The fans did their job. Considering the cold, and the approaching holiday, and the short-ish turnaround, and the optimists who decided to save their money for Glendale, and the students on break, the (cough) announced 106,013 who came to Beaver Stadium for Penn State’s first playoff game created the type of game-tilting atmosphere they have become known for, forcing several false starts on a heretofore potent SMU offense and helping to keep the Mustangs off-kilter for most of the afternoon.

Not to the extent that the Penn State defense did, though.

That unit dominated during the Nittany Lions’ 38-10 victory, and it is the chief reason why Penn State is not only moving on in the first 12-team tournament but why it is capable of being the last one standing.

Continue reading

Beaver Stadium will once again be in the national spotlight this week, when the Nittany Lions host their first playoff game. Abdul Carter and Tyler Warren and Drew Allar and Nick Singleton will all attract that figurative spotlight as well, though probably not to the extent that the man who leads them will command it.

It’s yet another big game for James Franklin, who has not exactly risen to the challenge in, well, almost any of the big games he’s seen at Penn State.

It’s really the only major knock on an 11-year coaching stint that has otherwise been sparkling, even when graded on a sanctions curve. Franklin recruits at a high level. He gets his players to the NFL. He beats the teams he is supposed to beat (read that sentence again, and file it away for just a bit later), and often by several touchdowns. He understands and protects the value of the Penn State brand, and he has spent a decade behind the scenes beating down doors and slashing through red tape to bring his program up to par from a resource standpoint.

Continue reading

Sponsor: FTB’s Donors Club – the most direct way to support our efforts – is back for another year! (sad Sarah McLachlan music plays) For $9.99 you can feed a starving blogger…and get a cool FTB bottle koozie in return! JOIN HERE.

Big 10 Championship. No. 1 team in the nation on the ropes, up 8, without the ball. 2^nd and 1, near midfield, Penn State comes out of the two-minute timeout…and does this?!?!

If any NFL scouts needed further convincing that Penn State QB 15- Drew Allar is a future, no-brainer Round 1 selection, the true junior provided it on a national stage against a Top 10 defense. However, when the game was over in Indy, all I saw scattered across the Interwebs was that this video above was a “bad call” or “Why would your play call be to  throw up a 50-50 ball  when we’ve had success in the intermediate?!”

Continue reading

This playoff stuff is crazy, man.

For the second time in two months, Penn State lost its game of the season … and yet it still has a chance to play for the national championship.

For the second time in two months, the Nittany Lions looked like they belonged on the biggest stage of the college game and had a few tantalizing moments where victory was allllllmost in their grasp. And for the second time in two months, they made enough mistakes to watch a signature win slip through their fingers.

Continue reading

For all the creativity Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki has shown in 2024, a few base concepts out of distinguishable formations have gotten a tad predictable.

Sponsor: FTB’s Donors Club – the most direct way to support our efforts – is back for another year! (sad Sarah McLachlan music plays) For $9.99 you can feed a starving blogger…and get a cool FTB bottle koozie in return! JOIN HERE.

When playing a Dan Lanning coached defense — or better yet a direct-branch defese from the Saban Tree (Saban—Smart—Lanning), you’re going to have your hands full.

Yes, Lanning and his mentors recruit well, coach toughness and physicality, and have an elite scheme. But, in my opinion, the overwhelming differentiating factor of this defensive coaching tree is the focus on recognizing and exploiting opposing offenses tendencies. In other words, they find a common denominator somewhere, and before the day is over some poor graduate assistant is tasked with putting together an entire folder full of graphics, diagrams, and film cut ups related to this tendency.

Continue reading

I understand the desire of fans in northern climates to see overhyped SEC teams play in cold-weather playoff games. I do. But the thing about really, really cold weather is that it usually makes for bad football.

After it took advantage of a gift from its (tongue nailed to the side of cheek) old pal Michigan on Saturday, Penn State, against not all but many odds, will get to avoid the cold for at least one more game.

The Nittany Lions had a little trouble with ball security in their 44-7 pasting of Maryland in frosty Beaver Stadium. Nick Singleton fumbled on the first play of the game. Kaytron Allen had a bobbled snap not long after. Even the sticky-handed Tyler Warren dropped a pass. And, well, that’s what happens in cold weather. The hands get numb. The football gets slick. The arms and legs move fractionally slower.

Continue reading

If Penn State WR Omari Evans was any more open he’d be a 7-11, but that separation didn’t occur by accident.

Sponsor: FTB’s Donors Club – the most direct way to support our efforts – is back for another year! (sad Sarah McLachlan music plays) For $9.99 you can feed a starving blogger…and get a cool FTB bottle koozie in return! JOIN HERE.

“JUST CHUCK IT DEEEEP,” right?

I mean, clearly, the simple premise has been effective when involving Penn State WR 5-Omari Evans. 2022 vs. Ohio when Drew Allar entered the ballgame. 2023 vs. Michigan State at Ford Field. 2024 vs. West Virginia in the first half’s dying breaths. Now, add 2024 vs. Minnesota on the pile.

But guess what? This heave was calculated and nuanced, especially when you realize the decision to dial it up happened the play before. WTF do I mean? Let’s unpack this:

Continue reading

It ended in, at least in the stat sheet, what appeared to be an obvious way — yet another pass completion from Drew Allar to Tyler Warren. A simple pitch and catch.

But nothing, not even that fourth-down toss, was simple in Penn State’s 26-25 win at Minnesota. With this town and this team, nothing ever is.

Saturday marked just the 17^th time in 32 Big Ten seasons that the Nittany Lions met the Golden Gophers on a football field, and though the Lions had won 10 of the previous 16 meetings, there had been a disproportionate number of concerning Gopher bites they had sustained from a team that hasn’t made much noise in the conference since the 1960s.

Continue reading