Coming into the 2018 season, there was one overwhelming question mark.... could the O staff - after the loss of Moorhead/Gattis/Huff - continue to build off of the "rebirth" that was spawned by Moorhead in 2016/17.
The answer to that questions was - sadly, and emphatically - no.
Case in Point:
In the Bowl Game, it was clear - I think - to even a casual observer, just what the biggest challenge for the PSU offense was:
Keep JAllen and the very solid Kentucky front from being able to tee off on McSorley and the PSU pass game.
What any competent O coordinator would have been focusing on - I think - was to prevent that from happening.... and given the weapons available, the foundation of the game plan would/should have been:
1) Establish as much of a run game as possible, with both Sanders and keepers (incl QB draw) from McSorley
2) Mix in the pass game on non-pass downs w some play action and some RPOs where the P part of the RPO would take advantage of pressures from the UK front (seam routes to TE and Slot.... slants from the outside... etc)
ie: Try to establish those things that would cause UK to hesitate wrt teeing off on McSorley… and allowing the pass game to evolve throughout the game.
What did PSU do?
Passed on 13 of the first 19 snaps.... while UK built a 10-0 lead.... and while UK got the taste of blood in their mouths by recorded 2 sacks and a couple other snaps where they flushed McS into throw-aways.
Hell, throughout the entire game - when PSU ran 75 offensive snaps, largely thanks to the very fine job done by the PSU defense keeping the UK offense off of the field - Sanders had 13 carries.
13 F-ing Carries! (and all of the TBs together had 18)….. mimicking the "WTF" head-scratching directions taken by the PSU offense throughout the 2018 season.
None of this stuff gets "fixed" by having some new wideouts, or adding another year of experience for some of the linemen..... or whatever.
PSU will go into 2019 with the same over-riding question mark ("WTF is going on wert the leadership of the offense") when pondering their chances to put together a quality season.
One of the really fun part about college football - - - - IMO - - - - is that for better or worse, as a fan there is always that change over in personnel that leads to thinking:
"Can some of the young kids step up and improve those areas that were a problem last year?"
"Where can we look to for improvement?"
"Can the team take a step forward?"
ie…. lets say last year's team struggled in pass D - - - - as a fan you are looking at how that problem might be solved by some new kids... If they struggled making plays downfield - - - - as a fan you look to how a new group of skill guys might create a more explosive offense.... If the QB play was sub-par - - - - as a fan you wonder whether or not a year of experience will lead to more consistent play at QB... etc.
Stuff like that.
What is somewhat less fun, is watching a problem area throughout the season, and having no reasonable expectation that things can/will improve.
Hopefully that is not the case with the leadership of the offense as PSU moves from 2018 to 2019.... but, at this point, the ONLY thing in the cards there for PSU is "hope", because it is unlikely that the will be any meaningful change at the "offensive leadership" spot - and, in fact, as the team continues to move further from the Moorhead Offense, the rational concern is that things will continue the (downward) trajectory that played out throughout the 2018 season.
Time will tell
.
The answer to that questions was - sadly, and emphatically - no.
Case in Point:
In the Bowl Game, it was clear - I think - to even a casual observer, just what the biggest challenge for the PSU offense was:
Keep JAllen and the very solid Kentucky front from being able to tee off on McSorley and the PSU pass game.
What any competent O coordinator would have been focusing on - I think - was to prevent that from happening.... and given the weapons available, the foundation of the game plan would/should have been:
1) Establish as much of a run game as possible, with both Sanders and keepers (incl QB draw) from McSorley
2) Mix in the pass game on non-pass downs w some play action and some RPOs where the P part of the RPO would take advantage of pressures from the UK front (seam routes to TE and Slot.... slants from the outside... etc)
ie: Try to establish those things that would cause UK to hesitate wrt teeing off on McSorley… and allowing the pass game to evolve throughout the game.
What did PSU do?
Passed on 13 of the first 19 snaps.... while UK built a 10-0 lead.... and while UK got the taste of blood in their mouths by recorded 2 sacks and a couple other snaps where they flushed McS into throw-aways.
Hell, throughout the entire game - when PSU ran 75 offensive snaps, largely thanks to the very fine job done by the PSU defense keeping the UK offense off of the field - Sanders had 13 carries.
13 F-ing Carries! (and all of the TBs together had 18)….. mimicking the "WTF" head-scratching directions taken by the PSU offense throughout the 2018 season.
None of this stuff gets "fixed" by having some new wideouts, or adding another year of experience for some of the linemen..... or whatever.
PSU will go into 2019 with the same over-riding question mark ("WTF is going on wert the leadership of the offense") when pondering their chances to put together a quality season.
One of the really fun part about college football - - - - IMO - - - - is that for better or worse, as a fan there is always that change over in personnel that leads to thinking:
"Can some of the young kids step up and improve those areas that were a problem last year?"
"Where can we look to for improvement?"
"Can the team take a step forward?"
ie…. lets say last year's team struggled in pass D - - - - as a fan you are looking at how that problem might be solved by some new kids... If they struggled making plays downfield - - - - as a fan you look to how a new group of skill guys might create a more explosive offense.... If the QB play was sub-par - - - - as a fan you wonder whether or not a year of experience will lead to more consistent play at QB... etc.
Stuff like that.
What is somewhat less fun, is watching a problem area throughout the season, and having no reasonable expectation that things can/will improve.
Hopefully that is not the case with the leadership of the offense as PSU moves from 2018 to 2019.... but, at this point, the ONLY thing in the cards there for PSU is "hope", because it is unlikely that the will be any meaningful change at the "offensive leadership" spot - and, in fact, as the team continues to move further from the Moorhead Offense, the rational concern is that things will continue the (downward) trajectory that played out throughout the 2018 season.
Time will tell
.
