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Reality of the state of the PSU program in the Big Ten

StamfordBridgeVikingatLeftOffensiveTackle

StamfordBridgeVikingatLeftOffensiveTackle

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PSU just finished a regular season in which they lost to tOSU, UM, and MSU. Those three teams each split with one another. Losing close is still losing. PSU also lost at Iowa. I know. I know. SC got hurt. PSU still lost. The second team QB could barely get a play off without a false start. Totally unprepared. The defense played well enough for PSU to win. No excuses. So, after a 5-0 start (and the Wiscy and Auburn wins don't look so great now) PSU ended up 7-5 and 4-5 in the conference. Besides Wiscy, PSU's other conference wins were over Indiana, Maryland, and Rutgers. Oh, I almost forgot. PSU lost to Ilinois at home on Homecoming Weekend. Ouch. I guess my point is that as of today PSU is currently just safely above the Big Ten programs that we have traditionally considered irrelevant.

This is also a PSU team that will end up with a fair number of players playing on Sundays. What gives? This team could lose a lot of starters going into next season. Will we hear about rebuilding? PSU is currently an above average Big Ten team. That's it. Elite status is years off and just a phrase for now. I hope I'm wrong. I also hope that this year's recruiting class stays together, is as good as advertised, and decides that they are the ones to bring the program back to where we all think it belongs. Hope springs eternal.
 
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Keyser Soze 16802

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Slightly above average is about 5 zip codes from elite

With regard to hope....

Fail Charlie Brown GIF by Peanuts
 
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CoolBean

CoolBean

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Here is PSU record vs MI, MSU and OSU since 2014:

PSU is 7-17 total. 3-5 vs MI and MSU, 1-7 vs OSU
4 out of 8 years, PSU lost all three games in 14, 15, 18 and 21
Beat 2 out of 3 teams 3 times
PSU has never beat all 3 in any year.

To be good, not elite, PSU needs to win 2 out of 3 consistently and occasionally beating OSU convincingly.
 
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bdgan

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StamfordBridgeVikingatLeftOffensiveTackle said:
PSU just finished a regular season in which they lost to tOSU, UM, and MSU. Those three teams each split with one another. Losing close is still losing. PSU also lost at Iowa. I know. I know. SC got hurt. PSU still lost. The second team QB could barely get a play off without a false start. Totally unprepared. The defense played well enough for PSU to win. No excuses. So, after a 5-0 start (and the Wiscy and Auburn wins don't look so great now) PSU ended up 7-5 and 4-5 in the conference. Besides Wiscy, PSU's other conference wins were over Indiana, Maryland, and Rutgers. Oh, I almost forgot. PSU lost to Ilinois at home on Homecoming Weekend. Ouch. I guess my point is that as of today PSU is currently just safely above the Big Ten programs that we have traditionally considered irrelevant.

This is also a PSU team that will end up with a fair number of players playing on Sundays. What gives? This team could lose a lot of starters going into next season. Will we hear about rebuilding? PSU is currently an above average Big Ten team. That's it. Elite status is years off and just a phrase for now. I hope I'm wrong. I also hope that this year's recruiting class stays together, is as good as advertised, and decides that they are the ones to bring the prograpm back to where we all think it belongs. Hope springs eternal.
Click to expand...
Some say we don't have good players. I disagree except for the OL.

Clifford is above average when healthy
Lee is a good power RB but not a breakaway threat. What happened to Cain Ford?
Dotson & Washington are very good WRs
Strange & Johnson are good TEs (not sure about blocking)
Mustipher was a very good TE while we had him.
Ebiketie was very good and Luketta was pretty good.
Brooks was a good LB. Not sure what happened with Smith but Jacobs is an up and comer.
This might have been PSU's best secondaries (Brown, Brisker, Hardy, Fields)
Stout is one of the best punters and KO specialists in PSU history

The OL was horrible and recent OL recruiting is a concern but Whigan, Effner, Scruggs, Walker, Wallace, and Wormley were all rated 4*. How can we not get 2 or 3 good ones from that group?

It's like this is a good team except it sucks. Bad play calling, bad angles on defense, bad fundamentals, penalties, dropped interceptions, turnovers, missed FGs, etc. IMO it's uncanny how this team has the talent to play with teams like Michigan & OSU but still finds ways to lose other games. Franklin and his staff don't have "IT".
 
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Midnighter

Midnighter

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StamfordBridgeVikingatLeftOffensiveTackle said:
PSU just finished a regular season in which they lost to tOSU, UM, and MSU. Those three teams each split with one another. Losing close is still losing. PSU also lost at Iowa. I know. I know. SC got hurt. PSU still lost. The second team QB could barely get a play off without a false start. Totally unprepared. The defense played well enough for PSU to win. No excuses. So, after a 5-0 start (and the Wiscy and Auburn wins don't look so great now) PSU ended up 7-5 and 4-5 in the conference. Besides Wiscy, PSU's other conference wins were over Indiana, Maryland, and Rutgers. Oh, I almost forgot. PSU lost to Ilinois at home on Homecoming Weekend. Ouch. I guess my point is that as of today PSU is currently just safely above the Big Ten programs that we have traditionally considered irrelevant.

This is also a PSU team that will end up with a fair number of players playing on Sundays. What gives? This team could lose a lot of starters going into next season. Will we hear about rebuilding? PSU is currently an above average Big Ten team. That's it. Elite status is years off and just a phrase for now. I hope I'm wrong. I also hope that this year's recruiting class stays together, is as good as advertised, and decides that they are the ones to bring the prograpm back to where we all think it belongs. Hope springs eternal.
Click to expand...

People have been saying 'next year!' since we lost to USC in 2017. It's comforting in a way; you don't have to worry about how sucky your team/coach is NOW. The loss to Illinois is the worst I've ever seen. Penn State should have asked CJF to take a pay cut after that game. Instead, they give him more. Harbaugh took a pay cut and just pounded OSU for the first time in a decade. Sandy sucks.
 
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ManxomeLion

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bdgan said:
Some say we don't have good players. I disagree except for the OL.

Clifford is above average when healthy
Lee is a good power RB but not a breakaway threat. What happened to Cain Ford?
Dotson & Washington are very good WRs
Strange & Johnson are good TEs (not sure about blocking)
Mustipher was a very good TE while we had him.
Ebiketie was very good and Luketta was pretty good.
Brooks was a good LB. Not sure what happened with Smith but Jacobs is an up and comer.
This might have been PSU's best secondaries (Brown, Brisker, Hardy, Fields)
Stout is one of the best punters and KO specialists in PSU history

The OL was horrible and recent OL recruiting is a concern but Whigan, Effner, Scruggs, Walker, Wallace, and Wormley were all rated 4*. How can we not get 2 or 3 good ones from that group?

It's like this is a good team except it sucks. Bad play calling, bad angles on defense, bad fundamentals, penalties, dropped interceptions, turnovers, missed FGs, etc. IMO it's uncanny how this team has the talent to play with teams like Michigan & OSU but still finds ways to lose other games. Franklin and his staff don't have "IT".
Click to expand...
I'd say with the exception of MSU, the defense rounded the corner and was playing, overall, at a high level all season.
I think all roads to improvement run through the offensive line. Question is, we haven't seen improvement there throughout multiple seasons, let alone this season, so I'm not sure Franklin has an answer outside of firing and hiring assistant coaches.
Real problems require patience and persistence to fix, I get it, but it's an issue that seems to have lingered for YEARS.
 
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bdgan

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Midnighter said:
People have been saying 'next year!' since we lost to USC in 2017. It's comforting in a way; you don't have to worry about how sucky your team/coach is NOW. The loss to Illinois is the worst I've ever seen. Penn State should have asked CJF to take a pay cut after that game. Instead, they give him more. Harbaugh took a pay cut and just pounded OSU for the first time in a decade. Sandy sucks.
Click to expand...
I don't expect PSU to be better than 8-4 next year.

These key players are most likely gone (covid?):
Dotson
Stout
Mustipher
Ebiketie
Luketta
Smith
Castro Fields
Brisker
Brown
Brooks

I didn't see many up and coming stars on this team to get excited about going forward. Maybe Jacobs at LB and Hardy/King at CB.

Most of the starting OL is probably gone. Some will say that's a good thing. We have five 4* kids returning but it will still be new. We have Veileaux plus Allar, & Pribula coming in but they are true freshmen. Same with Singleton at RB. It almost can't help to be a rebuilding year unless we fill key positions with the portal and I don't know how much room we have for portal transfers.
 
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Alphalion75

Alphalion75

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StamfordBridgeVikingatLeftOffensiveTackle said:
PSU just finished a regular season in which they lost to tOSU, UM, and MSU. Those three teams each split with one another. Losing close is still losing. PSU also lost at Iowa. I know. I know. SC got hurt. PSU still lost. The second team QB could barely get a play off without a false start. Totally unprepared. The defense played well enough for PSU to win. No excuses. So, after a 5-0 start (and the Wiscy and Auburn wins don't look so great now) PSU ended up 7-5 and 4-5 in the conference. Besides Wiscy, PSU's other conference wins were over Indiana, Maryland, and Rutgers. Oh, I almost forgot. PSU lost to Ilinois at home on Homecoming Weekend. Ouch. I guess my point is that as of today PSU is currently just safely above the Big Ten programs that we have traditionally considered irrelevant.

This is also a PSU team that will end up with a fair number of players playing on Sundays. What gives? This team could lose a lot of starters going into next season. Will we hear about rebuilding? PSU is currently an above average Big Ten team. That's it. Elite status is years off and just a phrase for now. I hope I'm wrong. I also hope that this year's recruiting class stays together, is as good as advertised, and decides that they are the ones to bring the program back to where we all think it belongs. Hope springs eternal.
Click to expand...
Sadly, I believe WE ARE irrelevant.
 
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psupride1997

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Right now we are basically Purdue or Minnesota. Middle of the pack.

Pretty sad. We had a good run from 2016-19 though. Some think we can get back, but I think Franklin has peaked. He’s good at building a program up, not so good at keeping them there.
 
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