Man, I'm looking at our roster and really excited for next year. It seems like everything is coming together and we're gonna make a run...
Then I realized something, whoa is this offense YOUNG. With the departure of Stevens and Clifford taking the reigns (which may have happened anyway regardless), man this will be interesting.
QB: Sophmore; TE: Sophmore; WR: Sophmore / Sophmore / Freshman; RB: Sophmore
That's the lineup as it stands at the moment, unless someone like Weston Carr cracks the lineup, every single skill position on offense has a starter who is a sophomore or freshman.
Crazy.
All that said, our season will go as Sean Clifford goes. If the line can protect him well and he is able to read the defense... Our team is gonna be lights out. If Clifford is good, the next two years will be SPECIAL.
Exactly right Roam. I believe we’ll win the big 10. With James Franklin letting Stevens walk that tells me Clifford is the real deal and man did Slade look fast during the spring game. The defense is going to be nasty brother. Uh oh it’s Japanese time Roam I’m starving talk to y’all later
You know, maybe I'm getting gun shy. I just hope these sophs stick around for another 2 years. Thanks to the NCAA that's no guarantee anymore.
It’s a young team for sure on offense.QB was a ? Even if Stevens stayed. He is completely unproven. Rb is a high point. OL should be a bit better than last year. WR a big ? TE could be a good spot for them too. Defense will have to and should carry them early.
It’s a young team for sure on offense.QB was a ? Even if Stevens stayed. He is completely unproven. Rb is a high point. OL should be a bit better than last year. WR a big ? TE could be a good spot for them too. Defense will have to and should carry them early.
You make a good point Murray, and that's why I'm not as worried. Our defense is going to be nasty, and with a young offense it's great to have a defense that will be able to shut down teams early while all these guys get settled in.
Stevens left because he knew he would not be the starting QB. When he got his surgery outside of the PSU medical team, he disenfranchised himself from the coaches. It’s my understanding that Penn State’s sports medicine staff did not want Stevens to have the surgery. It will be interesting seeing how things turn out for PSU’s forever second string quarterback.
You make a good point Murray, and that's why I'm not as worried. Our defense is going to be nasty, and with a young offense it's great to have a defense that will be able to shut down teams early while all these guys get settled in.
Just hoping the receivers catch the football. For sure, the offense will improve with every game.
It’s a young team for sure on offense.QB was a ? Even if Stevens stayed. He is completely unproven. Rb is a high point. OL should be a bit better than last year. WR a big ? TE could be a good spot for them too. Defense will have to and should carry them early.
I don’t know Murray, I think WRs will be far better than last year. Hamler is dependable and electric. Dotson looked promising when he got in last year. If Shorter is healthy and CSB works his way onto the field, I think they will be very good. I also think the walk-on that lit up spring practice may work his way onto the field. Freiermuth is an All-American candidate. That kid is a stud. As others have said, the OL will dictate how the season goes. Clifford is deadly accurate. If the OL gives him time and the WRs catch the ball, this offense should be more than adequate.
Liking what I hear from all you guys. Hopefully this will be a great year to be a Lion follower! Sorry, Pipe!
Bigger, faster and STRONGER bob this is going to be a fun year plus this will be the most talented team James Franklin has ever had. Great days are here brother! Ole snake may as well just deal with it
WAY back in 1967 JP pulled all his veteran starters in like the second game of the season and put in youngsters for the remainder of the season. As i recall, they lost only one more game that year and didnt lose another until 1970. I missed the '68 season but was back home in time to enjoy the '69 season.
Im hoping this season is a stepping stone to better things to come. But in all honesty, I'm kind of losing patience with JF. How he handles this team this year will be very telling.
WAY back in 1967 JP pulled all his veteran starters in like the second game of the season and put in youngsters for the remainder of the season. As i recall, they lost only one more game that year and didnt lose another until 1970. I missed the '68 season but was back home in time to enjoy the '69 season.
Im hoping this season is a stepping stone to better things to come. But in all honesty, I'm kind of losing patience with JF. How he handles this team this year will be very telling.
I remember that well. Joepa was criticized by some for risking team dissention over starters benched. He didn't give a ratzass about the critics and his move sure paid off. Those were the days my friend....
Just my opinion but in 2014 and 2015 I still don’t know how James Franklin had winning seasons and I believe had BOB been coach we’d had losing seasons. We won the big 10 in 2016 so that season speaks for itself. 2017 was a really good season winning 11 games and a big time bowl game over Washington. IMO I believe we had a few players not to step up and we had a catching the football problem and that cost us at least 2 wins to have 11 wins again but that’s part of football and it was just one of those years and we still finish with 9 wins on a down year. Coming out of death penalty sanctions I believe we are still way ahead and are in great shape. Now losing to teams like Michigan State and Kentucky needs to stop....right now!
Just my opinion but in 2014 and 2015 I still don’t know how James Franklin had winning seasons and I believe had BOB been coach we’d had losing seasons. We won the big 10 in 2016 so that season speaks for itself. 2017 was a really good season winning 11 games and a big time bowl game over Washington. IMO I believe we had a few players not to step up and we had a catching the football problem and that cost us at least 2 wins to have 11 wins again but that’s part of football and it was just one of those years and we still finish with 9 wins on a down year. Coming out of death penalty sanctions I believe we are still way ahead and are in great shape. Now losing to teams like Michigan State and Kentucky needs to stop....right now!
I get all that Brother and cant disagree with what yer saying. Im thinking losing Moorehead and Gattis set us back a bit. Its my opinion that JM and JG were the game day coaches and and JF was the CEO. Yep, we lost games with JM and JG on the sidelines its just that I felt more confident with second half adjustments with those two then I do with the current staff on hand.
Without Moorehead, we dont come back to win the B1G ship game with JF calling the shots.......in my opinion. But in saying that, we have to dance with the one that brung us this far so strike up the band.
Just my opinion but in 2014 and 2015 I still don’t know how James Franklin had winning seasons and I believe had BOB been coach we’d had losing seasons. We won the big 10 in 2016 so that season speaks for itself. 2017 was a really good season winning 11 games and a big time bowl game over Washington. IMO I believe we had a few players not to step up and we had a catching the football problem and that cost us at least 2 wins to have 11 wins again but that’s part of football and it was just one of those years and we still finish with 9 wins on a down year. Coming out of death penalty sanctions I believe we are still way ahead and are in great shape. Now losing to teams like Michigan State and Kentucky needs to stop....right now!
I get all that Brother and cant disagree with what yer saying. Im thinking losing Moorehead and Gattis set us back a bit. Its my opinion that JM and JG were the game day coaches and and JF was the CEO. Yep, we lost games with JM and JG on the sidelines its just that I felt more confident with second half adjustments with those two then I do with the current staff on hand.
Without Moorehead, we dont come back to win the B1G ship game with JF calling the shots.......in my opinion. But in saying that, we have to dance with the one that brung us this far so strike up the band.
With JM and JG we lost to Ohio State and Michigan State the same exact way. Comebacks and poor 2nd half play both years. I don't think JM or JG would have made a difference in either game last year, though we probably would have been catching the ball better all year
I don’t see a whole lot of problems with this team it’s just a young team but very talented team. Take care of the ball baby and we’ll win 11 or 12 games again this year. We’re in a brutal league in the east and it’s going to be very hard to make the playoffs but we have a great chance to win the big 10 championship again. If Clemson and Alabama had to play Ohio st and Michigan every year their butts would be sitting home watching the playoffs just like we do. Of course they get a pass when they lose games even if it’s to bad team when we don’t. If I remember right didn’t Pitt beat Clemson in their backyard in 2016?Just saying, we all have our opinions about the scam going on in the college football playoffs.
You cant keep complaining about playing OSU, UM, southern, when you open up the season playing Idaho, Buffalo, and are basically handed 5-0 to start..PSU just doesn't beat the big boys, and if you want to be a "big boy', you have to beat them..You guys do this every yr, talk Big 10 title, nat'l title, only to go pffttt..
To this neutral observer and in today's college football landscape, I see this as an 8-4 program, maybe a 9-3 type of deal if everything falls right..
I want to play Ohio st and Michigan every year plus I wa t Alabama on the schedule and I’ve said this many times I’m just say if Clemson played Ohio st and Michigan every year they’d lose one of those games. I’m just pointing out it’s very hard to beat Ohio st and Michigan in the same year. I don’t see where you think I don’t want to play Ohio st and Michigan when I do. I’ve also said many times it’s also going to be an uphill battle for the big 10 champ to get in the playoffs and looking at the last 3 years I’m right because the champions of the big 10 has sit home and watched the playoffs, right? I love big time college football games especially when penn st’s in ‘em
CT I’ve also said a want that garbage off the schedule. IMO we should only play one gimme game. Wanting to play the Tide, Ohio st and Michigan ain’t running from nobody plus I want Pittsburgh every year.
I cant take exception to any of that southern, Ive seen you post many times you want the schedule upgraded..I really dont understand why PSU wont play Pitt every yr, it was a good intrastate rivalry, and no one will complain if PSU plays Pitt, its the Idaho, Buffalo games that get people's ire plus Delaware , VILLANOVA Coming up
While I agree its hard to beat both OSU and UM in any given yr, to Bama 's defense its not easy beating LSU, Auburn EVERY YR either, plus throw in Georgia as it seems like very yr they meet in SEC title game..
I cant take exception to any of that southern, Ive seen you post many times you want the schedule upgraded..I really dont understand why PSU wont play Pitt every yr, it was a good intrastate rivalry, and no one will complain if PSU plays Pitt, its the Idaho, Buffalo games that get people's ire plus Delaware , VILLANOVA Coming up
While I agree its hard to beat both OSU and UM in any given yr, to Bama 's defense its not easy beating LSU, Auburn EVERY YR either, plus throw in Georgia as it seems like very yr they meet in SEC title game..
Alabama and Georgia have only met twice in the entire existence of the SEC Championship game. Once in 2012, and last year. That's it.
Hardly think PSU fans are the only ones that dream of titles and championships, then come up short, including ND folks. Only fan base I've seen that has lowered their expectations is Rutgers & they're just hoping to win more than one game this year.
I don’t know Southern, saying Bob would have had losing seasons in 2014-2015 is a little questionable. I thought he was as good of an offensive gameday coach as we had seen since Paterno’s heyday. I think the 2 wins vs Wisconsin and the woodshed beating at Iowa was proof of that. He seemed to be able to find the other teams weaknesses and exploit them as you would expect an NFL coach to be able to do. I think he would have found a way to win games vs Illinois, MD, and NW during that time frame. Those were games that JF’s inept offensive minds couldn’t pull out. I also thought Mac McWhorter was a very good OL coach in his short amount of time at PSU. I know the counterpoint is the losses to UVA and Ohio, but I think B’OB was more than capable of winning seasons in ‘14 and ‘15.
As far as the scheduling goes, sure everyone wants better competition on the schedule for multiple reasons, but when the B1G went to 9 game conference schedules, most teams were forced to do whatever they had to do to make it work financially for their athletic departments. We seem to forget that we have Auburn, Virginia Tech, and WV on the nonconference schedule soon. Also, EVERY team schedules nonconfernece cupcakes. Bama played Arkansas St, Louisiana (not LSU), and the Citadel last year. Saban also publicly complained about the attendance of those games. Apparently, their fans aren’t showing up for those games and I don’t blame them. Clemson played Furman and Ga Southern. Notre Dame has New Mexico, Bowling Green , and Navy on the schedule for 2019. The bottom line is every school has to navigate schedules due to financial obligations. I agree with everyone. I’d rather see Pitt on the schedule every year. I’d also like to see it played as the season ender on Thanksgiving weekend every year like in the past. Unfortunately, the athletic dept didn’t feel the same, so we have to live with it.
There is also some risk to scheduling some of these “cupcake” teams. They have nothing to lose and can play as such. App St has traditionally been a pretty good program and we witnessed that first hand last year. Ask Michigan about App St. Navy has had some nice wins over the years. The MAC teams are usually pretty strong. I think Troy has beat a few big teams in the past. I’m pretty sure they beat LSU recently.
Tap dancing again? Yeah, it usually starts off like this every year. You guys are right on schedule with the crazy expectations. Normally, it starts with "this is their year " , then you finally face reality and ask yourself how this is possible. Early summer is when you start dancing about next year and how good they will be. Pffft !
Concentrate on winning the B1G first. 2019, 7-5
