Week 6 Wrap Up

Well that sucked.  Even against a completely helpless opponent, engulfed in a multitude of scandals and distractions, Penn State (specifically the offense) continued to struggle with inconsistency and missed opportunities.  Yes that’s right, another game, another heartbreaking letdown as the Nittany Lions lost on the road to the Michigan Wolverines, 13-18.  They now fall to 4-2 overall, 1-2 in the Big Ten.  Few if any games left on the schedule look winnable anymore given the way this team is playing and the collective hope to get back to the postseason appears to be dwindling by the week. 

It was the same old struggles as nothing seemed to click on offense and it has become clear that two things are holding this team back: the offensive line (obviously) and the coaching staff.  The later continues to demonstrate terrible play calling, poor clock management, and general disorganization on the sidelines.  Yet, despite all of that, things actually started out fairly well on offense as the Lions were able to move down the field with relative ease on their first two drives behind a running game which finally showed some signs of life.  In fact, Bill Belton opened things up with a season long 31 yarder.  As was the case for much of last year, though, issues in the redzone crept up and prevented Penn State from taking advantage of any momentum they managed to generate.  Consequently, both opening possessions lead to FGs instead of TDs and put PSU behind 7-6 early on.  Most alarming was the continued insistence by the coaching staff to use the wildcat formation, and at arguably the most inappropriate times.  Sorry coaches, I don’t mean to claim I know more about football than any of you because I absolutely do not.  However, it would seem pretty obvious to my admittedly untrained eye that when you have a star QB like Christian Hackenberg and you’re knocking on the proverbial endzone door in a big, primetime, night game, the last thing you should do is switch him out to WR and give your RB a shot at making the pass instead.  I mean, maybe I could understand running out of the wildcat, but throwing?  What were they thinking?!  The lone bright spot was after an amazing Anthony Zettel interception (which we’ll discuss more in a second), the offense capitalized on a short field and just as I predicted, Hackenberg thread the needle and hit Daesean Hamilton in a crowded endzone for his first career TD!  So at least there was that.

Look, anyone who even feigns interest in Penn State football can tell exactly what’s going on right now.  This year’s offense as a whole is completely inept.  And yet the talent is most certainly there at QB, WR, RB, and TE.  I know it’s been discussed here and everywhere else that covers PSU, but nearly all of the issues can be traced back and attributed to an offensive line which might have officially reached a historic low point giving up another 6 sacks and allowing pressure on Hack all night long.  Hackenberg might be the next Peyton Manning if he had time to throw, but we’ll probably never know behind this group.  That’s not to say the rest of the offense doesn't shoulder at least some of the blame.  On the rare occasion when Hackenberg does have time to throw, he over thinks and refuses to get rid of the ball or doesn't think at all and tosses it to the other team.  Against the Wolverines, he completed a respectable 21-of-32 but for just 160 yds and a lone TD, his first in 7 quarters of football.  Then there’s his inexplicable tendency to throw at his receivers’ feet instead of hitting them in the hands or numbers.  The 19 year old true sophomore may have an absolute cannon for an arm, but that thing is in need of some serious calibration if he's ever going to live up to his potential.

Over at WR, Geno Lewis did not start for the first time this season and the reasons given by James Franklin were cryptic to say the least.  By the time Lewis did enter the game, it was too little too late as he only managed 3 catches for 17 yds.  Instead, true freshmen Saeed Blacknall and Chris Godwin were given another opportunity to validate the hype they came in with, but they too proved ineffective combining for 1 catch and 17 yds.  Yes, you read that correctly, Blacknall had a 17 yd completion late in the 4^th quarter, but Godwin couldn't even manage a single catch all game.  All this despite being targeted multiple times as the coaching staff was once again forced to abandon the run.

Speaking of the running game… strap in folks, it’s about to get ugly.  Bill Belton led the way with a paltry 69 yds on 14 carries.  Second?  That would be QB (not RB) Christian Hackenberg with 10 rushes for 6 yds.  Except that sacks count against the QB’s rushing stats, and when combined with his negative yds on multiple scrambles, poor Hack ended the night with a whopping net of -34 yds on the ground.  Oh, but you can’t blame the coaching staff for not trying.  They attempted the obligatory wildcat, handed off to WR Daesean Hamilton, and even put CB Grant Haley in for a few tries.  Yes, it would seem nothing is off limits when you’re desperate.  Too bad all of that experimentation culminated in a whole 54 yds combined rushing on the night.  Let’s just move on.

On the bright side, the Penn State defense continues to show that they are the real deal!  If the Lions manage to win 2 more games this season and go bowling, it will be entirely because of the defense.  Let’s start with the freak that is Anthony Zettel.  He only had 2 tackles, and neither was for a loss like I predicted, but number 98 did manage to get PSU’s only interception of the game, ironically against number 98 Devin Gardner.  Defensive linemen don’t usually get interceptions, so this just proves how athletic Zettel is.  I knew there was a reason I featured him in my prediction, and as I said then, he has a legitimate shot at Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year if he keeps playing like this, no matter how bad Penn State ends up.  Mike Hull doesn't get as much love in the media, but once again he led the team in tackles with 11 including the 2 for a loss, and 1 sack that I predicted for Zettel.  Hull’s sack was particularly epic, as was the sack by Deion Barnes who had 7 tackles of his own.  Check them out here and here.  Oh, and it would seem Nyeem Wartman is back to form after being out for the Northwestern game with an injury.  He came in 4^th on the team with 6 tackles.  Overall, Michigan’s offense only managed to gain 256 yds, which was better than Penn State’s 214 yds, but only netted them 12 first downs to PSU’s 16.  Seriously, if the offense could just manage to be mediocre we might still be undefeated.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't address the elephant in the room.  At the end of the game, with Penn State down 3 points and on their own 1 yd line, James Franklin had a brilliant idea with horrible execution.  He didn't want to punt the ball back to Michigan, who could easily drain the clock and win the game.  So he decided to take an intentional safety, forcing Penn State to kick off to the Wolverines.  They would then perform an onside kick, and if successful, would have plenty of time, 2 timeouts, and one of the most clutch 2-minute-drill QBs in the nation to try and win the game.  It was a great plan, then everything went to hell.  First they inexplicably let 30 seconds tick off the clock, then they took a timeout to avoid a delay of game penalty that would have only backed them up a half yd which they were essentially giving up anyway.  What happened next sadly joins many other examples of terrible, game deciding, referee decisions at the Big House that have gone against Penn State over the years.  The kickoff “hands” team lined up for a perfectly executed onside kick which they miraculously recovered!... and were immediately denied by a controversial (to say the least) offsides penalty.  Even the “experts” at the Big Ten Network agreed there was no offsides.  Here’s the thing, if I was just a generic college football fan, this might actually tick me off more because no one wants to see the referees gift wrap the victory formation for one team.  True football fans would have much preferred Christian Hackenberg get the ball at his own 35 with 1:41 left and 1 timeout to try and beat Michigan under the lights.  That’s just good TV ladies and gentlemen.  But nooooooooo, the refs had to go and ruin everyone’s good time.  Oh well, this is the kind of stuff that makes college football fun and creates bitter rivalries for years to come.

As for my prediction, Hackenberg was off by 90 yds but I did nail his TD pass to Hamilton.  No RBs got a TD, but Ficken did hit 2 FGs.  I was really close about the interception as Ryan Keiser almost picked off Devin Gardner but instead bobbled it right into the waiting arms of Devin Funchass for a TD.  Otherwise, the defense was as good as predicted with Mike Hull leading the way in tackles.  Too bad I missed on the only parts of the prediction that really matter, the score and the winner.

Ok that will wrap things up for tonight.  I finally created a fan page on Facebook where you can follow all my shenanigans.  Be sure to check it out, like it, share it, etc.  Also, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!