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Penn State Review


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1.  As Rogue aptly pointed out, the special teams has been good...until today.  At IU, we need specials to outperform against good competition for us to have a chance.  Today, it was the opposite, and it removed the chance to be more competitive. Very disappointing.  We can't afford to have that happen again.

2.  At IU, we need to commit fewer turnovers.  IU doesn't have more talent on paper, so mistakes are especially costly. You can't win turning the football over.  It was absolutely ridiculous how many turnovers there were.  A kid like Devonte Williams shouldn't ever run in traffic. He looks like he's 160 pounds. He can't do it and the coaches need to be smarter about it.  Receiving threat out of the backfield is the most he can do. 

3.  I don't know if Brandon Knight got hurt again.  I missed it if he did. At this point, I'd apply for a medical redshirt and try to get two solid years out of him the next two seasons.  He's too talented to let him squander his career. He's a junior already. 

4.  The interior offensive line is..offensive.  A number of guys are young and hopefully they will get a LOT better and there is room for improvement. Right now they are impotent.  As the Beatles said, it's getting better all the time, can't get much worse.  Stepaniak, Littlejohn, Crider, Nworah...all are young but scare nobody...yet.  They all need to live in the weight room.  

5.  Natee has blown his redshirt, right?  The kid has too much ability but obviously needs his weight down.  I'd redshirt him if you could and get him on a nutrition and work out program to get him to 240 lbs. 

6. Scales is an absolute stud   What a machine, he's everywhere.

7.  I'm glad Ian Thomas turned out reasonably ok.  He looks like he's going to be playing on Sunday's.  Absolutely.  

8. I like the versatility Whop Philyor brings. He's going to be a nice weapon.

9.  Big Allen Stallings fan.  He looks like Robert Mathis the way he bends the edge rushing the passer.  All signs point to him being an impact pass rusher for a long time. 

10.  We need Donovan Hale to man up. Or else get Taysir Mack or somebody else going.  Hale needs to step up opposite of Cobbs.  Right now, it really feels like the Westbrook injury has killed the downfield passing game with safeties cheating on Cobbs' side.  Hale needs to keep defenses honest.  

11. I feel like Cole Gest can do some things if he had any kind of blocking.  He looks a lot stronger to me but has nowhere to run.

12.  Will Tommy Stevens ever play?  Brandon Peters at UM is another.  He's been recruited over.  These are guys who would have had a great shot at IU to actually play.  

13.  Does anybody know how badly Marcellino Ball is hurt?  We miss him.  He can be an impact guy.  Without Ball and Fitzgerald, that's a lot of juice and tackling missing on the defense.

14.  Chase Dutra is a warrior but he's a step slow and stiff now.  I hope guys like Burgess are coming along.  That level of the defense is lacking without Ball and Fitzgerald not being eligible.  

 

 

 

 

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Great review! A lot of good observations menrioned and generally spot on.Vintage Fro...umm..-amanno here ,)

 

As much as I hate to,I gotta tip the hat to James Franklin and staff.

The ways they put Barkley in position to succeed ,knowing every scouting report focuses on him carrying the football,was to a large degree a coaching masterpiece.

 

The most lopsided aspect of today's game was definitely in the coaching match up.When IU wasn't helping give away the ball,and in the midst of mostly negating Barkley in the rushing game,they pulled something out of their proverbial arses in every other facet.That was lesson 101 in how to get the most out of a special talent on the rare day his forte wasn't working out so well.

The other thing they did really well once they saw IU was up to the task against the running game,was baiting the edges by sticking with the run,then completing pass after pass to the outside.The injury report provided hints at opportunities to be had against Indiana's injury limited DB depth and they recognized and exploited those,esp when they recognized they had them worn down.

IU as mentioned by others was very predictable with Ramsey.Given Ramsey is not among the upperclassmen l,Im fairly certain those plays were called for him...The(lack of) diversity in Indiana's play calling stood in stark contrast of Penn State in term of staying a step ahead of known quantities with a familiar opponent .I kept waiting for IU to show more imagination if only due to Penn States talent forcing it to be that way.I guess I'll be waiting for 2 more weeks since pushover games(on paper) between ranked opponents generally inspire vanilla game plans.IU showing enough to make Michigan expand its preparation could take some pressure off of the stuff they know will be coming.If it were me calling the shots  next weekend I make Lagow spread the ball short,and Ramsey let it rip down field by design as much as possible.

All of the bad really overshadowed a day where the IU D-line did a mostly solid job.Scales always impresses me and big plays to the middle of the field were more denied by IU than missed by PSU..Speaking of ,I strongly agree witb you..We missed Ball tremendously,and the secondary played like a banged up group barely holding it together.That is the only underperforming unit I can remotely give a pass to for what we saw on the field this week.That is even after harping over the toll to the receiving corps in the weekly depth chart thread.

I'm not looking forward to the updated injury report after several more guys were either shaken up or left the game.Even the commentators seemed intent on outlining the injury situation on Indiana's behalf..I personally hate looking for silver lining in an IU loss, but there were some positives.

Further injury resulting in more key contributors missing time could really knock this season off trackThis upcoming game won't be a detriment if Indiana can run the scout team out there and win so guys who need to sit can rest..However ,after the sloppiness today,establishing much greater offensive rhythm,and a breather win before U of M seem about as important for confidence as resting the injured will be for the team's physical health..

Since Indiana should naturally see this  loss as a game it had many factors in its control go awry,getting up for some redemption in a slightly more favorable upset chance at home shouldnt be an issue even if there is already a tiny bit of letdown feel to it(the season) failing to tiled a breakthrough to date ,and the next opponent being uninspiring.

My concern would really grow if the Char. So. game remains unexpectedly close unless the 3rd string is on the field for half of it.Maryland,MSU ,and Purdue drifting further into toss up status could alone lead to increased desperation ,but if Charleston So. makes Indiana go out of its way to earn it late....I'm not exactly concerned it is a trap game with loss potential ,but as for what I mentioned above, there appears to be more to lose than to gain aside of that 3rd win and a little momentum

On what to expect against U of M  I won't be basing much off next weekends game,but if IU turns it over 2 or 3 times,or bad personnel decisions end with further key losses to injury and it ends tight ,alarms bells should rightfully go off.

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54 minutes ago, rico said:

All good takes gents.

I have a take for all , and this is sincere, go look at USC Darnell numbers, picks, etc. It is called having a coach with a plan and not micro coaching play by play. Not sure why the coaches get a pass. 

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8 minutes ago, Payday said:

I have a take for all , and this is sincere, go look at USC Darnell numbers, picks, etc. It is called having a coach with a plan and not micro coaching play by play. Not sure why the coaches get a pass. 

You mean Sam Darnold for USC?  What does that have to do with a review of our game against Penn State?  If there's something, I'll gladly hear it.  I'm just struggling to see the connection.  Are you saying the USC coaches have ruined him this year, and you think that our coaches have ruined Lagow?

I will say that I have been less than impressed with DeBord as our OC.  Unfortunately he goes way back with Allen, so I can't imagine he'll move on from him anytime soon.  It was the right hire for stability sake, but he's not a long term answer.  Hopefully he'll retire soon.

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13 minutes ago, Leathernecks said:

You mean Sam Darnold for USC?  What does that have to do with a review of our game against Penn State?  If there's something, I'll gladly hear it.  I'm just struggling to see the connection.  Are you saying the USC coaches have ruined him this year, and you think that our coaches have ruined Lagow?

I will say that I have been less than impressed with DeBord as our OC.  Unfortunately he goes way back with Allen, so I can't imagine he'll move on from him anytime soon.  It was the right hire for stability sake, but he's not a long term answer.  Hopefully he'll retire soon.

Changing qb’s, the micro managing. USC pushed through and are in good shape. You don’t coach like what we are seeing. We are four weeks into the season and the offense is completely unsettled with no direction. Ride the horse that brought you and work on refining. And you are 100% correct on ties to deborge. Throw in the long ties to Ramsey’s family and we start to look like a local team and not a national team. And yes, if you look at the Ohio game and look at Lagow now you have to say they ruined him. They had all year to prep for Ohio and we had the game until depth wore us out. This is the best game planning they can come up with now? 

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11 minutes ago, Payday said:

Changing qb’s, the micro managing. USC pushed through and are in good shape. You don’t coach like what we are seeing. We are four weeks into the season and the offense is completely unsettled with no direction. Ride the horse that brought you and work on refining. 

I am not following you Payday, which is my is my favorite candy bar btw, I don't see/understand what you are trying to say.

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5 minutes ago, rico said:

I am not following you Payday, which is my is my favorite candy bar btw, I don't see/understand what you are trying to say.

Lol, neither am I. Probably frustration just from the poor offensive coaching. Too many games left and too far in. 🤦‍♂️

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For me the platooning of QB's leads to more problems than solutions. For me, it does not matter having one QB, that is better than the other, in certain situations.  The main issue is one of consistency.  Having receivers knowing a QB's favorite routes and go to guys in certain situations.  Linemen knowing for sure, what is going on behind their backs.  And having a QB confident in what he is doing,  without fear of being pulling just because something is not working for him at the time.

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1 hour ago, milehiiu said:

For me the platooning of QB's leads to more problems than solutions. For me, it does not matter having one QB, that is better than the other, in certain situations.  The main issue is one of consistency.  Having receivers knowing a QB's favorite routes and go to guys in certain situations.  Linemen knowing for sure, what is going on behind their backs.  And having a QB confident in what he is doing,  without fear of being pulling just because something is not working for him at the time.

I almost always agree with that.  However, we have 2 completely different style QBs so it gives the other team a completely different look which can throw them off too.  I would much rather have one good QB who plays all the time, but we have two inconsistent QBs, so neither one has shown they have what it takes to be the full time starter.  But yeah, I wish one of them would step up and take over full time.

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