Is it too early to talk about Penn State?

[homersapien 11,500]

On 9/6/2021 at 3:18 PM, Brad_ATX said:

No....no they are not

Well, is their OL and backups  - except for center - all true or redshirt freshmen?  (Their center is a transfer.)

https://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/depth-chart/akron/89900

(Can't find ASU depth chart)

[homersapien 11,500]

15 hours ago, WFE12 said:

With the new coaching staff and Bo having played in enough big games i don’t think the game should get to him. I think the defense will really show up. Hoping secondary has it going because the deep ball to Jahan Dotson will be what they go for. The country will see what Tank is about in prime time and show why he’s the best in not only the sec but the country. If we win and, especially in convincing fashion, we’re gonna be undefeated going into Jawga and we’re gonna put the nation on notice and I will be unbareable.

The "game" won't get to him. My concern is the PSU defense getting to him.

I expect to see him demonstrate his (considerable) scrambling skills on some of our snaps.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

2 hours ago, homersapien said:

Well, is their OL and backups  - except for center - all true or redshirt freshmen?  (Their center is a transfer.)

https://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-depth-charts/depth-chart/akron/89900

(Can't find ASU depth chart)

Akron is favored over ASU by 3 TDs if they play tomorrow.  And as a gambler, I'd lay the points.

Edited September 7, 2021 by Brad_ATX

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

Stinchcomb on the SEC Network saying Auburn fans have a reason to be encouraged after Saturday. Guess we’re not just delusional barners after all... 

[homersapien 11,500]

2 hours ago, Brad_ATX said:

Akron is favored over ASU by 3 TDs if they play tomorrow.  And as a gambler, I'd lay the points.

I don't know. ASU has a history of salty teams.  Don't know about this year though. 

[W.E.D 11,070]

4 hours ago, homersapien said:

I expect to see him demonstrate his (considerable) scrambling skills on some of our snaps.

I just hope they are done at the right time.  No reason to not use his athleticism as long as it is channeled correctly

[DAG 34,034]

5 hours ago, homersapien said:

The "game" won't get to him. My concern is the PSU defense getting to him.

I expect to see him demonstrate his (considerable) scrambling skills on some of our snaps.

Time to display that phenomenal athletic ability.

[Caldavis 58]

I read most of the topics on this thread and they were fair IMO. 
 

To the person would said you’d win by two TD’s, good luck you’ve never been to a white out. 
 

To be fair, defense played way over their heads against Wisconsin. We’ll see how they do this week. The front four really aren’t our players. Two portal players in there. 
 

Clifford’s numbers were ok, not great. Still he found Dotson a bunch of times. 
 

We couldn’t get the running game going until the very end of the game. I’m sure that’s being addressed. 
 

Still PSU beat the #12 team on the road. If we made some of our kicks it wouldn’t have been that close. 
 

looking forward to a great game in a few weeks. 

[Hank2020 3,223]

8 hours ago, Caldavis said:

I read most of the topics on this thread and they were fair IMO. 
 

To the person would said you’d win by two TD’s, good luck you’ve never been to a white out. 
 

To be fair, defense played way over their heads against Wisconsin. We’ll see how they do this week. The front four really aren’t our players. Two portal players in there. 
 

Clifford’s numbers were ok, not great. Still he found Dotson a bunch of times. 
 

We couldn’t get the running game going until the very end of the game. I’m sure that’s being addressed. 
 

Still PSU beat the #12 team on the road. If we made some of our kicks it wouldn’t have been that close. 
 

looking forward to a great game in a few weeks. 

If Wisc. Didn’t turn the ball over in red zone it wouldn’t have been that close.

[Ryan Sanders 123]

It will be the first road test for this new staff and team. And this will be a very hostile environment. Hopefully we see a continuation of play from this past Saturday. I'm speaking in terms of lack of penalties, discipline, and comfort.

Penalties: We didn't see much in the way of holding, false starts, late hits, and illegal formation in our first game. I feel like we had a major issue with late hits under Malzahn (and company). Maybe it wasn't anymore than other teams, but we saw MANY drives extended because of stupid plays like that.

Discipline: Already mentioned the discipline in terms of late hits. But you could clearly see a more disciplined team in game 1. Yes, it is Akron. But even looking back at similar games under Malzahn, we never looked as disciplined IMO. 

Comfort: How do you develop comfort? By practicing over and over to the point of perfection. It becomes natural to you. You aren't having to think about every single thing. You know what to do on every play. That was apparent in game 1. These guys knew what the play call was and knew what they had to do. 

The way I look at Harsin vs Malzahn. And I'm probably wrong, just like my entire assessment is probably wrong. 

Harsin strikes me as the type who expects the play to be ran to perfection every time. Block the right guy. Run the right routes. All of that. 

Malzahn strikes me as the type who accepts 6/10 perfection. 6 plays out of 10 were executed perfectly, the other 4 had mistakes.. "good enough."

I'm sure I am wrong about that.. but that's just the perception I get. I also feel like Malzahn's deal was that he wanted to hurry to the line, don't substitute, etc.. to get the defense out of position to make the play. And I feel like Harsin would rather execute the play properly no matter if the defense is in or out of position. And by out of position, I mean anything from the defense doesn't have time to call the right play or they aren't able to line up properly because of the offensive tempo. The whole no huddle thing was great 10 years ago, but defenses know how to get the plays called in now. 

So I say all that to say... if we can stay disciplined and are prepared.. no reason we can't win the game. But I don't think we have much room for mistakes being in their house.

[CT Tiger 136]

25 minutes ago, Ryan Sanders said:

It will be the first road test for this new staff and team. And this will be a very hostile environment. Hopefully we see a continuation of play from this past Saturday. I'm speaking in terms of lack of penalties, discipline, and comfort.

Penalties: We didn't see much in the way of holding, false starts, late hits, and illegal formation in our first game. I feel like we had a major issue with late hits under Malzahn (and company). Maybe it wasn't anymore than other teams, but we saw MANY drives extended because of stupid plays like that.

I bolded two of my bigger concerns. Beaver Stadium is going to be INSANE--potentially pushing 110k--deafeningly loud. I think it will be critical that we strike quick and early to shut the crowd down. 

[WarTim 3,457]

Head to head match , Tiger kills the lion. 😎

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,813]

On 9/8/2021 at 12:46 AM, Caldavis said:

I read most of the topics on this thread and they were fair IMO. 
 

To the person would said you’d win by two TD’s, good luck you’ve never been to a white out. 
 

To be fair, defense played way over their heads against Wisconsin. We’ll see how they do this week. The front four really aren’t our players. Two portal players in there. 
 

Clifford’s numbers were ok, not great. Still he found Dotson a bunch of times. 
 

We couldn’t get the running game going until the very end of the game. I’m sure that’s being addressed. 
 

Still PSU beat the #12 team on the road. If we made some of our kicks it wouldn’t have been that close. 
 

looking forward to a great game in a few weeks. 

I wouldn’t play the if game at all lol. Wisconsin dominated the majority of that game brother

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,813]

Dudes were batting baseball averages for their YPC for 3/4ths of the game 

 

not a good display of offensive balance 

[Carnell 592]

2 hours ago, Ryan Sanders said:

It will be the first road test for this new staff and team. And this will be a very hostile environment. Hopefully we see a continuation of play from this past Saturday. I'm speaking in terms of lack of penalties, discipline, and comfort.

Penalties: We didn't see much in the way of holding, false starts, late hits, and illegal formation in our first game. I feel like we had a major issue with late hits under Malzahn (and company). Maybe it wasn't anymore than other teams, but we saw MANY drives extended because of stupid plays like that.

Discipline: Already mentioned the discipline in terms of late hits. But you could clearly see a more disciplined team in game 1. Yes, it is Akron. But even looking back at similar games under Malzahn, we never looked as disciplined IMO. 

Comfort: How do you develop comfort? By practicing over and over to the point of perfection. It becomes natural to you. You aren't having to think about every single thing. You know what to do on every play. That was apparent in game 1. These guys knew what the play call was and knew what they had to do. 

The way I look at Harsin vs Malzahn. And I'm probably wrong, just like my entire assessment is probably wrong. 

Harsin strikes me as the type who expects the play to be ran to perfection every time. Block the right guy. Run the right routes. All of that. 

Malzahn strikes me as the type who accepts 6/10 perfection. 6 plays out of 10 were executed perfectly, the other 4 had mistakes.. "good enough."

I'm sure I am wrong about that.. but that's just the perception I get. I also feel like Malzahn's deal was that he wanted to hurry to the line, don't substitute, etc.. to get the defense out of position to make the play. And I feel like Harsin would rather execute the play properly no matter if the defense is in or out of position. And by out of position, I mean anything from the defense doesn't have time to call the right play or they aren't able to line up properly because of the offensive tempo. The whole no huddle thing was great 10 years ago, but defenses know how to get the plays called in now. 

So I say all that to say... if we can stay disciplined and are prepared.. no reason we can't win the game. But I don't think we have much room for mistakes being in their house.

You are right in what you said but gus has been fired and harsin is definitely an upgrade but the comparison should be Harsin to Saben, harsin to smart and in a little over a week harsin to franklin.

[Caldavis 58]

On 9/8/2021 at 10:27 AM, Hank2020 said:

If Wisc. Didn’t turn the ball over in red zone it wouldn’t have been that close.

“If”

[Caldavis 58]

5 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I wouldn’t play the if game at all lol. Wisconsin dominated the majority of that game brother

Don’t see the whisky domination? 10-10 at the half, PSU missed a FG and XP while Wisky was fumble proof. 
 

You control what you do in those circumstances. 

[Caldavis 58]

5 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Dudes were batting baseball averages for their YPC for 3/4ths of the game 

 

not a good display of offensive balance 

Clifford’s numbers were fine, not going to make the college football hall of fame but Dotson was behind their secondary most of the game. 
 

Defense gave up 10 pts to the #12 team in country. Mertz looked bad ill give you that. 

[Caldavis 58]

16 minutes ago, Caldavis said:

0-0

 

[Caldavis 58]

6 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Dudes were batting baseball averages for their YPC for 3/4ths of the game 

 

not a good display of offensive balance 

So finding offensive balance is playing Akron and Alabama state in your first two games? 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,813]

2 hours ago, Caldavis said:

Clifford’s numbers were fine, not going to make the college football hall of fame but Dotson was behind their secondary most of the game. 
 

Defense gave up 10 pts to the #12 team in country. Mertz looked bad ill give you that. 

I said YPC, not YPA 

You're not gonna beat us unless Bo plays as bad as Mertz and we're as offensively impotent in scoring situations as they were, with that type of one dimensional output 

Edited September 10, 2021 by Dual-Threat Rigby

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,813]

1 hour ago, Caldavis said:

So finding offensive balance is playing Akron and Alabama state in your first two games? 

Spending those two games working on your passing sets does help establish that. I'm not saying PSU can't achieve balance at some point in the season, but they clearly had no ability to run against Wisky. We're arguing a potential (Auburn's passing game) vs what appeared to be a known quantity (Penn St being unable to run against a stout front 7) 

[Caldavis 58]

21 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Spending those two games working on your passing sets does help establish that. I'm not saying PSU can't achieve balance at some point in the season, but they clearly had no ability to run against Wisky. We're arguing a potential (Auburn's passing game) vs what appeared to be a known quantity (Penn St being unable to run against a stout front 7) 

Stout? Ok, I’m sure Akron and ASU will prove that. 

[Caldavis 58]

28 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I said YPC, not YPA 

You're not gonna beat us unless Bo plays as bad as Mertz and we're as offensively impotent in scoring situations as they were, with that type of one dimensional output 

How bad of a dog do you think you’ll be coming into Beaver Stadium? 7.5, 5.5, or even up 3.5? I think your underestimating your opponent. You’ve never played there but good luck. 

[CT Tiger 136]

2 hours ago, Caldavis said:

How bad of a dog do you think you’ll be coming into Beaver Stadium? 7.5, 5.5, or even up 3.5? I think your underestimating your opponent. You’ve never played there but good luck. 

We definitely will be underdog. I'm going to go with 6.5 right now.