Week 7 Wrap Up

It’s hard to come up with the right words to start off a post like this.  One way might be to simply say, that was one hell of a game.  James Franklin and his Nittany Lions prepared for their toughest challenge of the season as a highly ranked opponent came into their house for a primetime night game in front of a raucous crowd of 107,895 white-clad, screaming fans.  All the experts said they loved the White House, but our team didn't stand a chance.  Before I go getting all mushy on you, I’ll let Devon Edwards from Black Shoe Diaries do it for me.  His wrap up from the game is borderline profound, with my favorite line being, “We all expected a blowout.  We got a heartbreaker.  And somehow, it was worse and better all at the same time.”  But if you’re still interested in my take on an instant classic, here goes nothing.

Going in with rightfully lowered expectations, this game transcended winning and losing.  The fact is, with where these two teams currently stand, Penn State didn't need a win to send a big time message; they just needed to keep it close and show some heart.  This was James Franklin’s “we’re not there yet, but just imagine how good we’re going to be” game.  With recruits aplenty on the sideline, taking in arguably the greatest atmosphere in college football, Penn State was selling the future as much as the present.  “Combined with this amazing fan support,” the pitch most likely went, “if we can just get a few more players, maybe some of you, we’re going to do incredible things here.”  This is a team, after all, with roughly 45 active scholarship players, the overwhelming majority of which are true or redshirt freshmen.  Yet they still managed to take the #13 team in the country (with a full allotment of scholarships) all the way down to the wire in 2 overtimes.  And here’s the scary part: all those freshmen are going to grow up quicker than you think, and James Franklin’s recruiting efforts will reload the roster behind them.  Let’s just say that over the next few seasons, every other team in the country better watch out.  As Derrick Williams famously said during his recruitment, “Penn State is a sleeping giant,” and it's about to wake up again.

The White House 2014

Now, before I get into the nitty gritty of the game, there was one interesting recruiting observation I wanted to mention.  Even with all the excitement and craziness surrounding the pregame festivities, PSU commit Sterling Jenkins managed to get an awesome selfie with James Franklin, uncommitted OG Matt Burrell, and Indiana QB commit Tommy Stevens.  Stevens is one of those “nice to have” recruits, especially with the decommitment of Brandon Wimbush.  But the exciting bit here was the inclusion of Burrell.  Jenkins, an OT, is Penn State’s highest rated commit right now, and should Burrell also decide to commit to the Lions, the two would most likely be playing next to each other on the line.  Add in highly touted commits Ryan Bates and Steven Gonzalez, and you’re looking at one of the sickest O-lines in the nation!  Burrell is still on the fence and some recruiting services have him leaning towards Ohio State.  Hopefully pictures like these are a sign that he's having a change of heart.

Yes, they're both really that big.

WR coach Josh Gattis with the photobomb

Ok, time for actual on the field football talk.  Before the game even started, true freshman safety Marcus Allen was announced as the starter in place of senior Ryan Keiser who broke a rib in what James Franklin called a “freaky” accident at practice.  Then, literally on the opening kickoff, RB Zach Zwinak suffered an apparent leg injury that required him to be carted off the field.  Since Zwinak is a senior, that may signal the end of his Penn State career.  He’s projected as an NFL-caliber FB, so hopefully this doesn't hurt his shot at the pros.  Then, in the 4^th quarter, Donovan Smith, the only offensive lineman on Penn State’s roster with any real game experience coming into the season, was taken out of the game with reported concussion-like symptoms.  This forced coach Herb Hand to do some creative shuffling along the offensive line (get ready for this) – C Angelo Mangiro was placed out at RT.  Andrew Nelson was shifted over to LT in Smith’s place.  And backup C Wendy Laurent took over snapping the ball.  A completely makeshift offensive line, comprised entirely of members of an already dreadful line, forced out of position, was then expected to block the best defensive line in the country, and lead a game tying drive with only 3 minutes left.  More on that in a minute.

If you watched this game, you know that the biggest story to come out of it was the officiating… if you can even call it that.  As if we didn't already have enough going against us, the refs appeared to have no desire to call a fair game and they were noticeably flippant in their responses afterwards.  If you don’t believe me, I submit to you Dan Rubenstein (an Oregon fan) of the Solid Verbal podcast with Exhibits A and B.  Then there was a blatant facemask by media darling Joey Bosa on Christian Hackenberg which saw him use both hands to violently rip Hack's helmet nearly 180 degrees in plain view of the officials... no call.  It comes down to this, the referees handed Ohio State 10 of their 31 points on a silver platter and cost Penn State a hard fought game they more than deserved to win.  In his post game press conference, James Franklin was visibly emotional, pausing to collect himself before starting.  When he begin, he said sarcastically, “All that equals 10 points, right?” then proceeded to say that he would really love to tell everyone how he feels, but it “would not be appropriate.”  After several reporters prodded further, he repeatedly asked them to refrain from talking about the officiating so as to avoid giving them a soundbite that might get him fined.  Well coach, you may not be able to say it, but this is MY blog dammit, and I’ll be glad to say it for you.  That officiating was downright shameful, a complete disgrace to their profession, and they deserve to be fired!  Go ahead and flag me for a personal foul, I dare you.

Anyway, I’ll get into the individual statistics a little more tomorrow when I hand out grades, but here are a few of my takeaways:

- First and absolutely foremost, this defense is the real deal!  A lot of talking heads out there were gushing over Ohio State’s defense, but here’s the thing, everyone knew they were good and that Penn State’s terrible offense wouldn't do much against them.  Sorry guys, but I’m not impressed.  The real story here was Penn State’s shut down defense, which hadn't really played a good offense yet, verses Ohio State’s high powered offense, which hadn't really played a good defense yet.  In that battle, the Nittany Lions won hands down, blanking the Buckeyes in the second half and only legitimately allowing 7 points in all of regulation (remember, the refs gave them 10).  And it was all the more impressive when you consider the lackluster offensive performance and horrible punting that put the defense is rough spots all night long.

- However, even with how incredibly well the defense played, I kept coming back to one question: what is going on with the substitutions?!  For anywhere between a few plays to entire drives, almost the entire backup defensive line was in the game.  Wonderboy Anthony Zettel was shockingly MIA for what seemed like forever, and the second he came back, the defense clamped down.  Why was he on the sideline?  And when Ohio State finally did put together a drive and scored a TD in the 2nd quarter, guess who was part of the goal line defense – all the backups again!  It was utterly mind boggling.  The same thing seemed to be happening with the linebackers too, as Nyeem Wartman was replaced with Von Walker for long stretches.  I get that Bob Shoop is trying to build depth, but against Ohio State is not the time to do it.

- Beaver Stadium has become quite the epicenter for close games.  5 of the last 7 home conference games have gone to at least 1 OT with Penn State coming out on top in 3 of them.  I'm still not sure if that's a good or a bad thing, but it sure is exciting!

Ok, in case you missed it, here's how an epic night finally came to a close.  Thanks to Zettel's interception returned for a TD, the score was 17-7 Ohio State heading into the 4th quarter.  Penn State got the ball back and on their first play, Hackenberg completed his longest pass of the night, a 20 yarder to Saeed Blacknall… which was immediately called back due to an alleged chop block on Daesean Hamilton that even the ref doing commentary up the booth questioned as iffy.  It wouldn't matter, though, as Blacknall was targeted twice more on the drive, including a 24 yd bomb on 3rd and 5 for a TD, the first of his young career!  Now the stadium was really rocking as Penn State inexplicably made it 17-14.

After a defensive stop, the Buckeyes managed to pin Penn State all the way back at their own 9 yd line on a terrific punt.  With only 3 minutes left in the game, it was time for yet another heroic game tying drive for Christian Hackenberg.  Let's see if you notice a trend.  A quick pass to Hamilton led to 3^rd and 1, which Hackenberg picked up on a sneak.  A quick pass to Blacknall led to 3^rd and 1, which Hackenberg picked up on a sneak.  A quick pass to Godwin led to a 3^rd and 2, which Hackenberg picked up on a pass to Jesse James.  An 11 yd pass to Geno Lewis (his only completion of the game), and a roughing the passer penalty got Penn State down to the OSU 28 yd line.  This is when things got weird.  First the referees claimed that James Franklin called his last timeout, which video evidence disproved later.  Then, with 35 seconds left, Hamilton managed to get out of bounds after a 10 yd completion to stop the clock.  But for some reason, Hack spiked the ball on 1st and 10, killing a very important extra down.  Despite all this, an incomplete pass set up Sam Ficken's game tying 31 yd FG.  Remember me mentioning the reshuffling of the offensive line after Donovan Smith went down?  All of this happened with that makeshift line leading the way!  It was downright incredible, and we’re going to overtime!

Penn State started with the ball and after a huge pass to Hamilton, Bill Belton lined up in everyone's favorite formation, the wildcat, except this time it actually worked!  TOUCHDOWN!!!  The Lions had now scored 24 unanswered points in the 2^nd half!  Unfortunately in college the other team also gets a shot.  Ohio State’s JT Barrett proved just how good he is, leading 2 TD drives in a row to make it 31-24 in the 2nd OT.  The second one was helped by a phantom "leaping" penalty on Mike Hull during the extra point, and no I've never heard of that penalty either.  Turns out leaping is a 13 yd personal foul somehow, which allowed Ohio State to start with the ball on the 12 yd line and made Barrett's 2nd TD that much easier.  Once again, the refs were jerks.

On Penn State’s final attempt, a 5 yd pass to Jesse James wasn't enough, and on 4^th and 6, Joey Bosa steamrolled RB Akeel Lynch (who should not have been trying to block Bosa in the first place) and actually managed to sack Hackenberg by using Lynch as a tackling sled.  Penn State lost their 3rd game in a row for the first time in a decade.  The crowd remained and gave the entire team a standing ovation.

With all of that said, it's finally time to take a look at my prediction.  If you take away 7 points from Ohio State and give them to Penn State, I nailed the score!  Christian Hackenberg only got sacked 5 times, not the 6+ I expected, and he did manage to get a TD, although no one could have predicted it would go to true freshman Saeed Blacknall for the first of his career.  Sam Ficken did get a FG in there, although I never would have guessed it would be to tie the game and send it into overtime.  Oh, and yes, I not only called 2 interceptions for JT Barrett, but I even predicted 1 would go for a TD!  Still not impressed?  That was Penn State's first "pick 6" in 5 years!  Sometimes, I’m just that good.

Alright, I’m going to shoot straight with all of you, I write this blog by myself completely free of charge.  Do me a solid and make it worth all that effort.  Head on over to my spiffy new Facebook page, like it, share it, and do all those other fun social media things that you do to spread the word of PSUOptimus.  Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus for all the latest updates on all things Penn State football, and as always, go State!