Don’t Worry, Mike Yurcich, the Sweet Smell of Victory Masks All

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FTB CHARTING – BOX SCORE

 Going on out a limb here, but if Penn State’s second-half offensive production sextuples (giggity) its first-half offensive production every single week from now until the end of the season…well…hmm…actually, they’ll still probably lose to Ohio State by two touchdowns.

But, hey, 11-1! Not bad, huh?

After making a rather off-putting 43-yard first impression in front of the Penn State faithful, new OC Mike Yurcich went in at halftime, figuratively picked parsley out of his front teeth, popped a couple quarters in the ‘Cologne At A Touch’ vending machine, sat back down and charmed us for the next 30 minutes with a smattering of successful deep shots coupled with a 34-yard outside zone bash that instantly made us forget about our ex, Kirk Ciarrocca.

Yeah, it’s early, but things are already getting pretty serious. Can’t help it. Those 254 second-half yards of offense vs. Wisconsin, enough to eek out a 16-10 heart-pounder on the road, has us feeling some type of way. Maybe he’s THE one. Maybe he’s not. Regardless, we’re moving fast…which is kind of what he’s known for.

And guess what? This weekend, we’re introducing Mike to 107,000 of our friends!

Hopefully, they like him.

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Sponsor: Hey, it’s us! For The Blogy! Join our 2021 FTB Donors Club – the best way for you to show your support and keep this train rolling – and receive an exclusive FTB zipper bottle Koozie as a gift! Sign up HERE.

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Introduction

Welcome back! The 2021 Penn State football season started out with a nerve-racking but overall successful road game against a tough Wisconsin team. Through 30 paint-drying minutes, Penn State’s offense ran 22 plays and racked up a whopping 43 yards. Then, for whatever reason, the script flipped after halftime. Penn State got in a rhythm, went up-tempo on the first drive, hit Dotson deep for six, and teased us with what could be in Mike Yurcich’s offensive system. Truly it was a tale of two halves. – the best of times, the worst of times, an age of foolishness, an age of wisdom…all in four quarters.

Quick Hitters

Before we get into the numbers and nerdy stuff, we’re adding this section featuring 3 stats from offense, defense, or special teams that dictated the outcome of the game. Here we go…

1. For all of the criticism that Jordan Stout will get this week for missing an extra point and a FG from extra-point distance, don’t overlook that he averaged 53.9 yards-per-punt on 7 punts against Wisconsin. Those hidden yards on special teams often times are the difference between victory and defeat, especially in a low-scoring donnybrook like what we saw on Saturday.
2. Penn State finished +3 in turnover margin on Saturday. Out of 89 games with James Franklin as the head coach, the Nittany Lions have been +3 or better in 9 games – all wins.
3. Two weeks ago, we wrote about Penn State’s Defensive Scoring Efficiency (points allowed per-drive. PPD for short) being far worse in 2020 than previous years. In 2020, the Lions allowed 2.3 Points Per Drive. Against Wisconsin, the defense allowed an incredible 0.78 PPD. The best Defensive Scoring Efficiency mark since 2009 belongs to the 2011 Alabama defense that allowed 0.62 PPP for the entire season. This Nittany Lion team (probably) won’t sustain this rate but, man, did they need every bit of that performance on Saturday.

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