I was at the Lasch Building Saturday morning, arrived at Beaver Stadium by about 12:30 p.m., spent a little time on the field during pregame warmups, and was there until about 6:30 p.m. when I finally left the media room and walked back to my car.
Still, I didn’t really see the Blue-White Game until catching the Big Ten Network’s broadcast of the game - set on my DVR - Sunday morning.
Approached by the Big Ten and Penn State this week, I was offered an opportunity to shadow the officiating crew for the game. Understanding the inherent risk of missing the instant access information and perspective provided by the press box, I couldn’t turn down the chance to see how these guys do their jobs and, maybe more important, check out the unfettered view from the sidelines and, at times, literally the middle of the field.
My only requirement was this:
No stripes.
Preferring to not look like more of a goofball than I already am, my plainclothes kept the whole operation fairly incognito, which is right up my alley. I’m going to have some time to put together a fuller feature story about the experience for our magazine that will also be run here - and if time permits maybe tomorrow I’ll go through some of my thoughts and impressions on the officiating experience - but I think it’s fair to say that Penn State-centric news and notes are the more pertinent topics today.
So with that, I just want to run through some informal impressions from what I experienced from the field and saw from the replay about the team:
- I’m going to paraphrase here, but I think that this lighthearted exchange offers some great insight into what to expect out of this offense this year. Gathering with complete officiating crew on the field just before the start of the game after the team had come through the tunnel, head coach James Franklin offered just a couple of guidelines on how he preferred the game to be called.
Pretty simple instructions: Keep it moving, no hits on the quarterbacks - which would be his whistle - and otherwise call it as they saw it, but looser than a normal practice which has everything flagged as an instruction tool.
To my point, though, when Franklin was asked about close calls on the play clock - say the clock hits :00 but the snap goes bang-bang - his response was pretty funny. Paraphrasing: We brought in a guy that runs an up-tempo offense! If we’re anywhere close to a delay of game penalty, we’re sending him back to Fordham! That’s not going to be a problem.
We all got a good laugh out of it, but sure enough, I don’t recall that being an issue in Saturday’s admittedly low-key, laid back atmosphere.
- For a little guy, Mark Allen runs with more power than you might expect. He’s a little jitterbug that looks like he wants to lower his shoulder. That ball he caught in the flat, then stopped on a dime with the cutback, I think is a dimension of his game that you’re going to see with some frequency this year. I also want to note here, the offensive line created some nice running lanes for him to go through.
- Maybe a boost of confidence for Mike Gesicki as a pass catcher on Saturday. He still needs to translate his efforts this winter and spring onto the field in the fall, but if the Blue-White Game can act even further as a springboard, more power to him.
- I’m fully committed to the perspective that Penn State’s evolution as a program through the past two years has been on an upward trajectory, even if it’s not with the immediacy that some might prefer. Reduced and eliminated sanctions, better recruiting, better players getting more experience and moving through the program. In retrospect, we’ll look at these years in segments - the end of Joe Paterno’s era, Bill O’Brien’s efforts to simply stay alive and transition the program into modernity as best as possible, and James Franklin’s transition from survival into actually building back up the program’s troops.
All that said, if this offseason was a crossroads of sorts - a moment where that upward trend could potentially go in the other direction - then one initial impression becomes important here: Joe Moorhead was an outstanding hire. He’s confident, comfortable, and just completely in charge of what he is doing. Granted, this is a program with personnel that is not completely in the clear in terms of ideal talent/experience ratio, but Moorhead is clearly capable and now has a group that is more equipped to find success than the ones in the past couple of years.
- Before I say what I’m about to say, just understand that it’s a good thing. The entire offseason is going to be dominated by a story line that revolves solely on who will be the starting quarterback. Will it be Trace McSorley? Will it be Tommy Stevens? Seriously, it’s going to be a constant story line and fans and media will both eat it up.
That said, quarterback might be among the more inconsequential of the position battles this year. From what I have seen and heard this practice about the offense itself and the two primary competitors for quarterback, whoever wins the job will be completely capable of running this offense successfully in concert with improved play from the offensive line. If the line struggles, they’ll struggle. But in an environment Saturday that created ideal conditions for the offense, they’ll be good. The issue is that the jury is still out on the line. The defense moved ahead of the offense once some intricacies were introduced to their scheme this spring, and as you guys were made even more aware on Saturday, the defense is a particularly banged up side.
When the two sides commence in August and everyone is healthy and ready to go, which one are you picking to have the advantage?
- Now that I’ve pooh poohed the whole quarterback story line, I’m going to talk about it more. I know, I’m a hypocrite.
Coming out of the game, it’d be easy to think that Stevens is quicker to pull the ball down and run with it, but I think a review of the game showed it was pretty clear that the second team offensive line struggled against that first group on the defense, and vice versa for the first team line against a second team defensive hurting from injuries and inexperience. That looked like a pretty perfect deep ball from Stevens to Johnson in the opening couple of minutes. Juwan had to reach just a little bit inside, which gave Haley the opportunity to knock it away.
McSorley’s touchdown to DeAndre Thompkins was a great pass, but it was an even better read. I don’t think that you could classify it as a deep ball - which Franklin said was one of his main areas to improve this spring - but his field recognition and execution of the pass was really, really good. Also, DeAndre Thompkins made a great move to get so open.
- Brent Pry is a football coach. I don’t know how else to say it. He’s just tough and no-nonsense and loves football. He’s not exactly a clone of Bob Shoop, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they got along so well. They love the game, they love the kids, and everything about them just screams total commitment to those things.
- As a group, the wideouts are going to be a real weapon for this offense. I really like DaeSean Hamilton in the slot. He’s such a big, strong target to have there as a safety valve, and obviously the move opened up Saeed Blacknall’s opportunity who seems to be living up to the reports coming out of the spring.
- This is probably more me just waxing poetic than anything else, but I think there’s a little something to be said for coming out of the Blue-White Game feeling good about yourselves. The defense was banged up but still had some success getting to the quarterback. The offense obviously found some success with McSorley especially but both quarterbacks really. All around, a day that Penn State is probably feeling pretty good about as a program today.
Still, I didn’t really see the Blue-White Game until catching the Big Ten Network’s broadcast of the game - set on my DVR - Sunday morning.
Approached by the Big Ten and Penn State this week, I was offered an opportunity to shadow the officiating crew for the game. Understanding the inherent risk of missing the instant access information and perspective provided by the press box, I couldn’t turn down the chance to see how these guys do their jobs and, maybe more important, check out the unfettered view from the sidelines and, at times, literally the middle of the field.
My only requirement was this:
No stripes.
Preferring to not look like more of a goofball than I already am, my plainclothes kept the whole operation fairly incognito, which is right up my alley. I’m going to have some time to put together a fuller feature story about the experience for our magazine that will also be run here - and if time permits maybe tomorrow I’ll go through some of my thoughts and impressions on the officiating experience - but I think it’s fair to say that Penn State-centric news and notes are the more pertinent topics today.
So with that, I just want to run through some informal impressions from what I experienced from the field and saw from the replay about the team:
- I’m going to paraphrase here, but I think that this lighthearted exchange offers some great insight into what to expect out of this offense this year. Gathering with complete officiating crew on the field just before the start of the game after the team had come through the tunnel, head coach James Franklin offered just a couple of guidelines on how he preferred the game to be called.
Pretty simple instructions: Keep it moving, no hits on the quarterbacks - which would be his whistle - and otherwise call it as they saw it, but looser than a normal practice which has everything flagged as an instruction tool.
To my point, though, when Franklin was asked about close calls on the play clock - say the clock hits :00 but the snap goes bang-bang - his response was pretty funny. Paraphrasing: We brought in a guy that runs an up-tempo offense! If we’re anywhere close to a delay of game penalty, we’re sending him back to Fordham! That’s not going to be a problem.
We all got a good laugh out of it, but sure enough, I don’t recall that being an issue in Saturday’s admittedly low-key, laid back atmosphere.
- For a little guy, Mark Allen runs with more power than you might expect. He’s a little jitterbug that looks like he wants to lower his shoulder. That ball he caught in the flat, then stopped on a dime with the cutback, I think is a dimension of his game that you’re going to see with some frequency this year. I also want to note here, the offensive line created some nice running lanes for him to go through.
- Maybe a boost of confidence for Mike Gesicki as a pass catcher on Saturday. He still needs to translate his efforts this winter and spring onto the field in the fall, but if the Blue-White Game can act even further as a springboard, more power to him.
- I’m fully committed to the perspective that Penn State’s evolution as a program through the past two years has been on an upward trajectory, even if it’s not with the immediacy that some might prefer. Reduced and eliminated sanctions, better recruiting, better players getting more experience and moving through the program. In retrospect, we’ll look at these years in segments - the end of Joe Paterno’s era, Bill O’Brien’s efforts to simply stay alive and transition the program into modernity as best as possible, and James Franklin’s transition from survival into actually building back up the program’s troops.
All that said, if this offseason was a crossroads of sorts - a moment where that upward trend could potentially go in the other direction - then one initial impression becomes important here: Joe Moorhead was an outstanding hire. He’s confident, comfortable, and just completely in charge of what he is doing. Granted, this is a program with personnel that is not completely in the clear in terms of ideal talent/experience ratio, but Moorhead is clearly capable and now has a group that is more equipped to find success than the ones in the past couple of years.
- Before I say what I’m about to say, just understand that it’s a good thing. The entire offseason is going to be dominated by a story line that revolves solely on who will be the starting quarterback. Will it be Trace McSorley? Will it be Tommy Stevens? Seriously, it’s going to be a constant story line and fans and media will both eat it up.
That said, quarterback might be among the more inconsequential of the position battles this year. From what I have seen and heard this practice about the offense itself and the two primary competitors for quarterback, whoever wins the job will be completely capable of running this offense successfully in concert with improved play from the offensive line. If the line struggles, they’ll struggle. But in an environment Saturday that created ideal conditions for the offense, they’ll be good. The issue is that the jury is still out on the line. The defense moved ahead of the offense once some intricacies were introduced to their scheme this spring, and as you guys were made even more aware on Saturday, the defense is a particularly banged up side.
When the two sides commence in August and everyone is healthy and ready to go, which one are you picking to have the advantage?
- Now that I’ve pooh poohed the whole quarterback story line, I’m going to talk about it more. I know, I’m a hypocrite.
Coming out of the game, it’d be easy to think that Stevens is quicker to pull the ball down and run with it, but I think a review of the game showed it was pretty clear that the second team offensive line struggled against that first group on the defense, and vice versa for the first team line against a second team defensive hurting from injuries and inexperience. That looked like a pretty perfect deep ball from Stevens to Johnson in the opening couple of minutes. Juwan had to reach just a little bit inside, which gave Haley the opportunity to knock it away.
McSorley’s touchdown to DeAndre Thompkins was a great pass, but it was an even better read. I don’t think that you could classify it as a deep ball - which Franklin said was one of his main areas to improve this spring - but his field recognition and execution of the pass was really, really good. Also, DeAndre Thompkins made a great move to get so open.
- Brent Pry is a football coach. I don’t know how else to say it. He’s just tough and no-nonsense and loves football. He’s not exactly a clone of Bob Shoop, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they got along so well. They love the game, they love the kids, and everything about them just screams total commitment to those things.
- As a group, the wideouts are going to be a real weapon for this offense. I really like DaeSean Hamilton in the slot. He’s such a big, strong target to have there as a safety valve, and obviously the move opened up Saeed Blacknall’s opportunity who seems to be living up to the reports coming out of the spring.
- This is probably more me just waxing poetic than anything else, but I think there’s a little something to be said for coming out of the Blue-White Game feeling good about yourselves. The defense was banged up but still had some success getting to the quarterback. The offense obviously found some success with McSorley especially but both quarterbacks really. All around, a day that Penn State is probably feeling pretty good about as a program today.
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