Kentucky 27, Penn State 24
Yeah, well you all know the story by now. Trace McSorley played his heart out with a broken foot in a losing effort against Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl. It was a fitting, albeit painful, end to his record-setting Penn State career. He could have sat out the second half but it was his choice to play.
The vaunted Penn State defense was unable to contain the Kentucky running game, as Phil Grosz promised they would. In my tacit keys to the game I mentioned holding Benny Snell, Jr. to under 100 yards, but he wound up with 144 and two touchdowns. It was enough. The Nittany Lions fell short in their effort to come back from a 27-7 lead.
Kentucky came to play. Their All-Everything Linebacker Josh Allen could have opted out in preparation for being a top five overall pick in the NFL Draft, but he played and encouraged others to play for Wildcat pride. Kentucky doesn’t get these opportunities often, playing in the SEC as they do. They wanted it! With the exception of McSorley, I didn’t detect a lot of “leave it all on the field” attitude from the Penn State team.
Wednesday Morning QBing
Wednesday morning quarterbacks universally blame Head Coach James Franklin for this ignominious defeat, but this Turkey ain’t so sure he had enough to work with to do the job. I know you all don’t like to blame the team (which St. Joe would call “kids” — as if they really can’t be held responsible before the fans). The play calling wasn’t all that atrocious, except perhaps for the fake punt, but if the special teams and the defense had performed, the outcome would have been different.
One field goal attempt missed the mark and the other was partially blocked. We had been seeing this kind of stuff from Jake Pinegar and the special teams all season, so why shouldn’t we expect it in a meaningless bowl game. Pinegar is a freshman. The whole bowl experience had to be new to him.
Those who bitch that the last field goal on fourth down with 4:12 left are doing that old fan thing — second-guessing, pissing and moaning that it would have been better another way just because it failed. With three timeouts left and lots of time on the clock, this Turkey believes it was the correct decision to take the three points (which would have been needed anyway) instead of gambling on a fourth down conversion. Kentucky had been stuffing them all day on third down (4-14). Furthermore, the PSU defense stopped the Wildcats with three-and-outs on their previous two drives.
Franklin made the right decision. The team did not execute. They couldn’t stop Snell. The defense gave up a couple of first downs, allowing Kentucky to run the clock down to nine seconds. So don’t give me crap.
Nobody’s Perfect
McSorley valiantly played with a broken foot but his accuracy in the second half of the season was not there. Sure, he was injured. Sure, he went out there and played his ass off. But that doesn’t change what happened on the field, which can’t be overlooked just because we like the “kid”.
The 9-4 season is about right for these guys, as this Turkey fortuitously opined at season’s outset. As predicted, they couldn’t win the big ones with tOSU, Michigan, and Moo U., and they failed in this year’s subprime bowl game. They are neither an elite team nor a great team, as Franklin called them after the Ohio State loss. They are a middlin’ Big Ten team.
Big Turkey Thanks!
Nevertheless, this Turkey gives great thanks to a determined if sometimes overmatched set of “kids”, who gave us another season of thrills and chills. May they all do well in future endeavors, and may those who are returning build on the experience. And a great big Turkey thanks to Trace McSorley. A special player like that comes along very rarely. I wish him a full recovery and lots of success in the future no matter which path he chooses.
And great big Turkey thanks to all six of my readers! I’ll see you all next season or sooner, if I feel the need to blow off about something.
And a Happy New Year to All!
(And I didn’t mention my roof once until now).
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K. John says
The broken foot thing is really getting to me TNT. Two things bother me about this. First, if it was broken, why did Franklin let him play? A broken bone is nothing to mess around with. If true, Franklin should be fired with cause. This leads us to the second part, having personal experience, I think the broken foot story is just that. A story.
The Nittany Turkey says
I’m on the fence with this one. If McSorley and Franklin knew the foot was broken, can the guy say, “Hey, coach! It’s my last game. I know the risks. Put me back in. I want to help my teammates win this game.”? McSorley is 23 years old. He is an adult.
I am not intimately familiar with Franklin, but I don’t think he would risk complicating a player’s injury just to win a meaningless bowl game.
Even if the foot is just a story, it makes for a lasting legend, although I suspect the truth will emerge at some point.
Happy New Year to you, K. John!
—TNT
Hamilton says
McSorley didn’t want to bail on his team like his predecessor, Hackenberg did in his PSU swan song. Sounds right. McSorley is a warrior and no one can take that from him. I hope he gets some kind of chance to go further but I’m not sure if he’s the kind of player the meat grinder of the NFL is looking for.
Agree with you on the field goal call. The defense failed to seal the deal. Shame on them, that cost the game
The Nittany Turkey says
I think Matt McGloin might have considered playing with a broken neck. Just kidding.
Although Trace seemed optimistic after the game, I continue to think he’s not NFL material. Maybe back in the Doug Flutie era, perhaps, maybe, but he sure doesn’t conform to the prototypical 6’3″ 230 lb NFL QB norm these days. Plus, his passing has become a little shaky over the past season. You can blame that on his knee or on a crappy offensive line, perhaps. McGloin is still kicking around in the NFL, so you never know. A guy with grit like McSorley or McGloin might find a spot.
Between the defense giving up what has become their trademark — a game closing drive by the opposition in the fourth quarter — and the special team failures, it is no surprise the Lions couldn’t pull this one out.
Happy New Year to you, Hamilton!
—TNT
Big Al says
I turned the game off when the Mildcats went ahead 27-7 and took my dog on his evening walk so I missed the “comeback”. But I have to say that the 1st 40 minutes of that game were the sloppiest and most error filled Penn State bowl performance of my lifetime.
It made me wonder what Franklin did with the 20+ practice sessions he had to prepare for the game. Whatever he did certainly didn’t make the team better. And it doesn’t seem to helped “team chemistry” either. As this writing, a half dozen juniors have declared for the NFL and none of them will be drafted in the 1st two rounds. So, it sure looks as if “rats be leaving” a sinking ship.
I think 2019 will be a very critical year for Jimmy Franks – if he can’t clean up the sloppiness and lack of poise, it might be his penultimate one at Dear Old State.
The Nittany Turkey says
My PA friends mostly seem to be wanting Franklin gone, citing that he’s a good recruiter but a lousy head coach otherwise. This bowl game seemed to bring all those sentiments to the fore once again, even reaching back to say that it was Franklin’s stubbornness that screwed up C-Hack, not Donovan, who was just his fall guy. There was undeserved moaning about the third-down call, and perhaps deserved moaning about the fake punt. (About that, I think it’s a damn bowl game, you’re looking for an early edge, maybe you gamble and catch them with their pants down, and when you gamble you sometimes lose. The same people would have bitched about conservative play calling by St. Joe. The upshot is you can’t make fans happy when you’re losing, no matter what you do.).
Franklin’s deal goes through 2022 and is worth $34.5 million. I would think a buyout with three years remaining would be prohibitive even for the tight-asses in Old Main to consider, but WTF do I know? After all, if they fire a coach for not winning, are they not affirming Freeh’s “culture of football” they continue to hypocritically deny?
Whattya think, really, Al?
—TNT
psudrozz says
I think we just had two really good years and a down season due to graduations, new coaches, and the occasional decision making charlie foxtrot. Let’s see what he has to work with next year and re-evaluate.
Big Al says
Well, penultimate means next to last, so I think Franklin will be the coach through the 2020 season no matter what happens next year. However, a 6-6 or 7-5 record next year wouldn’t surprise me at all. And, given that most of the difficult games are on the road, another 9-3 regular season is probably the ceiling.
I’m not a fan of his offensive scheme (it’s too perimeter dependent and requires a mobile quarterback with good decision making abilities) and I don’t think Stevens or Clifford will be as good as even the injured Trace was this year. He’ll also be replacing at least two starters on both lines and the starting running back. I guess there are some “OMG STARZ” type recruits waiting in the wings to replace them. But their inexperience probably means another year of sloppy grab-ass play.
psudrozz says
I have no problem with franklin kicking the FG. That game was not lost by that decision. What surprises me is the online hysterics. Franklin has made some bad calls. This was not one of them.
And now we enter the Tommy Stevens era.
Trying to figure out who is staying and who is leaving. Losing sanders really doesn’t affect the team. Slade is better. I was really looking forward to Miller and Givens next year on a dominant D-Line.
The Nittany Turkey says
I’m concerned about next year, but many time in the past when I was thinking they would be entering a rebuilding/reloading/rewhatevering year, they surprised me with some talent that emerged out of nowhere. I have nothing but question marks at this point. One big one is Tommy Stevens — his few reps at QB (wildcats notwithstanding) were insufficient prep in real game situations, so he’ll have to get up to speed in the Idaho and Buffalo games before he’ll be able to Shitt on Pitt.
—TNT
K. John says
Personally, I am not worried about QB. Mark it down. We will be better at that position by the time we play Maryland. The next QB probably won’t have the gaudy numbers Trace put up because he will be facing a full compliment of defensive backs in coverage, something Trace rarely faced and when he did, he turned into an interception machine.
The Nittany Turkey says
Duly noted!
—TNT
psudrozz says
Hamler, Slade, Dotson, and that freshman TE(87) are all great options to have in the pass game. I look forward to seeing them next year.
Wish I had some confidence in the OL, tho…
The Nittany Turkey says
Yeah, Freiermuth (87) has been a breath of fresh air most of the season. Hamler was exciting, then he developed dropitis, which I hope is curable. Just need someone to get the ball downfield to him to stretch the defense. Yeah, get some air under the ball.
—TNT
diesel says
Figured I’d chime in. The field goal was the right decision on paper but I think the right call given the momentum of the game was to go for it. If they didn’t make the FG they would have still only been 6 points down, and given the way their special teams were playing I would not have had much faith in a game tying field goal so they would have had to score a touchdown anyway.
Personally this game reminded me of the Michigan State game, I thought PSU was the better team on the on the field based on what I saw but the score told a different story which in my mind has to be put on the coaches. And what about not adjusting on defense, 8 runs in a row? Kentucky had no intention of passing during their last drive.
The Nittany Turkey says
That debate can rage on forever, because hindsight is 20-20. Anything other than what actually happened is speculation. We’ll never know what would have happened.
However, we do agree on one thing. The fourth quarter failure rate of this defense is atrocious! Whether the issue is not making adjustments or players getting tired and not willing give all they’ve got when a game is on the line I can’t say. Coaching would indeed be implicated if either is true, but not wholly responsible. Just look back at the fourth quarter performance this year. Franklin no longer says, “We’re a second half team.” He’d be lying. We tank in the second half.
Everybody in the stadium knew Snell would be getting the ball on every damn play for two reasons: to run time off the clock and to set the school record. But the PSU defense or Brent Pry didn’t get the message, I guess. Eight runs later, with nine seconds left and no timeouts remaining, PSU got the ball back. St. Joe did not facilitate any miracles from his vantage point. They lost. Some of the blame has to be on the coaches, but not all.
I don’t believe PSU had the better team on the field. The stats were fairly even, but Penn State’s first half was atrocious from all angles. A comeback from 27-7 was highly unlikely with not much of a rushing game other than a lame (but game) quarterback and given McSorley’s inability to hit targets. The offensive line was truly offensive, giving up six sacks and nine tackles for loss. Special teams’ performance speaks for itself? Was all of this due to coaching? I think not.
—TNT
Diesel says
Agreed not all coaching but I didn’t want to give them a pass either.