Ohio State 20, Penn State 12
Now we know for sure what we have conjectured all season: the Nittany Lions are not ready for prime time. They are not SSMNC material. They are not Big Ten East Championship material. They are, as they have been in much of the Franklin Era, third best in the East.
Had the offense developed at all, it could have been different, but our quarterback cannot make throws, our offensive line cannot block, and our receivers are at best, mediocre. Honestly, we knew all that going into the Ohio State game, but we somehow believed that the offense would magically coalesce into something competent. Those were all pipe dreams, and the truth hurts if you take your lie detector test in a state of denial.
While the play calling was questionable at times, the offensive execution was unquestionably putrid. Allar was sacked four times and was continually hurried. The traffic cones were not up to the pass protection task. The pocket either collapsed or Allar did not know how to step up into it. When he ran for his life, he missed throws. I’ll certainly give credit to the Ohio State defense, but both sides were complicit in Penn State’s horrendous 6.25% third down conversion rate.
No Excuses
Idiots will blame officiating, the Franklin Mystique, Yurcich, the noon start, and other bullshit. Sorry, but most of this loss is on the players. This collection of Kittens is not going to beat anyone important. Sanguinarians have been hanging their hats on wins over some damn poor teams — UDel and UMass, ferchrissakes — and they can’t see the forest for the trees. I don’t think Penn State has improved at all since the West Virginia game. How much they could have improved is limited by the available talent. You cannot squeeze blood out of a turnip, but the offense would have nevertheless benefitted by some stiffer tests earlier in the season. At least we could have known how badly they sucked back then and saved ourselves a few weeks of ridiculously inflated expectations.
On the other hand, the Penn State defense is the real deal. Their secondary might be a little weak, but they had taken on a mighty big task attempting to contain Marvin Harrison, Jr. (which they didn’t). That was their major failure, and we all knew it would happen, too. We knew they could shut down the Buckeyes’ running game and they did, allowing only 79 yards. However, we learned something good about their fortitude when they denied OSU on fourth-and-goal from the two in the third quarter. Too bad they don’t play these games using only the defense. Yes, I wax facetious, but boy, that offense just sucks big time.
What do you think of your team’s execution?
This was the Nittany Lions’ big chance to stay on top by beating an eminently beatable Ohio State squad and they blew it. The offense blew it. They showed up, but just barely. Once again, I’ll drag out one of my favorite John McKay post-game press conference quotes after yet another Tampa Bay Buccaneers loss. A reporter asked Coach McKay what he though of his team’s execution. He responded, “Watching them play like that, I’m in favor of it!” That was forty-five years ago and still quite relevant today.
While I am sad that the team did not perform up to its overinflated ranking, which we hope will now be adjusted back to reality, I am also somewhat relieved that the suspense as to when their denouement would eventually occur is now over. We can now look realistically toward the future and not worry about making playoff plans that will never materialize. The Sanguinarians are all crying about what might have been, but they know in their hearts of hearts that it was never going to be.
What Next?
Looking forward, I see no hope of beating Michigan unless Signalgate does the Wolverines in. They dispatched beleaguered Moo U. 49-0 tonight. If the Penn State coaching staff cannot supply the requisite psychological counseling that will enable the Nittany Lions to transcend this emotionally devastating loss, other future losses against others aside from Michigan will not surprise me. Next week, Indiana seems like a win despite the PSU offense sucking, but then they face Maryland and Michigan back to back, followed by Rutgers and Moo U. They’ll finish at best 10-2 and at worst 8-4.
I’ll close by refuting a Joe Paterno maxim: “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.” Oh yeah?
This week’s ridiculous bullshit aside, I, your relentless and ever opinionated Turkey, will stick with them to the end, even if that is the Toilet Bowl in Kohler, Wisconsin.
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K. John says
Sadly, this is exactly what I saw coming. I saw it coming during the offseason and every week since. We have multiple issues to address, none of which can be mitigated during a season or really a single off season.
Starting with talent. I knew they were bad. They didn’t disappoint. Worse group since the dark years when it was Bryant Johnson or bust. Not only do we lack talent, we have sacrificed depth at other positions to recruit and rerecruit receivers because we do it so poorly.
There has been a steady decline in talent at this position since Franklin came in. To make matters worse, the one time we actually saw measurable improvement at the position was when Taylor Stubblefield was brought it. From one season to the next, receivers showed good technique, ran routes well and were an asset on the field, but then Franklin fired him and replaced him with Josh Gattis 2.0.
We lack talent at several other positions as well. For a coach that is supposed to be a great recruiter, there are hole on the roster big enough to drive an dump truck through.
Then there is the coaching. We were treated to several Franklin specials yesterday, whether they came from him, Yurcich or Diaz (the defense was not all roses).
The defense is good enough and the offense can be effective if they stick to what they did through six, to get to 10 and 2. Maybe win a major bowl game if half the team doesn’t play or gets hurt like last year. But, such is life under James Franklin. Good enough to get to 8-4 or 9-3 most years, occasionally 10 if things line up well (namely the schedule) but that is it.
Right now, Franklin is 1 and 23 lifetime against teams that finish the regular season in the top ten (assumes OSU finishes top ten) and 5 and 35 (assumes Iowa finishes ranked) against teams that finish the regular season in the top 25. He has never defeated more than one team that finished the season ranked in a single season.
The Nittany Turkey says
At the beginning of the season, we typically say Penn State can go 10-2 at best for all the reasons you mentioned. Their nonconference schedule is padded to ensure some easy wins. How long has it been since they scheduled a Top Ten nonconference team?
—TNT
Big Al says
The offense’s lack of explosive plays should have been a red flag to all the Sanguinarians. Nearly half of Penn States offensive touchdowns this year resulted from short fields of less than 50 yards that were set up by the defense. Even then, then offense sometimes struggled as shown by a 10 play 39 yard drive against Iowa and a 12 play 40 yard drive against NW. As a general rule, 9 is usually the maximum number of plays an offense can run without screwing up and committing a drive killing play.
The offense’s two major flaws are (1) the OL line is not getting push on running plays and the running backs’ 1st contact is too close the line of scrimmage, and (2) KLS is the only receiver who is even remotely a deep threat. State’s offense is an easy mark for any defense that has good enough athletes to play the bear defense, Playing bend but don’t break, like Iowa does, just makes the offense look competent.
Going forward, I expect the Kitties to regroup for the next 3 games and beat Indiana (which has no play makers on offense) and Maryland (poor defensive line and a turnover prone qb). The real question is what happens after Michigan curb stomps them. Do they even show for Rutgers and Moo U.
The Nittany Turkey says
I would add some play calling fubars and some crappy execution at skill positions to your major flaws. Who the hell calls a slow-developing play on fourth-and-four? And if a quick hitter was called, why did Allar take his sweet time? It’s not the time for check-downs.
Although I would rather not blame Allar for everything, aside from traffic cone issues (and probably somewhat because of the cones), Allar looked tight and nervous. I think he was overwhelmed by the big game and the big crowd.
I expect a win over Indiana — 1-0 this week, and Tom Allen gets the axe. I’m still not convinced that they’ll have enough confidence to beat the Turtles, but if they can suck it up and take care of the ball, they will. Michigan is a formidable obstacle, but the Nittany Lions will take care of business and beat them in Beaver Stadium.
OK, I just wanted to see whether you were still reading. Their asses will be marching to the slaughter in three weeks, and there will be blood on the Beaver Stadium turf. So, I lied. As you say, no telling what the team psyche will be after that bloodbath. We might see a lot of Pribula if Allar is doing in-patient counseling.
But I’ll watch, I was able to watch the OSU game right up to the poorly executed onside kick.
Ryan Day showed too much respect taking a knee with twenty seconds left in the first half. Mind coaching, I would have tried that crossing route to Harrison and see whether he could catch Carter sleeping.
—TNT