Tough way to lose

[Jerry]

I couldn't even post in the 2nd half...amid a familiar sinking feeling...or following the game last night...after a familiar sunk feeling.

Damn.

First off, it was a great year. We went further than anyone expected. The CCG. The Final Four. Two playoff wins. And yeah, in all this process we beat some good teams.

This helps for perspective but doesn't take the sting out of finding a way yet again to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It's a familiar pattern over the last 10 years.

We showed we were the better team during most of the first half but the game is 60 minutes long. It was a red flag when we knocked Leonard out of the game only to have their back-up QB lead them down the field for an important FG right before the half.

Then the back and forth in the second half finds us with a 24-17 lead late and that's when you need to seal the deal. The game was right there for the taking. D couldn't get the critical stop. Then finally they do and the game looked headed for OT. At which point Drew made the worst throw of his career.

I said before the game and in my halftime post that Drew would need to show up, that before it was over he would need to make some throws. Well he did make a couple very nice throws in the 2nd half but not nearly enough. Mostly he was not on his A-game. What did he end up with, something like 150 yards passing and 12-23? You're just not going to win a big game against an excellent team with those numbers. And then the dagger INT.

Still, this is not all on Drew. He's not the guy solely responsible for losing the game. I think our D collectively could not make critical stops. Our wide receivers were no-shows. As for the coaching, I don't know. It's not like I saw some obvious bonehead call last night. It came down to making plays in crunch time. They did. We didn't.

So now we get Notre Dame versus Ohio State for all the marbles. Anti-climactic. I don't see the Irish having a chance.

 

[MrDibbs]

Jerry, you hit all the points that I would have made.

Most of the 2nd half, I kept thinking that Lenard just takes what PS gives him. Then Miller slips and he takes the big play.

When State got the ball with a minute left, I had this deja vu feeling about Rose Bowl in Jan 2017. Trace threw a pick and USC converted into a game winning field goal.

I think Drew needs a shrink to help him through this big game funk. A wide receiver who could get separation would cure a lot of ills.

The sun is rising in Pittsburgh's South Hills.

 

[MrDibbs]

One more point to be made ... Notre Dame won that game the Penn State way. Grit, determination, opportunistic play, keep it close and grind away.

Kudos

 

[LMTLION]

We had a nice screen pass in the first half and then abandoned that playin the second half. That really could’ve helped Allar deal with pressure. Or we could’ve pulled a Michigan and just ran the damn ball every single play in the second half and perhaps could’ve won the game that way. We owned the LOS and still lost the damn game, which is unbelievable to me.

 

[Lion_Backer]

Jerry, you hit all the points that I would have made.

Most of the 2nd half, I kept thinking that Lenard just takes what PS gives him. Then Miller slips and he takes the big play.

When State got the ball with a minute left, I had this deja vu feeling about Rose Bowl in Jan 2017. Trace threw a pick and USC converted into a game winning field goal.

I think Drew needs a shrink to help him through this big game funk. A wide receiver who could get separation would cure a lot of ills.

The sun is rising in Pittsburgh's South Hills.

What he needs is a dose of confidence.

When you make some great throws like he did against Boise St and have nothing to show for them except incompletions on the stat sheet, it hurts the confidence of everyone involved with play.

And he just has to be smarter on that last throw. No excuses.

It's a shame that much of what was accomplished during the game by PSU on the positive side of the ledger will be forever overshadowed by the final result.

 

[Noffinater]

As the years roll by with this expanded playoff format, making it to the Final Four in football will be seen as a significant accomplishment. Maybe not quite the banner hanging achievement as it is in CBB, but it will be considered a milestone nonetheless that will be tracked. The dream draw of getting SMU and Boise State probably hid some flaws, and the truth is there wasn’t a serious trajectory to win the whole thing this year. But making a deep run at it was an overachievement that, in time, will be revered.

 

[mfb5053]

Jerry, you hit all the points that I would have made.

Most of the 2nd half, I kept thinking that Lenard just takes what PS gives him. Then Miller slips and he takes the big play.

When State got the ball with a minute left, I had this deja vu feeling about Rose Bowl in Jan 2017. Trace threw a pick and USC converted into a game winning field goal.

I think Drew needs a shrink to help him through this big game funk. A wide receiver who could get separation would cure a lot of ills.

The sun is rising in Pittsburgh's South Hills.

Needs to talk to that sports psychologist who works with Cael and the boys.

 

[Jerry]

One more point to be made ... Notre Dame won that game the Penn State way. Grit, determination, opportunistic play, keep it close and grind away.

Kudos

Somebody, I think it was Josh Pate, called it "will to win." All great teams have that quality. Our great teams of the past had it.

 

[tboyer]

One more point to be made ... Notre Dame won that game the Penn State way. Grit, determination, opportunistic play, keep it close and grind away.

Kudos

Yes in general not enough credit being given to ND. It's the best ND team in 25 years. They won't beat Ohio State but that's a really talented team (more top recruits than PSU) and really well coached.

And that's not taking anything away from PSU which is a talented team and really well coached. But someone's got to win and last night it wasn't our team.