Temple 27, Penn State 10
As if the score alone is not enough of a disaster, losing MLB Nyeem Wartman-White for the season means that the already thin linebacking corps will be even thinner. As you certainly know by now, Temple (1-0) beat Penn State (0-1) 27-10, snapping a winning streak that dated back over 60 years before a sold-out Lincoln Financial Field crowd in Philadelphia, a crowd that was much decidedly Temple-partisan.
I guess by showing uncharacteristic, albeit unfounded, faith in this Nittany Lions team at this early juncture, I must have angered the gods of football decency or something. How could this even happen?
Our vaunted Penn State defense played well for a quarter and then let the floodgates open. Who else out there thought that the defense would hold Temple to single-digit points?
The defense letting up was partially the fault of the offense given its inability to keep the D-boys off the field. What offense? We saw a little in the first quarter and then, bupkis. Who else thought the offensive line had to improve because they couldn’t get any worse than they were last year?
Oh, yeah? Let’s pick on the offensive line for a while, a group that lived completely up to its reputation as “Five Traffic Cones” by giving up ten sacks of Christian Hackenberg. Ten! We thought last year was bad, with 44. Here, in the first game of the season, we have accomplished the almost unthinkable. Penn State is on track to eclipse last year’s sack total before mid-season. And this was Temple, not Ohio State, not Michigan, and not Moo U. Paris Palmer, the 6’7″ 300 lb junior college transfer left tackle was a statue henceforth to be dubbed the Colossus of Rhodes. Expectations for him were not great in the first place, because he’s new and he’s replacing a left tackle who is now competing for a starting spot in the NFL. The rest of the guys, who have been together for a while were said to be teaching him well. Oy vay! Four Traffic Cones teaching the Fifth how to be an effective traffic cone? Is there any hope for this group or for their coach, Herb Hand, who has been doing this for 26 years?
I know what’s going to happen now. It’s so predictable. People will [still] be calling for offensive coordinator John Donovan’s head. We need someone more like Showtime’s hit man Ray Donovan up there in the booth calling plays.
Akeel Lynch showed that he is a serviceable running back, but not behind this group of statues, that’s for damn sure. He wound up with 78 yards on 10 carries and Penn State’s only touchdown. But Penn State wound up with only 180 yards, of which 77 were rushing yards. Temple doubled up on the Nittany Lions’ rushing output, and eclipsed Penn State passing by 65 yards.
Penn State was 2-13 in third down conversions versus Temple’s 7-17. Time of possession was a ridiculous 36:15 to 23:45, in Temple’s favor.
Christian Hackenberg didn’t fare so well, obviously. Again, enough excuses have been made for the kid that he’s carrying the team on his shoulders and he stuck with Penn State when times are tough. Those were good for the past two years, but this year we all acknowledge that he has to actually show something. In fact, his NFL stock is declining sharply and any more of this kind of crap will render him undraftable. His quarterback rating for this abortion of a game was 3.2. Three point two! I did not even know QBRs went that low! He wound up with 11-25 for 103 yards and one interception, aside from racking up -59 yards “rushing” due to the plethora of sacks. The ugly pick-six interception Hack threw to Sharif Finch looked eerily like something that happened to John Sacca in the Miami game in what was it, 1985? Obviously, the Traffic Cones are part of Hack’s problem that ain’t going away anytime soon. However, what must go away is his head-hanging, pouting, give-up attitude when the chips are down. One Temple Linebacker even said it appeared as if Hack stopped playing.
Many other questions beg to be asked about this game, but I’ll spare you, since you’ve already started asking them. All I know is that it doesn’t look good for Penn State at the moment. Of course, we all harken to and take comfort from the distant echoes of St. Joe, who was wont to say, “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.” Yeah, but I’m afraid that in this case the offense might be just as bad as we think it is. The defense could use some work, too, but injuries are unpredictable.
What I’m afraid of more than anything else is that this team lacks a sense of commitment and motivation. It’s early, yeah, but I thought they would have a point to prove that would send a proverbial message to future opponents. Instead, the message they sent is that this is not only a beatable team, but one that beats itself, given a little adversity. That suuuuuuuuuuuucks!
Special teams provided a ray of hope, such as it was, even with the unorthodox Joey Julius as the centerpiece. Special teams can win the close ones for ya. Why do I have a feeling now that there won’t be many close ones this year? Dan Pasquariello punted nine times — NINE! — for an average of 39 yards. Freshman Koa Farmer showed that he is a valuable kick returned, having run back one for 35 yards and having averaged 25 yards overall for his five returns.
Let me not take anything away from an full-game 100% effort by the Temple Owls and their head coach Matt Rhule! Awesome job, Matt! You’re one guy of whom I can be Penn State Proud today. This will help big time in Pennsylvania recruiting, so you won’t have to be playing all those guys from Florida in the future. Things are looking up for Temple.
The gamblers whose money comes before their emotions bid Penn State down to a seven point favorite and set the over/under at 44. My projection defied them. I probably won’t make that mistake again this season!
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K. John says
To say Hackenberg’s stock is falling is not correct. It isn’t. It really hasn’t gone anywhere. If you want to know why, go back to the beginning of last year and calculate his QBR when he has 2 seconds in the pocket (which is roughly the expected norm for college quarterbacks) before having to move his feet to avoid the rush. That answer is why his stock hasn’t gone down a bit except with the fools in the media. He is even more impressive when you consider what he has to deal with. Receivers who don’t get open very much, route concepts that make matters far worse than they should be, and an ineffective blocking scheme. We saw in the first quarter that Hack was a man among boys. He makes throws some starting NFL quarterbacks won’t even attempt look routine (3 of them Saturday).
Looking back to Saturday’s debacle, 75% (minimum) is on John Donovan and the offensive staff. I saw three third down plays where his route combinations allowed Temple to effectively cover three receivers with two defensive backs. Those weren’t blown routes, that was bad play design. Not a bad play call, a bad play design. We saw Mike Gesicki release from the line of scrimmage no less than three times leaving an edge rusher unblocked. He didn’t even hesitate which means he didn’t have the option to pick up the free defender. Bad play design. While the coaching isn’t the culprit across the board, nothing is getting fixed until Donovan either wakes up or gets fired, and despite giving him every benefit of the doubt, he is just as clueless now as he was last year.
With a real OC, this team has the talent to run the table given their schedule. Without, they are looking at another 6 and 6 year. Maybe worse if the defense stops playing hard in the fourth quarter like they did on Saturday. But that is another issue altogether. And what the bleep is up with the bone headed decision to put Wartman-White in on punt coverage? Someone should be fired for that. There are a handful of players on this team you never put in on specials teams, Wartman-White is one of them. Hack is another, Zettel, Johnson, Lucas and Allen are the other.
The Nittany Turkey says
The coaching sucked and I agree completely about using a crucial defender on special teams, where tons of injuries occur. That was just plain stupid, as was playing Hack at the end when it was a three-possession game with a minute and change left, leading to two more sacks. Needless exposure to injury, and it has to get into his head.
Speaking of getting into his head, his NFL stock is damn well going south because of his demoralized attitude. I don’t care whether it is due to shitty coaching, shitty offensive linemen, or just a plain shitty attitude, but when the chips are down, Hack pouts. Look at his body language and facial expressions. He might be loaded with raw talent and maybe he’s “a man among boys”, but the NFL wants players who will perform come hell or high water. I don’t see Hack as being one of them. The excuses of the past just don’t hold any longer.
—TNT
K. John says
Body language is the most over-rated aspect of a person. There are no indications that there is nothing wrong with his attitude even though at this point, there certainly should be. We have seen far worst antics on the sideline out of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers than anything Hack has done. I won’t even mention Dan Marino. At the college level, Tim Tebow’s sideline antics were legendary.
The Nittany Turkey says
You see where Tebow is now. LOL
Of all the NFL quarterback sideline antics, I think I prefer Bobby Layne’s, although George Blanda might run a close second. Bobby would put down a half-pint of bourbon at halftime and be full of piss, vinegar, and Old Crow the rest of the game.
I think Hack could use that half-pint sometimes.
—TNT
Big Al says
Turkey you didn’t jinx State against Temple. The “fates” played no part in State’s loss. The combination of untalented offensive lineman, lack of depth at linebacker, shitty coaching, and a highly motivated opponent were entirely responsible for the loss.
The offensive performance during the last 3 quarters was the worst I have seen in seven decades of following/watching Penn State football. This offensive flat out SUCKS despite having decent receivers, running backs, and a quarterback who is grossly overrated but still better than most of his predecessors. Most of the blame for this offensive ineptitude has to fall on the offensive coaching.
The defense was not great and depth at linebacker is going to be a problem for the rest of the year. They appeared to be particularly vulnerable to runs outside the tackles and, if that trend continues, the defense will look more like 2013 than 2014. Hopefully, the redshirt freshman that were forced to play are quick learners and the defensive performance won’t decline too much. But, this year’s defense will NOT be better than last year’s version.
However, the performance on the football field didn’t anger me nearly as much as Franklin’s performance at the post game press conference. I strongly encourage you and your 3 other faithful readers to watch that conference in its entirety. The guy doesn’t have a clue about how to fix things. He basically said that his offense can’t handle any defense that “packs the box” and puts press coverage on the wide receivers. He implied that the offensive line was at fault because they couldn’t hold their blocks long enough to beat the press coverage And he said that he couldn’t make changes in the line because all of the backups were “red shirt freshman who aren’t ready.” That statement was a flat out lie – Reiners and Laurent are not freshman. Franklin also exhibited a lot of passive aggressive behavior and deflected the questions with empty platitudes and repeatedly said “we just have to work harder.”
It’s going to be long season, folks. There’s no way this team is going to be bowl eligible. I just hope they aren’t worse than 3-9.
The Nittany Turkey says
I was trying to think of a worse game but I couldn’t come up with one. Even the 6-4 Iowa loss was entertaining defensively.
I did see Franklin’s post-game presser. Davy Jones asked him the question about why he kept Hack in with a minute-something left and three scores down, resulting in two more sacks. He waffled on that one, too. For those who want to see the press conference for yourself, go here.
What the hell did these guys accomplish during the off-season? It appears that they moved backwards on offense. As you predicted after the announcement of Paris Palmer’s acquisition, he is a dud. The rest of the Cones haven’t progressed. Their coaching flat out sucks.
Yeah, it is hard to imagine this team winning very many games. They had a whole spring and summer to work things out, but they went backwards. I cannot believe that they will be able to fix the things Franklin said can be fixed.
And yeah, I’ll jump on the fire Donovan’s ass bandwagon. The simplistic play calling and repeating things that don’t work are just giving me shpilkis in the genektegazoink.
This was Temple, people. TEMPLE!
—TNT
K. John says
Andrew Nelson and Mangiro have appeared to get worse. They were both playing pretty well at the end of the year.
The Nittany Turkey says
We agree on that, K. John. I somewhat discount the bowl game performance because no one really plays tough defense in “party bowls.”
—TNT
jd says
i didn’t see really any offensive philosophy other than “let’s try this play again”.
Franklin’s clock management is still horrid. And I saw no adjustments in the second half.
The Nittany Turkey says
Yet Matt Rhule made some impressive adjustments on his side. When it was clear that our vaunted defensive line wouldn’t allow anything in the middle, he ran on the outside. Duh! You think the Franklin/Donovan Brain Trust could have made similar adjustments? Nahhhhhhhhh.
It’s kind of reminiscent of St. Joe’s scripted first 25 plays — only for the whole game.
Think Rhule would like to move up to the premier team in PA?
—TNT
K. John says
Should have been at the game. Everything I saw out of the offensive game plan has left me completely and utterly devoid of hope for this team. Incompetence of the highest order. No max protect. Nothing resembling max protect. No hot reads. Very few quick slants. No deep or mid range routes on the vast majority of plays forcing the offense to play 11 on 11 within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. Backs blocking linemen while linemen block nobody and then nobody is left to pick up the late blitz. Gesicki playing tight end. Kyle Carter not playing at all really.
The Temple D-line was ineffective playing the O-line straight up. The twists, stunts (both picked up far better than last year, but still not well, which was the lone offensive bright spot on the day) and delayed blitzes killed them, and Donovan did nothing schematically to stop them.
jd says
the lack of in-game adjustments brought to mind a horror of my youth: Rich Kotite.
He was notorious for not adapting.
Joe says
I don’t even have a description for the offense’s effort during the last 3 quarters on Saturday. I was positively encouraged by the offensive line play during the two scoring drives; time to pass–check, a defined pocket with room for Hack to move–check, some actual running room–check, everything looked like it was working as advertised, then Temple decided to send delayed blitzes, use multiple rushers at the same attack point and after the first sack, everyone and everything went to hell. It was almost like the O-line said “Oh-oh we really aren’t that good!”
Here’s an interesting link to all 10 sacks:
http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2015/09/what_happened_on_penn_states_1.html#incart_river
Watch Paris Palmer (THE #1 JUCO offensive lineman) get beat multiple times on simple inside moves (you can recognize him as he’s the traffic cone wearing glasses), TE’s & RB’s just leaving the backfield while someone is blitzing, guys blocking air instead of helping to block a real body and a whole bunch of stuff that was on 2014’s game film and not expected on this year’s tape. I seem to recall when Laurent played last year, the line played better-where the hell was he Saturday? I also did not see too many options available to Hack. You cannot have so little improvement in the amount of time they’ve been working with these guys. There are very few teams that have an off-the shelf O-line ready to go each year, so either these 5 guys are not coachable and never will be or Herb Hand has no fuckin’ idea of how to coach! How can you not get better practicing against our defense every day!
Looks like the jet sweep is our new wildcat! Donovan should have never been allowed on the bus back to State College after that dog’s breakfast exhibition of play calling! Did we ever go under center? Did we ever huddle? Did we ever have an outlet receiver? Did we ever move Hack on a roll out? What the fuck happened to NASCAR??? Nah, why bother, because that’s not how Donovan runs an offense. Saw he was in the press box, he could have called that turd of a game from Nashville!
My son (a pretty good WR in high school) was at the game and was on the PS side at the top of the Linc where he could get the “22 view”. He was baffled by the routes (?) being run by our receiver’s! No one was ever open, there were only a handful of deep routes and in most cases the receivers were pretty much bunched together 10 yards down the field. What the hell happened to the speed and height we recruited! It all points to Donovan not having a clue; didn’t have one last year, doesn’t have one this year.
The defense was stout until W-W went down, although I didn’t see too much disruption from “the two greatest DT’s on the planet”! Wooten came in and played like he had a load in his pants and with Bell out, everything became passes over the middle or perimeter plays, something neither replacement could handle. The replacement LB’s will need to put their big boy pants on in a hurry or we are screwed. Didn’t realize Haley didn’t start until much later, but our best ever secondary looked pretty shaky.
So to my eye, everything that was supposed to get fixed that was an issue last year is still there. You put two and two together.
Props to Nassib, “Big Toe” Joey Julies, and Farmer and Allen-we may finally have some return specialists that aren’t afraid to go north-south.
The clock is now running for Franklin’s staff. The Alums are pissed, the lettermen are pissed, and Hackenburg’s little brother is pissed and I’m sure Barbour is pissed. If the offense continues to sputter along, I’m expecting a quick bye-bye for Donovan (this is too good a gig for Franklin to personally jeopardize losing). I don’t think Haslett gets the call, too much in his background & I believe he is mostly defense minded. PS can’t afford to begin turning people away from the Beav due to a shitty on field product either, so if the ship isn’t righted and soon, I do expect Franklin will be forced to make a change.
All fairness to Temple, they did come to play and for whatever reason, all streaks have to end sometime, that doesn’t bother me. The fact that this team looked like they were not prepared, didn’t give a shit, got outplayed and were certainly out coached are the things that were driving me crazy on Saturday night. Plus none of 2014’s issues appear to have been corrected in 2015! That may be the biggest issue of all and I’m also getting tired of Franklin’s “take a breath” attitude after a fiasco like that!!!
K. John says
I was at the game and what I saw wasn’t pretty. I watched a replay of the telecast and Huard alluded to some of the things I saw. It was flipping ridiculous. 3rd and 15. A bunch alignment on the left side, tight end on the right. The three receivers ran routes that put them all in a ten yard radius of one another after their breaks. Temple defended 3 receivers with 2 DBs. That was it. The O-line, to its credit actually did a pretty good job with stunts and twists unlike last year. However, the backs would step up and engage a rusher while O-linemen were standing there blocking air and out of position to pick up the delayed blitz. Hack had no time. He couldn’t sit in the pocket long enough for receivers to get open. He couldn’t get outside to buy time. He couldn’t do anything but sit there and take a hit. It was worse than last year. Having watched the film of most games, I am firmly of the opinion that Hack won three games pretty much on his own. The defense kept them in it, but Hack won it, and took a beating for his trouble, and a lot of undeserved flack. He also kept them in several games they wouldn’t have been in otherwise.
Personally, I don’t think he will be around next year, and it might not be because he leaves for the draft. It is common knowledge that he will graduate in May which means he can transfer where ever he wants to go without penalty. Michigan State will need a QB next year. So will Michigan, even though they are further behind. So will Alabama. So will Stanford. So will Wisconsin. All teams that prefer a pro-style offense, and three of them have legit defenses and far better lines and coordinators. It will be a complete kick in the shorts if Hack went to Moo U and took Brenneman with him.
Big Al says
Watching the Suckeyes last night, it occurred to me that having an immobile pro style quarterback might be a luxury that most college teams can’t afford anymore. If the best team in college football can’t stop the opposition from pressuring their quarterback, what chance does our traffic cones have. Tech’s pressure didn’t work, but that’s only because their quarterbacks are pretty mobile.
So, at this point, Hack leaving for a school taht has offensive linemen who are good enough to support a pro style offense might be the best thing for both him and Penn State. State simply doesn’t have lineman that hold blocks long enough to support an immobile pro style quarterback. We have to have somebody who runs well enough to break containment and punishes man coverage. And he deserves a chance to show what he can do when given time to throw.
.
WALT KUBANY says
Do you post (positive) comments, Boris?
The Nittany Turkey says
Who the hell is Boris? You’re inscrutable as usual, Kubany! Perhaps YOU should be running the offense.
—TNT
WALT KUBANY says
It’s Boris Yelstin, you…you, Chicom. The (positive) means negative, Dr. Frink. Orrin Frink was the endeared Math 41 prof who taught it on television, the precursor to Skype. Tammo had him. Another reason he never left his room. Once he stepped backwards and fell four feet off the stage and injured himself for the whole term.
We Penn Staters are disliked. You may not know this. This is another item that may have snuck by you. As we perhaps attempt to repair a stodgy, curmudgeonly reputation engendered for decades by Joe Paterno, what does the kid-coach allegedly go and do upon returning from Temple: BURY THE GAME FILMS? Is his tenure sufficiently ripe to allow himself that latitude? that pomposity? James doesn’t allow interviews. This the same guy who refers to the Texans coach as Billie? 12 years in ACC and six years in NFL, Fucking Billie wouldn’t go near him. James. James was coddled by…. well, the Roskilde Kings of the Danish American Football Federation in 1997. Go there to get your OCoord.
The Nittany Turkey says
Ahh, I see. Boris is Franklin. It always takes a while to figure out what the hell you’re talking about with those obscure references. A few back and forth comments are required to transcend the logical gaps, as it were, so to speak, if I may. (Obscure reference to Clinton B. Williams in those rejoinders.)
I’m not defending Franklin, but I do not believe it was his idea to bury the game DVD. All the reports I read attribute the idea to Christian Sackenberg. And yes, in my humble opinion, the team captain has sufficiently ripe standing to create such symbolism to motivate his boys.
Franklin does seem to be a lot of show and little blow, at least to this turkey. If Temple has a good year, Billie’s successor Jimmie might to eat his words about dominating recruiting in the state of Pennsylvania.
I don’t know anything about the Roadkill Kings. Perhaps you can enlighten me.
—TNT
WALT KUBANY says
James as Boris Yeltsin would have been an obscure reference. I was merely pretending you were Boris Yeltsin and wondered if you permitted difference of opinion in your gulag…2…3…4…
How big was the hole the tapes were buried in? Why weren’t they cremated? Can additional tapes be added without having to “exume” the last one? The wise move would have been to chuck it into some landfill on the way back and SAY NOTHING. What’s to say the Buffalo tape won’t be worse? Apparently lackluster Big Ten performances will NOT be buried alive? Whew. Was the concept of a “time capsule” considered? Possibly a comprehensive Burial Insurance Plan good at any away game? What about a co-op crossover with The Statue?
Does anyone ponder the media repercussions from this act if the team doesn’t improve? Maybe nittany2 or someone else specializing in damage control knows.
The Roskilde Kings of the Danish American Football Federation is where James cut his teeth in 1997. Not exactly the Norfolk Neptunes. Hard-to-believe Happy Valley could have any commonality with Denmark. Hmmm.