Brian

It feels so much better to write about Penn State after a win. The first blog I sent out on Staturdays talked about how you were not going to find emotional angry outbursts in my work, and I promised it would be levelheaded analysis with enough statistical proof to backup my argument. Last season tested me and that is partially why I wasn’t consistent with what I was able to put out.

Last weeks win against Wisconsin reminded me of what it was like being a Penn State student in 2016 and 2017. That feeling of an ultra-important win against a really tough opponent is euphoric in a college football environment. The confidence and excitement it brought to fans and all of the students on campus is unlike anything else. Needless to say, I am happy to be back with you here after a win – lets discuss it.

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I wrote last week about how much pressure there was going to be on Sean Clifford and how his performance was going to be indicative of the season ahead – and the truth is, he played fine. Sure, he left a little to be desired on the field that day including some missed throws on big plays and a few errant passes that wouldn’t be advised – but he had a big zero in the stat that matters most: Turnovers. No interceptions and no fumbles from Clifford in my view was the reason that the offense was able to stay in that game by not putting more pressure on the defense and allowing new OC Yurcich to scheme up scoring drives for the second half while the game was still tied. There was a missed field goal and a missed extra point in the second half too so essentially the offense played well enough for 20 second half points on 4 scoring drives.

Not until the fourth quarter did Noah Cain really break out and besides that there was certainly not much in the running game available. No Tight Ends caught a pass last week. RB and TE were the two positions that I said were the deepest in the Big Ten. Credit Wisconsin for this. They schemed to take away the strength of Penn State and forced them to make Sean Clifford beat them downfield. Credit Sean Clifford for that. In the second half, with the help of some impressive WR play, he did what he needed to do. I sense that this will be a bounce back season for Clifford.

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I wrote about the offense last week, but you can’t really talk about that game without giving enormous credit to the defense. Allowing Wisconsin 10 points in 95 plays in about 45 minutes of game time is absolutely absurd. What they did by forcing turnovers, stopping major plays, and bending but not breaking was a masterclass of defense. The defense was so good for that matter, Gus Johnson (calling the game) was shouting DEFENSE multiple times on air when Jaquon Brisker caught that important interception with 2 minutes to go.

Jaquon Brisker plays the best safety that Penn State has seen in a very long time. Excellent at run blocking and coverage he is so important to this defense, and we are lucky to have him. Ellis Brooks took a huge step up at linebacker and was beyond impressive every snap. Jesse Luketa at DE (a new position for him) seemed to be a step up from his linebacker play and I am excited to see what he is able to do there for the entire season but holy moly how about Arnold Ebiketie? From play one he was wreaking havoc on Wisconsin’s offense and never really slowed down. Making that smooth of a transition from opponents he faced while playing on Temple to playing against Wisconsin in Camp Randall is not something that was expected by any means.

There is so much to be excited about now from Penn State on defense. I haven’t even mentioned Joey Porter Jr. or what the additions of Hakeem Beamon or Keaton Ellis could do for this offense. If the linebackers and defensive line play the entire season like last week, with the depth and skill in the secondary, this could be the most impressive Penn State defense seen in a very long time.

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This week Ball State comes into town. They are an impressive MAC opponent not to be overlooked. They won the MAC last year and are poised to do it again this year. Returning almost all of their starters from last year they are a very heavy Senior and Super Senior laden team with a ton of experience at almost all positions. They have won 8 in a row including a conference championship game and a bowl game and have received votes from the AP committee.

I am not particularly worried about the Ball State defense seeing as they have allowed many yards and points to much lesser teams. Last week, in their home stadium, Ball State played Western Illinois allowed 367 passing yards and 2 touchdowns from QB Connor Sampson. 237 of those yards and both of those Touchdowns came from receiver Dennis Houston. I imagine this could be a great week for Clifford and his receivers to show who they really can be against a secondary that is bound to allow some big plays.

The Ball State offense is a different story. A crazy atmosphere that will be the opening game at Beaver Stadium with fans for the first time in years may not be enough to shake Ball State QB Drew Plitt. Senior Plitt, who has thrown for almost 7000 yards in his five-year career at Ball State has a lot of experience under his belt and also has the explosive and shifty receiver Justin Hall. Hall, who went for 137 yards and 2 scores last week, is Ball States most dangerous player and poses the biggest threat to what Penn State will want to do.

I have a lot of faith Penn State will win this game. I do not believe in the trap game narrative because of many reasons but mostly how excited this team will be to get back into Beaver Stadium in front of fans. I am looking forward to seeing the improvements made on the offensive side of the ball and the sustained success from the defense.

1-0 this week. We Are!

I would like to start this off by saying I am aware this does not sound reasonable by any means, but in my mind, the entire 2021 Penn State Football season (on the offensive side of the ball) comes down to how well Sean Clifford plays against Wisconsin in week 1.

Why Wisconsin?

If the Nittany Lions can win the season opener against the Badgers that could provide enough momentum and confidence for the team for the start of the year. The first half of the season goes as follows: @Wisconsin, Ball State, Auburn, Villanova, Indiana, and @Iowa. Despite coming off of a miserable 4-5 2020 campaign (that started 0-5), a win IN Madison could reintroduce the Nittany Lions as the contender that the talent in that locker room should be considered. The next 5 games are all against teams that on paper Penn State should win. Wisconsin is going to play hard nose, in your face, football as they always do – but creative teams with superior talent (see OSU) can beat teams like that. Wisconsin, despite some close games, hasn’t beat Penn State in football in over a decade for that very reason.

Penn State football, specifically in the James Franklin era, has not proven to be a team that recovers from losses. The 2017 and 2018 MSU losses following the OSU loss are the most hurtful in recent memory, but I chalk up the start of the 2020 season to ‘loss fatigue’ as well. After a close “loss” to Indiana (that was only possible due to some poor decision making by Devyn Ford and a questionable 2-pt conversion call from the refs) Penn State never recovered. They dropped their second in a row understandably to a great OSU team, but then got manhandled at home by a weak Maryland team and dropped another to a pitiful Nebraska team the following Saturday. Those Maryland and Nebraska losses are unacceptable by any stretch of the imagination when you think of the talent that Penn State had. Their inability to overcome a loss had everything to do with the most recent Penn State season.

James Franklin can not allow that to happen again this year. A win at Wisconsin would prove that last year was indeed a fluke and the talent is more than just theoretical. A loss would be tough to swallow but ‘overcomeable’ – if the bounce back can actually happen this year. The issue with that … Ball State, the second game on the schedule, is not a cupcake of a team. They are projected to win the MAC this year easily and have some sure NFL talent on both sides of the ball. Auburn, despite a shaky year, is a big-time SEC team that, like Penn State, recruits well and is always competing. Indiana should regress but has big time players in QB Michael Penix Jr. and WR Ty Fryfogel which will be a challenge for any defense. Playing in Iowa is always a nightmare.

Penn State can not afford to drop a game and let it linger and spill over to the remainder of the season. If they can’t come out of the gate with a win, they will have MUST-WIN games over tough opponents. I have confidence in Penn State, but it’s hard to believe in the bounce back until it’s been seen. The good news is Penn State (speaking on Offense today) has the team to do it. They are deep in the RB and TE room with explosive talent, likely the best OL in the Franklin era and possibly in the Big Ten, and have 2 incredible WRs in Jahan Dotson and Parker Washington with some young talent behind them. So, what is the worry?

Why Sean Clifford?

Penn State has so much talent and depth on offense except for the most important position on the field, QB. The depth is challenged because of 2020 backup QB Will Levis’s transfer to Kentucky. Behind Clifford now are Ta-Quan Roberson (career stats are 0-1 passing and one rushing attempt for -1 yards) and Christian Veilleux (hasn’t played a live snap since 2019). While both are talented, the complete and total lack of experience leaves a lot to be desired. If Sean Clifford were to go down with an injury, Franklin would be asking quite a lot out of his young QB room.

Injuries are only one part of the equation unfortunately. Last year, Clifford had lost the confidence of his coaches and was benched for Will Levis for a significant portion of the second half of the season. He had clearly regressed in almost all major aspects as QB play such as accuracy, foot-work, ball security, and confidence. This Penn State team cannot afford the same play or regression this year. All of the depth along the offensive skill positions and the true potential of a great Offensive Line would mean nothing if the QB cannot manage the game correctly.

To Clifford’s credit, it is a very weird situation learning from and playing for 3 different offensive coordinators over his tenure at Penn State. Clearly the transition from Ricky Rahne in 2019 to Kirk Ciarrocca was not one that benefitted Sean. I can only hope that Franklin believes that moving on from Ciarrocca and moving to new OC Mike Yurcich can pay immediate dividends in 2021 and that Clifford can be at least restored to his 2019 self if not much better.

All of this being said, I think that ‘average to above average’ QB play from Sean Clifford would result in an excellent Penn State football team in 2021. Less than that, I am not so sure a win against Wisconsin is possible. And with a loss to Wisconsin, using the past as a benchmark, I am skeptical of this squad’s ability to bounce back with some tough opponents throughout the beginning of the season. That leads me to my ‘clickbait-esque’ theory that Sean Clifford’s play in Game One can literally make or break this season.

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There are some incredible players with a lot of experience on this Penn State football team. I am beyond excited to see what they look like in action after a real off-season without most of the craziness that was 2020. If you are like me, keep your fingers crossed for Sean Clifford’s sustained health and success and that could and should lead to a special season of Nittany Lion football. WE ARE!

I have been contemplating for a while why it seems that sports fans are so quick to want someone fired on their favorite teams when times are rough. On the surface it seems obvious, they want accountability held for poor performance and times to get better. But I believe it goes much deeper than that.

If you are on United States sports twitter like I am (and you are reading this, so you probably are) you have noticed a shift in the replies on sports tweets in the last few years. Replies have been diluted to trolling ‘copy and paste’ punchlines like “not a real sport” or “Mickey Mouse LeBum James is washed”. These meaningless comments, written by faceless fan/parody accounts with sub-50 followers, have become so prevalent that they are either 9 of the 10 top replies or 90% of the replies total to a sports post. It is becoming insufferable and shutting out any real conversation on the sports twitter landscape.

At the same time, tweets and other social media posts calling for coaches (head or assistant) to get fired has also been on the rise. If you don’t believe me, search on twitter your favorite coaches name preceded by the word ‘fire’ and you will see literally hundreds of individuals calling for their replacement. I did this exercise during the 2019 college football season and found tweets calling for the firing of Ryan Day, Nick Saban, Dabo Sweeny, Ed Orgeron, and Lincoln Riley. My point then was to show the ridiculousness of calling for the firing a typical successful Head Coach after one loss; but my point now is to highlight how often this is happening. Coaches often do get fired and changes have to be made, but these are typically decisions that come after lots of deliberation by the front offices of teams. If coaches were fired every time fans asked for it to happen, the best coaches in the world would be jobless.

So, what do these two things have in common?

I believe that the rampant trolling on twitter has changed the landscape on sports fandom in the United States in an extremely negative way. Following teams for younger audiences has become more and more of their personalities in the last few years. Look at the bio on a typical twitter account that interacts with @ESPN or @BleacherReport. Usually, it’s the state they live in followed by their favorite four sports teams and their records – often the team’s record is in their name. Being a fan of these teams is not just something they enjoy – it is something that defines them. Because of this they are quick to defend these teams and sometimes players just as quick as they would be to defend themselves. Their least favorite player, say Lebron James or Aaron Judge, becomes a legitimate enemy to them. The failure of a team feels more personal than it ever had.

Someone who fans don’t typically become as attached to is a team’s coaching staff due to the short tenure that is the nature of those jobs. Pinning the issues on the coaches is usually a pretty sophomoric argument but that doesn’t take away how convenient it can be. This way you don’t have to get angry at players as often and allows failures to feel more distant. After any loss for a sports fan, emotions tend to be high. You can hedge this bet by calling for the firing of a coach early and never lose an argument again. If the team you like wins you get to be excited, if they lose you get to say, “I told you so”.

In professional sports only one of thirty teams can win it all and in college the odds are even less. It can feel good to say “your team will never win” despite the odds being massively on your side. If that team does win, it can always be explained away by “bad refs” or “easy schedule”. You can say, my team will never win with this guy as our coach – and odds are you’re right.

My convoluted point is this, we need to stop allowing sports teams to become so integrated into our personalities. We need to stop allowing trolls on twitter to force us to hedge our favorite teams with why they wont win and why its at least better on my favorite team than it is on yours. I guarantee that even the athletes competing don’t get as emotional as some fans. You are allowed to get excited for a regular season win and you’re allowed to think that your team is the best there is. You don’t have to answer to @NetsFan697(22-10) saying that Joel Embiid sucks because you know he doesn’t.

I beg fans, enjoy sports as they are intended to be enjoyed. Trust that the right moves will be made eventually to bring your favorite team to the playoffs and please have fun during wins and shrug off losses. Engage only in real debate with individuals arguing in good faith. Anything less than this is pointless.

Hopefully soon the discussion on twitter can again resemble something worth participating in.