Official PSU - Indiana '25 game thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
We are not, obviously - to quote the Great James Franklin - even a good team.
We had absolutely nothing to lose…still could not muster the courage. Pathetic.
Typical of Franklin coached teams…does this really surprise us after 11 + years?
I agree...Terry was a rough as nails receiver, never afraid to go across the middle for one of Tony Sacca s many wild passes...
One of my biggest issues with CJF and his multiple staffs is the trust factor. They don't trust their players to make the critical play in crunch time. Adversely, the players didn’t trust or buy in to the coaches putting them in the best position to win during crunch time, on offense and defense. Case in point would be the OSU game in 2018, when Trace M was basically winning the game single handedly. Why wasn't the ball in his hands on 4th down instead of Sanders? Against UCLA they didn't trust his hand picked, high $ qb to throw before half. Today with Grunk, not trusting him to throw to seal the game. The D is just another story. Just my 2 cents.
It would be like if an Indiana receiver catches a pass in the middle of the field during the final drive. While the ref spots the ball and the chains are reset, the receiver gives the “first down” sign and jumps around like an idiot.
This nonsense almost never happens on offense during a critical game situation. I’m not sure why players on defense are such clowns.
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In the Indiana pylon game, our RB could have sealed the game by sliding down before the end zone. I see smart teams do this all the time. Not BGJ’s Penn State, though. His players gotta get that TD.
Quite a few of us have been pointing this out since he got here: he refuses to engage with the proven modern concept of offensive football: throw first to setup the run.
His schemes are designed almost exclusively around RPO, and the passing routes are quick outs to the sidelines, often at or even behind the line of scrimmage.
Opposing defenses know that Penn State doesn't throw over the middle of the field, and they know that they don't throw mid or deep routes. That's why they stack the line of scrimmage and play man-coverage.
You see what happened today: when we started using an aggressive passing attack, we erased a 13-point deficit and took the lead. Then Kotelnicki, like a pouting child, refused to acknowledge what was working, and went back to his ultra-conservative garbage, and we lost.
:36 ticks on the clock, we got Reynolds running a short out-route for a 5-yard pickup. Next down we have Singleton take a toss that actually went backwards, and should have kept the clock running, but the refs blew the call.
At no point did they try to get a meaningful amount of yardage that would move them into field goal range. That's what's frustrating: not that they lost, but that the play-calling didn't even give them a chance.
Indiana knew what plays were coming yesterday on 10 percent of the snaps, you could tell- blowing up the play in the back field, tackles for loss etc. Good scouting and coaching.
You mean like that throw behind the line of scrimmage with 2:02 left on 3rd and 10 where a first down would have ended the game?
That is what drives me insane with AK. He seems to out think himself. He calls a play and it works, but doesn't call it again figuring they will have adjusted to it. He needs to keep calling it and force them to stop it.
Jack Ham was begging him to throw the ball over the middle… just a short pass over the middle because IU had 10 in the box… easy first down, PSU wins! AK sucks!
Also what does PSU have to lose at this point... Throw the ball. The offense has momentum, Grunk had been successful throwing the ball over the middle. Once again AK out thinks himself. I will be so happy when both coordinators and this coaching staff is gone.
I have been finished with him since OSU last year. First and goal on the 3… 4 plays and Tyler Warren never sees the ball. To this day I still can’t believe it…
For future reference, the protocol here is to read all 759 previous posts before posting.
/s
That’s just it: we ARE a good team. That’s what makes this all even that much more frustrating!
Pena just makes a great hands catch for a nice gain, not on the field for the next play. Feed these guys- go to your hot hand.
Exactly ... It's as if he has a successful play he draws a line through it thinking I can't call that play again they will be ready for it ....
It's crazy. PSU has the ball and control of the game. Why give them the ball back and let them control the outcome? Go down swinging you have nothing to lose at this point in the season. This staff is so frustrating to watch. From schemes and play calling to time management it's brutal. Thankfully we only have to watch them a few more games
I looked and looked all game but did not see Franklin anywhere on the sideline making decisions…I must have missed him.
He was told to slide, but he remembered too late…should Franklin have had it tattooed on the RB’s hands? You can tell players something a million times and they sometimes forget in crunch time…it happens and if you don’t think it does, you’ve obviously never coached before.