Franklinesque 1-0 for the Week
Yeah, well we knew it would be a win, but sometimes we get surprised by an inferior opponent. (If they beat the mighty Nittany Lions, they’re not inferior, are they, Sanguinarians?). So, what can we draw from this easy victory and what does it portend for the first serious game of the season coming up on Saturday?
First, A Comeuppance for tOSU
Ryan Day, hahhahahhahahahhaha! I had a feeling you would get fucked by the Ducks, so take that! Final score: 35-28. I think K. John must have been right on the money when he declared Iowa as the best team in the B10, because Oregon sure as hell outplayed tOSU. Congratulations to OC Joe Moorhead, formerly of PSU, and head coach Mario Cristobal.
PSU Offense Took Care of Business
Sean Clifford was 22-29 for 230 yards. He ran for one TD and threw for another. Lots of participation by lots of skill position players in the offense. Total offense was 493 yards. We even saw backup QB Ta-Quan Roberson in action, including a TD pass to Theo Johnson in the waning minutes.
The 240-yard rushing day gave us some hope for a balanced offense going forward. Noah Cain, Keyvone Lee, and Sean Clifford each had sixty-something.
On defense, PSU had six tackles for loss and only one sack. They scored a touchdown on a Pick six by Jesse Luketa. Daequan Hardy was responsible for the other INT.
The game was not a walkover, as Ball State proved themselves worthy opponents in many ways. They made a few mistakes, which PSU’s hungry defense capitalized on.
I would like to see some comments about offensive line play, which I did not think was good. If any of you see things differently, please comment. If you agree and you want to expound, please comment. (I don’t get any ad revenue — I just enjoy reading your comments).
Special Teams Improving, But Need Work
Jordan Stout was 4-5 on field goals and a perfect 5-5 on extra points. The field goal he missed was a 45-yarder, but at least he wasn’t missing the short ones. His punting average was 51.3 with a long of 63, again, Ray Guy material. However, he needs work hitting that coffin corner. Everything off this guy’s foot goes long!
Stupid Poll Implications
I suspect that tOSU will not drop out of the top ten. #6 Notre Dame and #5 Texas A&M both showed weakness and should drop out. Notre Dame spend most of the game losing to Toledo before pulling it out with 16 fourth quarter points to win it by a slim margin, 32-29. A & M beat lowly Colorado 10-7. Meanwhile Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Clemson all won convincingly, as did Iowa. Oregon will probably move into the top five.
So, like Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Oregon, Iowa would be my top five, with Clemson, tOSU, Cincinnati, Florida, and Penn State rounding out the top ten. Did I leave anyone out? Will the pollsters (as usual) discount any of Notre Dame’s obvious weakness?
Polls are pretty subjective and meaningless until midway through the season, but they make for good barroom chatter.
(I’ll be back during the week with a preview of the big Auburn game and my usual bullshit).
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K. John says
Offensively, despite the addition of many more formations, the game plan itself was fairly vanilla. This is not surprising as the offense is still in the installation phase as it is the third offense, blocking scheme and route concept/tree in as many years.
They started to throw in a few additional things out there in the second half. Some worked. Most didn’t, but we were playing an overmatched Ball State team that was picked by many to finish 2nd in the MAC East behind Toledo. Ball State is slightly above average for a MAC team we typically play early in the year.
The O-line was improved from week one to two. How much was due to increased comfort in the new blocking scheme or a lower tier opponent is unclear. My guess is a combination of the two.
They are being hampered by a limited game plan and our receivers disappearing for long stretches where they are being taken away by fairly mediocre secondaries. Until the receivers start getting open deep, the tight ends will not get loose in the middle of the field and opponents will continue to use 7 and 8 man fronts.
They have not added any of the more exotic blocking capabilities Mike Yurcich picked up from Mike Gundy at the OSU. This is probably a good thing at this point in time. Overall, I am happy with the line at this point in time. We’ll see how much they have improved over the next few weeks.
Big Al says
Once again, the defense performed above my expections, although their historical vulnerability to a running quarterback has not been fixed. The offense was ok but didn’t do a whole lot in the 2nd half.
You asked about the OL. They aren’t knocking anybody on their ass, but it looks like Yurcich just wants them to contain their man at the line of scrimmage and keep him from moving laterally in order to create gaps for the backs to run through. That means a defense with good linebackers can stop State’s inside running game. And explains why they could only run wide against Wisconsin.