Here are my thoughts in the order that comes to mind first:
1. Even though our Offense looked pretty abysmal in the first half, our D looked great throughout the entire game.
2. I never thought we would lose this game before or during the game. This game was perhaps the most important game for us in the past 3 years as many so-called "Experts", non-Penn State football fans, and even some Penn State fans had doubts about this years team. Anyone who watched the entire game (not just the first half) will now see that we are for real this year and are at least a top 10 team!
3. It was clear that Mike Yurcich's offensive game plan coming in was not a good one for Wisconsin's srengths at defense (trying to make plays into the heart of their line). Perhaps the best take-away from the entire game is that he obviously made great adjustments at halftime to figure out that our attacks should be to the outside, away from Wisky's strengths. One needs to wonder if this was a strategic plan from the beginning and set them up for our second half attack, or it was a change out of necessity. Either way, it was great to see that this change brought us a W instead of a L!
4. Arnold K. is for real and all the talk coming into the game about his agressiveness was true! This was perhaps our best pick-up from the transfer portal. Let's hope he can stay healthy.
5. Clifford is still a mystery QB. The best thing we can say is that he didn't make any TOs to potentially cost us the game. Those 2 passes to Dotson and Smith were the difference in this game offensively, even though they were both wide open. The pass to Smith was underthrown or he would have had a TD. Cliff also had 2 other open long passes to Dotson that were both overthrown or we could have had at least 1 more TD. Let's hope that Yurcich can improve Cliff's consistency as the season progresses.
6. Noah Cain is a beast. Opening up the running game for him in the second half by changing our tactics was key. Some coming into this game felt that he doesn't have sufficient speed to be a Home Run RB, but he looked pretty fast to me. We need to use him more on screen passes and get him to the outside more.
7. Putting in 28 on 3rd and short still has me wondering what we were thinking. Wisky has enormous DLmen. It was a place where we needed a power back. I know though that had he broken threw the line that he might have gone all the way, but....he is our smallest RB who has shown in the past that he can't break the first tackle.
8. Brisker was the hero of this game as he was even better than advertized. We all knew he was good from last season, but now he is truly Elite and was the best player on either team! Even Alabama would take him in a heartbeat and replace their safety. Brisker will be taken in the top 5-10 in the upcoming NFL Draft.
9. Ellis Brooks is another defensive gem for us and if he continues to improve and stay healthy will also be an All-American. That targeting call certainly seemed like a poor call, but if it were the other way around, we might have thought differently.
10. The biggest disappointments for me were once more our OL and an "average" performance by Brandon Smith. He is not another Micah Parsons, but I'm sure will improve as the season progresses.
11. In summary, although not a pretty game, it was a very important gritty win against a very good Wisconsin team in Madison. I didn't realize that this was CJF's first win on the road over a top 15 team. It happened on his 13th try. Who says the #13 is unlucky
!
1. Even though our Offense looked pretty abysmal in the first half, our D looked great throughout the entire game.
2. I never thought we would lose this game before or during the game. This game was perhaps the most important game for us in the past 3 years as many so-called "Experts", non-Penn State football fans, and even some Penn State fans had doubts about this years team. Anyone who watched the entire game (not just the first half) will now see that we are for real this year and are at least a top 10 team!
3. It was clear that Mike Yurcich's offensive game plan coming in was not a good one for Wisconsin's srengths at defense (trying to make plays into the heart of their line). Perhaps the best take-away from the entire game is that he obviously made great adjustments at halftime to figure out that our attacks should be to the outside, away from Wisky's strengths. One needs to wonder if this was a strategic plan from the beginning and set them up for our second half attack, or it was a change out of necessity. Either way, it was great to see that this change brought us a W instead of a L!
4. Arnold K. is for real and all the talk coming into the game about his agressiveness was true! This was perhaps our best pick-up from the transfer portal. Let's hope he can stay healthy.
5. Clifford is still a mystery QB. The best thing we can say is that he didn't make any TOs to potentially cost us the game. Those 2 passes to Dotson and Smith were the difference in this game offensively, even though they were both wide open. The pass to Smith was underthrown or he would have had a TD. Cliff also had 2 other open long passes to Dotson that were both overthrown or we could have had at least 1 more TD. Let's hope that Yurcich can improve Cliff's consistency as the season progresses.
6. Noah Cain is a beast. Opening up the running game for him in the second half by changing our tactics was key. Some coming into this game felt that he doesn't have sufficient speed to be a Home Run RB, but he looked pretty fast to me. We need to use him more on screen passes and get him to the outside more.
7. Putting in 28 on 3rd and short still has me wondering what we were thinking. Wisky has enormous DLmen. It was a place where we needed a power back. I know though that had he broken threw the line that he might have gone all the way, but....he is our smallest RB who has shown in the past that he can't break the first tackle.
8. Brisker was the hero of this game as he was even better than advertized. We all knew he was good from last season, but now he is truly Elite and was the best player on either team! Even Alabama would take him in a heartbeat and replace their safety. Brisker will be taken in the top 5-10 in the upcoming NFL Draft.
9. Ellis Brooks is another defensive gem for us and if he continues to improve and stay healthy will also be an All-American. That targeting call certainly seemed like a poor call, but if it were the other way around, we might have thought differently.
10. The biggest disappointments for me were once more our OL and an "average" performance by Brandon Smith. He is not another Micah Parsons, but I'm sure will improve as the season progresses.
11. In summary, although not a pretty game, it was a very important gritty win against a very good Wisconsin team in Madison. I didn't realize that this was CJF's first win on the road over a top 15 team. It happened on his 13th try. Who says the #13 is unlucky
!
