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Mark Brennan further exposes Franklin...

Parkerdam555

Well-Known Member
Jul 2, 2022
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WHAT'S UP WITH?
• Clifford blowing a gasket against another elite team. This was likely his last shot against a top-10 opponent. It was definitely his last shot against the premier program in the Big Ten, which just so happens to be from his home state. As it played out, this was a game where Penn State REALLY needed the veteran quarterback to NOT make colossal errors. And yet he did. Again.

• Penn State going with third-team DT Jordan van den Berg and now second-team linebacker Jonathan Sutherland on the HUGE defensive series after taking a 21-16 lead. The Lions were coming off a 5:44 scoring drive that began in the third quarter, so it was not as if anyone was tired. They paid dearly for not having their best players — including Carter — on the field. Sutherland was late getting to where he needed to be on the second play of OSU’s drive, allowing a 13-yard completion. On the next play, van den Berg took a bad slant and was buried by guard Matthew Jones. Then Sutherland took a terrible angle and ran straight into the tight end Stover. It created a huge gap for Henderson, who busted off the 41-yard TD run.

I was fine with Penn State using heavy defensive rotations deep into the fourth quarter early in the season, to build depth. But this was nuts. When you have a chance to drop the hammer on a team like Ohio State, you do it with your best players. If the Buckeyes beat THEM, shake their hands and move on.

DID YOU NOTICE?
• Defensive end Chop Robinson was back after missing the Minnesota game with an unspecified injury. He came off the bench to contribute one tackle.

• Penn State starting guard Landon Tengwall missed his third straight game with what appears to be a left arm or shoulder injury. He was once again replaced by Hunter Nourzad.

• Starting right guard Caedan Wallace dressed but did not play. He was replaced by the veteran Effner. Effner struggled against Tuimoloah all afternoon. Wallace was knocked out of the Minnesota game with an unspecified injury.


UNANSWERED QUESTION
• What does Penn State do at quarterback? Before the Minnesota game, I said if the Lions wanted to have a legit shot to beat the Buckeyes — and give themselves any chance of climbing back into the College Football Playoff discussion — they had to start true freshman Drew Allar against the struggling Gophers to prepare him for OSU. Six years into his career, we knew who Clifford was. And he wasn’t (and isn't) the guy who beats top-10 teams.

Clifford, who was awful in a loss at Michigan the previous week, started against Minnesota Oct. 22. He overcame an early pick and played outstanding football in being named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week (pause) after the blowout win. And then the Buckeyes came to town.
 
I want to see the apologists defend THIS. THIS ain't coming from one of us, it's coming from the top. An impartial and highly respected source.

It's indefensible that in the most crucial part of the game, Franklin had his 3rd team defensive tackle and his little golden boy number zero on the field at the same time.

I think one of the best things about next year is Franklin can't put Sutherland and Clifford on the field to lose games.
 
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In regards to Clifford, he gives us the best chance to win. He wasn't perfect yesterday but he wasn't our biggest problem either. The offensive line looks like it did in 2015 when facing above average defensive talent. They are successfully executing some of the more complicated plays from a blocking perspective on a small percentage of plays but hardly enough. This is really hard blocking scheme to master, especially when the majority of the two deep were recruited and developed to run JoeMo's hybrid. The line is the problem, not Clifford. Clifford isn't perfect and he certainly wasn't yesterday but the line is mostly responsible for three of four turnovers. Allen and Clifford share responsibility for the other.

But, in the grand scheme of things, Franklin is the problem. He knowingly brought in a system coordinator. A coordinator that only can run what he knows and has never shown that he has the talent to do more. He is installing a very complicated offense from a blocking perspective with players not suited to it (who are also on their third scheme in four years hybrid in 2019, zone in 2020, spread gap now). Due to many years of recruiting failures, we lack the receivers with the skillset necessary to threaten the deep third (not that the QB would have time for those routes to develop at this point).

On defense it isn't much different with Diaz. Diaz does what he does come hell or high water and eventually it breaks. Ohio State played it safe for three quarters which kept the game close before they stopped riding the brakes and then the defense broke. Our line is always going to play well against zone and gap blocking which OSU uses because those schemes lack flexibility. When it mattered, they were man handled due to lack of size and talent. Once Ohio State decided it was time to open up the offense, they exploded. They could have done that in the first quarter or the second and buried us early but they opted not to take chances.
 
I didn't watch the game but listened to the radio, and that was limited, but I thought Steve Jones said they had to go with Sutherland because of injury to someone.
I think it was Jacobs that got injured.
 
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I was fine with Penn State using heavy defensive rotations deep into the fourth quarter early in the season, to build depth. But this was nuts.
Franklin trusts the process at all times. The problem is the process is broken and always has been. Franklin has demonstrated limited ability to adjust as the situation around him and the team evolves. If Auburn and Purdue were as good as last year and Tanner Morgan had played, we would almost certainly have 5 losses right now. We have 2 losses, Indiana is dangerous coming off of a loss, Maryland is playing well and Michigan State is getting healthy.
 
Carter got dinged up. So did a couple of DL.

Botomline on this game is that it took the greatest defensive performance by an opponent at the Beav to beat the Nits.

It was not Stroud, Harrison, or Henderson. It was solely #44 who was directly responsible for 21 pts. PSU whooped on the Bucks otherwise who are pretty soft and will not beat scUM.

We just witnessed what might have been the greatest single game defensive lineman performance in CFB. That’s right. Epic. Appreciate what you saw yesterday. Unbelievable!
 
I want to see the apologists defend THIS. THIS ain't coming from one of us, it's coming from the top. An impartial and highly respected source.

It's indefensible that in the most crucial part of the game, Franklin had his 3rd team defensive tackle and his little golden boy number zero on the field at the same time.

I think one of the best things about next year is Franklin can't put Sutherland and Clifford on the field to lose games.
There very gusty though.
 
Carter got dinged up. So did a couple of DL.

Botomline on this game is that it took the greatest defensive performance by an opponent at the Beav to beat the Nits.

It was not Stroud, Harrison, or Henderson. It was solely #44 who was directly responsible for 21 pts. PSU whooped on the Bucks otherwise who are pretty soft and will not beat scUM.

We just witnessed what might have been the greatest single game defensive lineman performance in CFB. That’s right. Epic. Appreciate what you saw yesterday. Unbelievable!
44s performance was just a repeat of how many by OSU D linemen. Young and Bosa have both been game wreckers against PSU. It was a great performance no doubt, but hardly unique against a perennial bad PSU O line.
 
Carter got dinged up. So did a couple of DL.

Botomline on this game is that it took the greatest defensive performance by an opponent at the Beav to beat the Nits.

It was not Stroud, Harrison, or Henderson. It was solely #44 who was directly responsible for 21 pts. PSU whooped on the Bucks otherwise who are pretty soft and will not beat scUM.

We just witnessed what might have been the greatest single game defensive lineman performance in CFB. That’s right. Epic. Appreciate what you saw yesterday. Unbelievable!
Absolutely correct. 44 had both the right tackle’s, and Clifford’s number…. Completely. 2 interceptions, caused/recovered fumbles, 3-4 deflected passes, several other “affected” passes. — almost everyone else played the buckeyes “straight up” or better, in the aggregate.
— One easily fixable flaw that bugs me, is the amount of deflected passes by OSU compared to our D-line. Are they not taught to raise their arms/hands when the QB throws? This narrows throwing windows….. and OSU is outstanding at it. Once upon a time, we were too. Did it leave with Tom Bradley and Larry Johnson?
 
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In 4th Q, OSU had 3rd and 10, PSU was in good position if they make the stop. I looked at my wife and told her that I wished I was a bettor and I would bet there would be a pass over the middle for an 11 or 12 yard gain. Sure enough that is exactly what happened. Would’ve been easy money.
 
The DT depth is terrible...LB room is marginal...and what in the world happened to Tengwall? I mean he's been out weeks since injuring himself warming up at Michigan...did he rip off his shoulder?
 
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It was not Stroud, Harrison, or Henderson. It was solely #44 who was directly responsible for 21 pts. PSU whooped on the Bucks otherwise who are pretty soft and will not beat scUM.

We just witnessed what might have been the greatest single game defensive lineman performance in CFB. That’s right. Epic. Appreciate what you saw yesterday. Unbelievable!
Courtney Brown says Hello, and Mike Reid says Don't forget me.

Yes, it was a terrific performance. FWIW, I thought PSU #72 subbing for #79 was awful.

#44 looks like an early 1st round Draft choice type player to me.
 
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Carter got dinged up. So did a couple of DL.

Botomline on this game is that it took the greatest defensive performance by an opponent at the Beav to beat the Nits.

It was not Stroud, Harrison, or Henderson. It was solely #44 who was directly responsible for 21 pts. PSU whooped on the Bucks otherwise who are pretty soft and will not beat scUM.

We just witnessed what might have been the greatest single game defensive lineman performance in CFB. That’s right. Epic. Appreciate what you saw yesterday. Unbelievable!
All of #44's success owes itself to a huge assist from #14 in Blue and White. Kudos to both.
 
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• Starting right guard Caedan Wallace dressed but did not play. He was replaced by the veteran Effner. Effner struggled against Tuimoloah all afternoon. Wallace was knocked out of the Minnesota game with an unspecified injury.

That's an understatement. 44 manhandled the guy on several of the big plays he created if not all. I'd have to watch again, but I absolutely recall 72 on the ground for at least two big plays. I feel bad for the kid.

Maybe the coaches could have helped him out and not throw those quick short passes to that side? Maybe get a tight end on that side to help out. It was a mismatch.
 
That's an understatement. 44 manhandled the guy on several of the big plays he created if not all. I'd have to watch again, but I absolutely recall 72 on the ground for at least two big plays. I feel bad for the kid.

Maybe the coaches could have helped him out and not throw those quick short passes to that side? Maybe get a tight end on that side to help out. It was a mismatch.
What? Our coaching staff adjusting to the reality of the situation? That’s a nice dream. Our coaches don’t do that. The plan was the plan, regardless of OSUs DE blowing up our reserve RT all game. The game plan was stupid in that case. The adjustments, if any were even made, were failures. The program continues to backslide, and our team is no longer feared, even in Beaver Stadium.

We are now a 2nd tier program because we don’t win enough to be considered a better one. Who at the PSU Athletic Department is going to do something about it?
 
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That's an understatement. 44 manhandled the guy on several of the big plays he created if not all. I'd have to watch again, but I absolutely recall 72 on the ground for at least two big plays. I feel bad for the kid.

Maybe the coaches could have helped him out and not throw those quick short passes to that side? Maybe get a tight end on that side to help out. It was a mismatch.
72 is not a B1G starting RT....not even close. Caedan isn't much better. In 2019, Chase Young had 4 tfls, 3 sacks, and 2 FF vs PSU. Last year, Hutchinson made Rasheed his b**** all game. Our OL is laughable and an embarrassment to PSU football of yesteryear that played with attitude and a mean-streak. But, that's cool, JF will hope for explosive plays.
 
In 4th Q, OSU had 3rd and 10, PSU was in good position if they make the stop. I looked at my wife and told her that I wished I was a bettor and I would bet there would be a pass over the middle for an 11 or 12 yard gain. Sure enough that is exactly what happened. Would’ve been easy money.
our blitzing seem to hurt only us. When we blitzed we left the entire middle oft the field open......happens way too often
 
nobody can, thanks to Barbour

the penalty for moving on is so high that it would ruin the department financially
Once the goose that lays the golden eggs starts to dry up, the department will be ruined and sports will have to be cut (and/or tuition raised).

Better to try and improve and have a have to stem the tide.
 
if it was 10 or 15 million maybe

but it is like 70 million dollars to part ways

the contract was egregiously irresponsible

as someone else wrote we could have hired a coach who has won super bowls for the amount of money this involved

it is strange
Complete incompetence. And PSU knew it all along. But she checked boxes.

Fiduciary malpractice!
 
In regards to Clifford, he gives us the best chance to win. He wasn't perfect yesterday but he wasn't our biggest problem either.
LOL “wasn’t perfect” is an extremely gentle way to say he turned the ball over 4 times. Also hilarious to say that the guy that gave the ball to the other team 4 times, all on our side of the field, wasn’t the biggest problem
 
as someone else wrote we could have hired a coach who has won super bowls for the amount of money this involved

Which one?

Andy Reid
Barry Switzer
Bill Belichick
Bill Cowher
Bill Parcells
Bill Walsh
Brian Billick
Bruce Arians
Dick Vermeil
Doug Pederson
Gary Kubiak
George Seifert
Jimmy Johnson
Joe Gibbs
John Harbaugh
Jon Gruden
Mike Ditka
Mike Holmgren
Mike McCarthy
Mike Shanahan
Mike Tomlin
Pete Carroll
Sean McVay
Sean Payton
Tom Coughlin
Tom Flores
Tony Dungy

In terms of available coaches who haven't aged out, Payton and Gruden are the only two you could maybe see running an elite program.
 
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Carter got dinged up. So did a couple of DL.

Botomline on this game is that it took the greatest defensive performance by an opponent at the Beav to beat the Nits.

It was not Stroud, Harrison, or Henderson. It was solely #44 who was directly responsible for 21 pts. PSU whooped on the Bucks otherwise who are pretty soft and will not beat scUM.

We just witnessed what might have been the greatest single game defensive lineman performance in CFB. That’s right. Epic. Appreciate what you saw yesterday. Unbelievable!
All made possible by Clifford and his terrible decision making!
 
Once the goose that lays the golden eggs starts to dry up, the department will be ruined and sports will have to be cut (and/or tuition raised).

Better to try and improve and have a have to stem the tide.
What you’re saying is pretty insane when you think about it…. that the head football coach makes so much money he would have to raise tuition at 100,000 student university campus to cover his buyout. That’s disgusting and nobody here should think Franklin is worth anywhere near that
 
if it comes to this... the way to get him to leave without breaking the bank although it may be very disruptive to the program, is to name someone as the 'coach in waiting' which sends a clear message

No one names coaches in waiting anymore due to the change to recruiting rules and how it limits what a "coach in waiting" is allowed to do.
 
i think the only reason to do it would be to make franklin want to leave

so your plan for making Franklin leave is essentially "create a hostile work environment" and potentially kneecap the program for multiple seasons. Yea that would end brilliantly. Definitely the path to 11+ win seasons on the reg. Who on the staff do you want to name CIW, Diaz or Yurcich?
 
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What? Our coaching staff adjusting to the reality of the situation? That’s a nice dream. Our coaches don’t do that. The plan was the plan, regardless of OSUs DE blowing up our reserve RT all game. The game plan was stupid in that case. The adjustments, if any were even made, were failures. The program continues to backslide, and our team is no longer feared, even in Beaver Stadium.

We are now a 2nd tier program because we don’t win enough to be considered a better one. Who at the PSU Athletic Department is going to do something about it?
O$U will be 2nd tier once they don't win the natty. You have one first tier team every year and all others are loser 2nd tier. In your twisted world of screwed up logic that is how you have to look at it. You can't arbitrarily pick a conference championship as the definition as first tier. Plus sure as stink all over and inside your shoes, even after scUM loses to O$U they will still be first tier in your convoluted mind. Finally, even if we did win the conf championship 3 straight years and went to the playoff then lost in the semis you would be whining like a baby calling for wholesale changes because we can't win it all. Thus, face it, it is natty or bust in your world and you need to live in that miserable world.
 
thats a far cry from hostile

Semantics.

You want the AD to make his job so unpleasant, in this case by naming a successor for a coach that isn't retiring, that he quits. It would almost certainly tank the program, and possibly end in a lawsuit.
 
JTT played a tremendous game,not only physically but mentally. He was well prepared to make the decisions based on preparation. When he couldn't get to the quarterback he played the lanes to alter outcomes or impact our decisions. We tried to force to many things based on play calling. I'm not going to beat up Clifford but he has always focused on his primary receiver or call. He needs to do more improvising to get better outcomes
 
I want to see the apologists defend THIS. THIS ain't coming from one of us, it's coming from the top. An impartial and highly respected source.

It's indefensible that in the most crucial part of the game, Franklin had his 3rd team defensive tackle and his little golden boy number zero on the field at the same time.

I think one of the best things about next year is Franklin can't put Sutherland and Clifford on the field to lose games.
Franklin isn’t the reason Penn
State lost yesterday. Did it ever occur to you haters and Brennan that maybe the DC decided who plays in certain situations? Nah that couldn’t be it. Here I thought it was a 6th year senior QB who had 4 turnovers. My bad. Waiting for you geniuses to report that Franklin is responsible for global warning too. No coach is perfect and I have been critical of Franklin when it is deserved but claiming Franklin was responsible for yesterday’s loss is beyond asinine and pathetically agenda driven. The team lost the game because they turned the ball over 4 times, several at key points in the game, and OSU didn’t turn it over once. That’s a recipe for defeat 9 out of 10 times
 
Franklin isn’t the reason Penn
State lost yesterday. Did it ever occur to you haters and Brennan that maybe the DC decided who plays in certain situations? Nah that couldn’t be it. Here I thought it was a 6th year senior QB who had 4 turnovers. My bad. Waiting for you geniuses to report that Franklin is responsible for global warning too. No coach is perfect and I have been critical of Franklin when it is deserved but claiming Franklin was responsible for yesterday’s loss is beyond asinine and pathetically agenda driven. The team lost the game because they turned the ball over 4 times, several at key points in the game, and OSU didn’t turn it over once. That’s a recipe for defeat 9 out of 10 times
Take it up with Brennan, he wrote the article and has far more respect than Tom Mcandrew your buddy.
 
I want to see the apologists defend THIS. THIS ain't coming from one of us, it's coming from the top. An impartial and highly respected source.

It's indefensible that in the most crucial part of the game, Franklin had his 3rd team defensive tackle and his little golden boy number zero on the field at the same time.

I think one of the best things about next year is Franklin can't put Sutherland and Clifford on the field to lose games.
Mark Brennan is the top?
 
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