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