ADVERTISEMENT

PSU Game

MyTeamIsOnTheFloor

Hall of Famer
Gold Member
Dec 5, 2001
54,288
35,727
113
Duckburg
PSU wasn’t really tested until recently and faltered a little, then lost the big one. Pitt turned out to be mediocre. Iowa, Michigan and Minny have sown doubts.

Going into Saturday, PSU had given up only 70 points. The last 2, Iowa and Michigan, put up 33 of them. Minny added to their woes. Can Franklin hold them together in the face of our game being followed by Ohio State?

They have a newbie soph QB who now has to suffer his first criticism from the Happy 110,000, and play under that pressure for the first time. He also runs the ball as much as their starting RB. He’s a Ramsey who runs 10 times a game. Then they have a committee of RBs. Cain is 1. Brown, Ford and Slade have been 1A.

I don’t think they are as good as they were last year.

But they have big thick guys everywhere. No pencil necks. We’ll have to play really well.

But we still seem to be getting better, despite the ins and outs of Penix. I think the Deboer, Ramsey, Whop, Scott quadraplex is pretty solid. Scott has over 100 carries, but the bye weeks have been well-timed for us. Can anybody shut down Whop? I don’t think so, but if they do, Hendershot, Hale and Westbrook one-on-one all day ain’t a bad option.

My fear is US staying focused. 7 wins. Ranking. Happy happy happy instead of focus focus focus.

Interesting stat:

We have outscored opponents 83-27 in the first quarter. Prior to the Minny game, PSU had a 76-3 advantage. Now it’s 86-17.

We can do this. We may be too young and not Hickory enough to know we’re not supposed to.
 
The optimist in me likes the team's chances for the following reasons:
1) IU played them really tight last year and return a lot of production
2) IUs defense has caused some timely turnovers this year (just like last year), but the offense has shown a much better ability to convert touchdowns than last year. So it's less about a suffocating defense as it is about making big plays and converting them into points.
3) They're playing with house money at this point and can play loose. A better than expected year, at least better than the pre-season experts were saying.

BUT, at least as to #1 above, I had the same attitude going into the OSU game where they've run with OSU for several seasons now until getting worn down and big point spreads at the end. I was so very obviously wrong there.

So I'm nervous for Saturday but full to the brim with hope/optimism. A win and I'm going to start looking up flights to Florida for NYE.
 
PSU wasn’t really tested until recently and faltered a little, then lost the big one. Pitt turned out to be mediocre. Iowa, Michigan and Minny have sown doubts.

Going into Saturday, PSU had given up only 70 points. The last 2, Iowa and Michigan, put up 33 of them. Minny added to their woes. Can Franklin hold them together in the face of our game being followed by Ohio State?

They have a newbie soph QB who now has to suffer his first criticism from the Happy 110,000, and play under that pressure for the first time. He also runs the ball as much as their starting RB. He’s a Ramsey who runs 10 times a game. Then they have a committee of RBs. Cain is 1. Brown, Ford and Slade have been 1A.

I don’t think they are as good as they were last year.

But they have big thick guys everywhere. No pencil necks. We’ll have to play really well.

But we still seem to be getting better, despite the ins and outs of Penix. I think the Deboer, Ramsey, Whop, Scott quadraplex is pretty solid. Scott has over 100 carries, but the bye weeks have been well-timed for us. Can anybody shut down Whop? I don’t think so, but if they do, Hendershot, Hale and Westbrook one-on-one all day ain’t a bad option.

My fear is US staying focused. 7 wins. Ranking. Happy happy happy instead of focus focus focus.

Interesting stat:

We have outscored opponents 83-27 in the first quarter. Prior to the Minny game, PSU had a 76-3 advantage. Now it’s 86-17.

We can do this. We may be too young and not Hickory enough to know we’re not supposed to.




I was surprised their DL didn't do better against Minnesota's OL. Their 2 DEs are thought to be very good. Remember that they had 10 sacks, 8 by the DEs, v. Purdue.

Their biggest advantage against us statistically is in the running game, both ways. They avg. 4.6 ypc v. our 3.9. They give up only 2.1 ypc, we 3.8. They only give us 72 rush yds per game, we give up 134.

On pass D, they look good, not great. They give up 226/game v. our 176. Opponents complete 57.8% v. 56.7% for us. However, they have 8 ints to our 3.

TO & TD #s are very similar.....we gain 446, they 433. We give up 310, they 300. But those #s don't reflect actual scoring margins. they score 37.1 and give up 12, while we score 34 and give up 20.

I wish Penix was available. I think his absence will be felt. I would think the #1 key to the game would be the OL's ability to protect PR. We struggled in that aspect once PR came in against a less athletic NW DL. The second key will be avoiding TOs against a fast and aggressive D.

We won't be able to run against them. I would think a MSU type game plan will be in order. Try to string together 1st downs and have time-consuming drives, shortening the game. On D, they're fast and strong....we'll have to be tough with the ball and avoid TOs.
 
100% agree on Penix who just opens up field a lot for IU.

But, at his point, it’s not happening so we have to be all in for Ramsey who I think will play confidently as he bet he is and no one looking over his shoulder.

That said, I think the two weeks has been great to work Tuttle into rotation & reps and working with Deboer. He could be called upon at some point over next three games. I actually think he’s a lot more ready now than start of season and he has pedigree so I don’t fear the worst if Ramsey went down.

But Ramsey is better, OL is better, defense is had a great bye week. Why not keep the Dream season going positively??
 
IU is in a good place for this game against PSU. Offensively we match up with PSU's weakness as our team is driven by the passing game and PSU's defense is toughest against the run. Our defense is coming along and PSU's offense is more about big plays than a steady offense dominating a defense.

IU needs to play as well as they did against NU and even better. This group has shown they can match up in big games and this game will show how good this team is.
 
100% agree on Penix who just opens up field a lot for IU.

But, at his point, it’s not happening so we have to be all in for Ramsey who I think will play confidently as he bet he is and no one looking over his shoulder.

That said, I think the two weeks has been great to work Tuttle into rotation & reps and working with Deboer. He could be called upon at some point over next three games. I actually think he’s a lot more ready now than start of season and he has pedigree so I don’t fear the worst if Ramsey went down.

But Ramsey is better, OL is better, defense is had a great bye week. Why not keep the Dream season going positively??


In hindsight, I bet CTA wishes he had some how gotten Tuttle some meaningful time earlier in the season. It would have been hard to do so. I would assume he's now getting considerably more practice time with the 1st team than is usual for the 2nd string guy.....
 
I'm starting to think we've got a REAL shot here. We should've beaten them last year, and that was with a much less potent offense. I also think the coaching staff can scheme to pick up on weaknesses that Minny exposed.

It'll be a very tough environment, akin to Nebraska!! Our A game can beat that bunch....IU has historically played them fairly well, and with teams much less talented than this Hoosier version.
 
If you’re Penn State, do you feel “we blew it” or “ we can still get in the playoff”? Or “blew it but still have a lot to play for”?

Tonight’s rankings will impact that, but if they come in with anything but their best, I think this IU team smacks them in the face, cause I think WE have our mind right. Then we see what happens in the second half. But I feel more confident about this game than I did in September, mostly because of how WE have played, and a little because of Penn State’s circumstances. We keep getting better. They seemed to stay the same and the league caught up.
 
Takeaways and turnovers...

If we get 2-3 Takeaways and don't turn the ball over we'll have a solid shot at the W...
 
  • Like
Reactions: vesuvius13
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT