Michigan 24, Penn State 15
Any thoughts that Penn State could win this one quickly evaporated in a second-half show of incompetence at the quarterback position and on the sidelines. It was just my imagination running away with me to think that they could continue to hang in there as they did in the first half. (No offense to The Temptations — I just pulled that song title out of my ass).
Well, THAT sucked. Penn State showed up looking like they were ready, except that they weren’t. I’ll put their failure 55% on Allar, 40% on Franklin, and 5% on miscellaneous factors. The game could have been won, but we know that without the ability to throw the ball, it was not winnable.
Penn State had some modest success with the running game, but relying on it to get out of a deep hole is not geterally a succesful strategy. At first, I thought they were smart “estabishing the run”, but then, I realized what was going on. They were afraid that Allar would suck as badly as he did.
First Turnover Loses
In a tight, defensive game, the first turnover is a huge thing. So, when Allar coughed it up on a brilliant fourth down conversion, the Nittany Lions essentially handed the game to the Wolverines. Then, late in the fourth quarter, dumbass calls sealed Penn State’s coffin.
“It’s only fair,” said the guy on the bus, “Harbaugh couldn’t coach, so Franklin didn’t coach either.” Sure looked like he wanted to give the game away in the fourth quarter — all the way up to the time that he didn’t have to.
I won’t talk about errant throws, missed catches, lack of awareness (as in intentional grounding), and stupid flea-flickers. You saw it all. And, of course, fourth down balls over brains play calling reared its ugly head at just the right moment to seal the deal in desperation time. Repeat after me: It suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks!
Shake Off the Last Drop
Now, they must regroup and shake off yet another Franklin Era emotional loss that everyone expected, just in time for a battle with Rutgers and a season finale against Moo U. the night after Thanksgiving. But now that they’re out of the playoff and B10 championship pictures, we here in Orlando will be happy to see our Nittany Lions and their big spending fans back here for the Citrus Bowl. Or they could fall apart and lose to Rutgers and wind up in the vaunted Toilet Bowl in Kohler, Wisconsin — an exciting winter wonderland in late December, where you can freeze your ass while watching a pedestrian bowl game. And nobody will give a shit.
It will be like watching the Rutgers-Iowa game, currently 3-0 favor of Idontcarewho as the first half approaches a merciful conclusion.
And so, the James Franklin mystique continues to disappoint.
I’ll be back midweek between doctor appointments to spew some more well earned vitriol about Penn State’s lousy offense.
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Tom Wilson says
I’m seeing a lot of “Drew Allar stinks” – type comments but what happened to the guy who was dropping dimes against Maryland? I don’t think he’s another Hackenberg but is Pribula that much worse? I think his confidence is shot in big games under pressure.
The Nittany Turkey says
If the fans ran the team, we’d have a new quarterback three or four times per season. However, I think you nailed the crux of the problem. Allar can’t handle the pressure of big games against competent opponents. He fell apart in the OSU game and the Michigan game, just when he needed to be on point.
I won’t place all the blame on him for the failure of the passing offense. His receivers don’t get open and he doesn’t have a lot of time to throw. However, I was heartened by the offensive line playing their hearts out in this game. The bad throws were bad throws and balls that should have been caught were dropped.
Yeah, it’s a lot of pressure to put on a 19 year-old. It’s hard to predict whether he’ll ever settle down. To go with Pribula now would be to give up on Allar, not something I would expect the coaching staff to do during the season. Drew will be competing for his job during the offseason, as usual. I seriously doubt any change will be made until then.
Franklin is a stubborn guy. The more fans and sportswriters clamor for Pribula, the more resolute he will be that Allar is the starter.
Did you see Franklin get pissed off at the postgame presser when Dave Jones questioned his decision to go for two twice? Franklin sidestepped the question about the fourth quarter decision, then said he had answered it. Jones said, “I don’t think you did.” That made Franklin furious. He glared at Jones for a long, uncomfortable moment, silently seething, then moved on to the next questioner, only he didn’t. He was writing furiously on his notepad, so he needed to ask that the question be repeated after he was done scribbling. What was he writing? Ban Jones from the press room? Cracked me up.
I’m thinking that this Tuesdays pre-Rutgers media confab should be … interesting.
Penn State fans are frustrated. Going into the season, most of us know that PSU won’t beat Michigan and Ohio State, whether we want to admit it or not. It’s a shame that only the Sanguinarians are giddily optimistic at the beginning of the season, but the rest of us pragmatists are sober and honest with ourselves to varying degrees. When the season’s outcome is a foregone conclusion from the outset, apathy and ennui set in. Franklin cannot win the big games, so what does it matter who the quarterback is?
Oh, and if you’re going to go for two against a strong opponent, you might want to call a play that doesn’t look like it was drawn up by a five year-old.
—TNT