Kudos to Big Al, a repeat winner of the Nittany Turkey Predictor of the Week Award, from whose prose the headline of this article is lifted. Al, who vividly recalls the 1961 game, predicted the 2014 meeting: “…for the sake of nostalgia, my prediction is Maryland 21, Penn State 17. The offense plays its usual shitty 1st half and another 4th quarter comeback falls short…”
The fourth quarter comeback attempt did indeed fall short, not at the behest of the officials, as Al went on to suggest, but rather because of crappy play by the replacement center, Wendy Laurent, who had too much to think about on a 4th and short to remember that he had to put the ball squarely in Hack’s grip.
Of course, the coaching brain trust doesn’t get away without a negative mention from this turkey. The dysfunctional wildcat came out at a time when it could only get in the way of a drive in progress, taking what seemed like an eternity to line up and snap the ball, giving the defense plenty of time to be anything but fooled by the dickheaded play. As I can recall, only a single one of those misguided wildcat plays worked halfway decently during the entire season thus far. All the others, including two against Maryland, have been complete flops.
And so it came to pass that in this year’s revived rivalry, Maryland made its statement, winning 20-19. What lost it for Penn State was a crappy offensive line and crappy special teams play, neither any surprise, coupled with a net turnover margin of -2. That’s not much of a surprise, either. Past performance is the best predictor of future screwups. Al got it right.
Yea, verily, the two teams played pretty even-steven otherwise. Neither had a rushing game and neither had an outstanding passing game. They both wound up with around 200 yards in total offense. But Penn State continually lost the battle for field position, shooting themselves in the foot whenever they actually gained an advantage. This week’s punter, Dan Pasquariello, averaged 36.8 yards for eight punts, while Maryland’s Nathan Renfro took care of business, averaging 44.3 yards on eleven punts.
The Terps came out with a nasty attitude which seemed to drive them to overcome the adversity of a hostile, yet somehow somewhat apathetic Beaver Stadium. By game time, the gambling spread had dropped to three points, so the gamblers sensed the lack of energy in the house and, as it turned out, in the Nittany Lions themselves. Maryland players must have viewed the films of the 1986 Fiesta Bowl pre-game dinner, because they seemed to channel Michael Irvin and the Hurricanes when they refused to shake hands before the pre-kickoff coin toss. While their head coach, Randy Edsall, eventually apologized for the behavior, the spirit pervaded Terrapin play for the remainder of the game. They wanted this one. They wanted it more.
You could see it in Christian Hackenberg’s body language, which he took no great pains to shield from the all-seeing eye of the camera. He looked dejected, disgruntled, and discombobulated. He grows more so with every week. Once again, Hack was harassed by yet another mediocre defense running through a porous offensive line and over backs who seemed not to want to get in the way of blitzing defenders. Once again, he was banged up. I don’t blame him personally for being all of those D-words I mentioned — in fact, he should be suffering from full-scale PTSD at this point — but I continue to worry that he’s reaching the end of his rope with Penn State.
Hack came to PSU to play for Bill O’Brien, but now he doesn’t even have that. What he actually does have with respect to coaching seems more and more to be clueless as to how to use him and protect him effectively, given the talent that exists or lack of same. In my mind, the only thing keeping Hackenberg from transferring to another program in which he would be given a better chance to succeed is the requisite one-year sitting out period; I don’t think he wants to do a Pat Devlin by transferring out of FBS. He’s young and carrying a team on his shoulders. He’s nominally captain, but he hasn’t yet developed the kind of strong leadership abilities needed to lead a bunch of guys of varying ages and abilities through adversity. He’s expected to do the impossible week in and week out without adequate tools to accomplish the job.
A Ferrari with a flat tire won’t go very far. Even a crack mechanic cannot fix it without two mundane tools: a jack and a wrench. Hackenberg potentially has a Ferrari with a sleek body and a finely tuned engine. We know that he has talented receivers. We know the defense can hold opponents’ points down. We know that Hack is a gifted quarterback with a great arm. Nonetheless, the absence of a competent offensive line has robbed him of his potential greatness. He has a flat tire and he lacks a jack and a lug wrench. He comprehends that those implements won’t be available this year and that he’s going to have to limp along for the remainder of this year. He now looks sullen, which rubs off on those kids he is supposed to be leading, which is not good for the team. Moreover, there is little anyone can do at this juncture.
So, what do you see on the road ahead? Yeah, I know, it’s hard to reduce expectations. However, to be realistic I think we’re going to have to do so. It will be a struggle for PSU to win two more games and become bowl eligible to get those extra 15 practices that Joe keeps telling us are the reason we want them to become bowl eligible. It could be the ultimate let-down to have that big emotional boost at the beginning of the season celebrating bowl eligibility and then wind up not being bowl eligible, but I repeat what I’ve said before — there are no guaranteed wins for the Lions in the remaining schedule, especially if they can’t get their asses motivated to play or similarly, if they feel like playing only halves of games.
I’ll be back with a preview and prediction for the Indiana game, another wonderful noon start.
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Big Al says
If Hack wants to have a pro career, I have four words of advice for him: Transfer To West Virginia. If Holgerson can turn Clint Trickett into a borderline Heisman candidate, think what he could do for Hack. IMO The current coaching staff has no clue about running a pro style offense or grooming a quarterback to succeed on Sunday.
The only offense they know how to coach is a run first, power blocking scheme that relies on run/pass options and play action passes. Kind of like JoePa who was no genius when it came to offensive schemes. That kind of offense can be effective when you have the right personnel, but that probably doesn’t include Hack. Its going be an awkward situation until Franklin recruits his own Michael Robinson.
I honestly believe it would better for both Hack and Penn State if he were to transfer at the end of the season. It would set us back next year, But if that doesn’t happen, I think you’ll have a shell shocked, erratic undraftable quarterback (think Morelli) ruining the season for a team that is capable of contending for the B1G title.
The Nittany Turkey says
Do you think Hack would consider transferring in spite of the one-year hiatus required by the NCAA? Do you think he consider transferring to an FCS program?
I’m getting some strong vibes from his on-field, on-camera behavior.
Penn State under St. Joe probably ruined more QBs for the pros than it produced. Kerry Collins was the exception, but only because they pretty much had a ready-made product that they were loath to dick with. Blackledge, Fusina, and Burkhart were in a different era, but they never had much success in the NFL, anyway. Richie Lucas made it to the CFL, but he played for Rip — and that was an even more bygone era.
McGloin won’t have a great pro career, but he’s already exceeded all expectations and besides, he was a BoB product. So, I guess I’m agreeing with you about how PSU doesn’t prepare QBs for the pros. With O’Brien at the helm, it all would have been different.
Your final paragraph goes to precisely where I’m thinking and perhaps, beyond. I have to wonder whether Hack will ever regain his confidence and the greatness he hinted at possessing in his freshman year — playing for Penn State or anywhere else. PTSD requires time and treatment. But yeah, if he keeps hearing “footsteps” and doesn’t have time to execute the plays that are called for him (such as they are), he’ll be a wrecked QB. I don’t want to think Morelli — that’s too scary.
—TNT
Big Al says
I guess it depends on Hack’s priorities and how badly he wants to play on Sunday. If his primary objective in coming to Penn State was to get a degree, make contacts, and score some pussy, then maybe he doesn’t care that much about being a pro. I don’t know him personally (and neither do most of the commenters on PSU blogs), so I can’t judge what really matters to him..
Sitting out a year might be the best thing Hack could do. It will give him time to adjust to a new offensive system, new teammates, and recover mentally. A pro career that is delayed for one year is better than no career at all.
And I agree with you, Penn State has ruined many more pro prospects than they’ve developed. We’ve had exactly two that actually started in the NFL. Collins (who had a hitch in delivery that the pros had to correct) and the legendary Milt Plum (I don’t how you could have forgotten him). And, In addition to sharing an alma mater, they shared a fondness for nightclubs and booze. John Hufnagel did have some success in the CFL but I don’t think that counts.
The much disrespected and dismissed Maryland Turtles actually produced more pro quarterbacks. In addition to Dick Shiner (is that a great name or what) they had Bob Avellini, Boomer Esiason, Frank Reich, Stan Gelbaugh, and probably some others whose names I’ve forgotten.
The Nittany Turkey says
How the hell could I ever forget Milt? Man, I don’t know. I was pretty young when he played for the Lions. Well, for the Nittany Lions, anyhow. I do recall him quite well during his up-and-down stint with the Motown Lions. He had a couple good years with the Browns before that.
Having just watched Roethlisberger and Flacco (speaking of Blue Hens) go at it, I have to wonder whether I’ll ever live to see that kind of quarterback play at Penn State. It would have happened if O’Brien had stuck around. Getting rid of the ball quickly is not in Hack’s repertoire, so he would be a project for any NFL team that drafted him unless he gets some coaching, which doesn’t appear to exist at PSU. It’s like we haven’t improved much since Jay and Galen left.
—TNT
K. John says
You can’t say he doesn’t get the ball off quickly because they are not putting him in position to do that by using personnel groupings and plays suited to that type of play which is why they keep losing games to teams they should beat by two scores. The offensive line is bad but there are a lot of things that can be done to make opposing defenses pay for blitzing Hackenberg and they aren’t doing them.
As for is future, he isn’t going anywhere. That is just plain dumb. Mike O’Connor might be a different story but Hack will be back. There is no doubt.
Joe says
Agree about O’Conner, I think he’s gone at the end of the year.
The Nittany Turkey says
Perhaps I stated that a bit sloppily. What I was thinking was that he doesn’t have any plays that would require him to take a one-step drop and throw off his back foot, and furthermore, when he hangs onto the ball running for his life, he hangs onto it far too long. So, yeah, perhaps they’re not putting him into a position to take the quick drop and fling, but his either his skills or his coaching are in question when it comes to not knowing when to throw it away. Mental skills, for a quarterback, are even more important than physical skills. So is instinct. Hack seems to hear footsteps when there are none, and doesn’t react well when there actually are some. Look at Big Ben and watch him evade sacks. He’s a masterwork. I’m not saying that hack should be there yet, but he is withering behind the five traffic cones. We can’t expect much improvement in his play or his attitude until that is fixed.
For a young guy, a year is an eternity. For old farts like me, I think 2004 was yesterday. Point is that this time acceleration/retardation function Einstein never incorporated into the General Theory of Relativity can work both ways when it comes to retention of Hackenberg. Viewed one way, he is getting impatient and frustrated with the o-line; talk of next year requires patience that he might not have. (Such as he exhibits trying to force ill-considered passes into coverage.) Viewed the other way, perhaps he lacks the patience to sit out for a year, and that might keep him at Penn State.
No, it isn’t plain dumb for Hack to think about transferring at this point. If he anticipates little improvement in the o-line situation next year, which is what I see as well unless J-Frank pulls some mighty fine JuCo transfers or some similar shit in the off-season, then playing at PSU next year would be like sitting out for a year, only worse. He’d be getting banged up and his stats would be once again depressed, denigrating his value as perceived by the NFL. And ain’t that what it’s all about?
You, like those 18-foot crocodiles are in de Nile.
—TNT
psudrozz says
i am having serious concerns about the coaching on this team. i understand this team is very young, new system, graduation hurts, etc.
but i don’t see progress. i see things getting worse out there. I see panic on the sidelines.
I don’t think Franklin has any answers. or rather, any new answers.
The Nittany Turkey says
Panic on the sidelines and “that dullard look” from Franklin, as if to say, “WTF is going on? What the hell should I do?” Yeah, I’m seeing that, too. The more this season wears on, the more I think Franklin is all talk and no action. He sure as hell chose a bunch of dolts for assistants, although there is no one in football at any level that could have fixed the offensive line or two crappy punters.
—TNT
Joe says
I think I’ve become numb to watching this team play and even alcohol isn’t helping.
Lot’s of blame/solutions floating around out there; fire the coaches especially Donovan, bench Hackenburg, wrong offense/poor play calling, etc, etc, etc.
We’re 4-4, but we should have been 8-0! Bullshit!!
Look when all this started at the infamous Emmert press conference, the predictions were that it would take 8 to 10 years to dig ourselves out of the sanctions. Reality is we got spoiled by what that marvelous 2012 team accomplished with an 8-4 record. We were even happier with the 7-5 record last year. Sanctions, what sanctions? 2014 was the year we would emerge and show the NCAA. We had a QB who was the B1G freshman of the year and a coach who worked miracles at Vanderbilt! Yes and I like many drank the Kool Aid. But the reality is that on paper this team had some grand canyon issues and probably was no better than a 6-6 or 5-7 (or worse) team. But with at least some partial restoration of scholarships beginning last year and the rest going bye-bye a few months ago, 2014 in all probability would now be the bottom of the sanction period. Will we automatically be in the running for the B1G, East Division Championship next year? No, but we should be winning games we’re now losing and starting to see the fruits of CJF’s recruiting.
So I looked at the Power Five conferences this morning and noted the following records:
Stanford is 5-4 (3-3 Conf)
Florida is 4-3 (3-3 Conf)
South Carolina is 4-5 (2-5 Conf)
Texas is 4-5 (3-3 Conf)
Pitt is 4-5 (2-3 Conf)
Va Tech 4-5 (1-4 Conf)
PSU 4-4 (1-3 Conf)
All of these teams have the full compliment of 85 scholarships and a full roster of 105 who are allowed to practice. We have a full roster, but at last count around 46-47 recruited scholarship players. So I won’t draw any comparisons to these records with ours, other than there are some “Old Guard” teams out there that aren’t having any more success than we are this year, even with a full compliment of scholarship players and most likely a better group of walk-ons than we’ve collected over the past couple of years. May turn out to be a different story over the balance of the season, but at least at this time to be as “bad” as these other teams with our limitations is pretty decent company.
So we’ve talked about all of the issues that beset this team ad nauseam over the last four games. But one thing that stands out in my mind is the selection of captain’s. We have seven!
Defense–Hull & Olaniyan
Offense–Hackenburg & Dieffenbach
Special Teams– Delle Valle, Keiser & Ficken
I don’t believe there is a “walk along the bench and get the team fired up” guy in this group. Watch Hackenburg in the huddle-no emotion, no pat on the ass, nothing. Diffenbach and Keiser aren’t playing now, so what are they going to do dressed in warm-ups on the sideline. Hull and Olaniyan by JCF’s own admission are lead by example players, Ficken had to be asked by CJF to talk to the punters. No, they’re all nice guys, but they aren’t Mauti or Zordich. Hackenburg is a nineteen year old sophomore, with the weight of this offense placed on his shoulders after last season. Watch him on the sideline with Donovan, he should never have been made a captain in the first place. But truth be told, there are probably not any better choices than these seven. This is the same issue we had last year, there is no visible player leadership on this team.
Speaking of Hackenberg, you can’t tell me that all the preseason hype (Heisman candidate, first pick in the NFL draft before his season’s first snap, the lucky wins against UCF and Rutgers, breaking PS records left and right) didn’t get in his head. Than someone said “They have no line!, Let’s pressure the shit out of him.” and viola, we all see the result. I don’t know if he stays or goes, that’s up to him. This kid has been brought up to be in the NFL, but he’s going to have to put in 4 years, not go in 3 like everyone assumed would happen.
As an example, if you follow the Steelers, we all know that Big Ben looked like shit over the last few seasons, seemed uncomfortable in the offense, arguing with Haley, missed open receivers, fumbled without being hit, sacks up the ying-yang, you name it, to the point that I thought it was time for him to go. Well if you watched him over the last few weeks, especially against the Colts and Ravens, he looks better than he ever has! Why you ask? He’s now playing behind a quality (and healthy) offensive line, he’s got receivers that grasp the routes, are fast and know how to get open and go up and get the ball. He also looks like he’s finally bought in to Todd Haley’s offense. Sound familiar??
Our defense is good, but they mis-played a pass (Keiser) against Michigan that gave them an easy score. After a superb second half against OSU, they gave up two easy scores to Barrett in OT. Played like shit against Northwestern and fumbled a punt return and couldn’t keep Maryland out of the end zone when it counted-twice. I understand they’ve kept us in each game (except NW) all year, but as Hull and others have said, they are at the point where they have to play perfect. Unfair, perhaps but that is what we are down to for us to become bowl eligible. Encouragement abounds though as Allen seems to be a born safety, Williams seems to have gotten over his early season funk and “kids” playing on the d-line and LB all look solid.
So the knee jerk reaction is to fire Donovan. Maybe, but there is a lot of loyalty between CJF and his staff and it isn’t going to happen at least in the immediate future. I simply think he still doesn’t understand what he has (or doesn’t have) personnel wise on this team. I believe he is just trying anything and everything to see what works. The o-line will not make any appreciable progress this year-there is simply a lack of talent. So it is what is. Remember when everyone was saying how we would miss Robinson, but then Lewis and Hamilton played so well in the first couple of games and all of a sudden it wasn’t an issue anymore. Right! Now neither can really get open (might have something to do with how little time there is to run their routes before the ball has to come out), neither one seems to be able to run the correct route consistently (Hamilton’s post vs corner!) and all of a sudden they have a case of the dropsies. The only thing that is going to cure this is to build up the depth chart with quality recruits (I have more depth in my bath tub then we have on this team), figure out an offense that will compliment Hackenburgs’ ability and keep him on campus (remember a lot of recruits came to PS because of him and right now they need a bell cow) and recognize you are not going to run the ball this year, regardless of how much you are committed to it; let Hackenburg heave it 60 times if you have to. Hell move him back another 5 yards when he’s in the shotgun if you need to give him time!!!!
And for God’s sake if you’re not recruiting a 5 star punter, then someone better be on the next flight to Australia, New Zealand or Borneo to find one. They’ve got scholarships; use one.
Finally, I made the trek over to the Maryland SBN blog last night (the only bigger mistake was reading Black Shoe Diaries Saturday Night) and I guess this win immediately elevates the Terps to the upper echelon of the B1G at least in their eyes. I guess I would be somewhat excited if my school’s record against PSU was now 2-35-1, but it will never be a rivalry (CJF doesn’t work that way, neither did Joe), it will have no impact on recruiting (they still only get their stadium 40% full on a good day (there were more OSU fans in the stands when the Buckeyes came to play than Marylanders) and they will never win a B1G Championship at least while Edsall is the coach (he is just a tool in my humble opinion). Their only relevancy in the B1G was to put eyes in front of TV screens and to keep PS happy by adding some teams to the B1G’s Eastern Frontier. I won’t get in to the handshake or lack thereof, other than it pissed me the hell off!
I still think we beat either Indiana or Illinois and Temple and go bowling. And I still think there are plenty of struggles ahead this year, but the fog will begin to lift in 2015 and by 2016 it should be bright and sunny for our program. I’m still in-I’ve made it this far and I’ll put up with a handful of wasted Saturdays yet this year to see if this story has a good ending down the road.
The Nittany Turkey says
The fabled Toilet Bowl might turn out to be the Heart of Texas Bowl again, which is where a team that “should be” 8-0 must play. (“How many times do I have to tell you bums that it’s not about which bowl they go to (if any) but the extra fifteen practices. Get that through your fucking heads, already!”) I don’t know what the fuck any that means, but I read the entirety of your rant, with which I mostly agreed, so I had to concoct some total bullshit.
The Fire Donovan movement is a typically simplistic fan reaction. Fans know about everything and they know exactly how to fix it. Oh, yeah, there’s the thing about no one listening to them, but they keep trying anyway, constantly seeking validation, as if anyone out there gives a shit about what they think. That’s why I write for my own amusement — I operate under the assumption that no one else out there give a shit about what I think. So, do I want Donovan fired? Nah, I want Santa Claus to get stuck in my chimney, so I can lift his bag of toys and let him die of starvation. I want a lot of things, but firing Donovan is way down on the list.
See? I can rant, too.
But you’re right about Big Ben. Without Pouncey last year and being at odds with Todd Haley, he sucked, “leading” the mighty Stiwwers to a 8-8 crapola record. Yeah, there was a big O-line problem, but in the NFL, that can be a compromise at one or two positions, like Pouncy and Gilbert being hurt, not five Pop Warner drop-outs and a tight end who doesn’t want to block. (Add in a couple of backs who don’t pick up blitzes, and you have one scared qb.) I like your characterization of “five traffic cones” doing a better job. That one was a classic. I hope it’s original, because I never heard it before. That makes it original from my perspective, anyhow. But I digress.
Short of sending Hack to a Dale Carnegie course, it would have been appropriate to wait a couple of years before making him captain, assuming that his leadership skills and the respect of other players improve by then. Squabbling and pouting are not leadership qualities.
I believe any series of games with a single opponent constitutes a rivalry. Some are stronger than others. Maryland is a renewed rivalry. I’m not going to be condescending like Urbz, who recently said that Moo U. vs. tOSU was not a rivalry. He’s full of shit and so am I but I am not condescending. Even though I agree that Edsall (which rhymes loosely with asshole) is one, I’m saying that we’re going to be playing the Red and Yellow and Black and Orange and Green Terps every year, so it’s a damn rivalry. Wait, I forgot White. White is in there, too, I think. The whole fucking rainbow right on their sleevage.
But it’s just plain dumb to think that Hackenberg will transfer. I know that because K. John said so. I can’t question absolute truth! Wasn’t KJ the guy who brought us the “should be 8-0” theorem? I’m in awe of such mental acuity that so greatly transcends mine. Genius! (Sorry, KJ. I should have included this in my response to your rant, but I just thought about the 8-0 thing after Joe mentioned it. I have to be comprehensive, you know, but it’s all fair game amongst my tightly-synched user community of six.)
—TNT
Joe says
Yeah it was a rant and I needed it. The comparison of the o-line to five traffic cones came to me sometime during the third quarter. I’ve seen other comparisons, some including scarecrows and stop signs, but in my mind, five stationary orange traffic cones was what my brain associated with the performance of this merry bunch of JV warriors. So for what it’s worth, it was original to me.
I also recall Maryland trying in the worst way to turn their BB games against Duke in to some sort of rivalry. Unfortunately Coach K wanted nothing to do with it. Maryland so desperately wants to belong.
I trust you saw the B1G putting the hammer on Maryland and Mr. Edsall for their dysfunctional comportment at the start of the game? I sent you an email with the link just in case you were doing something more important than checking out the B1G’s website!
The Nittany Turkey says
Yeah, I saw it and I think that the $10K will sting momentarily until the check for UMd’s share of the Beave gate arrives in College Park. The B1G is trying to sell the notion that we 14 are above all that bush league stuff, so the bushiness can be restricted to the officiating crews, I suppose. It’s a theory, and I’m sticking to it.
—TNT
Big Al says
115 extra bowl practices won’t cure “too slow” and “too weak” for B1G line play. Another year in the weight room and “help” from ARod’s “personal trainer” might eliminate the “too weak” part, but there’s no cure for “too slow;” Gaia and Mangiro are MAC level talent at best. So the OL isn’t going to be significantly better unless Franklin has recruited some 4 star talent to replace them. And even then, it will take 6 games before they can adjust to the speed of Division 1 football. There aren’t many Bill Fralichs around anymore that can come in as a true freshman and dominate people.
IMO Franklin needs to shit can his power blocking scheme for a year and a use a scheme that his existing talent can actually execute – like maybe a hurry up spread offense with zone blocking and four wide receivers. But I don’t expect him to do that. So next year’s offense is not going to be a whole lot better than this year’s.
One final rant. 2 more wins won’t guarantee a bowl game. The B1G has only 8 guaranteed bowl bids and it will have at least 9 and probably 10 bowl eligible teams. The NCAA might have taken us off probation, but the schmucks that run the toilet bowls may still think “Ped State” is too toxic for their “brand.”
The Nittany Turkey says
Yea, verily, I don’t believe there will be much of an OL improvement for 2015. Any recruitment effects will be seen in 2016 and beyond, and any improvement obviously isn’t going to happen instantly at the point the talent actually does arrive. These guys need to get past puberty in order to bulk up and push Top Tier (to borrow a K. John concept from last year) personnel around. Furthermore, a rare combination of brains, speed, agility, and strength, not necessarily in that order is a prerequisite for being a TTSL (top tier successful lineman). Recruit wisely, J-Frank. Do not bring in more traffic cones.
Just to be clear, I was channeling Joe’s oft-repeated rant about the 15 extra practices, which by the way I don’t think he sees it as a panacea for the ills of the O-line. As for me, I sure as hell don’t think you’ll see an incremental improvement with the existing personnel no matter how many times you drill them. If after being on the field for the entirety of eight actual games they haven’t improved one fucking bit, there is no hope. Traffic cones have no memory and they’re not coachable. So get through the season, go through the motions of making them practice, and hope against hope that something will stick. They can’t get any worse, can they? (Don’t answer that.)
I had been giving the idea of PSU not getting a bowl invitation some thought before you brought it up, but I concluded that the bowls are about money and everybody knows that Penn State fans bring a lot of money into these minor venues. These clowns can stand on lofty principles for only so long before the smell of cash interrupts their reverie and brings them back down to Earth. Accordingly, I don’t think they’ll fail to get a bid to some backwater bowl (collectively represented by my chosen icon The Toilet Bowl) somewhere, whether it be Dallas or Detroit, two fine cities between which I used to commute at one point in my fabled consulting career, or New York, where I once lived. See, I just figured out how to make this response all about me. That said, I continue to believe that PSU will get an invitation if eligible, but let’s not count our chickens before they hatch. We still have to see them beat two of the other worst teams in the B1G plus a 5-3 AAC team (I think there are five teams with 5-3 records in that conference, for what it’s worth) before we can talk about bowls.
Wait, they “should be” 8-0, so they “should be” getting an invitation to the Rose Bowl. Shouldn’t they?
Never mind.
—TNT
K. John says
Only I never said they “should be” 8 and 0. What I said was they “are good enough to be” 8 and 0 and they are given their schedules which gets back to my initial prediction of 9 and 3 or 10 and 2 with the caveat that they wouldn’t be that good but more due to strength of schedule. I don’t think anyone would argue that they easily could have won the four games they lost with good offensive coaching, something that has been lacking. Heck, even with the poor offensive coaching they have they might have won three of four if not for a number of bad calls, the first being the off sides that wasn’t against Michigan, the plethora of calls (not just the two the press hammered home on) against Ohio State which only bias can explain and then the uncalled helmet to helmet hit on Hackenberg which should have given State a 1st and 10 at their 49 with more than enough time to get into Kickin Ficken’s range. And how about Ficken?
The only good thing about the record is that given their potential destinations, I may attend the bowl game. If they qualify, and they will, they will get an invitation. honestly, it would shock me in the least if they won out and got to 8 and 4. While I don’t expect them to, Penn State is the only Big Ten team capable of beating Moo U. Penn State’s D is capable of keeping them within one score and Hackenberg is more than good enough to close that gap.
The Nittany Turkey says
I’m wondering in what conference they would be good enough to be 8-0. In the Big Ten they couldn’t beat Northwestern by a long shot on their home turf, so how are they good enough to beat anyone except maybe Indiana, Illinois, and Purdue. If Ohio State beats Moo U. this week, another part of your argument will be destroyed, not that I think It will an easy task for Urbz and the boys, but — Moo U. favored by just three points at home going, so the gamblers think it’s anyone’s game. I’d love to see PSU beat Moo U. (although they can keep the Land Grant Trophy in East Lansing), but I don’t think that is going to happen this year.
Yeah, Ficken and has been the special teams bright spot this year. The rest of special teams play asymptotically approaches the suckage bogey created by the 2014 traffic cones.
One thing I can say about going to the Toilet Bowl — tickets will be easy to find and they’ll be fire sale cheap. Don’t even get them in advance. Stand out in front of Ford Field in your Eskimo outfit waiting for the kickoff in -10 degree weather and they’ll be literally giving them away. Don’t stand out there too long or you’ll get shot.
—TNT