the season the other, obviously, was the gigantic void at QB behind Clifford, and the gigantic question mark as to Clifford's health moving forward.
Any reasonably coached team - any team coached with any competency at all, really - would have seen the staff working like the devil over those two weeks to address those issues - and all the other lesser issues that required attention.
What was Franklin doing? He and his staff spent most of the off time out recruiting. Recruiting a class that already had a full complement of verbal commitments, while GAs and a skeleton crew oversaw team workouts. Yes, we all understand the importance of recruiting, and even the need to stay engaged with so-called verbal commitments. But when his team, the one he and his staff coach, was at the tipping point of the season, he and his staff were out "recruiting" high school kids who had already said they were coming to Penn State.
Apparently, he and his agent were also working to coerce Penn State AD Sandy Barbour into tearing up his existing, extraordinarily lucrative, four year contract - and replace it with one even more lucrative, for Franklin. What they were not doing was working to make their team better.
Coming out in their next game - with all the issues that had revealed themselves in the first half of the season now, unsurprisingly, looking even more fouled up - and losing to an Illinois team, that may have been the worst college football team to beat a Penn State team in the last 50 years, was the result.
After losing a heart-breaking game to Iowa, Penn State had a two week break before playing Illinois.
Coming out of Iowa, a game that - sure - a lot of excuses could have been made as to how and why Penn State "should have won" the game, there were also some very drastic warning signs, or at least areas that clearly needed attention. One was the complete inability to establish a running game through the first half of the season the other, obviously, was the gigantic void at QB behind Clifford, and the gigantic question mark as to Clifford's health moving forward.
Any reasonably coached team - any team coached with any competency at all, really - would have seen the staff working like the devil over those two weeks to address those issues - and all the other lesser issues that required attention.
What was Franklin doing? He and his staff spent most of the off time out recruiting. Recruiting a class that already had a full complement of verbal commitments, while GAs and a skeleton crew oversaw team workouts. Yes, we all understand the importance of recruiting, and even the need to stay engaged with so-called verbal commitments. But when his team, the one he and his staff coach, was at the tipping point of the season, he and his staff were out "recruiting" high school kids who had already said they were coming to Penn State.
Apparently, he and his agent were also working to coerce Penn State AD Sandy Barbour into tearing up his existing, extraordinarily lucrative, four year contract - and replace it with one even more lucrative, for Franklin. What they were not doing was working to make their team better.
Coming out in their next game - with all the issues that had revealed themselves in the first half of the season now, unsurprisingly, looking even more fouled up - and losing to an Illinois team, that may have been the worst college football team to beat a Penn State team in the last 50 years, was the result.
Coach O hanging out at bars and getting caught banging an influential booster's wife did not help !
It's pretty clear a big part of Big Game James' appeal to the powers that be is that he'll always rep the school well
(What else could it be?)
I find this very telling, and unacceptable. We don’t have the best talent, but we have WAY better talent than 3/5 teams we lost to. These are the kinds of stats that an offense predicated on “explosive plays” get you. Being able to consistently get 3 yards can extend drives, give your D an extra breather, and turn a few FGs into TDs. Over the course of a season, those things add up. Cumulatively, an extra 3 yard play or 2 per game could be the ultimate difference between 10-2 and 7-5.
Is that before, during, or after flirting with the high profile openings every couple years and holding the program and school hostage while demanding extensions and raises.
C'mon you know what I meant. We are never going to see photos of James in a hot tub with young girls or videos of girls gyrating on him
Yep. The talent thing is such BS. This team has plenty of talent. Even by far our weakest position group, the offensive line, has a couple of guys that could have played at just about any school in the country and then a bunch of lower 4 stars and high 3 stars that most B1G programs would have gladly taken. Maybe not the makings of a dominant line, but it should be much better than it is.
Expect the kind of losses like yesterday to continue as long as JF is the coach. Period. End of story.
Not only do we have to deal with yet another disappointing season...we now have WPa Yinzer friends now saying that their Pitt Panthers could win the Big10. Last time I checked their Strength of Schedule was near 70.
Yes. And, even against Iowa with a struggling backup QB, had they milked the play clock, Penn State may have been able to hold on and win.
Is it just me, or is Brandon Smith a terrible tackler?
He plays like he doesn't have arms, as do a couple others. Perplexing and infuriating. Who the hell coaches that technique?
Penn State played the 11th toughest schedule in college football. Of the 15 teams with the highest strength of schedule, only 5 had a winning record and the best record was 8-4. Maybe we just played better teams. The team clearly has some problems that need to be addressed but a little perspective doesn’t hurt.
I have trouble with such a positive perspective when we were 4-5 last year, 7-5 this year, and are facing a rebuilding year next year.
We have one of the top fan bases in the country and one of the highest paid coaching staffs in the country. We deserve much better.
It was a tough schedule, but from the visual perspective of seeing the games and how easily a few of those L’s could have been W’s, there is plenty of frustration.
As for those SOS numbers, I will inquire what entity defined them and how was it determined (i.e. does a loss to an opponent inflate said opponents record?).
Sitting here watching Oweh tear up o-lines on a weekly basis and it made me wonder - he didn’t do all that much at PSU but is crushing it now. Does that say something negative about player development with this staff? If Smith leaves and gets drafted and then tears it up, could we think a similar thing?
He came in as a project. Athletic marvel with limited football experience.
The key you are seeing with Oweh in the NFL is he's an edge rusher / OLB. Taking on Tackles on running downs was a waste of his biggest talents, but not exactly a fit for our scheme.
Kind of like how Dallas puts Parson on the edge and let's him rush. It's another dimension to a play maker we didn't explore. Of course, Parsons was a tackling machine so who did we have to replace his production?
I think we need some schematic changes on the defense. Entirely too much film on our scheme and it relies on us to be better man vs man.
Go back and watch how many runs Walker ran into our defense when we put our box LBs to the strong side. They attacked that opening constantly. Usually Brisker or Jacobs was too close to retreat to the gap and Brown was always deep on the opposite hash.
It sounds like you're saying our defensive scheme is a problem.
I always thought that Pry was blitz happy - going for sacks (explosive plays) and that was the reason we got burned so often on 3rd and long. I was pleased to see a bit less of that this year. Even a 3 man rush at times vs OSU. I think one of our problems this year was that we had a weak DL so DBs had to come up in run support and leave a lot of one on one coverage. I can't blame Pry for that (except on 3rd 15)
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DL was definitely a weakness, even with PJ. A healthy PJ helped, but preseason attrition wounded this group. Poor gap integrity and box LBs that picked the wrong hole more times than not was killer.
What happened to Brooks? He was looking like 1st team All Big 10 through the Iowa game and was largely unheralded after.
Teams schemed Brisker into the box more as the season went on. This took him out of coverages he should have been in on. One in particular is the TD pass to All; Brisker coming up from the secondary at least makes that tackle between the catch point and the first down line.
The defense just had glaring defects going into the season. I'm not sure what Pry could have done scheme wise to fix most of it. Perhaps drawing up some goal line looks vs Illinois, but I didn’t get as butt hurt over the rush yards as most did. You hold a team to 10, you should win.
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