To me, the most important factor in PSU's upcoming season is

[demlion]

whether we can jump on teams and take control of games early. If you go back and look at last year, we really F'ed around with some mediocre teams. We got a fair number of those wins, but we need to roll from the opening kickoff this year. You cannot be playing heartstopper games with Pitt and Akron and the like.

 

[LionDeNittany]

It was frustrating the way we used Barkley with the read, especially in the first half.

He was getting the ball with a guy in his face 5 yds behind the LOS with no forward momentum.

It was frustrating.

LdN

 

[bwifan]

I agree... first half of games PSU played to their competition. 2nd half for whatever reason would come out and look like world beaters. Time for them to out teams away early and let the back ups play.

 

[LaJolla Lion]

whether we can jump on teams and take control of games early. If you go back and look at last year, we really F'ed around with some mediocre teams. We got a fair number of those wins, but we need to roll from the opening kickoff this year. You cannot be playing heartstopper games with Pitt and Akron and the like.

PSU will get every teams best punch this year too.....so it's pretty imperative they jump on teams early. Last year early on you had a GREEN DL that couldn't really get off the field. I don't see that being the case this year which will get the ball back to this O a bit more often. Teams also know they will need to score on us which may push them to force things. I think you'll see a confident QB who can read a D early on this year and take what they are giving him. They may not blow every one out in quarter one, but I don't expect to be down at the half in most of the games this year either.

 

[BiochemPSU]

Injuries.

 

[Ceasar]

IMO the fact that we were such a strong second half team was a credit to Moorhead's play calling. IMHO he saw what opposing defenses were doing in the first half and then came out and completely dissected them. In other words, it's not like we were in 28-24 games at halftime and then came out and took control. Rather, we were in tight games, lower scoring games and then the offense came out and could not be stopped.
I agree that part of the maturation and improvement of this team should be the ability for the offense to come out from the start and dominate. Moorhead supposedly has set a goal of being the highest scoring offense in PSU history. If we are to achieve that we will have to get out of the gate fast. And I think we will have a very solid defensive team so if we can put 21-24 points on the board before halftime I suspect we will be in control against teams like Akron, Pitt, Indy, etc...

 

[getmyjive11]

Injuries.

This. Particularly at LB. I feel good about our depth everwhere else but LB is a major concern. TE may be iffy as well.

 

[LukeIamYourFather]

Injuries.

Key injuries played a huge part in early losses to Pitt and Mich. We basically had no remaining LBs. Both OTs were out at various points in the season. Then there were other key guys missing on top of that. Heck, a couple of key guys missing for USC may have also been the difference.

Makes you kind of wonder how we won the B1G championship and came within a play of winning the Rose Bowl. We had a really tough luck year with injuries and had probably the fewest senior starters of just about any team.

 

[VaNtyLion]

The "2nd half team" was a tagline that followed the team around all year, but there were really only a couple of games where the action on the field was all that lopsided in the 1st half on both sides of the ball- Pitt and Michigan. I think the rest of the games saw the D play reasonably well through halftime while the offense settled in.

So question is why was the offense struggling in the 1st half? I'd look at the source of the struggles as some combo of: new offense, new QB, OL shuffling due to injuries (we started 10 different combos along the OL last year), 1st year QB still learning and teams focusing on Barkley and trying to make PSU one dimensional.

Plus side is, the staff was tremendous at adjustments but do need to have some expected period each week to see how the opponent will try and defend. I don't think this is a matter of not being ready to play though.

 

[Ceasar]

This. Particularly at LB. I feel good about our depth everwhere else but LB is a major concern. TE may be iffy as well.

We should have a solid 2-deep at all three LB positions so hopefully any injuries there will be manageable. I feel good about a two-deep of Cabinda/Smith, Farmer/Brown and Bowen/Cooper. Jarvis Miller and Ellis Brooks would provide the "deep depth" which we hope to not need.

 

[LukeIamYourFather]

We should have a solid 2-deep at all three LB positions so hopefully any injuries there will be manageable. I feel good about a two-deep of Cabinda/Smith, Farmer/Brown and Bowen/Cooper. Jarvis Miller and Ellis Brooks would provide the "deep depth" which we hope to not need.

Farmer/Brown. I guess we still are a cow college.

 

[michnittlion]

I think the first half of our game at Iowa will be the defining half of the season.

We're better than Iowa. But they're still decent enough and it's a road game (very likely to be a 7:30 ABC game, at night).

Elite-level teams jump early and don't give Iowa a realistic chance to win. (case in point from our best team this century: 2005 PSU @ Michigan State)

Non-elite teams let Iowa hang around and allow the crowd and atmosphere to play a role, possibly having a deciding factor in the game. (painful memory: our 2008 visit to Iowa)

We'll see on September 23 which we are.

 

[Sooner Lion]

It was frustrating the way we used Barkley with the read, especially in the first half.

He was getting the ball with a guy in his face 5 yds behind the LOS with no forward momentum.

It was frustrating.

LdN

Mcsorley / Stevens needs to keep the ball early in the game on the RPO. First couple of RPOs should be QB keepers by design. This is the only thing that will keep the defense honest.

 

[sluggo72]

Key injuries played a huge part in early losses to Pitt and Mich. We basically had no remaining LBs. Both OTs were out at various points in the season. Then there were other key guys missing on top of that. Heck, a couple of key guys missing for USC may have also been the difference.

Makes you kind of wonder how we won the B1G championship and came within a play of winning the Rose Bowl. We had a really tough luck year with injuries and had probably the fewest senior starters of just about any team.

I don't recall the injuries going into the Pitt game, and both OT were full strength goes. I do remember not playing hard at the opening whistle, and getting jumped on. Most of the missing from USC were self-inflicted wounds.

 

[getmyjive11]

We should have a solid 2-deep at all three LB positions so hopefully any injuries there will be manageable. I feel good about a two-deep of Cabinda/Smith, Farmer/Brown and Bowen/Cooper. Jarvis Miller and Ellis Brooks would provide the "deep depth" which we hope to not need.

I'm not as confident in that 2 deep as you are.

 

[Fox Chapel Lion II]

Agree completely with @demlion. I believe with the OL and QB having a year under their belts and experienced WR's, this should not be a big problem.

However in college ball virtually every team has a game or two where they are sluggish out of the gate. Key is to keep that to a minimum and if you're not zooming coming out of the locker room, then get that fire re-started fast.

All things being equal I expect us to just pour on the points and end the proceedings early against a lot of the lesser lights.

 

[ftlpsu]

It's a completely different approach for the coaching staff as well as the players. The coaches now know the players and their capabilities of executing the play called in a specific situation. The players are also more comfortable and understanding the offense-hence you can PLAY FASTER if you dont have to think..not just about the "Player" or "Position" the game of football is much more than that

I expect a drastically different year and it will be fun!

 

[psuro]

If we score more points than the other team in games played between Sept and November we will be in good shape.

Just. Win. Baby.

 

[Nittany Ziggy]

If we score more points than the other team in games played between Sept and November we will be in good shape.

Just. Win. Baby.

The elegance in this "simplistically genius-like" observation is, quite simply, hard to understate!

 

[tboyer]

It is so much fun anticipating this season because we know the team has the potential to be really good but it could play out in different ways. To be it hinges on OL play. It's safe to say the OL will be good but will they be great?

1) If it's great, PSU is going to run the ball and blow out teams early like 1994. I think the first play of 1994 was a sweep down the left side against USC. OL and Engram blocked it well and Carter just outran everybody around the corner and down the sideline.

2) Will the play calling grow more "conservative" this year because the team has more balance on offense and Moorhead plans for longer sustained drives? Last year sustained drives weren't really an option because of the OL issues, but McSorley and the receivers overcame it by being better than the B1G secondaries. Barkley could be counted on in most games to break a couple huge plays. But this year they should have more success handing the ball to Barkley on 3rd and four and actually having the hole that the play is designed to have. That changes everything.

3) If PSU becomes a better running team, if they play from a lead instead of a deficit, do they lose some of the capability they had throwing deep last year? If they do, they could be in danger to ball-control teams like NW or WIsconsin or Iowa who aim to keep the scoring low.

I hope (and really, I'm not worried) that Franklin and Moorhead stay aggressive, keep the aggressiveness that helped the team play fearlessly in 2016. If a division championship etc. is in sight, I hope Franklin doesn't turtle up and play it safe. And I think he probably won't.

 

[BiochemPSU]

It is so much fun anticipating this season because we know the team has the potential to be really good but it could play out in different ways. To be it hinges on OL play. It's safe to say the OL will be good but will they be great?

1) If it's great, PSU is going to run the ball and blow out teams early like 1994. I think the first play of 1994 was a sweep down the left side against USC. OL and Engram blocked it well and Carter just outran everybody around the corner and down the sideline.

2) Will the play calling grow more "conservative" this year because the team has more balance on offense and Moorhead plans for longer sustained drives? Last year sustained drives weren't really an option because of the OL issues, but McSorley and the receivers overcame it by being better than the B1G secondaries. Barkley could be counted on in most games to break a couple huge plays. But this year they should have more success handing the ball to Barkley on 3rd and four and actually having the hole that the play is designed to have. That changes everything.

3) If PSU becomes a better running team, if they play from a lead instead of a deficit, do they lose some of the capability they had throwing deep last year? If they do, they could be in danger to ball-control teams like NW or WIsconsin or Iowa who aim to keep the scoring low.

I hope (and really, I'm not worried) that Franklin and Moorhead stay aggressive, keep the aggressiveness that helped the team play fearlessly in 2016. If a division championship etc. is in sight, I hope Franklin doesn't turtle up and play it safe. And I think he probably won't.

I left most this out but the running game play calling/playing conservative was my second concern, after injuries. I still hate this offense when it comes down to just running it for a sustained drive to kill clock and change field position. It is asking an awful lot of SB or any other back to take a delayed hand-off 5+ yards behind the LOS and then grab 3+ yards per carry beyond the LOS; especially when the defense knows it's coming. It's fine to get in a shootout with teams who have inferior talent or if you are playing at home with momentum. But all things being equal, this offense can't grind very effectively and that might be a problem.

 

[Madsol]

I don't recall the injuries going into the Pitt game, and both OT were full strength goes. I do remember not playing hard at the opening whistle, and getting jumped on. Most of the missing from USC were self-inflicted wounds.

Maybe I'm not remembering correctly but I thought Schwan, Haley and Cabinda all missed the Pitt game. And then Givens got hurt fairly early on in the game and Bell was dinged up in the game.

 

[tboyer]

I left most this out but the running game play calling/playing conservative was my second concern, after injuries. I still hate this offense when it comes down to just running it for a sustained drive to kill clock and change field position. It is asking an awful lot of SB or any other back to take a delayed hand-off 5+ yards behind the LOS and then grab 3+ yards per carry beyond the LOS; especially when the defense knows it's coming. It's fine to get in a shootout with teams who have inferior talent or if you are playing at home with momentum. But all things being equal, this offense can't grind very effectively and that might be a problem.

I'm optimistic on that issue. You have to consider the condition of the OL last year and the fact that there was constant juggling of players.

Look at how much better PSU's run blocking was by late season. Add 20 percent to that, and that is probably where the line STARTS in 2017. I think it will be completely different.

Moorhead's scheme is, at its root, a pass-to-run scheme. You get the safeties back and then run the ball out of the spread to the area of the field that has the fewest defenders. If Moorhead and Limegrover are successful this year, that's what Penn State's offense is going to look like and it should be as deadly running the ball as passing.

On the other hand, Barkley is so dangerous, he can break it from almost anywhere on the field. The safest thing for D-coordinators may be to keep safeties up and just allow Barkley as little open space as possible. It may be they make the same choice as they did last year, punish their secondaries and allow Penn State 300 yards passing, because they still have a chance of winning. If Barkley runs wild, they have no chance of winning.

 

[michnittlion]

Moorhead's scheme is, at its root, a pass-to-run scheme. You get the safeties back and then run the ball out of the spread to the area of the field that has the fewest defenders. If Moorhead and Limegrover are successful this year, that's what Penn State's offense is going to look like and it should be as deadly running the ball as passing.

Spot on.

 

[sylvanialion]

McSorely making the correct reads. Loved watching the offense and at times wondered what could have been with the right read.
On defense ... d-line making plays

 

[artsandletters]

OL and DL.

 

[Blueblood4eva]

Strong armed QB. Need to reduce the under thrown 50-50 balls. Open up the entire field with our great receivers.

 

[bdgan]

Key injuries played a huge part in early losses to Pitt and Mich. We basically had no remaining LBs. Both OTs were out at various points in the season. Then there were other key guys missing on top of that. Heck, a couple of key guys missing for USC may have also been the difference.

Makes you kind of wonder how we won the B1G championship and came within a play of winning the Rose Bowl. We had a really tough luck year with injuries and had probably the fewest senior starters of just about any team.

We had a 17 pt lead in the RB until Bell went down with an injury. It goes to show how thin we were at LB.

 

[bdgan]

IMO the fact that we were such a strong second half team was a credit to Moorhead's play calling. IMHO he saw what opposing defenses were doing in the first half and then came out and completely dissected them. In other words, it's not like we were in 28-24 games at halftime and then came out and took control. Rather, we were in tight games, lower scoring games and then the offense came out and could not be stopped.
I agree that part of the maturation and improvement of this team should be the ability for the offense to come out from the start and dominate. Moorhead supposedly has set a goal of being the highest scoring offense in PSU history. If we are to achieve that we will have to get out of the gate fast. And I think we will have a very solid defensive team so if we can put 21-24 points on the board before halftime I suspect we will be in control against teams like Akron, Pitt, Indy, etc...

I don't want to take anything away from Moorehead but I think the offense opened up in the second half out of necessity, not by design. I think we tried to establish the run with mixed results while the defense struggled. Once we fell behind there was no choice but to let McSorley go into gun slinger mode. Of course it might also be that it took McSorley time to get going.

 

[BisbeeMike]

The most important factor right now is that the season actually get here. This is the longest July I can ever remember and it's still only the 25th.

 

[heckmans]

It is so much fun anticipating this season because we know the team has the potential to be really good but it could play out in different ways. To be it hinges on OL play. It's safe to say the OL will be good but will they be great?

1) If it's great, PSU is going to run the ball and blow out teams early like 1994. I think the first play of 1994 was a sweep down the left side against USC. OL and Engram blocked it well and Carter just outran everybody around the corner and down the sideline.

2) Will the play calling grow more "conservative" this year because the team has more balance on offense and Moorhead plans for longer sustained drives? Last year sustained drives weren't really an option because of the OL issues, but McSorley and the receivers overcame it by being better than the B1G secondaries. Barkley could be counted on in most games to break a couple huge plays. But this year they should have more success handing the ball to Barkley on 3rd and four and actually having the hole that the play is designed to have. That changes everything.

3) If PSU becomes a better running team, if they play from a lead instead of a deficit, do they lose some of the capability they had throwing deep last year? If they do, they could be in danger to ball-control teams like NW or WIsconsin or Iowa who aim to keep the scoring low.

I hope (and really, I'm not worried) that Franklin and Moorhead stay aggressive, keep the aggressiveness that helped the team play fearlessly in 2016. If a division championship etc. is in sight, I hope Franklin doesn't turtle up and play it safe. And I think he probably won't.

Funny. To me, it hinges on WR play. OL is ALWAYS critical, but someone needs to replace Godwin at #1 that can stretch the field. I also worry about Trace. Kid is a competitor, grinder, and winner, but so often last year, it seemed like the deep passes were jump balls or 5 yards under thrown that Godwin made an adjustment on and out-competed the defender. Sometimes the strategy is to throw a ball up and let your elite WR go get it, but that didn't seem to be the case to me. I just watched part of the Wisky game again this weekend and one of Godwin's TDs was Trace moving out of the pocket, stepping up and seemingly heaving it as far as he could down the middle. Godwin had to come back about 5 yds which the CB/S couldn't adjust to as quickly. I'm hoping we don't see Trace "regress" like Hack seemed to do after ARob left. (It might not be a fair comparison as there was a TON of other impacts due to sanctions but there seem to be parallels at this point).
In 2016, the deep threat and read option kept defenses honest and opened up a lot of opportunity for Trace to create which he did well.
In 2017, if a true #1 doesn't emerge and good defenses can key on the run, it could be difficult. The good news is that Barkley will still get yards if the D knows he is running and Gesicki creates serious mismatches with any defender, but IMHO, the difference between a decent team and repeating as BIG champs and being a Top 10 team is finding a true #1 WR.

Time will tell

 

[tboyer]

Funny. To me, it hinges on WR play. OL is ALWAYS critical, but someone needs to replace Godwin at #1 that can stretch the field. I also worry about Trace. Kid is a competitor, grinder, and winner, but so often last year, it seemed like the deep passes were jump balls or 5 yards under thrown that Godwin made an adjustment on and out-competed the defender. Sometimes the strategy is to throw a ball up and let your elite WR go get it, but that didn't seem to be the case to me. I just watched part of the Wisky game again this weekend and one of Godwin's TDs was Trace moving out of the pocket, stepping up and seemingly heaving it as far as he could down the middle. Godwin had to come back about 5 yds which the CB/S couldn't adjust to as quickly. I'm hoping we don't see Trace "regress" like Hack seemed to do after ARob left. (It might not be a fair comparison as there was a TON of other impacts due to sanctions but there seem to be parallels at this point).
In 2016, the deep threat and read option kept defenses honest and opened up a lot of opportunity for Trace to create which he did well.
In 2017, if a true #1 doesn't emerge and good defenses can key on the run, it could be difficult. The good news is that Barkley will still get yards if the D knows he is running and Gesicki creates serious mismatches with any defender, but IMHO, the difference between a decent team and repeating as BIG champs and being a Top 10 team is finding a true #1 WR.

Time will tell

I don't disagree with any of this. Godwin was a great, great player and when the team was scuffling, they could count on Godwin coming up with a ball.

I think the optimistic scenario has justification though. 1) stronger, deeper OL should make a really big difference in protection. And for the first time in years, when they run off tackle, there's a good chance there will actually be a hole off tackle. 2) Trace and backs and the line will will run the R/O a lot smoother this year. 3) Blacknall and Thompkins still make a pretty potent deep threat. And Blacknall/Charles/Johnson all create serious mismatches.

 

[BisbeeMike]

Hackenberg regressed, in part because of losing Robinson, but also in large part due to an offense that was not suited to his ability. Mismatched parts, poor scheme, poor play calling, and a very inexperienced offensive line, had as much to do with Hackenberg "regressing", as losing Alan Robinson did.

McSorley, by way of comparison, does not lose his offensive line, and in fact will benefit from a better offensive line. McSorley has a fantastic offensive coordinator, and a great line coach. McSorley has Barkley in his third year, rather than his first. McSorley has a stable of great wide receivers who are much closer in talent to Godwin, than the 2014 stable was to Robinson. McSorley also has Gesicki. The worry about regression, should not be one of your major concerns.

I think what we need to do, has been outlined since early in the spring. We need to get off the field on third down defensively, we need a better pass rush, and we need to be better at creating turnovers. Offensively, PSU needs to get better at converting third and short, particularly in the 4th quarter with a lead.

 

[Judge Smails]

The key to this season is the performance of the offensive line in short yardage situations. We were something like 119th in the country in short yardage and goal line type situations. It's why our offense was so inefficient. We still managed to rack up yardage through big plays, but if the big boys up front can convert on the short third downs, you're looking at a whole new ballgame.

Franklin knows it too. Every spring practice, screaming at the offensive line that they have to be physical, if it's 4th and short we're going to go for it and make it every time.

 

[marshall23]

The most important factor will be to put the accomplishments of last season in the rear view mirror. It is paramount that this years team not read and believe the "press clippings" that they are a top 5 or 10 team 'and not drink that kool aid. I'll bet every time this team gets off the bus and walks into a stadium, the scoreboard will read 0-0. Last years run was a once in a life time ride. There is nothing so wonderful for a team or a coach than to greatly exceed expectations. On the other hand, there is no greater challenge than living up to those expectations once they are created.

 

[bdgan]

The key to this season is the performance of the offensive line in short yardage situations. We were something like 119th in the country in short yardage and goal line type situations. It's why our offense was so inefficient. We still managed to rack up yardage through big plays, but if the big boys up front can convert on the short third downs, you're looking at a whole new ballgame.

Franklin knows it too. Every spring practice, screaming at the offensive line that they have to be physical, if it's 4th and short we're going to go for it and make it every time.

I think the key is on defense (LB/DE/CB). But a very close second is avoiding negative yards on rushing yards. I watched the Indiana game replay last week and it was disturbing how many times Barkley was tackled behind the LOS.

 

[pandaczar12]

Hopefully not officiating. It was refreshing for once to not have games last season determined by the zebras. Even though PSU should have beaten Pitt and USC, they have no one I blame but themselves.

But 2014 OSU is still all too fresh in my mind.

 

[KnightSlayer]

Strong armed QB. Need to reduce the under thrown 50-50 balls. Open up the entire field with our great receivers.

I really think the idea of a bunch of 50/50 under thrown balls is completely exaggerated. We had a 1st year starting QB in a new offense with an Oline struggling to come together. Kid puts up 29 Tds to 8 Ints. 3600 yards at 9.34 yard per attempt. Saying we need a strong armed QB to reduce under thrown 50/50 balls would be one of the last things I'd think of when considering what is the most important factor to PSU's season.

 

[Option Bob]

My mantra for years has been: Dear Lord, please let us convert 3rd-and-<2. I can take bad passes, drops, fumbles (except fumbled punts), even sacks. What drives me to the nuthouse is a 9-yard gain of 1st down, incomplete deep pass on 2nd down, loss of 4 on a run on 3rd down, punt. I say Penn State approaches 1994 offensively the minute it can consistently convert 3rd-and-short.

 

[psudukie]

I think a huge difference for this team this year vs last year is that they won't surprise anyone. Last year they were able to target teams like rungs on a ladder and slowly climb to the top. This year they are the top rung and people will be targeting them.

Psu is significantly improved in talent and depth, they are still relatively young. Fun year ahead and this is what makes conference play so fun.