So here are your options.
You're ahead by 15 points, Ohio State has the ball and has been moving it all afternoon, pretty much at will.
But lo and behold, the Buckeyes fumble on their first possession of the fourth quarter, and you've got the ball with 13+ minutes left on the clock, in Ohio State territory.
What is your game plan? Do you throw the ball, risk turnovers and at minimum, a stopped clock? Or, do you try to run the ball and start whittling down Ohio State's potential opportunities to even possess the ball?
Because, I think this is the crux of what happened last night: There is inherent risk in how Penn State's passing game operates in the first place. You're doing your best to isolate mismatches and get the ball to that player in what you know full well will be contested balls. McSorley finished without an interception last night, but one pick was overturned due to pass interference and another was overturned by replay. Running the ball is absolutely the by the book philosophy in that circumstance, and I'm sure that Franklin has statistical studies and metrics to back that up.
The issue, of course, is that your left tackle is hobbled and isn't functional out there, and since the start of the second half, Ohio State has bottled up your star running back.
It's something of a Catch-22, in my mind. If you throw the ball and either turn it over or stop the clock at any point in a fourth quarter when you're ahead by 15 points, you've bucked conventional and statistical thinking. If you trade the advantage of a diminishing clock for the knowledge that your opponent is keying in to stop the run, and is likely to do so, you're knowingly lessening the likelihood of maintaining possession by moving the chains.
What do you do?
You're ahead by 15 points, Ohio State has the ball and has been moving it all afternoon, pretty much at will.
But lo and behold, the Buckeyes fumble on their first possession of the fourth quarter, and you've got the ball with 13+ minutes left on the clock, in Ohio State territory.
What is your game plan? Do you throw the ball, risk turnovers and at minimum, a stopped clock? Or, do you try to run the ball and start whittling down Ohio State's potential opportunities to even possess the ball?
Because, I think this is the crux of what happened last night: There is inherent risk in how Penn State's passing game operates in the first place. You're doing your best to isolate mismatches and get the ball to that player in what you know full well will be contested balls. McSorley finished without an interception last night, but one pick was overturned due to pass interference and another was overturned by replay. Running the ball is absolutely the by the book philosophy in that circumstance, and I'm sure that Franklin has statistical studies and metrics to back that up.
The issue, of course, is that your left tackle is hobbled and isn't functional out there, and since the start of the second half, Ohio State has bottled up your star running back.
It's something of a Catch-22, in my mind. If you throw the ball and either turn it over or stop the clock at any point in a fourth quarter when you're ahead by 15 points, you've bucked conventional and statistical thinking. If you trade the advantage of a diminishing clock for the knowledge that your opponent is keying in to stop the run, and is likely to do so, you're knowingly lessening the likelihood of maintaining possession by moving the chains.
What do you do?
