MARYLAND – Nov. 6, Maryland Stadium

Feels weird typing ‘Poor Mike Locksley’ when you consider he’s still employed and handsomely compensated despite his 8-43 career record as a head coach, but, man, it’s really hard to not feel a little bit sorry for this guy. 

After pasting Penn State 35-19 and posting that admittedly clever ‘You Were…We Are’ graphic on social media, Maryland’s burgeoning sand castle got washed away when a wave of COVID infections spread throughout the program. More than half of the Terrapins’ remaining schedule vanished – along with any and all 2020 momentum — because of positive tests/mandatory quarantine rules, as Locksley’s crew participated in a Big Ten-worst five total games.  

Then, Locksley’s entire coaching staff (or close to it) peace’d out for what seem like demotions elsewhere. 

Defensive coordinator Jon Hoke left to take the DBs coaching job with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons. 

Offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery felt becoming the RBs coach for the Indianapolis Colts was the best career move for him. 

Continue reading

INDIANA – Oct. 2, Beaver Stadium

Indiana’s quarterback situation makes Penn State’s quarterback situation look like (insert something clever here). 

Michael Penix Jr. – 10-2* as a starter, Davey O’Brien Award semifinalist, 2nd Team All-Big Ten quarterback – remains on the shelf this spring after tearing his ACL during the Hoosiers’ win vs. Maryland in late November 2020. 

When asked on March 1 about his post-surgery progress, Penix Jr. told the IU media he’s “on schedule.” That’s it. Just “on schedule.” Whether that means “on schedule” to fully participate in all aspects of fall camp and then breeze right back under center Week 1 at Iowa, well, Penix Jr. didn’t elaborate…so who knows? According to the first search result on Google – the typical depths of our research here at FTB — ACL rehab/recovery ranges from 7 to 9 months in length. 

To make matters worse for Tom Allen, Indiana 3rd String quarterback Dexter Williams also tore his ACL during a non-contact  spring practice drill – an injury that leaves the Hoosiers with one (1!) healthy scholarship quarterback: Jack Tuttle. In two forgettable starts last year, Tuttle threw for 331 yards while directing an offense that failed to surpass 20 points in either contest. Currently, Zack Merrill, Grant Gremel, and Will Jontz – three walk-ons with the most walk-on-sounding names ever – are sharing backup reps at practice.   

Continue reading

WISCONSIN – Sept. 4, Camp Randall Stadium

Neanderball has a new (old) sheriff in Madtown.

After bequeathing play-calling responsibilities to offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph for seven forgettable games last year, sweatshirt enthusiast/Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst told the media in February that he’s snatching those duties back so that he – and only he – can make those tough choices of whether to run left, run right, or run up the middle. 

In fairness to Rudolph, he was pretty much doomed to fail. 

COVID clobbered Wisconsin’s continuity throughout the abnormal 2020 season as an early-season outbreak canceled several games and left the Badgers scrambling to assemble a patchwork 2-deep during weeks they actually took the field.  That disjointed flow probably stunted QB Graham Mertz’s development in his first season as a starter…and if it didn’t, it’s a helluva excuse for his up-and-down performance.  Following a near-perfect debut vs. Illinois – 20-21, 248 yards, 5 TD – Mertz threw more interceptions than touchdowns the rest of the way and only completed above 60 percent of his passes in one of his six remaining starts. 

Up front, 4 of 5 starting slots on the offensive line are up for grabs, which would be worrisome if this was any other team besides Wisconsin. History hints they’ll be fine in the trenches. In fact, expect more in-game rotation/substitution along the offensive line compared to previous seasons because of the surplus of 4- and 5-star beefeaters on the Badgers roster. 

Continue reading

While We Celebrate Barry White Driving the Snakes Out of Springfield By Drinking Cheap Domestic Beer and Playing Irish Folk Music Like House of Pain on Loop, Let’s Examine Instances Where Good Fortune (and Misfortune) Shone Down on Penn State Football

Friends of the Blog know we absolutely SALAVATE when anniversaries/holidays pop up because it gives us an excuse to crank out a list no one asked for.

Oh, it’s Flag Day? Let’s rank the worst penalties ever called against Penn State.

Independence Day? Top moments in program history from 1887 to 1992.

Fungal Disease Awareness Week? Simple. Nittany Lion playmakers with the sickest feet ever.

Well, as your annoying green-clad coworkers might have told you, today is St. Patrick’s Day, so there’s no better time for us to think back and whip up a collection of Lucky and Unlucky plays from Penn State’s recent past. Our simple criteria: Lucky plays had to occur during significant Penn State wins and factor heavily in that win (so plays like Chris Godwin’s lucky juggling circus catch in the Rose Bowl didn’t make it). Unlucky plays, the exact opposite — bad breaks that happened during losses…mostly (we made an exception at the end).  

After you read, let us know what plays we missed in the comments section or on our Twitter @fortheblogy. Heck, we might do this again next year.

Continue reading