Shaking off a hangover, did we really give up 453 yards to PSU?

Submitted by iawolve on

Things get a little fuzzy right before the night ended since the frequency of trips to the fridge increased dramatically as the game wore on. I was hoping was just not remembering correctly in my hazy state before I came online, but by the looks of the threads, I just had the "oh crap that really happened last night" moment. Son of a bitch.

DGDestroys

October 31st, 2010 at 11:33 AM ^

But oh well. Replace Floyd-Rogers-Vinopal with Warren-Dorsey/Turner/Cissoko-Woolfolk and think about how good this D would be. We could keep Cam in the box, and a lack of weakside pursuit would result in a quick thumping hit from the safety instead of a 20 yard gain with missed tackles out the wazoo. We could redshirt Avery, Talbott, and Christian. Floyd and Rogers would rarely have to see the field. Roh/Martin/RVB would triple their sack count, because that extra second they need to get to the quarterback would be there. Gah I'm just upsetting myself.

Logan88

October 31st, 2010 at 11:31 AM ^

Cissoko pretty much sucked even before he went all gangsta. I don't miss his on field "performances" at all.

Why do we still recruit Cass Tech guys?

  • Cissoko.....FAIL
  • Campbell....FAIL (at least as a DT, jury is still out on OL)
  • T. Jones....benchwarmer

The only CT guy who has made any contribution is T. Gordon. 1 out of 4 ain't so hot.

DGDestroys

October 31st, 2010 at 11:37 AM ^

Cissoko....SOPHOMORE (well he was last year, at least)

Campbell....SOPHOMORE

T. Jones.....SOPHOMORE

T. Gordon.... RS FRESHMAN

At normal schools these guys don't see the field until they're upperclassmen, and we don't have to worry about underclassmen mistakes. I know we're frustrated, but all four of them are/were very talented football players, lay off. Cass Tech REGULARLY produces ridiculous amounts of talent and is a superb pipeline. Four players that haven't yet panned out (well take Cissoko out of there) can't be used to justify not recruiting a school. 

winterblue75

October 31st, 2010 at 11:30 AM ^

I'm not sure I totally understand most of that rationale, Turner obviously wasn't good enough to ever see the field, Cissoko wasn't that good, you could replace him with a DB out there this year and no one could tell the difference, Dorsey would be a Fr, so who the hell knows, Warren was a bit overrated, an upgrade yes.

DGDestroys

October 31st, 2010 at 11:40 AM ^

Turner wasn't untalented, he was just out of shape. Personally, I think he had (has at WVU) a great future at either safety/corner. Cissoko was only a sophomore, he definitely had potential. Warren was way better than any corner we could throw out there this year, and Dorsey was a freak athlete. Even if he made freshmen mistakes, I'm willing to bet his sheer athleticism would have made the positives more than the negatives. All of these guys would be upgrades on our current secondary

Bobby Boucher

October 31st, 2010 at 11:34 AM ^

That QB our defense faced last night was among the Greats.

P.S.  I realize I'm going to get negged for that comment but for the life of me I just can't figure out why we are hell bent on making every QB we face seem like a first-round draft prospect.

Don

October 31st, 2010 at 11:35 AM ^

Jesus Tap-dancing Christ on a Cracker, we gave up 439 yards and 37 pts to an FCS school that hasn't scored that many points on any of its FCS opponents, and that was WITH a healthy MIke Martin. None of what's transpired since then should be any surprise to anybody. People act as though that game didn't happen or didn't mean anything. It's bizarre.

willywill9

October 31st, 2010 at 11:42 AM ^

Exactly!  The defense is not going to be shutting down teams.  PSU's scheme took advantage of our defensive weakness.  With Martin out, they dominated the LOS.  We lost.  I drank a lot, wept.  But now i'm 100% better...  well by 100% better I'm still thinking we can finish the season with 7 wins and make a bowl game.

switch26

October 31st, 2010 at 11:49 AM ^

We might win 7, with a bowl win, but during the regular season we are NOT winning more than 6 games..

 

I think we beat purdue, just because Purdue lacks any kind of a run game period..  And their QB's suck, but we will make them look like gods, but i still don't think they will outscore us that game..

 

We are gonna get beat by 21 + to ILL, Wisc, and OSU

Six Zero

October 31st, 2010 at 12:28 PM ^

Disgust.

I am utterly and hopelessly disgusted by what happened last night.   By the defensive performance.  By the playcalling.  By the ability to make supposed 'adjustments' with regards to being thoroughly outcoached by PSU's (head coach) Tom Bradley.  By JT Floyd, who seems to just really like to run.  By the special teams, which I'm beginning to wonder if they're even mentioned throughout the week.  And by the very real truth that we are flashier than last year, but we're not much better.  We have an unprecedented weapon the likes of which none of us have ever seen... and yet it's all for nothing, because our defense is literally laughably easy to penetrate.

At this point I'm all for whatever change is needed to make this team a winner again.  There, I said it.

Until then, I'll be the guy smack dab in Nittany Lion country, weathering the storm for the third straight year.

K2

October 31st, 2010 at 12:38 PM ^

At the end of the season Dave Brandon needs to take RR aside and give him two options.

1) Remain head coach fire the defensive staff, bring in a coordinator that has complete control over his side of the ball. This includes recruiting, scheme, position coaches, adjustments, the whole deal. I am tired to see RR fiddle with the defense, run Schafer out of  town, and the fiddle with the defense again under the next DC making it worse again. The clear division between the head coach and the DC has to effect recruiting at some point and needs to stop now.

2) If he is unwilling to make defensive changes and let the DC run the defense resign or be replaced.

Glen Masons Hot Wife

October 31st, 2010 at 3:33 PM ^

But it kills me that RR couldn't resolve this on his own. That he needs someone to intercede.

The Shaffer hire was an immense botch. Not in hiring Shaffer, but in hiring a guy he couldn't make it work with.... and look who's had success everywhere he's been except here.

I've never liked Robinson. I didn't like him when I saw a freshman Chad Henne slice up his defense. I didn't like him when I found out his Texas corners weren't being taught backpedal. I didn't like him when I heard he let recruiting go to sh** at Syracuse, along with his defense...

Then when i found out Rod hired him *cringe*... and he mentioned they were pals at the coaching conferences... them and their wives kicked it.... yeah, forget about his job performance the last few years, we get along well so lets hire this guy.... jesus

U Fer M

October 31st, 2010 at 12:46 PM ^

Two weeks to get healthy and prepare, I could have taken this loss a little better if we didn't look so god awful. Per announcers "a clipping penalty, you don't see that much any more." They saw a lot of firsts yesterday, unfortunately, from an unprepared Michigan team. And what's with all the injuries to key players?? Isn't the Barwis training regimen supposed to create monster studley super players? I know injuries happen, it's part of the game, but M players are just getting beat up in the Big Ten, WTF? They all look so much smaller than the competition. Looking back the last decade, and seeing what M's D used to look like, they were beasts. Clone MM and we'll be cool.  Denard is still the man though, get him more experience and an experienced offense around him, and he will be unstoppable.

ST3

October 31st, 2010 at 1:04 PM ^

Yeah, I know, 18 yards doesn't make much difference. I don't mind giving up a little over 400 yards, it's just how they got them. 10 for 16 on third down, and 2 for 2 on fourth. On the big plays, they were better and we just couldn't get them off the field.

WichitanWolverine

October 31st, 2010 at 1:07 PM ^

We are like the the lions from last couple years.  Every qb has a career game against us.  McGloin is a walkon with IVY league scholarship offers.

Worst penn state line since i have been watching football. No big deal royster has career game.

 

No doubt in my mind RR has  no clue how to run anything that resembles a competent defense.  It is beyond mind boggling and unacceptable.

Crime Reporter

October 31st, 2010 at 1:35 PM ^

Running V. Smith on third and short even though it hasn't worked all year.

That and playing three down lineman the whole game when it's clear we need to take away the run.

VinnieMac25

October 31st, 2010 at 1:56 PM ^

oh crime reporter, oh so true.  I firmly believe the opening drive on the road to get points is huge.  Play calling on the opening drive was disappointing.  Denard run great.  Denard run great.  3rd and 2, im pretty sure we are all screaming Hopkins!  Vince Smith run to the middle stuffed.  We punt.  Open up that play calling, don't do it when were behind.  We all understand the defense is young, guys don't get off blocks.  Come on now, pressure that damn qb though.  Only saw T gordon on a blitz successful for a sack.  Pretty sure screeen passes, and cutback runs killed us. 

ckersh74

October 31st, 2010 at 1:52 PM ^

I'm under no delusions that this defense is going to  "shut down" anyone. I'd be somewhat pleased if we had the ability to hold a Division 1 MASH unit under 40 points. To ask even our offense to score 45 points on a consistent basis, just to hang on to barely win a football game, is ridiculous. And we're asking that on a weekly basis.

I'm not 100% confident that we're going even to end up 6-6. I was fairly certain going into last night's game, but not anymore.

jmblue

October 31st, 2010 at 2:20 PM ^

And what makes it even harder on the offense is that it's always starting drives deep in its own territory.  I don't believe we've started a drive in our opponent's territory all Big Ten season, and you could count on one hand the number of drives in conference play that started beyond our own 40.  Defense and special teams constantly put the O behind the eight ball.  It has to execute to perfection to score.  That's asking a lot out of a first-year QB who doesn't have a reliable tailback to hand off to. 

bronxblue

October 31st, 2010 at 2:12 PM ^

Maybe this is the optimist in me, but I still think this team can win the next two weeks and get to 7 wins.  Illinois has looked very good and Purdue on the road, you never know.  But at the same time, pride is a weird thing, and sometimes that can carry you for a game or two.  This team just needs to win one more game to be come bowl eligible, and with that the pressure will almost completely disappear in the near future for this team.  I think this team will show up against Illinois, and maybe the offense will just 40+ and forget what the defense does.