I'm Kind of Bummed that this program never made it to the College FB Playoffs....

[Mr. Potter]

during the 4-team playoff format. I don't even know where to place my expectations this year for this team.

Do we have the team this year to make a run. Concerned about our WR situation.

Shalom

 

[psuro]

Oh wow, here is a topic that has never been discussed on this board......glad someone finally brought it up....

 

[Georgia Peach]

during the 4-team playoff format. I don't even know where to place my expectations this year for this team.

Do we have the team this year to make a run. Concerned about our WR situation.

Shalom

Bummed? You should have sat with me at the Peach Bowl to watch some starters in street clothes while our team got manhandled by Mississippi.

 

[Nits74]

Bummed? You should have sat with me at the Peach Bowl to watch some starters in street clothes while our team got manhandled by Mississippi.

I've become used to it at this point.

 

[LaJollaCreek]

 

[BiochemPSU]

during the 4-team playoff format. I don't even know where to place my expectations this year for this team.

Do we have the team this year to make a run. Concerned about our WR situation.

Shalom

Past is the past.

I would expect the 2024 version to be competitive. Gone are the days of knowing what other teams are bringing back/have since the rosters change drastically now. So who really knows what the competition will look like. A good coach and a solid, experienced QB matter more now than ever.

If Diaz was here, I would say we mostly reload on defense. New scheme now, so who knows.

Offense is the same. I have no idea how quickly our QB picks it up.

The good news is the season doesn't start until Oct 12 at USC and the last three games of the season should be easier wins. So there is time to figure things out before things get hard and to be able to pad the record at the end if style points matter.

 

[BobPSU92]

Again, don’t get worked up about Penn State Football. We won’t be playing much longer.

 

[PSU87]

So an actual post about Penn State football is met with derision, while a thread about the old Test Board, which is not even part of this site, is running on 3 pages.

SMH

 

[Midnighter]

9-3.

 

[BiochemPSU]

9-3.

I can't disagree because of the assistant coaching changes and the fact that the main coach is still here, but...

other than a generally accepted loss to OSU (though they have no generational talent in Harrison returning, a new QB, and a coach who absolutely has to win it all NOW; plus we get them at home), the rest of the games are winnable on paper. Other than USC, we generally out recruit everyone else by a mile. The talent gap with the other teams should be enough that we don't have to have the game come down to a Franklin coaching moment of insanity.

To his credit, I think Franklin knows who he has talent gaps with, hence the need to try to be clever and manipulate a win on the field against OSU and Michigan year after year (with zero to very limited success). With lesser opponents, he tends to stay out of it and lets the PSU talent eventually overwhelm the other teams. I think he will be able to do that with most of the games as the talent is there.

Now, maybe the new offense doesn't click. Maybe the wheels fall off the defense due to locker room chemistry (Allen seems like a bit of a "I prefer my guys" type coach) or scheme incompatibility with available talent. Either way, if Drew shows any improvement with the offense, we should be in most games.

 

[GrimReaper]

So an actual post about Penn State football is met with derision, while a thread about the old Test Board, which is not even part of this site, is running on 3 pages.

SMH

Think the post is more about him than it is PSU football.

 

[Midnighter]

I can't disagree because of the assistant coaching changes and the fact that the main coach is still here, but...

other than a generally accepted loss to OSU (though they have no generational talent in Harrison returning, a new QB, and a coach who absolutely has to win it all NOW; plus we get them at home), the rest of the games are winnable on paper. Other than USC, we generally out recruit everyone else by a mile. The talent gap with the other teams should be enough that we don't have to have the game come down to a Franklin coaching moment of insanity.

To his credit, I think Franklin knows who he has talent gaps with, hence the need to try to be clever and manipulate a win on the field against OSU and Michigan year after year (with zero to very limited success). With lesser opponents, he tends to stay out of it and lets the PSU talent eventually overwhelm the other teams. I think he will be able to do that with most of the games as the talent is there.

Now, maybe the new offense doesn't click. Maybe the wheels fall off the defense due to locker room chemistry (Allen seems like a bit of a "I prefer my guys" type coach) or scheme incompatibility with available talent. Either way, if Drew shows any improvement with the offense, we should be in most games.

Think we lose to OSU, USC, and a wild card (Wisconsin?). D takes a step back IMO and just no idea if Allar is going to take a big leap forward we need. We’ll see though.

 

[bdgan]

Bummed? You should have sat with me at the Peach Bowl to watch some starters in street clothes while our team got manhandled by Mississippi.

That's a huge injustice to fans who spent money for tickets, airfare, hotels, etc. only to see the players opt out.

 

[bdgan]

during the 4-team playoff format. I don't even know where to place my expectations this year for this team.

Do we have the team this year to make a run. Concerned about our WR situation.

Shalom

Our highest rated WR saw limited time at OSU, our highest rated OL didn't make a big impact at Wisconsin, and our highest rated CB didn't see much action at Georgia.

What could go wrong?

 

[BobPSU92]

That's a huge injustice to fans who spent money for tickets, airfare, hotels, etc. only to see the players opt out.

Please respect their decision.

 

[BobPSU92]

Our highest rated WR saw limited time at OSU, our highest rated OL didn't make a big impact at Wisconsin, and our highest rated CB didn't see much action at Georgia.

What could go wrong?

This is where coaching and player development take over.

 

[bdgan]

This is where coaching and player development take over.

That ought to work.

 

[MtNittany]

I'm kind of bummed I don't live on Jupiter Island down the road from Nick Saban. Not making this playoff thing hasn't really changed my life.

 

[LB99]

Our highest rated WR saw limited time at OSU, our highest rated OL didn't make a big impact at Wisconsin, and our highest rated CB didn't see much action at Georgia.

What could go wrong?

That’s a little misleading. The highest rated OL player by recruiting ranking currently is J’ven Williams. Rucci was rated a 3 star as a transfer. There’s also guys like Shelton, Birchmeier, Cousins, and others who came in with a lot of fanfare. Cousins got a lot of praise in the All -Star game against top level DL prospects. He’s a monster of a true freshman with as much upside as any OL recruit in the country. The CB you are referring to played in 7 games as a true freshman last year on Georgia team stacked with NFL talent all over the field. If he wasn’t talented, he wouldn’t have gotten any playing time in that scenario.

 

[bdgan]

That’s a little misleading. The highest rated OL player by recruiting ranking currently is J’ven Williams. Rucci was rated a 3 star as a transfer. There’s also guys like Shelton, Birchmeier, Cousins, and others who came in with a lot of fanfare. Cousins got a lot of praise in the All -Star game against top level DL prospects. He’s a monster of a true freshman with as much upside as any OL recruit in the country. The CB you are referring to played in 7 games as a true freshman last year on Georgia team stacked with NFL talent all over the field. If he wasn’t talented, he wouldn’t have gotten any playing time in that scenario.

I'm sure that they're all talented and I'm glad we have them but...

• Cousins is a true freshman. It's very unusual for OL to contribute so soon. Look at 5* Williams and Birchmeier last year.
• Rucci was a 5 star who hasn't lived up to his rankings.
• Flemming was also a 5 star who hasn't lived up to his rankings amid a talented field of WRs at OSU.
• The CB transfer from GA got PT as a freshman and might become a star player.

I hope all of these players excel and propel us into the top 10. That said we're counting on a couple that haven't done a lot early in their careers.

 

[bdgan]

Past is the past.

I would expect the 2024 version to be competitive. Gone are the days of knowing what other teams are bringing back/have since the rosters change drastically now. So who really knows what the competition will look like. A good coach and a solid, experienced QB matter more now than ever.

If Diaz was here, I would say we mostly reload on defense. New scheme now, so who knows.

Offense is the same. I have no idea how quickly our QB picks it up.

The good news is the season doesn't start until Oct 12 at USC and the last three games of the season should be easier wins. So there is time to figure things out before things get hard and to be able to pad the record at the end if style points matter.

WVa on the road isn't a gimme, especially with new OC and DC. We should win but no gimme.

 

[bdgan]

Think we lose to OSU, USC, and a wild card (Wisconsin?). D takes a step back IMO and just no idea if Allar is going to take a big leap forward we need. We’ll see though.

The top 12 (playoff teams) will have no more than 2 losses.

 

[PSU87]

Think the post is more about him than it is PSU football.

And yet, still more about PSU football than the Test Board thread

 

[LB99]

I'm sure that they're all talented and I'm glad we have them but...

• Cousins is a true freshman. It's very unusual for OL to contribute so soon. Look at 5* Williams and Birchmeier last year.
• Rucci was a 5 star who hasn't lived up to his rankings.
• Flemming was also a 5 star who hasn't lived up to his rankings amid a talented field of WRs at OSU.
• The CB transfer from GA got PT as a freshman and might become a star player.

I hope all of these players excel and propel us into the top 10. That said we're counting on a couple that haven't done a lot early in their careers.

All true, but your initial post was very negative from a one sided perspective. Rucci is a 3 star transfer who will have to work to make the starting lineup. That speaks to the talent already in the room. Williams didn’t play last year because there was a top 10 draft pick anchoring one OT spot and a 5th year senior with multiple years starting at the other. Cousins has the making to contribute early like McGovern did. To say we are depending on Rucci as the top rated OL player is not completely accurate. As for the CB you said “didn’t get much action at UGA”, you conveniently let out the part that he was a true freshman and played in 7 games. I get that being negative is a thing on this board, but it isn’t all doom and gloom like some want to continuously spout.

 

[retsio]

Please consider your thought process - '…. one can be positive – always positive. Nothing can be gained by a negative.'