Just how preciously did it all come crashing down in colossal fashion? Was it coaching, or the lack of? Was it players not making plays? Was it talent, or the lack there of? I know we lost Rojas, Allar and Franklin, got canned, but shouldn't this program should have been resilient enough and structured to endure? Sort of the " next man up" mind set ingrained in everyone. Or did James Franklin's philosophy on football finally catch up to him, exposing him as a Snake Oil salesman? JUST ASKING.
After being ranked # 2
- Thread starter ConcealedCarry
- Start date
I recall Joseph Vincent Paterno once saying te first poll ranking teams should not come out until the second week of October. Had that been done this season, we would have seen that Texas, Penn State and Clemson were not 1, 2, and 4 respectively.
Imagine how all the big NIL contributors feel after forking out millions for this collection of stiffs and quitters
They are paying our fanbase? That was stupid of them.
Joe once said that you are never as good as you think you are. That's one of the reasons that he was the greatest ever
1. Pressure got to them.
2. They got lucky last year and they knew it: backed into BIG title game and lost; cupcakes in first two rounds of playoffs. Imposter syndrome.
3. They knew the defense wasn’t working with Knowles and that the offense had no prayer without Warren.
4. I think there was a silent mutiny in the locker room between the guys who got paid and the guys who didn’t.
2. They got lucky last year and they knew it: backed into BIG title game and lost; cupcakes in first two rounds of playoffs. Imposter syndrome.
3. They knew the defense wasn’t working with Knowles and that the offense had no prayer without Warren.
4. I think there was a silent mutiny in the locker room between the guys who got paid and the guys who didn’t.
Texas is starting to play a lot better but PSU and Clemson are disasters. There's doubt if Dabo returns next year as he was screaming at his players today,
Only he wasn't the greatest ever, but stick with that delusion. It is fundamental to our failure.
During his prime he was considered pretty damn good. And that's not part of our failure. Penn State has no one to blame but themselves for the state of the program.
If you want to call Paterno the greatest “college football” (what it used to be) coach of his era, that’s fine. Saban is the best coach who coached in what we now call college football.
He won over 400 games, which is the most in history, and arguably could claim five NC caliber teams and two of his other teams played for NCs. Also, under him, PSU players won almost every individual award imaginable. Finally, when he arrived at PSU, PSU probably was playing in front of crowds of 40000, and when he was dismissed, they were playing in front of crowds of over 100,000. I would say that those accomplishments speak for themselves. If not for the scandal, he definitely would be in consideration for the Mt. Rushmore of college coaches.
By the way, even in his declining years, he still won two Big 10 Championships in 2005 and 2008 and won 11 games in three of his last six full seasons, and had a one loss team at the time of his dismissal.
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Kaytron played yet another great game. One carry it took 7 Buckeyes to bring him down. Only do much he can do without any threat of a forward pass. WRs are completely incompetent. And what happened to Reynolds?Pre-season alleged strengths of this team:
-Offensive line
-QB
-RBs
-Defensive line
-Secondary
-coaching staff
BTW-- Kaytron Allen had a run of 26 yards to open the game, and thereafter had 20 carries for 50 yards.
Kaytron made himself some major $$$ today. Scouts were watching.
One of the toughest, pure football players who has ever out in the Blue & White. Under appreciated and underused.
He also said you are never as bad as you think you are and as far as this team he was wrong.
409 wins and beat Saban head to head. Won following the rules. No money men paying players. Was a real disciplinarian not a fake. Emphasized academics over football. He was the GREATEST. There will never be another like him
I'll take a shot at this
He mismanaged the roster
He recruited too heavy in some spots and too light on others
He was a horrible in game coach
He tried to fit square pegs into round holes with coordinating and talent
His teams lacked toughness and were soft
His defensive tackles were too small
He couldn't develop quarterbacks
He hired the worst wr coach in America then defended him
He mismanaged the roster
He recruited too heavy in some spots and too light on others
He was a horrible in game coach
He tried to fit square pegs into round holes with coordinating and talent
His teams lacked toughness and were soft
His defensive tackles were too small
He couldn't develop quarterbacks
He hired the worst wr coach in America then defended him
I suspect that the team even now does not think they are as bad as we know they are.
The problem is people already knew Franklin was a snake oil salesman and they decided to buy it anyway.
For some inexplicable reason many people ignored the fact that Franklin was winless (0-3) against the best teams he faced in the 2024 season (Oregon, Ohio State, Notre Dame).
Once Kobe King moved to the NFL, we knew there would be a big LB hole to fill against run oriented teams like Iowa.
Allar wasn’t that good last year and downright terrible against Notre Dame.
The WR room was a disaster in 2024 and new 2025 portal WRs were unproven.
Mr. Tricks and Gimmicks (Kotelnicki) was a known major liability to the offense.
Knowles defense was known to take years to learn and requires high end talent along the DL and fast athletic LBs which is in short supply at Penn State.
2010 PSU 3 Bama 24 - that was Saban's 2nd worse of 17 seasons
2011 PSU 11 Bama 27
Thank god that whiteout is worth 7+ points, would have been worse.
You guys seem to forget another great coach that was so good even the great Joe couldn't beat. Ever. Lost a title game to him where he got OUTCOACHED.
Joe was a fine coach that won a lot of games. Not the greatest. You can worship him all you want, have at it. Just don't expect me to buy that horseshit.
And the Bear was 0-4 vs. ND. Everyone has a nemesis to some degree.
saban BOUGHT his teams WAY,WAY before it became legal and now on a level playing field he ran off!!
All good points, but he had two glaring weaknesses. Nepotism and an inability to recognize when it was time to walk away. Because of the second weakness, the program remains divided and unstable.
saban BOUGHT his teams WAY,WAY before it became legal and now one a level playing field, saban took off!!!!
Smart has beaten Bama ONE time while at UGA but wins almost every other game, so you’re right; some coaches and teams just have other coaches’ and teams’ numbers. PSU was very successful against ND under Paterno.