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Penn State Pregame Thread

Zlinedavid

By Zlinedavid
in General Football Discussion

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BGleas

BGleas

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I'll chime in here. I'm not sure how often I've shared this but I grew up in both PA and IN. When I was a kid we moved from PA to IN in 1987 just after PSU had won the 1986 National Title in football and IU had won the 1987 National Title in basketball. Several years later we moved back to PA. I eventually lived in a few other states for about 15 years after college and then just recently moved back to PA.

With all of that said, I'm the guy most of you despise. I'm a PSU football fan and an IU basketball fan. Full disclosure, football is the only sport I really follow for PSU, where as with IU I root for all the sports. For example, I root for and follow IU football when they're not playing PSU. I do not root for or follow PSU basketball when they're not playing IU. 

Make sense?

I think this is a winnable game for IU, but I definitely wouldn't put any money on it. Nothing you guys don't already know, but PSU is extremely difficult to beat in Happy Valley. But, PSU is vulnerable in some areas. In the Minnesota game the defense got exposed a bit. The secondary was atrocious. Minny receivers were catching balls with no defenders within 5+ yards of them. Typically PSU's defensive line is really strong, both in pressuring QB's and stopping the run, but PSU barely even touched Minny's QB the entire game. I don't know if IU can replicate that though, I learned during the game that Minny's oline is larger than the average NFL offensive line. Their offensive line were monsters. 

Also defensively, PSU has really strong linebackers. Micah Parson's (#11) is the next great PSU linebacker. He's a true sophomore and just keeps getting better and better.  

Offense has been up and down for PSU. I like Sean Clifford, I think he's actually a better passer than Trace McSorely and isn't far off in terms of running/scrambling. But, he doesn't have that "it" factor that Trace had. That gamesmanship/moxey that Trace had. But, he's much more accurate on the short/intermediate throws, though less accurate on the deep throws. He was awful on Saturday against Minny, though PSU's receivers didn't help at all, dropping several balls that were right in their hands. 

PSU's offensive line is above average, but not great. They have a crop of 3-4 really good running backs. Obviously, none are Saquan Barkley, or probably even Miles Sanders, but Journey Brown is the big play guy and Noah Cain (missed Minny game with an injury) is true freshmen who has been the best of the four. Cain is going to be a good one, he's more of an inside the tackles guy. 

The stars of the offense are KJ Hamler, a lightening quick WR with good hands, and TE Pat Freiermuth. PSU moves Hamler all over the field and he is a big play, quick strike guy. Not big at all, pretty small, but super fast and a playmakers. Freiermuth is certainly the best TE in the Big Ten, maybe even the country. The guy is a flatout stud and has even been compared to Gronk. Both Hamler and Freiermuth are Clifford's security blankets, amongst an otherwise young, but unspectacular WR corps. PSU has highly rated recruits at WR, even a 5* RS FR, but outside of Hamler and Freiermuth, they drop a lot of passes and struggle to get open. 

It's really hard to win in Happy Valley, but if IU can protect Ramsey offensively, and defensively get pressure on Clifford and keep the ball away from Hamler and Freiermuth, it is possible to pull the upset. 

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milehiiu

milehiiu

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^^^^ I don't despise you at all Mr. Gleas.  And I am sure our members feel the same as I. Actually respect your love of IUBB.  And can respect your pulling for Penn State. Given where you lived at one time.  Very understandable. 

Having said that.  GO HOOSIERS !   LOL

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BGleas

BGleas

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1 hour ago, milehiiu said:

^^^^ I don't despise you at all Mr. Gleas.  And I am sure our members feel the same as I. Actually respect your love of IUBB.  And can respect your pulling for Penn State. Given where you lived at one time.  Very understandable. 

Having said that.  GO HOOSIERS !   LOL

Thanks, Mile! You can imagine what it's like when you're a 3rd grader and your hometown team wins a football National Titles, especially against that Miami team everyone thought would destroy PSU, and then you move and as a 4th grader your hometown teams wins a basketball National Title by beating that Syracuse team everyone thought would win. 

It leaves an impression on you as a young fan. 

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5fouls

5fouls

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26 minutes ago, BGleas said:

Thanks, Mile! You can imagine what it's like when you're a 3rd grader and your hometown team wins a football National Titles, especially against that Miami team everyone thought would destroy PSU, and then you move and as a 4th grader your hometown teams wins a basketball National Title by beating that Syracuse team everyone thought would win. 

It leaves an impression on you as a young fan. 

So, what you're basically saying is that if you had lived in West Lafayette growing up, you would not be a sports fan at all.  :coffee:  

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btownqb

btownqb

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3 hours ago, mrflynn03 said:

I remember the closest we have ever been to beating PSU was at home in 2007.  I was at the game and Kellen Lewis fumbled a snap on the final drive and PSU recovered  IU lost buy 5. 

I dont anticipate a win but this will be the best chance in a long time. GO IU!!

We beat them in 2013 by 20

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OLDIUFAN

OLDIUFAN

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6 hours ago, mrflynn03 said:

I remember the closest we have ever been to beating PSU was at home in 2007.  I was at the game and Kellen Lewis fumbled a snap on the final drive and PSU recovered  IU lost buy 5. 

I dont anticipate a win but this will be the best chance in a long time. GO IU!!

We came close last year? 33 28. 

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IU Scott

IU Scott

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9 hours ago, mrflynn03 said:

I remember the closest we have ever been to beating PSU was at home in 2007.  I was at the game and Kellen Lewis fumbled a snap on the final drive and PSU recovered  IU lost buy 5. 

I dont anticipate a win but this will be the best chance in a long time. GO IU!!

Wasn't there a year where Dinardo had us  run the ball 4 times from the 1 yard line but we did not score at the end of the game against PSU

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rico

rico

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11 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Wasn't there a year where Dinardo had us  run the ball 4 times from the 1 yard line but we did not score at the end of the game against PSU

Yes there was.  I was thinking maybe 2003 or 2004?  Seems to me IU was down by 6 in PSU territory late and got a pass play that set us up 1st and goal at the 1.  Ran it 4 straight times to for no gains.  PSU got the ball back at the goal line and IIRC the last play was the Lions punter running out of the back of the endzone for a safety.  Don't remember the final score but we got beat by 4.

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rogue3542

rogue3542

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It seems to me that Penn State has either regressed as the year has gone on or has at least remained stagnant while all the other teams have progressively found their stride and gotten better.

At the beginning of the season, they looked as good as OSU; now, though I'm not expecting a win this Saturday, I think IU has a decent chance.  Penn State looks a lot more beatable than they did even a few weeks ago, at least in my opinion.

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rico

rico

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4 hours ago, rogue3542 said:

It seems to me that Penn State has either regressed as the year has gone on or has at least remained stagnant while all the other teams have progressively found their stride and gotten better.

At the beginning of the season, they looked as good as OSU; now, though I'm not expecting a win this Saturday, I think IU has a decent chance.  Penn State looks a lot more beatable than they did even a few weeks ago, at least in my opinion.

Hang on...they dang near got beat by Pitt.

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Seeking6

Seeking6

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Plenty of mixed thoughts as head into this game. Usually on the road (against a great team) I want to shorten the game, control the clock and run, run, run. Watching Minnesota tear apart their secondary last week though also has me believing we can throw when we want on these guys. Here's my expert analysis on the game...haha.

1) TD's not 3's

2) Limit turnovers and giving Penn St short fields to work with

3) Avoid the home run or big plays to give them a quick 14 points. I always feel like in big road games IU has a history of being close and out of nowhere a tough 7 minute stretch happens and game goes from 20-17 to 34-17 real quick.

 

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Billingsley99

Billingsley99

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1 hour ago, Seeking6 said:

Plenty of mixed thoughts as head into this game. Usually on the road (against a great team) I want to shorten the game, control the clock and run, run, run. Watching Minnesota tear apart their secondary last week though also has me believing we can throw when we want on these guys. Here's my expert analysis on the game...haha.

1) TD's not 3's

2) Limit turnovers and giving Penn St short fields to work with

3) Avoid the home run or big plays to give them a quick 14 points. I always feel like in big road games IU has a history of being close and out of nowhere a tough 7 minute stretch happens and game goes from 20-17 to 34-17 real quick.

 

Very important keys. To win IMO need 2 turnovers forced or 1 and a big time special teams play. Have to expose their secondary but can our O line give Ramsey the time. A whole lot of Stevie Scott

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