This will be a brief synopsis of my take on the loss to Minnesota. I am out of town with only a Kindle for an input device. Typing is tedious.
From the opening kickoff, the game suuuuuuuuuuuuucked and it made clear beyond all doubt that this Penn State team is not yet ready to compete steadily at a level high enough to elevate itself to the top tier of the B1Gb anytime soon. Still, there were some high points to keep us going.
It was good to see ZZ back in form. I wonder whether his role was planned or reactionary after Belton’s fumble on the first play from scrimmage.
Allen “Gimme da Damn Ball” Robinson broke Bobby Engram’s receiving yards record, which had been around longer than Hacky has been in existence. Kudos to the best Penn State receiver ever and a certainty to be ballin’ on Sundays.
Sam Ficken kicked a rifle shot field goal in a stiff wind. (I’m really stretching it looking for some high points).
Wasn’t BoB a bit restrained in disputing that reviewed punt spot? He was. He could have pulled a gun on those officials, but he limited himself to a mere temper tantrum. If he had been right, I would cut him some slack but this isn’t the NFL (cue old MNF theme: dut dut dut daaaaaaa). The ball position is all that matters.
When you don’t take care of fundamentals, you put yourself in the hole, this time inextricably. Fumbling away the ball on the first play from scrimmage set the tone for the Keystone Cops play for the rest of the game. The other bookend was the fumbled snap on the goal line early in the fourth quarter that denied an almost certain score, a touchdown that would have made it a one-possession game, as “they” call it. In between those bookends of doom there existed a library of offensive incompetence, including nine volumes on the subject of how to convert third downs for fun and profit — only one of which was a best-seller. The rest were banned in Boston. (Sorry about the murky buy lorazepam online cheap metaphor). Yeah, ya gotta make da plays. Ain’t no escaping dat.
The offense couldn’t stay on the field long enough to give the defense a rest. Even when the breaks went their way, they squandered them. There is no better example than the pass interference call in the end zone that gave them the ball on the two when they were about to flame out. Replay showed that it was a dubious calln so it was a gift not to be squandered. With a new series of downs at the two, could they please score, already, thinks I. Nope. Instead, fumble the snap away to the other guys who know how to sustain drives, so they can run out the clock.
And what’s with Felder? He missed a couple catchable balls early but Hacky kept throwing in his direction, even when he had a tight end free and Allen Robinson on the left looking to the heavens for a clue as to why he isn’t getting da damn ball. We know how the Hacky-Rob connection works at its best, so it is frustrating to watch these missed opportunities.
There were some flashes of brilliance by the defense, but as predicted, the overworked, understaffed unit could not stop Minnesota, who did, in fact, exhibit balance in their offense, utilizing the play-action pass in concert with the omnipresent run threat.
A noon starting road game typically has been a problem for Penn State and this was no exception. Minnesota is a program on the upswing at 8-2, a credit to coach Jerry Kill. Their Rose Bowl hopes are alive and well. Penn State sinks to 5-4, but it never had any off-season hopes, so no big deal. Hell, as the Sanguinarians would say, they can still finish 8-4 this year.
Not playing like this, they won’t!
That’s it from the Hotel California. Some dance to remember; some dance to forget. With a proper mental adjustment, I’ll be back later in the week with a look toward Purdue, a team I think is beatable if PSU can fix a few dozen things.
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Joe says
Well, I suppose we should be thankful that we’ve got a great chance to finish 6-6 in the second year of our time in purgatory.
Some random thoughts.
-Could not get over how the defense would stop Minny 0n first and second down, in the first half and then allow them to pick up big chunks on third or fourth to keep those chains moving.
-Overall I thought the defense played a rather good second half. Did Butler wait until then to make his adjustments? Didn’t appear to me that Minny was doing anything differently.
-I’m truly happy for Allen Robinson. But, I wish he would shut his yap on the sidelines and stop rolling his eyes to the heavens when the ball goes the other way. He does remind me a lot of Engram (whose record he broke). Engram was all about “me” and I think Robinson is cut from the same cloth. He’ll fit right in on Sundays. Hope he declares for the draft after this season.
-Yeah, where are the other receivers? Felder had at least three catchable balls thrown his way, Anderson at least two and James at least two. Sure Hack could have been a tad more accurate on those throws, but to me they were all catchable.
-I thought the O-line played maybe their best game of the season against a pretty good defensive line. There were holes that you could have driven a bus through and I’m glad ZZ had the game he did.
-It’s apparent to me that this team only has a handful of guys that truly are capable of playing at this level right now. I probably need to look at who is graduating this year, but I think the number is low, so here’s to hoping that there is a lot of on-field growing up going on, but I still think we’re at least 2 more seasons away from being truly competitive at least in the B1G.
-I just get the sense that this team does not have the sense of purpose that the 2012 squad had (program, community, university). But what is there to motivate them? PS is back in everyone’s good graces for the most part and sanctions have been and will be reduced going forward, but these guys are the ones stuck with holding the shitty end of the stick this year. They are paying the price this season with the reduced scholarship numbers, there is no bowl this year, new coaches on defense and a fan base whose expectations were sent sky high after last year. Maybe they bought in to the external hype and truly thought they would have a better year and reality is finally setting in that they are just plain average.
-I’ve also got to find out where or how K John watches these games!
-Hats off to Minny and their coaches. They executed a great game plan, deserved to win (which is good for the B1G) and years of futility and the coaches are two of the classiest guys on the planet.
-I guess at the end of the day even if we end up 6-6 it’s still going to be a lot better than what most of the prognosticators suggested when the sanctions were first announced. Hopefully this season will be the low point of the period. And I guess in the grand scheme of things, we’re still playing football with really no expectations (other than the fan’s) as far as titles or bowl games or rankings. Just look at how the air got let out of Northwestern’s season this year or Florida’s disaster under Muschamp. Makes us look like “contenders”!
The Nittany Turkey says
Lou Holtz was saying that UF was no longer among the top three Florida football programs. The spear-planters, the Miami Criminals, and the UCF cheaters are all better, with the crowning glory of Wil Muschamp’s denouement being a shocking Homecoming loss to Vandy.
What does this have to do with anything? Damned if I know!
—TNT
BigAl says
State didn’t play as badly as I thought they would. As Joe said, the OL did open some holes for the running game and the defense played a good second half. And the team didn’t quit in the second half.
Still, Hack and the receivers didn’t play all that great. I’m not seeing a whole lot of improvement from them. Hack’s got the physical tools to be great, but the jury’s still out on whether he has the mental tools. And we’re probably aren’t going to have a verdict on that until this time next year.
It looks like the Michigan game was the high point of the season and the Turkey’s prediction of a 6-6 season will come true. And that will be good enough to piss off Emmert. I’m sure he was hoping for multiple 2-10 seasons.
The Nittany Turkey says
Yeah, the OL improvement was on my list to mention, but I kept the list mentally. Being non compos mentis, it vanished behind my very eyes.
I’m on board with all you said about Hackenberg. What’s he going to do next year when Robinson is gone? On the other hand, two receptions by Felder would have changed the complexion of this game. Hacky would have looked like a hero and the situation that gave rise to the fumbled snap might never have happened.
But life is not a time travel movie, so we’ll never know. Felder looked promising last year. Maybe he needs to get his hyphenated name back. He seemed to play better with it. Perhaps he should be a defensive back since he can’t catch.
They still could wind up 7-5 if Nebraska falls flat in a couple weeks, playing PSU in the Beave after Michigan and Moo U. When they lost to Minnesota, we thought, hey, Penn State can beat them. Now, we have a lot more respect for Minnesota and we are a lot less confident in PSU’s ability to beat the ‘Huskers. And, according to some Sanguinarians who think the record should be 8-1 right now, the Nits can still finish with an 11-1 season and they can kiss my ass. Nope, I’m sticking with 6-6, which certain other Sanguinarians think is a dirty Communist plot or at least a cowardly concession to the nefarious forces conspiring to thwart PSU’s guaranteed 11-1 season. (You know, the “Taylor Martinez couldn’t carry Christian Hackenberg’s jockstrap” contingent.)
But I’m still having fun.
—TNT
jd says
the better team won.
The Nittany Turkey says
Agreed, and I think this week the better team will prevail, too. The spread on the Purdue game when I last looked was PSU – 21.5. This year, Purdue just Purdon’t. If the Lions lose to the steamless Boilers, Vicky Triponey and Mark Emmert will announce their engagement.
—TNT