went to the game this weekend and had a blast, really. Also have to say "as usual". Here are my observations:
- Beautiful day with great weather. Where was everyone? I was the guest of a "varsity S" member and was invited to the cookout. Tickets were purchased through Varsity S. However, the tickets were $75 each and were way, WAAAAY up in WFU...that as in F. U. Seriously, this is how you treat former letterman? As it stands, it was an interesting observation point and I got some great photos. Downside was, seriously, I couldn't read the player's numbers or the scoreboard stats because I was so far away. I did yell "he missed the tag"...well, more like "ref, how about that hold???".
- Speaking of the refs....we got a couple of fortunate calls. That was unusual as well.
- Kudos to the staff...they had the kids ready to play and put them in a position to make plays. But they have to make the plays. In many cases, they didn't. From two catchable long throws to WR's to a couple of complete drops by TE's to horribly overthrown Hamilton in the seam and really crappy throws on bubble screens the passing game sputtered. PSU could have had this team blown out by the end of the first quarter. And that includes two first qtr turnovers (fumble and an on-side kick).
- That brings me to Hack...kids is a complete and absolute stud. My 11 year old daughter has her first crush...seriously...she couldn't take her eyes off of his photos in the program (OB is in trouble...I know...). Kid throws bullets down the field and it seems the longer the pass the more accurate it is. I know that the first play of the game was a little under thrown and allowed the DB to recover, but that ball went 40 yards+ in the air. The DB made a nice play on the ball to not get a PI call. Point is, Hack's problems are on short throws....throw the ball downfield. That's his strength. I think the WR's will get better at catching the ball. Word was that O'Brian sent a boat load of Houston's scouts to the game. Wouldn't surprise me to see them draft him. However, I still am not convinced he'll leave. QB's, good ones, play until they are ~40. But their first two years are key. Staying a year too long is so much more desirable than a year late (ask Johnny Football). And, QB's like Hack (pocket passers) don't often suffer career ending injuries. With the young talent at WR and RB, our offense will be much better next year. Aside from Mangiro, we will have our entire line back (and Laurent seems as good as Mangiro).
- That brings me to the O-line....they were adequate. Nelson helped stabilize but PP continues to be a problem. Now, the kid he was up against was their best player but PP has to get batter. Watch tOSU put Bosa out at left DE over him a lot on Saturday night. Wendy played a good game. Overall, line seemed consistent, for the most part on pass blocking. Still, few holes in the running game but at least they improved.
- Speaking of the running game, I thought the RB's did well considering. Scott and Allen combined to average 6.4 YPC. But I thought many of those yards were made by the RB and not the line. Indy seemed to always know where to blitz a LB, but the RB would shift to the left or right and get some good yardage...sometimes just 3 or 4 but that's enough to set up the next play. We are in good shape at RB for the next several years no matter what we get in recruiting.
- On defense, the team played lights out. I was impressed by Indy's scrappy second team QB. he's a good runner in space and the kind of player that gives PSU fits. The third string kid played well too. But PSU's defense was too much for them.
- Interesting observations on defense....PSU played a lot of man. Unusual for a secondary so young. Yet, they still almost always just brought four. I guess it was to contain the second team QB who wasn't a great passer but a really good runner. Secondary and LB'ers played a good game, to match a really good front four. Johnson and Zettle and Nassib are a load and tOSU hasn't seen anything like them yet this year. Cabinda and Bell are playing well too.
- Its great to be excited, for a change, when we return a punt of kickoff (Indy's punter was great at kicking high balls inside the 10 yard line, what ever happened to the rule that if it is behind the ten, let it go and hope it goes into the endzone?)
- Still hard to get a handle on this team. Indy, who played tOSU well, was banged up but they were against tOSU as well. They also got back a good DT who missed the tOSU game.
- In the end, this team has the talent. They just need to be consistent and execute. This is something that is not surprising for as many young kids that are playing key positions and roles. Kudo's to the staff for calling a good game, could they have been holding out??? We'll see against tOSU.
- This was a key game...IMHO, we should win against Md and Ill. We should have a great shot at beating NW, who I believe was a little over rated after they beat Stanford in the first game of the year. two or three more wins would make this a successful season and get a bowl. But I think we can be competitive against tOSU, UM and Sparty as well. We might not win, but they will know we've been there.