Did anybody think Matt Campbell could turn us into Iowa State football this quickly?
- Thread starter StickEm
- Start date
We are not Iowa St. We are not as good as Iowa St. We are Purdue.
What's the culture problem?
I'd be careful saying that as about 70% of college football fans would disagree
I just want a coach who doesn't run plays out of the shotgun every down and who puts 3 linebackers on the field when the other team is running down our throat. Is that too much to ask?
Post #1; interesting. I think that you should get a new shtick, as the ISU garbage has been beaten to death since last December.
I agree with you on both points; I'm so tired of watching every college team except for the academies run every play from the shotgun and play with one back, and then people wonder why the running game sucks; it's become as boring as college basketball in which it's just a three point shooting contest. Mind you, those aren't the only reasons why the running game sucks, but it sure would help if you had a true fullback playing with a tailback, and also running more complex running plays and blocking schemes like PSU used to run in the 70s and 80s. Instead, we expect mediocre running backs to run into the line of scrimmage against a stacked line with no blocking back.
As far as playing with three linebackers, in the Northwestern game, PSU should've switched to a 4-3 or even 5-3 very early and forced Northwestern to beat them with the pass, which they also probably would've been able to do to, but something had to change.
Two methods of learning: repetition and shock. It's sad to see all the "Campbell is an upgrade in everything' experts getting a new shtick too.
Did you think the roster was upgraded or just salvaged as to field a team? If you think it was upgraded, stop following the sport and wasting times with opinions on it (not you in particular). Now much of that was circumstance and this notion that every HC around would come running for the expectations of some of the most delusional fans in he country. PSU hasn't won a MNC in 40 years...40 years, but they want to keep pretending it was just last week.
From 99 on we had an older lame duck HC who was good once a decade from 96 on, stopped recruiting because he didn't want to cause a stir, and allowed other programs to pass him by in recruiting, facilities, and W's. PSU had 4 losing seasons in 5 years and there was nobody else to blame but people still want to ignore where the decline of this program began. Yet every new HC right now will be labeled NC or bust most due to how delusional some PSU fans are. The fact MC is having to play to the lettermen and do Joe speeches is cute and all for PC reasons, but just win games and you'll create your own legacy. If our lettermen are that fragile that they still need to HC to kiss their arse, then they are part of the problem. Let the coach cook and stop being so damn needy....no matter the HC. OB, JF, or MC.
This is simply not a talented PSU team. There was hope that these guys could be ok, but that is the most average RB room I've seen. WR's finally can get separation, but the ball is batted down at the LOS or he misses the throws. The BIG DL is full of 4th and 5th year guys which means they are band aids. Great DT's aren't playing years 4-5 for the most part. There is no pass rush from the outside at all....none, nada. This roster won't be some quick flip either due to the last recruiting class being what it is. 2-3 years away from anything IMO and maybe he does it, maybe he doesn't.
Your last sentence is spot on, as Campbell, or any coach who had been hired, inherited a mess of a program after the bowl game, which a lot of delusional people thought was going to win 10 to 11 games this season, which never was going to happen despite what appeared to be a favorable schedule. By the way, this PSU team had a 10 point lead with 8 minutes to go in the fourth quarter against what appears to be a decent Wisconsin team that has blown out every team that they've played except for ND and PSU, so maybe this PSU team will be able to recover somewhat as the season progresses like in 2025. I think that a lot of their issues last Friday had more to do than just a lack of talent.
Iowa State has beaten a P4 team
Iowa State hung with a ranked Big Ten team (Iowa) leading late in the game before losing on a last second FG
Iowa State was at least competitive vs another ranked team (Utah) a 7 point game until Utah scored late to seal the deal.
I certainly expect Iowa State (ISU West) to have a real downer season - and may not win more than a game or two the rest of the season. But as of today, they have a more impressive resume than PSU (ISU East) - the team that supposedly took all the GOOD players from ISU.
Iowa State hung with a ranked Big Ten team (Iowa) leading late in the game before losing on a last second FG
Iowa State was at least competitive vs another ranked team (Utah) a 7 point game until Utah scored late to seal the deal.
I certainly expect Iowa State (ISU West) to have a real downer season - and may not win more than a game or two the rest of the season. But as of today, they have a more impressive resume than PSU (ISU East) - the team that supposedly took all the GOOD players from ISU.
Maybe you should get yourself one as well if you are so offended by the ISU references. Truth hurts I guess.
Would coaching be one of those issues? Or is it just lousy coaching when Franklin is coach and lousy play by the players when Campbell is the coach?
FYI, my preseason prediction was 8-4 and 9-3 if a lot of things went right, so I wasn't deluded. And may ask you, what did you expect Campbell to do? Would you have preferred him to bring in a lot of Lafayette, Lehigh and Bucknell players, or did you expect a bunch of Power 4 players whom he never recruited and/or didn't play for him do drop everything and come to PSU? By the time that he was hired, he had very limited options.
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The coaching in the second half of the Wisconsin game and all of the Northwestern game obviously wasn't good. If Campbell isn't able to turn this program around in three seasons, then PSU should move on.
Also, I was a Franklin apologist, often times to my regret, until after the Oregon game last season when I believe that he gave up on the program, and this was in spite of his absolutely poor preseason preparation of that 2025 team. I had nothing to do with his firing and really wouldn't have cared if he had remained coach. However, I think that we saw enough evidence in his 11 and 1/2 seasons as the head coach of what he was going to accomplish at PSU, which was mostly 8 to 10 win seasons and playing in meaningless bowl games and getting a playoff appearance maybe once every 5 seasons, although it probably would have been more with the expanded playoffs.
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The fact that anyone thought we WOULDN'T be Iowa State this year was smoking something. He brought 11 starters. And couldn't even get his best RB.
The Big 12 right now has three or four teams that are better or just as good as 2/3 of the Big 10 this season, so the Big 12 garbage is overblown. Other than IU, Oregon and OSU, the Big 10 really hasn't been that good for the past two seasons. And how to you explain all of these former ISU players being good enough to have a 20-10 lead against a one-loss Wisconsin team with 8:00 minutes to go in the fourth quarter?
I believe that he is in favor of using three linebackers.
Good thing Krafty The Clown "paid-up" for this massive downgrade in coaching and roster. How this empty-suit still has a job is a real indictment of the PSU BOT and President (i.e., the people running the place and who have a fiduciary responsibility that PSU's finite and precious resources are used wisely and efficiently.). Judging Kraft by his own stated standards as to why he fired Franklin, Kraft should be shown the door poste haste.
OK, but NW also ran wild to the outside. I like 3 LBs too but I don't think they can keep up with RBs on the perimeter.
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It was written in a way that gets a bit confusing, but I think that is exactly what the writer intended (ie, saying 'WTF didn't we have 3 LBers on the field?")
Becht lined up as a wideout against WISKY.
, but they didn’t run the play. I believe it was due to a false start.
He's demonstrated in the past year that he's a buffoon, and he's leading an athletic department that has regressed considerably since the successful 2024-2025 season, which is beginning to look more like a happy accident.
Kraft should have been fired the day that locker room audio was released. Sure, whoever leaked it shouldn't have leaked it, but it really displays what a buffoon Kraft is.
There was and is always that chance when you fire a decent HC you may be stuck in that new coach every 3-4 years cycle. We’ll see but most reasonable fans understand that was/is the risk. Some of the Franklin haters honestly couldn’t grasp that side of the coin either that it was possible to get worse as a program.
No doubt and add to that, Krafty The Clownboy paid-up to get worse across the board -- Campbell is being paid more than Franklin and this roster is being paid more than Franklin's.
The excuse-making for Kraft and Campbell with all the bile they spewed for a coach who put a far better, extremely competitive product on the field (and bought far more glory to Dear Old State than Krafty The Clownboy ever has, or ever will) is just beyond ridiculous.
I’d have expected his players, especially those who have been with him for years to execute a game plan. Not only are they outmanned( which I thought he’d have a better eye for talent), they are not showing any physicality or plan to execute
But the defense played well enough against Wisconsin to get three Ints, hold them to 10 points in 3 and 1/2 quarters and 3 of those points came as a result of a TO deep in PSU territory, and largely contain Wisconsin's running game, and Wisconsin has blown out every team that they've played, including MSU, except for ND and PSU. That's why I think that their terrible showing against Northwestern had more to do with heart and desire rather than being outmanned. As far as the offense is concerned, the veteran qb is playing way below how he played at ISU and there just aren't enough elite skill players after Howard, although I'm amazed that the tight ends are being as underused as they are.
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Guess you dont remember the UCLA and NU games last year or MSU 30 ish years ago.
Did Joe and James have culture or problems fighting hard?
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