Musings From Section NH

cavensprawl · 2019-10-20T16:57:22Z

History Almost Repeated ItselfThe last two years the Penn State football teams had big leads against a tough opponent the week before Michigan State only to see those leads drift away into what would eventually be heartbreaking losses. Late in the fourth quarter memories of this started to creep into my head and I felt like fans may be headed to a similar fate. A dropped pass later, and it was safe to exhale.Penn State finally held onto one. This does not change the fact that James Franklin does not know how to play with a lead. The playcalling in this game was mind-numbingly bad at times and some of the clock management issues that have plagued earlier seasons also came into play at times as well. Make no mistake about it, this is a great football team, but moving to move to elite, its going take a coaching staff to look in the mirror and make some changes. They don’t all have to be personnel changes but strategic changes to play the game the way the flow and score dictate.Noah CainLet’s start with the obvious. Why is our most consistent back getting the least amount of carries? Cain is a bruising type back that always falls forward. Why is a back that is averaging 5.3 yards per carry not in the game when we have a lead and can eat some clock? Is there something we, as fans, are missing? Franklin seems content with the four-back rotation. In my opinion, if you have four running backs you don’t have any. I fear that, in an effort to make everyone happy, nobody is going to be. In-game where Penn State rushed the ball 29 times the running backs only had 13 combined carries.Slade: 3 for 48Brown: 4 for 19Cain: 5 for 19Ford: 1 for 2I know it’s tough in a time where players can transfer but we have seemingly wasted a season for Ford as well.Championship Caliber DefenseI have read and heard a few times that this is a championship-caliber defense. I have even had some thoughts of grander in this regard. However, I am afraid it’s time to back that up a little, at least in my mind. Why? Two reasons really. One is the obvious third-down scenarios. If you look at the stats it's actually not as bad as it seems, but Penn State just does not seem to be able to get off the field on third downs, and in particular third in long which is honestly when they should be at their best.The biggest reason for me, though, is that they keep making average quarterbacks look great. In a way, the defense reminds me of the Steelers under Mike Tomlin where a struggling QB comes in and has the game of his life. I am seeing that over and over again against this defense so sooner or later I have to recognize the common denominator. This team struggles against the pass. Offense Feast or Famine This offense reminds me a bit of the Yankees. When you are hitting homeruns the game seems easy but when they face good pitching suddenly things get complicated. Penn State has faced some good defenses the last couple of weeks and they have done pretty well against them overall, but there have been long stretches where it seems like the offense can’t get a first down to save their lives. This is putting pressure on the defense and you could see, last night, them tiring as the game went on because the offense could not sustain drives.As discussed earlier why are we not mixing in more run especially on first and second down to get into more manageable third-down scenarios? Do not get me wrong, it’s a great asset to have a team that can score quick but there will come a time when weather or opponent will take away that homerun threat and it will be up to the offense to methodically march down the field over and over again to win. Outside of a series here and there throughout the season, I am not confident they could do that. I do not think this is a lack of talent, but a mix of execution and coaching. From an execution standpoint, Sean Clifford has to start getting other receivers involved. He just doesn’t seem to go through his progressions. Maybe it is a lack of trust, or maybe the receivers not getting separation, but it seems to me its KJ, Pat and then run. Getting the ball to other guys will make the whole game easier for him. Only two receivers caught balls yesterday. KJ, Dotson. If you want to say a TE is a receiver I will give you three in Freiermuth. The rest of the passes were all thrown to running backs.We have lots of deep balls and when Clifford is on he throws a great one. We have lots of swing passes but where are the intermediate throws. We seem to do a couple of slants each game and they work but then are abandoned. I’d love to see more 8-15 yard passing routes to complement the deep and short stuff.CoachingJames Franklin continues to improve but still has some work to do. Many of my issues have already been discussed but I’d still like to seem him do better with clock management as well. Harbaugh gifted him with an opportunity to end the half when he tried a long field goal. With 50 seconds left and in a decent position t...

The Funeral Director

(@the-funeral-director)

5-Star Recruit

Joined: 8 years ago

Posts: 2543

October 20, 2019 7:19 pm

I say bullcrap to we don't have the talent Michigan has.. .We won the f'n game... It shouldn't have been close... Our defense wore down cause they were on the field too long...This about offensive scheming, making adjustments and using formations to get ur playmakers in favorable match up situations...This team has as much speed, talent and athleticism as any team in college football...This has nothing to with talent and to say otherwise is pure bull crap...

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cavensprawl

(@cavensprawl)

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Topic starter October 20, 2019 7:21 pm

Posted by: @sky

Posted by: @roaminglion

Posted by: @sky

I think play calling is over emphasized. Defenses today are smart and athletic. It much more about execution. I do agree that clock management continues to be an issue. Maybe Franklin should get someone from the statistics department to be close and whisper in his ear when to call a timeout.

Last week PSU fans took complaining about the officials to a new level. Online petitions, and social media bashing were humongous. Now we ridicule Michigan fans and coaches for being critical of the officiating. I think the word for that is hypocrisy.

Regarding the running backs, TRUST.

Like people "trusted" the LB rotation last year, and watched as Koa Farmer got beaten time and time again leading to losses in big games?

No thanks, I certain wish someone would get in Franklin's ear and convince him he should scuttle this rotation. Franklin is a great coach IMO, but no one is above criticism. Elite coaches realize when they are doing something wrong and change. Franklin needs to get better in certain areas, this is one of them.

Roam,

I think you should stop bun Franklin’s office and give him your feedback b

Sky, As The great poet Cyndi Lauper once said... I see your true colors shining through.

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The Funeral Director

(@the-funeral-director)

5-Star Recruit

Joined: 8 years ago

Posts: 2543

October 20, 2019 7:21 pm

I say bullcrap to we don't have the talent Michigan has.. .We won the f'n game... It shouldn't have been close... Our defense wore down cause they were on the field too long...This about offensive scheming, making adjustments and using formations to get ur playmakers in favorable match up situations...This team has as much speed, talent and athleticism as any team in college football...This has nothing to with talent and to say otherwise is pure bull crap...

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Southern psu fan

(@southern-psu-fan)

Special Teams Coach

Joined: 8 years ago

Posts: 13390

October 20, 2019 7:34 pm

I’m sure Murray can shed some light on who’s got the most talent? I might be wrong

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roaminglion

(@roaminglion)

Special Teams Coach

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Posts: 9232

October 20, 2019 7:45 pm

"Talent" is subjective. Sure, Michigan and Ohio State had more initial talent based on their star ratings in recruiting... but that doesn't take into account how player mature and grow as a player.

Would you say that Texas A&M had more talent at QB from 2016-2018 than PSU? Sure, they had a lot of highly rated star QBs in that time but I think everyone would take McSorley over any of em.

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