A few things.
First, and I think probably most important given my current unpleasant mood and/or attitude, I think it's important to remember that these are the moments from which I earn my salary. Sure, you all would do my job for free when it's sitting in Beaver Stadium, enjoying the free press box dinner or in down on the field at Ohio Stadium as the crowd roars to life. But I can assure you, there is nothing glamorous about the Fairfield Inn in Okemos, Michigan. Nothing at all.
If you'll indulge me, my experience at Avis getting my car rental was really the beginning of the meltdown. I mean, just abysmal. There were four employees working, maybe 20 people in front of me, and it took all of an hour to get a car. Avis, you just have to do better than that. With some deep contemplation and a reevaluation of my priorities in life, I think I will be able to move past this.
Moving on.
I spent some time collecting some of the leftover quotes and notes from the week that I thought would be good to pass along here in a little less formal of a format. Let's call them musings.
I'm going to hammer out some of them here:
1) I think this got a little play last night from some of the notes I passed along from James Franklin's coaches show, but one of the things that has stood out to me this week is some of the frustration from the program itself over some of the more extreme negative reactions given the loss at Ohio State on Saturday.
I relayed to you guys the psyche of this group of guys, really kind of shrugging off the loss, determined to move on and relying on the process as a form of comfort to get them back to business and on to the next task. But the other part of it came both immediately after the game when a couple of the players were asked what fans and media don't really understand about a game like that, and then again this week to assistant coach Josh Gattis.
I'm just going to do a cut and paste job here:
"They obviously have outside views and they can say whatever they want to say, but at the end of the day, they're not on the field. At the end of the day, they weren't in the weight room with us. At the end of the day, they didn't grind all offseason like we did. So let them talk. They can say whatever they want," said Saquon Barkley immediately after the game. "The true fans are going to stay with us and we just gotta continue to find a way to keep our season going, keep our head up. Obviously yes it sucks we lost. We wanted an undefeated season, it didn't happen. Put on the pads, move on to Michigan State. First comes Sunday, get in the weight room, lift, watch film, learn from it, come out, fix it, move on, move on to Michigan State."
"People that don't play football, don't comment on the game," said Mike Gesicki. "Ultimately, yeah it was a physical game. It was two of the best teams in the country going at it, two of the best teams in the Big Ten going at it, and unless you were on that field, you're not going to understand what was put into that, what was ultimately invested into those last three and a half hours. I'm extremely proud to be a Penn State football player."
And finally, from Gattis.
"Obviously we hear a lot. But I would just say to caution how much goes into a game plan, how much goes into a Saturday with the amount of film study our players do, the amount of film as coaches. On Monday nights as an offensive staff, we're in here sometimes until midnight or 1 a.m. putting together the game plan, and a lot of times you hear everyone has an answer over five minutes of film or one bad play and they've got the answer of what you should be doing, but no one knows the process it takes to prepare yourself for one opportunity on Saturday," he said. "There's a lot of answers, there's a lot of opinions. Obviously as coaches, we kind of see those and sometimes it's funny, sometimes there's very valid points, sometimes there's points that are kind of off the wall.
"But I think the thing that most people really have to realize is to take a step back and understand the approach and the process that it takes because you may judge one play by however we're basing things that we do off a season of film and the countless hours and the minutes that go into preparing our kids to be successful on Saturday. I think it's something that most people don't have an understanding of and how much these kids sacrifice throughout the week for that one opportunity, that three hour span of football that they're going to only get on Saturday."
I don't know if I'm going to go so far as to call it a chip on their collective shoulder - trying to recalibrate after an obviously disappointing loss both the fan base and the perception of the program at large - but it was one of the themes of the aftermath of last game and the week itself. Penn State wasn't freaking out, but felt very much that everyone else was.
2) I'm not sure there's a lot to say about injuries at this point. Campbell looks like a go, Miller looks like a go, no word on Bates and obviously I would be stunned if Ryan Buchholz sees action this week, at minimum.
That said, the team continued its approach of next man up and expects that to play itself out at Michigan State and moving forward.
Taking questions from the media on Tuesday, linebacker Jason Cabinda offered up an assessment of how some of the younger guys - now forced into bigger roles due to the injuries - performed against Ohio State and what he's expecting as the group sees more and more action.
"I think they played well. I mean, it's obviously tough any time you lose a veteran guy or guys are out for even a series or two. It's tough," said Cabinda. "Those guys prepared really well. They came in and played hard. They did what we were asking them to do. I think as a defense in general we made too many mistakes. Mistakes that we don't normally make. That is kind of the disappointing part about it.
"We're going to get better. We watched the film and made corrections. It's time to move on to Michigan State. That's kind of what we're doing right now."
3) And last but not least, a few notes on Michigan State and how this game is shaping up tomorrow afternoon here in East Lansing.
One of the things that Franklin talked about on the coaches show and I think has basically been the story of the season is a question of how Penn State's offensive line holds up against Michigan State's defensive line, and in turn, how Penn State's receivers match up against Michigan State's secondary in the passing game. Not unlike most of the opponents Penn State has faced this season, it sounds like Franklin is expecting the Spartans to key in on Barkley (just as they did last year) and take their chances on the perimeter.
Gattis offered an evaluation of that secondary on Thursday.
"When you look at last year's secondary, they were playing with a lot of true freshmen out there. True freshmen at corners and playing with some young guys in the back end. So they play with a very aggressive style of defense committed to stopping the run and outnumber you in a number of different ways," said Gattis. "But one of the things they're doing also in the pass game is they're playing a lot more aggressive in their techniques and press at the line of scrimmage, trying to be disruptive at the line of scrimmage to not allow people to take advantage of them. So I think they're doing a really good job.
"If you look at their track record there at Michigan State, they've always produced top-level defenses, so it's going to be a challenge for us and obviously a challenge that our guys are excited about from an overall team standpoint whenever you get another chance to play a Big Ten opponent on the road, you gotta prepare at a high level. So I think we've had a great week of practice and a great week of preparation so far and we're going to continue taking steps to prepare to give us the best chance to win on Saturday. But I think they're a much improved football team overall. This is not the Michigan State that people saw last year. This is the Michigan State program that Coach Dantonio has built over the years. They may have one down year, but they're still a pretty good football team and you can't discredit them from any of the success they've had in the past. They prepare well, they've got great coaches and we're excited about the opportunity to play those guys on Saturday."
In other words, if Michigan State is going to be aggressive on the perimeter, Penn State has suggested this week it feels it has the athletes to exploit some of the chances the Spartans intend to take.
****
OK. Staff picks tomorrow morning.
First, and I think probably most important given my current unpleasant mood and/or attitude, I think it's important to remember that these are the moments from which I earn my salary. Sure, you all would do my job for free when it's sitting in Beaver Stadium, enjoying the free press box dinner or in down on the field at Ohio Stadium as the crowd roars to life. But I can assure you, there is nothing glamorous about the Fairfield Inn in Okemos, Michigan. Nothing at all.
If you'll indulge me, my experience at Avis getting my car rental was really the beginning of the meltdown. I mean, just abysmal. There were four employees working, maybe 20 people in front of me, and it took all of an hour to get a car. Avis, you just have to do better than that. With some deep contemplation and a reevaluation of my priorities in life, I think I will be able to move past this.
Moving on.
I spent some time collecting some of the leftover quotes and notes from the week that I thought would be good to pass along here in a little less formal of a format. Let's call them musings.
I'm going to hammer out some of them here:
1) I think this got a little play last night from some of the notes I passed along from James Franklin's coaches show, but one of the things that has stood out to me this week is some of the frustration from the program itself over some of the more extreme negative reactions given the loss at Ohio State on Saturday.
I relayed to you guys the psyche of this group of guys, really kind of shrugging off the loss, determined to move on and relying on the process as a form of comfort to get them back to business and on to the next task. But the other part of it came both immediately after the game when a couple of the players were asked what fans and media don't really understand about a game like that, and then again this week to assistant coach Josh Gattis.
I'm just going to do a cut and paste job here:
"They obviously have outside views and they can say whatever they want to say, but at the end of the day, they're not on the field. At the end of the day, they weren't in the weight room with us. At the end of the day, they didn't grind all offseason like we did. So let them talk. They can say whatever they want," said Saquon Barkley immediately after the game. "The true fans are going to stay with us and we just gotta continue to find a way to keep our season going, keep our head up. Obviously yes it sucks we lost. We wanted an undefeated season, it didn't happen. Put on the pads, move on to Michigan State. First comes Sunday, get in the weight room, lift, watch film, learn from it, come out, fix it, move on, move on to Michigan State."
"People that don't play football, don't comment on the game," said Mike Gesicki. "Ultimately, yeah it was a physical game. It was two of the best teams in the country going at it, two of the best teams in the Big Ten going at it, and unless you were on that field, you're not going to understand what was put into that, what was ultimately invested into those last three and a half hours. I'm extremely proud to be a Penn State football player."
And finally, from Gattis.
"Obviously we hear a lot. But I would just say to caution how much goes into a game plan, how much goes into a Saturday with the amount of film study our players do, the amount of film as coaches. On Monday nights as an offensive staff, we're in here sometimes until midnight or 1 a.m. putting together the game plan, and a lot of times you hear everyone has an answer over five minutes of film or one bad play and they've got the answer of what you should be doing, but no one knows the process it takes to prepare yourself for one opportunity on Saturday," he said. "There's a lot of answers, there's a lot of opinions. Obviously as coaches, we kind of see those and sometimes it's funny, sometimes there's very valid points, sometimes there's points that are kind of off the wall.
"But I think the thing that most people really have to realize is to take a step back and understand the approach and the process that it takes because you may judge one play by however we're basing things that we do off a season of film and the countless hours and the minutes that go into preparing our kids to be successful on Saturday. I think it's something that most people don't have an understanding of and how much these kids sacrifice throughout the week for that one opportunity, that three hour span of football that they're going to only get on Saturday."
I don't know if I'm going to go so far as to call it a chip on their collective shoulder - trying to recalibrate after an obviously disappointing loss both the fan base and the perception of the program at large - but it was one of the themes of the aftermath of last game and the week itself. Penn State wasn't freaking out, but felt very much that everyone else was.
2) I'm not sure there's a lot to say about injuries at this point. Campbell looks like a go, Miller looks like a go, no word on Bates and obviously I would be stunned if Ryan Buchholz sees action this week, at minimum.
That said, the team continued its approach of next man up and expects that to play itself out at Michigan State and moving forward.
Taking questions from the media on Tuesday, linebacker Jason Cabinda offered up an assessment of how some of the younger guys - now forced into bigger roles due to the injuries - performed against Ohio State and what he's expecting as the group sees more and more action.
"I think they played well. I mean, it's obviously tough any time you lose a veteran guy or guys are out for even a series or two. It's tough," said Cabinda. "Those guys prepared really well. They came in and played hard. They did what we were asking them to do. I think as a defense in general we made too many mistakes. Mistakes that we don't normally make. That is kind of the disappointing part about it.
"We're going to get better. We watched the film and made corrections. It's time to move on to Michigan State. That's kind of what we're doing right now."
3) And last but not least, a few notes on Michigan State and how this game is shaping up tomorrow afternoon here in East Lansing.
One of the things that Franklin talked about on the coaches show and I think has basically been the story of the season is a question of how Penn State's offensive line holds up against Michigan State's defensive line, and in turn, how Penn State's receivers match up against Michigan State's secondary in the passing game. Not unlike most of the opponents Penn State has faced this season, it sounds like Franklin is expecting the Spartans to key in on Barkley (just as they did last year) and take their chances on the perimeter.
Gattis offered an evaluation of that secondary on Thursday.
"When you look at last year's secondary, they were playing with a lot of true freshmen out there. True freshmen at corners and playing with some young guys in the back end. So they play with a very aggressive style of defense committed to stopping the run and outnumber you in a number of different ways," said Gattis. "But one of the things they're doing also in the pass game is they're playing a lot more aggressive in their techniques and press at the line of scrimmage, trying to be disruptive at the line of scrimmage to not allow people to take advantage of them. So I think they're doing a really good job.
"If you look at their track record there at Michigan State, they've always produced top-level defenses, so it's going to be a challenge for us and obviously a challenge that our guys are excited about from an overall team standpoint whenever you get another chance to play a Big Ten opponent on the road, you gotta prepare at a high level. So I think we've had a great week of practice and a great week of preparation so far and we're going to continue taking steps to prepare to give us the best chance to win on Saturday. But I think they're a much improved football team overall. This is not the Michigan State that people saw last year. This is the Michigan State program that Coach Dantonio has built over the years. They may have one down year, but they're still a pretty good football team and you can't discredit them from any of the success they've had in the past. They prepare well, they've got great coaches and we're excited about the opportunity to play those guys on Saturday."
In other words, if Michigan State is going to be aggressive on the perimeter, Penn State has suggested this week it feels it has the athletes to exploit some of the chances the Spartans intend to take.
****
OK. Staff picks tomorrow morning.
