Allen’s D was impressive esp Jaylen and KJ- so physical on run support and corners with tight man coverage— Rojas was a beast- great team D. Carter was schemed out on most plays by WVU but he affected them by demanding double teams- maybe too anxious jumping snap count- he will be back strong and Allen did say they may have him play LB sometimes. Great depth everywhere- will be a fun season!!
So many positives— Kotelnicki O, Drew’s execution— one constant was O line- best performance in years- 0 sacks, clean pocket and zone runs
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Rojas may end up being the most exciting player on d this year. He plays with a very high motor and enthusiasm for the game.
OL was solid but run game was ehh outside of the one Singleton TD. Coaches did use scheme to get some yards with the Beau package though. PLus DA had a couple runs from the pocket that helped the total. I'd give them another week to get out the kinks
Love the game that Rojas played. On the 4th down run by the QB he tried to tackle the ball without wrapping and he did an ole' as he did not get a hit on the QB...... other than that one play he was everywhere as where Reed and KJ.....and the Corners were very aggressive. Thought that Zane played a nice game in the middle of the line.
I recall two plays in where I was unimpressed with Rojas' tackling. One was on the sideline where he lowered his shoulder instead of wrapping up and that resulted in a 1st down. Same thin down on the goal line. He lowered his shoulder to deliver a hit but didn't wrap up. That allowed the WVa RB to score on second effort.
I agree that Rojas can be very good but he's also got some things to work on.
WVa largely stuffed our run game except for Singleton's two long runs. I'm not sure if we missed blocks, weren't strong enough, or if WVa had overloaded the box. I doubt we'll learn more until September 28th vs Illinois.
Winston & Reed were great and I don't think it's a fluke. Both should be named to the all BiG team.
Was Sutton really double teamed very often? That would mean Carter wasn't double teamed.
It’s my assumption that their game plan was to stop the run and force us to pass. Lots of reasons to do so: A) our receivers were poor last year and three of those transferred out. B) Allar didn’t look good second half of last season so see if he could recover. C) new OC so the passing game, with new receivers, will take time. D) major changes in the O line so see if they could handle an aggressive D.
Fortunately Wallace was excellent and made some big time catches. And Allar made some big time throws.
2 big runs (good news but a factor if youre just looking at state) and a lot was Allar creating when no one was open. The run game has room for improvement. Happy with yesterday but I assure you AK wasn't thrilled with the ground game.
Sure, there are things to improve as always, but I’m doubting AK was upset with the results. And those results occurred despite calling off the dogs in the fourth quarter. Most running games get better in the third and fourth quarters. If it were still a game in the 4th with the first team running backs and offensive line leaning on that WVU defense all 4 quarters, it would have been a 250-300 yard effort.
And part of our early struggles were we couldn't establish a run game. AK knows that won't work against Ohio State.
I'm expecting a run heavy offense early next week and them to clean up some of the mistakes by the OL and be less predictable when Allen is in the game.
Truthfully, I don't think a guy like AK is ever happy
I am truly happy with AK in that first game. I can see how he has 10 times the innovation of MY and 20 times the personality. Both coordinators have great personalities for this team. You have to connect with the kids.
I'm happy with AK because I think his goal is to be elite and he'll see yesterday as a good step with lots of work to be done
Allar did a good job taking off when receivers were covered. The fact that the receivers not named Wallace had trouble getting separation is still a concern.
I realize that all plays count but if you take out Singleton's two 40 yd runs our RB stats were:
Singleton 11 carries, 34 yds. 3.3 ypc
Allen 10 carries, 20 yds, 2.0 ypc
Wallace 9 carries, 24 yds, 2.7 ypc
Total RBs 2.6 ypc
Our QB running stats were:
Allar 6 carries, 44 yds, 7.3 ypc
Pribula 3 carries, 25 yds, 8.3 ypc
Total QBs 7.7 ypc
The point is PSU didn't control the game by having their RBs grind out 4 ypc. It was QB runs and 2 big plays. PSU is going to have to improve if they're going to control TOP and keep the ball from high powered offenses like OSU & USC.
I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer. I think the offense looked improved and I'm optimistic about a 10-2 finish. I'm just not as exuberant as the OP.
P.S. My two favorite plays on offense were:
- Early in the game PSU was 3rd and 3 and Pribula ran the option and tossed it to the RB for a 1st down.
- Later in the first half PSU sneaked Allen out of the backfield over the middle for a TD.
Overall I agree but I hate any time Beau is in the game so we aren't going to agree on that play as a favorite
I think it will take about 6 games for Carter to become comfortable with his DE responsibilities. Would still prefer he play some LBer for depth reasons. Elsdon is not quick enough. He just can't get to the right place in time or gets overpowered.
Great opener but so was last years game vs. WVU. Franklin is Mr. September and nothing to believe they won’t be 5-0 going to LA in October. Plenty of warts to clean up but they took care of business. Wake me up in November preparing for O$U. Expecting them at 7-0 or 6-1. Anything less is a problem.
You don't "take out" breakaway runs from anyone, ever. That's not how it works. 42 carries 222 yards rushing. Period.
It does when you're analyzing concerns...we can't be in third and longs consistently if we're going to beat top teams
Your comment is like those that told the sane people last year the lack of explosive plays would eventually hurt us which it did.
Yesterday was a great start and the splash plays were great. We also need more consistency. It's a simple concept.
We will never be happy around here. 😀. I am personally ecstatic with these results.
Were you happy early last year when me and pretty much the same people as this year discussed the concerns we had which showed against good teams?
People can be happy with an outcome without ignoring obvious concerns.
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A team that runs 20 times for 100 yards averages 5 ypc. But if 80 yds came on 1 carry that team failed to control the LOS on the other 19 attempts. It's not easy to win that way.
I think just about everybody is happy with these results. That doesn't mean we played well enough to win @ USC, @ Wisconsin, vs OSU, and vs Washington. The critics are simply pointing out the things that have to improve to win those games.
You have no idea how good any of them are yet, and last year we had NO long runs. Yesterday was a success and I believe we build on that. Feel free to continue to dog what is a total complete improvement from last year. As for myself, I'm very pleased with it
Basic literacy tip ... when trying to figure out which pronoun to use along with another pronoun ... take out the other pronoun. So "we're [sic] you happy early last year when me ... discussed" ... does this sound correct to you? Of course not.
Dear God--it pulled poorly from my phone--take two seconds and figure out its
"Were you happy early last when" Clearly I use "We're" more than "Were" or do you not use cell phones?
No, scoobs ... I wasn't referencing the "we're" issue ... hence the [sic] ... I was referencing the "me" issue ... taking out "and pretty much the same people as this year" leaves you with "... when me discussed ..."
The "me" is fine--this isn't a paper or anything important. It's a message board.
But keep obsessing over everything I do and say when you were dead wrong about everything regarding WVU
The "me" isn't fine. It makes you sound illiterate ... as in "me go to the store" illiterate.
And I wasn't wrong about anything re WVU. You must have me confused with someone else, scoobs.
You were dead wrong about WVU.
See? I can say it, too. Sorry, so you can understand it ... "Me can say it, too."
Speaking of deflection ... when your lack of literacy is pointed out, you run to some ridiculous accusation having nothing to do with your literacy. THAT'S deflection.
And I was dead right about WVU. I predicted a blowout.
Yup. Their safeties played up, which is why PSU didn't have a lot of running lanes. But if Singleton gets past the linebacker level he's gone. So you pay either way. In the end, not a bad rushing day. There was some really nice downfield blocking happening with Warren and Fleming.
OL pass blocking was really solid. Run blocking takes longer usually. Maybe they'll run the ball the next two weeks but even then, weak teams play safeties up and give up the big play, otherwise they just manhandled and run down the field. So it can be a little hard to evaluate run-blocking.
Lack of literacy lol. So desperate as always because you dont know anything about literally anything. Including countless dumb things you said about WVU. Hell your comments today prove you don't know the game but we all knew thar despite you creating a new name. Same stupidity
People get all worked up about it but it's no great mystery, PSU is around a #10 team and there's a lot of difference in talent between a #10 and a #33, or a #10 and a #18. But there's also a lot of difference between a #10 and a #1 or #3, especially in college football today when there are like 4 or 5 super-programs where the top 100 players tend to go.
PSU is very talented, they're a top 10 program for sure, but they're not a top 5 program. So I guess it's your choice how you feel about it. I was doubtful PSU would make a 12 team playoff this year but now I'm pretty optimistic. Do they get through the 2nd round of a 12 team playoff? Probably not. But I'm going to enjoy this season nevertheless.
Point out one thing I said about WVU that was wrong. Sorry, let me translate to Landoish ... "Point out one thing me said about WVU that was wrong."
Point out one comment I made today that proves "me" don't know the game.
For Lando's sake ... that's 2 comments to point out. And ... go!
Teams are going to play press coverage and crowd the box until Allar and the WRs consistently burn press coverage. The good news is that the current OC has some creativity in terms of scheming receivers open.
I think Kotelnicki could be a key to unlocking top 5 performance for this squad. I'm still not entirely convinced that our defense will be able to stop one of the tippy-top offenses, however.
