I have said this before. You need back to back to back top 10 recruiting classes to have a chance. There is a significant talent gap between us and OSU. Sometimes the lesser team can win, but Franklin and staff did their best at least last night.
That was the worst Ohio State team in 10 years and
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^^^^^This x 100. Watching Clifford last week against Illinois, really the whole team, if I had a gun to my head I would have said OSU in a BLOWOUT, easily covering the spread. The way the team battled on both sides of the ball all night long to me was very, very impressive. If the coaches can keep the team together and get that type of effort the rest of the season anything could happen.
I've never understood this propensity for some Penn State fans to denigrate our past, and specifically Paterno and his accomplishments, in some ill designed attempt to support Franklin. Paterno only won 409 games because we played Temple, Pitt and Maryland? That's just flat out dumb. Dumb.
Most of us can rightly celebrate our past and the many accomplishments of Paterno AND be excited about what Franklin has done and realize that we're not too far away from where we want to be.
Agree, but the selective memory and the rewriting of history is what bothers many on this board. Thinking Joe never made coaching errors, or that we never got pushed around, or we never lost to a bad team. Many fans on here judge former coaches differently than current coaches and transfer players differently than players that stay. It’s irritating.
If PSU can somehow figure out their dreadful running attack (related somewhat to the OL) they can win out. I didn't say "will" win out but the possibility is there with that very good defense
I thought PSU played as well as they could. Good solid defense sans Mustipher, and rhythm offense with Clifford moving pretty well. OSU presented some challenging blitz packages that our line and tailbacks had real problems with including the speed of attack. The lack of an inside running game, or edge for that matter, is PSU’s greatest Achilles heel, but that’s been our MO for a while now. Play this way down the stretch and every game is a win opportunity.
The D played a heck of a game. The non existence of a running game is what is killing us. So we may still end up 8-4. An improvement over last year. Hopeful we get some power running backs in the future.
You kinda made me think about this statement. Not sure it's our worst team in ten years, certainly not from a talent standpoint. Maybe one of our most inexperienced.
RS freshmen QB that made his 7th start last night. Didn't throw a pass last year.
True freshmen RB that opted out of his senior season of HS.
True freshmen CB(Burke) that mostly played WR in HS.
Lineup is littered with underclassmen.
True freshmen CB
RS freshmen QB that made his 7th start last night. Didn't throw a pass last year.
True freshmen RB that opted out of his senior season of HS.
True freshmen CB(Burke) that mostly played WR in HS.
Lineup is littered with underclassmen.
True freshmen CB
That first sentence is what hits home. PSU gave it everything they had, played as well as it possibly could, and it still wasn’t enough to garner the W.
The big question is how much of last night was PSU and how much was OSU? OSU has looked great since the Oregon loss, but that was against teams with a combined record of 21-27. Of course they are going to look like world beaters against that schedule. Most pundits thought PSU would get blown out last night after how the struggled against a terrible Illinois team, but they were in it until the end. I don’t think OSU magically fixed their defense and PSU is about as one dimensional an offense can be yet they were able to score 24 and move the ball pretty well. Imagine what a healthy Clifford could have done last night if he was able to actually run like he could before the injury?
Um, ok. Problem is that your post suggests one is as reasonable as the other. Penn State is one of the all-time winningest programs and its long-time head coach is the all-time winningest major college coach. So exaggeration seems much more reasonable and excusable (um, this is a Penn State fan site...like we should have to apologize for being pro-Penn State) than denigrating our past.
Wouldn't the worst OSU team in 10 years be the one PSU beat?
I don't know how much Michigan will challenge them,but Sparty will probably be a tough game just because they run so well. Still, nobody else has the secondary we do and Stroud will methodically pick them apart.
They make the playoff. Match-up determines how far they go.
I have to ask: is having our day against OSU in the next few years a level to which we should aspire? We obviously want to beat them, but once every decade isn’t good.
It’s always something with this program. There’s an Illinois and Iowa every year. I realize expectations were muted this year, but when you start 5-0 and then lose 3 straight like this, it begs questions.
I genuinely like this staff and want them to succeed, but they seem to make it hard.
Everyone said this was a down osu team and still predicted we’d get blown out. It’s not like we lost this game with one of the Saquon teams. Expectations were as low as could be, were actually exceeded and it’s still the end of the world. Some on here just epitomize misery loves company. Season lost meaning last week. Everyone needs to lighten up.
Our season is kind of backwards. We beat teams we usually lose to and lost games we should have won.
The 4-5 last year wasn't an accident. Probably a 7-5 year, just unmasked by no OOC games.
I think Yurcich has made a big difference as well as Poindexter, but I think our recruiting misses glare on this team and injuries have depleted our best talent.
Agree. If Joe hadn’t won two national championships, had numerous undefeated seasons, emphasized academics and “success with honor,” and generally became a legend, then I’d say, yeah, he was just an “ordinary Joe.”
I kinda get the feeling that some people don’t want to mention Joe’s accomplishments for fear that the current coach will get upset that we’re reminiscing about Joe and not paying attention to him. If Franklin (or any coach) is that thin-skinned, then they shouldn’t be coaching.
I think the way that the Penn State admin treated Joe is a scandal in its own right. Joe did all the right things (so did Spanier and others subsequently non-personed), but the admin used him as a scapegoat. What they did is utterly appalling and I don't know how those people live with themselves.
I remember going to the 2002 Nebraska-PSU game, standing in line at the Creamery, and a lot of us discussing that it was past time for Paterno to retire. Of course, we all know the drubbing that Penn State gave Nebraska in that electrifying atmosphere. I remember the multiple-overtime win against FSU in 2006, pitting Bowden vs. Paterno in a great matchup. And anyone who doesn’t remember the emphasis on “success with honor” and scholarship (true “student-athletes”) needs to do just a wee bit of historical review. Unfortunately, The Evil Ones did all they could to erase the memory of a great and brilliant man. Personally, I don’t think it’s possible to exaggerate all that Paterno meant to Penn State. So many, including me, learned one final lesson that sometimes you don't know what you've lost until it's gone.
PSU teams have be build to compete with the likes of OSU especially on defense. Fast defenders at the 2nd and 3rd levels. OSU plays with finesse much like PSU on offense, get their skill players out in space and let them do their thing. That is why we struggle against team like Wisky, Iowa, and now Illinois. Those teams want to play smashmouth football. Line up play physical and get that 4-5yrds a carry and be heavy on TOP. To beat those team you have to get up a couple of scores and make them pass then they fall apart as the skill at QB and WR is always lacking, what uber skilled WR wants to spend most of their time blocking or uber skilled QB handing off the ball all the time???
Yesterday could have been a blowout but I'm not surprised we hung in with them. OSU is a talented team, more so than PSU but they lost a lot to the NFL and experience is lacking. Time to beat them is early in the season like OU did. They are starting to gel and it will be difficult for anyone to beat them the rest of the way out unless they get bit by the injury bug.
We had our shots we are just not talented enough to beat OSU this year and other years.
A reasonably healthy Clifford who can play the 2nd half of Iowa and Illinois puts us undefeated going into OSU game. But we still lose to OSU. If Clifford stay healthy, we could win most if not all of our game remaining on our schedule. If Clifford does not come back next year, it's going to be very ugly.
But Clifford wasn’t healthy…a recurring theme that hasn’t been addressed. Yes, there’s some bad luck there, but he’s still asked to do things like carry the ball often that he wouldn’t do to preserve his health.
After several years, we start asking how much is continued bad luck vs due to other underlying factors?
That is not the worst OSU team in 10 years. It is an average, but very young OSU team. They will be better next year.
Agree with all of this especially Clifford coming back next year. That would give PSU time to develop those young QBs instead of having to throw them straight into the fire
That this is the worst OSU team in 10 years….based on what? His opinion and that’s all.
Hey. They know they really beat a team that with a healthy Clifford would have come in at #2 and undefeated, so they were celebrating beating the #2 team in the country. 🤣😉
After last week's game, how many actually thought that we could stay in the game last night? Clifford's injury and losing Mustipher were huge to this talented, but thin team. Very few people saw us giving them a game before yesterday. PSU played very well (well enough to win, with a few different bounces), but there is no credit given to the coaches for pulling this team together and getting them ready, with a good game plan and making sure that no one gave up. The coaches take most of the blame for Indiana, but let's give them some credit for OSU (I know that we lost, but again, very few expected us to make it a game.) We definitely have a way to go to consistently beat OSU, and some of that is definitely on coaching. Some of it is on the players, the university, and the universe (injuries, heart conditions, etc.) It's much easier to get the cream when you're on top. I realize that we have had some good recruiting, but lots of 3 and 4 stars isn't always better than a class with less players but more 5 stars. Even if you don't believe in the star system, there are only a few real difference makers out there, and we still don't get near as many as OSU (or Alabama).
I will call it a C so far for this coaching staff this season. If they can keep the team playing well through the remainder of the schedule, they get a B. That buys them another season in my eyes, since I don't see a lot of A coaches available. Not that anyone in authority will care what I think!
I will call it a C so far for this coaching staff this season. If they can keep the team playing well through the remainder of the schedule, they get a B. That buys them another season in my eyes, since I don't see a lot of A coaches available. Not that anyone in authority will care what I think!
Yeah, amazing what some will to invent. If you took a poll in 2014 around mid season about OSU, most would have said that team was a disaster based on how bad Virginia Tech just totally destroyed them - they sacked OSU QBs 8 or 9 times. But that team got better and better and we all know the end result - the NC. That was a very young OSU team at the start of the year
I've also seen a comparison of the 2021 OSU team to that 2014 team - very similar things going on - especially the youth and losing a game early. I saw an article on one of the OSU sites that listed the experience of the OSU 2-deep - on at 2.67 years. In other words, the average experience of that OSU squad is averaged out to the middle - last half of their sophomore year. They'll lose a lot but actually have more coming back. Not at all saying they'll win the NC, but they are getting better and better mostly due to those young players getting experience
MY POINT: this OSU squad is getting better and better as the season goes along and PSU just went toe to toe with an OSU squad that's on a roll and PSU could have very easily won that game. They just ran out of gas at the end. Kudos to the PSU staff and players. You might not have come away with a victory but you served notice that you could be a very dangerous team going forward - especially if you can somehow figure out your OL and running game
Again, there will be no “figuring out” of the Offensive line. When? How? That will have to take place in the pre-season next year - only likely from a complete overhaul of coaching/approach/personnel. Have you ever watched football?
The only danger is that Penn State may lose out. If they can’t run on Villanova are they suddenly going to run in Michigan? @ Michigan State? Even Maryland or Rutgers?
It was a nice effort and good game plan against your Bucks.. But no game plan can overcome a total lack of running game and mental/physical toughness.
Penn State needs a fresh start…maybe a bit of back to the future!
I thought the defense played better in many ways, but still had the big breakdowns at key moments. The O played much better but were still inconsistent and the turnovers killed PSU.
I think we’ve seen the peak under Franklin. Each year he will lose to OSU, likely lose to Michigan or Michigan St, and frequently lose to a team they shouldn’t (Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, etc). That’s the general pattern.
The idea that Franklin’s about to magically turn the corner with another recruiting class just isn’t realistic IMO. It’s been 8 years already.
As another poster pointed out, Penn St football is like watching Charlie Brown line up for the FG telling himself this is the time he’ll make it….……. only for Lucy to pull the ball away again and again.
