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For The Blogy - A New Look at the Penn State Nittany Lions
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2020 Offseason

Sunday Column: Franklin Adapting to Changing Football Landscape in Ways That Go Beyond Pandemic

“Control freak” isn’t the nicest term to describe college football coaches, partly because half of that term is the word “freak” and partly because it paints the picture of a person who simply cannot have enough control, as if it is a commodity rather than a hard-to-define, relative construct, particularly as it pertains to several dozen giant young men beating the hell out of each other for three hours on 12-14 Saturdays each year.

So let us, then, refer to them instead as “organizational enthusiasts,” which is basically the same idea but suggests that the coaches are more about keeping order and consistency and less about being tyrants.

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January 23, 2021by FTB Jeff
2020 Offseason

Pwn The Portal: Grad Transfer DT Derrick Tangelo

Oh look! It’s a Duke Defender Capable of Shutting Down Offenses Without Slapping The Floor First. How Refreshing.

As your phonetics/pronunciation Blog of Record, let’s clear up any confusion: it’s Tangelo like Michelangelo – say it fast, don’t pause –not Tangelo as in Pauly D’s favorite pastime/goopy dessert.

For those of you who are better auditory learners vs. visual learners, go to Duke’s official 2020 roster, scroll down, and click the little ear icon. Got it? Cool.

So now that we’ve moved beyond how to properly say his name, why don’t we figure out what to make of this under-the-radar high school recruit turned productive Power 5 starting defensive tackle. To do that, we scouted the 2020 Duke-Syracuse game (Tangelo’s best game according to PFF) and the 2020 Duke-Notre Dame opener (Tangelo’s lowest-graded game according to PFF).

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January 17, 2021by FTB Bill
2020 Offseason

Sunday Column: Returnees Will Help Penn State Usher In Year of Change

Early January is usually a time of breath-holding for college football coaches and fans, as they wait to learn whether some of their top players are going to return or leave school early to pursue NFL dreams. This month was no different for Penn State coaches and fans, but resulted mostly in long, satisfied exhales.

Four Nittany Lions who are likely to play significant roles in 2021 — Jahan Dotson, Rasheed Walker, Tariq Castro-Fields, Jaquan Brisker – recently announced their decisions to return, which was not only likely wise for each of those respective players but, in each case, will also make things easier for their other returning teammates during what will be a pivotal year in State College.

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January 16, 2021by FTB Jeff
FTB Film Study

FTB Film Study – What Does Transfer RB John Lovett Bring To Penn State’s Offense?

January 13, 2021by FTB Bill
2020 Offseason

Pwn The Portal: Transfer DB John(ny) Dixon

With TCF Sticking Around, Cornerback Isn’t a Position of Need for the Nittany Lions, but the South Carolina Transfer Possesses Traits That Can’t Be Ignored

John(ny) Dixon – I’ve seen fluctuating accounts of what he likes to be called, John or Johnny, so he’ll forever be John(ny) on this blog – is the answer to a question we no longer have to ask.

Who’s going to take over/provide depth when Tariq Castro-Fields leaves for the NFL?

Dixon, the sophomore corner from Tampa, entered the Transfer Portal two days before Christmas – part of the mass exodus of Gamecocks after the 2020 season mercifully ended – and picked Penn State (a program that recruited him out of high school) presumably expecting TCF’s departure would free up an opportunity for immediate playing time. 

But that didn’t happen.

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January 12, 2021by FTB Bill
PSU ABC's

Analytics, Basic Stats, and Recent Historic Context: The ABC’s of Penn State Football – The Mike Yurcich Hiring

In a move that was more shocking than The Red Wedding, Penn State has another new Offensive Coordinator. Today, we analyze what to expect from Mike Yurcich who (like yours truly) has been privileged with significant PSAC experience in his days.

Introduction

By now, you’ve probably watched the excellent video breakdown on fortheblogy.com on what to expect schematically from Coach Yurcich’s offense. If not, click back to the main page, scroll down and check it out. We’ll wait…

…OK, welcome back. Coach Nick does an amazing job with X’s and O’s, but when it comes to ABC’s we focus on numbers, statistical trends, and results. Today, while we’re all still in the honeymoon phase of this hire, let’s dig into what Yurcich did as an offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State and Texas – and compare those tenures to what Penn State’s previous OC’s accomplished.

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January 11, 2021by FTB Nathan
FTB Film Study

FTB Film Study – New Penn State OC Mike Yurcich Offense

January 10, 2021by FTB Staff
2020 Offseason

Sunday Column: Franklin Takes Big Swing to Bolster Offense, But Might Need to Take One More

James Franklin has been recruiting at a high level this winter – not just with players (Penn State currently has the third-ranked Class of 2022 in the country according to the 247Sports Composite) but with his swift and surprising addition of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Yurcich.

The recruitment of the latter could play a big role in helping Franklin land an even more important piece of the Nittany Lions’ 2021 puzzle.

It isn’t hard to see why Franklin pounced when Texas parted ways with Yurcich’s former boss, Tom Herman. The 45-year-old Yurcich’s career resume reads a lot like that of Franklin’s; he was a Division II quarterback at California University of Pennsylvania (Franklin played quarterback at another PSAC school, East Stroudsburg) and, like his new boss, earned a degree in psychology. Franklin had coached for nine different college or professional teams before getting his first job as a head coach in 2011; Yurcich, who has never been a head coach, is now at his eighth stop after making his third move since New Year’s Day 2019.

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January 9, 2021by FTB Jeff
2020 Offseason

Dispensing Thoughts and Opinions: Mike Yurcich Hire

FTB’s Rapid Reaction/Stream of Consciousness Following Penn State’s Bombshell Friday News Dump

 

  • It’s pronounced YER-sitch…Sitch like situation. Here’s a 2014 video of the guy saying his own name. Hurry up and learn how to say it correctly…because with James Franklin’s newfound Queen of Hearts disposition, who knows how long YER-sitch sticks around Happy Valley.

  • I’ll be honest…not a huge fan of the move. Not in the short term…and not in the long term, either, because I don’t think there is a “long term” when it comes to Yurcich. He’ll be a head coach in one, two or three years. The tenures of Joe Moorhead and Ricky Rahne proved the Penn State OC is a King Maker role, as both guys got D1 head coaching jobs after two years at the helm. Ciarrocca wasn’t leaving. He offered stability. But back to the short term. Can Penn State really compete for a Big Ten title in 2021 if it has to install a brand new offense AGAIN? The Year 1 to Year 2 progression in Ciarrocca’s offensive production at Western Michigan and Minnesota was substantial…and progress at PSU was noticeable in the final two games of the season – explosive elements of the offense finally emerged in the Michigan State and Illinois season enders.  

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January 8, 2021by FTB Bill
PSU ABC's

Analytics, Basic Stats, and Recent Historic Context: The ABC’s of Penn State Football – The 2020 Defense Retrospective

Introduction

Now, it’s the defense’s turn. Same general premise as yesterday. As we turn the page to 2021, let’s take one last look back on what was the 2020 Penn State Nittany Lions – specifically defensive coordinator Brent Pry’s unit. We’ll explore what trended well, and explore what needs to be fixed in the offseason. And how are we going to do that, you ask? Same way we did weekly during the season – using a mix of basic and advanced stats within the broader context of the James Franklin era at PSU. 

Basic Statistics Summary

You’ve watched all the games but it’s worth reposting the basic stats summaries. Let’s start with yards allowed. In the graph below we have the passing yards (blue), rush yards (orange), and total yards (red) surrendered in each game.

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January 7, 2021by FTB Nathan
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