Here are my brief observations about the UCF-PSU game, which I hope will spark some comments by my distinguished and astute readers.
First, great credit is due to UCF. The Knights made mincemeat of the vaunted (in our minds) Nittany Lion defense. Like a crocodile, we’re in de Nile. They’re not great and they’re thin, to boot. The pass rush was ineffectual, the linebackers were slow to react, and the secondary just plain suuuuuuuuucked. This was the test we wanted, and they flunked it.
I was impressed by the performance of three Penn State players. Allen Robinson remains the unstoppable Mr. Go-To. Zach Zwinak makes speedsters Belton and Lynch look like boys playing a man’s game. Finally, I take back everything I’ve said about Sam Ficken, who kicked a career long 47-yard field goal and damn near cleared the bar from 57. The Phoenix has risen. But everything I said about his nose still stands.
Hackenberg’s stock continues to rise and the offensive line is steadily improving, but neither are close to competing at the level necessary for all the proverbial pieces to come together. In the sportswriter vernacular, “positive progress” is better than no progress at all. It is what it is.
So who of you will be the first to blame officiating for Penn State’s loss?
And how the B1G suuuuuuuuucked this weekend! Big Red, wearing black, went down to UCLA. Wisconsin lost to Arizona State. Penn State lost to UCF. Michigan needed a drop in the end zone with 4 seconds left to beat Akron! And Purdue blew a lead to lose to the hated Irish.
More later. I’ll emerge from the crapper and socialize on a Sunday morning.
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BigAl says
Well, I got the margin of loss spot on, but missed the over/under as badly as State’s linebackers missed their tackles.
I still don’t think UCF’s offense is all that great. Guess we will see just how good Bortles is next week when UCF plays the ‘Cocks. Clowney and Co. give up over 500 yards to UGA, so, if UCF’s offense is as good as the BSD Sanguinarians think they are, UCF should be able to get at least 400 against the ‘Cocks.
The only saving grace is that the B1G sucks once again this year. None of State’s opponents are unbeatable and none (except maybe Purdue) are guaranteed wins. Anything between 4-8 and 8-4 seems possible for this season, but I’m optimistically predicting they will finish 7-5.
The Nittany Turkey says
I think they can beat Illinois and Purdue. The rest are up in the air in my present state of mind. I’m still looking at 6-6.
I look at PSU and UCF as pretty even in talent with UCF having the edge (at least last night) in depth and coaching, not to mention in cheating and not getting caught.
I don’t mean to put PSU down. Nothing wrong with not being as good as the other guys. You just move on and strive to get better. But two things will bite PSU over and over again — lack of depth and the absence of established team leadership. There is hope in the latter category, but who will step forward? It is unreasonable to expect that an 18 year-old kid will carry the team on his shoulders alone, no matter how talented he is and how great his potential is.
—TNT
Joe says
I just had a feeling about this one. Watching UCF march down the field virtually uncontested on the opening drive did not bode well, but then the lions made it look easy when they scored and my optimism recovered but not for long. I never thought they were going to dig themselves out of the hole when the score hit 21-7.
First as I said previously, Robinson had a monster game! Enjoy this kid this year because if he’s smart he’ll declare himself eligible for the draft at the end of the season and probably get some first round $$$$. Zwinak except for his fumble likewise had another superb game. Lynch looked good, and with the exception of one run Belton just didn’t have it. I still think we spend too much time trying to go up the middle-like to see some creativity in the running game to get Belton/Lynch in space which might free more space up for Zach when he goes between the tackles.
Hack had another positive game and looks like he’s the real deal. He continues to get better after each game. Yes there were some “brain farts” during the game, but the kid was in his third D1-A football game. I see no regression in his performance so far.
The rest of the offense did okay, but there were still too many stupid penalties (I’m looking at you Adam Breneman!)
I was totally disappointed and disgusted with the defense! No contain, coverage in the secondary was deplorable, no pressure on the QB, and the tackling!!!! I understand the need to go light in practice, but these men have all been playing football for awhile through HS and college and from my HS playing days, tackling is not something you forget (especially in the third game of the season.) I don’t accept the practice methodology as an excuse. In my observations, they were out of position and not holding their positions on the field, so they were in piss poor position to make a play. I blame Butler for coming up with a shitty scheme to stop their offense and not being able to come up with adjustments as the game progressed.
Ficken is so far to me is the best story of the year. That 47 yard FG would have been good from 55 and the 57 yard attempt was straight and true, just a couple yards short. Whatever he’s done to get to this point is working and he may end as one of PS’s best kickers.
So I’m staying away from the pundits columns about why they lost and the season is doomed-they were simply not prepared for what UCF threw at them, did not execute to their ability and made no adjustments of consequence on defense.
Two other points:
1. I still think leadership on this team is not what it was last year and that is a significant missing piece when you’re in a cat fight like this one.
2. No quarrel with the ref’s (I’ve gotten used to the shit that’s called B1G officiating) other than the helmet to helmet hit on Breneman should have been called a targeting penalty. It was pretty obvious, receiver on his knees on the ground and he gets smacked by the DB while in that position. Look if you’re going to make the fucking rule, than enforce the fucking rule and I don’t care if the roles had been reversed.
Oh and yes the B1G sucks (again) this year.
The Nittany Turkey says
I, too, wondered why they were wasting the outside speed of Belton and Lynch running them up the middle. Perhaps the O-line has progressed the extent that they’re finally able to open up holes between the tackles, but they’re not cohesive enough a unit to trust them to do the requisite pullin’ and trappin’ to accommodate the outside run? That’s straight out of my ass. Otherwise, I can’t understand limiting the play selection as at present.
I agree with everything you said about the shitty defense. From my perspective, they didn’t bother to show up. Too many fans were deluded int thinking they were pretty good based on their successes against Syracuse and EMU, but the flaw in that line of thinking is obvious.
I also agree about the leadership vacuum, which I’ve been harping on since my pre-season preview. It is real and it is significant. McGloin, Mauti, and Zordich could fire the team up. Who is there to motivate them when the going is rough this year? You can’t expect the team to look to Hackenberg until he has at least the better part of a season under his belt.
And, yes, the B1G sucks again this year. That either bodes well for Penn State, as Al suggests, because the rest of them are beatable, or it means PSU sucks even worse than I thought if they wind up in the middle of the B1G pack, as I think they will.
—TNT
Dudus Maximus says
Knightmare
The Nittany Turkey says
I’m happy for the Knights. They’ve been steadily gaining on PSU. Last game I attended, they were good enough to win, but lost one that was tight most of the way to a mediocre St. Joe coached team. This team is better, but was outplayed by UCF and O’Brien was outcoached by his former boss, O’Leary.
—TNT
K.John says
I seriously don’t get why people are so scared to comment on bad/biased officiating. The officiating yesterday was on par with last year’s Ohio State game. They simply refused to call offensive or defensive holding which sets up a game that favors the lesser team, which was clearly UCF. Never mind the personal fouls which really get my temper going. The hit on Breneman. The obviously late hit on Carter just before the half which killed a drive. Pathetic. As far as I am concerned, this game was a win for the good guys, not the cheaters at UCF.
lawrence hamilton says
Hooooold on there, Bobalooie…please elaborate on cheaters at UCF. I am aPSU but they were beat by a faster team with a top notch qb. PSU’s defense forgot to show up…I think coaching cantakr 50% of the blame for this.
The Nittany Turkey says
I was beginning to wonder whether I had watched the same game as K.John, so thanks for the clarification. I have to agree that UCF was the better coached, better led, and overall better team. Just how good they are will be seen in how they do against that ol’ ballcoach in two weeks. I’d like to see them do well.
Now, if I can just watch whichever channel K.John watches, I might not need the drugs I’m taking for the pain emanating from my broken hand.
More later. I owe some comments to Joe and B1G Al.
—TNT
K. John says
Did you not watch the game? I mean really watch it? Barnes, Jones and company were held more often than not. That is what happens when inferior players go up against superior athletes. If they can get away with it, they cheat. Holding is cheating. Period. The same thing goes on defense. The UCF defense couldn’t cover Robinson and company so they held them, more often than not. Penn State has far superior talent and speed. That much is obvious. Penn State’s coaching could have been better but make no mistake, UCF can’t play with Penn State if the game is officiated in an ethical manner.
The Nittany Turkey says
Players are coached to hold if they can get away with it. It is ok if our guys do it and don’t get caught, but if under the all seeing eye of the multiple view TV camera, you detect the other guys holding, then they and they alone are cheaters? And Penn State doesn’t have to hold because it possesses superior talent? Clearly? By whose measure?
UCF won the game. It wasn’t as close as the score indicated. From your commentary, one would gather that PSU played a great game and deserved to win. In reality, they sucked. If you want to blame all the botched third-down conversions, missed tackles, porous secondary, and lack of opportunism on officiating, cheating, or whatever might be the externalization of the moment, that is your prerogative. If they’re that good, then it is a fluke that they lost this game and I’ll be glad to point out the K.John told us they were that good when they end the season with an 11-1 record.
Yes, I really watched the game, and yes, I thought UCF won it, fair and square. The only officiating issue all of us present in The Cave noted was allowing the clock to run on an out-of-bounds play with time winding down. But that was sort of moot because of O’Brien’s decision to eschew the onside kick.
I do see improvements in the team, but in this turkey’s humble opinion, they are still high-middle B1G material in yet another year when the B1G bites the big one. The potential is there to improve further, and I hope they do.
—TNT
K. John says
Yes, players are taught to cheat when they can get away with it. That may be good enough for a Busch league school like UCF but that doesn’t make it right. Cheating is still cheating. And yes, like most Penn Staters, I would rather have Penn State lose the right way than win the wrong. That is the way Joe ran the program. And that is the standard we expect.
And now, the game was as close as the score. Look at UCF ‘s first half scoring drives. The first one featured a significant hold on Jones on a key third and long play. Normally called ten out of ten times in the Big Ten where they don’t call holding very much. The long TD run. Garbage. Without the key hold to seal the end which is normally called 10 out of 10 times the back is tackled for a four yard loss. The second quarter TD pass in the corner of the end zone. Blatant pick. Illegal play. Then look at the personnel fouls that weren’t called. Good lord. Apparently player safety doesn’t matter anymore huh?
Simple fact, UCF cheated. If UCF was the better team, they wouldn’t have to cheat. The game was closer than the score. And the game officials, dropped the ball, big time. In case you missed it, this was they exact type of permissive nonsense Penn State played against all last season. Officials simply refused to call certain penalties. In games officiating by Big Ten officials, Penn State drew seven holding calls in 12 games. Look it up. Two of them came in garbage time against Illinois. Three more during the out of conference portion of play. One against Northwestern then the final one came 22 quarters later against Wisconsin.
I am sorry, I know you won’t admit the officiating played a significant role in the outcome because you are scared someone will call you a whiner. Personally, I could care less because I am more than capable of arguing my points with cold hard facts. And sadly, it looks like Dear Old State is going to be playing both their opponents and officials all year long, just like last year where a ten and two season became an eight and four campaign.
The Nittany Turkey says
True, I don’t whine about officiating because it doesn’t change anything. Consider me among the unfortunate ones who will live with what goes into the record books, while rationalists of your ilk can find comfort in the knowledge that that outcomes would have been more favorable if games were called the way you see them. Penn State can be 12-0 every year. It’s as simple as calling out the bad calls that go against PSU and ignoring ones that favor the lions.
I’m a realist who believes that missed calls are part of the game and do not favor one team or the other. I don’t buy the notion that, in this case, UCF was “clearly” the weaker team, so “bad officiating” favored them. I believe that Penn State gets away with as many holds as anyone else. That’s just part of the game. And what ultimately counts is what goes up on the scoreboard. Grousing after the fact ain’t going to change that, so I don’t do it.
This reminds me of baseball in the good old days. There were many arguments over umpires’ calls, which, I thought, was a great tradition. Sometimes, the argument would escalate and the guy who was doing the argument would get tossed out of the game. Several minutes later, the PA announcer would declare, “This game is being played under protest!” What did that ever accomplish? Nothing.
And that’s why I don’t cry over spilt milk. The ulcers ain’t worth it.
—TNT
K. John says
Nonsense. Yes you can call holding on any play. However, I cite specific examples that are normally called 100 percent of the time because directly influence the play. These are not tickey tack calls away from the ball or one where a defensive line spins his way into a hold. I am talking about deliberate acts where the linemen was clearly beaten and was going to blow the play up.
Expecting honest officiating is not crying over spilt milk. You know as well as I do that Penn State hasn’t gotten a call in the last 22 months and that they haven’t t’ evened out. I am just not scared to talk about because the process matters fare more than the outcome.
The Nittany Turkey says
Actually, I’m content to exist in my delusional state. Relying on the scoreboard gives me great comfort.
And yeah, I’m scared, especially because if I argue poor officiating as the reason for refusing to cough up the money to my bookie, it might just cost me my kneecaps.
Being philosophically opposed to gambling, that fear need not exist in you. Accordingly, your heart remains pure and your mind remains cluttered with the detritus of bad calls from the past while I am warm and secure in my simplistic reliance on officially published outcomes.
Whine on!
—TNT
Joe says
Well, having played guard on the OL at a 4A HS in PA, there were times when you were beaten and grabbed the DT to keep him from smashing your QB. Deliberate hell yes and sometimes you got caught and sometimes you didn’t. If your talking about PI in the secondary, if I had just gotten beaten by Robinson, I’d rather take the 15 yard penalty than give up 6 points. Smart play, hell yes. Were those techniques taught by our coaches? You betcha!
To your point about 22 months without a call going in our favor, well I think that might be a stretch, but if you’ve reviewed all the film, I guess I’ll take your word for it.
And if you’re counting the clock starting on the out of bounds play, that was the correct call. The rule changed I believe 2 or 3 years ago to speed up the game. Our host Mr Nittany Turkey covered that in a later post (glad to see you got the rulebook out NT).
Remember, there are also twenty-two 18 to 23 year olds running around out there in probably the best physical condition of their lives. There are only seven officials (most middle aged and some on the portly plus side) on the field, with their heads on swivels trying to see fouls occurring while keeping from getting crushed by players running around at full speed. If you watch as much football as I do, there are good officials and lousy officials, and that’s pretty much true in every sport.
Sure they get some right and they get some wrong, but watching a game where a flag is thrown on each play would be BORING (ever watch a field hockey game?)
I suppose you would also say that the PAC 12 officials kept the clock running in the Wisconsin-ASU game to keep the B1G from winning. I think you may be on the verge of uncovering an SEC conspiracy to keep the B1G suppressed!!
The Nittany Turkey says
I have heard over and over again from NFL players and former players that there’s holding on every play from scrimmage. It’s just a matter of who gets caught and when. Hell, some offensive linemen used to wear gloves that were the same color as the opponents’ jerseys to make it more difficult for the officials to see if someone was grabbing something illegally.
If everyone does it, it evens out. I don’t believe for one second that McWhorter is telling his boys to never, ever hold, or he’ll kick them off the team. (He might instead tell them not to get caught.)
I keep the rule book around to settle arguments. I wish I had the time to learn it, but maybe not, since it’s an evolving thing, and who can keep up. One guy on the Penn State sidelines who should read it thoroughly and digest its contents is BoB. He should have known that clock starting rule. When I screw up something like that, I merely look like the dilettante that I am; when O’Brien does it, he represents our entire Penn State flawed culture of football to the outside world.
What’s that have to do with the two seconds they added on to the Michigan game in 2005? They’re out to get us, I tellya! (Zemaitis should have not had his head up his ass and then we wouldn’t have had to argue about the two damn seconds.)
—TNT
The Nittany Turkey says
P.S.
“Busch league?” That’s hilarious! Wayne Densch, the local Anheuser-Busch distributor made a significant donation to the UCF athletic program, and indeed has buildings in the sports complex named after him. Cute pun!
Or maybe you’re not that funny and you really meant bush league.
Never mind!
—TNT
K. John says
I am occasionally very funny. Not very often but on the occasion. I usually come up with lots of good one liners, typically involving obscure references, but they are usually too late. My lack of timing killed a promising career in stand up. (sarcasm if you missed it)
The Nittany Turkey says
Who knew?
jd says
UCF’s RB was just frightening. We couldn’t contain the guy.
Reffing (effing) aside, we got beat. We just couldn’t stop their offense.
The Nittany Turkey says
Butler clearly has a long way to go with the defense to fix what ails them. UCF’s offense was good, but not the best they’ll see.
This is not the stifling PSU defense of old. The front four were ineffectual (because they were always being held, I guess :)) and the linebackers were frequently caught with their thumbs up their asses. The secondary? They couldn’t cover my grandmother, and she’s been dead for 15 years.
—TNT
Parkeyboy says
Hey Turk,
Nothin’ but love fo ya!
Been awhile. I am glad to see you continuing on with your thoughts and opinions.
I actually think this last loss is a good thing for the Lions. The offense of UCF is really good. The QB will most likely be playing on Sundays. He looked like Johnny U out there. I believe that our boys will hulk up and play better D. Better, not great going forward.
My question is their ability to run the ball against quality opponents.
Belton seems pretty ordinary, Lynch looks good, and Zwinack is my main man for toughness, but he has no breakaway speed.
How do you see our boys when we hit the heart of the schedule?
Sorry to be so Terse, I have a 3 yo hanging on my back.
Word to big Bird!
The Nittany Turkey says
Hiya, Parkeyboy! LTNS! Thanks for stopping by.
I think we’re looking at a potential 7-5 year, perhaps even 6-6 if they don’t start executing third down conversions. It is clear to me that the defense is not ready for a good minor conference team like UCF, so if they don’t make some serious improvements, they’ll be porous for the heart of the B1G schedule. The O-Line is improving and so is the running game. But the offense won’t be able to put up enough points if the D is going to keep giving up 500 yard games.
I’m happy with Robinson, Zwinak, Ficken, and Hackenberg is coming along very well. I want to see some of Lynch’s speed actually used instead of running inside the tackles.
Thanks for your comments, and hope you check in every once in a while. I know dat’s tough with a young family and a workplace that bans Internet connections to the Turkey!
—TNT