Can't you also say the same vice versa though? Wins on the field could result in more wins in the recruiting department.
We really need to kick the s**t out of TTFP
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Can't you also say the same vice versa though? Wins on the field could result in more wins in the recruiting department.
It chicken or the egg. That why to really do well you need a guy who is excellent in either one of those two areas. That because if you improve one the other will naturally improve. The programs that seem to flounder are the ones who are just average at both.
Mera is opposite of Turay. He was a former 4 star and is a solid player, but not an impact kind of guy. Turay is boom or bust, and I saw a lot of bust from him last year against the run. He will still be undersized this year and looked terrible against Rutgers backup OT (who I think will be a really good player for them down the road). He's simply not a complete player yet.
He was a bust against the run last year not because he was undersized but because he would vacate his gap and overrun the play which would leave huge cutback lanes. For the most part, I didn't notice him having any problems setting the edge. IIRC, the backbreaking running plays always came from vacated gaps or someone from the second or third level getting run over.
Last year he was used almost exclusively as a sack specialist on certain downs. His objective was not stay put and stop the run, he was asked to hunt QB's off the snap around the edge, meaning he was rarely in position to stop runs. To declare him a boom or bust player after his freshman season is not fair. Your comment about him being undersized is also inaccurate. He won't be Jason Pierre Paul but he will not be undersized. The sky is the limit for him in 2015. You make it seem like he's going to regress before the season even starts.
KnightRider: Do you know that for certain? Most schemes are gap-control based so even if you have a sack specialist they are still responsible for a possible run. Very few schemes allow for a true "Joker" in the front 7 who can line up anywhere (the late Jim Johnson from the Eagles and Manny Diaz formerly of Texas come to mind).
This. Having him seek out the QB on all plays will leave us suspect to the Run on that side all game long.
235 (presumably) is undersized for a DE, especially with his length. He's a pass specialist right now (and a very good one), but he needs to prove that he can be an everydown player. Getting a sack or two a game isn't going to mean anything if he is getting handled in the running game. Coaches will see that on film and plan accordingly.
I said this a couple of times before, but Milewski is going to be missed this year. He was Rutgers best DL last season and didn't get near the amount of mentions that he should have.
It's not undersized for the "R" position which he plays. He's mostly a rusher but he needs to be able to set the edge on outside runs.
From what I understand, we run a very similar defense to the Seahawks (well, without all the press-man -- we don't have Sherman shutting down one side and Earl Thomas back there to clean up any mistakes...).
Here's a great write-up on it (link). Here is another outstanding primer (link).
Essentially, we are running Cover-3 with stunts & games in the front-7 for variety (which is why we are susceptible to all the bubble screens to the flats -- the CBs are typically tasked with covering a deep 1/3).
Notice the LEO position (which is like our "R" position) manned by Chris Clemons (now with the Jaguars, where Gus Bradley installed the same defense). Chris Clemons is 6'3, 254. He's an NFL DE playing at an NFL LB weight. That's because he's primarily rushing the passer and once in a while drops into a short zone. He has some run responsibility, but his size is mitigated in part by the fact that one (or both!) interior linemen are 2-gapping at times AND in a cover-3 scheme, the safety is brought down to create an 8 man box.
"The best pass rusher on the team is usually the defensive end to the open side of the field. That puts him on the quarterback's blind side and makes him a C gap player in this defense. We often align him wider than this in order to give him a better angle of attack and allow him to play in space. We align him a yard outside of the offensive tackle most of the time. He has to play C gap run support but at the same time he is rushing the passer like it is third and ten. He has to be able to close down however if the tackle blocks down on him. (He) has to be one of your best football players. Size does not matter as much. We want an athletic player who can move around." - Pete Carroll
From what I understand, we run a very similar defense to the Seahawks (well, without all the press-man -- we don't have Sherman shutting down one side and Earl Thomas back there to clean up any mistakes...).
Here's a great write-up on it (link). Here is another outstanding primer (link).
Essentially, we are running Cover-3 with stunts & games in the front-7 for variety (which is why we are susceptible to all the bubble screens to the flats -- the CBs are typically tasked with covering a deep 1/3).
Notice the LEO position (which is like our "R" position) manned by Chris Clemons (now with the Jaguars, where Gus Bradley installed the same defense). Chris Clemons is 6'3, 254. He's an NFL DE playing at an NFL LB weight. That's because he's primarily rushing the passer and once in a while drops into a short zone. He has some run responsibility, but his size is mitigated in part by the fact that one (or both!) interior linemen are 2-gapping at times AND in a cover-3 scheme, the safety is brought down to create an 8 man box.
"The best pass rusher on the team is usually the defensive end to the open side of the field. That puts him on the quarterback's blind side and makes him a C gap player in this defense. We often align him wider than this in order to give him a better angle of attack and allow him to play in space. We align him a yard outside of the offensive tackle most of the time. He has to play C gap run support but at the same time he is rushing the passer like it is third and ten. He has to be able to close down however if the tackle blocks down on him. (He) has to be one of your best football players. Size does not matter as much. We want an athletic player who can move around." - Pete Carroll
I wouldn't talk smack about beating PSU but I'm not conceding the game either. It's not an automatic L like OSU or Wisconsin but it will be tougher than the @ Maryland game last year. That's an accurate way to look at it IMO.
It will be 1988 all over again in UNhappy Valley. Beaver Stadium will be very quiet while the game clock clicks down to zero sealing a Rutgers' Victory over the nitty lions. I predict a 24-17 Rutgers win!!!
If 235 was your presumption then i see your point. But He should be playing close to 250 this year, 245 at worst. There is no chance in hell he goes an entire year in RU S & C program and stays the same. If he is under 240 come September, he should be checked for tapeworm.
you scored 10 points at home with a 5th year senior. now, you have a new QB (I predict Laviano) starting his 3rd game ever.....1st on the road (gosh..what a 1st road game), you lost T Kroft, you lost your FB, lost 3 OL to graduation.....and you're predicting to score 24 points against our defense in Beaver Stadium/night game environment?
I mean...I respect the passion, I know you're excited, but you're setting yourself up for some disappointment.
i'm not saying we're going to automatically win, but if you guys win?....it'll be by an ugly score.....sorta like last year. you're just not going to score 24 points......at least, not from the offense;)
Would love both scenarios.
But Temple fans would be coming here and making some of the Nit poster look real good compared to them.:eek:
( not tailing about the respectable Nits, but the ones that are considered trolls)
While I agree that only time will tell and there are certainly good examples out there of programs that recruit well and don't perform well. It can also be said that no other program has had a roster situation as unique as the one that franklin was saddled with last year . I mean the guy literally had reserve d linemen playing on the o line with other inexperience offensive linemen and a future nfl o lineman who for the most part just wanted to be in the league after being introduced to a third coaching staff . Franklin at least gets it that it all starts with recruiting. There is no super secret play that only your guys will understand. How many NC's would urbs have if he had stayed at bowling green? I think they make a nice leap this year from last year. One area that non psu fans are not aware of is special teams. For the first time in a few years , a lot more scholarship players who were redshirted last year will be on coverage and receiving teams instead of a plethora of walk ons brought on by the sanctions. For the first time in quite a while , penn state will have true running backs playing the position. Not to take anything away from zwinak or belton , but one was a hs fullback and the other a converted athlete. Lynch returns as more of a true rb and then there are 3 rs rb's and true freshman saquan barkley may be the best of the bunch and is expected to play. The wrs will be as good as any in the big and true freshman juwan Johnson has a good chance to play right away. I may be a bit of a homer , but I really don't see this game as being that close. Penn State is much faster than last year, night game at home , too much defense for a rattled qb. The one wildcard will be the kicking game , that is one area where I don't know what to expect from psu. Which is probably why franklin has a verbal from the no 4 punter in the country and leads for the no 1 kicker in the country. You can't give out schollies to kickers when you are on probation. You may end up being right in the end and they may be the next texas/Tennessee.....but franklin works his a## off and I'm willing to bet that in the end it pays off. On a side note I absolutely love having Rutgers and Maryland in the big. For me its just like old times. I have a lot of family in both jersey and Maryland so holidays have been amped up a little more. I actually wish there were NO conferences and everyone was an independent. Anyhow......we will see.....Should be fun......safe travels
That's more than a fair post, And very thorough. A few things...
1. EVERY coach at this level works their ass off.
2. Penn State has definitely had unique roster issues to deal with the past few years which undoubtedly has impacted special teams. However, I think not addressing the OL as much in the 2014 class was one recruiting mistake made by Franklin especially since O'Brien seemed to neglect it. But he seems to be addressing it in 2015 and 2016.
3. Northwestern and Maryland walking into Happy Valley and coming out with wins last year is enough to give us a shred of hope. Again, you may be better than last year and I still think we lose but I'm not ready to chalk it up as an automatic "L" for us the way Ohio State or @ Wisconsin will be.
4. And while special teams coverage may improve, Ficken graduating will be a big loss. He was very clutch for PSU and helped you win your close games last year including the bowl game. I think you may be underestimating his graduation a bit.
With our OL issues against what I percieve as Rutgers' biggest strength, your DL.....plus, we don't have a Sam Ficken (K) replacement this year......it's winnable for Rutgers (I took out "very"). rational PSU fans with eyeballs know this.
that being said and everything else considered....Vegas will like us in this game.
OF COURSE Vegas will like you guys in this game. You are Penn State and you are at home playing Rutgers. You will be heavily favored...I'm thinking by 7-10 points.
Sure I fully expect PSU to be favored. Your home court and all.
And yeah DL, most notably the pass rush would be the thing I hang my hat on in that game. Get what's his name off his game early.
On offense running game needs to be able to scratch out some first downs. It's no matter that we will have a 1st year starter at QB, it won't take much for the play at that position to be better then it was vs psu last year.
And yeah DL, most notably the pass rush would be the thing I hang my hat on in that game. Get what's his name off his game early.
On offense running game needs to be able to scratch out some first downs. It's no matter that we will have a 1st year starter at QB, it won't take much for the play at that position to be better then it was vs psu last year.
#2...I blame O'Brien on OL recruiting. He had 1 foot out the door, and how long it takes to develop OL, he was focused more on other positions.
#3...yeah, not sure what happened with Northwestern...but they did beat Wisconsin too..who in turn beat Auburn in their bowl game. Marlyand?.....dude, 1 week after the OSU emotional let-down.....Donovan Smith was out, Miles Dieffenbach wasn't back yet either. Our OL was an effin mess.....we just couldn't move the ball.....and we still could've won that game.
#4...We only win 3 games last year without Sam Ficken (Akron, UMass, Temple...that's it).....so, agreed....we'll lose a game(s) because of his departure. the new guy, Joey Julius is getting rave reviews, but we'll see. Ficken made sooo many clutch kicks last year that I still can't believe it....especially how his career started. 2014 PSU MVP=Sam Ficken.
everyone in the stadium knows Rutgers will try to establish the running game. rest assured, Shoop will force your QB to beat us.....lot of 3rd & 7s
i feel people forget about our defense.....they're really good.
LOL you are rationalizing Northwestern who beat Wisconsin who beat Auburn yadda yadda yadda. Dude, we were 8-5 last season LOL! And give US some credit for going down to Annapolis and beating a pain in the ass Navy team a week after our emotional let-down loss to you guys. Also bouncing back to beat pesky Indiana after Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin just lined up one after the other three in a row and beat our brains in.
No doubt your defense will be tough again. Do think you will miss Hull though at the MIKE. 5th year senior, leader and absolute stud.
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I didn't forget, that d-lineman of yours was killing us. That's why I said scratch out some first downs, and not control the game on the ground.
But I feel fairly confident that our passing game will be productive. I'm not as worried about the OL as some, especially in terms of pass protection, the WR talent is there, I think the fact that we have a QB battle between 2 decent recruits is a good thing, and if teams are focusing on the run, well that will open things up.
was i rationalizing?...ok, maybe I was. dude...we layed an egg in the Northwestern game. what can I say?
ok, so you beat a tough Navy team a week after us...alright great. we didn't beat Maryland at home after the OSU game. I get your point. my very simple point is we weren't really good last year...especially because of our OL....and I concede without S Ficken, we only win 3 games.
of course we'll miss M Hull, but we got depth there now. every team has to replace stars.
my biggest concerns are, of course, OL & Kicker (and punter). a very distant 3rd is our DEs against the run (they'll rush the QB fine). otherwise, we're quite talented & deep everywhere else.
Oh I'm not saying Northwestern was a bad team or a bad loss. It's the B1G and teams like Northwestern, Illinois, Maryland and yes, Rutgers, can be tough games for any team on any given Saturday. Except maybe for Ohio State at this point in time as they are just so loaded and have the machine humming. That's all I'm saying.
I thought Michigan was the worst "coached" game we had. by the time the Maryland game, and especially Illinois...we could barely move the ball, defense was so tired....i just think the staff sorta raised their hands in the air and were like...what-the-f*ck-ever
Thanks, we can't wait to play Ohio State at home on our Super Bowl. Very nice of you to throw support to us.
The Temple game scares the sh1t outta me. So does almost every game including Rutgers simply bc I feel our OL is still not anywhere near the B1G standard. A successful season would be 8-4, I don't think 6-6 is out of the question. Most would say that is unacceptable, but most have a much better OL than PSU does right now, including the "cupcakes."
Nothing will be easy this year, similar to last year. 2016 will be the year this OL will finally start to resemble a formidable line. Also, if we see any injuries on the line as we did last year, 6 wins could be a struggle as well. 10 wins would be unreal and fantastic, but the people predicting that are crazy, imo. The line will be better, but still garbage, comparatively speaking to other B1G lines. Real talk.
Nothing will be easy this year, similar to last year. 2016 will be the year this OL will finally start to resemble a formidable line. Also, if we see any injuries on the line as we did last year, 6 wins could be a struggle as well. 10 wins would be unreal and fantastic, but the people predicting that are crazy, imo. The line will be better, but still garbage, comparatively speaking to other B1G lines. Real talk.
