Staturdays

Sean Clifford

  • The Caboose of the Boilermakers

    We are coming up on another homecoming week in Happy Valley this Saturday, October 5th. The Boilermakers of Purdue are limping their way to State College to face off against the Nittany Lions for the 19th time in their competitive history. Penn State holds a 14-3-1 all-time record against Purdue and are strong favorites to get that 15th win. As of Monday, Penn State is favored by four touchdowns – a large margin, that to be honest, is likely modest.

    The other day during a press conference, Purdue Head Coach Jeff Brohm told media that 6 of his players would not be playing in the game due to injury. These include: starting QB and promising athlete Elijah Sindelar, DT Lorenzo Neal, WR Jared Sparks, backup RBs Tario Fuller and Richie Worship, and most importantly, superstar in the making, all-purpose WR Rondale Moore.

    These injuries are bound to do massive damage to whatever offensive attack Purdue wants to implement against Penn State on Saturday. Most teams would not be able to survive their QB, 2 RBs, and a WR all out for the same game – but Purdue especially, who relies on Moore and Sindelar to execute (basically anything), does not look favorable this weekend.

    Elijah Sindelar, the senior QB, was having a great start to his season; in just three games:

    • he was completing 64.3% of his passes for about 1000 yards
    • he had 9 TDs and 3 INTs
    • he was able to run in another TD

    Their backup QB (who PSU will face Saturday) has not been nearly as good, only completing 51.4% of his passes for 3 TDs and 4 INTs, reminiscent of Kyle’s long-lost Heisman darkhorse D’Eriq King. Losing your starting QB is always going to be a tough hill to climb, but the absence of Rondale Moore is much more damning for Purdue. This kid is a superstar and if you don’t want to take my word for it just check out his highlight reel against Ohio State in 2018. His freshman year he caught 114 passes and put up nearly 1500 scrimmage yards with 14 TDs. This year there was more than plenty of Heisman buzz about him and led Purdue with 29 receptions and 390 scrimmage yards. These two playmakers are the heart and soul of this offense and without them Purdue will surely struggle to move the ball against a stout Penn State defense in Happy Valley in front of a homecoming crowd.

    I predict that Penn State will win this game without much controversy. Coming off of a strong momentum building game in Maryland, the #LawnBoyz will be ready to stomp the Boilermakers and their weird mascot.

    The betting line for this game is Penn State -28.0 and 55.5. For those who don’t know, that means the total points scored between both teams is meant to be 55-56 and Penn State is supposed to win by 28 points. Basically Vegas is predicting a 42-14 win for Penn State. I think the score will more resemble something along the lines of 49-3. The parlay (combined odds of multiple bets) of choosing Penn State to win by more than 28 and for the score to be less than 55.5 is +440. These odds essentially work out as such, if you bet $100 on said parlay and win – you will receive a total of $440. I put down some of my own money on this parlay because I really do think that Purdue will have an immensely hard time scoring points. Following my logic, this would allow PSU to win by more than 28 and not allow more than 55 points to score (Staturdays can not be held responsible for your gambling losses, however may be entitled to fair compensation for your profits. LLC, all rights reserved, yada yada.)

    Outside of the game lines themselves, there are a few things to watch for going into the 5th game of the season:

    • Any true-freshman who has played snaps in all 4 previous games will burn their Red Shirt if they do get playing time.
      • Players like LBs Lance Dixon and Brandon Smith, DBs Jaquan Brisker and Keaton Ellis, OL Caedan Wallace, and RBs Noah Cain and Devyn Ford have all played 4 games already in their true-freshman year. If they do play against Purdue, they will have officially burned their Red Shirt. It is safe to say that Noah Cain and Devyn Ford have earned playing time all season – but we will wait to see who else will be year-long contributors.
    • Micah Parsons coming back with a vengeance.
      • LBs and DLs had a feast on the Maryland offense last Saturday, but unfortunately due to a targeting penalty – Micah Parsons sat most of the game. I expect him to come back hungry against Purdue this week. Don’t be surprised if Micah puts up a multi-sack game or maybe even forces a fumble or two.
    • Clarity among the RB situation.
      • We are coming to the time now where either a hierarchy of RBs will emerge or a true rotation will be the situation going forward. Journey Brown has earned the starting role but really is more or less splitting time with the other backs. They all have proven their worth be it in the run or the passing game. After this game we will have a clearer look into the future of this teams RB situation heading into the more competitive part of the schedule.
    • Another career game for Sean Clifford?
      • Purdue’s defense has been gashed in the passing game so far this season, letting up 295 passing yards to Nevada, 420 to Vanderbilt, and 396 to Minnesota. If Purdue struggled to get pressure on Nevada’s Carson Strong and allowed him to nearly clip 300 passing yards and 3 TDs – what will Clifford be able to accomplish?

    All in all, these are some exciting times for Penn State. Fans should head to Beaver Stadium confident on Saturday and should hope for a nice comfortable win. There is a tough road game ahead, but we can only look at the game currently on the schedule. Let’s go win game number five. We Are.

    4-0.

  • Stickler for PSU

    How does anyone start off writing their first article? Well, um … hi!

    I’m Brian (semi-new to Staturdays) and I wanted to introduce myself seeing that I’m going to be writing more and more for this blog this upcoming college football season. If you follow me on Twitter (@Brian_Stickler) you know that I have very intense specific interests and tastes in things – which makes it somewhat hard to follow me I think. To be honest, I am not sure why anyone follows me. Unless you’re super into Penn State Football, the New York Yankees, Breaking Bad, and like a whole bunch of miscellaneous movies and TV shows that I happen to be watching at that moment, I’m not sure that the package of information I send out into the world is all that relevant to you. So assuming that you don’t know my twitter account and frankly don’t care either, I’d like to start by telling you a little bit about me and my relationship to college football, and specifically Penn State.

    I am a novice college football fan. In fact, before I attended Penn State as a freshman I don’t think I ever even watched a college football game in my life. During a tour of campus when I was 16 years old, a tour guide told the group that we would all become the biggest football fans in the world after spending a few years at school. She was definitely right … but not immediately. Admittedly, the Christian Hackenberg era didn’t do much for me right off the cuff. I did love the atmosphere of the games, the tailgating, and the community that surrounded the football games – but it wasn’t until Penn State started really winning that I became really invested.

    Does that make me a bad fan? I don’t think so. In a class I took with our beloved StaturDAD, Kyle, we learned that the product on field is what makes the difference for attendance, more than any other external factor (such as promos, weather, cost, etc.). I don’t know much, but what I can tell you is that that is unequivocally true. When Penn State beat Ohio State in the 2016 white out game there was a clear difference in the way the community behaved. The campus and surrounding areas came alive and it hasn’t died down yet, not 3 years later. Penn State Football demanded our attention, and boy did it suck me right in. I was hooked and since then I haven’t been able to unattach myself, even if I wanted to. I became a superfan – living and breathing Blue and White during the fall and craving even the heartbreak of a 3-hour rain delay loss to Michigan State during the summer. I love the games, the anticipation, the atmosphere, the players, the coaches, and especially my peers. But that last one is where I feel I differ from the rest of the twitter-verse – and this should give you a good look at what to expect from me in the future. Here are a few things that fundamentally define my fandom:

    • I do not think the backup quarterback should be starting. I am sure Will Levis is an unbelievably talented player and has tremendous potential to be a huge impact at Penn State. I am sure that Tommy Stevens did too. But QB is a really hard job … a really hard job. Our friend Sean Clifford (4 Heisman) is going to be a first-year starter for the Nittany Lions this season, and while there will be times where he will shine, there will also be times where he will struggle. That doesn’t mean he sucks or should be replaced — that means he is growing and learning on the field in one of the most competitive environments in all of college sports. Twitter was ready to write off Trace McSorely during the Michigan game last year. Yes, #9 was getting monstrous hate every single pick or incompletion. That absolutely baffled me. He was arguably the best QB in the history of Penn State, and a large portion of the fan base thought his backup was going to be better than him. What are the odds of that? Kyle? Drew? You are the stat guys, let me know the probability that anyone was going to outperform the PSU leader in almost every measurable offensive statistic. It’s unlikely. We need to trust our coaches and know that they evaluate talent much different (and way better) than we do. Which brings me to my next point…
    • I am not one to call for the firing of coaches off the cuff. I will not use the heinous hashtag, #FireFranklin, every single time Penn State loses a football game. You know why? Because it is ridiculous. There are not many proven coaches in college football like James Franklin right now, and I am curious where all these fans calling for his head would like to find his replacement. How many active coaches right now have won a Big Ten Championship? The answer is 2 – and we have one of them. The truth is, sometimes coaches do need to go – like David Corley (PSU WR Coach) after a horrid year for the receiving core. I am just far more comfortable with someone who knows more than me making that decision. I said before, I know almost nothing – but here are two things I do know.
      1. Penn State exceeded all expectations following the sanctions in 2011
      2. I like people who like Penn State

    This is why I like Franklin — He wins with integrity, he recruits competitively with the best teams in the country, and he leads with clear direction — all of which demand respect and exude warmth. The guy is a really good coach, and just because we lost a few games doesn’t mean he should go. That, and he’s going to lead the Nittany Lions to a national championship during his tenure. @OldTakesExposed.

    • I root for the guys in Blue and White. All I have been saying over and over again is that I really don’t know much other than that I want to see us perform well. I am not an athlete, a coach, or a scout – I am simply a fan. So when there is someone on my screen in Nittany Lion gear, I am going to root for that dude to kick ass. I will not root for someone on this team to fail so that another can get an opportunity.

    Those three points make up my fundamental beliefs about sports and Penn State in general. It is important to make that clear because if you are looking for an overly emotional reactional blog this is not necessarily the place for you to get that release.

    It’ll come up over and over again throughout the season, but I cannot wait to experience that joy, excitement, anticipation, and even heartbreak with you all over the next 16 weeks. Let’s watch some college football together. Man does it feel good to be saying that again! We Are!

    Your Pal,

    Brian