Coming off a season that looked to be very promising to losing some bad games at the end, what is going to make this season any different? We can start with the coaching, but I am more interested in which player(s) are going to step up and play some elite football. Clifford is your QB, like him or not, he has experience, and knowledge is always a good thing....if you can do something with it. Is it really coming down to the Oline again in 2022? One would have to believe this is the primary focus of Franklin and he has to be breathing down their necks everyday. I have a good feeling that the Defense will playing well by game 3 or 4 of the season. Which RB is going to have a break out season and who are we hanging our hats on as the next great wide receiver?
Still a ways from kickoff, but the Summer is fast approaching and as somebody who hates the cold, this is always the fastest 90 days of the year for me.
GO STATE!
I’m thinking with Clifford coming back it will help groom our next great WR. Having your QB back is always a plus considering he’s good of course. Clifford has won a lot of games and I’m pretty confident he’ll get 11 more wins this year. The OL coach and OC just need to jell together and things will get better. With all the coaching changes we’ve had the last 4 year caught up with us sometimes the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. Yes I was a Limegrover fan but the guy now didn’t wake up and forget how to coach because the dude does have a good track record just like Yurcich. If the coaches get it together and jell, this will be a very special season plus we have most of the distractions with contracts behind us. 11-2 baby is my prediction
Good news brother just what we needed 😁🇺🇸👍 Cornell was very good to us in wrestling last year lol
That's a pretty good analysis of what has to happen to get to 11 wins. Just curious, Southern, who do you see as our 2 losses?
@rip I believe we’ll split Ohio St and Michigan and somebody will sneak in get a win against us. We got 3 big games this year we need to win 2 of ‘em
I hope we can get a split with OSU & MU, but I don't know. The Buckeyes might be our best chance. Meatchicken is gonna be tough at the Big House. If we have to have another loss, hope it's to Auburn instead of another B1G school.
Hopefully Clifford can pull off a Kenny Pickett type season and make a huge jump in performance in his fina year.
Here is where I start to get concerned. Last year they started out 5-0 and then the wheels fell off. If they start out 5-0 again then lose to Michigan on the road....they could end up with 4 or 5 losses after another great start. Auburn on the road will be a good game, they lose this one and they could end up with 5 or 6 losses. Lose to Auburn and Michigan, they are 4-2 and Minny could be the Illinois game of last year. Go 4-3 and then Ohio State visits. Penn State could start out 4-1 or 5-0 and go to 4-4 or 5-3 just like that! And with Indiana, Sparty and the Terps to go....yeah, I don't know what could happen. I will give them Rutgers as a win.
Back to back 5-0 and starts and finish with back to back 6 loss seasons (after such great starts) will all but suck the life out of this program. And my goodness, if they were to lose to Purdue in the opener???? It could be 2019 all over again!
I personally think there is a lot riding on this season and more than any other in a very long time. I would have said it was last season after coming off an 0-5 start finishing 4-5 in 2020. But the mess they created the second half of last year REALLY puts the pressure on this year. I absolutely believe this program will fall apart if they have another year this year like last year. Clifford is a very big piece of this puzzle in 2022. I know we have another QB or two in waiting, but Cliff is going to give them the best chance of winning the big games.
I would think Ohio State is going to be the best team on their schedule and a very difficult win. BUT, even though they are getting beat by Ohio State, they play them very well and have had every opportunity to win the last 4 or 5 games. The rest of the teams on their schedule are NOT any better than Penn State. Beat Purdue by 14 or more and I would think Penn State is Favored in the next 4 games. Go to 5-0 and I would think Penn State is favored against Michigan in the Big House.
I am going to go out on a limb here. If Penn State starts out 5-0, they run the table! Lose any of the first 5 games and I see another 4 loss or more season. And if they have a 4 or more loss season, I think we are talking 2025 or later before they have another chance at a Title run!
We have BIG season coming up and a lot is riding on this year! IMO!
GO STATE!
Monkey off our back would be knocking off Ohio State. The bigger writing is on the wall worrying about teams like Maryland, Illinois, Rutgers and Central Michigan.
@blushoes we definitely need to stop losing to these teams. I believe we’ll get back on track this year I’m feeling pretty good about the season. I can’t prove anything but if Clifford is healthy and the OL is better this will be a great season. Could up being like an 05 season. IMO Clifford is the key to 11 or more wins and I believe he’s going to get it done.
Why is everything depending upon Clifford and not the other 21 players? 11 men on each side of the ball. A good amount of starting production has left. Got some depth challenges this year. Oh, and Central Michigan will be that team that doesn't go away this year.
@mtnittanylion I like the optimism! I think we all know why the team fell apart last year, and it's spelled OFFENSIVE LINE. Even at 5-0, I remember all of us being VERY nervous about Iowa because their defense and our lack of run game. We just plain relied way too much on Clifford coming to save us from the running game last year, and that actually gives me optimism for this year.
Honestly, I am not worried one bit about a healthy Clifford at QB. IMO, he showed me all I need to know about his ability to run the offense effectively last year. He had no running game at all, shotty pass protection, and we were 5-0 and beating Iowa (somewhat handily) when he was injured. The wheels came off after that.
Zero running game, average pass protection at best, an injured starting QB, and our 5 losses in the regular season were by a combined 21 points. In every game. Our defense should still be good this year, but if our offensive line is even average the offense will be light years ahead of where it was last year. The tackles will be fine, and my hopes rest on the 3 interior lineman.
@mtnittanylion Basically it appears you are saying that they could have 1 to 12 wins and 1 to 11 losses. I couldn't agree more. I don't know the emoticon for sarcasm but if I did it would go here.
We have enough guys returning to be a good football team. I agree, Cliff can run this offense effectively. I can't believe for a minute we will see another Oline performance like we did last year. With that said, they should be able to get through the first 5 games. I like what CV did last year at QB when he played, so if for some reason Cliff would get hurt, I think we are still good with CV under center. Penn State starts out with a favorable 5 game stretch. They very well may be in a dog fight with Auburn ( just because ) but they should be able to win that game. They get to 5-0 and I think we see a different outcome vs last year....with or with out Clifford. They have a good backup QB and expect to see him play a fair amount of time in the first 5 game stretch. JF learned his lesson last year at Iowa and he won't let that happen again.
I am not going to say much more on this subject until we see where they stand after game 5. Got to get to 5-0 before we can really talk about Michigan and Ohio State. HOWEVER, if they start out with a big ground game again Purdue, then I think it is fair to say we may have a magical season to look forward to.
GO STATE!
Ok, I tried to do the math. I think if I add up the different scenarios, they win at least 3 games! LOL
Personally, I honestly believe they win 10+ games this year. I have nothing to back this up with, I just think this is going to be 10+ win season. They have to be hungry, the offense is going to be pretty good and I think the defense feeds off of last years Defense and keeps the momentum rolling!
We shall all see!
Go State!!
Watch the Iowa game from last year and you will see why Cliff is important! Those other 21 players couldn't close the game without him. NOW, knowing what we know now, CV probably would have been the "go to" back up and THEN those 21 other guys would have been able to close the deal. So yes, I agree those other 21 players are very critical, but without a good QB, it is hard to win big games week in and week out....Just my opinion too!
@mtnittanylion I understand taking a step back when your starting QB goes down but as bad as we were when Clifford went down was unacceptable. What gets me is CV was there and he sit and watched us get beat when he probably could’ve won the game had he’d been given a chance. That’s what I’m talking about when I say James Franklin’s head wasn’t in the game. If our coaches are on the same page that won’t happen.
