Rudderless Penn State Offense Tackles Rutgers
Who is scarlet? The New Jersey Knights of the Order of Piscataway are. I know of only one person who can comprehend the significance of the title of this article and she ain’t talking. But suffice to say that Rutgers ain’t Princeton.
This weekend, #12 Penn State (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) hosts the plucky, upsurging Rutgers Scarlet Knights (6-4, 3-4) on Saturnalia Day at High Noon. It is also Senior Day at Beaver Stadium, a day on which we send our seniors off with heartfelt appreciation to pursue their burgeoning careers in the NFL or as insurance agents.
Following Penn State’s heartbreaking loss to Michigan, head coach James Franklin summarily fired offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich’s ass, so now, the offense is rudderless, run by committee. That means the results should be better. Interestingly enough, the previous Penn State offensive coordinator, Kirk Ciarrocca, is now the offensive coordinator for Rutgers. So, it will be a weird reunion, no doubt.
Will we see any ridiculous two-point conversions? Any dumbass fourth-down decisions? How about plays drawn up by third graders, like that abominable desperation two-point conversion attempt we saw last week? I hope the offensive committee has received my message that the key is to impel the opposing defense to respect Penn State’s offense, not to make them laugh at it!
All RIGHT! On to the game…
Head Coach Greg Schiano, in his second stint in that position, has built Rutgers into a team that is no longer the laughingstock of the Big Ten. This year, his Scarlet Knights have whipped Northwestern, Moo U., and Indiana, so they can say they’re at least fourth from the bottom. Big Ten losses were to Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Iowa. All were ranked opponents except Wisconsin, which is pretty rank this year.
This week, they face the Mighty Penn State Nittany Lions, the third best team in all of the Big Ten. If we were to play king of the hill minus two, Penn State would reside at the very tippy top of the heap. But we cannot ignore our perennial dual nemeses. The Lions remain their usual, mediocre selves, sad sacks who cannot beat the top two. So, we hope that they’ll beat Rutgers to save their last semblance of pride in the 2023 season. Penn State can still get an undeserved New Year’s Six bowl, so this one is for all the marbles, and maybe a few Skittles thrown in besides.
About Our Opponent
No, I’m not going to drag out the picture of Asia Carrera. Tempting, though! Anyway, Rutgers is not a joke this year. They’re beatable, but it won’t be like the Nittany Lions are lubed up with Astra-Glide.
Surprisingly, Rutgers has the fifth ranked offense in the Big Ten and the sixth ranked defense. As I mentioned previously, Schiano has taken them to a position of respectability in the conference. Leading rusher junior Kyle Monangai averages just under 100 yards per game. He also leads the conference with 942 yards on 181 attempts thus far this season, with seven touchdowns to boot. Junior Quarterback Gavin Wimsatt is 10th in the conference in passing, but he is a threat to run, with 409 yards on 89 carries. Wimsatt and his offensive line have performed well, ranking #1 in the Big Ten in sacks against. Alas, Rutgers is even worse than Penn State in 3rd Down Conversions, with a putrid 36% rate.
The Dreaded “Injury Bug”
Unfortunately, Monangai is injured, but won’t admit it. Or maybe Schiano won’t let him. In the 22-0 loss to Iowa last week, which some predicted would be a repeat of the 2004 PSU-Iowa classic 6-4 game, he had only 39 yards on 13 carries. Wimsett has no one to throw to, so generating any offense will be difficult if Monangai is hobbled.
The defense is nothing to write home about. I would think that unless the Lions are pouty after the Michigan loss, they will skewer the Knights with their blue-and-white lances. I joust you not! Rutgers is dead last in sacks and tenth in interceptions. Please, Mr. Franklin, turn Drew Allar and his ragtag bunch of receivers loose against this defense. Pretty please? What is there to lose?
In special teams, Rutgers scrapes the bottom of the barrel in kickoffs, but they’re better than Penn State in field goal percentage. In punting, they are bad. How’s that for a concrete analysis?
Da Wedda
We’re at mid-fall in Central Pennsylvania, so ya nevah know! Right now, the Accuweather boys and girls predict a balmy fall day at St. Joe Memorial Stadium at Beaver Field, partly cloudy with a high of 58. We’ll see…
Da Bottomest Line
The Official Turkey Poop Prediction follows, after a little extra bullshit just to fill some space. I’ve blown enough drivel your way already, but I just felt like running off some more at the keyboard. Who would you like to see as the next PSU offensive coordinator? Does it really matter who that is, given that James Franklin is running the show? Given the history of five OCs in ten years, will anyone be interested in the job?
Alright, I’ll play your game, speckalatin’ here like all the other clueless Penn State beat writers. Maybe Bill O’Brien, former Penn State head coach, Alabama defensive coordinator, NFL Houston Texans head coach, and OC for the New England Patriots will be in the mix. The Patriots suck this year and rumors have Bill Bellichick leaving. What about Joe Moorhead, currently head coach at Akron and former PSU OC? He was one OC Franklin left pretty much to his own devices. How about Josh Gattis, currently OC at Maryland and formerly Michigan and Miami? He also coached under Franklin at Vanderbilt and Penn State. I haven’t mentioned all the names I’m keeping secret due to the gag order Pat Kraft imposed on me. Whoozitgonnabe? Franklin will likely have his ducks in a row by the second week in December; like the rest of the weenies, I want to say I told you so. I should dig up another couple dozen names to enhance my non-credibility.
Let’s get on with it…
And now, the news. Penn State is favored by 20.5 points with an over/under of 41.5. That gives us a break-even of 31-10 or thereabouts. Because of the noon start and lingering melancholia by the taciturn offense, you can throw away the first quarter. Rutgers gonna keep it close (more like offensive ennui on Penn State’s part) in the first half, which could likely be 10-3 Penn State, but PSU will surge in quarter number three. In that period, they’ll score two touchdowns and miss on a two-point conversion attempt that will reveal that Franklin makes those dumbass decisions himself. I’ll go with Penn State 23, Rutgers 6 and I’ll take the under. And a proposition bet for you: Penn State will be 2-3 in fourth down conversions.
I’ll be back after the game to provide a maudlin retrospective on the Nittany Lions’ conduct in this last home game of the season. (I revised my prediction when I went back and looked at Monangai’s injury and how he sucked in the Iowa game).
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K. John says
So long as Franklin’s offense by committee doesn’t bring the John Donovan era back to life, we should be OK. Of course, as we have learned the this season, those teams were actually more talented so the fact that Franklin fired the OC and will likely be heavily involved suggests it is a possibility. If He brings back the Donovan offense (50% chance) we lose to Rutgers. If he doesn’t and we play the same way we have all year long, we win. Simple as that.
Now, on the OC, does anyone really think Bill O’Brien would lower himself to the point he would work for a lesser coach like Franklin? I don’t. Josh Gattis? He is the worst offensive coordinator in the Big Ten with Kirk Ferentz’s son still coaching. I would take Joe Moorhead back. He remains the best coaching hire Franklin has ever made by a country mile. He made Trace McSorley look like a D1 quarterback despite having D2 skills. Barkley, Godwin and Gesicki had a lot to do with it but great job nonetheless.
The Nittany Turkey says
No, I wasn’t serious when I threw O’Brien’s name out. I think p=0.000001 for an O’Brien return, given that he was driven off by the paranoid, toxic atmosphere of the post-Sandusky period. That bad taste in his mouth will never go away. I was surprised when he agreed to work for Saban. BoB must have been given some very strong assurances that he would not be subjected to the bullshit he dealt with at PSU. I figure he’s a pro guy, but he made an exception there for an elite program and a decent offer. Otherwise, once burned…
Would Moorhead come back? He’d have substantially more visibility than at Akron, but is he enamored of the HC role?
Other than Moorhead, my out-of-the-ass OC suggestions were strawmen. Tell me who it REALLY will be.
—TNT
Big Al says
Rutgers probably has the worst talent in the B1G. They have maybe 6 players that Franklin would give scholarships to. Schiano should be both B1G coach of the year for winning 6 games and fired for his poor recruiting.
Rutgers isn’t going to beat the Kitties unless State’s defense decides to take the game off AND Franklin’s dual OC experiment really screws up worse than expected. (I expect at least 4 delay of game/illegal formation penalties because they can’t decide upon the play call)
The game is going to be a boring punt fest. Take the under and Rutgers getting 20 points. Dear Old State 19 (on two field goals and two touchdowns with a failed two point conversion just to troll Jones) Rutgers 9.
My guess is that the new OC will either be the guy Coach Prime demoted at Colorado or some FCS/Divison 2 hump that nobody expected.
The Nittany Turkey says
See my postgame comments.
It was not a boring puntfest. That would be the Illinois-Iowa game, which wound up 15-13. This one had the flavor of a completely incompetent offense that couldn’t capitalize on opportunities literally handed to them.
Even worse, they don’t seem to have learned anything with 11/12 of the season gone. I cringe thinking of the results of facing Oregon or Tennessee in a Bowl game. Such an unimaginative offense I think I have never seen. It sucks, and what the hell are they holding back for?
—TNT