-no downfield passing game
-poor offensive line play
-erratic qb play
-no home run rushing attack
-poor special teams
- good defense that plays terrible in the clutch
-no complimentary football
-lose close games
-turnovers
I think about 50% of your post COULD be a 1-game over-reaction. And maybe about 50% of your list could be season-long legit concerns:
1-Game over-reactions:
> "erratic QB Play" - Granted Clifford was not too good in the 1st Half, but he had a pretty decent 2nd Half. Over his 14 career starts, I think it's now safe to say that Clifford is not going to be "Trace McSorley" but he's decent.
> "poor special teams" - Yes. They were bad on Saturday. But Pinegar has been pretty good for his career. And last year under Lorig the ST were pretty good. Chalk it up to a bad day.
> "no complimentary football" - Actually since he arrived at PSU, Franklin's teams have played pretty good complimentary football. Do not let one bad Saturday over-whelm 6 years.
> "lose close games" - Would you rather see our loses be blowouts??? Yes, over the years our loses have been close games. But that means we are in games. Under Franklin we've suffered only a few ugly beat downs. And BTW .... we've won way more close games the last 6 years than we lost.
> "turnovers" - Again, do not let 1 off Saturday over-whelm 6 years of data. Under Franklin we have usually won turnover margin and taken care of the football.
Things that could be longer term concerns:
> "no downfield passing game" - I mentioned this last week that our WR depth Chart is a scary concern and got blasted by the blind loyalists. I'll double-down on my concern. That was Indiana on Saturday. Not Ohio State, or Michigan. I just do not see our WRs winning battles consistently vs. top end B1G DBs.
> "poor offensive line play" - Has this not been an issue since like 1994 ; ). Seriously, how many years in a row now must we have either a weak OL, or an under-achieving OL. When was the last time we had a PSU team where we could say "The OL is a strength".????
> "no home run rushing game" - His name was Journey Brown. Yes, it will be a problem all year. IF Cain comes back, he is a good RB, but he is not a HR threat. You can not fault the coaches here. From Barkley to Sanders to Brown... the staff has lined us up a HR threat at RB. You can not fault them for a medical condition. But. It is what it is, and without Brown, I do not see any RB giving us that "easy" 60 yard touchdown from what should have been a 4-yard gain.
> "good defense that plays terrible in the clutch" - This one is becoming mind-boggling. The opponents last drive before a Half. The last 5 minutes of a game with a lead. Heck, even the immediate drive after we score, seems like the defense lets down and allows the other team to answer. Pry has really got to go back and re-evaluate his defensive philosophy late in halfs, and nursing leads.