I just discovered why holding wasn't called throughout the game. It was a Big 12 officiating crew. They aren't used to teams actually wanting to play defense and got confused as to what was happening.
Obli's Observations: Rose Bowl
- Thread starter Obliviax
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Saw some USC players crying, I guess it was because they didn't want to be there.
You're correct of course, I mean how many spots would we lose in the preseason rankings next year (they do matter by the way) if we lose that game vs win it? The other thing is if he's hollering holding and calling out guys for getting away with holding that's a tacit implication of the officiating. They always fall off the high horse saying they never do that and how hard a job officiating is blah blah blah. So that's enough of this rant. Just call the games. Stash the agenda till next year.
I've read some comments on this Board about Singleton not having elite speed. I suppose that could be, but I have to say that when Singleton sees daylight, he is quite capable of putting it another gear. It may be sacrilege to say so, but he reminds me of #26 in that respect.
honestly, you think Tulane has better players than USC? I am not buying it. They phoned it in.
Regardless, it was a crappy bowl with two crappy teams. It certainly didn't elevate USC's program and us beating Memphis didn't elevate ours.
Singleton is fast. The only other player of the 22 on the field during his long TD run who legitimately got close was KLS. His burst through the hole and into the secondary was elite. Definitely Saquon-ish.
1. USC defense just isn't a strong suit. Riley had the same issue at OU. It doesn't appear that he's making the efforts to fix it either.
2. Drawing the Gof5 team is always a no win. Zero credit if you win, crapped on if you lose.
3. The ending was exciting. Made for a fun prelude to our game.
Elite is a silly word. Singleton is football fast.
Wandering Spectator
Well-Known Member
I think the stadium is a relic - much like Beaver Stadium. Great field. Awesome setting. Horrific traffic in and out. Not enough bathrooms. Lacking concessions (although bacon wrapped hot dogs fried up on a cookie sheet seem to be their chicken basket). My knees were banging off the seat in front of me. At the half, the coaches up in the box have to leave the stadium and take golf carts to get to the locker rooms. The announcer was not very helpful (I’m in the minority, but I kind of like our guy Dean) and the replays if there were any, were on relatively small video boards.
One cool thing for me was that we sat directly behind Rick Neuheisel. He was super friendly and was asking me about certain players throughout the game. He said CBS is likely doing the game against West Virginia next year. Let the Neuheisel sightings at the Tavern begin.
One cool thing for me was that we sat directly behind Rick Neuheisel. He was super friendly and was asking me about certain players throughout the game. He said CBS is likely doing the game against West Virginia next year. Let the Neuheisel sightings at the Tavern begin.
Looked like he tweaked his hamstring on that long TD pass, but yes, he played well.
I know he’s fast but I’m not sure how fast yet. To me eyes Carter was the fastest back I saw, then Barkley. I think Carter ran faster in the forty but Barkley did stumble in both of his combine runs.
I’d like to see his forty times but he obviously has great football speed.
It was some sort of "celebration" .....but it fooled the coaches, who weren't amused when they realized he was "foolin around."
That was a planned celebration move. https://triblive.com/sports/i-visua...ambert-smith-on-his-rose-bowl-record-breaker/
A few more points:
1. As noted with the "was that a hold" comment on the long Singleton TD, herbie in general kept the hype low. What stuck out to me was insistence on calling Rising's running "lumbering" which he said multiple times as he landed a very athletic hurdle and slipped out of collapsing pockets. If it were Ohio St, the hype for next year with what we have returning and the way we handled a top 10 two time PAC champ would have been over the top.
2. Utah dared Clifford and the passing game to beat them... and they did. Now don't get me wrong, the run game was good with 169 yards and 3 TDs but both Clifford and his young receivers had to step up and they did.
3. All but 47 yards of the 449 yards of offensive production in this game from the RBs and WRs return next season plus we get 2 starting OTs back including one who was a 1st round NFL grade. The questions are how quickly does Allar take to get to full speed and who replaces Tinsley? I'd love for some young WRs to step up over the off-season.
4. Did Strange play? He didn't seem to show up in any stats or memorable plays. What about Omari Evans? Didn't see him either.
5. Defensively, we held a team that averages 38.6 points per game to 21 with 7 coming against very deep depth during mop up time.
a. They did gash us with the run and we had a hard time with their running qb, but we actually held them to 33.6 yards rushing below their season average. Even still, would like to see some help or significant growth along the dline in the run stopping. That's what we need to match up with Michigan. I think we can replace Tarburton easily enough but for PJ, we need another stout dude. If Ellies returns as expected that will help and I like Izzard as well. Van den Berg could factor in and has a motor. Does Artis take the next step? Beamon and Durant are disruptive as 3 tech but lack size. LB will be great if Jacobs returns and King continues to improve. Plus, 3 awesome LB recruits inbound to go with a developing Wylie who had a half sack in his limited opportunities in the Rose.
b. Our secondary was great minus 1 play. Feel great about what we return especially if Ellis returns as expected.
6. Always nice to go out on a winning note. This team seems to keep improving and is stocked with young talent. Would expect a top 10 preseason ranking and I like the way our schedule sets up. The biggest risks are @Illinois followed immediately by Iowa because they both have a very physical style of play. Have to come out of that healthy. @Ohio St of course will be very difficult but this year we have UMass before and Indiana after so not Michigan and Ohio St back to back like the schedule makers often do to us. And we can hopefully have some payback for Michigan in Beaver stadium which has Maryland before and Rutgres after. Closing out at Michigan St may or may not be really tough, not sure what they'll have next year.
1. As noted with the "was that a hold" comment on the long Singleton TD, herbie in general kept the hype low. What stuck out to me was insistence on calling Rising's running "lumbering" which he said multiple times as he landed a very athletic hurdle and slipped out of collapsing pockets. If it were Ohio St, the hype for next year with what we have returning and the way we handled a top 10 two time PAC champ would have been over the top.
2. Utah dared Clifford and the passing game to beat them... and they did. Now don't get me wrong, the run game was good with 169 yards and 3 TDs but both Clifford and his young receivers had to step up and they did.
3. All but 47 yards of the 449 yards of offensive production in this game from the RBs and WRs return next season plus we get 2 starting OTs back including one who was a 1st round NFL grade. The questions are how quickly does Allar take to get to full speed and who replaces Tinsley? I'd love for some young WRs to step up over the off-season.
4. Did Strange play? He didn't seem to show up in any stats or memorable plays. What about Omari Evans? Didn't see him either.
5. Defensively, we held a team that averages 38.6 points per game to 21 with 7 coming against very deep depth during mop up time.
a. They did gash us with the run and we had a hard time with their running qb, but we actually held them to 33.6 yards rushing below their season average. Even still, would like to see some help or significant growth along the dline in the run stopping. That's what we need to match up with Michigan. I think we can replace Tarburton easily enough but for PJ, we need another stout dude. If Ellies returns as expected that will help and I like Izzard as well. Van den Berg could factor in and has a motor. Does Artis take the next step? Beamon and Durant are disruptive as 3 tech but lack size. LB will be great if Jacobs returns and King continues to improve. Plus, 3 awesome LB recruits inbound to go with a developing Wylie who had a half sack in his limited opportunities in the Rose.
b. Our secondary was great minus 1 play. Feel great about what we return especially if Ellis returns as expected.
6. Always nice to go out on a winning note. This team seems to keep improving and is stocked with young talent. Would expect a top 10 preseason ranking and I like the way our schedule sets up. The biggest risks are @Illinois followed immediately by Iowa because they both have a very physical style of play. Have to come out of that healthy. @Ohio St of course will be very difficult but this year we have UMass before and Indiana after so not Michigan and Ohio St back to back like the schedule makers often do to us. And we can hopefully have some payback for Michigan in Beaver stadium which has Maryland before and Rutgres after. Closing out at Michigan St may or may not be really tough, not sure what they'll have next year.
IMO, KLS is a big key to success next year. He has shown glimpses of these types of splash plays and he appears to have a good burst. The key ingredient needed is consistency. I am also hopeful that Allar is more effective and consistent throwing the deep ball and throwing guys open.
I don't know about fastest but I think Warner & Thomas were the shiftiest. I remember how effective the screen passes were in those days but we don't see them as often now.Journey Brown was so fast that you didn't see him.
Yes. Carter Brown Barkley. I’m not sure what order but they are the fastest I’ve seen. When Brown finally got the ball, he started posting just below Carter like numbers without the same quality OL. So sad he did not get to continue on the field.Journey Brown was so fast that you didn't see him.
That is so random and very cool you sat behind Neuheisel! I would have loved to chat with him during the game. Every time I go to these types of games I manage to sit next to old ladies who I don't even think cheer....LOL!
On the stadium, you are right, gorgeous setting even in the rain. The facilities are a nightmare. I took off right at halftime for the restroom and something to eat and did not get back until 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Everything is so cramped in the concourse and I was stunned it was a 25 minute wait for the bathroom. I guess they have not invested much in renovations to expand restrooms nor add concessions. It does detract from the game experience. Overall, though, it was great day because of how well we played and getting a big win! The future is bright indeed for PSU football!
I agree and wanted to see a breakout game from him as a springboard for next season. We got that for the most part although I do wonder how good Utah's DBs were since the All American opted out.
This off season is HUGE for Allar. He doesn't need to gain weight but S&C will be critical along with stepping up into a leadership role, building chemistry with MY and of course improving his technique and technical aspects of the game.
Wandering Spectator
Well-Known Member
Completely agree! The fact that it’s a relic is part of the charm and only adds to the experience. We had a great time and didn’t let the negative aspects of the stadium ruin our day.
Good post! I think you are right that they did not expect Clifford could pick them apart like he did. Our WRs/TEs seemed much better than their secondary. Faster, more athletic, overall more talented. And we had much more of an explosive down field threat offense versus them. Rising was so critical to their offense, he could scramble and break tackles. He is not a good passer, combined with our good secondary meant they could not throw downfield. Except, as you point out, that throw it up grabs and hope the WR makes a play pass they got because whomever it was slipped/made a poor play. Then that led to one of their TDs.
The biggest disappointments I had were we did get gashed in the run game and could not get stops in the red zone. We absolutely need to get tougher on the D line. We don't get much pressure and are prone to getting run on.
We could win every game next season. Like this year it will come down to scUM and O$U. I think we beat Illini and Iowa (White Out). I wish the playoff started next season, if we split vs scUM and O$U we will be top 10 and that is in the expanded 12 team playoff field. Allar was recruited to win games like at O$U so we will see if he can get us over the top.
Agreed. We had a blast and the stadium didn’t disappoint us. Really there are no bad seats. Access and egress were quite a challenge, Beaver stadium-esque I assumed, being in LA, access would be much better. We walked for an hour in the rain up the hill to get an Uber. The drivers were stymied because so many roads were closed or made one way they couldn’t get to you. They really need to designate a pickup area. We ended up walking to the courtyard hotel in the rain. If we had lost that would have been a tough night.
I think the biggest worry is at LB. We have one stud (11) and two that are very below average (43, 23). It looks like 41 is explosive, so hopefully he will fill in next season.
23 is very below average? He had 2 sacks in the Rose Bowl. I don't think he's a high draft pick at this point but he's also not very below average IMO.
I would invite everyone to savor this season. To me. at least, nothing pleases like exceeding expectations. Next to 2016, this season is the most enjoyable in recent memory. Prior to that it would be 2005 and the joy of watching Joe reinvigorate the program and make another run.
Anyway, tomorrow is promised to no one nor is next season. I recall leaving the Cotton Bowl and stopping near by for a beer. Several players parents walked in Nate Bower's parents are the ones I remember. It was a festive day and we all agreed that "next year" would be "the year."
WRONG!
Football is a fickle mistress.....injury is such a factor.....both its occurrence and the timing of when it occurs.
11-2 is hard to top. I'll hope like everyone else.....but I'm not getting out over my skis.
I'm gonna enjoy the off season.
Players aren't computer chips. If a team has better players and that means they will always win....why the hell even get off the bus? All I ever hear is that stars matter......what about TCU?
Before the game, which roster would you have taken?
Beating Memphis elevated PSU from #13 to #9.
So USC is a crappy team? Interesting.
I'm an old timer so looking at his 100 yard dash time (converting from 10.89 meter) as a junior in high school.....looks like .995
That would be improved had he competed his senior year. In addition some guys seem to be able to avoid slowing down in pads.....my eyes tell me NS is one of them. I don't think speed is any concern.
Geez. PSU did fantastic considering they had 2 very below average linebackers.
Ding! Ding! Without a QB nothing else matters and the only one on the roster with any experience couldn't beat out Clifford.
True, but you are ignoring some factors as well. Allar as a true freshman did not beat out a 6th year senior. Allar's considerable physical skills will improve in a year, but his command of the complex mental skills required of a winning college QB will grow exponentially. Setting the protection, formation and other pre snap reads....identifying blitz threats and recognizing coverages.
It is very possible that Allar was better than Cliff on QB skills required after the snap.
I'm interested to see how he advances in his pre snap education.
23 is below average? He's an excellent Sam LB
41 will likely start MLB next year with 43 backing up, both will play. 11 at Will. Strong LB room if Jacobs comes back.
Here's a better video of the celebration, the Vikings' Justin Jefferson does it also.
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