The exception of the last 8 minutes of the Ohio State game we have been clicking on all cylinders since we lost to Michigan. We got a good football team and man are they playing with confidence or what. The DE’s and LB’s have definitely found their way they are gettin after the football. We could’ve beat Maryland as bad as we wanted James Franklin called off the dawgs very early. The team is playing with a chip on their shoulders and they’re smelling blood on gettin a NYD6 bowl. I’m really glad that Allar is getting some snaps even if it’s in mop up duty. Our punter is gettin it done to but man he needs to speed the punting up because they almost got to him a few times today. Dang we got 2 good RB’s and man does Kaytron Allen hit them holes or what. I love watching both of ‘em run the ball lol gotta finish strong and try and get a top 5 finish that’s the goal. We’re as good as any team except maybe the top 3
I wasn't going to go there this week Southern but since you brought it up, Allar getting mop up time. 2nd team backs, 2nd team receivers, not sure but probably 2nd team line. All that it showed was he could handle the snaps from center. Hell, he can do that in practice. Just as I start to calm down, somebody has to poke the bear. But I guess that helps keeps the old pump station working.
@psumark Indiana was still playing defense so it is worth every snap he got in a real game. I don’t have a problem letting him play as long as we have the lead because the defense is playing lights out right now and I don’t believe Maryland or Rutgers could beat us even if the kid did start. What little he did play he looked like a true freshman but that’s expected since he is a true freshman. As a head coach you can’t bench your starting QB that’s a caption and he gives you the best chance to win. Mills and Moreli are 2 examples that really should’ve been benched that played. It’s just what head coaches do and there’s a reason and we’re talking about the goat joe Paterno here. Coaches see things we don’t as fans. I don’t claim to know what they see though lol
A snap in a game is equal to 75 snaps in practice.
Maybe it's a way of teaching a young kid an important lesson: You're not going to do it all by yourself regardless of your individual talents. Football is a team sport and you're going to need help from your team mates to be successful. Just thinking out loud for what it's worth.
Not a lot to be learned from the MD game except:
- Still a big gap between PSU and MD. It has grown back to where it belongs.
- Our lines were dominant over MD, and line play matters
- Our running backs are good
- That overloaded backfield works on short yardage against MD, see #2
- We play well on home cooking, oh wait, we knew that.
As best I could tell we played the same 5 offensive linemen all game. Wormley RJ, Scruggs RS, Nourzad RS, Effner RS and Shelton F. I suppose a redshirt Sr still has another year if James and he want it? It looks like we should have a good offensive line next year. No reason it shouldn't be the best Franklin has had? Good running backs, TE's, OL, and I will say we should have good receivers but we do need two to separate themselves from the field and the DB's. Allar is a question mark but we expect him to be serviceable/good.
We still have a game against MSU and they scare me a bit because you never know what MSU team will show up.
@underlion from what I read you like what you see and we have a lot of progress. Purdue beat Illinois yesterday just saying. Maryland was 6-3 and we stomped’em. James Franklin getting it done baby just gotta finish out strong and get the QB position fixed. This is the best team we’ve had since 2018 the 2017 team was better but more deep at seasoned players this is a very young team. I see a boat load of progress.
Great analyses Underlion & Southern. IMO what we need at the QB position is Allar to pan out as hyped and CV to stick around as a backup. Who knows, maybe CV can give Allar a run for his money in preseason drills. If nothing else, pushing Allar will make him better. The key question is will CV remain a Lion?
Honestly, after that beat down vs Michigan and then a complete disastrous 4th quarter quarter against Ohio State, I think this Penn State has woken up and they are as good as any of the #6 thru #12 AP teams. I'm not sure the outcome would be different against Ohio State and Michigan, but I doubt Michigan would blow them away if they played again this season. Something clicked after that Ohio State loss and I don't see them losing another game this season....Bowl game included and I don't care who they play at this point outside of the current top #5.
I don't know if this can or will happen, but I would love to see Penn State vs Alabama. If Penn State keeps cranking the way they are now and then a month of practice before Bama, I bet the spread would be around +6 PSU. Something is clicking with this team and I am hoping it has to do with the guys coming back realizing they are not THAT far from being really good! They thumped a good Maryland team yesterday. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Maryland gives Ohio State a run for their money this coming weekend.
GO STATE!!!!
@mtnittanylion I believe they’ve been clicking since the Minnesota game we just had one bad 1/2 a quarter. We played good against Ohio St but the last 8 minutes killed us.
MD's O'line flat out couldn't do anything with our D'line; IMO that was key to the outcome. If the D'line gets after RU and MSU in the same fashion, it's a smoke.
@psu61 I don’t believe anybody has been able to block ‘em since the Michigan game we just had a bad half quarter of offense that beat us in the Ohio St game. The defense is gettin after the QB and finding the ball baby and when that happens, good things happen. How sweet it is 😁
Everybody talks about the bad 4th quarter we had with Ohio State. What I saw was a great performance by the OSU defence in the 4th quarter. Especially one player, JT. I can't write his full name, hell, I can't even pronounce it.
Maryland barely escaped NW and Indiana before being thumped by Wisky. Then we beat them. They are an average at best team. I think what clicked was us playing not so great competition.
That said, we have played well too... but the offense is still too inconsistent. Especially the passing game, I have not been impressed with that part of the offense at all.
I agree on all accounts.Maryland barely escaped NW and Indiana before being thumped by Wisky. Then we beat them. They are an average at best team. I think what clicked was us playing not so great competition.
That said, we have played well too... but the offense is still too inconsistent. Especially the passing game, I have not been impressed with that part of the offense at all.
IMO, as I've said all year, the O' and D' lines tell you primarily what you have to work with, then the other parts fall in place or not. RU should be whooping; MSU for whatever reason becomes a game that you can flip a coin when these two play. MSU, IMO makes or breaks your season.
Even if it’s Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota and NW I can see great improvement with the OL, the whole defense and especially the Rb’s because we struggled the last 2 years playing these teams and we got beat by a couple of ‘em. I see great progress with this team just gotta get better at QB. Clifford is managing the team probably as good as he can he’s reached his limit and a top 5 finish is within his limits on what I’ve seen this year. 5th or 6th is where I believe we end up the team is getting it done and we don’t play Georgia, Ohio St and Michigan the rest of this year. We can compete and beat the rest. The Running game and defense is gettin nasty baby 😁
Absolutely, Southern. I was especially pleased with getting the shutout, IMO this will take our D to a higher level of confidence and it'll show up in their play from here on out.
Maryland barely escaped NW and Indiana before being thumped by Wisky. Then we beat them. They are an average at best team. I think what clicked was us playing not so great competition.
That said, we have played well too... but the offense is still too inconsistent. Especially the passing game, I have not been impressed with that part of the offense at all.
Not one receiver has stepped up. The passing attack has been a huge disappointment.
No doubt the level of competition has dropped the past two weeks. But last Saturday I thought they looked like a team playing for more than just a win over Maryland. I honestly believe they now realize just how close they were to beating Ohio State, what they have coming back next year and if they win out, probably a date with a top 10 team. If they stay healthy and keep this little 2 game winning streak going, they are going to be hard to beat. I can see them heading to Columbus next year with an 11 game winning streak under their belt. They beat up on an "average at best" Maryland team, but they did it with fashion!
I agree with you, the passing game is just not there and yet we have some really good receivers. We got two RB's on the rise and this should help Allar with the passing game next season. Again, I don't want to read too much into the last two games, but the Oline is getting better as well. They need to win the next two games, draw a top 10 or even 15 team and post a win over a ranked team this season. Do all that, and I think you are looking at pretty good Penn State team next year!
GO STATE!!
Pitch another shutout at Rutgers and I'll really start getting giddy, lol.
@rip we have to be careful wishing for shutouts because according to this forums biggest rutgers fan the knights are on the rise !! This despite them most likely finishing 4-8 this year after going 5-8 last year including getting hammered in the garbage bowl they should have never been invited to.
