I was only 50-50 on being 7-0 but I thought we'd beat Pitt handily at home.
What have you been wrong about this season regarding PSU?
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I was only 50-50 on being 7-0 but I thought we'd beat Pitt handily at home.
I really did not know what to expect in terms of record, so I'm not "wrong," but if you would have shown me only the statistics in each game to this point, I would have expected to see one or two losses. The difference has been the kicking game, turnover ratio, and goal line defense being better than expected, though blocking for punts is still a concern.
On the offensive line, Walker has been playing better than I expected. Shows a lot of hustle and is, in my opinion, far ahead of most others I can remember at that position and experience level. The rest of the line is pretty much what I expected -- deficiencies handling stunts and run blocking surge, but a little better than the recent past. Still can't block a screen play. Has to be something systemic.
I expected that Brown and Slade would share carries, so the 4-back system is a surprise. Slade has been slightly disappointing, and much of that related to pass blocking, but Cain has been a huge positive. Did not expect to see a true freshman with that kind of inside running power. I think Franklin is using the whole season for running back evaluation. The end-of-year pecking order will determine who enters the portal. At least I hope he let's each know where they stand. Six next year will be too many. I think two need to drop out, and I'd want to keep Brown, Cain, and Ford. Obviously, the "problem" here is the Barkley effect on recruiting. I'd take a true replacement for Hamler before another running back. He will be missed.
With Clifford, I guess I would have expected more interceptions, but wasn't expecting to see him so easily spooked in the pocket. His development is a big concern. It's one reason I'm so hell-bent on a passing game that gets the ball out of his hands quicker. I think that would facilitate more ball control on offense, get Clifford comfortable and in rhythm, and rest the defense. So I guess I'm "wrong" in that my preseason expectation was that Clifford would be more comfortable in the pocket.
On defense, linebacker play has been better than expected, but CB play a little less than expected. I am not as sold on our secondary as some here. Too many pass completions or long runs allowed on 3rd down. The defensive line is playing about as expected. We're good near the goal line because our main defensive weakness -- pass coverage on 3rd (or 4th) down -- is within a compressed area.
And here is where we were all probably wrong: We played Michigan without all of the calls going against us. This might have had something to do with the imbalance the previous week at Iowa. Franklin handled it well. I helped by signing the Fire O'Neill petition.
On the offensive line, Walker has been playing better than I expected. Shows a lot of hustle and is, in my opinion, far ahead of most others I can remember at that position and experience level. The rest of the line is pretty much what I expected -- deficiencies handling stunts and run blocking surge, but a little better than the recent past. Still can't block a screen play. Has to be something systemic.
I expected that Brown and Slade would share carries, so the 4-back system is a surprise. Slade has been slightly disappointing, and much of that related to pass blocking, but Cain has been a huge positive. Did not expect to see a true freshman with that kind of inside running power. I think Franklin is using the whole season for running back evaluation. The end-of-year pecking order will determine who enters the portal. At least I hope he let's each know where they stand. Six next year will be too many. I think two need to drop out, and I'd want to keep Brown, Cain, and Ford. Obviously, the "problem" here is the Barkley effect on recruiting. I'd take a true replacement for Hamler before another running back. He will be missed.
With Clifford, I guess I would have expected more interceptions, but wasn't expecting to see him so easily spooked in the pocket. His development is a big concern. It's one reason I'm so hell-bent on a passing game that gets the ball out of his hands quicker. I think that would facilitate more ball control on offense, get Clifford comfortable and in rhythm, and rest the defense. So I guess I'm "wrong" in that my preseason expectation was that Clifford would be more comfortable in the pocket.
On defense, linebacker play has been better than expected, but CB play a little less than expected. I am not as sold on our secondary as some here. Too many pass completions or long runs allowed on 3rd down. The defensive line is playing about as expected. We're good near the goal line because our main defensive weakness -- pass coverage on 3rd (or 4th) down -- is within a compressed area.
And here is where we were all probably wrong: We played Michigan without all of the calls going against us. This might have had something to do with the imbalance the previous week at Iowa. Franklin handled it well. I helped by signing the Fire O'Neill petition.
Really a lot of it has played out as expected. The defense has been very good, at times dominant, and the offense is a work in progress with very young skill players. Even the record isn't that surprising. Most expected PSU to win the first five and at least one of the Iowa/UM/MSU games.
Surprises for me:
1) I pictured an explosive offense based on what PSU has done in Franklin's time here, and because Franklin talks about explosiveness a lot. I never would have expected that Ricky Rahne would be possessed by the ghost of Joe Paterno. But it's working.
2) Like everybody else I thought Shorter or George would emerge at the "X" because that position has been such a mainstay for Franklin teams. Who would have thought they'd recruit a 5 star outside receiver, a 6-4 230-pound wideout who runs a 4.4 and has great hands, and then use him as a decoy?
3) Clifford's leadership and savvy have been exceptional for a first year starter. Of course he still has a lot to learn about reading defenses, but when the game is on the line, he plays like a senior. He's a winner -- that's obvious from the record.
Surprises for me:
1) I pictured an explosive offense based on what PSU has done in Franklin's time here, and because Franklin talks about explosiveness a lot. I never would have expected that Ricky Rahne would be possessed by the ghost of Joe Paterno. But it's working.
2) Like everybody else I thought Shorter or George would emerge at the "X" because that position has been such a mainstay for Franklin teams. Who would have thought they'd recruit a 5 star outside receiver, a 6-4 230-pound wideout who runs a 4.4 and has great hands, and then use him as a decoy?
3) Clifford's leadership and savvy have been exceptional for a first year starter. Of course he still has a lot to learn about reading defenses, but when the game is on the line, he plays like a senior. He's a winner -- that's obvious from the record.
Back in August I was sure the 4-RB rotation was just a trial during the OOC schedule and the coaches were using those 3 OOC games to allow a true 1st & 2nd team RB to emerge .... "cream rises" ... But I think I am wrong. It's looking more & more like we are going thru the season rotating all 4 RBs. The only "spot" it seems like one of them has won is that Cain seems to have emerged as our RB used in 4th Qtr holding onto a lead.
I was also a bit wrong on the play of our DTs. Going into the season I was very confident about our D on the edges. I figured that with our DEs and our speed at LB, and two experienced Corners outside wide, that the obvious game-plan for opposing OCs vs. Penn State would be to run straight at us because it looked like on paper our DTs were the soft spot. The group of Windsor, Shelton, Hansard, Mustipher has pleasantly surprised me. They've been tough most all year and it's been almost impossible for opposing teams to run in the middle at us with any consistency.
I was also a bit wrong on the play of our DTs. Going into the season I was very confident about our D on the edges. I figured that with our DEs and our speed at LB, and two experienced Corners outside wide, that the obvious game-plan for opposing OCs vs. Penn State would be to run straight at us because it looked like on paper our DTs were the soft spot. The group of Windsor, Shelton, Hansard, Mustipher has pleasantly surprised me. They've been tough most all year and it's been almost impossible for opposing teams to run in the middle at us with any consistency.
I thought winning all of our games would make posters on here happy.
I said here the defense would keep us in all the games, but I thought like in the past this young offense would be trying to win at the end of the games. I think this defense can carry us through to an undefeated season.
In order for me...
The OL: I was not expecting them to be as good as they are and I was not expecting Will Fries to be doing as well as he is.
The DL: I thought they would be ok but I didn't think they would be this good or this deep.
Clifford: I really didn't know what to expect but he's doing much better than I thought he would.
Safeties: Was not expecting Lamont Wade to be playing this well.
I was hoping PSU would be 7-0 right now, but I really didn't expect it. They are a very talented team that is progressing toward playoff conversation every year. I wholeheartedly believe in the "blue chip ratio" as well.
Did you really???
I seriously think that we could have won each of our first 7 games by the score of 50-0 in each game. Outscoring our opponents 350-0 thru first 7 games .... and there would be some on this board bitching that they do not like it that we have not been "tested" late in 4th qtr... and that winning all these games 50-0 will burn us if we are in a close game late in 4th Qtr.
Thought Shorter, or George, would become a bigger part of the offense. Or a part at all.
Thought the offense would have settled on a RB by now.
Thought the offense would have settled on a RB by now.
Totally agree with you about the "blue chip ratio". This is no offense to Saban. Begrudgingly I am now admitting he is the greatest college football coach of all time (sorry JoePa). But with all due respect, Bama automatically wins 10 games every year simply by running out of the tunnel and having way too much talent than the other team. In order for Bama to lose against the majority of their schedule, they would have to have a "C" game, while the other team played their "A+" game. In reality, if Bama shows up and plays even close to their "A" game, the only teams standing a chance to beat them on their regular season schedule are the likes of LSU and Auburn..... That is what the "blue chip ratio" does for you. We are getting there.
Shorter is by far the biggest surprise and disappointment. I thought he would take PSU passing attack to the next level. freiermuth is all American TE talent and he hasn't been getting a ton of passes. Freiermuth having a solid year but Shorter ughhh what the heck.
Yep, and unfortunately OSU ranks #1 at 81%. That is 21% higher than PSU. We are getting there, but it does suck having to deal with OSU every year and Clemson just cruises along...
On the plus side:
The LBs have played better than I expected. I really hadn’t seen a lot of individual development as LBs passed through the system up until this year. I’ve been impressed with all of them. Very talented group that goes 2 deep with very little fall off.
I expected Clifford to have more turnovers as an inexperienced starter. He really has taken care of the ball which has been critical in the 3 close games.
On the downside:
Like others I expected this to be a deep WR group with Shorter, George and possibly even one of the freshmen being much bigger factors in the offense. Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen for a variety of reasons.
I know his numbers are good overall, but I expected Clifford to be more accurate, especially on the deep balls. You’re never going to hit them all, but we’ve left a bunch of points on the table with over and under thrown shots to open receivers. That has to improve if we are going to REALLY exceed expectations (contend for B1G championship and possibly CFP), since the offense Is admittedly predicated on explosive plays.
Overall, I expected a season just about like last year with 3-4 losses, including the bowl game. I guess that could still happen, but I doubt it. So very good chance my expectations will be exceeded. Getting out of East Lansing with a W is the key. We will be favored in all but one game the rest of the way. I’m not big on the wait til next year thing as a lot can change in one year in the new college football. When you’re 7-0, this year is the year!
The LBs have played better than I expected. I really hadn’t seen a lot of individual development as LBs passed through the system up until this year. I’ve been impressed with all of them. Very talented group that goes 2 deep with very little fall off.
I expected Clifford to have more turnovers as an inexperienced starter. He really has taken care of the ball which has been critical in the 3 close games.
On the downside:
Like others I expected this to be a deep WR group with Shorter, George and possibly even one of the freshmen being much bigger factors in the offense. Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen for a variety of reasons.
I know his numbers are good overall, but I expected Clifford to be more accurate, especially on the deep balls. You’re never going to hit them all, but we’ve left a bunch of points on the table with over and under thrown shots to open receivers. That has to improve if we are going to REALLY exceed expectations (contend for B1G championship and possibly CFP), since the offense Is admittedly predicated on explosive plays.
Overall, I expected a season just about like last year with 3-4 losses, including the bowl game. I guess that could still happen, but I doubt it. So very good chance my expectations will be exceeded. Getting out of East Lansing with a W is the key. We will be favored in all but one game the rest of the way. I’m not big on the wait til next year thing as a lot can change in one year in the new college football. When you’re 7-0, this year is the year!
No idea what drives this perception. Explosive plays occur when a defense takes risks and allows them. (See the Michigan game.) If a defense like Iowa keeps everything in front of them and double teams the deep ball you'd be foolish to throw into it, unless you want more interceptions and sacks. Explosive plays in that scenario can come in the running game, and there have been some, right between the tackles.
My pre-season prediction was 9-3 with losses to Iowa, MSU and O$U, so obviously I was wrong about the Iowa game. Of course MSU doesn't look as tough as they did in August, but Minny now looks tough on the road. At least I am now much more confident of going at least 9-3 and have raised my expectations for POSSIBLY an 11-1 season (little chance of beating O$U on the road).
The other issue I was wrong about (so far) is I thought Ricky would prove to be the next feature back in the mold of SB and Miles. As it stands he is probably at the bottom of the 4-headed attack. I will readily admit it is largely due to the 5 star rating coming out of HS.
Hopefully this team can continue to prove me wrong!
The other issue I was wrong about (so far) is I thought Ricky would prove to be the next feature back in the mold of SB and Miles. As it stands he is probably at the bottom of the 4-headed attack. I will readily admit it is largely due to the 5 star rating coming out of HS.
Hopefully this team can continue to prove me wrong!
Where do I even begin?
After the BW game people here were claiming Noah Cain would be the starter by the midpoint of the season. I thought that was downright silly considering we had a 5-star RB in Slade who had a comparable freshman season to Miles Sanders. Even though Cain is not the “starter” I think we all know he should be. I was dead wrong here. I was way too high on Slade as well.
I was not sold on Micah as a LBer and thought he really struggled in space. While I think he still needs to be better he has proven me wrong. He is a LBer and a really good one.
I thought we would lose to Michigan and projected this team as an 8-4/9-3 team. I think this team is a 10-2/11-1 team now and I am leaning towards 11-1. We still have some tough games left but I’m feeling confident in this group.
I thought Shorter would be a major part of the offense. Dead wrong. I don’t think it has anything to do with Shorter, though.
I though we would see a lot more guys involved in the passing attack. So far it’s been basically Hamler and everyone else. Freiermuth has been used far less than I expected.
Overall the team is further ahead than I thought they would be. Just win baby.
After the BW game people here were claiming Noah Cain would be the starter by the midpoint of the season. I thought that was downright silly considering we had a 5-star RB in Slade who had a comparable freshman season to Miles Sanders. Even though Cain is not the “starter” I think we all know he should be. I was dead wrong here. I was way too high on Slade as well.
I was not sold on Micah as a LBer and thought he really struggled in space. While I think he still needs to be better he has proven me wrong. He is a LBer and a really good one.
I thought we would lose to Michigan and projected this team as an 8-4/9-3 team. I think this team is a 10-2/11-1 team now and I am leaning towards 11-1. We still have some tough games left but I’m feeling confident in this group.
I thought Shorter would be a major part of the offense. Dead wrong. I don’t think it has anything to do with Shorter, though.
I though we would see a lot more guys involved in the passing attack. So far it’s been basically Hamler and everyone else. Freiermuth has been used far less than I expected.
Overall the team is further ahead than I thought they would be. Just win baby.
I thought Clifford would struggle more in his first year as a starter. He’s played very well so far with very little of the bad passes, interceptions, and/ or fumbles that you expect of a newbie.
I thought they'd tone down all the rotation of players once the conference schedule kicked up. They haven't seemed to dial that back at all. Not just talking about running backs either. Basically every position on the field other than QB (and offensive line, I think).
I thought we'd be 5-0 going into Iowa (correct) and would lose 1 or 2 vs. "the 3 game gauntlet" (wrong) and 1 vs. tOSU (TBD) and possible 1 that we shouldn't vs. Minny or Indiana (TBD). Now I think we go 3-0 vs. the gauntlet, beat Minny and Indiana but drop 1 vs. tOSU.
So did I. And I suspect Slade thought so too.
Stoudt has surprised me. I thought Carr would be playing a larger role.
I preface this by saying I didn't think we'd be 7-0 at this point. I questioned CJF's prowess and considered 2017 to be an outlier. Oh how I was wrong.
The talent gap between PSU and Meat plus Ahiya State is closing exponentially. We're not there yet but we're getting close. And hats off the CJF for playing 2-deep on defense. Now we know why.
Once the offense gets uncorked (and it will) we'll be a force. A BCS contender. I believe KJ could benefit from an additional year in the S&C program not to mention one step closer to getting his degree. The longer you put it off the harder it is to achieve. I can speak to this from experience.
Thank you.
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I thought we’d 1 or 2 losses, didn’t think our DT’s would play this well, and thought Shorter would have bust out year. Unfortunately for Shorter he seems to have injury problems again this year.
Lots of good ones mentioned, I'll add a few more:
- I thought Shane Simmons finally being healthy would be having more of an impact.
- On the positive side - pleasantly surprised to see Nick Bowers healthy and making some nice plays in the passing game as well as (gasp!) some two TE sets.
- Also did not expect the number of redshirts burned so far, with a few more (Wilson, Porter Jr., Dixon) probable.
Honestly, I have been wrong about nothing. I predicted us being 10-0 going into Columbus and also beating the Buckeyes on their home turf. Going 11-0 is not going to be easy, but if we play a perfect game, we can do it. The possibility of a 12-0 season is real, people. We have a young, talented team that has matured as the season has gone one. The schedule played out to allow the team's maturity to blossom without a loss. Get past MSU this weekend, then beat Indiana and Minnesota, and on to Columbus. Another thing this particular team has is a winner's attitude ALL AROUND. They believe in themselves from top to bottom. So, so far I've been spot on. Not bragging, just reflecting my belief in what I feel is a terrific young team. Let's get a win this Saturday!
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