Almost two seasons are done in the Franklin era, and the record by PSU standards is lacking....There have been many times where I have pounded the table or thrown some things, and damn I hate losing.....Just trying to take an objective analysis.
1. The OL- Last Year's OL was historically bad by PSU standards, if not by Division 1 Football as a whole. We could not run or pass block. This year's OL has actually been an improvement, we can actually run against bad and mediocre defenses. Heck, even Barkley put up some nice numbers against OSU. However, are OL gets dominated by good defensive fronts, and we cannot consistently keep Hack Clean, its bad.
Some people have been calling for Hand's job citing no improvement. The OL has improved, we can actually run the ball against some teams, and teams with more talent stack the box so that at least our WRs are given a chance to beat someone 1 on 1.
People who like to say there has been no OL improvement not only miss the fact that we can run in some games, but they forget that we lost our best OL to the draft, at the top of the second round (think Smith is starting). Hard to improve a whole lot when you lose your best OL, and don't have any top end talent waiting in the wings....Which brings me too
The sanctions and the way the Paterno era ended hurt, it hurt bad and we still feel the effects today. Our recruiting suffered greatly with decommits after Paterno was fired, and then suffered greatly because of sanctions. We effectively lost 3-4 recruiting cycles because of the sanctions and head coach changes.
Yesterday, Our Ol started Paris Palmer at one tackle (a juco, I hate having to take JUCOs but a necessary evil), Nelson at the Other tackle, Mangiro playing out of position at guard, Laurent playing C, and Gaia playing the other guard.
Mangiro is our highest ranking OL coming out of high school. He is certainly serviceable, and may even belong on a starting OL in the Big Ten, but he should not be the best OL on any Big Ten team.
Nelson- was a 3 star recruit with some decent offers, but I don't believe any were elite. You would normally hope to get 1 or 2 years of him starting at most programs, instead he has been rushed in to play and help anchor an OL since his RS freshman year. We normally wouldn't even see him on the field until his RS Junior year which is next year.....
Laurent- think he was a relatively lightly recruited 3 star or even a 2 star (with some power 5 offers, but not top teams in the Power 5 if memory serves me correctly). Am not even sure he would have gotten an offer in most years if it was not for the sanctions. frankly, think the staff has done a good job to help make sure he is at least a serviceable center.
Palmer- a JUCO who is still developing mass, technique and trying to become a good D1 player. He is much better then when he started, but has a long way to go.
Gaia- 2 star DL recruit, no big offers. I give the guy credit for working hard and changing positions, but he should never be on a two deep OL depth chart in Big 10.....I don't care who coaches him, especially having to play last year after being converted so quickly.
There was once a coach who said something about the Jimmys and the Joes, and I don't care who is coaching this unit, it is set up for failure. With more highly recruited OL coming in the last year and maybe even two years (unclear how good some of the OL are from the Obrien-Franklin class), hopefully some improvement is on the way. I expect our tackles to be better with experience next year, Laurent is serviceable at C, need a RS freshman to step up, and Mahon or someone else to man the other guard spot.
2. Our D is playing pretty Damn well, only allowed 2 real TD drives yesterday. You also have to keep in mind that we were playing with our best pass rusher out (Nassib), our best safety out and our most experienced LB out (wartman). While injuries are part of the game 3-4 subpar recruiting cycles caused by the Sandusky Sanctions make it doubly hard to withstand sanctions. Our D deserves a lot of credit, although we have a tendency to let teams score right after we score.
3. Donovan- My impressions of Donovan over the last two years have been less than positive (that is being kind). I don't think he understands down and distance, that he too often seeks the big play and seems to have no strategy.....That being said, with such a poor OL, how can you call any play call with any confidence so I feel like I should give him some kind of pass. That being said, the Red Zone was so bad yesterday.
The first RZ trip, 3 runs? Even if Hack audibled on third down that is on Donovan. QB has to know that you cant audible to a run play on 3rd and goal at the ten....call a freaking time out at that point. I don't have an issue with that first wildcat since it has worked before (event though I hate the wild cat).
The other RZ serious where we had first and goal at 3 was worse. First down a jump ball to Lewis from the shotgun (50 -50 at best). Here is where we should have lined up under center and play action passed (we weren't gonna be able to run most likely) to a TE or H back slipping out....But we took run off the table there.
So second down, they knew we were going to run.
Will give him credit for the wildcat run with polk getting the sweep, Polk needs to beat the one guy.
4. Franklin as a gameday coach. Not sure how good he is. He has definitely made some mistakes, and some have been glaring at the end of games (use of time outs). That being said, we have lost 4 games this year (all to teams that have been ranked at some point this year, 3 away games) and we were close in all 4 games in the fourth quarter. There is something to be said for that considering the sanctions we have been dealing with. We got blown out of a lot of Games with Obrien, that has not been the case here.
5. Talent Level- Going through a divorce during this football season has given me a lot of time to watch other teams. Other highly paid, well thought of coaches make their share of mistakes. However, when you have superior talent, you win anyways and the mistakes are forgotten. Franklin doesn't have that luxury.
6. Recruiting, Franklin is bringing in talent. My biggest question is the OL recruiting. Projecting these lean guys to fill out is risky business, hope he is right....
In the end, it is frustrating, but there is no magic wand....You can only improve guys with limited ceilings so much. I am glad that the staff has these guys playing hard and staying in games.
7. Random thoughts on Michigan game- classy of Harbaugh not to run up the score- Hack took a shot to the head and missed a play, how wasn't that called- probably best officiated game I have seen between the two teams though- besides Godwin no receiver seems to make a tough play with Mich receivers made a couple (the 3rd and long at end of half was a killer)
1. The OL- Last Year's OL was historically bad by PSU standards, if not by Division 1 Football as a whole. We could not run or pass block. This year's OL has actually been an improvement, we can actually run against bad and mediocre defenses. Heck, even Barkley put up some nice numbers against OSU. However, are OL gets dominated by good defensive fronts, and we cannot consistently keep Hack Clean, its bad.
Some people have been calling for Hand's job citing no improvement. The OL has improved, we can actually run the ball against some teams, and teams with more talent stack the box so that at least our WRs are given a chance to beat someone 1 on 1.
People who like to say there has been no OL improvement not only miss the fact that we can run in some games, but they forget that we lost our best OL to the draft, at the top of the second round (think Smith is starting). Hard to improve a whole lot when you lose your best OL, and don't have any top end talent waiting in the wings....Which brings me too
The sanctions and the way the Paterno era ended hurt, it hurt bad and we still feel the effects today. Our recruiting suffered greatly with decommits after Paterno was fired, and then suffered greatly because of sanctions. We effectively lost 3-4 recruiting cycles because of the sanctions and head coach changes.
Yesterday, Our Ol started Paris Palmer at one tackle (a juco, I hate having to take JUCOs but a necessary evil), Nelson at the Other tackle, Mangiro playing out of position at guard, Laurent playing C, and Gaia playing the other guard.
Mangiro is our highest ranking OL coming out of high school. He is certainly serviceable, and may even belong on a starting OL in the Big Ten, but he should not be the best OL on any Big Ten team.
Nelson- was a 3 star recruit with some decent offers, but I don't believe any were elite. You would normally hope to get 1 or 2 years of him starting at most programs, instead he has been rushed in to play and help anchor an OL since his RS freshman year. We normally wouldn't even see him on the field until his RS Junior year which is next year.....
Laurent- think he was a relatively lightly recruited 3 star or even a 2 star (with some power 5 offers, but not top teams in the Power 5 if memory serves me correctly). Am not even sure he would have gotten an offer in most years if it was not for the sanctions. frankly, think the staff has done a good job to help make sure he is at least a serviceable center.
Palmer- a JUCO who is still developing mass, technique and trying to become a good D1 player. He is much better then when he started, but has a long way to go.
Gaia- 2 star DL recruit, no big offers. I give the guy credit for working hard and changing positions, but he should never be on a two deep OL depth chart in Big 10.....I don't care who coaches him, especially having to play last year after being converted so quickly.
There was once a coach who said something about the Jimmys and the Joes, and I don't care who is coaching this unit, it is set up for failure. With more highly recruited OL coming in the last year and maybe even two years (unclear how good some of the OL are from the Obrien-Franklin class), hopefully some improvement is on the way. I expect our tackles to be better with experience next year, Laurent is serviceable at C, need a RS freshman to step up, and Mahon or someone else to man the other guard spot.
2. Our D is playing pretty Damn well, only allowed 2 real TD drives yesterday. You also have to keep in mind that we were playing with our best pass rusher out (Nassib), our best safety out and our most experienced LB out (wartman). While injuries are part of the game 3-4 subpar recruiting cycles caused by the Sandusky Sanctions make it doubly hard to withstand sanctions. Our D deserves a lot of credit, although we have a tendency to let teams score right after we score.
3. Donovan- My impressions of Donovan over the last two years have been less than positive (that is being kind). I don't think he understands down and distance, that he too often seeks the big play and seems to have no strategy.....That being said, with such a poor OL, how can you call any play call with any confidence so I feel like I should give him some kind of pass. That being said, the Red Zone was so bad yesterday.
The first RZ trip, 3 runs? Even if Hack audibled on third down that is on Donovan. QB has to know that you cant audible to a run play on 3rd and goal at the ten....call a freaking time out at that point. I don't have an issue with that first wildcat since it has worked before (event though I hate the wild cat).
The other RZ serious where we had first and goal at 3 was worse. First down a jump ball to Lewis from the shotgun (50 -50 at best). Here is where we should have lined up under center and play action passed (we weren't gonna be able to run most likely) to a TE or H back slipping out....But we took run off the table there.
So second down, they knew we were going to run.
Will give him credit for the wildcat run with polk getting the sweep, Polk needs to beat the one guy.
4. Franklin as a gameday coach. Not sure how good he is. He has definitely made some mistakes, and some have been glaring at the end of games (use of time outs). That being said, we have lost 4 games this year (all to teams that have been ranked at some point this year, 3 away games) and we were close in all 4 games in the fourth quarter. There is something to be said for that considering the sanctions we have been dealing with. We got blown out of a lot of Games with Obrien, that has not been the case here.
5. Talent Level- Going through a divorce during this football season has given me a lot of time to watch other teams. Other highly paid, well thought of coaches make their share of mistakes. However, when you have superior talent, you win anyways and the mistakes are forgotten. Franklin doesn't have that luxury.
6. Recruiting, Franklin is bringing in talent. My biggest question is the OL recruiting. Projecting these lean guys to fill out is risky business, hope he is right....
In the end, it is frustrating, but there is no magic wand....You can only improve guys with limited ceilings so much. I am glad that the staff has these guys playing hard and staying in games.
7. Random thoughts on Michigan game- classy of Harbaugh not to run up the score- Hack took a shot to the head and missed a play, how wasn't that called- probably best officiated game I have seen between the two teams though- besides Godwin no receiver seems to make a tough play with Mich receivers made a couple (the 3rd and long at end of half was a killer)
