This article’s title doesn’t mean anything to more than a handful of people, and those people are quite a handful at that. OK, so let me add an asterisk for anyone else who cares to know.* Suffice to say that among other, more obscure pseudo-factoids, the title is an allusion to the colors of the Nittany Lions’ opponents this week, the Scarlet and Gray Ohio State Buckeyes.
And, look, Turkey fans and foes, this is my best chance to blow off steam for the whole damn year, except for what I’ll do when we have another chance to eschew possession of the Land Grant Trophy, so I’m going to be doing some of my finest antisanguinarian ranting here. You can skip to the prediction if you want, but you’ll be missing a helluvan opportunity to get pissed off in preparation for this big damn game!
A “whited-out” Beaver Stadium will be the venue for this meeting of the #13 Buckeyes (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten/Fourteen) and the mighty Penn State Nittany Lions (4-2, 1-2). Yes, a “white-out” has been declared. No, it won’t help.
OSU’s most recent outing was a 56-17 laugher over Rutgers, enjoyed by 106,795 semi-comatose, laughing fans in the Horseshoe. It was a ridiculous game in which the Buckeyes sliced through the other scarlet guys’ defense like a hot knife through butta, and the Knights did indeed take it in the butt-a. Amassing 585 all-purpose yards and 31 first downs, there was no stopping the Buckeyes.
In their only other Big 10/14 outing, the Bucks similarly dominated Maryland, like to the tune of 52-24. In that game, they rolled up 533 yards in a balanced effort. Prior to that game, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer had put the troops to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday in an attempt to eradicate “that dullard look coming out of the locker room.” See, it was a noon start in a venue they had never seen. Sound familiar?
Well, at least this game doesn’t start at noon and it’s on home turf. But “that dullard look” has been prevalent in Penn State’s efforts this year. Maybe PSU head coach Jimmy Franklin ought to put the boys to bed early on Friday night, too, just for the hell of it. Maybe he ought to put offensive coordinator Johnny Donovan to bed early, too, and hope for the Rip Van Winkle effect. Try something, anything! Maybe, just maybe, the Nittany Lions might score a point or two.
Penn State, as you know, is coming off a “disappointing” 18-13 loss to Michigan. All the legitimate media and upstart blogs are calling it that. Why is it disappointing? In order to be disappointed, one has to have expectations, and this Turkey expects nothing much from this team in league competition this year. Toilet Bowl eligibility is the best we can hope for, and it’s sure cold in Kohler in December. Many of us have already flushed this season, leading to the consummate meaningless and trite dismissal, “It is what it is.”
Yeah, the Lions won one Big Ten game, already. Were it not for an off-day interceptionwise for the Magnanimous Mr. Nova of Piscataway, that one would have gone the other way, too. Northwestern, no great shakes themselves, left no doubt about the suckage of this Penn State team with a Homecoming embarrassment — something we should have expected based on the dearth of talent related to the scholarship reductions and other NCAA sanctions. Coulda, woulda, shoulda won against Michigan? Yeah, right, but look at the scoreboard, baby! Another loss, this one to one of the worst teams in the Big Ten. (But they’re still MICHIGAN, man, so, like almost winning is like, something, man! Oh, and we saved Michigan Man Brady Hoke‘s ass for yet one more week.) So, what expectations can we possibly have for this team?
Set your sights low so you won’t be disappointed.
Don’t stop me, I’m on a roll!
Games like this one expose weaknesses one didn’t think one had, and sometimes, they reveal strengths one thought were nonexistent. I’m anxious to see some of the latter, but I cringe at the thought of the former.
Let’s start with the vaunted PSU defense. The run defense has been great; the pass defense, mediocre. Yet, Sanguinarians and PSU Homeys continue to refer to it as “The Defense” and consistently laud its greatness throughout.
Being the hypercritical (albeit sometimes hypocritical) analyst, I have to temper the euphoria of some sparkling defensive stats with the reality of its dubious accomplishments. The combined record of the opponents thus far this season is 21-21, so what the defense has faced hasn’t been prime meat by any stretch of the imagination. They’ve been dining on utility grade scraps.
OK, so let me state this more bluntly. Penn State hasn’t yet played anybody. So, how the hell can you rate the defense so highly without it having been tested?
This will be a test, and the defense will fail it.
Yeah, that’s what I said.
Barrett’s Esophagus.
The only doubts in my mind involve whether the Buckeyes’ freshman quarterback J. T. Barrett will remain poised in a decidedly hostile, whited-out, sellout setting.
The strengths he has exhibited thus far play into the weakness of the PSU defense, and yes, it does have some. Barrett leads the Big Ten/Fourteen in Pass Efficiency and Total Offense, while he is second to Connor Cook of Moo U. in Passing Average Per Game. He is also fourth in the BT14 in scoring, behind the usual suspects Abdullah, Gordon, and Weisman. But there’s that thing about the big, hostile crowd. His only road effort in conference play thus far was against Maryland in a stadium with fewer than half the asses seated than there will be where he will play on Saturday night. All eyes are on you, J. T.!
Fortunately for Barrett, the Penn State defensive secondary is mediocre, and the pass rush has not been great. Ranking 7th in the conference in Pass Defense, the PSU defense has allowed an average of 214 yards per game passing against pussies ranked 4th, 9th, and 12th in passing offense. Its best (luckiest) game was against Rutgers, the 4th ranked passing offense, but that was the game in which the aforementioned Gary “Turn” Nova handed them five gift interceptions, which I continue to discount as a flucking fuke. Ohio State ranks 5th in pass offense and tops the conference in pass efficiency. (OK, so they’ve only played newbies Maryland and Rutgers in the conference — I’ll give you that.)
Through six games, Ohio State ranks 34th overall in passing offense versus Penn State’s 32nd. The difference is that Ohio State has a running game, too, whereas Penn State’s offense is monodimensionalisticalized. (I invent neologisms as I go along, not only to amuse myself, but also to emphasize my point, which I probably screw up because you sit there scratching your head asking yourself, “What the fuck did he just say?” Well, as the old saying goes: If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit! But I digress…)
The Buckeyes are 4th overall in the NCAA in scoring offense and 9th in total offense. Playing into the supposed strength of the Penn State defense, they rank 16th in rushing. So wtf have they got for a rushing game, you ask?
They have sophomore Zeke Elliot, to whom they frequently throw the ball as well. He had 69 yards against Rutgers and 139 versus Maryland. Butbutbut, J.T. Barrett is also a formidable runner, with 107 and 71 yards on the ground in those two games, respectively. He seems to be settling into his all-purpose role at OSU. They play behind a monofreshmaniac offensive line averaging 305 lbs. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Oh, sure, Mike Hull and the Penn State front seven will make some stops. They’re pretty damn good. And J.T. Barrett is no Braxton Miller — not quite yet, anyway, but the gap is closing.
Screw the stats!
I guess I dwell too much on stats, but everybody needs something to fall back on when they want to substantiate a preconceived notion of what will happen. And man, I don’t think what will happen will be very pretty.
With the usual first-quarter let-down accompanied by that dullard look, Penn State will begin the foot-shooting early, allowing OSU to grab a quick 14 points, which will dampen the crowd, turning their whited-out asses blue. Ohio State DE Joey Bosa will be in Christian Hackenberg‘s face (and he will be on his ass) most of the night, furthering the sophomore’s frustrations and thwarting any possibility of a comeback. The foot-shooting will continue when Hack gets lucky on a play or two and gets the ball into the hands of DaeSean Hamilton (or maybe even the mysteriously vanished Geno Lewis) in the scarlet zone, but the usual crappy red-zone play calling and execution will reduce the scoring to whatever Sam Ficken is capable of producing.
Urban Meyer will have his boys ready for this game. They have a lot to gain here. It’s a prime-time match-up and they’re gunning for restored credibility after the early loss to Vagina Tech. They’re shooting for the Big Ten/Fourteen record of 20 straight regular season wins (kind of phony because they lost to Moo U. in the championship game). They play Moo U. in two weeks, so the big danger would be looking past Penn State to the pastures and ghettos of East Lansing. Fat chance! Urban Meyer is headed to the College Football Hall of Fame, whether you like it or not. There will be no dullard look. Besides, he has the best position coach in all of football, Larry Johnson, Sr., who knows too much about Penn State, right by his side. They’ll be ready.
I haven’t seen much that I like about the Penn State offense this year, other than the beleaguered Christian Hackenberg. One has to wonder whether he’ll have the fortitude and perseverance not to transfer out of Happy Valley to someplace where he can play behind a competent offensive line. Speaking of offensive lines, I note that überyinzer Miles Dieffenbach has been working out but still does not appear on the aptly named depth chart. Some Sanguinarians think he’ll be the salvation of the O-line and PSU when he returns. This turkey thinks the O-line cannot be saved by one converted guard. The Buckeyes have 10 sacks in six games thus far, thanks to the aforementioned Mr. Bosa, and Penn State has allowed 20 in the same number of games. Hackenberg will be running for his life most of the game, and will thus be prone to making mistakes.
So, count on a few sacks and an interception or three, and maybe a couple of them for pick-sixes. (And that’s not where the turnovers will end. The Lions will cough up at least one on the ground at an inopportune time.)
No knock on the Hackster, but he won’t be able to so much as wipe his ass against Ohio State. Blame the sanctions for sticking us fans with an offensive line that to say the least has caused much consternation and at its worst has made us a national laughingstock.
What running game?
(this space intentionally left blank)
I’m not done yet!
Penn State’s special teams are atrocious, with the only bright spot being Sam Ficken’s consistency, which took a few years to develop. I can foresee at least one punt return for a TD by tOSU. Penn State will be doing a lot of punting, and at punting they do so badly suck — last in the conference with a net average of 29.6 yards per game. Bleeeeeeeccccccccccccccccccchhhhhhhh! Kickoff coverage sucks, too. They’re 13th out of 14 there. Oy vay! The only merciful thing about the latter is that they sure as hell won’t be doing much kicking off in this game. Well, hell, they have to kick off at least once, and I hope to hell that it isn’t run back for a TD!
Oh, and the Nittany Lions have been flat-out frickin’ awful in games following bye weeks. Why assume that this string of failures is going to be interrupted by a miraculous performance here?
How’s da wedda?
(So happy to-geth-er, ba-bum-bum-bum…)
[Cue Keith Jackson voice.] It’s a beautiful football evening in Happy Valley, clear, with a bit of a fall chill in the air. The forecast high is 58° with a low of 42°, absolutely perfect weather for this white-out blowout under the lights of rocking and rollicking Beaver Stadium. Yes, indeedy doody, we’re expecting a real barn-burner here tonight, because arsonistic Nittany Lions fans will feel like burning a few barns after being circumcised by the lads in scarlet and gray.
But no, the weather will not be a factor for either team, although the forecast low humidity should make barn burning all the more viable.
Distinguished Alumnus (does anyone read this shit?)
Here is where I can have some macabre fun and maybe exact some revenge for the expected beat-down. Today’s opponent’s distinguished alumnus is a serial killer, alcoholic, sexual deviant, necrophiliac, and borderline personality disorder case named Jeffrey Dahmer, who was famous for cannibalizing his victims. He attended Ohio State for only one term, but what the hell. When you don’t have the goods on the field, you have to find other ways to disparage your opponent, as it were.
Dahmer’s story is way too gruesome and over the top to publish here. If you want the details, check out Wikipedia.
Fortunately for the rest of the world, Dahmer paid the ultimate price for his murdering ways although the price was no compensation for the seventeen lives he snuffed out. Having been convicted of fifteen counts of murder in Wisconsin and another in Ohio, he was given sixteen consecutive life sentences. At first, he was kept in solitary confinement to protect him from other inmates, who don’t take kindly to pervs like Jeff, but eventually, while unsupervised, Dahmer had the shit kicked out of him and his head bashed in by a fellow inmate.
Foregone conclusions.
That brings us to what you skipped all the bullshit above to read: The Official Turkey Poop Prediction. But if you had read it, you wouldn’t have had the joy of anticipation. On the other hand, you knew what it was going to be all along. I even set it in bold below so you won’t even have to read my intervening bullshit, even.
The pre-season consensus was unanimous to a man on this one. Not a single, solitary one of the Turkey’s Distinguished Panel of Experts believed that the Nittany Lions would escape this one with a win. Is there a shred of optimism out there? If so, I want to hear about it. I see this one getting ugly fast, maybe not last-year-ugly, but ugly enough. Penn State has scored only two touchdowns in Big Ten/Fourteen play thus far, and those were against less than credible defenses. They will not improve that total this week. Ohio State is a 13.5 point favorite, with an over/under of 52, suggesting a 34-18 game or thereabouts. It’s hard to think that one could lose betting on PSU and taking the points, but based on what I’ve seen so far, I wouldn’t touch that bet with a fork! How can this offense score 18 points without spiking the Buckeye’s drinking fountain with LSD or something. (Then, you’d sure as hell get that dullard look.) Ohio State 48, Penn State 6. Take the over, and it won’t be because of PSU’s offensive production, either.
I’ll be back sometime with my post-game synopsis, in which I’ll either be wiping egg off my face or more likely, expressing some disdainfully prosaic thoughts.
______
*The title for this week’s tilt (tilt title — type that 10 times real fast) is an obscure reference to a texted retort Artificially Sweetened sent to me that AT&T repeated about 200 times, like it got stuck in the network and couldn’t get flushed out. I had made a snide comment relating to a TV promo involving Scarlett Johanson as we were watching TV together via Slingbox link. AS’s response was delayed, as AT&T is frequently wont to do with our texts. When it eventually came through, everything she sent for a while was translated by the network to “Who is Scarlet?” It was at first frustrating, then annoying, and finally very amusing. So the theme this week is, “Who is Scarlet?”
You didn’t really need to know that.
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BigAl says
I’m actually feeling optimistic about this game. State plays a good 1st quarter and is only down by 14 points at half time. Final score: tOSU 45 State 10
On another note, Vagina Tech must have been honoring the 10th anniversary of the PSU – Iowa classic tonight. Their offense looked worse than State’s -something that seemed to be impossible. I can’t wait to see the Pinstripe Bowl this year if the “experts” are right about the projected State-Tech match up. The over/under for that shisser should be 17 points.
There Nittany Turkey says
From you, Al, that qualifies as unbridled optimism. Got you for 45-10 and the over.
I will restrain my euphoria over the bowl matchup you mentioned. Thinking about it might spoil my Halloween.
I didn’t watch the VT game, as I was busy watching the Penguins finding a way to turn a 3-1 lead into an overtime loss.
—TNT
K. John says
I am not sure what to think about this game. I am not sold on Mr. Barrett or his team. Keep in mind that this is the same offensive scheme that made Tim “The Most Over-rated Player in History” Tebow look like a decent quarterback when he was far from it. A review of some of the game film shows the same type of play. Dink and dunk using super high percentage plays well within the ability of most D2 quarterbacks, run the read option and then launch one deep every now and again knowing Percy Harvin or Louis Murphy will likely beat coverage deep. Repeat. This is exactly what they are doing with Mr. Barrett and Dontre Wilson. This of course does not mean Barrett is a good or even average QB. It means he can execute the offense when teams are playing conservatively. During the current stretch, Rutgers, Maryland and Cincy played Ohio State rather passively. Very few blitzes and a lot of missed tackles. They didn’t take it to the offense like Va Tech did. Tech on the other hand brought four on every play and occasionally blitzed a linebacker. Tech. didn’t use the zero blitz every down approach Rutgers used on Penn State (which Donovan didn’t adjust for at all turning what should have been a State blowout into a needlessly close game) and owned them. Penn State’s D-line should get as much pressure as Tech got bringing five. Penn State’s secondary is a little better than mediocre and matches up well against this type of offense but Kaiser has to start making plays on the ball because he is always there. I do not think Ohio State is going to be able to move the ball very well in this one. Between the defense and the noise, I think this one becomes an ugly slug fest depending on what Donovan has done the last two weeks.
In there most recent game, a wounded Rutgers offense moved the ball better against Ohio State than the score would indicate. Two turnovers in the second quarter were costly. It steam rolled from there. Maryland essentially moved the ball at will through the air. Rutgers did a fair share of damage as well. So did Tech. The Ohio State D-line is good but not great. They benefit quite a bit from their offensive output. Most of those sacks have come during garbage time. They don’t blitz much and they are rather undisciplined as a group. Joey Bosa gives up as many big plays as he makes. Now, how the Ohio State front seven plays the game is big. The Penn State O-line has actually been decent when they play 5 on 5. Not good but decent. Donovan even showed signing of getting against Michigan…for a quarter before reverting back to idiot mode costing them a game they should have won by two touchdowns against a team with inferior talent at just about every position. How the offense and Ohio State defense game plans is going to probably determine the manner in which the game plays out. If Ohio State uses their typical game plan, Hackenberg will have a good day. If they blitz a lot and Donovan doesn’t adjust, he will have a bad day and they will lose. Donovan is the key. If he learned anything from the Michigan game, they have a very good shot at winning given the strength of the defense and Ohio State’s weakness both offensively and defensively.
This is where we are at. Ohio State isn’t as good as they have looked recently. Penn State isn’t as bad. Penn State has a far better defense and a real passing game. Ohio State has a better running game, special teams and an offensive coordinator isn’t in over his head but has major problems defensively and an offense that is limited. The Turkey is not going to like this but I am giving three predictions but if I were a gambling man, and I am, I would go with number 2.
1. Ohio State uses its stock defensive scheme, doesn’t blitz much and the game goes down to the wire. Penn State 24, Ohio State 17.
2. Ohio State blitzes, Donovan refuses to adjust and Ohio State pulled ahead in the fourth quarter. Ohio State 26, Penn State 10.
3. Ohio State blitzes, Donovan makes adjustments and the game goes down to the wire and the game will be up for grabs. Ohio State 17, Penn State 15.
The Nittany Turkey says
It’s clear that you weren’t sure what to think about this game, because you made three competing predictions, the consummate waffle. Let’s just settle on I got you for tOSU 26, PSU 10, and the under. However, you provided much food for thought along the way.
Actually, since I’m such a stubborn prick, it wasn’t so much food for thought as it was a launching pad for another of my anti-O-Line rants.
Until I see an offensive line that is capable of supporting a run game and capable of pass protection against someone with a better pass rush than UMass, I’m not going to like PSU’s chances in any of the remaining games, with the possible exception of Illinois. I’ll see how Temple does against UCF in order to gauge whether they’re beatable.
Don’t forget that the D-Line of tOSU is being coached by the greatest position coach in all the land. That used to mean something to you. How soon they forget. Ol’ Lar’ seems to be playing the Joey B machine like a piano. I think he’ll have a little extra to prove in this game, and that won’t be hard to do, given that PSU has one fairly competent offensive lineman and the rest of varying D-III abilities.
In each of your prediction scenarios, you have Penn State scoring at least a touchdown. In #1, they would have to score two or three. The thought that they could take on tOSU and score one more TD than they’ve scored during the entirety of three B10/14 games boggles the mind. If they can score one and it isn’t during garbage time, they’re lucky and they should feel the glow of accomplishment.
I respect your choice of #2, but I’d tend toward that direction without implicating Donovan. He doesn’t have a helluva lot to work with until the O-line gets fixed. A one-dimensional offense such as PSU’s just doesn’t cut it past the middle of the pack, no matter how it’s coached, unless you’re a genius like Mike Leach. And Donovan ain’t no genius. I’m beginning to think that Franklin is somewhat deficient in that area, too. Otherwise, why would he have chosen Donovan in the first place? I guess I’m implicating Donovan somehow.
Mah bad!
—TNT
K. John says
Sadly, thanks to the officiating shinanigans we have all come to know and expect in the Big Ten when you play one of two teams, #1 didn’t happen though it should have. Penn State was clearly the better team and they won the game on the field. The game was lost off. Next up Maryland.
The Nittany Turkey says
For a change, I agree with you about the crappy officiating, although I’ll stop short of the conspiracy theory. I’m willing to admit that they cost PSU at least 10 points.
The defense played its ass off, showing me some promise for the future as well as the present with great performances by Hull and Zettel, as well as an enthusiastic debut by Marcus Allen.
I’m still down on the O-Line. Not their fault, it just is. How much can Hack take? Five sacks brings his season total to 25, 20 of which were in Big Ten games.
—TNT
K. John says
I still do think that LJ is the best position coach in all the land. I just see too many old habits in Ohio State’s D-line, too much hype, and limited help from the back seven.
As for Donovan, I think he is State’s biggest problem, on not by a little bit either. I am giving the line an incomplete and will do so until Donovan does something to help them out schematically. He showed in the first quarter that he is capable of getting it, now just needs to let those lessons stick. They are stuck being one dimensional to a degree but there is a lot more they can do with that one dimension that they haven’t even tried.
They could try lining Wilkerson or Gisicki up outside and run a slant. Nobody they play can stop that route with one of those two guys running it without dropping six into coverage because even a zero blitz isn’t getting to Hackenberg that quick. I saw the route once and it went for a TD. I have yet to see a middle screen which would be devastatingly effective against the blitz strategies Rutgers and Northwestern used offensive line be damned.
Then there is the running game which has featured equal parts ineffective plays and dumb play calling. There are no less than 15 plays that could be called that Zwinak would get 3 to 4 yards per carry on by himself and I haven’t seen any of them. Over the course of the season Zwinak couldn’t take the pounding he would endure if that was the entire running game but you could certainly call five a game. I really don’t get what Donovan is doing and I am not sure if he knows either sometimes.
Regardless, much like last year with Butler, if the light goes on, you could see a drastic improvement from one week to the next. Here’s to staying positive. Regardless, I fully expect wins against Temple, Indiana and Illinois. I have Maryland as a 50/50 game and Penn State as a clear favorite if CJ Brown is out.
Joe says
Well you were right-you could skip three-quarters of your ramblings and just get to your prediction. I don’t want to be a negative nancy like someone who operates this blog-but lest we forget, this is what the 2014 season was supposed to be like thanks to Herr Emmert and some really shitty recruiting by the previous administrations.
So keeping things in perspective we have (no excuses, just facts), a team that simply does not have the talent to compete in the B1G this year, 47 true scholarship players that have taken the field this year, a new (again) offensive and defensive system, another new coaching staff, youth, youth and more youth and a set of unrealistic expectations that never should have been heaped on this team. We have a coaching staff that hasn’t yet established an offensive identity, is still tinkering with where the coaches should be during game time and perhaps didn’t realize that individually there is talent on this team, but collectively they are not very good.
I think Franklin does understand, but in order to start bringing talent to Happy Valley, he had to start building up the potential for Penn State football in the future, not in 2014.
I also refuse to pile shit on the kids that are playing this year. Like it or not, I think they’re doing everything they can to win on Saturday’s. Sure there are brain dead first/second quarters, bonehead throws, misplayed coverage and just other stuff that makes one cringe. I’ll fault the coaches, but never the players including the offensive lineman.
I’ve always felt that 2015 will be the start of the rebound and 2016 will be the first time we should begin to make some noise in the conference. And as I’ve said a million times the Koehler Toilet Bowl (or any bowl) is critical this year because of those 15 EXTRA PRACTICES the NCAA graciously gives to a bowl eligible team. And I do agree with K. John that they’ll win 3 of 4 against Temple, Maryland, Indiana and Illinois.
So, not to ramble on like some people I know, I’ve always felt this was a loss. Yeah, there is always a chance; the Bucs somehow beating the Yanks in the 1960 World Series, David & Goliath, the US knocking off the Soviets for the ice hockey gold medal, Joe Willie and the Jets beating the Baltimore Colts, Penn State knocking off Vinny and the ‘Canes for our second crystal football and so on, but I still think a loss is in the cards.
So how bad will it be? I think our defense is for real and will keep us in the game, so I’m not expecting OSU to put up 63 like last year unless some of the points come from the Buckeye defense.
I think the offense will struggle, but I think we’ll score a couple of TD’s and Ficken will get us a couple of three pointers. My only hope is Hackenburg doesn’t get killed.
So I’ll call it OSU 41, PSU 20.
And in my honest opinion, I think Larry Johnson was a great D-line coach, I don’t think he was (is) the best there ever was. We did have some years where our D-line was horrible and there were quite a few top recruits he was never able to bring to PS. I think Sean Spencer is every bit as good. This is just my opinion, so for you Johnson lovers out there, don’t go snappy shit.
The Nittany Turkey says
Hey, I have to amuse myself. Amusing you is optional.
Yeah, we’re stuck with the team we’re stuck with due to the reasons we all know and yeah, it ain’t their fault that we’re stuck with them. I don’t blame them as individuals. However, on the other hand — and you know there is one — I do blame them collectively, as well as their coaches, if they come out of the locker room with that dullard look and they don’t play hard.
Or nice. Play nice, boys. None of this Belton-Hack shit or whatever the hell Geno Lewis has or had up his ass, depending on which reports one reads.
You think the boys are doing everything they can to win. Maybe they are. I don’t want to believe that anyone who makes the team doesn’t want to give his full effort — it’s too precious an opportunity, but playing in this situation can lead to frustration and motivational issues culminating in that dullard look. Hanging heads on the sideline and drooping shoulders on the field have been evident throughout the past three games.
And yeah, there is a chance of a snowball surviving in hell.
We share the hope that Hack survives unscathed.
—TNT
Joe says
Frustration & motivation-my two culprits are youth (I know, I know, I keep singing that tune) and captains & coaches. Let’s face it selecting Hackenberg & Diefenbach as the offensive captains may not have been the greatest choices in the world. One is still wet behind the ears and the other hasn’t played a snap this season. Didn’t we harp about team leadership last year? Well it’s still there this year. Last time we had serious leadership on this team was when Mauti, Zordich & McGloin wore the blue and white. Strong, team leadership is what would fix some of these problems. You’re not playing up to your potential, arguing with the QB, or sleepwalking through the first 30 minutes–one of the captains should have you by the grill and inform you in no uncertain terms to get your fuckin’ act together!!! it isn’t there on this team and leading by example is an excuse to say we don’t have the necessary type of leaders on this team to be captains.
And yes you do have your amusing moments!!!!