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.
Last edited:
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.
BGJ’s players tended to “forget” all the time in crunch time. All the time. But at least he was their buddy. Orange slices for everyone after the game!
Idiots like Ludd and Marshall make me laugh. The culture of James Franklin is a “me first, team second” mentality. This came out in some Tengwell’s stuff about behind the scenes. Franklin protecting his guys and fighting with Kraft over portal aggression. Franklin never holding players accountable for missed assignments, showboating, lack of effort. Franklin’s arrogance in press conferences, like he didn’t need to give real answers. Franklin chewing through coordinators because of his insistence on explosives, forcing schemes that don’t work because he already had “his guys” and his lack of trust in others despite his “CEO mentality”. Just take the last few weeks for example - Durant is a show boater, audavion collins is a showboater - yet it’s been over a decade since I saw a PSU player get a tongue-lashing on the sidelines (BOB didn’t tolerate that stuff).
For players - it was probably great being here. No accountability, Franklin will protect your draft stock and fight with the fans, media and the school on your behalf. You miss an assignment, no worries. Make a big play, do a throat slash or a “kick in the door” and watch Franklin cream his pants. Get a penalty or not set up for next play - all good as far as coach cares. Now you got the stats and splash plays to help your draft stock.
the culture of Franklin was rotten to the core if, using his own words, you want the Penn State “PROGRAM” to be elite. And that’s before you get into all of his short-comings around X’s and O’s. Anyone lamenting that we needed a reset needs their head examined.
For players - it was probably great being here. No accountability, Franklin will protect your draft stock and fight with the fans, media and the school on your behalf. You miss an assignment, no worries. Make a big play, do a throat slash or a “kick in the door” and watch Franklin cream his pants. Get a penalty or not set up for next play - all good as far as coach cares. Now you got the stats and splash plays to help your draft stock.
the culture of Franklin was rotten to the core if, using his own words, you want the Penn State “PROGRAM” to be elite. And that’s before you get into all of his short-comings around X’s and O’s. Anyone lamenting that we needed a reset needs their head examined.
Exactly....just totally soft play calling....you are a 3 win team, not going anywhere, coaches and players will all be gone next year, go for the win as a pose to the "just hang on" mentality. If we threw downfield on that possession, whats the worse that can happen? Indiana gets the ball and scores a TD? It happened anyway!
A coach protecting his players, oh the horror. And by all means let’s put all our belief into a second rate podcaster. He obviously knows more than a coach who does it for a living. Maybe we should hire the podcaster.
FYI..
Knowles D looks exactly like it did when we played Oregon last season at Autzen. We lost that game by a point.
That is believed to be the point when the relationship fractured between Day and Knowles. The D had brain fart after brain fart. In the postgame, Nick Saban called the defensive gameplan archaic and from the stone age. The story came out that Knowles and line coach Larry Johnson got into it after the game and had a screaming match.
Knowles was trying to implement a new scheme using the jack position. Day stepped in and demanded that be stopped and we go back to what has worked. Knowles took offense but changes were made and the D started playing elite again. The bottom line is Knowles has a great mind but he likes to experiment and has a 'my way or the highway' mentality and doesn't take criticism well.
Knowles position was the new scheme he came up with takes time to implement. Day's position was we are in a run for the Natty and we don't have time for experiments. Go back to what has worked.
I protect my kids, but when they act up in school - they are held accountable. You are confusing coddling and enabling with protecting.
But he has trained this team to play afraid - institutionalized it…and this can’t be erased overnight.
I don’t even think it’s the successful plays. It’s every play trying to do the opposite of what the defense expects. Never dictating always reacting. Running to the short side, getting the ball to the slower RB in space instead of the much faster RB, QB draws on 3rd and long, etc.
The QB has looked overmatched and then all of a sudden they have him use the middle of the field and the light goes on a bit. Terry is in a tough spot but I’d go down swinging. Coach with your hair on fire and tell the kids and staff to do the same. Let it rip.
I agree with everyone. What was the worst that could happen yesterday letting the QB tack a shot at it throwing. The 2 min timeout hurt them otherwise they could have burned another 40 seconds and then doing what they did maybe would have made a little more sense. How are you going to recruit 4/5* QB’s and have them do the junk they do now. It’s mind boggling.
I agree with everyone. What was the worst that could happen yesterday letting the QB tack a shot at it throwing. The 2 min timeout hurt them otherwise they could have burned another 40 seconds and then doing what they did maybe would have made a little more sense. How are you going to recruit 4/5* QB’s and have them do the junk they do now. It’s mind boggling.
This has been beaten to death but how about have the QB take a knee? How do you prevent your RB from costing you the game? Don’t give him the opportunity.
Watching Cignetti’s smug-a** comments has me hoping they get demolished very soon. The ridiculous ‘shorthanded’ comment aside, he’s in for a wake up call next year when he doesn’t have his veteran transfer team to lean on. What a douche.
The thing that many seem to have lost is that we couldn’t run out the clock. Taking knees would mean that Indiana gets the ball back down 1.