Obli's Observations - Under Pressure

[TheWizardofCamelot]

Tough to call out the TEs when by midway through the first half it was evident that we had to go max protect. On top of the RBs blocking well, I thought the TE group did a good job of blocking in the second half. Warren is a weapon as a blocker.

Klatt called the deep balls to Dotson “blown coverages” but it was evident on replay that the hitch fakes and route trees were causing major confusion in the Wisky secondary. The underthrown ball to Dotson was taking advantage of the safety matchup. Yurcich called a really nice second half and found ways to set up CJF’s explosive plays.

Agree on SC but based on the talent we have, his number one job this season is going to be NOT turn the ball over.

 

[The Spin Meister]

First, I cannot remember watching a game I enjoyed more than Saturday. Perhaps with bowl game against Washington, the B1G Championship vs Wiscy or the tOSU win was the last time I felt this good after a win. The lead-up and entire first half set the expectation that we were going to lose yet we were never behind. Then to come out with THREE explosive, 40+ yard plays were awesome. I still feel happy!

Under Pressure. To me, the game was won with a) turnovers and b) 3 40+ yard explosive plays. PSU's D played a GREAT game but so did Wisconsin's. The difference was handling pressure. Wisconsin's Center snapped the ball high on the first fumbled TO, which caused the QB to have to rush the handoff. The second fumbled handoff, which Wisconsin recovered but lost 5 yards at a key time, was because the RB and QB were rushing due to the pressure of the Defense. The long plays were done because the first one was a blown coverage. Doton was left uncovered because W was getting really creative on offense. They ran a rare zone and there was a foul-up between the corner and Safety. One of the other long passes, the one that should have been a TD but was underthrown, was due to the S having to cover Dotson. That ain't gonna work. The third was a really good play call by Yercich when we were having some success with the quick WR hitch/screen. Dotson looked like he was going to block the safety when SC faked the hitch and then hit Dotson deep when the S having to cover the hitch left Dotson uncovered. A great play call but the S overreacted to try and fill for the hitch which was being successful at that point in the game. Pressure caused all six of those plays, as well as the two INT's in the last 2:30.

PSU handled the pressure W put us into in the first half. W did not handle the pressure PSU's defense forced upon them. Game.

Defense

• To me, the unknowns fell into place in a very positive fashion. "Hey Arnold" Ebiketie is a godsend at DE. He's very good, quick and it tool W some time to adjust to him. A complete unknown, he really helped in the first half, especially.
• Linebackers are big, tough and fast. Brooks had 8 solo tackles and a sack.
• Mustipher really stuffed up the middle but that was it from the DT position with 7 tackles. I thought the other DT's were OK but nothing special.
• The third level may be as good as we've ever had at PSU. Brisker was all over the place. I can't recall a S who had a better game for PSU in modern times (zone/read spread era). In Brown's INT to end the game, Brisker was right there as well and probably would have batted it down, if not intercepted it. also,
• On the Brisker INT two things: Porter Jr.s break up the play before set this play up. Secondly, Mustopher dropped into coverage on a zone blitz while the LB blitzed. The QB had to make a quick adjustment to get the ball over PJ which left the ball in the air for a blink. The staff knew that play was coming, vacated it with the LB to bait them and PJ filled the zone. You can see Brisker waiting for the play as soon as the ball was snapped. Great Defensive call and play.
• I hated the targeting call and it was a "home field" call. You can see that he comes in with his shoulder and his helmet just brushes off the QB's shoulder and into the side of his helmet. Brisker is "launching" but, my God, everyone "launches" when making a hit. So by the letter of the rule, it was a penalty but I was surprised when they called it (even though the announcers said it would be called).
• Amazing these guys were in shape good enough to defend 94 plays and still outplay W in the last two minutes. Seemed like a lot of cramping though, and early in the game. Not sure why.

Offense

• Maybe we should just skip the first half? The reality is that we played a VERY conservative first half on offense. I have no idea why we weren't probing their perimeter until the second half. Was the gameplan to run up the gut on one of the best defenses in college football? I get a series or two but it was pretty clear we couldn't make holes by the second series and our D was on the field constantly. 3 one and dones in a row. Ouch. The best thing I can say is that we didn't turn the ball over.
• Our LG really struggled all game. The rest were much better but LG killed us and allowed them to blitz up the middle as the C had to account for missed by the LG and the LB'ers could delay blitz. Plus, it made it hard to adjust to their wild stunts.
• I have no idea why we didn't run some short, quick passes early to get tempo and passing confidence up early. Also, to take away the blitz because blitzing leaves the CBs one-on-one so an easy slant can end up being a TD. We needed to loosen up their interior D plan and don't tell me this was an "adjustment" that needed halftime. It is simple play calling. You must come into every game with a plan that allows you to attack all levels across the entire field. We simply chose to NOT do that. I am not sure why.
• As soon as we started with the quick hitches to the outside, things opened up. We even had a long run and am not sure why we didn't even try to run to the outside.
• I thought Cain and Lee looked good. Cain seemed faster as did Lee. But neither had any holes all day. The RBs both did pass block exceptionally well to allow for the long passes. Cain had a very good outside run for 34 yards and if you take that play away, only had 14 yards rushing on 7 carries. Our RBs only carried the ball 12 times, total.
• OK...where were the TEs? A way to exploit blitzing LBers is to fill the void they left with TEs. Nothin. W did it all day long with Turd Ferguson (who is a very good player).
• Dotson is fast and good. Fact is, all of his long plays were broken coverage or the fake hitch and go where the S got caught. SC only put on the money and missed one that was wide open.
• I really was not impressed with SC other than to say he did not succumb to pressure and made zero turnovers. But his passing was not good. He overthrew a wide-open Dotson and really underthrew him on two catches that should have been easy TD's but ended up just being long gains. He also missed a deep out that was wide open. He didn't run much or well.
• Both KLS and Parker Washington played well. 8 catches for 76 yards combined but at critical times.
• Playing the "stats game": Cain had a better YPC than Melussi (who looks like a really good RB) 6.0 to 3.9.

Special Teams

• Do we talk about the kicking that created good field position all day?
• Do we talk about leaving 4 easy points on the field (missed PAT and a 24 yard FG). We'd have been winning 20-10 coming down the stretch in the middle of the fourth quarter which would have changed everything.
• Blocked FG was great. I watched an ESPN halftime show where they said that Wisconsin played a sloppy game with three turnovers and a "missed" FG. Sorry, those TO were forced (two INTs on desperate plays) and the FG was not "Missed". It was blocked. ESPN, please give credit where it is due! I know other leagues don't play defense. (and then, I had to laugh, because their premier game GA vs Clemson, was an even LOWER score).
• I was surprised at the two punt catch interference calls. the first was legit but is almost never called unless it causes a fumble or is a very violent hit. The second was a bad call. I replayed it several times and the punter clearly had his "halo" but the player (Brown or Lyton?) was flying and it looked closer.

Finally, we scored the winning TD on a play with the QB under center giving Cain a full head of steam where he ran over two players to get into the end zone. Wholly shiat! I was very impressed with Wiscy and it seemed to be a really hard-hitting, hard-played game with good sportsmanship by two very disciplined teams. Production by the network was really good and I have a love-hate relationship with Gus. He really brings out excitement but sometimes overdoes it (jump around hype). They did miss the team doing backflips as I've heard, but not actually saw, that this was really fun and showed their athleticism after the game was over while celebrating. I really got a kick out of CJF taking the guy's hat after the game and yucking it up with PSU fans.

The B1G is there for anyone who can jump up and take it. tOSU's pass defense looks, suspect. Sparty looked good against NW, Iowa looked strong and UM played a cupcake. I am not convinced with Iowa yet. Indy had two horribly thrown balls that ended up with pick-sixes that crushed them. Penix succumbed to the pressure of pre-season hype.

All good points. But, with that title, can’t believe you didn’t conclude with this ......

 

[danvillenit]

Tough to call out the TEs when by midway through the first half it was evident that we had to go max protect. On top of the RBs blocking well, I thought the TE group did a good job of blocking in the second half. Warren is a weapon as a blocker.

Klatt called the deep balls to Dotson “blown coverages” but it was evident on replay that the hitch fakes and route trees were causing major confusion in the Wisky secondary. The underthrown ball to Dotson was taking advantage of the safety matchup. Yurcich called a really nice second half and found ways to set up CJF’s explosive plays.

Agree on SC but based on the talent we have, his number one job this season is going to be NOT turn the ball over.

Agree on tight ends. They were targeted at least three times so it’s not like Yurcich totally forgot about them

 

[NittanyBuff24]

First, I cannot remember watching a game I enjoyed more than Saturday. Perhaps with bowl game against Washington, the B1G Championship vs Wiscy or the tOSU win was the last time I felt this good after a win. The lead-up and entire first half set the expectation that we were going to lose yet we were never behind. Then to come out with THREE explosive, 40+ yard plays were awesome. I still feel happy!

Under Pressure. To me, the game was won with a) turnovers and b) 3 40+ yard explosive plays. PSU's D played a GREAT game but so did Wisconsin's. The difference was handling pressure. Wisconsin's Center snapped the ball high on the first fumbled TO, which caused the QB to have to rush the handoff. The second fumbled handoff, which Wisconsin recovered but lost 5 yards at a key time, was because the RB and QB were rushing due to the pressure of the Defense. The long plays were done because the first one was a blown coverage. Doton was left uncovered because W was getting really creative on offense. They ran a rare zone and there was a foul-up between the corner and Safety. One of the other long passes, the one that should have been a TD but was underthrown, was due to the S having to cover Dotson. That ain't gonna work. The third was a really good play call by Yercich when we were having some success with the quick WR hitch/screen. Dotson looked like he was going to block the safety when SC faked the hitch and then hit Dotson deep when the S having to cover the hitch left Dotson uncovered. A great play call but the S overreacted to try and fill for the hitch which was being successful at that point in the game. Pressure caused all six of those plays, as well as the two INT's in the last 2:30.

PSU handled the pressure W put us into in the first half. W did not handle the pressure PSU's defense forced upon them. Game.

Defense

• To me, the unknowns fell into place in a very positive fashion. "Hey Arnold" Ebiketie is a godsend at DE. He's very good, quick and it tool W some time to adjust to him. A complete unknown, he really helped in the first half, especially.
• Linebackers are big, tough and fast. Brooks had 8 solo tackles and a sack.
• Mustipher really stuffed up the middle but that was it from the DT position with 7 tackles. I thought the other DT's were OK but nothing special.
• The third level may be as good as we've ever had at PSU. Brisker was all over the place. I can't recall a S who had a better game for PSU in modern times (zone/read spread era). In Brown's INT to end the game, Brisker was right there as well and probably would have batted it down, if not intercepted it. also,
• On the Brisker INT two things: Porter Jr.s break up the play before set this play up. Secondly, Mustopher dropped into coverage on a zone blitz while the LB blitzed. The QB had to make a quick adjustment to get the ball over PJ which left the ball in the air for a blink. The staff knew that play was coming, vacated it with the LB to bait them and PJ filled the zone. You can see Brisker waiting for the play as soon as the ball was snapped. Great Defensive call and play.
• I hated the targeting call and it was a "home field" call. You can see that he comes in with his shoulder and his helmet just brushes off the QB's shoulder and into the side of his helmet. Brisker is "launching" but, my God, everyone "launches" when making a hit. So by the letter of the rule, it was a penalty but I was surprised when they called it (even though the announcers said it would be called).
• Amazing these guys were in shape good enough to defend 94 plays and still outplay W in the last two minutes. Seemed like a lot of cramping though, and early in the game. Not sure why.

Offense

• Maybe we should just skip the first half? The reality is that we played a VERY conservative first half on offense. I have no idea why we weren't probing their perimeter until the second half. Was the gameplan to run up the gut on one of the best defenses in college football? I get a series or two but it was pretty clear we couldn't make holes by the second series and our D was on the field constantly. 3 one and dones in a row. Ouch. The best thing I can say is that we didn't turn the ball over.
• Our LG really struggled all game. The rest were much better but LG killed us and allowed them to blitz up the middle as the C had to account for missed by the LG and the LB'ers could delay blitz. Plus, it made it hard to adjust to their wild stunts.
• I have no idea why we didn't run some short, quick passes early to get tempo and passing confidence up early. Also, to take away the blitz because blitzing leaves the CBs one-on-one so an easy slant can end up being a TD. We needed to loosen up their interior D plan and don't tell me this was an "adjustment" that needed halftime. It is simple play calling. You must come into every game with a plan that allows you to attack all levels across the entire field. We simply chose to NOT do that. I am not sure why.
• As soon as we started with the quick hitches to the outside, things opened up. We even had a long run and am not sure why we didn't even try to run to the outside.
• I thought Cain and Lee looked good. Cain seemed faster as did Lee. But neither had any holes all day. The RBs both did pass block exceptionally well to allow for the long passes. Cain had a very good outside run for 34 yards and if you take that play away, only had 14 yards rushing on 7 carries. Our RBs only carried the ball 12 times, total.
• OK...where were the TEs? A way to exploit blitzing LBers is to fill the void they left with TEs. Nothin. W did it all day long with Turd Ferguson (who is a very good player).
• Dotson is fast and good. Fact is, all of his long plays were broken coverage or the fake hitch and go where the S got caught. SC only put on the money and missed one that was wide open.
• I really was not impressed with SC other than to say he did not succumb to pressure and made zero turnovers. But his passing was not good. He overthrew a wide-open Dotson and really underthrew him on two catches that should have been easy TD's but ended up just being long gains. He also missed a deep out that was wide open. He didn't run much or well.
• Both KLS and Parker Washington played well. 8 catches for 76 yards combined but at critical times.
• Playing the "stats game": Cain had a better YPC than Melussi (who looks like a really good RB) 6.0 to 3.9.

Special Teams

• Do we talk about the kicking that created good field position all day?
• Do we talk about leaving 4 easy points on the field (missed PAT and a 24 yard FG). We'd have been winning 20-10 coming down the stretch in the middle of the fourth quarter which would have changed everything.
• Blocked FG was great. I watched an ESPN halftime show where they said that Wisconsin played a sloppy game with three turnovers and a "missed" FG. Sorry, those TO were forced (two INTs on desperate plays) and the FG was not "Missed". It was blocked. ESPN, please give credit where it is due! I know other leagues don't play defense. (and then, I had to laugh, because their premier game GA vs Clemson, was an even LOWER score).
• I was surprised at the two punt catch interference calls. the first was legit but is almost never called unless it causes a fumble or is a very violent hit. The second was a bad call. I replayed it several times and the punter clearly had his "halo" but the player (Brown or Lyton?) was flying and it looked closer.

Finally, we scored the winning TD on a play with the QB under center giving Cain a full head of steam where he ran over two players to get into the end zone. Wholly shiat! I was very impressed with Wiscy and it seemed to be a really hard-hitting, hard-played game with good sportsmanship by two very disciplined teams. Production by the network was really good and I have a love-hate relationship with Gus. He really brings out excitement but sometimes overdoes it (jump around hype). They did miss the team doing backflips as I've heard, but not actually saw, that this was really fun and showed their athleticism after the game was over while celebrating. I really got a kick out of CJF taking the guy's hat after the game and yucking it up with PSU fans.

The B1G is there for anyone who can jump up and take it. tOSU's pass defense looks, suspect. Sparty looked good against NW, Iowa looked strong and UM played a cupcake. I am not convinced with Iowa yet. Indy had two horribly thrown balls that ended up with pick-sixes that crushed them. Penix succumbed to the pressure of pre-season hype.

Very fortunate to win that game, Defense is much improved imo, Clifford was what Clifford is imo as well and that is an avg to above avg QB at times, will need him to be much better as the season goes on. Hell of a win though, hopefully this is a spring board for the rest of the season..

 

[Obliviax]

All good points. But, with that title, can’t believe you didn’t conclude with this ......

View embedded media

One of the best rock sings of all time

 

[BriarwoodBash]

Agree on tight ends. They were targeted at least three times so it’s not like Yurcich totally forgot about them

TE’s could have caught 2of 3. Not saying should have on both, but could have. I think Johnson’s was easiest and should have been caught. We should be fine there.

 

[Texas Lion]

1. Can someone tell me if MY focused on the TE at his other stops?
2. When will the RB by committee get old for the players? Cain is the complete back, the others can't sniff him.
3. The gunner calls on AJ were such trash. I almost felt like here we go again.
4. Tarburton might have been an unsung hero on the day....thought he played really well.
5. LUKETA!!!! My game days have been spent calling him out for poor play but man was he good at DE yesterday. Why do we even mess around with him at LB?
6. #0 is my new Luketa.....
7. Pry finally dialed up some blitz packages that were quick and got some pressure.
and finally:

8. I know we won't hear about it today but I would love to know where the "missing 4" were today. Beamon, Lovett, Ellis, Pinegar......

Great win!

 

[royboy]

TE’s could have caught 2of 3. Not saying should have on both, but could have. I think Johnson’s was easiest and should have been caught. We should be fine there.

Speaking of TE's, the Wisconsin Tight End Jake Ferguson had 9 catches and some were difficult. He had no play longer than 10 yards (52 yards total), but really demonstrated good hands.

I think Yurcich would prefer to give the PSU Tight Ends some space and go for longer chunks of yardage.

 

[lazydave841]

1. Can someone tell me if MY focused on the TE at his other stops?
2. When will the RB by committee get old for the players? Cain is the complete back, the others can't sniff him.
3. The gunner calls on AJ were such trash. I almost felt like here we go again.
4. Tarburton might have been an unsung hero on the day....thought he played really well.
5. LUKETA!!!! My game days have been spent calling him out for poor play but man was he good at DE yesterday. Why do we even mess around with him at LB?
6. #0 is my new Luketa.....
7. Pry finally dialed up some blitz packages that were quick and got some pressure.
and finally:

8. I know we won't hear about it today but I would love to know where the "missing 4" were today. Beamon, Lovett, Ellis, Pinegar......

Great win!

1. Not a lot. Don't mistake the lack of production (0 receptions) for the effort made (3-5 targets). He's going to use them. We just weren't on the field a lot and those plays didn't work.

2. Cain had 8 carries. Lee 3. Ford 1. There was no committee. Cain appears to be the feature back. Another area that seems undefined because of our limited snap count.

3. AJ and Drew with Stout punting is going to be a weapon all year. Didn't like the calls either.

5. I like that our staff adjusted Luketa's position. If he continues this, he probably gets drafted this spring.

8. Stout apparently beat Pinegar for the PK job. The other 3, nothing has officially been said and probably won't. Hopefully it's a minor injury type thing and nothing long term.

 

[Midnighter2]

Stuff we need to do better:

- 3/13 on 3rd Down (average 3rd Down yardage to get was 8)

I believe Wisconsin's was somewhere around 3rd and 2. By not getting first downs (we had one all of the first half) the D gets gassed (TOP was insane too). Need to do more on first and second down and definitely need to get the TE's more involved. I would think Strange and Johnson are mismatches for any LB in the B1G. Clifford panics when he's pushed from the pocket too.

 

[PSUQBKeeper]

I’m not sure why some posters are thinking Ball State is some kind of juggernaut. Sure they won some games last year, but most were by a Td or less against MAC opponents and they won a bowl game but it was against San Jose State. Throw in it was a Covid year where some traditionally good teams were bad and some bad teams were good and I don’t think we can see Ball State as some titan opponent.

Ball State has a bit of a message board and their posters on that site seem to all think that they're going to get smashed by PSU

 

[lazydave841]

Stuff we need to do better:

- 3/13 on 3rd Down (average 3rd Down yardage to get was 8)

I believe Wisconsin's was somewhere around 3rd and 2. By not getting first downs (we had one all of the first half) the D gets gassed (TOP was insane too). Need to do more on first and second down and definitely need to get the TE's more involved. I would think Strange and Johnson are mismatches for any LB in the B1G. Clifford panics when he's pushed from the pocket too.

I think we could have exploited the middle of the field behind their LBs with our TEs, but MY's game plan seemed to be more about using the TEs to get our WRs open or to stay in for better protection.

MY also seemed to put an importance on protecting the ball by way of not panicking. He pressed the ball down field in doses, but not to the extent most here wanted. If he had, and SC would have thrown a int, it defeats the purpose.

He got his QBs confidence back against good team. That's more important than a 500+ yard stat line week 1.

The missed FG and XP also made the game closer than it had to be.

 

[Midnighter2]

I think we could have exploited the middle of the field behind their LBs with our TEs, but MY's game plan seemed to be more about using the TEs to get our WRs open or to stay in for better protection.

MY also seemed to put an importance on protecting the ball by way of not panicking. He pressed the ball down field in doses, but not to the extent most here wanted. If he had, and SC would have thrown a int, it defeats the purpose.

He got his QBs confidence back against good team. That's more important than a 500+ yard stat line week 1.

The missed FG and XP also made the game closer than it had to be.

Yeah, but we had a blocked FG too. I also was surprised at some of the iffy penalties that went our way (and usually don’t). Very close game.

 

[lazydave841]

Yeah, but we had a blocked FG too. I also was surprised at some of the iffy penalties that went our way (and usually don’t). Very close game.

AK made that play vs Stout just not getting the angle right and kicking the laces. It just grades out different to me in that respect. We took those points away, where as a miss is like the fumble we recovered.

 

[bison13]

I don't get why some people are going on and on about the use of the tight ends. They had a couple balls thrown their way and on any pass play where they go out, the quarterback has multiple reads. We don't know if the tight ends were read one on any other plays and that Clifford may have decided to go somewhere else. As many times as guys got open deep it seems to me that Wisconsin safeties were trying to take away the tight ends in the middle of the field so sounds like even though they didn't get a whole lot of balls their way they did their job in the passing game.

 

[Midnighter2]

I don't get why some people are going on and on about the use of the tight ends. They had a couple balls thrown their way and on any pass play where they go out, the quarterback has multiple reads. We don't know if the tight ends were read one on any other plays and that Clifford may have decided to go somewhere else. As many times as guys got open deep it seems to me that Wisconsin safeties were trying to take away the tight ends in the middle of the field so sounds like even though they didn't get a whole lot of balls their way they did their job in the passing game.

Because they’re a talented group who can do damage and further open up the offense. You look at what Gesicki and Freiermuth did, with weapons at WR and RB, and it gives opposing defenses something to think about.

 

[gogolion]

• I really was not impressed with SC other than to say he did not succumb to pressure and made zero turnovers. But his passing was not good. He overthrew a wide-open Dotson and really underthrew him on two catches that should have been easy TD's but ended up just being long gains. He also missed a deep out that was wide open. He didn't run much or well.

Clifford did not have any WTF moments like he did against Indiana last year that were big factors in us losing the game. Dotson would have had 4 long TDs if not for Clifford missing him on those deep balls. He was wide open 4 ties: 1 TD, 1 underthrow that was caught for a long gain but could have been a TD, and 2 overthrow/misses that could have been TDs.

 

[gogolion]

• I have no idea why we didn't run some short, quick passes early to get tempo and passing confidence up early. Also, to take away the blitz because blitzing leaves the CBs one-on-one so an easy slant can end up being a TD. We needed to loosen up their interior D plan and don't tell me this was an "adjustment" that needed halftime. It is simple play calling. You must come into every game with a plan that allows you to attack all levels across the entire field. We simply chose to NOT do that. I am not sure why.

I feel like Franklin's teams have been well-known for and have done very well with halftime adjustments (see 2016), but never understood why those adjustments need to wait until halftime. Very frustrating. Why can't they make adjustments in game?

 

[lazydave841]

Why can't they make adjustments in game?

They do. It's just the biggest ones occur after the half. They have people tracking different points of the game who are familiar with the playbook. They aren't watching like fans do. They focus on something specific and offer input based on it.

I don't feel like the offense was opened up this week. The inside run was shut down, but we kept going to it like body shots in boxing. As somebody else said, Dotson could have had 4 TDs. That's tough to do against good competition was yet it was there for the taking.

MY is rebuilding SCs confidence. Just my take.

 

[PSU2UNC]

Because they’re a talented group who can do damage and further open up the offense. You look at what Gesicki and Freiermuth did, with weapons at WR and RB, and it gives opposing defenses something to think about.

A couple of comments that relate both to use of TE and RB rotation.

PSU ran 51 offensive plays including 2 sacks.

They ran the ball 16 times (plus 2 sacks which count as rushes). Clifford rushed 4 times (not including the two sacks). I'd have to re-watch but I think 2 of those were designed and 2 of those were scrambles. That leaves 12 rushes for the RB. Hard to determine what the committee looks like with that small of a sample size. Also hard to critique the backs.

Similarly, PSU passed the ball 33 times. I think the TE were targeted 3 or 4 times. Given that the Dotson and Washington (and to lesser/growing extent Lambert-Smith) are known weapons, and the backs are capable receivers, I'm not sure you want to be targeting the TE more than that. Having said that, I think you want a high success rate on passes to the TE (i.e. these should be relatively easy "passes in space) which they did not have.

 

[AWS1022]

Ball State has a bit of a message board and their posters on that site seem to all think that they're going to get smashed by PSU

Wouldn’t you if you were a fan of a MAC team? They’re playing the 11th ranked team on the road after struggling against a terrible opponent. Even average P5 teams would think they’re going to get smashed if they were heading into Happy Valley.

 

[wilbury]

Ball State has a bit of a message board and their posters on that site seem to all think that they're going to get smashed by PSU

That settles it, we win and cover.

 

[AWS1022]

I don't get why some people are going on and on about the use of the tight ends. They had a couple balls thrown their way and on any pass play where they go out, the quarterback has multiple reads. We don't know if the tight ends were read one on any other plays and that Clifford may have decided to go somewhere else. As many times as guys got open deep it seems to me that Wisconsin safeties were trying to take away the tight ends in the middle of the field so sounds like even though they didn't get a whole lot of balls their way they did their job in the passing game.

Posters wanted more plays to the TE’s, more handoffs to the RB’s, more passes across the middle. Unfortunately we didn’t have very many plays in the first half, so all offensive positions didn’t get many plays.

 

[Woodpecker]

Posters wanted more plays to the TE’s, more handoffs to the RB’s, more passes across the middle.

 

[wilbury]

Clifford did not have any WTF moments like he did against Indiana last year that were big factors in us losing the game. Dotson would have had 4 long TDs if not for Clifford missing him on those deep balls. He was wide open 4 ties: 1 TD, 1 underthrow that was caught for a long gain but could have been a TD, and 2 overthrow/misses that could have been TDs.

He threw two passes in the first half that probably should have been intercepted. His footwork still isn't good and he's feeling pressure even when there isn't any. In the late first half he had Dotson open for a TD deep, but threw the ball early even though he had a few more seconds to let the play develop. The result was an overthrow.

Give the OC credit, he got him calmed down at half time and he made some better throws.

I think the stories about a more confident Clifford was all hype. He still doesn't look very confident and comfortable in the pocket. Hopefully this big win along with a more manageable opponent this week will help him a bunch.

 

[bison13]

Posters wanted more plays to the TE’s, more handoffs to the RB’s, more passes across the middle. Unfortunately we didn’t have very many plays in the first half, so all offensive positions didn’t get many plays.

Yeah that's what I'm getting at. 35 passes in the game and considering Dotson is the best option it should be no surprise that he's getting at least 10 of those looks. The other two wide receivers are going to get 5-8 a piece themselves and then Kane out of the backfield or any other running back is going to get a couple so that doesn't leave a whole lot to the tight ends. Plus like I said before how do we know that the plays weren't designed to go more to the tight ends and Dotson was just open.

 

[PSUQBKeeper]

Wouldn’t you if you were a fan of a MAC team? They’re playing the 11th ranked team on the road after struggling against a terrible opponent. Even average P5 teams would think they’re going to get smashed if they were heading into Happy Valley.

oh I agree that it is likely, its just funny how fans of both teams are seeing the game

its like people are afraid of being confident and getting hurt, kind of understandable

 

[AWS1022]

oh I agree that it is likely, its just funny how fans of both teams are seeing the game

its like people are afraid of being confident and getting hurt, kind of understandable

It’s always easier to be a pessimist just in case.

 

[psurock379]

FWIW, the second kick-catch interference was wiped out because Wisconsin blocked in the back which caused that hit on the returner. So Wisky ended up getting the penalty in that sequence.

CD Lion did you go to Central Dauphin??

 

[CDLionFL]

CD Lion did you go to Central Dauphin??

I did. That’s not why it’s in my screen name but that’s pretty good guessing out of you.

 

[gogolion]

• I thought Cain and Lee looked good. Cain seemed faster as did Lee. But neither had any holes all day. The RBs both did pass block exceptionally well to allow for the long passes. Cain had a very good outside run for 34 yards and if you take that play away, only had 14 yards rushing on 7 carries. Our RBs only carried the ball 12 times, total.

I was just reading the "For The Bloggy" blog post about our offense in the game and they specifically noted how bad Cain was in pass protection. They did say that Lee was very good in that regard though.

 

[Obliviax]

I was just reading the "For The Bloggy" blog post about our offense in the game and they specifically noted how bad Cain was in pass protection. They did say that Lee was very good in that regard though.

I would yield to them. i saw several blitzes picked up well by RB's but didn't catch the number. With the low number of carries by Lee I assumed it was Cain.

 

[PSU Soupy]

I would yield to them. i saw several blitzes picked up well by RB's but didn't catch the number. With the low number of carries by Lee I assumed it was Cain.

Watch the 1st TD to Johan.
Cain saves the LG who misses the MLB on a blitz and Cain steers the LB out of the picture.

 

[Obliviax]

Watch the 1st TD to Johan.
Cain saves the LG who misses the MLB on a blitz and Cain steers the LB out of the picture.

I believe that is one of the specific plays that led me to my conclusion that the RBs pass blocked well. This isn't an easy thing to do. And with the long pass plays PSU was running, protection is a key success factor.