Coincidence or Culture ?

[pendal1]

Do you remember the infamous 2021 Iowa game when Sean Clifford got hurt? Mike Yurich was our new OC....Clifford could do wrong and PSU was shredding Iowa up 21-3 as we were running thru there defense. Suddenly Clifford gets hurt and everything stopped. Ta' Quan Roberson enters the game and looks like a deer in headlights. From that day forward that offense gone!
Yurich becomes ultra conservative and finally fired. Enter Andy Kotelnicki with great schemes and playcalling....so we were told....and the sun came out and all of Happy Valley rejoiced.
After a good first season....something changed....suddenly the OL forgot assignments, RBs couldn't find daylight to run thru, and our QB shows no sign of improvement. I find it interesting how twice now the PSU offense has started strong under new guidance to tease "It's Alive" only to suddenly regressed into their shell. Different coordinaters...different players of high quality....yet same dysfunctional execution. So I ask....think this is simply a coincidence or is this more a culture, scheme, or a coaching preference ?

Good point.

 

[pendal1]

I agree. There appears to be minimal focus on fundamentals of football and an over focus on explosive plays and bells and whistles/ wildcat etc.

Over the past decade plus, it seems the fundamentals have significantly declined. Instead, analytics and explosive plays are the measure used to run the program. That and a focus on “1-0, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana” type stuff.

After watching this for so long, I really wonder if Franklin and company really do a post mortem on each game or just quickly look at stats and general overview before moving on to the next game. It would explain why the same problems never get fixed over multiple years.

Tackling has been subpar at best for years. O line blocking has generally been a mess. Lack of discipline with penalties, giving up 3rd and long, etc. They never really get fixed. Instead of addressing these issues it seems like PSU automatically turns the page to the next game.

I think PSU overcomes these issues and wins most games based on talent differential- until they hit a team with a pulse where it becomes fatal.

Agreed. After the game it's the same crap with we lost the explosive plays battle and the eight minute mark battle. He's way too focused on analytics which is why he has zero feel for the game.

 

[baltimorened]

There is no way Franklin can wiggle out of this dumpster fire he has created. This is on him and he has to take accountability. Hopefully after the third loss, Kraft then lowers the boom meaning, "James, you don't have the support of me nor the university anymore" and that triggers his exit stage left.

I am probably as unhappy/dissatisfied as anybody. Yes PSU S--t the bed last Saturday. But going into that game, even though we lost to Oregon, there was still a sense of optimism that we could make the playoffs even at 10-2. So, we lost another game. The world has not ended and we have the talent to win the rest of the way.

Now having said that we gave up 42 friggin points to UCLA. That tells me, and everybody else who watched, that we have a defense problem. This entire season we have given up too many plays up the gut. I'm not sure we have the players right now, or maybe the knowledge of the defense, to play Knowles' scheme. I think we'll find out today. If I'm Northwestern's coach, I try running the ball and make Penn State stop it. If we can't the season's lost