I sit in the stands and hear people complain the entire game about playcalling and singing the praises of Joe Moorhead. I find playcalling to be questionable sure but I don’t understand the love fest for Joe Moorhead. Sure he gave us some nice concepts and the offense has done a complete turnabout from the Donovan days but didn’t Trace have a pretty successful bowl game after Hack got hurt pre-Moorhead? Maybe, just maybe the resumes are a little inflated by the generational talent that was on this offensive football team. Barkley, Gesicki, Hamilton, Godwin were amazing offensive talents. Not only did they pad Moorhead and Franklin’s resume, Rahne in the bowl game looked pretty darn good too. I think we have seen some fall off in trace this year too, he surely benefitted from these guys as well.
Look at Moorhead vs Mullen at Miss State. He inherited a solid offense with 8 of 11 returning offensive starters and a third year starting QB. They are averaging almost 10 points a game less in 2018 vs 2017. Miss State has scored in single digits more this year (4) then they have the 3 previous years combined (3).
Too many people and followers bow to these coaches for 2016, 2017 successes but a defense having to worry/plan for the generational talent of Barkley in every facet of the game while also dealing with the incredible receivers on the field...that would make a lot of QBs, offensive lines, coaches and game plans look solid. Remember Moorhead called the plays when PSU blew big late leads to USC in 2016 bowl game, 2017 Ohio state. A 2017 victory against Ohio State would have probably landed them in the CFP.
This isn’t apologetic toward Franklin, Rahne and the offensive coaches this year but they had some players they were really counting on to carry them underperform or outright struggle/slump. I think great players and great performances make any coach and game plan look good, we didn’t get enough of that when it mattered this year, we had just the opposite...mistakes, drops, penalties and missed opportunities.
Look at Moorhead vs Mullen at Miss State. He inherited a solid offense with 8 of 11 returning offensive starters and a third year starting QB. They are averaging almost 10 points a game less in 2018 vs 2017. Miss State has scored in single digits more this year (4) then they have the 3 previous years combined (3).
Too many people and followers bow to these coaches for 2016, 2017 successes but a defense having to worry/plan for the generational talent of Barkley in every facet of the game while also dealing with the incredible receivers on the field...that would make a lot of QBs, offensive lines, coaches and game plans look solid. Remember Moorhead called the plays when PSU blew big late leads to USC in 2016 bowl game, 2017 Ohio state. A 2017 victory against Ohio State would have probably landed them in the CFP.
This isn’t apologetic toward Franklin, Rahne and the offensive coaches this year but they had some players they were really counting on to carry them underperform or outright struggle/slump. I think great players and great performances make any coach and game plan look good, we didn’t get enough of that when it mattered this year, we had just the opposite...mistakes, drops, penalties and missed opportunities.