Official PSU - Villanova 2021 Game Thread!

[BW Lion]

Clifford also sucks today. Refuses to throw to wide open RB’s in the flat

 

[PrtLng Lion]

Unreal how poor last last O series was.

 

[TheWizardofCamelot]

Offensive line is bad. And it’s causing Clifford to revert back to his happy feet issues.

 

[JWB389]

Disappointing half of football

 

[BrucePa]

TAKE AWAY TWO BIG PLAYS AND VILLANOVA IS PLAYING PENN STATE EVEN.

 

[Nittanyfarmer]

Are we watching Penn State, or is this Kent State on the field???

 

[lazydave841]

They've tried Effner as a sub for Wilson. Can Tengwall sub in at LG?

As somebody said, SC is looking deep every drop back.

 

[AWS1022]

and it's not as black and white as saying "the run game has problems". let's look at the schedule so far:

WI: #1 ranked rushing D
Ball State: #88 ranked rushing D (and penn state had over 200 yards rushing
AU: #3 ranked rushing D
Villanova: So far, the #3 ranked rushing D in FCS. Yes they're FCS, but they have a good rushing D.

You can't look at this schedule against VERY good rushing D's and take that the PSU rushing game has problems. no shit they are having problems.... but there's a reason. the silver lining is that MY adjusts. I'd be MUCH more upset if he kept trying to run the ball when he's got this much passing success right now. I think teams are trying to revert Clifford back to his 2020 self by putting the game in his hands. But Cliff is a different QB this year, so they're making defenses pay

And we’re using multiple RB’s this game trying not to get anyone hurt. And we’re coming off a huge white out game and playing an FCS school. And we’re keeping it vanilla since we start conference play next week.

 

[lazydave841]

TAKE AWAY TWO BIG PLAYS AND VILLANOVA IS PLAYING PENN STATE EVEN.

Ah, so those don't count for us now?

 

[nits74]

There will be several Conference losses if this sort of line play continues. Whatever happened to the days of our dominating offensive lines. Been a long time.

 

[PennSt8er]

Team is flat. But totally what to expect after last weekend with a yawn opponent and noon kickoff. I think they’ll wake up for second half, make a respectable score margin, and move on. Hard to get the energy for Villanova after Auburn.

 

[PrtLng Lion]

We're a strong 2nd half team, going to come out of the locker room and light things up.

 

[Madsol]

TAKE AWAY TWO BIG PLAYS AND VILLANOVA IS PLAYING PENN STATE EVEN.

This is dumb, even for an in game thread post. Yep, if you take away one team's good plays, the other team usually would be in better shape.

 

[AWS1022]

Great Post really is...Agree on everything.

Only issue is 2 yds 3 yds when we need it is all. Auburn I felt we did well, Wisconsin well considering....this is Villanova and yes as Millen said " A good Rush Defense team" my post earlier was explained well. A very good Top 10 Defense will give us trouble.

My main issue is lets be able to get 3YDS a carry is all.....start there.

A very good top 10 defense will give everyone trouble, which is why they’re top 10.

 

[KnightWhoSaysNit]

Franklin says the run game is fine. 3.8 average. Stats rule conclusion.

 

[bdgan]

Franklin says we're getting 3.8 yds per carry. What game is he watching?

 

[AWS1022]

Maybe the easy long TD's have not helped Clifford's decision making as this game has gone along. He seems to be ignoring the safety valve, easy throws that are open and keeping his eyes down field too long. It's as if he is expecting 15 seconds of time in the pocket. Distorted mental clock.......

GET RID OF THE BALL....

I worried about that when he opened with the TD bomb….I thought he might go back to his first year in mop up time when he was launching bombs.

 

[grinagrin]

CJF just said the running game is not too bad and better than he thought 😳

 

[nits74]

Team is flat. But totally what to expect after last weekend with a yawn opponent and noon kickoff. I think they’ll wake up for second half, make a respectable score margin, and move on. Hard to get the energy for Villanova after Auburn.

That still doesn't excuse the complete lack of a running game. Considering the opponent, this is more than a minor concern.

 

[AWS1022]

There will be several Conference losses if this sort of line play continues. Whatever happened to the days of our dominating offensive lines. Been a long time.

Then how did we beat Wisconsin and Auburn? Must have changed OLine players.

 

[bdgan]

And we’re using multiple RB’s this game trying not to get anyone hurt. And we’re coming off a huge white out game and playing an FCS school. And we’re keeping it vanilla since we start conference play next week.

Bad excuse. It's Villanova.

 

[TheBumble]

Villanova getting a sack with a 3 man rush is not something I thought I'd see today.

 

[Player2BNamedL8r]

I’m wondering - and please talk me off the ledge if I’m wrong - because Franklin emphasizes the “splash plays” so much, does it impact his players’ mentality towards the garden variety plays a team needs to make to sustain drives?

 

[HartfordLlion]

Franklin says we're getting 3.8 yds per carry. What game is he watching?

That was after the 1st qtr. The average at half is likely half that if you include the QB sacks

 

[Sooner Lion]

The GD RB is wide open in the flat. How does a 5th year QB not utilize the dump down?

 

[AWS1022]

CJF just said the running game is not too bad and better than he thought 😳

Someone gave him incorrect stats apparently.

 

[KnightWhoSaysNit]

CJF just said the running game is not too bad and better than he thought 😳

This is where I would differ with Franklin. Stats can be skewed to show something that isn't true. I don't think our run game passes the eye test.

 

[PennSt8er]

That still doesn't excuse the complete lack of a running game. Considering the opponent, this is more than a minor concern.

True. But this is a top quality run D playing its dream game against an O line that is going through the motions. I expect some changes at half and some yelling by the coaches to shake things up.

 

[Big 0]

Have not seen any misdirection plays that I remember. Nova playing run with at least 8 in the box and zone coverage. PSU needs to take what Nova is giving them and not try to hit the home run practically every play.

 

[KnightWhoSaysNit]

Someone gave him incorrect stats apparently.

Could be that they don't count Clifford's runs and sacks. Maybe it's a sideline RB stat.

 

[bdgan]

That was after the 1st qtr. The average at half is likely half that if you include the QB sacks

Less than half.

 

[AWS1022]

Bad excuse. It's Villanova.

And we scored on three of our first four drives and the one we didn’t was a missed FG. Sorry it’s not 42-0….apparently we’re just a horrible football team.

 

[ftlpsu]

The GD RB is wide open in the flat. How does a 5th year QB not utilize the dump down?

He's feelin it is all a little too much (Which is Great for the most part-this is Explaining details of the statement BTW for some ...in the past he traditionally dumped to the RB in the flats remember. Might be reason MY jumped in his A$$ earlier.

 

[danvillenit]

I’m wondering - and please talk me off the ledge if I’m wrong - because Franklin emphasizes the “splash plays” so much, does it impact his players’ mentality towards the garden variety plays a team needs to make to sustain drives?

No. Get off the ledge

 

[AWS1022]

Could be that they don't count Clifford's runs and sacks. Maybe it's a sideline RB stat.

Even without the sacks, what stats were given to Franklin were incorrect. They’re averaging 2.4 yards per run, not 3.8 like he was told.

 

[PennSt8er]

I’ll be a lot more concerned if the coaches don’t shake things up to loosen up the run game. Not concerned about a lackluster first half with the setup coming off last week.

 

[bdgan]

Have not seen any misdirection plays that I remember. Nova playing run with at least 8 in the box and zone coverage. PSU needs to take what Nova is giving them and not try to hit the home run practically every play.

Millen said they've only been using a 7 man front.

 

[BobPSU92]

I hate us.

 

[danvillenit]

Even without the sacks, what stats were given to Franklin were incorrect. They’re averaging 2.4 yards per run, not 3.8 like he was told.

He said after the first quarter

 

[KnightWhoSaysNit]

I’m wondering - and please talk me off the ledge if I’m wrong - because Franklin emphasizes the “splash plays” so much, does it impact his players’ mentality towards the garden variety plays a team needs to make to sustain drives?

Though I don't like that emphasis, that would not seem to me to be the root cause. Strength/technique and probably a good bit of missed blocking assignments.