Film Study - PSU Run Game Issues

[CaliLion79]

PSU RUSH GAME FILM STUDY

See link above. As video explains, it's not one thing, it's many things. Missed assignments. Confusion of who has who/who is climbing where. Complicated/borderline impossible asks And then, obviously, there's Singleton. The non-TV POV is pretty telling, revealing a lot of warts.

 

[PSU Soupy 615]

Great analysis by Landon T. The intensity, the precise execution not there yet. Feels as if Singleton if anything is being overcoached.....when he played against Auburn, he just found an opening and worked to the sideline and then outran everybody......if he had that mindset in that video he has 2 or 3, 20+ yard runs.

 

[BCS PSU]

Great analysis by Landon T. The intensity, the precise execution not there yet. Feels as if Singleton if anything is being overcoached.....when he played against Auburn, he just found an opening and worked to the sideline and then outran everybody......if he had that mindset in that video he has 2 or 3, 20+ yard runs.

Singleton should've been used all this time like USC used Reggie Bush, which means mostly as a back catching passes and running wheel routes. Instead, the staff constantly runs him up the middle like he's Jerome Bettis. And yeah, I know that he made long td runs up the middle in the Rose Bowl and against Boise, but that has been a big exception to the rule.

IMO, Singleton just doesn't have the instincts of a regular running back. There was a play on Saturday in which he ran a sweep to the left and there was a huge running lane inside, but instead he took it to the outside where all of the defenders were.

Regarding the o-line, I have no idea why Donkoh was moved to guard, especially coming off of a knee injury. IMO, it would be perfectly acceptable for him to share first string reps with Rucci or Shelton at tackle, and insert Cousins as a starting guard.

 

[WaffleShopper]

Depressing. Oline is supposedly one of the best in the country. Singleton never really could break many tackles but he used to run so angry and hit holes like he was shot out of a cannon. Now he’s just ignoring holes 20 feet wide and running right into defenders or his own blockers. It’s like our skill players have been brainwashed or something.

 

[PSUFTG]

Singleton should've been used all this time like USC used Reggie Bush, which means mostly as a back catching passes and running wheel routes. Instead, the staff constantly runs him up the middle like he's Jerome Bettis. And yeah, I know that he made long td runs up the middle in the Rose Bowl and against Boise, but that has been a big exception to the rule.

IMO, Singleton just doesn't have the instincts of a regular running back. There was a play on Saturday in which he ran a sweep to the left and there was a huge running lane inside, but instead he took it to the outside where all of the defenders were.

Regarding the o-line, I have no idea why Donkoh was moved to guard, especially coming off of a knee injury. IMO, it would be perfectly acceptable for him to share first string reps with Rucci or Shelton at tackle, and insert Cousins as a starting guard.

Bush ran the ball well over 400 times at USC (and caught just under 100 passes)

Singleton has run the ball around 500 times at PSU (Bush never played his senior year, FWIW) and has caught around 80 passes.

So, pretty similar distribution.

And Singleton is MUCH less effective as a pass option. Much less, than Bush was. (Bush had "wr type" yardage and YAC as a receiver)

 

[PSUFTG]

Depressing. Oline is supposedly one of the best in the country.

That was always a silly contention (and, yes, I know a LOT of the PSU Media gang was chapping on that almost non-stop).

The line had a couple of good games last year (a VERY good game against Oregon) - but was otherwise very "meh", just as they were in 2023.
The reasonable hope, I would imagine, was that with so much experience and nearly everyone coming back, that they would get better. Hasn't happened - yet.


FWIW, and some may disagree, I think the DEFENSIVE line, despite some critical reviews after game 1, is actually showing a lot of potential, despite NOT having a lot of returning experience.
(And #19 looks like the next really, really good PSU DE - even in game 1 where he was running around a bit out of control. A year or two of getting bigger and stronger and he could be special.)

 

[ApexLion]

I also think you can defense the run, even if you don't always have superior athletes. On Saturday, as TFrank showed, PSU ran some plays against a 4-4. Think about that for a second. Joe Paterno invented the 4-4 in the college game circa 1966!

I was very impressed with the MLB, #0 Chaney from FIU. He filled fast and didn't miss. I guess what bothered me the most was that Coach K didn't fool anyone on Saturday. In the big games, you have to make some calls that the other side gets misdirected on.

So far, I like the wideouts, Reynolds is a pro as well as Vega, Katron appears to be faster, and Allar will run more for first downs in the big games. But after two games, there's still a lot to find out from both the staff and the players.

 

[DaytonRickster]

Singleton should've been used all this time like USC used Reggie Bush, which means mostly as a back catching passes and running wheel routes. Instead, the staff constantly runs him up the middle like he's Jerome Bettis. And yeah, I know that he made long td runs up the middle in the Rose Bowl and against Boise, but that has been a big exception to the rule.

IMO, Singleton just doesn't have the instincts of a regular running back. There was a play on Saturday in which he ran a sweep to the left and there was a huge running lane inside, but instead he took it to the outside where all of the defenders were.

Regarding the o-line, I have no idea why Donkoh was moved to guard, especially coming off of a knee injury. IMO, it would be perfectly acceptable for him to share first string reps with Rucci or Shelton at tackle, and insert Cousins as a starting guard.

Not sure what is going on with the OL but I agree about Donkoh splitting reps at RT with Rucci & Cousins to start at RG.

 

[Bwifan]

PSU RUSH GAME FILM STUDY

See link above. As video explains, it's not one thing, it's many things. Missed assignments. Confusion of who has who/who is climbing where. Complicated/borderline impossible asks And then, obviously, there's Singleton. The non-TV POV is pretty telling, revealing a lot of warts.

I know they are trying different combinations at Oline to see what works and they can do this with lesser competition. To your point there are numerous things wrong with the PSU oline currently to me the first being missed assignments and confusion. They seem set on this 7 person rotation. But to me ( I readily admit I am not an oline coach) at some point why not pick your starting 5 and get them a good chunk of time playing together. Build cohesion and chemistry. Getting that time together would hopefully reduce greatly the missed assignments. They are quickly running out of time with only Villanova on deck before Oregon.

 

[Calabrin]

The good news is that several posters on this board have assured me that the O-line was missing blocks on purpose. Because that's what you do when you're an elite athlete: you don't bother to do your job. You just blow off your blocking assignments and let your QB get hit, and your RBs get stuffed.

Also, Nick missing holes, not looking down field, and not putting moves on defenders...? Same deal. He just doesn't care. He's purposefully not trying because, eh, it's only FIU. Boring. Just gonna get tackled instead of breaking huge runs all day.