Game 1—@Penn State Nittany Lions

[zipsoutsider]

Let me reiterate what I said last week. I thought the game would be ugly and that it would not be an indicator of the rest of our season. 

[94zipgrad]

I hesitate to put my thoughts on here but here it goes.

 

1. the seating Akron fans got had a good aerial view, you see so much more from above

2. We where way outmatched, size & speed, across the board at all positions, our 2 WR 5'7" & 5'9", no target area, WR should be 6'2"-6'4" & slots 5'11"-6'1", just one ex. But it's like that everywhere in this game (definitely need Wolf out there)

3.  With that being said I was disappointed with a few things, PS brought someone from the edge a lot, rather it was a linebacker in 5 wide, a safety or corner, they rotated a safety to cover blitz, they also had a DE pushing our tackles down into the guards leaving that outside pressure clear path, depending on how you teach it, the tackle passes the DE to the guard & stays outside or the uncovered guard bounces out to pick that up, we didn't do it & ended up with 2 guys blocking the DE with clear path to QB so O-line is always talked about as a strong suite didn't play well & don't mean just outmatched but outwitted, secondly on offense, we had no hot reads on those outside blitzes, if you want them to stop doing it, you have to have QB/WR on same page with hot reads & burn them

4.  Opposite on defense we had no pressure, they had all day for their reads in the RPO offense, by time they had to make a decision you could see the defense part like the red sea & then our team speed was not good enough to recover with McSorely & Barkley & they just ate it up, on the DB's getting picked on here they can't cover forever, a lot of the big plays where on double moves where they turned completely around on & you can't do that, you need to be able to plant that foot, open hips, turn & run, once you turn your burnt but you can't give enough time for teams to be running double moves that far down the field,  they can't cover that long

 

just my thoughts on a few things I saw, I guess release the hounds & start shredding what I said, debate is good

 

good news, Arkansas Pine Bluff next week

 

Go Zips

 

Edited September 3, 2017 by 94zipgrad

[ZippyRulz]

4 hours ago, 94zipgrad said:

 

2. We where way outmatched, size & speed, across the board at all positions

 

 

Probably all that needed to be said (also strength and talent) but I appreciate your analysis. It is what it is.

 

Edited September 3, 2017 by ZippyRulz

[Buckzip]

4 hours ago, 94zipgrad said:

I hesitate to put my thoughts on here but here it goes.

 

1. the seating Akron fans got had a good aerial view, you see so much more from above

2. We where way outmatched, size & speed, across the board at all positions, our 2 WR 5'7" & 5'9", no target area, WR should be 6'2"-6'4" & slots 5'11"-6'1", just one ex. But it's like that everywhere in this game (definitely need Wolf out there)

3.  With that being said I was disappointed with a few things, PS brought someone from the edge a lot, rather it was a linebacker in 5 wide, a safety or corner, they rotated a safety to cover blitz, they also had a DE pushing our tackles down into the guards leaving that outside pressure clear path, depending on how you teach it, the tackle passes the DE to the guard & stays outside or the uncovered guard bounces out to pick that up, we didn't do it & ended up with 2 guys blocking the DE with clear path to QB so O-line is always talked about as a strong suite didn't play well & don't mean just outmatched but outwitted, secondly on offense, we had no hot reads on those outside blitzes, if you want them to stop doing it, you have to have QB/WR on same page with hot reads & burn them

4.  Opposite on defense we had no pressure, they had all day for their reads in the RPO offense, by time they had to make a decision you could see the defense part like the red sea & then our team speed was not good enough to recover with McSorely & Barkley & they just ate it up, on the DB's getting picked on here they can't cover forever, a lot of the big plays where on double moves where they turned completely around on & you can't do that, you need to be able to plant that foot, open hips, turn & run, once you turn your burnt but you can't give enough time for teams to be running double moves that far down the field,  they can't cover that long

 

just my thoughts on a few things I saw, I guess release the hounds & start shredding what I said, debate is good

 

good news, Arkansas Pine Bluff next week

 

Go Zips

 

Well said.

[a-zip]

I don't like overreacting to one game but TW does not look the same....I'll give him a break because I personally think PSU is THAT GOOD.  I will say this.....our best offensive player is Warren Ball by far....even though his stats were not good, he is impressive.  On the play where he fumbled, he was about to break a tackle where the guy had him dead and he showed amazing balance and strength to get out of it....there were others.

 

Here's my 2 cents.  A read option is not effective if only 1 guy can run.  If TW is not a threat to run, our best player WB, will get stuffed.  Last year when TW stared the season, he was a threat to run AND our receiving corp had NFL talent......this year we don't have that.  

 

This year we have a NFL caliber RB - the personnel and scheme need to put him in a position to make things happen.  I absolutely believe he will CRUSH MAC defenses.

 

KN impressed me.  With him in, teams have to worry about two guys that can take it to the house on any play.  I also thought KN made a couple really nice throws.

[Fre5hington24]

I was at the game I don't like Woodson's body language at all as a leader of the offense and multiple times they tried to calm him down, fundamentally and mechanic wise I don't think he's a good enough QB , kato has more upside and a pep in his step it was couple times the pocket collapsed around him and he was able to get out of it  where as Woodson is pretty much a statue not goin anywhere 

[Blue & Gold]

1 hour ago, Fre5hington24 said:

I was at the game I don't like Woodson's body language at all as a leader of the offense and multiple times they tried to calm him down, fundamentally and mechanic wise I don't think he's a good enough QB , kato has more upside and a pep in his step it was couple times the pocket collapsed around him and he was able to get out of it  where as Woodson is pretty much a statue not goin anywhere 

Agreed. It was just one game but I've got little patience for pouty QB's.

[LZIp]

1 hour ago, Fre5hington24 said:

I was at the game I don't like Woodson's body language at all as a leader of the offense and multiple times they tried to calm him down, fundamentally and mechanic wise I don't think he's a good enough QB , kato has more upside and a pep in his step it was couple times the pocket collapsed around him and he was able to get out of it  where as Woodson is pretty much a statue not goin anywhere 

I agree his body language was out of line, especially for a supposed senior leader. I imagine a lot of it is him frustrated with himself not being able to play at the level he is/was capable of.

[zipsoutsider]

Honestly, Tommy's body language was the same it always is. I didn't see enough from KN1 to warrant benching Tommy, yet.

 

I despise the week after we play a P5 group bc ZN completely loses perspective and over analyzes stuff that is generally not a good representation of the season.

Edited September 4, 2017 by zipsoutsider

[zzx]

 

[72 Roo]

Like many on this board after a frustrating game I have to post some thoughts so here goes.

• No one expected us to win, but no one expected us to play so poorly
• My biggest concern was the OL. They could not run block. The announcer on the sideline even said it was striking how bad our OL was being pushed back on obvious running downs. This by a rebuilt PSU DL. Run downs are where our big nasties should be firing off the line. I've said in the spring that our OL pass blocks OK but does not open any holes when a run is obvious. That was very apparent against MAC teams last year. Let's get real and accept that just because they have been together for several seasons they are not skilled. Too many people believe they have to be because they have been around for so long. They aren't. Start working the future in and let them learn.
• Our RB's will be good if the OL can learn to block. Again, I 'd make changes there
• TW is healthy but he lacks timing, arm strength, the ability to be a run threat and leadership. His whining on TV was pathetic. I hope we have a plan to gradually work Kato in. The college game today demands a QB with a strong arm or the ability to be a dual threat.
• Our DL and WR's will be OK. They were over-matched but will improve
• I am the biggest critic of Milwee on this board. Also in the spring I called him incompetent. I did not see that this Saturday. His play-calling, while still not creative , was OK considering the opponent. We just never executed
• Our DB's were exposed as over-rated. I think they can improve but they also have a lot of work to do. Same as regards the LB's. I thought they were regularly out of position.
• I predicted 6-6 this year. I am revising that to 5-7. This is based on the strong showings Ball State and WMU had against Illinois and USC respectively.   

 

[zzx]

 

[Balsy]

11 hours ago, zipsoutsider said:

Honestly, Tommy's body language was the same it always is. I didn't see enough from KN1 to warrant benching Tommy, yet.

 

I despise the week after we play a P5 group bc ZN completely loses perspective and over analyzes stuff that is generally not a good representation of the season.

 

Totally with you on this one, except in addition to Tommy's normal body language I worry he's lost his touch.  Hopefully we will see a turnaround this week for him.  Tough outing for the first real game back since injury.

There's no way he doesn't know that he was on-pace to be the most productive QB in Akron history before an injury derailed that.  I was getting a head-to-head stat-tracker ready last season, now there's no chance.  That has to be frustrating.  He's had to constantly overcome adversity since he's been here, and that's gotta suck.  (Not excusing his behavior of course).

 

14 hours ago, a-zip said:

I don't like overreacting to one game but TW does not look the same....I'll give him a break because I personally think PSU is THAT GOOD.  I will say this.....our best offensive player is Warren Ball by far....even though his stats were not good, he is impressive.  On the play where he fumbled, he was about to break a tackle where the guy had him dead and he showed amazing balance and strength to get out of it....there were others.

 

Here's my 2 cents.  A read option is not effective if only 1 guy can run.  If TW is not a threat to run, our best player WB, will get stuffed.  Last year when TW stared the season, he was a threat to run AND our receiving corp had NFL talent......this year we don't have that.  

 

This year we have a NFL caliber RB - the personnel and scheme need to put him in a position to make things happen.  I absolutely believe he will CRUSH MAC defenses.

 

KN impressed me.  With him in, teams have to worry about two guys that can take it to the house on any play.  I also thought KN made a couple really nice throws.

 

Agree with you.  Hopefully he can come out and show us something on Saturday and we can consider this game his mulligan.

[zipsoutsider]

11 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

Like many on this board after a frustrating game I have to post some thoughts so here goes.

• No one expected us to win, but no one expected us to play so poorly

I believe that I predicted that the game was going to be ugly. I totally expected us to be this badly outmatched and do not believe it is a reflection of how good or bad we will play for the rest of the season. I believe PSU to be that good, this year.  I think there are legitimate arguments for PSU to be higher than #6. 

 

I think Woodson is still a question mark, but I think we need to see more.

 

[skip-zip]

13 hours ago, zipsoutsider said:

Honestly, Tommy's body language was the same it always is.

 

Exactly.  Last season, when several of us were talking about his demeanor, and reporting some other things we were being told, some decided not to listen and call it "character assassination" or something.  Maybe it took a few more games for the picture to become clearer to some.  

 

I want him out there because he's the most talented guy we have.  But if the season isn't going well, or the situation deteriorates again, we might have to move on.  

[zipsoutsider]

3 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

Exactly.  Last season, when several of us were talking about his demeanor, and reporting some other things we were being told, some decided not to listen and call it "character assassination" or something.  Maybe it took a few more games for the picture to become clearer to some.  

 

I want him out there because he's the most talented guy we have.  But if the season isn't going well, or the situation deteriorates again, we might have to move on.  

I don't see his body language the way you do and it was character assassination. You want a winner to be frustrated when things are going poorly, not complacent.  He leads the offense when he is on the field. He was frustrated with getting hit after he released the ball. I can't blame him. He was frustrated with not connecting with receivers. I can't blame him. His decision-making still gives him the advantage and his timing will return. I did not see anything that showed a lack of arm strength. I saw a lack of timing.

[Zipgrad01]

7 minutes ago, zipsoutsider said:

I don't see his body language the way you do and it was character assassination. You want a winner to be frustrated when things are going poorly, not complacent.  He leads the offense when he is on the field. He was frustrated with getting hit after he released the ball. I can't blame him. He was frustrated with not connecting with receivers. I can't blame him. His decision-making still gives him the advantage and his timing will return. I did not see anything that showed a lack of arm strength. I saw a lack of timing.

It is not character assasination. Even when Tommy wasn't in the game last year I was watching him pout on the sidelines. He needs to grow up. 

 

As for the game...Tommy left at least 1 and probably 2 tds on the field because he was not capable of throwing the ball downfield. Because of this inability, penn state condensed the field and made us even more 1 dimensional than we already were. Kato needs to be the guy playing.... period. 

Edited September 4, 2017 by Zipgrad01

[zipsoutsider]

12 minutes ago, Zipgrad01 said:

It is not character assasination. Even when Tommy wasn't in the game last year I was watching him pout on the sidelines. He needs to grow up. 

 

As for the game...Tommy left at least 1 and probably 2 tds on the field because he was not capable of throwing the ball downfield. Because of this inability, penn state condensed the field and made us even more 1 dimensional than we already were. Kato needs to be the guy playing.... period. 

You saw one thing. I saw another. I did not see enough of KN1 to form an opinion.

 

 

[skip-zip]

51 minutes ago, zipsoutsider said:

His decision-making still gives him the advantage

 

On this part I will agree with you.

 

35 minutes ago, zipsoutsider said:

I did not see enough of KN1 to form an opinion.

 

And this.  

[Ham]

I don't think one can really grade performance from a TV broadcast, but I didn't think the Oline did as poorly as many think.  First play was a quick off tackle for 9 yards.  I don't recall that play being called again.  Many of the run plays were zone blocking.  PS D was loaded with quick that just over powered us.  Their D line showed our guys some P5 moves that we just couldn't handle, but it was a bit disheartening to see them bull rush us into the QB.  Next week won't be a good test.  Lets give it a few more games before we grade these guys out.  Our D seemed to be stuck on stopping the run.  That may have been the best call.  In the second half, I got the feeling that we were no longer trying to win.  It seemed as though we were treating this as a scrimmage to work on some things.  I haven't seen an injury report, but I thought I saw Brown getting nicked near the end of the game?  I'm still thinking 2 and 2 entering MAC play.

[gozips19]

3 hours ago, zipsoutsider said:

I don't see his body language the way you do and it was character assassination. You want a winner to be frustrated when things are going poorly, not complacent.  He leads the offense when he is on the field. He was frustrated with getting hit after he released the ball. I can't blame him. He was frustrated with not connecting with receivers. I can't blame him. His decision-making still gives him the advantage and his timing will return. I did not see anything that showed a lack of arm strength. I saw a lack of timing.

So you missed him under throw a wide open wr on a deep ball that would be 6? 

So you missed him yell at the refs, teammates,  and coaches? Those are all facts. 

Personally I'd let him sit next week.  Gives Kato some much needed game reps while hopefully growing his confidence.  All while Woody recovers.  To me it's a win-win. 

[72 Roo]

2 hours ago, Ham said:

I don't think one can really grade performance from a TV broadcast, but I didn't think the Oline did as poorly as many think.  First play was a quick off tackle for 9 yards.  I don't recall that play being called again.  Many of the run plays were zone blocking.  PS D was loaded with quick that just over powered us.  Their D line showed our guys some P5 moves that we just couldn't handle, but it was a bit disheartening to see them bull rush us into the QB.  Next week won't be a good test.  Lets give it a few more games before we grade these guys out.  Our D seemed to be stuck on stopping the run.  That may have been the best call.  In the second half, I got the feeling that we were no longer trying to win.  It seemed as though we were treating this as a scrimmage to work on some things.  I haven't seen an injury report, but I thought I saw Brown getting nicked near the end of the game?  I'm still thinking 2 and 2 entering MAC play.

Ham,

 

You are definitely a glass-half-full kind of guy. Keep it up. We need more like you. The thing you have overlooked is that last year, against MAC teams, our OL could not get holes for our backs. This has nothing to do with the QB injuries or Ball being out. Morgan and Edwards can hit holes if they are there. So the situation continued in our first game against a good, but rebuilt PSU DL. There was not one ray of hope the whole game long. That's quite an indictment as to their quality in run blocking. If they have character they will work harder and come back. ISU and Troy will be big challenges.

[PSU_Lions_84]

Hey, guys, nothing I can say to help you, but I do want to point out the old truism, "You are never as good as you look in victory -- and never as bad as you may appear in a defeat." I think you have some good building blocks, esp. on offense, but had the misfortune to run into a Penn State team on a mission. The timing of Urban Meyer's comments that Penn State should have been among the 4 championship teams last year probably didn't help. Unrelated to you folks, of course, but those probably fanned the flames of discontent from last year just before Saturday's game.

 

Many of us Penn State fans were unhappy about Franklin using Barkley on the kick-off and keeping the first string in for as long as he did. While I personally am still unhappy (fwiw) about Barkley and the kick-off, Franklin's comments about the first string were, "I've been in / seen games where the other team has come back from a big deficit to win." Youngstown State coming back against Pitt and UCLA overtaking TAMU bear witness to his view. Not sure that helps you, but offering the perspective fwiw.

 

Wish you all the best the rest of the season! Keep the faith, and cheer on your young men and coaches -- they deserve respect because they are putting in the sweat equity to represent your University.

[Zipgrad01]

2 hours ago, gozips19 said:

So you missed him under throw a wide open wr on a deep ball that would be 6? 

So you missed him yell at the refs, teammates,  and coaches? Those are all facts. 

Personally I'd let him sit next week.  Gives Kato some much needed game reps while hopefully growing his confidence.  All while Woody recovers.  To me it's a win-win. 

I agree 100%. To me it is the perfect timing... let Kato play against an inferior 1-AA team and then cut him loose against Iowa State. I saw too many negatives with TW to wait half the season just to do what I already know needs to happen. For heavens sake... 5th and 6th years guys are asking for Kato on twitter. That is a terrible sign for a senior qb. 

[LZIp]

Saying he is the future =/= saying he should start. But hey, the know-it-alls on here were just telling us how much Kato sucked a few weeks ago when a meaningless depth chart was released. You can lead a horse to water...