1) OL played better.... we ran to the left pretty well at times. Almost all runs were between the tackles....other than a Parker Washington jet sweep.
2) Olu Fashanu #74 was very consistent as was Tengwell and Juice......right guard seemed better and outside of Wallace getting torched 2-3 times even Wallace showed improvement.
3) Nice to see the TEs contribute.....hope the Johnson can come back....perhaps the most talented TE..... Strange missed a block on the Parker Washington play that would have sprung him to the secondary.
4) The aggressive in your face DB play is how the good teams play defense.....watch Georgia, U of Michigan both extremely aggressive....the QBs are too good to play zone and tackle....bump receivers off the route tip the ball....we should/could have had 3 ints.
5) The young runners looked good......the problem with the scheme is that the defense knows most likely where the RB will be 1 second into the play....standing at a standstill next to the QB.....so eveyone is attacking the mesh point......and if your QB is not going to run, you lose your option of pulling the ball back and running.
6) Guys that stood out: JPJ good game....made himself some money, Hardy screwed up on the punt coverage...knocking ball into Endzone (why?), but in defense the guy makes plays...... Chop Robinson, Tinsley...two nice transfer guys....Chop ending the game with a Chop move....nice. Clifford other than the horrendous 4th Q throw was very accurate.....Allar did not look scared.....Singleton and Allen super combination....enjoy them, as they may not be here too long. Parker Washington is fun to watch. Punting and Kicking was excellent.....good special teams play.
7) Guys that I was expecting more: Beamon got blown up all night, Lambert Smith 1 great run after catch...rest of the night drops, DDS did not really show up so much....he eventually will but not so much last night. Tough break for Carter getting tossed have heard great things about his tackling and generally his violent play on the field. Other than Tinsley, Washington....receivers did not do much/anything? Play calling at the beginning of the game....how many drives did we go run on first down, run on second down....need to pick up 3rd and 6.....tough to do consistently.
Thought that the game was reffed pretty well and that the announcers were actually pretty good....pretty straight down the middle.
Good first game....on the road......against a team that will be in the thick of playing for the Big Ten Title game.......Purdue's Coach is the perfect coach for them......he gives them with their more limited roster a chance against just about anybody......Charlie Jones against PJP was fun to watch and O'Connor will be cashing paychecks next year that are not NIL checks.
First of all, kudos to the team for pulling out the win.
Positives:
1. Secondary play looked very solid to great - especially as front 7 kept them on an island for very long periods of time
2. Freshman RBs looked advanced. Need some blocking. With QB run seemingly shelved, will make it that much harder.
3. Special Teams (yes, no FG attempts, so hopefully Pinegar is ready there).
4. Cliffy. Despite his troubles and the horrible interception (why did we not run the ball?), he did a great job to rally the team. Parenthetically, Allar looked much improved from Spring!
5. Tinsley
Negatives:
1. Soft on both OL and D front 7. I am resigned to this. It’s the personality of the coach. So let’s call it finesse. But it ain’t Penn State football and it will never get this team to a playoff. There is simply too much talent that other teams wanted that are not getting a push or being disruptive. So it much be the coaching. How many times have we heard in recruiting: “He has a nasty streak” or “He plays with and edge.” But we have not a single player where this translates? Has to be the coaching.
2. Playmakers on D front 7? I counted exactly 0. How?
3. Linebacker player looked indecisive.
Going to be another long, painful year. 7-6 still looking likely. 9 wins ceiling. Only 6 wins not out of question.
Program still seems stale. Need another approach to breathe some enthusiasm and tenacity into the team. Not sure School has the $ to make that happen. Colossal mistake to commit to 10 years. Sandy should have been fired instantly for even considering.
