Week 8 Awards

Going into the Northwestern game, I was pretty confident that a favorable schedule and a weak Big Ten would mean only 2 sure fire losses for the rest of the year: Ohio State and Michigan State.  I never expected an epic 4-game collapse, especially with 3 of those 4 games at home.  Yet, here we are, 2/3 of the way through the season, sitting at exactly .500, with a 4-4 record and only 1 Big Ten win.  The Maryland loss was hopefully the last in a series of unfortunate events as the road to a bowl game becomes significantly easier over the next 3 weeks.  But that's all in the future.  For now, let's finish up my coverage of the Maryland game by handing out some awards!

Probably the easiest pick of the week, the Beast Mode Award goes to kicker Sam Ficken who hit all 4 of his FGs on Saturday, 3 from 45+ yds away!  The performance was good enough to earn him Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors, his second time this season.  Ficken is now an impressive 17-19 on the year, and with 239 points to his name, he’s now 3^rd all time on the career points list.  First?  Another kicker, Kevin Kelly, whose 4-year run netted an incredible 425 points.  I don't think Ficken will be breaking that record anytime soon.

Even though it didn't feel like it, Saturday was actually a record breaking day on offense.  This week's Transformer Award reflects that as it goes to Jesse James who caught his 11th career TD pass, breaking the record set by Ted Kwalick for career TDs by a TE which stood since the late 1960s!  Daesean Hamilton also got in on the party, breaking the freshman receptions record.  Congrats to both gentlemen on their achievements!

I'm proud to announce another 2-time winner as the Matrix Award goes to freshman safety Marcus Allen.  For the second week in a row he dominated with 11 tackles, becoming the first defensive player all season long to surpass Mike Hull and lead the team in tackles.  He'll be starting yet again this week in place of the injured Ryan Keiser, only this time his backup will be another true freshman, Troy Apke, a former WR who recently had his redshirt removed.

This week's winner of the In Disguise Award is hard to miss at a massive 313 pounds, yet Austin Johnson has been somewhat overshadowed this season by the incredible play of fellow DT Anthony Zettel.  Johnson quietly put together one of his better efforts against the Terps, racking up a total of 6 tackles, including 1 for a loss and 1 sack.  He's a big (literally) part of why Penn State's defense ranks No 1 in the nation in rush defense, and he'll be counted on again this coming week to help stop Indiana's explosive RB Tevin Coleman.

Finally, the Megatron Award goes to hot tempers, from both teams.  We all know about the pre-game scuffle, and the rejected hand shakes, but when it came time to actually play football, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and personal fouls put both teams in unnecessary holes.  Things haven't been that chippy for a Penn State game since Mike Mauti decided to teach Illinois a lesson for poaching players back in 2012.  Maryland actually had 2 fewer penalties than the Lions, but somehow racked up 25 more penalty yds.  It was ugly, and I hope we don't see it again for quite a long time.

Alright, that will do it for Maryland week.  Penn State takes on Indiana this week, so hopefully the losing streak finally comes to an end and we can get one game closer to bowl eligibility!  Be sure to like me on Facebook and share with all your friends.  Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!

Week 8 Grades

Double your pleasure, double your fun.  I give you part 2 of today’s blog post double-header!  It was an ugly game against the Terrapins from Maryland, especially on offense, and it was made that much uglier by the shenanigans prior to kick off.  The conference stepped in and punished basically everyone involved, so now we can officially move on.  Lots to talk about here that I couldn't get to in the wrap up, so without further adieu, let’s roll out some grades!

Offense

QB: (F) No more excuses, it’s time to address the elephant in the room head on.  Forget about overthrowing, underthrowing, interceptions, or holding on to the ball way too long.  The real problem right now is simply that Hackenberg does not like James Franklin, or at least he doesn't like Franklin’s offensive philosophy.  That’s understandable because 1. He was recruited by Bill O'Brien into a completely different system and 2. When Franklin came to Penn State, he stressed at his introductory press conference that he does not use systems, but instead tries to tailor his style to his personnel.  Yet he continues to implement a style, complete with the outdated wildcat formation, which his star QB and team captain hates.  The most telling line from Hack?  “This is what we signed up for.”  That sounds like a defeated player who has resigned himself to just getting through the rest of this season.  On the other hand, he showed a lot of fight on Saturday; a little too much fight if you ask me.  Throughout the afternoon he could be seen flailing his arms and screaming at WRs, TEs, OL, and even his coaches.  And it doesn't take a trained lip-reader to know what kind of language he was using either.  His emotional outbursts, especially when contrasted with his cool demeanor last year are becoming embarrassing.  Luckily, the way he hid his face from cameras in the 2^nd half shows he probably understands that everyone is watching, and maybe he’ll wise up soon.  For more takes on Hack’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year, check out some links here, here, and here.

OL: (C-) Everyone has taken their shots at the offensive line this year, myself included, and with good reason.  However, in my humble opinion, they took another step forward this week.  Sure they let up another 5 sacks and still can’t get any push to allow for a decent running game, so they’re not exactly getting an A anytime soon.  But just going by the “eyeball test” I saw an already bad line, missing its only experienced piece and reshuffled yet again, finally give Hackenberg a little bit of time to make decisions.  Hack didn't use that additional time particularly well, but it was definitely there.  If we can just get through this season, next year should be a completely different story with Herb Hand still coaching, the (hopefully) extra bowl game practices, and a slew of big time OL recruits coming in to fill in the gaps behind the starters.  Just be patient.

RB: (C-) As I predicted, Akeel Lynch received the bulk of the carries, 21 to be exact, and he turned those into a respectable 51 yds.  There just isn't enough push by the offensive line for us to realistically expect much more than that right now.  Lynch remains the best option at RB and should finish out the season as the starter if this coaching staff knows what's good for them.  Bill Belton continues to disappoint, though, and neither RB seems capable of blocking in pass protection.  Not much else to say; this unit will continue to struggle until other pieces of the offense get their act together.

WR: (B-) Hamilton did not have his normal videogame-like numbers in this one.  He finished the day with only 5 catches for 42 yds.  Still, those 5 catches came just when Penn State needed them.  On the Lions’ only TD drive of the day, Hamilton was responsible for two 1^st downs and by the end of the game he would break the freshman receiving yds record!  Congrats Daesean!  As for the other WRs, we didn't see Saeed Blacknall for some reason, but Chris Godwin continues his streak of having at least one catch per game.  Geno Lewis had the longest catch of the day, a 35 yarder on a 3^rd and 23 in the 4^th quarter which set up a FG, but he also missed a would be TD in the 2^nd quarter.  Like Hamilton, Lewis finished the day with 5 catches.

TE: (A-) Jesse James finally had himself a showcase game catching 5 passes for 48 yds and more importantly a TD.  The score was the 11^th of his career, and helped him break Ted Kwalick’s record for career TDs by a TE set back in the late 60s!  Kyle Carter was no slouch himself pulling in 2 grabs for 21 yds.  The minus comes from freshman Mike Gesicki who couldn't secure either of the 2 passes thrown his way, drawing the ire of an already upset Christian Hackenberg.  Getting all 3 of these guys clicking at the same time will be imperative moving forward if this offense is going to find any kind of identity.

Defense

DL: (A+) Deion Barnes had 2 sacks against the Terps, and now leads the team with 6 on the season.  He has definitely returned to form.  In the 3^rd quarter, Anthony Zettel forced a fumble that was recovered by CJ Olaniyan and gave the offense exactly the spark it needed to score their only TD of the day.  Not much else to be said about this group other than the fact that they've been flat out dominant all year long.  Even the backups are impressing nearly across the board combining for 8 tackles, 3 for a loss, and 2 sacks.  Oh, and their dirty little secret?  Olaniyan is the only senior.

LB: (A) For the first time all year, Mike Hull didn't lead the team in tackles, although he was second with 9.  Instead he focused his attention more on turnovers, this time passing up on an interception in favor of a fumble recovery.  Brandon Bell had himself a solid day, racking up 5 tackles, 1 for a loss, and 2 pass breakups, and Nyeem Wartman added another 2 tackles in there as well.  Freshman Jason Cabinda got into the action with 2 tackles of his own in limited action.  His fellow freshman Troy Reeder is apparently redshirting this season.  We haven’t seen much of the backups this year, mostly because there aren't many backups to talk about (especially with Ben Kline out for the season), but walk ons Von Walker and Jordan Dudas each recorded a tackle, so congrats to them on contributing!

DB: (B) Statistically the defensive backs didn't have a bad game.  However, when tempers started to flare up, they were the main offenders.  CB Jordan Lucas was called for a late hit early in the 1^st quarter, and on the same play S Marcus Allen was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after he was seen mouthing off to the Maryland sideline.  That play cost PSU 30 yds!  Allen wasn't done, though, and would later be called for another personal foul at the start of the 2^nd quarter.  I know he’s only a freshman, but he’s clearly talented and crap like this diverts the focus away from an otherwise well-played game.  In fact, Allen became the first defensive player this year to surpass Mike Hull in tackles, recording his second straight 11 tackle game!  He’s an exceptional, hard hitting safety that just needs to learn how to channel that emotion and he’ll be elite in no time.  Meanwhile CBs Grant Haley and Trevor Williams combined for 5 tackles and a forced fumble.

Special Teams

K: (B) I know what you’re thinking, and Ficken was great.  In fact, his incredible 4 FGs, 3 of which were from longer than 45 yds away (46, 47, and 48 to be exact) were good enough to earn him Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors.  That’s his second time this year winning that award, and the fourth time in his career.  But this grade isn't just about FGs, it encompasses the entire kicking game.  Unfortunately for Ficken, freshman Grant Haley fumbled a kickoff return immediately following one of Maryland’s FGs.  The fumble was recovered by Maryland and led to their second TD of the day.  Those 10 points in approximately 1:30 minutes cost Penn State the game and the kicking game it's A+ grade.

P: (D) Dan Pasquariello, the freshman punter from Austrailia, got the nod this week over redshirt freshman Chris Gulla.  He repaid the coaches’ confidence in him by sailing his first punt a mere 23 yds.  Penn State’s punting game is atrocious right now, and it was all the more evident when compared to Maryland’s Nathan Renfro who averaged nearly 10 yds more per punt and had a long of 53 yds, 6 yds better than Pasquariello's best punt of the day.  Renfro consistently nailed his punts 40+ yds and pinned the Nittany Lion offense deep in their own territory.  Flipping the field position continues to be a struggle that has put both the offense and defense in bad spots all year.  Something needs to be done here, I'm just not sure what.

Today’s bonus grade goes to sportsmanship, and frankly, both teams get an F.  Yes, Maryland appears to have started everything, and it even seems that they came into the game with a clear goal of riling up the Nittany Lions.  But here’s the problem with trolls like that, if you react (which Penn State definitely did), they win.  The “chippiness” displayed by both teams was embarrassing and has no place in football.

Whew.  It was a bit of a challenge, but I managed to spoil all of you rotten with 2 posts in 1 day!  Be sure to check back tomorrow for the weekly awards.  Go like me on Facebook already, and be sure to share the good word of PSUOptimus to all your friends.  Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!

Week 8 Wrap Up

Another game, another loss.  That’s become the story with this year’s Nittany Lion squad, which sucks given how much promise they showed winning their first four games in a row.  Unlike the last two losses, which were referee screw jobs, the team only has themselves to blame for this one.  We’re now officially 2/3 of the way through the season, and as has been the story all year, the defense came to play, but the offense couldn't muster enough of anything to pull out a victory.  In the end, even Sam Ficken's golden leg couldn't save Penn State.  They lose to Maryland 19-20.  PSU now falls to 4-4 with only 1 Big Ten win and the hope of a bowl game fading fast.

Before we get into the game action, let’s start with a few personnel notes.  Although we weren't sure which offensive lineman would return, all signs pointed to either OT Donovan Smith or OG Miles Deiffenbach coming back for this game.  Instead, we saw neither, in fact Miles wasn't even dressed.  Therefore we were left with the same line we saw at the end of the Ohio State game: (from left to right) Nelson, Mahon, Laurent, Gaia/Dowry, Mangiro.  Also of note, all four players arrested for throwing eggs at a dorm on Thursday night suited up for the game, with Wendy Laurent starting at Center and Garrett Sickels getting 2 tackles in a backup capacity on the defensive line.  After the game James Franklin said of the incident, “There’s a lot of problems going on right now in our society and college athletics.  Throwing eggs is a little further down the totem pole in my opinion.”  Even the College Gameday crew laughed it off as a petty act of vandalism with Lee Corso pointing out, “Florida State wishes they had that problem.”

Of course, the big story of the day started before the game even began.  Apparently, like Rutgers, Maryland has been harboring some serious resentment towards Penn State after decades of being dominated.  And, despite significantly less trash talking in the lead up to the game than Rutgers did, the Terps were still quick to let PSU players know exactly how they felt about their “rivals” to the north.  Things started off “chippy” (a common phrase in college football that just mean “heated” or “emotionally-charged” but usually in an aggressive manner) as a pre-game shouting match quickly escalated into a shoving match.  Star MD receiver Stefon Diggs even ended up smacking an official right in the face, although it was clear that this was unintentional.  Still, by rule, he could have been ejected from the game and he’s lucky to have only received a personal foul.  (*UPDATE: the Big Ten Conference has publicly reprimanded Maryland head coach Randy Edsell for "not controlling his players" at the start of Saturday's game, suspended Stefon Diggs for 1 game for hitting an official, and fined the University $10,000*).  But it wasn't done just yet.  Prior to the opening coin toss, Maryland’s team captains refused to shake hands with Penn State’s captains, an act James Franklin claimed in 20 years, he’s “never seen that before.”  Their completely classless actions got them flagged for another personal foul assessed on the kickoff.

Maryland’s head coach and Athletic Director both apologized almost immediately after the game, took full responsibility for what happened, and moved on.  That’s admirable and the right way to handle the situation.  But I think they missed the lesson here, so let me share it with them just in case.  Oh, and Rutgers, be sure to listen closely to this as well because it applies just as much to you as it does Maryland… *clears throat*…  You don’t build a rivalry by being an asshole to another team!  Seriously, that’s just some straight up ignorance right there.  Sure, being a complete embarrassment to your school by acting like an idiot can build resentment, but it doesn't build rivalries.  You guys are in the Big Ten now, grow up!  Things are done a little bit differently here, and so far you've gone about it the absolute wrong way.  Rivals are built with hard fought, well played, close games that sometimes you win emphatically, and other times you lose in heartbreaking fashion.  They're built by beating the other team at their best, not bragging about a 1 point win against a team with half the number of scholarship players you have.  That’s why Penn State considers Ohio State, Michigan, and Iowa rivals.  All you need to do is look at the history and see all those memorable games (04, 05, 08, etc).  It’s also why we DON’T consider Michigan State, or Minnesota to be our rivals, even though we have trophy games with them.  You see, the more you try to force the rivalry, the less we’re going to care, so just stop.  Build your team, beat us consistently, and if it's meant to be, it will grow naturally.  Got it?  Ok, rant over.

So what exactly happened with the game?  Well, the tensions from the pre-game festivities remained high in the early going.  As the referees rightfully tried to calm down boiling hot emotions, they decided their most effective weapon would be the little yellow flag.  Penalties killed both teams all afternoon long.  On one play, defensive backs Jordan Lucas and Marcus Allen were both flagged for personal fouls, leading to a 30 yd loss for Penn State’s defense.  By the start of the 2^nd quarter, Penn State had already accrued more than 60 total penalty yds!  Most were noticeably more legitimate than in previous weeks, but some were still a little iffy.  The good news (if you can call it that) was that even when questionable, the calls were going both ways so neither team could really claim bias.  All told, the teams combined for 14 penalties and 151 yds on the day.  That’s completely unacceptable and tells me that both teams have a lot of growing up to do.

Now, in case you didn't get a chance to see the game, let me summarize it by saying this: the offense was as bad as they've been all year, and the defense was as good as they've been all year.  It really was just more of the same.  I will say this, in college football it is generally accepted that teams with high-powered offenses are “more fun to watch” than teams with stingy defenses.  Generally, I agree with this sentiment.  Who doesn't like watching a receiver streak down the field, blow past a defender, and grab a 60 yd bomb for a TD?  That’s just great television!  But this Bob Shoop-coached defense is the exception to that rule.  They are so incredibly fun to watch.  You know, the term “flying around,” especially when applied to LB play, has become horribly overused, yet that’s exactly how I would describe nearly every member of this defense.  They’re much faster than Penn State defenses of the past, and just seem to have a nose for the ball that puts them exactly where they need to be on seemingly every play.  If you've already given up on the season by this point, I honestly don’t blame you, but don’t give up on this defense.  We may not see a group this good again for quite a while, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Maryland’s offense was just about as pitiful as Penn State’s, so there's not much to report about there, but also like Penn State, their defense played one heck of a game.  Standouts on that side of the ball include Andre Monroe, who I talked about in my prediction post, and CB Sean Davis who actually made a cameo on the Black Shoe Podcast (affiliated with Black Shoe Diaries).  Davis led the Terps in tackles with 11 including 1 for a loss, then he threw 3 pass break ups in there for good measure.  If you follow Maryland football, keep an eye on that kid.

At this point in the season, it’s more than fair to give an assessment of how this team has panned out.  Personally, my biggest take away is that despite talent at nearly every position, the key thing holding this team back is leadership, particularly from the seniors, who are few and far between on the second youngest team in Division I.  A lot of comparisons have been made to the 2004 Penn State squad, mostly because they also had an outstanding defense and an inept offense.  However, I would more accurately compare these guys to the 2010 version of Penn State.  Even though there are some great senior players like Mike Hull, Adrian Amos, and Bill Belton, none of them have particularly strong (and more importantly vocal) personalities.  That was always the hallmark of the 2010 team - talented, but undisciplined and lacking in leadership.  This leaves guys like Hackenberg, who is still just 19 years old and a true sophomore, to take up the torch and run with it, but as we've seen over the past few week in particular, he can’t handle the pressure and he’s just not up for the task.  The next three weeks will be telling.  Each game is more than winnable, and should spark some confidence before the Lions take on arguably the best team in the league, Michigan State, in their final game of the year.

My prediction?  Ugh, this one hurt.  I got exactly nothing right.  The winner?  Whoops.  The score?  Nope.  Hackenberg throwing for 300 yds?  He barely got half that.  Hamilton played well but was less productive than normal and no TD.  Akeel Lynch did get the bulk of the carries, but only picked up 51 of the 80 yds I predicted.  Miles Deiffenbach did not return, no one got an interception, and Mike Hull didn't even lead the team in tackles!  It was a complete miss.  Let’s just forget about this game and move on.

Alright, because I’m posting this late you’re all in for a treat.  Both this post and the grades post are going up today!  I’m staying on schedule if it’s the last thing I do this week!  So check back later tonight for the weekly grades.  Go like my page on Facebook and share it with your friends.  Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!

Week 8 Prediction

Happy Halloween Nittany Nation!  It's time to break out the candy, carve up the pumpkins, and get ready for a showdown in Spooky Valley.  This week the Maryland Terrapins (a fancy name for turtles) come to town for a noon kick that will be broadcast on ESPN2.  Unfortunately, known Penn State hater Joey Galloway has the call, so expect plenty of eye-rolling commentary from him throughout the game.  For those of you making the trek to Beaver Stadium, the weather forecast looks pretty ugly and calls for cold, windy conditions, so be sure to bundle up.  With their Under Armour money, the Terps have taken a page out of Oregon's playbook and never seem to wear the same uniform twice.  Thus fittingly, they appear to be wearing costumes to every game.  No word yet on what they'll breakout this week, but you can be sure it will feature the state flag much more prominently than their school mascot.  With that, let's get to the breakdown.

Hackenberg (my pet turtle) is a diehard Nittany Lions fan, but feels conflicted when forced to root against the Terrapins.

The Good:

Maryland's rushing attack is one of the worst amongst Power 5 teams.  Although Penn State's ground game is even worse, at least they won't be trying to run against one of the top rushing defenses in the country.  In fact, Maryland's defense gives up an average of 212 yds per game on the ground, so maybe Bill Belton and Akeel Lynch will actually have some success in this one.  I expect the Terps' offense will most likely rely on the arm of QB C.J. Brown, who is coming off bad games against Wisconsin and Iowa.  Brown is also banged up at the moment with back and wrist injuries.  If he can't go tomorrow, backup Caleb Rowe will step in.  Rowe is experienced, having thrown 54 pass attempts already this year, but he lacks the mobility of Brown if he's pressured.

All time, Penn State is 35-1-1 against Maryland, so we've played them a lot, but it's certainly not a rivalry yet.  In fact, the teams last met in 1993 when the Lions decimated the Terps 70-7 in front of their home crowd.  That's embarrassing  Just like with Rutgers, this will be the first time these former northeast boarder schools will meet as co-members of the Big Ten.  Also just like Rutgers, Penn State loves to poach all the best players out of Maryland's backyard.  Former greats like Derek Williams and Stephon Morris are from Maryland, as are 9 current players on the PSU roster.  #DominateTheRegion!

The Bad:

By far, Maryland's most talented and talked about player is WR Stefon Diggs who is also one of the most dangerous return men in the country.  I have confidence in Jordan Lucas and the secondary to handle Diggs as a receiver, but his play making abilities in the return game coupled with Penn State's awful punting of late could spell doom for Penn State's special teams.  The coverage teams will have to play their best game to keep Diggs in check and prevent a return for a TD.  And speaking of special teams, Maryland's kicker Brad Craddock is perfect on the season in extra points and FGs, including a 57-yarder verse Ohio State.  Yikes!  We could be in trouble if it all comes down to trading FGs in overtime, as it has so many times in Beaver Stadium.  Defensively, watch out for D-lineman Andre Monroe.  He has 6.5 sacks so far this year and will try to test our offensive line, as many others have done successfully, and force Hack into bad decisions.

The big thing that could prove harmful to the team, though, is pure emotional exhaustion from last week's insane effort.  They beat themselves down physically and mentally trying to get a win that never came.  Now they take on a team with more than enough talent to steal the victory if they're not careful.  In other words, this could turn into a let down game real quick.  At least it's not on the road or I'd be even more scared of this scenario.

The Story:

When James Franklin graduated from East Sroudsburg in 1994, he decided to spend the next 6 years paying his dues as an assistant coach at 6 different small colleges (including his alma mater, and Kutztown).  He finally got his first big coaching break at Maryland, originally as the WRs coach from 2000-2004.  It was here that he first met another promising young assistant, RBs coach Bill O'Brien, and we all know what happened with that guy.  After a brief stint with the NFL's Green Bay Packers, Franklin came back to Maryland in 2008 to serve as the Offensive Coordinator under Ralph Friedgen.  He would eventually earn the title of "coach in waiting" as the presumed successor to Friedgen.  However, in 2010, despite an 8-4 record and being named ACC Coach of the Year, the Maryland administration made the fateful decision to fire Friedgen and bring in UConn's Randy Edsel instead of promoting Franklin.  Suddenly jobless, Franklin took his talents to Vanderbilt (his first head coaching gig) where he took one of the most historically bad programs in college football and led them to 3 straight bowl games (including 2 victories) and 2 consecutive 9 win seasons.  That got the attention of some big name schools looking for new coaches, and obviously this past January, Franklin came to Penn State.  Earlier in the season, Franklin beat his old boss, Friedgen, who is now the OC at Rutgers.  Now, he squares off against his old team, which still has a small handful of players he recruited.  But my biggest take away is how different things would be right now if Maryland had decided to give Franklin a chance.

The Prediction:

Ok, currently Penn State is favored by 3.5 points, which is essentially the automatic advantage given to home teams, so expect a really close game.  Hackenberg has one of his better days and hits the 300 yd mark.  Daesean Hamilton outplays Stefon Diggs and scores a TD.  Akeel Lynch gets the bulk of the carries and thanks to a porous Terrapin run defense, actually has a decent game rushing for 80 yds.  And we see the return of Miles Deiffenbach!  The Defense avoids the let down after an emotional game against Ohio State and shuts down Maryland.  Zettel misses a hat trick of interceptions but Jordan Lucas manages to steal a pick because they're targeting Diggs too much.  Oh, and Mike Hull leads the team in tackles once again.  Penn State snaps the losing streak to start off November right, Lions win 23-17.  

Enjoy the Trick-or-Treaters and costume parties, but don't stay out too late; we got an early kick tomorrow.  Head on over to Facebook and like my new page, don't forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!

Week 7 Awards

We come to the end of #OhioStateHateWeek, which inadvertently turned into more of #RefereeHateWeek than anything else.  Before I begin, I wanted to provide a quick update on Ryan Keiser via James Franklin's press conference yesterday.  Sounds like Ryan is in stable condition and recovering.  I'll continue to monitor the situation and provide updates here and on Twitter as I see them.  In lighter news, yesterday I linked to the amazing hi-def panorama of the White Out that was taken.  Today, I bring you a time lapse video encompassing approximately 10 hrs before, during, and after the game.  It's really cool, so check it out.  Now let's roll out some awards!

It was a very close two man race, but this week's Beast Mode Award goes to Daesean Hamilton who set a Penn State single-game receptions record with 14 catches for 126 yds.  His performance was good enough to earn him Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors for the second time this season. Hamilton seemed like the entire offense at times on Saturday and unlike fellow receiver Geno Lewis, he's remained consistent all year.  Come on guys, get the law firm back together!

A bit of a stretch, but this week the Transformer Award goes to Anthony Zettel who is transforming into an interception machine.  Zettel had his 2^nd interception in as many games, only this time he took it 40 yds to the house, sparking the second half comeback attempt against the Buckeyes.  He almost had another too but batted it down instead.  You rarely, if ever, see a DT get an interception, let alone 2.  That just speaks to Zettel's freakish athleticism which is earning him votes for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

Possibly the easiest decision of the week, the Matrix Award goes to true freshman Marcus Allen who stepped in at safety for the injured Ryan Keiser and dominated!  If you're able to go back and watch the game again, pay close attention to his two pass breakups because seriously, he nearly intercepted both.  Plus he had 11 total tackles and huge, bone-jarring hits all over the field!  Interestingly, another true freshman Troy Apke switched from WR to S over the summer and will apparently be making his debut this week against Maryland.  Considering how well Allen played and that the other safety spot is already taken by senior stud Adrian Amos, I'm not sure what to make of that move.

Although he's not really hiding from anyone, the In Disguise Award goes to Mike Hull who was a close runner up for Beast Mode and deserves some serious love this week.  He gets this award mostly due to the fact that he somehow managed to avoid detection by the Butkus Award people.  Thankfully the Bednarik Award people aren't nearly as blind.  Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who was a star LB back in the mid-90s and was a finalist for the Butkus twice, said that he'll gladly write-in Hull come voting time.  That's some pretty high praise!  Hull had an astounding 19 freakin tackles and an INT against Ohio State.  Seriously!  Oh, and he currently sits second behind only OSU's Joey Bosa in the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year voting.

Finally, the Megatron Award goes to... wait for it... the Referees!  And it's a Prime Penn State Football first!  Only Big Ten refs could get what is essentially my "Pain in the ass award" twice in one season, let alone in consecutive weeks.  On Sunday, Penn State (or at least James Franklin and AD Sandy Barbour) wanted some answers and reached out to Big Ten conference headquarters in Indianapolis.  Unfortunately, all they got was lame excuses and a half-hearted, kinda admission of guilt.  Some legit people like ESPN's Josh Moyer are even starting to talk conspiracy (although, somewhat tongue-in-check).  I enjoyed Evil James Franklin on Twitter who ranked the bad calls from Saturday night as follows: #1 "interception" #2 simple delay of game #3 "leaping" #4 no call on 3rd down false start.  Although he forgot about Hackenberg's helmet being ripped off by the facemask, the helmet to helmet targeting on Geno Lewis, and the recently released screenshot of Ohio State with 12 men on the field for Sam Ficken's FG attempt.  Now, Ficken ended up making that FG, so that didn't really matter, but it's just another missed call by the worst officiating crew in history.

Ok, rant about the officials over.  Time to move on to the Terrapins of Maryland.  Check back on Friday for my prediction of that game.  Like and share my new Facebook page.  Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!

Week 7 Grades

We continue with Ohio State week, albeit a little behind schedule.  I apologize but some personal matters needed attending to on Sunday so if you haven’t noticed by now, this week’s posts will all be a day late (but hopefully not a buck short).  Before I get going, if you were one of the lucky ones who were actually in Beaver Stadium during Saturday’s game, first of all, are your ears ok?  Second, why don’t you take a moment to do your best Where’s Waldo impression and find yourself in this amazing hi-def photo.  You can even tag yourself if you’re so inclined!  Alright, now let’s roll out some grades!

Offense

QB: (C) Christian Hackenberg has now thrown an interception in every game this season except UMass, and no I'm not counting the "interception" in the 1st quarter of Saturday's game.  We get it by now, the line is bad.  Consequently, Hack has developed terrible habits of throwing short, throwing into double and triple coverage, and just plain not throwing when he's under pressure.  Elite QBs don't do these things, even with a bad O-line in front of them.  It's no secret that Hackenberg came to Penn State to study under Bill O'Brien and potentially use O'Brien's NFL connections to gain extra favor with scouts.  However, BO'B is gone.  Learn the new offense, execute like the playmaker you are, and move on!

OL: (D+) Everyone knows these guys are terrible.  Thanks in large part to their efforts (or lack thereof), the entire offense has hit record depths of ineptitude.  Still, trust me when I say this, they are improving... slightly.  Ohio State's front 7 was supposed to be the best they faced all year, and yet Hackenberg seemed to have as much time if not more than usual.  There are still moments that are just head scratchers, though.  On a 3^rd and inches, Bill Belton noticed a log jam in the middle and cut to the outside.  The only problem was RT Andrew Nelson completely missed his block, allowing Joey Bosa to tackle Belton for a loss.  4^th down, punt.  Good news, it looks like Miles Dieffenbach will be back for the Maryland game this week.  Bad news, Donovan Smith most likely won't be.

RB: (F) You can effectively say that the Penn State rushing attack is now the worst in the nation.  There are, of course, a number of ways to measure a team's running game based on a whole host of statistics.  Unfortunately, our running backs are dead last, or close to last, in basically all of the ones that actually matter.  As if things couldn't get any worse, senior Zach Zwinak is officially out for the rest of the year.  Akeel Lynch appears to be the best bet for the future, however, he remains in a back up role for now.

WR: (A-) Where did Geno Lewis go?  Against Ohio State, the junior only had 1 catch for 11 yds after being sidelined for most of the Michigan game due to "consistency" issues.  He almost had a second grab except he took a huge shot that looked like possible targeting.  After getting up clearly dizzy he seemed hesitant the rest of the game.  Luckily Hackenberg's favorite target, Daesean Hamilton, had his best game yet.  He caught a Penn State record 14 passes in a single game, good for 126 yds, and earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors.  Saeed Blacknall was second on the team with 4 catches for 34 yds and his first career TD.  And Chris Godwin pulled in 3 of his own for 16 yds.  Godwin has now caught a pass in every game this year and with him and Blacknall being freshman, the receiver position looks set for the foreseeable future.

TE: (B-) I think it's safe to say we were spoiled by Bill O'Brien.  He assembled an elite collection of TE talent for his TE-heavy schemes, but without his coaching and play calling, they've been just OK so far.  Jesse James, Kyle Carter, and Mike Gesicki combined for 6 catches and 29 yds, but 4 of those catches and 22 of those yds came from James alone.  Overall, they’re just not breaking out the way many experts predicted.  And since most of them have little experience blocking, they can't even be of use as an extra blocker on the offensive line.  Would things be better if Adam Breneman was healthy?  Who knows, but it couldn't hurt.

Defense

DL: (A) The insane numbers start on the defensive line.  Anthony Zettel continues on his warpath hauling in his second interception in as many games, this time returning it 40 yds for a TD that sparked the Lions' 2nd half comeback.  As I mentioned yesterday, though, he was conspicuously absent for large stretches of the game.  Hopefully he was just winded and not injured.  CJ Olaniyan led the linemen with 9 tackles and Deion Barnes was next with 7, including 1.5 for a loss and a sack.  Zettel actually only registered 2 tackles, but added 1 for a loss, 1 sack, and a pass breakup on a double jump move that almost turned into a 2nd interception!  The backups combined for another 7 tackles.

LB: (A+) All I have to say is, Mike Hull for every award!  The unquestioned leader of the defense, and Linebacker U flag-bearer, had a personal record 19 total tackles against the Buckeyes as well as an interception that led to Penn State's 2nd TD!  He's absolutely ridiculous!  Brandon Bell was 2nd on the team with 13 tackles of his own, including 1 for a loss and 1 sack.  Nyeem Wartman wasn't far behind with 9 tackles.  All told, the starting 3 had 40 freaking tackles!  Going back to Hull, even though he was inexplicably snubbed as a semi-finalist for the Butkus Award (given to the nation's best LB), he was added to the watch list for the Bednarik Award (given to the nation's best defender), which isn't a bad consolation prize.

DB: (A-) Adrian Amos had a decent day with 7 tackles, while fellow safety Jesse Della Valle added 4 more.  CB Trevor Williams had 3, while Jordan Lucas and Grant Haley each had 2.  But the day belonged to unlikely breakout star Marcus Allen.  The true freshman took over in place of injured senior Ryan Keiser and looked like a veteran from the get go.  He had an amazing 11 tackles, but more importantly had 2 huge pass breakups which should have been interceptions.  Not on the stat sheet were the number of times he came flying in from out of nowhere to make a huge hit on the ball carrier.  Between him and Haley, the future of the secondary is almost as bright as the wide receiver position.

*Side note* There are conflicting reports on the status of Ryan Keiser.  Some sources say he caught an infection during surgery and is in critical condition.  Other sources say there was no infection and he's in stable condition.  Either way, please send your thoughts and/or prayers out to Ryan and his family.

Special Teams

K: (A) What can I say?  Ficken sent us into overtime and nailed both extra points.  Solid performance.

P: (F) I had high hopes for Chris Gulla; really I did.  What a difference a few games make.  The punting situation right now is abysmal, dreadful, terrible, insert negative adjective here.  It didn't matter who was back there.  The coaches tried Gulla, then switched to fellow rookie (and Australian soccer player) Daniel Pasquariello.  Both clearly have the leg to be big time punters, but both also kept shanking their punts out of bounds.  They just couldn't reverse the field position and put the defense in bad spots all night.  Together they only averaged 34 yds, which is even more scary when you consider they each had a 40+ yarder, so their other punts must have been really bad to average out to 34 yds.  Will we see James Franklin take a page out of the O'Brien playbook and go for it on 4th down more often?  With this running game, I wouldn't count on it.

Bonus grade: The Blue Band gets an A+ because, well, the Blue Band always wins.  More to the point, though, after being voted the No 1 band in the nation by USA Today, they decided to dazzle us with this “Channel surfing” halftime show.  Oh, and if you've ever wondered what it’s like to actually march pregame with the Blue Band, here’s a trumpet-eye view of the White House from field level.

That's all the grades I have for today.  Awards will be out tomorrow, so stop back then.  Facebook is still a thing, and I'm there now!  Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus, and as always, go State!

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!