Subtitle: The Jahan Dotson Show
Not #22 Penn State (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) explosively blasted its way to toilet bowl eligibility, beating pseudo-rivalrous, not-yet-bowl-eligible Maryland (5-4, 2-4 B10), 31-14. While I didn’t watch James Franklin’s post-game press conference because I couldn’t find the video on YouTube (and besides, its audio quality typically offends my geriatric ears), I will broadly assume that he harped on “winning the explosive play battle”, a tritely tacit acknowledgment of this team’s reliance on big plays. He doubtless talked about who won the other “battles”, but they mattered not. Yea, verily, it was the Jahan Dotson Show, without a doubt.
After a soporific first half whose only PSU highlight was a thirty-eight-yard pitch-and-catch TD from Sean Clifford to (who else?) Jahan Dotson, I had damn near fallen asleep. With the score at 7-6, only thoughts of the impending time change trauma annoyed me into wakefulness, but I digress wistfully. I’m glad I stayed awake for the second half, as the Clifford-to-Dotson connection would provide two more touchdowns and a pick-six by Ji’Ayir Brown added even more explosive play joy to our afternoon. Explosiveness. That’s what we crave, especially if we’re James Franklin wanting to explosively impress the search committee at USC.
While still erratic and obviously constrained from running, Sean Clifford could toss the ball anywhere in the vicinity of Dotson, who had usually beaten the defense and would suck it up like a vacuum cleaner, so he had no worries. Clifford wound up 27-47 for 363 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions. Dotson led all receivers with eleven explosive receptions for 242 yards and three touchdowns. His biggest, most violent explosion was an eighty-six yards Tsar Bomba.
Implosive Rushing
Rushing offense, as usual, was anemic, with most plays imploding for little or no gain. Franklin had said he wanted to establish the run against Maryland, but it sucked. Keyvone Lee was the leading rusher with eight carries for fifty yards. Noah Cain, a mere shadow of his 2019 “explosiveness“, wound up with ten carries for thirty-five yards. Clifford subtracted twelve yards from the running game, as he was explosively sacked three times by the Maryland defense. The Penn State offensive line is just not explosive enough to support the run, and it hasn’t been for years.
Can you tell that I’m tired of hearing all the “explosive play” bullshit from Franklin? I would hope that his replacement will have better public speaking skills and will ditch the sportscaster lingo. However, as Flounders and Jones brought out, Franklin did indeed use the word “holistic” in his press conference, a word they made light of because they have no idea what the hell it means. Well, Jones said his wife said it had something to do with vitamins, but I digress…
The Turnover Battle
In the explosive turnover battle, poor old Taulia Tagliabooboo (Franklin’s pronunciation, not mine), better known as Tagovailoa, suffered not only the aforementioned pick six, but also coughed the ball up once after trying twice. Taulia finished 41-57 for 371 yards with one touchdown and the big interception. Maryland was never able to establish the run, relying on Taulia’s arm for most of the game. He spread the ball out among ten different receivers. The running game produced a scant forty-eight yards net, which included minus twenty-nine yards for Tagovailoa.
In any case, da #3 kid is fun to watch.
Penn State, by the way, had NO turnovers, not even an apple turnover at the Halloween party. Yay!
Third-Down Efficiency Battle Continues to Improve
The Nittany Lions converted over half of their third-down opportunities again this week, a point of pride in the wake of early season suckage in that area. The vaunted PSU defense held Maryland to only four conversions in fifteen tries.
Hot Flash! Maryland Wins First-Down Battle!
The Terps had 29 versus 23 for Penn State. All hail the winners of the first down battle!
Ahhh, but Penn State Won the Time of Possession Battle!
Yasssssssssssss, the Increasingly Irrelevant Time of Possession (copyright (c) 2018, Matt Herb, BWI) battle 31:33 to 28:27. OMG OMG!
Other Battles around the Big Ten…
Oh, yeah, did you hear that the bloom is off the rose for Moo U.? The previously undefeated, #3 Spartans suffered a similar fate as Iowa when they went to West Lafayette: they got their clocks cleaned by Purdue. At 40-29, it wasn’t even close. This ignominious defeat allowed tOSU to take the lead in the Big Ten East, as they are still undefeated in the Conference. However, I believe the Schmuckeyes can be beaten. They had some trouble overcoming Nebraska’s defense, pulling it out 26-17.
The Big Ten East will be interesting. If the Buckeyes remain undefeated, it will be all over, but Moo U and Michigan are knocking on that door at 5-1. Penn State could be the spoiler for one or the other — or both.
In the west, Wisconsin, Iowa (barely), Illinois, and Purdue all won, tightening up the West, where four teams share identical, 4-2 Conference records. Apart from the Boilermakers, they are all animals: Badgers, Golden Gophers, and Hawkeyes.
Playoff Battle Implications
None for the Nittany Lions. None for the Terps. Why did you ask? Are you some kind of Sanguinarian, or what? But I digress, explosively …
(I’ll be bad mid-week for some explosive thoughts on the Michigan game. Stay tuned…)
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Big Al says
I’m also really tired of the term “explosive play.” Every time Franklin says it, I think of explosive diarrhea – the kind where you paint the walls.
Regardless, that has to be the most misleading three score win in James (hopefully not much longer) tenure at Dear Old State. IMO State was one play – Dotson’s 86 score – from losing. the game. Maryland had just tied the game on prior series and Clifford had taken a sack on 1st down. If State gone three and out, I have no doubt that Maryland would have scored a touchdown on their next possession.
The Nittany Turkey says
Explosive verbal diarrhea coupled with projectile vomiting: An apt characterization of a James Franklin press conference.
During the game at some point when I was awake, I commented that if Maryland’s remaining receivers could catch, PSU would have been in big trouble. While that’s part of the game and those breaks went Penn State’s way, I had the same feeling that it was much closer than the scoreboard indicated. Relying on big plays might work reliably sometimes against less capable opponents, but what happens when an able defense takes them away?
Although some might propose that the big play offense could be bolstered by trickier plays, I continue to believe that if a team is evenly matched or overmatched, effective offense boils down to fundamentals, namely moving the ball reliably and avoiding errors. If they can’t do that, they wind up being equivalent to Maryland, which had no running game, either, but made enough mistakes to lose.
That’s why Franklin dwelling on the explosive play crap nauseates me. It’s all flash and no smash, relying on others’ mistakes. It is not a winning formula against tOSU, Michigan, or Moo U (and apparently, Iowa or Illinois). They’re likely to beat Rutgers in two weeks, but lose to UM and MooU. Penn State winds up 7-5. how will that affect the job opportunity we hope will open up for Franklin at season’s end?
I saw a couple of YouTube clowns speculating on the top ten candidates for JGF’s replacement. They came up with some whacko choices and a few that might have made sense had the whole exercise not been baseless speculation. I’ll let you decide which of Bill O’Brien, Joe Moorhead, or Luke Fickel are whacko. Surprised they didn’t mention Tom Bradley, Jay Paterno, Larry Johnson, Sr., and Jerry Sandusky. I’m thinking that the woke PSU administration might name Holly Rowe as the first female NCAA Division I head football coach. In any case, they’ll have to offer at least what they’re paying Franklin, and not many people will work for $5.5 million a year these days,
—TNT
K. John says
If we can’t beat an inferior team without big plays, how can we beat a good team, much less three good teams in a row which is what is required to win a mythical championship. There is no such thing as a big play offense, especially when one player provided most of them and is easily erased in man coverage by good cornerbacks.
I too and hoping for Franklin to leave on his own but don’t think he’ll get a deal good enough for him to leave. Florida will be looking soon however so maybe something will fall in love the way Josh McDaniels fell for Tim “The most over-rated player in college football history” Tebow. With that said, Bill O’Brien would be near the top of my list so long as he commits for five years. There are a few others as well. Much in the way that Jim Tressel walked into Columbus and won a championship with John Cooper’s players, I think the next coach could do the same in Happy Valley.
Big Al says
I don’t know that any of the three you mentioned would be a good idea. Although taking the approach State used to hire Bill O’Brian – finding and hiring a relatively young assistant coach – is probably the way to go. It will certainly be cheaper than hiring an established (or fired former) head coach. I’m not looking for someone who will win national champanionships – just somebody who can equal Franklin’s record without Franklin’s media bullshit, incessant monetary demands and lousy game management. And someone who can also correct the team’s consistent lack of poise and discipline.
Unfortunately, recruiting is 75% of coaching success and it will be difficult to get a better recruiter than Franklin. But I’d really like someone who would recuit talent at all positions – not just dbacks, linebackers, running backs and wide receivers. And can get more out of whatever talent he is able to recruit.
The Nittany Turkey says
That you’re looking for a steady, modestly effective head coach will fly in the face of the Sanguinarian community, who would hire Knute Rockne if resurrection were possible.
—TNT
psudrozz says
Done with Franklin.
Also, whomever scheduled michigan at noon deserves to be keel hauled.
The Nittany Turkey says
I agree, but we all know that these things are controlled by the TV gods. Even if Michigan had entered this game undefeated, they are playing a three-loss team, which doesn’t spark prime-time interest.
I get your point, though. The noon start has been a perennial preparedness issue, for both players and hung-over fans. I’m wondering at this point whether the team is motivated to perform well regardless of kickoff time.
—TNT