Hand Wringing therapy: 1) Best possible loss 2) All goals still intact 3) Possible rematch

[Shadow99]

Even if PSU goes to the playoff (which I doubt, because there is only about a 1/20 chance of defeating Ohio State with Clifford; 1/100 with Roberson), it is extremely difficult to see them advancing to the title game. So yes we are a better team with Clifford but I don't think this is a top four team regardless

Fair enough, but besides Georgia and Alabama...(PSU plays OSU head-to-head), who are all of these mystery teams that are worthy of the #3 and #4 spots? Somebody has to be ranked #3 and #4 and it seems that PSU would only be decisive underdogs against Georgia and Alabama...and OSU but again OSU is already on the schedule and it was obvious before the season that an upset in Columbus would be needed to make the playoff. If this conversation means anything, an upset over OSU would inherently leave them out of the picture...nothing novel there; that was known before the season began.

But in that case 2 spots would remain; why not PSU (with Clifford) considering the 2021 CFB landscape? Otherwise, not sure why any other teams (Oklahoma?, Oregon?) would seem so insurmountable so as to yield comments such as "not a top 4 team regardless"...🤷‍♂️

 

[BostonNit]

I'm with everyone that with Cliff (who I think we could assume won't be 100% at any point the rest of the season), assuming he even plays after the Illinois game, gives us a shot. But lets be real...we are one of the worst rushing teams in the country of Power 5 teams and our OL is an absolute joke vs mid-majors or actual programs. To even think we can handle the rugged rest of the schedule I think is drinking the kool-aid. The defense has been on the field wayyy too much as JF has said after virtually every game and there really isn't anything that will change that. If Cliff is back for OSU, we have a mild shot of winning the rest...if he isn't back, we might win 3 games more...and that is being generous.

I was looking at the stats so far this year, and I think Cliff has been sacked something like 5 times in 6 games. Now some of that might be his experience in not taking sacks, but some of it may be the OL actually knows how to pass block. Probably a combo of the two.

Point being, even if Cliff is out for a while, a decent pocket should give Roberson a chance to improve quickly, especially if he gets the majority of first team practice snaps.

I'm not expecting a world beater, but I'm definitely expecting dramatic improvement over the second half last night.

But I'm an optimist at heart.

 

[scrivener]

I was looking at the stats so far this year, and I think Cliff has been sacked something like 5 times in 6 games. Now some of that might be his experience in not taking sacks, but some of it may be the OL actually knows how to pass block. Probably a combo of the two.

Point being, even if Cliff is out for a while, a decent pocket should give Roberson a chance to improve quickly, especially if he gets the majority of first team practice snaps.

I'm not expecting a world beater, but I'm definitely expecting dramatic improvement over the second half last night.

But I'm an optimist at heart.

for sure..probably a combo of both. Cliff has also been quite good at rolling out and throwing on the run which has helped avoid sacks. We have to expect that even with 2 weeks of practice, Roberson obviously won't have Cliff's pocket presence and feel for the game...how could he never starting before? We have got to help him with short passes and some kind of a running game. ILL is brutal and we need to get right in a hurry

 

[BostonNit]

for sure..probably a combo of both. Cliff has also been quite good at rolling out and throwing on the run which has helped avoid sacks. We have to expect that even with 2 weeks of practice, Roberson obviously won't have Cliff's pocket presence and feel for the game...how could he never starting before? We have got to help him with short passes and some kind of a running game. ILL is brutal and we need to get right in a hurry

I liked the little roll out Roberson did to avoid the safety... Showed his athleticism. But then after avoiding the sack/safety missed the wide open outlet receiver... Showed his inexperience.