You got questions, we got…the same questions and no answers for Penn State’s four forgettable, unimaginative plays near the goal line with the game hanging in the balance.
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Why fuss around, right? Just rip off the damn Band-Aid. We’re discussing the failed 4th quarter goal-to-go sequence that sucked the juice out of a record-setting Beaver Stadium crowd like a poorly aimed straw popping a Capri-Sun pouch.
Hold your nose. Here we go.
The easy column, the prudent column, would be to detail another agonizing loss by Penn State at the hands of its most hated rival and then, at the end, say that this year, it doesn’t really matter in the big picture because the path to the playoff is still clear.
(Dr. Evil voice) Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
This loss, agonizing in its own unique way even in a series of agonizing losses, matters very much because it represents the ceiling for the program under James Franklin. The wins, the recruiting rankings, the semi-consistent visits to the top 10, the massive White Outs—all important. All hard-earned. So too are the overdue facility upgrades and the about-face a school that liked to think it was above paying players did on the NIL front.
Sponsor: FTB’s 2024 Penn State football coverage is sponsored by the Sports Medicine specialists at Concierge Medical Associates. Schedule an in-person or remote consultation at: conciergemedical.ai
Wildcat is a popular nickname for high school and college athletic teams across the United States. And two months through the second installment of this in-season weekly series, Wildcat has been the most popular topic of discussion.
Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki has whipped out Wildcat so often this season, that the uncommon formation isn’t really a surprise anymore. Especially with your starting QB hurt, it makes sense to make little tweaks within base concepts to create some distortion on the defensive side.
The Nittany Lions’ dizzying utilization of this fringe Heisman candidate has been tough to track…but we gave it a shot.
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Contrary to the CVS receipt of search engines results that pop up when you enter the phrase ‘Tyler Warren’ and ‘Swiss Army Knife, we’re choosing a different inanimate-object comparison for Penn State’s do-everything tight end because, according to Pennsylvania law, Swiss Army Knives aren’t considered weapons…and, well, Tyler Warren is a damn weapon.
Therefore, to us, the 2024 Mackey Award lock and former high school quarterback (a little known/seldom shared factoid from Warren’s bio) is more like a medevial Halberd – the most versatile hand-to-hand combat weapon in history according to a Jan. 16, 2011 Escapist Magazine forum post by Brawndo.
Here’s a pic.
Gnarly, huh?