Yeah, the bloom is off that wild Irish rose, Bill O’Brien, especially after not having learned his lesson in the Kent State game. Once again in this game, he steered away from the run, putting the game on the shoulders of a freshman quarterback who is not ready to carry the load to obviate an inept and porous defense. In the end, the Hoosiers executed a well conceived game plan almost to perfection, winning going away 44-24.
There will be great celebrations in Bloomington tonight, as indeed there should be, as this is the first time ever the Hoosiers have beaten the mighty (albeit fading) Nittany Lions. Ever.
The only consistency we saw was Hackenberg’s being consistently off the mark through much of the game, although a couple of completions to Allen Robinson and Richie Anderson were pleasing to watch. Hacky wound up 30-55, indicating the extent to which pass happy O’Brien used the aerial assault. The kid’s got skills, but he’s being counted on to bail out an entire team and its coaches, which would be a helluva chore for Brett Favre, let alone a true freshman. As the season wears on, he seemingly gets more and more rattled in the pocket. It would help a lot if he had an offensive line in front of him.
There is indeed a leadership gap on this team, one I have been squawking about all year. Eventually, Hackenberg will be the man, but right now there is no “the man.” Leadership is needed on the field on both sides of the ball to get the team through rough spots — like two false starts in a row as the offense backed up toward its own goal line — but when the presumed leader is as spooked as everyone else, it has an amplified negative effect. When “the man” is scared, everybody is scared.
The few bright spots for this turkey were watching Allen Robinson and Zach Zwinak. Robinson had 12 receptions for 173 yards and two touchdowns. He’s like magic on the field. ZZ had only 17 carries for a total of 72 yards. While the Indiana defense worked hard on shutting down the run, Zwinak still managed to look good. Belton didn’t.
The big problem on offense was that O’Brien apparently lacked the patience to stick to the game plan this turkey prescribed to him — namely, run the ball down their throats and set up some decent passing opportunities while controlling the ball and the clock. He seemed to do the opposite, abandoning fundamentals to play with his toy quarterback, putting him on the spot continually. Indiana’s defense put pressure on him throughout the game, further rattling him, culminating in a fumble in the end zone for a safety.
On the positive side, the offense was 11-22 on third down, not great, but a lot better than the 20% heretofore. On the negative side, they were 1-5 on fourth down, including one coaching call that would get lesser men fired.
Who knows what O’Brien had in his mind going for that fourth down. I characterized the call as more balls than brains. We in The Cave had already concluded that O’Brien was merely trying to draw an offside penalty when the offense lined up on fourth and two at their own 33. Wait! No shit! Hackenberg just took the snap! WTF??? Forty-two seconds later, Indiana scored, thanks to a failed conversion gifting them a very short field.
Our vaunted defense got torched for 486 yards. They looked out of sync all day, and couldn’t tackle worth a shit. I counted only one sack of Sudafed (ok, ok, Sudfeld), who was 23-38 for 321 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT. Rushing defense was porous, too. Coleman had 20 rushes for 92 yards and a touchdown. The only good thing I have to say about defense is about Indiana’s. It’s better than we thought, and that guy Bennett #24 is potential NFL material.
And special teams? Well, Butterworth punted a little better, but he can’t hold worth a shit.
I don’t want to write about this anymore. I would rather read your thoughts.
Ineptitude’ll kill ya.
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Joe says
This was torture to watch, especially in the 2nd half, when in all honesty I think they quit after Lewis’ fumble on the kickoff after Indiana’s score. In my pre-game prognostication, I said several things had to happen for them to get #4, of which by my count only one did!
Several things have to happen to put #4 in the “W” column:
-The DL must get pressure (not necessarily sacks) on Sudfeld. He can’t have time to throw as he appears to be pretty good at that. COUPLE OF SACKS AND A BATTED BALL BY A LB, BUT MR SUDFELD HAD PRETTY MUCH ALL DAY TO THROW!
-Our secondary has to play like they don’t have a load in their pants. Can’t afford to have people blow coverage, be out of position or allow receivers to get behind them. IF YOU WATCHED THE GAME YOU SAW IT FOR YOURSELF. SOFT COVERAGE ON THE CORNERS, NO INSIDE CONTAIN AND DB’S SCRAMBLING AROUND LIKE THE PROVERBIAL CHINESE FIRE DRILL.
-Our running back triumvirate has got to have a 300-400 yard afternoon. I’M PLACING MOST OF THIS ON THE OL DURING THE RARE OPPORTUNITY A RUN PLAY WAS CALLED. WHAT ZWINAK GOT, HE GOT ON HIS OWN. WHY O WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO TRY TO RUN BELTON (WHO LOOKS TO HAVE TERRIBLE BALANCE) AND LYNCH UP THE MIDDLE. TIME TO CALL IT FOR WHAT IT IS AND LET ZWINAK CARRY THE BALL 25-30 TIMES A GAME.
-BoB has to get his play calling head out of his ass. Hack may have all the potential in the world, but he’s not Tom Brady right now. WHAT HAPPENED TO TE’S IN THE SLOT, AT WIDEOUT, IN THE BACKFIELD? HAVE WE RUN A JET SWEEP THIS YEAR? COUPLE OF SCREEN’S DIDN’T WORK BECAUSE BELTON COULDN’T CLEAR THE PROP WASH AT THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE TO GET OPEN.
-Hackenburg has to be functionally sound. LOOK THIS KID IS GOING TO BE GOOD IF NOT GREAT, BUT I THINK WE’RE ASKING WAY TOO MUCH OF AN 18 YEAR OLD TRUE FRESHMAN. AT TIMES HE PLAYED LIKE ONE TODAY.
-Mr Superstar (Allen Robinson) has to play to his abilities, and not allow a pissant DB keep him from getting open like in the Kent State game. A-ROB HAD THE KIND OF GAME ONE WOULD EXPECT FROM ONE OF THE BEST WR’S IN THE COUNTRY UNTIL HE LANDED HARD ON HIS ASS (WHICH I THINK WAS IN-BOUNDS) IN THE END ZONE.
-Don’t look past Indiana to Michigan! DON’T KNOW IF THEY HAD A CHANCE TO DO THAT, BUT NOON KICK’S ON THE ROAD NEVER BODE WELL FOR US.
So in my honest opinion, this game blew away the haze and showed us what we really have this year:
1. A promising true freshman QB who has had ridiculous performance expectations placed on his head after the first couple of games. He will get better and better, but he will also make freshman mistakes. He is not yet in the position to carry this offense by himself!
2. No evidenced leadership on this team. I had an inkling of that during pre-season practice with all the talk of “leading by example” and “this is not the 2012 team”. This more than anything else may be having the biggest impact on this team right now.
3. A defense being run by a first time coordinator (Butler) and the safeties being coached by a new position coach (Midget) who is coaching at a competitive level he has not been exposed to other than during his playing days. That leaves LJ & Vandy as the graybeard contributors to a defensive game plan. How much input do they really have as the “outside” guys? I think Butler’s inexperience in the catbird seat has more of an impact on the defense than we think, but is not the only reason.
4. The DL is shallow on experience. Look last year you had Hill and Jones in the middle with Stanley and Barnes on the ends-tough to replace Hill and Stanley with Baublitz or Johnson in the middle and Olanyan on the end. I used my “laser focus” to watch Barnes several times today and he doesn’t seem able to clear his blocks and use his speed (he had one assist for the entire game). Again, I think these guys will be better in the season’s to follow, but not this year.
5. I won’t talk about LB’s, but at this point, Carson is all we’ve got. Hull is playing like Peg Leg Pete (and was obviously still lacking full mobility) and Wartman missed most of the game with an arm/shoulder injury. Not good! Likewise with the DB’s-two newbies at the corners and Willis and Amos looking lost most of the time. And for God’s sake, when did DB’s stop looking back for the ball!!!! This drives me crazy!!!!
6. What happened to our tight ends??? Look last year these guys lined up in all kinds of unexpected places. Have you seen a tight end in the backfield this year. Losing James and Wilkerson for the season is a big deal, but there has been absolutely no productivity from this position so far.
7. If you can believe the broadcasters, sounded like Indiana totally redid their defense during their bye week. Our OL looked like they were playing against the “Fearsome Foursome” today. I think the talent is there, but they have been terribly inconsistent in opening running lanes and keeping pressure off of the QB. I don’t know where the fault is here, but on paper they should be playing better than they are considering this was the 5th game.
8. Didn’t realize that Moseby-Felder was out with an ankle injury. Missing your #2 receiver didn’t help.
9. I could probably add another 10-12 items, but to what end To paraphrase Dennis Green, They are who we thought they might end up being this year!
Look I think BoB knows exactly what he has this year. Why do you think he always mentions “great kid”, “from a great family”, “tough guy from (fill in the PA city)”, “good student”, etc when talking about his players. He also places a lot of plaudits on his coaches. I also think he knows that Butler isn’t ready for the DC job yet and this will be a season for him to get his legs under him (if he ever does).
So after watching 5 games, I’m thinking this is a 6-6 team (+/- 1) this year in either the win or loss column.
I’m thinking the order of possible wins is as follows:
Purdue (+++)
Minnesota (+)
Illinois (+)
Wisconsin (toss up, simply because it’s the last game)
Nebraska (-)
Michigan (-)
OhioState (—-)
I’ll keep watching, as I think better times are a season or two away, but this year is going to be painful! At least we won’t have to worry about some NFL team (or USC) trying to poach O’Brien this season!
The Nittany Turkey says
I agree with all the points you’ve made, and I’ve pretty much echoed them all along, if an echo can reach forward for its antecedent, as it were.
Apart from a few talented guys, this team is ordinary, leaderless, and undermotivated. The honeymoon is over for O’Brien, and he’s showing that he’s not the great savior the the Sanguinarians put on a lofty pedestal after the Wisconsin game last year. In fact, many of his ideas this year have blown up in our faces.
His “great kid” stuff, as you state, is a euphemism for “he sucks, but he’s the best we’ve got”. St. Joe used to similarly obfuscate assessments for media consumption with phrases such as, “he’s a good football player”, but I think Joe was a little more candid about kids who flat out sucked. Of course, he had a richer talent pool, albeit sometimes squandered.
O’Brien said, “I don’t think in any stretch of anybody’s imagination that this is a normal Penn State team. Sixty-one kids on scholarship and 40 walk-ons.”
I’m beginning to think that no wind, no rain, no winter storm will ever bring a decent defensive secondary to Penn State. We had the Sandusky Soft Zone, the Bradley Soft Zone, and today, a flashback to the same old crap. Of course, if the speed and talent — the sheer athleticism — doesn’t exist, you’re pretty much stuck with that kind of coverage, and you will get burned. I want that #24 guy on our team.
—TNT
The Nittany Turkey says
Oh, yeah. About Belton. Funny you should mention that. I remarked today on one run that Belton looked like Austin Scott dancing around trying to figure out where he was going.
—TNT
K. John says
The biggest issue with the run game isn’t the O-line. It isn’t the running backs. It’s poor play calling. It isn’t a coincidence that Zwinak was picking up three four or five yards after contact when dive plays and quick hitting inside running plays were called but struggled to get yardage when he was not allowed to attack the line of scrimmage. Simply put, Zwinak is a sledge hammer. Use him as such. Put a fullback in front of him and stop running counters and other slow developing running plays. Offensive issues solved because they don’t play a defense that can keep him under five yards a carry. I know Bill is a pass first guy but come on. The answer is obvious.
Joe says
And that does what for developing your future QB? Sorry, I’ll trade Hackenburg getting game experience rather than a meaningless win over Indiana.
Joe says
Two other things I forgot to include in my comments:
How to spin a fresh pile of dog shit on the living room carpet into roses and rainbows!!
http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/100513aad.html
And apparently our nation leading string of games in which we’ve scored at least 23 points is still intact! Thank God; I couldn’t have lived with myself if that had been broken.
I am now going to pivot 180 degrees and hope that Frankie doesn’t disappoint at PNC tomorrow afternoon.
The Nittany Turkey says
I read that post-game crap on the official web site right after the game and I had to laugh as the sarcasm welled up within me. Let’s go find some obscure statistics to make us feel better.
However, the Bucs have a golden opportunity (as the sports media guys would say), given that they can win two games at home and move on. But I’m counting chickens before they hatch.
In other Pittsburgh sports, the Steelers suck, but the Penguins have won their first two rather convincingly. It’s too soon to tell, but it looks like Fleury might have conquered his demons.
—TNT
BigAl says
After games like this, I remember the old JoePa homily: “You’re never as good as you think you are when you win. And you’re never as bad as you think you are when you lose.” And I think maybe Joe was never as right as he thought he was.
The good news is that Indiana is better than people thought they were. The bad news is that State is worse. Let’s be realistic: This team is NOT all that talented. The OL s is just average for the B1G (and it’s going to be one hell of a lot worse next year), the receivers are nothing special except for Robinson (who probably will go pro next year), Hack is not the best freshman quarterback around, there is no depth at linebacker (and Carson will be gone next year), and the defensive secondary sucks (like always.)
So, State’s going to have trouble winning six games this year (and 4 next year). Hopefully, BOB will recognize that and start recruiting some lineman and linebackers so that State’s bowl eligible when the bowl sanction expires in 2016.
The Nittany Turkey says
I’ve used John McKay’s witticisms before to emphasize points, so I’ll dig out another one (if I haven’t already used it and forgot that I did):
Media Guy: Coach McKay, can you find any positives in the Bucs’ blowout loss to Green Bay this week?
McKay: Yes, I can. The parking lot will be a lot emptier and easier to get into and out of next week for Minnesota.
So, what positives can I find about today’s loss?
Well, I’ll tell you. The Sanguinarians will go back into their padded calls and not come out again until next year when their unbridled optimism will once again inspire 12-0 predictions. Ideally, they would taste a dose of reality and admit that what you have said above is true, but I think it is extremely difficult — if not impossible — for a Sanguinarian to ever accept that his team is ordinary.
As you know, I have never viewed this team through blue and white colored glasses. However, I did think that Hackenberg had great promise. He still does. I remarked today that he seems to have hit his sophomore slump a bit early. He has flat-out sucked in the past two games, and he needs to be coached closely, which I hope is happening. He’s not yet reading defenses, and he’s making bad decisions, not to mention bad throws. He seems to get flustered, but without a decent offensive line in front of him and several tons of sinew bearing down on him on every play, that’s to be expected. He’ll improve with experience. But at this point, I’d agree that indeed, he is not the best freshman quarterback around (I’d argue that Sudafed is better at the moment).
Call me a Sanguinarian, but I’m sticking with my original prediction of 6-6. I know that 5-7 seems more likely at this point, but I still have faith that they’ll win one game that they’re not supposed to win.
—TNT
The Nittany Turkey says
And what’s with that stupid, half-assed fake toss at the end of each handoff? It kind of reminded me of something Kerry Collins used to do. It looks like an afterthought. By the time Hackenberg makes the limp wristed fake, the runner has already hit the hole (or lack of same). Seems pretty worthless — almost ceremonial — to me.
—TNT
The Nittany Turkey says
The Sanguinarians have returned to Earth and all is well in the universe — or not!
I’m not even feeling warm about the Illinois game. All the remaining games will be contested. No walks in the park. At the season’s outset, I predicted 6-6 if they lost the UCF game. I’m sticking with that mediocre — albeit optimistic, at this point — forecast.
I continue to harp on team leadership because its lack is obvious. When the chips are down, these guys fold their tent. It is eminently unfair to everyone to stick a true freshman quarterback in there and tell him to provide the spark that Mauti, McGloin, and Zordich did last year.
Did you notice the body language in the second half out there? The defense was standing around with their heads up their asses and the offense was all but crying out for mama. If there is no real team leadership, then these guys have to be either strongly self-motivated or they have to be coached extremely well. I submit that neither is true.
Yeah, the St. Joe thing about never being as bad as you think you are when you lose is probably an accurate depiction of my mood at present. I’ve indicted the players and the coaching staff, charging them all with gross incompetence. That’s an unfair blanket generalization. Robinson and Zwinak are football players who deserve my respect. (They also deserve a decent offensive line, which is another thing I’ve been pissing and moaning about all along.)
I wonder if K. John will continue to disapprove of my use of the word inept in describing the defense. BigAl said a mouthful above: “There is no depth at linebacker … and the defensive secondary sucks (like always).”
At this point, I suppose we have to look for small blessings here and there in the anticipated small doses. We all stuck with the Lions through “The Dark Years”, and I don’t think any of my six readers is prepared to bail now. I certainly am not.
—TNT
K. John says
Actually I do, the first half proved the defense is not inept. They do have issues, most notably coaching.
The Nittany Turkey says
You don’t think they’re inept, but with a few notable exceptions — damn few — I think they’re subpar. Furthermore, this defense lacks depth for obvious reasons. We knew this would be a problem at the beginning of the season and we’re seeing it rear its ugly head now. It won’t get better as the season wears on.
You can’t just point to a standout here or there and impute the excellence upon the entire defense. The front seven is fair and the secondary is awful. The talent level just isn’t there.
My recollection is that PSU hasn’t had a decent secondary in the past 20 years. Hell, I wish PSU had a cornerback like Tim Bennett — one of the broad collection of players that you declared would never make the team at Dear Old State. Instead, we have a couple of n00bs with their thumbs up their asses. Having a shutdown cover corner makes a big difference, but face the fact that St. Joe’s recruiting apparatus never wound up with great corners, because the antiquated Sandusky soft zone schemes, as perpetuated ad nauseam by Bradley, didn’t place a great emphasis on the secondary and shot its wad perennially on linebackers and DL.
Alan Zemaitis was one of the better PSU corners in recent history. See how quickly he washed out in the NFL? But I digress.
That was then and this is now. Assuming that O’Brien and Butler know what they’re doing, which is a big assumption, they’re stuck with some legacies of the St. Joe Administration and saddled with the recruiting handicap of trying to get topnotch DBs to come to a school that is not noted for producing NFL DBs. PSU secondaries have long sucked and will continue to suck until this cycle is broken.
In his post-game media rout, O’Brien wouldn’t admit that the defense sucks. He just kept repeatedly taking the blame for everything. “I need to do a better job to put these guys in a position to make plays.” Yeah, right. They’re not making the plays, no matter what position Coach puts them in. Why? Because they’re mostly pretty ordinary players. Some are pretty bad.
The defense sucks. That’s a euphemism for “is inept”.
—TNT
K. John says
For the most part we agree. I am more on the glass is half full side. I don’t think they lack depth at all except at linebacker. They are young however. The one thing that concerns me is that we haven’t seen any of the 3-4 formations that were rumored to be used to offset linebacker depth.
I do think they have the opportunity to get better as the season progresses. Williams and Lucas continue to make mental mistakes which was Penn State’s biggest on field issue against UCF. They cleaned up their play last week and in the first half against Indiana before coming unglued in the fourth. Luckily, Indiana is the last competent passing team they play. If they play like they did in the first half for the rest of the season, the defense is going to be fine.
As for the secondary legacy we are in agreement. As a newer Penn State convert (2002 to present) the zone has been a sore spot. While the secondary hasn’t been good or great during that period, Penn State did have the best secondary in the country in 2005. That of course was the exception to the rule confirmed by long time Penn State fans.
The defense isn’t playing great right now but it is not inept. The first half proved it. They do have issues, but looking around the Big Ten, other than Michigan State, who is sitting on the best defense in the country, Penn State is right there for number two (along with Iowa and Wisconsin) and has great potential to improve as the season goes on and the walking turnover Daryl Gardner comes to town next week.
The Nittany Turkey says
The depth at LB is still a serious issue that cannot be glossed over. Hull is playing lame. Will he ever heal being played that way? Obeng is being overused and made to play LB, where he takes a beating. If anyone else gets injured, they’ll be giving up 500 yards a game. Opposing coaches aren’t living in vacuums. They know what’s going on.
If everyone was healthy and playing with their heads out of their asses, then maybe PSU would be up there with Wisconsin and Iowa, as you suggest. But that’s a lot of “ifs”. They’re more likely to go the other way as the difficult part of the season progresses. There is no leadership to get them through the rough spots and they tend to hang their heads when the tide turns against them. Fatigue aside, that’s why they folded in the second half last week and will do so again when the score is lopsided.
As Joe Z. (to differentiate him from St. Joe) opines below, a lot of the defensive woes relate to the crappy recruiting done during the waning years of the St. Joe Era. O’Brien is stuck with those scholarship guys and some so-called run-ons.
I have to disagree that the PSU secondary in 2005 was the best secondary in the country. (I can never let these things pass without starting a good argument.) Alan Zemaitis will live forever in my memory letting Mario Manningham, a freshman at the time, get behind him in the end zone for Michigan’s winning score, marring a great season with its only loss. (Many are still placing the blame elsewhere — in your favorite pet peeve ares — the officiating. Adding two seconds to the clock enabled that last second completion in da Big House, not Zemaitis. Yeah, right!) While one mistake doesn’t mean that Zemaitis and the whole secondary were bad, the proof is in the NFL pudding. How many of those guys made a name for themselves on Sundays? Not Zemaitis, and not Anwar Phillips, who washed out with the Bucs and the Saints, respectively. I don’t remember the others except I think Calvin Lowry was the so-called hero. He did knock around the NFL for a while. For whatever reason, several safeties from PSU have done OK in the NFL, but cornerbacks who were brought up in the Sandusky scheme rarely do. I thought Zemaitis might have had a good shot at it as he was drafted by Tampa Bay, who famously employ the Monte Kiffin “Tampa 2” zone a lot, but he didn’t have the speed and the moves to be able to handle NFL receivers.
The defensive secondary has been a weakness for so long, essentially taken for granted by the fans for 20 years while Sandusky and Bradley concentrated on linebackers and linemen, that this turkey was hoping for a breath of fresh air when O’Brien came in. I think it will eventually happen when he settles on a decent DC and finally gets some talent, but he can’t work with what he ain’t got.
I don’t dispute that they can and will improve this year, but I don’t believe that it can or will be enough to save us from a 6-6 or a 5-7 record. If we can be patient, we might see the talent and the depth return someday, but fans tend to be all about instant gratification. I understand that and find myself frequently hoping against hope.
I just need to reel in my expectations for this season. I think I’m being optimistic sticking with 6-6, as originally predicted.
—TNT
The Nittany Turkey says
Humorous quote from David Jones of the Patriot News:
“An underperforming or underpowered offensive line will kill you in other areas.” (Emphasis mine — well, I thought it was funny, anyway!)
—TNT
lawrence hamilton says
Three words for the entire effort..pa-thet-ic….if Hackenberg didnt have AR to throw to he’d be in deep trouble because ARmakes him look good. BoB must have forgotten to use the TE’s this year….the once feared PSU defense is swiss cheese….this coaching staff needs to get its collective act together pronto to avoid a 5-7 or 4-8 finish
The Nittany Turkey says
Agree 100%. Where the hell are the tight ends?
How does a coaching staff suddenly get it together? Assistant coaches usually don’t get canned in the middle of a season unless they are charged with moral turpitude. Ted Roof was an experienced DC; John Butler isn’t. Consider Butler a failed experiment. I came to that conclusion when after the UCF debacle he stated that he “threw everything in the book at them”. Yeah, and most of it didn’t work. Better get a new book. Alas, we’re stuck with Butler and his book for the duration of this season anyway.
Clearly, the offensive coaching is pretty offensive at this point. I have already said enough about O’Brien’s pass happiness. He doesn’t have Brady, Gronk, Hernandez, and Welker to ensure a 75% completion rate and sure hands after the catch; instead, he has a freshman quarterback, one great receiver, a few halfway decent tight ends, etc. No offensive line to protect the freshman kid. He can’t throw 55 times a game against decent B1G defenses. He’ll get killed. So, will O’Brien change his tune after two games in which he could have easily gleaned the error of his ways? We’ll see. Who knows?
When he repeated over and over at the press conference something vacuous like, “It starts with me. I have to do a much better job of coaching to put these guys in position to make plays.” What the hell was that mantra? Manning up and taking the blame so he didn’t have to say that the team sucks? Frank Bodani of the York Daily Record interpreted it the same way I did, and I think his article should be read by all Sanguinarians, as it is a petty accurate assessment of where we are, how we got here, where we’re going, and why O’Brien is suffering through the trials of Job.
With the exception of a few standouts, these are pretty ordinary players. The coaching, in this turkey’s opinion, has been pretty awful at times, particularly in the last two games. I’m still hanging onto my 6-6 prediction, but I hope they surprise me, both players and coaches.
—TNT
Joe says
So, after thinking through what happened on Saturday, looking at reality vs fantasy with this team and feeling considerably better after the Pirates beat the Cards yesterday afternoon, I offer the following thoughts.
-Hackenburg. Look I believe BOB knows he has to use this season to develop this kid; and if that means throwing the out pattern a half dozen times a game, that’s what he’s going to do. Sure we could have lined up with two tight ends and a FB and ran Zwinak until he collapsed, but how does that teach Hackenburg anything. I believe BOB understands he has to have Hack ready for his 2nd, 3rd and maybe 4th year of eligibility and this is the year to do it.
-Numbers. Welcome to sanction effects year 1. Mercifully the football gods smiled on us and reduced the scholarship restrictions so instead of taking 8 to 10 years to recover, it might now only take two or three (wishful thinking perhaps, but the numbers improvement points to more of an exponential rather than linear recovery if he gets the right recruits). If I heard correctly, there are 61 kids currently on scholarship and 40 “others”. I think 7 or 8 of these scholie players are kids that were “run-ons” last year. Also I read this on Black Shoe Diaries today and found it quite interesting.
“Only one recruiting class from 2009 – 2011 cracked the top 25 nationally. And that one, the 2010 class ranked #12, was headlined by Silas Redd, Khairi Fortt, Dakota Royer, Khamrone Kolb, Rob Bolden, Paul Jones, and Tom Ricketts – all of whom were 4 or more starz by Rivals, and none of whom are on the roster. The Penn State sanctions handed out in 2012 were particularly egregious because Penn State had been sanctioning itself for years, and its one ‘good’ class largely flamed out. There are just 5 starters from the 2010 class (Baublitz, Dieffenbach, DaQuan Jones, Olaniyan, and Zwinak) – the same amount as from the #51 ranked 2012 class, which stuck with Penn State despite the scandal.”
What does it mean? I think it points to a very, very shallow and young talent pool that takes the field each week. This is exactly what Emmert wanted and got this season-the bastard! Some of this is attributed to the shitty job of recruiting the previous regime accomplished under St Joe.
-Defensive coaching staff. Butler moving to DC this year with his resume is like you or I moving from a line management position to executive vice-president. Is he in over his head? Probably. Will he figure it out? One has to hope so, but again his inexperience and what he has to work with this year should have sent a red flare up for everyone to see. Also at this point, BOB wants people around him that he knows and trusts. This is a throw away season, he knows it and we should recognize it as such. And as far as the cries and wailing to bring Bradley back, are these people out of their fucking minds? I have a better chance of giving birth to an elephant than Bradley ever has of being on the Penn State coaching staff. Get over it people. And sorry K. John, this is not a good defense!
-BOB. O’Brien knows exactly what he has this year. I give him props for deflecting blame from the team and stepping in front of the arrows. I believe he knows this team does not have the leadership, mental toughness and the “we’ll show them” attitude that last years team had. It’s frustrating to hear him say each week, “I’ve got to do a better job”, but what else is he going to say? I believe he also knows this is a throw away year as I said earlier. He can’t go to a bowl, he’s got limited resources to put on the field and in the grand scheme of things what the hell does it matter if he finishes 6-6 or 10-2 other than to make the alums and blog posters feel really good! I also believe he’s got to get what core players he has ready for next year and the seasons beyond when he’s back to full strength.
-Play calling. I was really pissed to see so many people question his play calling ability (including myself). But in giving this some thought he doesn’t have Brady, Gronk or Welker on the field, but he did call plays for the Pats and I don’t think Belichik would have kept him around if he didn’t know what the fuck he was doing! Is it his fault that Carter gets two consecutive illegal procedure calls, snaps go flying over the holder’s head, Belton can’t get his feet untangled and receivers can’t get separation? And if we make the 4th down play at our own 33, is he now a ballsy coach? At that point in the game we were done whether we made it or not.
Again, I believe we have to look at this season and the results, both to date and to come in a bigger, more long term context. Who the hell knows who the new president and AD will be and what their philosophy is going to be towards the football program. He’s still battling the Paterno (and now Bradley) loyalists who just don’t want to let any of the past go. He’s still trying to keep this team and program together-this mess isn’t over by a long shot.
So I’ll let this play out. At this point, it’s like watching someone trying to create a sculpture from a block of stone. Will it be “David” or some abstract PoS? I’m prepared to give him a couple of seasons to find out and at this point don’t give a rats ass whether we’re 9-5 or 5-7 this season.
Please proceed to tear the above apart!
The Nittany Turkey says
First, I’ve got to say that a Pirate win and a night’s sleep seem to have restored some sanity all around. I appreciate your reasoned discourse. While I don’t find myself nodding in agreement with everything you wrote, you make good sense throughout.
I have to thing that this Internet groundswell with respect to bringing back Scrap is, as I told my local alumni chapter — a bunch of sanguinarian St. Joe loyalists — sheer folly on so many levels. I’ll enumerate a few.
Did you read Bodani’s article? He makes eminent sense in many of the areas you touched on.
In your rant that chastises you and others for questioning O’Brien’s play calling ability, you left out that it isn’t his fault that a freshman quarterback makes freshman mistakes in the end zone. However, I don’t think any of the other things you mentioned were what we had in mind when we criticized his play calling. A couple of weeks ago, K. John said that what BoB was doing by being pass happy was preparing Hacky for the B1G schedule by giving him lots of chances. Ok, so now we’re at the B1G schedule and he’s still playing with his passing toy. On the other hand, you contend that O’Brien doesn’t give a shit about wins and is willing to throw the entire season down the pipe as a training vehicle for Hackenberg. That makes sense to me, and I’m willing to call this a “rebuilding year” as the sports cliche goes. I still feel that Hacky is a rising star, but like all fans, I’m impatient.
If you can rise above the need for wins, bully for you! That’s a pretty mature attitude for a sports fan; display it you’ll incur scorn from your peers. But I have to agree that this season’s results, apart from player development, don’t mean squat.
I like your sculpture metaphor. The question that enters my mind is whether the sculptor will eventually become discouraged and leave the work half done for someone else to fix.
—TNT
Joe says
If the sculptor leaves with his work unfinished it will be because he’s driven off by the sheer ignorance and shortsightedness of the people who commissioned the piece in the first place!
On another note, glad to see there is someone at BSD preaching some sense as well (some folks over there were off their nut yesterday). You probably read this, but I thought maybe some of the 5 other readers might want to check it out.
http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2013/10/7/4812490/its-not-the-end-of-the-world-indiana-psu
Beat ‘Em Bucs!
The Nittany Turkey says
Oh, yeah! Hope Morton has his stuff working today. I’ve got the ESPN Gamecast going and damnit, Holliday just singled with two outs in the first. OK, they’re out of the inning now.
BTW, the Raiders just released Matt Flynn, so McGloin ain’t got no competition at #2, after last night’s win over San Diego.
I’m going to revive Sudden Impact, incorporating that babe’s article, which I missed on my sympathy run yesterday. Thanks for the link.
—TNT
Joe says
You couldn’t watch on TBS??? I’m shocked!
The Nittany Turkey says
I eventually did, after the first inning. Just a matter of rearranging priorities.
—TNT