James Franklin/Penn State

Orin Swift said:
Penn State better be careful. I think they are slightly more likely to become Nebraska than Ohio State, Alabama, or Georgia. Nebraska would kill to have Pelini and his 10-2 and 9-3 seasons.
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I don't see Penn State ever falling like Nebraska has. Penn State is second to none in the Big Ten for the in-stadium big gameday atmosphere. Also, Pennsylvania still has good high school talent and borders Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland and almost Virginia, which all have good high school talent. Nebraska is a small state with very little in-state talent and it does not neighbor any other state with good high school talent. Nebraska lost its Texas pipeline of high school players and that is the primary reason they have fallen. I would assume Nebraska may now start to improve with its booster system and NIL money. But I do not see Penn State ever being down as long as Nebraska has been.
 
Summa said:
I don't see Penn State ever falling like Nebraska has. Penn State is second to none in the Big Ten for the in-stadium big gameday atmosphere. Also, Pennsylvania still has good high school talent and borders Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland and almost Virginia, which all have good high school talent. Nebraska is a small state with very little in-state talent and it does not neighbor any other state with good high school talent. Nebraska lost its Texas pipeline of high school players and that is the primary reason they have fallen. I would assume Nebraska may now start to improve with its booster system and NIL money. But I do not see Penn State ever being down as long as Nebraska has been.
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Nebraska is right up there and not far from Penn State for in-stadium atmosphere, they just have not had a good team to take it up to Penn State level. They have that crazy sell out streak still going and look what happened with the volleyball match in the stadium. Husker football is their NFL/MLB/NBA all wrapped up into one in that state. That being said they may never get back to that '70s-'90s glory era unless they are willing to change their style on and off the field which means a culture change and that probably is not in the cards.
 
Auggie said:
Nebraska is right up there and not far from Penn State for in-stadium atmosphere, they just have not had a good team to take it up to Penn State level. They have that crazy sell out streak still going and look what happened with the volleyball match in the stadium. Husker football is their NFL/MLB/NBA all wrapped up into one in that state. That being said they may never get back to that '70s-'90s glory era unless they are willing to change their style on and off the field which means a culture change and that probably is not in the cards.
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Yep, it’s pretty cool. Looking forward to being able to attend a game there.
 
Auggie said:
Nebraska is right up there and not far from Penn State for in-stadium atmosphere, they just have not had a good team to take it up to Penn State level. They have that crazy sell out streak still going and look what happened with the volleyball match in the stadium. Husker football is their NFL/MLB/NBA all wrapped up into one in that state. That being said they may never get back to that '70s-'90s glory era unless they are willing to change their style on and off the field which means a culture change and that probably is not in the cards.
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I agree, Nebraska has one of the best fan bases in all of college football.
 
Auggie said:
Nebraska is right up there and not far from Penn State for in-stadium atmosphere, they just have not had a good team to take it up to Penn State level. They have that crazy sell out streak still going and look what happened with the volleyball match in the stadium. Husker football is their NFL/MLB/NBA all wrapped up into one in that state. That being said they may never get back to that '70s-'90s glory era unless they are willing to change their style on and off the field which means a culture change and that probably is not in the cards.
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They stopped running the Option. The local talent base is just awful. Leaving the B12 was the worst decision their Athletic department ever made. It completely cut them off from recruiting in Texas.
 
Penn State has the best local/regional access to premium talent out of the current Big Ten teams IMO with their proximity to New Jersey and the DMV.

I would rather have their in-state talent with those places in the backyard than have Ohio in-state talent with Michigan, Indiana, and Chicagoland in close proximity.
 
Summa said:
I don't see Penn State ever falling like Nebraska has. Penn State is second to none in the Big Ten for the in-stadium big gameday atmosphere. Also, Pennsylvania still has good high school talent and borders Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland and almost Virginia, which all have good high school talent. Nebraska is a small state with very little in-state talent and it does not neighbor any other state with good high school talent. Nebraska lost its Texas pipeline of high school players and that is the primary reason they have fallen. I would assume Nebraska may now start to improve with its booster system and NIL money. But I do not see Penn State ever being down as long as Nebraska has been.
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I don’t disagree. I didn’t mean they will become exactly who Nebraska is, but I worded it poorly. I think Penn State downgrading in performance should they move on from Franklin (like Nebraska and Pelini, even if Penn Stat isn’t posting consecutive losing seasons like Nebraska) is more likely than for them to ascend to the next level.
 
Tbh I am the total opposite thinking when it comes to Franklin. I actually think he’s a solid coach, about even Day. Nothing spectacular but solid. Problem is his recruiting is very subpar for a program like Penn State. In the talent composite they are ranked 13th which is VERY mediocre for them.

No reason they can’t be in the top 10 or even top 8. They just need to go out and get better players, the last couple classes they’ve lost key players from the DMV to freaking South Carolina. Under no circumstances should that EVER happen.

No reason they can’t accumulate the same amount of talent like a Clemson, LSU, or Oregon currently can.
 
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I like James Franklin. Seems like a decent human being and I like his sense of humor. Early in his tenure, they lost games because they couldn't hold up talent or depth-wise in the trenches, esp on the OL. He addressed that. They are much better there in terms of talent and depth.

He also lost because he recruits and plays gamers at QB. Your McSoreleys and Clifford's are not talentless, they play hard, and give you everything they have - but they are not elite QBs. When you are trying to beat OSU and scUM, one of those comes in real handy.

So, he gets one of those. Allar has all of the physical traits of a great pocket passer - which is perfect for a team with two stud RBs. But he is young and he doesn't have a single elite receiver to throw to. So, Franklin wisely protected him early in the season with a safe, limited passing game. He was praising him for taking checkdowns!

But when it came time when the opponent required that you allow the young QB to let it rip and live with the results, both yesterday and against OSU, he kept him limited. I don't get it. The only explanation is that you are playing to lose close - which is what happened in Cbus (-8) and vs scUM (-9). I'm sure he was hoping for a big defensive play or special teams score to make up the difference, but elite teams work hard to not give you that.

Trying to win means trying to score 35-40 points and that means throwing the ball downfield and getting explosive pass plays. He didn't even try - in either of the two games he had to win. I just don't get it. If he loses those 2 games by a combined 17 or 70 points, he still hasn't beat Ohio St or scUM - again.

I would be furious for the lack of balls he showed there if I were a PSU fan. But, thankfully, I'm not. :)
 
IVCguy said:
I like James Franklin. Seems like a decent human being and I like his sense of humor. Early in his tenure, they lost games because they couldn't hold up talent or depth-wise in the trenches, esp on the OL. He addressed that. They are much better there in terms of talent and depth.

He also lost because he recruits and plays gamers at QB. Your McSoreleys and Clifford's are not talentless, they play hard, and give you everything they have - but they are not elite QBs. When you are trying to beat OSU and scUM, one of those comes in real handy.

So, he gets one of those. Allar has all of the physical traits of a great pocket passer - which is perfect for a team with two stud RBs. But he is young and he doesn't have a single elite receiver to throw to. So, Franklin wisely protected him early in the season with a safe, limited passing game. He was praising him for taking checkdowns!

But when it came time when the opponent required that you allow the young QB to let it rip and live with the results, both yesterday and against OSU, he kept him limited. I don't get it. The only explanation is that you are playing to lose close - which is what happened in Cbus (-8) and vs scUM (-9). I'm sure he was hoping for a big defensive play or special teams score to make up the difference, but elite teams work hard to not give you that.

Trying to win means trying to score 35-40 points and that means throwing the ball downfield and getting explosive pass plays. He didn't even try - in either of the two games he had to win. I just don't get it. If he loses those 2 games by a combined 17 or 70 points, he still hasn't beat Ohio St or scUM - again.

I would be furious for the lack of balls he showed there if I were a PSU fan. But, thankfully, I'm not. :)
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Well to be fair, UM not only didn’t throw deep, they didn’t throw at all. How elite is their QB when you are afraid to throw at all?
 
Hammerdrill said:
Well to be fair, UM not only didn’t throw deep, they didn’t throw at all. How elite is their QB when you are afraid to throw at all?
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Well, they just chose not to throw. It was a giant middle finger to Penn St and maybe the entire B1G. The message was, "We are so good and so angry that we will beat you with one hand tied behind our back." And they were that much better than Penn State! Pretty impressive.

But they didn't throw because they chose not to, not because they couldn't.
 
Hammerdrill said:
Well to be fair, UM not only didn’t throw deep, they didn’t throw at all. How elite is their QB when you are afraid to throw at all?
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They chose not to throw because they correctly figured Penn State’s only hope to win was getting defensive scores on strip sacks or pick sixes. Why take the risk if you don’t need to?

They saw how incompetent Penn State’s offense was at Ohio State, and the only time that PSU had OSU in trouble was when their D scored a TD that was then stolen from them by the refs.
 
AEW Champion said:
They chose not to throw because they correctly figured Penn State’s only hope to win was getting defensive scores on strip sacks or pick sixes. Why take the risk if you don’t need to?

They saw how incompetent Penn State’s offense was at Ohio State, and the only time that PSU had OSU in trouble was when their D scored a TD that was then stolen from them by the refs.
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I can safely say I have never heard of a team doing what UM did. Which seems odd given the game situation happens every week, where a team could choose to do that, but don't.
 
IVCguy said:
Well, they just chose not to throw. It was a giant middle finger to Penn St and maybe the entire B1G. The message was, "We are so good and so angry that we will beat you with one hand tied behind our back." And they were that much better than Penn State! Pretty impressive.

But they didn't throw because they chose not to, not because they couldn't.
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Have you ever heard of such a thing? Seen another team do it? The dude is a Heisman candidate, and they were not going to throw it? Talk about playing scared.
 
Hammerdrill said:
Have you ever heard of such a thing? Seen another team do it? The dude is a Heisman candidate, and they were not going to throw it? Talk about playing scared.
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I've never seen a team that could throw refuse to do so in order to send a message. I've seen lots of teams with a lead who couldn't throw, or didn't want to bring the risks of throwing into the game, choose to just run and punt.

It is bizarre. I think we have to understand that this is a team whose remaining football schedule has become a crusade against the enemies and persecutors of their coach. They don't care about Heismans, personal achievements, or anything else.

Interestingly enough, when John U. Bacon researches and writes his best selling book about this, presumably titled,"Stolen", I believe we will find that the initiator of this scandal (besides Conner Stalions and some members of the coaching staff) will be a whistleblower within the scUM athletic admin or football program - a Michigan Man (or Woman) who believed all of that stuff about Michigan being a program above reproach when it comes to following rules and integrity, who was disappointed when they found out that they were cheating.
 
IVCguy said:
I've never seen a team that could throw refuse to do so in order to send a message. I've seen lots of teams with a lead who couldn't throw, or didn't want to bring the risks of throwing into the game, choose to just run and punt.

It is bizarre. I think we have to understand that this is a team whose remaining football schedule has become a crusade against the enemies and persecutors of their coach. They don't care about Heismans, personal achievements, or anything else.

Interestingly enough, when John U. Bacon researches and writes his best selling book about this, presumably titled,"Stolen", I believe we will find that the initiator of this scandal (besides Conner Stalions and some members of the coaching staff) will be a whistleblower within the scUM athletic admin or football program - a Michigan Man (or Woman) who believed all of that stuff about Michigan being a program above reproach when it comes to following rules and integrity, who was disappointed when they found out that they were cheating.
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I hope Ryan Day is up to the task of game planning for UM. I can just shake my head at what I saw UM do yesterday, game plan wise. I mean it wasn't even Jimmy making the calls, presumably. It was purely intentional by the crybaby to not throw.
 
Hammerdrill said:
I hope Ryan Day is up to the task of game planning for UM. I can just shake my head at what I saw UM do yesterday, game plan wise. I mean it wasn't even Jimmy making the calls, presumably. It was purely intentional by the crybaby to not throw.
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Ryan learned his lesson in last year's game against scUM. Came out aggressive against Georgia and it was glorious.

You will see what you saw in the first half last night - with some wrinkles.

I think the scUM offensive coaching staff probably had the plan to get out in front and if they felt the PSU offense wasn't going to be able to do much against their defense, they would just run their arse into the ground and finish the game that way.

Harbaugh doesn't make play to play calls. He makes go for it on 4th down, FG or punt calls, etc. They can function well without him as they have shown. I think where they miss him is encouraging McCarthy and other players.
 
Hammerdrill said:
I hope Ryan Day is up to the task of game planning for UM. I can just shake my head at what I saw UM do yesterday, game plan wise. I mean it wasn't even Jimmy making the calls, presumably. It was purely intentional by the crybaby to not throw.
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Why throw when they cant stop the run. As Herm Edwards would say - "You Play to Win the Game." If you can win the game by controlling time of possession, why pass.
 
Don't take 4th and goal from the three and the solution is to fire the OC. smh. Franklin should have been let go in the first quarter.
 
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