Hmmm....not sure about the QB position.  Just didn't look crisp to me.  I thought the same thing at the bowl game when he filled in for Trace.  Seemed to settle down as the game went on, but this was Idaho. Fingers crossed on this!

However, watching Ohio State and Michigan, thought Penn State looked more prepared and played like a more solid unit.  I am giving the edge to Penn State here.  Just thought they looked more enthused and ready to play football!!

@mtnittanylion

The more Clifford plays the better he’s going to get and so is the defense and that’s scary because the defense is just nasty. Journey Brown is who impressed me the most man he had a good game. I wasn’t really sold on him but I am now. Slade is also a stud. I think the OL still has a little work to do but you can see they are a lot better. Guys leaving early kind of set us back a little but we’ll be fine after these guys gets a few more game time snaps. Man the LB’r and DE’s looked great and man they are fast and they get to the ball.

Here my takeaways:

Defense

They are as good as advertised and will only get better. They are rotating players to keep guys fresh and the team is now deep enough that there is very little dropoff when the second and even third-string comes in. In fact, it was a third-string player who maybe made the biggest hit of the day. 5 Star LB Brandon Smith is vey quick to the ball and wants to make sure you think twice before running his direction again. 

https://twitter.com/tru2psu/status/1167935504685207554

Lamont Wade also impressed me in run support. He led the team with 4 tackles (3 solo). He also showed great support in running down a receiver and laying the lumber. 

The line is going to be very good and they looked solid from end to end and stout up the middle. 

If defense wins championships Penn State is in a pretty good place!

Ricky Slade

With all due respect to my man Southern I just did not see what he saw with Slade. In fact, I thought Slade look the least impressive of the backs in this game. Perhaps they were saving him for later but he just didn't look decisive in making cuts and did not show the power or burst that the other backs did.  He needs to play better or he may be the odd man out in what is a VERY talented group of running backs behind him.  Having said that, he showed great hands in the passing game and it could mean he becomes a third and long back as long as he can prove he can block. 

Sean Clifford

I am not worried about him.  I definitely saw the flat-footed delivery a few times but so did he. 

"The first few drives are not up to my standard, I was nervous, to be honest with you, and I let that affect me. "After that second drive, I just kind of said, you know, back to the basics, just stay the course. You know, stick to your footwork, stick to your rules, and don't do anything crazy you don't need to, especially when you have so much talent around you."

"It gives me a lot of confidence."

This was his first start in the first game in front of an announced 104,527 fans. He settled down as the game progressed.  Once he gets comfortable with his feet the accuracy will improve.  I'd say the biggest area he needs to work on is the mesh point for the RPO.  That is just something that takes time. It took Trace a few games to get that as well. 

The play that sticks out the most and gives me the most confidence is when he found KJ Hamler in the endzone for his first TD pass. He had good pocket presence, started to run but kept his eyes downfield and showed great arm strength on the run to find a streaking Hamler. 

https://twitter.com/PSUBarstool/status/1167901722737381377

Special Teams

Special teams are going to be a weapon this year. Mac Hippenhammer needs to improve his hands but he probably is not going to the return man once the BIG season starts unless we have injuries. Not many teams are going to be able to return kickoffs this year and it's great to have a kicker who can give us 3 from over 50 yards out. 

Wide Receivers

This is EASILY the most improved unit on the field. It is clear that Gerad Parker has made a difference in this unit. Gone were the drops that plagued this team last year. The routes looked crisper as well. They got great separation all game. If they can continue to play this well as the competition increases Penn State will be a very dangerous passing team. 

Play Like Champions

This team did the little things that gave me confidence that they are buying into the premise that they need to play with maximum effort on every play regardless of the opponent or score. Two big examples of this stand out. The first was Justin Shorter who showed tremendous speed and hustle to give a shield block as Devyn Ford Galloped 81 yards for a TD. 

https://twitter.com/sportingnews/status/1167909134722666498

The second was one of the greatest max-effort runs you will ever see. Nick Eury decided he would take on the entire Idaho defense and still would not be denied. 

https://twitter.com/kaitdivi/status/1167934576049545220

Its plays like these two that start to define a team. Its plays like these that start to take a team from good, to great to elite!

I agree with both of you, SPF & Cave.  Very impressive opener on all counts -D, O & ST.  I think this team is poised to have a special year.  The only thing that has me keeping my fingers crossed and trying to temper my enthusiasm is it was only Idaho 🤨 

Great post Caven. 

Well written Cave... Keeping the opponent in mind it was still quite apparent that this team was VERY prepared for this ballgame... Very few week 1 mistakes and rust that plague many teams... The speed and depth was on full display as many of the players in mop up time were true freshman .. The defense is stout... My one concern is the OLine... I would have liked to see more push... I am hoping to see that unit improve in the coming weeks... My honest to God take from that ballgame yesterday I can sum up with one word IMPRESSIVE... Now the key thing I am going to be looking for is how do they follow up this week when they play Buffalo... I wanna see improvement and enthusiasm and no complacency.... Each week the stakes and competition will be higher and better... I loved what I saw yesterday but it is important that these kids view this as a first step and not the end... 

Thanks for the comment on the excellent team preparation, FD.  I neglected to mention that in my previous post, but I agree with you 100%!  IMO, that's something that was missing in last year's season opener.  

Just curious.  Why not try a field goal from 55 yds. instead of going for it on 4th down?  He made one from 53 yds. so why not?  Didn't need a td.  He has the leg so let's see the Boom!

Posted by: @psumark

Just curious.  Why not try a field goal from 55 yds. instead of going for it on 4th down?  He made one from 53 yds. so why not?  Didn't need a td.  He has the leg so let's see the Boom!

Because he saw the kid's leg and knew he could do it. At that point, no reason to give it another go, you already know what the kicker has in him.

Might as well get some situational practice in, let the offense get some things sorted out.

Also, let him enjoy success for the upcoming week instead of having him possibly miss a long, long meaningless kick.  Keep his confidence level high!

@cavensprawl

I think James Franklin was getting the RB backups some meaningful snaps Saturday and I said I was very impressed with Journey Brown and man he did look good but I do think Ricky Slade is the man. If James Franklin wanted he could’ve run Ricky Slade all game and Ricky could’ve had 300 yards but at this time he’s looking for the #2 RB. The good news is all 4 of these studs play for penn st we are loaded with RB’s

It was Idaho.  We won 79-7.  To quote The Wolf from Pulp Fiction:

Well, let's not start sucking each other's d**ks quite yet.

I agree Navy... However they were prepared and looked sharp for an opening game... This week I look for improvement. .. We will learn a lot about this ball club the next 2 weeks... The OLine concerns me .. 

Posted by: @navyjag

It was Idaho.  We won 79-7.  To quote The Wolf from Pulp Fiction:

 

Well, let's not start sucking each other's d**ks quite yet.

Exactly!!  C'mon guys, it was Idaho for crying out loud.  Hell, those of us over the age of 60 could have suited up and gave the Vandals a run for their money.  I'm glad we won but I'm not ready to get the annointing oil out just yet.  Let's see what the next few weeks bring.  In regards to what the Wolf said in Pulp Fiction:  Even if we scored 79 in every game this year, and held our opponents to 7 in every game this year; old Tsuga aint gonna do that.

@tsuga

It was a practice game that’s why Slade didn’t get 20 carries. I think games like Idaho is good to get a good practice game in and see where you stand with depth but one is all I want to play. It also gives teams like Idaho a big pay day which is great for them. Now,  let’s go give buffalo a beat down baby  lol

We've played a lot of bad teams in the past 30 years, and didn't put up 79 points on them. Yeah it was Idaho, but more important was how we looked and played.

And man, we looked good... no matter who it was.

@roaminglion

1 of 8 on 3rd downs.  That concerns me.  

Posted by: @navyjag

@roaminglion

1 of 8 on 3rd downs.  That concerns me.  

Not a good stat but 35 1st downs and 3-4 on 4th down for the game ain’t to shabby 

@navylion

Yes, and only 1 punt is encouraging.  But against the big boys, we need to do better than 3 of 8 on 3rd down.  

Posted by: @navyjag

@navylion

Yes, and only 1 punt is encouraging.  But against the big boys, we need to do better than 3 of 8 on 3rd down.  

Also, against the big boys, touchdowns instead of field goals on opening drives would be a big help!

3rd downs:

1 - 3rd & Goal, Fumble on 3 yard line
2 - 3rd & 10, Acceptable not to get it, 10 yards is a long 3rd down
3 - 3rd & Goal, TD
4 - 3rd & 1, Cain stopped for 1 yard loss
5 - 3rd & 5, Clifford airmailed pass
6 - 3rd & 10, was end of half FG. So not really a valid "didn't convert"
7 - 3rd & Goal, 5 yard gain / scored TD on 4th Down
8 - 3rd & 10, Incomplete pass
9 - 3rd & 4, Incomplete pass / gained 1st Down on 4th Down

Here's why I listed them:

The first two we can all chalk up to Clifford's first game jitters, everyone saw he was a bit too pumped up. He settled into the game by the 3rd series. The rest of the way, the starters only had three 3rd downs anyway, and were 1 for 3. Not great, but the game was also already badly out of hand at that point.

6-9 weren't even the starters, so we really can't put that much stock in them.

@roaminglion

I believe when we have Slade in full time 3rd down plays  will improve. I believe James Franklin was just getting backups meaningful snaps just to see how they would perform. It was just a practice game from what I saw.

Posted by: @roaminglion

3rd downs:

1 - 3rd & Goal, Fumble on 3 yard line
2 - 3rd & 10, Acceptable not to get it, 10 yards is a long 3rd down
3 - 3rd & Goal, TD
4 - 3rd & 1, Cain stopped for 1 yard loss
5 - 3rd & 5, Clifford airmailed pass
6 - 3rd & 10, was end of half FG. So not really a valid "didn't convert"
7 - 3rd & Goal, 5 yard gain / scored TD on 4th Down
8 - 3rd & 10, Incomplete pass
9 - 3rd & 4, Incomplete pass / gained 1st Down on 4th Down

Here's why I listed them:

The first two we can all chalk up to Clifford's first game jitters, everyone saw he was a bit too pumped up. He settled into the game by the 3rd series. The rest of the way, the starters only had three 3rd downs anyway, and were 1 for 3. Not great, but the game was also already badly out of hand at that point.

6-9 weren't even the starters, so we really can't put that much stock in them.

Re: 3rd and 10 acceptable.  No Sir. No way no how is it acceptable for a team like PSU to put itself into a 3rd and 10 against a team like Idaho.  

Posted by: @tsuga

Posted by: @roaminglion

3rd downs:

1 - 3rd & Goal, Fumble on 3 yard line
2 - 3rd & 10, Acceptable not to get it, 10 yards is a long 3rd down
3 - 3rd & Goal, TD
4 - 3rd & 1, Cain stopped for 1 yard loss
5 - 3rd & 5, Clifford airmailed pass
6 - 3rd & 10, was end of half FG. So not really a valid "didn't convert"
7 - 3rd & Goal, 5 yard gain / scored TD on 4th Down
8 - 3rd & 10, Incomplete pass
9 - 3rd & 4, Incomplete pass / gained 1st Down on 4th Down

Here's why I listed them:

The first two we can all chalk up to Clifford's first game jitters, everyone saw he was a bit too pumped up. He settled into the game by the 3rd series. The rest of the way, the starters only had three 3rd downs anyway, and were 1 for 3. Not great, but the game was also already badly out of hand at that point.

6-9 weren't even the starters, so we really can't put that much stock in them.

Re: 3rd and 10 acceptable.  No Sir. No way no how is it acceptable for a team like PSU to put itself into a 3rd and 10 against a team like Idaho.  

LMAO... Even Alabama and Clemson have 3rd and longs from time to time against teams like Jacksonville State and The Citadel.