There have been an awful lot of posts about how the coaches and players are terrible, etc.. so I thought I’d take a moment to bring folks back to reality.
No, I won’t go into great detail about the sanctions affect on our offensive line and special teams, especially kickers, but suffice it to say, remind yourselves of those impacts.
Now, on to what I want to point out—
-Our starting tailback is a true freshman. All of our other backs (except Lynch) are freshmen.
-Our starting receivers consist of 3 sophomores (Godwin, Blacknall and Hamilton) and 2 freshmen (Polk and Thomkins) with only Geno Lewis, our most inconsistent receiver, being a Jr.
-Tight end is a bit of a concern as Gesicki hasn’t lived up to the billing (for now). Having said that, he’s a sophomore and has time to get better. Hell, according to Jack Ham and Steve Jones, guys who actually do see him in practice, he’s been lights out. I’ll take the word of those guys, guys who see practice just about every day, over guys on this board who make judgments from watching the team once a week. Franklin has two choices with Gesicki, either sit him or let him play through it. Since we were not going to be playing for the NC this year, I’m all for letting him play through it- remember Sam Ficken’s first year? This is Gesicki’s first year as last year he didn’t play all that much- give him time. I’d also recognize that we simply don’t have other options. Breneman’s career appears to be over, Wilkerson has proven to be a blocking TE, not a receiving threat, and Carter hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire, either. Give Franklin’s recruits a chance to come up through the system, too.
-Arguably, our most talented linemen (not experienced, though) reside in the freshmen class (Beh, Brosnon, Sorrell, Wright, Bates, Gonzalez and Jenkins). This is a more difficult point as some may argue that if they’re so good, why aren’t they playing now. I, however, subscribe to the belief that it is better to play a kid a year too late than a year too early. I think Franklin is doing the right thing bringing them along slowly and it stands to reason the approach will pay dividends in the future. I recall Mr. Sorrell commenting that if two players are equal, go with the younger guy...and I agree with that, so I’m assuming the experienced guys are doing a better job with consistency even though the younger guys may be better athletically, I could be wrong but from what I know about coaching, it makes sense to me to think this way.
-At linebacker, of our 6 regulars, 3 are freshmen (Reeder, Cooper and Bowen) and 1 sophomore (Cabinda). Wartman-White is out and Bell has been playing most of the year with injuries. This is one position I think some freshmen can get quality pt early at Penn State so it sort of befuddles me why we don’t hav some of the Nation’s best looking to come here. The opportunity is there, just not sure why no one wants to take it.
-The brightest spots in our secondary come from freshmen and sophomores. Yes, Haley had a tough day vs. Northwestern but c’mon, guys, stop judging a kid on one game. He’s improving every week. Reed is another young guy already contributing significantly. At safety, Allen has been outstanding. Again, 3 “young” guys.
So, what am I getting at? We’re still very young and as such, we’re going to make mistakes, we’re going to play hesitantly at times. Remember that coach who talked all the time about “playing fast”, well, I don’t think we’re all playing fast right now. The only thing that helps you play fast is experience, and our guys are getting it this year. Mistakes you see this year are not as likely to happen next year, or the year after that. That’s the beauty of experience. As I once heard, “Experience is agreat school, but the fees are high”. The fees, thus far, have been some losses- we’re heading in the right direction, folks, just need the fans to be patient.
Hang in there, folks, we are getting better, I see it each week. It doesn’t always translate on the field but we are getting better. The sanctions impact wil be felt less and less as time goes by and I get taht it today’s society, time isn’t anyone’s friend because people want what they want “right now” but if you just step back for a moment, reflect on where we’ve een, look at where w’re at, and where we’re heading, maybe the anger ad frustration will subside a bit.
Okay, last point, because I know someone will respond with "none of that helps with the terrible coaching". First, the premise, that our coaches are terrible, is simply wrong. have they made some mistakes? Yes, every single coach in America at both the collegiate and professional level make mistakes, but with really good teams, those mistakes get masked over while with teams such as ours right now, they get magnified.
I'd argue that our coaches put our kids in a position to win every game but for Temple this year.Ohio State and Northwestern are both good football teams, better than us at this point in time. It's easy to be critical at a time like this, it's hard to actually consider the big picture and to see the baby steps we're taking-- see my point about "right now" above.
No, I won’t go into great detail about the sanctions affect on our offensive line and special teams, especially kickers, but suffice it to say, remind yourselves of those impacts.
Now, on to what I want to point out—
-Our starting tailback is a true freshman. All of our other backs (except Lynch) are freshmen.
-Our starting receivers consist of 3 sophomores (Godwin, Blacknall and Hamilton) and 2 freshmen (Polk and Thomkins) with only Geno Lewis, our most inconsistent receiver, being a Jr.
-Tight end is a bit of a concern as Gesicki hasn’t lived up to the billing (for now). Having said that, he’s a sophomore and has time to get better. Hell, according to Jack Ham and Steve Jones, guys who actually do see him in practice, he’s been lights out. I’ll take the word of those guys, guys who see practice just about every day, over guys on this board who make judgments from watching the team once a week. Franklin has two choices with Gesicki, either sit him or let him play through it. Since we were not going to be playing for the NC this year, I’m all for letting him play through it- remember Sam Ficken’s first year? This is Gesicki’s first year as last year he didn’t play all that much- give him time. I’d also recognize that we simply don’t have other options. Breneman’s career appears to be over, Wilkerson has proven to be a blocking TE, not a receiving threat, and Carter hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire, either. Give Franklin’s recruits a chance to come up through the system, too.
-Arguably, our most talented linemen (not experienced, though) reside in the freshmen class (Beh, Brosnon, Sorrell, Wright, Bates, Gonzalez and Jenkins). This is a more difficult point as some may argue that if they’re so good, why aren’t they playing now. I, however, subscribe to the belief that it is better to play a kid a year too late than a year too early. I think Franklin is doing the right thing bringing them along slowly and it stands to reason the approach will pay dividends in the future. I recall Mr. Sorrell commenting that if two players are equal, go with the younger guy...and I agree with that, so I’m assuming the experienced guys are doing a better job with consistency even though the younger guys may be better athletically, I could be wrong but from what I know about coaching, it makes sense to me to think this way.
-At linebacker, of our 6 regulars, 3 are freshmen (Reeder, Cooper and Bowen) and 1 sophomore (Cabinda). Wartman-White is out and Bell has been playing most of the year with injuries. This is one position I think some freshmen can get quality pt early at Penn State so it sort of befuddles me why we don’t hav some of the Nation’s best looking to come here. The opportunity is there, just not sure why no one wants to take it.
-The brightest spots in our secondary come from freshmen and sophomores. Yes, Haley had a tough day vs. Northwestern but c’mon, guys, stop judging a kid on one game. He’s improving every week. Reed is another young guy already contributing significantly. At safety, Allen has been outstanding. Again, 3 “young” guys.
So, what am I getting at? We’re still very young and as such, we’re going to make mistakes, we’re going to play hesitantly at times. Remember that coach who talked all the time about “playing fast”, well, I don’t think we’re all playing fast right now. The only thing that helps you play fast is experience, and our guys are getting it this year. Mistakes you see this year are not as likely to happen next year, or the year after that. That’s the beauty of experience. As I once heard, “Experience is agreat school, but the fees are high”. The fees, thus far, have been some losses- we’re heading in the right direction, folks, just need the fans to be patient.
Hang in there, folks, we are getting better, I see it each week. It doesn’t always translate on the field but we are getting better. The sanctions impact wil be felt less and less as time goes by and I get taht it today’s society, time isn’t anyone’s friend because people want what they want “right now” but if you just step back for a moment, reflect on where we’ve een, look at where w’re at, and where we’re heading, maybe the anger ad frustration will subside a bit.
Okay, last point, because I know someone will respond with "none of that helps with the terrible coaching". First, the premise, that our coaches are terrible, is simply wrong. have they made some mistakes? Yes, every single coach in America at both the collegiate and professional level make mistakes, but with really good teams, those mistakes get masked over while with teams such as ours right now, they get magnified.
I'd argue that our coaches put our kids in a position to win every game but for Temple this year.Ohio State and Northwestern are both good football teams, better than us at this point in time. It's easy to be critical at a time like this, it's hard to actually consider the big picture and to see the baby steps we're taking-- see my point about "right now" above.
