Week 5 Wrap Up

The only good thing about a game like that is my posts will most likely be shorter than normal, especially the next two days.  I want to apologize ahead of time because I’ll probably run out of negative adjectives for Penn State’s performance and start to sound redundant.  There are only so many words like awful, terrible, pathetic, and embarrassing in the English language, and they all apply to what happened on the field yesterday.  Now in case you’re wondering, yes, I did make it into the game where the beautiful but relentless sunshine burnt me and just about every other fan in attendance like ants under a magnifying glass.  Thankfully my ticket was free (through a friend) because I can’t imagine how I would feel if I had actually paid to watch our team play that badly.  In the end, the Nittany Lions lost in blowout fashion 29-6 to a Northwestern team that has only managed 2 wins in their past 11 games and who has a head coach that has never beaten Penn State.

James Franklin’s team played as poorly as they've ever played in every single phase of the game.  The offense never gained a rhythm as offensive coordinator John Donovan continued in vein to incorporate the wildcat, much to the dismay of myself and most spectators in my area.  Hackenberg, who had plenty of his own issues throwing the ball, was heard on the sidelines loudly explaining to the coaches how he feels about the wildcat (here's a hint, he's not a fan).  Speaking of which, the running game was so bad that they had negative rushing yds for much of the game.  Seriously.  At one point it got so bad Northwestern had 10 first downs to Penn State’s 1. On defense, things weren't much better, although the offense’s inability to reverse the field position put defenders in terrible positions all afternoon long.  Even special teams was a complete mess as yet another FG was blocked, Ficken continues to get no height on his kick offs, and the punting left much to be desired.  In his press conference after the game, Coach Franklin took full blame for the meltdown saying, “I take full responsibility, we weren't ready to play today.” Hackenberg also provided his thoughts on the day to members of the media and he was noticeably shaken, making plenty of nervous twitches throughout and even tripping up on his usual canned lines.  By the end, he broke from his usual professional character and just said what needed to be said, “Every loss hurts, a lot... I wouldn't say that any loss feels worse than another, they all suck.”

The entire experience was eerily reminiscent of a scene from one of my favorite movies, Varsity Blues.  With the team losing, QB John Moxon’s parents are sitting in the stands and his mom turns to his dad and says, “I thought you said these guys weren't that good” to which his dad replies, “they ain't, we’re playing like shit.”

One excuse I’ll give to the defense is that starting LB Nyeem Wartman was injured with an undisclosed arm injury.  Mike Hull admitted that the linebacking corps tends to lean on Wartman in passing situations, and his absence combined with the poor play of inexperienced back ups allowed the Wildcats to work down the field throughout Saturday with little concern they would be stopped.  For those in the media who like to ask, "why don't coaches discuss injuries leading up to games?" this is exactly why.

On the offensive side of the ball, the situation has turned into a perpetual cycle of inefficiency.  The offensive line cannot create holes for the run game, causing RBs to get stuffed at the line of scrimmage nearly every play.  Defenses realize this and are not afraid to drop men back into pass coverage, thus tying up the receivers with double and triple coverages.  With his receivers covered, Hackenberg is forced to hold the ball for way too long, but the line is also letting defenders break through and get in Hack’s face for most of the game.  So he’s forced to either take the sack, or make a bad throw.  If you need visual proof of just how bad this offensive line has gotten, take a second and analyze the following picture.  Maybe next time they’ll try blocking the other team.

Courtesy of OnwardState.com

There was a very scary moment when Hackenberg took off running yet again, and collided head first with a CB from Northwestern.  Now, Hackenberg is a big guy at 6’ 4” 220 lbs and when someone like Matthew Harris, who is only 5’ 11” 180 lbs, runs into him helmet to helmet, it’s not going to end well for the much smaller defensive back.  After what felt like an eternity of deafening silence in Beaver Stadium, Harris was eventually carted off the field on a stretcher with his head taped down to the board.  It brought back eerie memories of Penn State’s Adam Tailiaferro and a hit delivered by QB Michael Robinson on a Minnesota player back in 2005.  Both of those incidents involved players being paralyzed, while thankfully Harris managed to give the crowd a thumbs up as he passed the student section which drew thunderous applause.

As for my prediction, it was dead wrong, as was basically every other person’s who attempted to predict this game.  No one gave Northwestern a chance, even though they manage to do this kind of thing to at least one team every year.  Fortunately for the team, they now have two weeks to recover and prepare for a Michigan squad that was the only team in the Big Ten more pathetic than them this weekend and could be without the services of their head coach come game time.  Unfortunately for the fans, we now have to stew in the memory of this debacle for two weeks instead of one.

Oh well, we move on with life.  Check back tomorrow for the grades.  Fair warning, they aren't going to be pretty.  Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!