We had that problem with Pry too. I attribute it to two things:
- LBs were sub par
- Excessive blitzing
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Coach Knowles
- Thread starter bdgan
- Start date
Allar is better than a "good solid player" but that doesn't make him elite. It also doesn't mean that our inexperienced backups are prepared to lead the team.
The offense is not going to lose games, my fear is the defense will. They need to get off the field against "good" teams and hopefully ball control on offense will help. Scary thin, however, at key spots defensively which normally forces attack, attack, attack. Buckle up on D this year its gonna be "live by the sword, die by the sword" year I think.
I recall UM 2023 OL which did maul their way to some big time wins, even against OSU which is some thing we have never done through the years. We have been "stuffed at the LOS" year in and year out attempting to score from about the 5 YL. Last year was a perfect example after Warren's 35-40 run after the catch. Three runs up the middle couldn't get us in the end zone, and a 4th down pass failed.
Three runs at the Shoe a few years back from the 7 YL which would have won the game; we didn't gain an inch with the best RB in the nation, kicked a FG and lost the game when we were up 28-10 at one point.
Show me this OL moving OSU DL off the ball the way UM did and I will become a believer. But, year after year we have be stuffed when the game was on the line.
I remember when we needed to get Clifford off the field because Allar was the better option. Now we're moving on again.
Well said, we simply are not Michigans 2023 O-Line. Good? Yeah, average to good early in the season last year, great? Yeah, against Oregon in the BIG ten championship and mostly in the playoffs(pass pro let up against ND which resulted in not having time to throw downfield to WR's)....Elite? Not most of last year, not ever under Franklin....I still think it's really important to be balanced, I don't see a scenario in which we ground and pound to death.
Been a Penn State fan for more than 60 years. For many fans the best QB choice is always the backup. Nothing new here.
I'm pretty sure that 95% of the posters on this board think Allar is a better choice to lead PSU this year than Grunk or Smolik. That doesn't mean Allar has proven himself to be elite or capable of putting the team on his back to beat top opponents.
Agree.
But PSU has zero proven wideouts….even at average level.
U$C back-ups and Troy State do not count until proven
Allar has done zero in any meaningful game…the perfect compliment to Franklin.
Through the Franklin years…we mauled ourselves to many, many wins during Paterno years
Hudson wasn't a backup.
Pena had a strong year on an average team.
Ross had a good year, but he's from Troy so your skepticism is fine.
I think it's safe to say the room could be a push at worst and significantly better at best. Allar and AK will probably have as much to do with that as the '25 WR room.
OL is a vital cog if this team is to make it to the CFP semis or championship game.
Even if Allar is just good, which I don’t think will be the case, this offensive line should give us a chance to beat any team on our schedule next year. Remember what Michigan was able to do with a great offensive line, two backs not as good as what we have coming back, and a just good QB.
Good point on Peña…he should at least be 40th percentile of better Big10 WRs…maybe better…we’ll see.
If the offense can not generate any pass offense to WRs, the offense can certainly lose games.
Allen was the top-rated player of any position In CFB playoffs.
NFL prospect? Not a high-rated one.
Unless Singleton learns to run MUCH tougher and pass protect, his CFB weaknesses will be exacerbated in NFL.
Was Singleton's pass protect grade poor? I thought he was a good pass protector, although not as solid as Allen.
I have seen NA ratings showing improvement but with a long way to go…
The offensive line will probably be above average. It wasn't very good at any point last year. Some think it was based enitrely on the Oregon game but when you look at pay count and you see Oregon played prevent for three full quarters you realize they weren't any better.
I don't see the transfer portal hurting the blue bloods as you do. Sure the top teams will lose players, even some that would have contributed. But they don't generally lose many or any starters and many of their losses are players that see that they won't get the playing time they had hoped for. But the blue bloods do get some starters and also get quality depth from the transfer portal from other P4 teams and the lessor conferences players that want to move up in competition for various reasons including exposure to the NFL and $$. PSU lost some players that would have been on the 2 deep such as Robinson, Nelson and Vilbert who mainly left for playing time. The WR's lost seem to have been upgraded, and PSU seemed to replace the players that would have played. The other PSU losses allowed the team to recruit more high school players which leads to a more talented roster. So I believe PSU has better depth than before the inward and outward transferring took place. And I imagine that's the same for most top programs, other than a team like Tennessee that lost their starting QB. And UT may be better due to getting rid of a poor attitude.
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There is no way in hell this current wr room is a "push" in the worst case scenario compared to last year. Last year Penn State won multiple games in which they did little or nothing, and Penn State became the first team in college football history to play a playoff game in which the wide receivers had zero catches.
Sorry but that's an exaggeration to call this a "push" in ANY scenario.
This wr room is a huge improvement over last year in any and all scenarios.
Sorry but that's an exaggeration to call this a "push" in ANY scenario.
This wr room is a huge improvement over last year in any and all scenarios.
I believe I'm the one who said "worst case scenario it's a push." So I'll talk with you.
The reason I said this is because outside of the ND game, our WRs were good at times. I do believe AK ran the offense through Warren and Allar lost faith in the WRs at times. If Allar and/or AKs offense were bigger contributors to the poor WR play than we realized then, yes, this current WR room could be a push with the Wallace and Evans-led room.
I agree with the logic but if true its going to be a frustrating season...well when we play good teams
