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Penn State at tOSU, Oct 30th, 7:30 PM, ABC

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RugbyBuck said:
Yes, there’s film to be watched and adjustments to be made, but anyone genuinely upset with this win hasn’t been paying attention. Rival or not, the PSU game is always like this and they’re a legit squad. I don’t know what happened to them the two previous games, but I know there’s no transitive property in-conference. There’s much that could’ve been done better, but this team has the upside to get it done.
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Definitely. The most important part of this team is their ability to improve rather quickly over a few games. Both sides of the ball have done that and now it's time to see if they can continue that trajectory because they are far from maxed out.

This was the 2nd needed wake up call but thankfully they pulled it out. Now they understand what they will face to end the season and possibly in the playoffs, and while they'll need to play better they understand that even an off day stressed a very good defense.
 
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LordJeffBuck said:
(a) with 3:48 left in the 1st half, Stroud avoided a strong outside blitz, allowed his blocker (pulling guard Thayer Munford) to get into position to engage the pass rusher, stepped up in the pocket, kept his eyes downfield, and hit Chris Olave in stride for a 38-yard touchdown
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Here's the play that I'm talking about (first play on the highlight reel). Note how Stroud lets Munford get into position to block the blitzter - Munford doesn't do much on the play, but he keeps himself between the blitzer and Stroud and that buys just enough time to get the throw off. A lot of QBs in that situation would panic and scramble and likely be taken down for a sack, and fans would be screaming about Munford missing the block when in reality the QB would have run away from his protection. Stroud's eyes are downfield the entire time, unconcerned with the blitzer, trusting his lineman. He looks right first (to Ruckert?), then back left, finds Olave, steps up four yards in the pocket with three defenders surrounding him and delivers the perfect strike. In reality, the throw, perfect as it was, was almost anticlimactic, because the play was made play Stroud's patience, movement in the pocket, and awareness of his receivers. Can't really do any better than that.

 
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Buckeye86 said:
I’m on board with the theory that Franklin pulled a Hoke and completely skipped preparing for Illinois to put two weeks of time in preparing for Ohio Stage, creating the results of both games.
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You can make a strong argument that winning it would have been all he needed to take the USC or LSU job.
 
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Buckeye86 said:
I’m on board with the theory that Franklin pulled a Hoke and completely skipped preparing for Illinois to put two weeks of time in preparing for Ohio Stage, creating the results of both games.
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Yeah I agree, Penn State was definitely looking past the Illinois game toward the Ohio State game and it bit "them in the ass" (i.e. they lost both games).....:lol:

When you've won the last 4 B1G CCGs and are riding a 23 game conference winning streak you are always going to get every B1G opponent's best shot. Regardless of their record, just beating Ohio State will "make their season".
 
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I know Day already had "grind it out, play the long game" tactic going into this game. I still was not a big fan of the in game adjustments even though I know he had a master plan to get a W with a grind.

My biggest complaints were:

Running straight up the gut when we weren't run blocking well to create hole in the middle. Would have like to seen more running off the edge, or between the TE and T and T and G. Also more play action and also finding Henderson in the flat or checking to the middle when he had green grass out front in the middle.

Stretch the field a bit more, clear outs and find those crossing routes in the middle when they were selling out to stuff the run.

Our defense in zone was getting picked apart for stretches. I'm not sure if our DBs weren't on their game or PSU had a really good plan to beat our zone, but I feel like we have talent to switch to man free coverage with the safety cheating a bit towards Dotson. It was amazing to me how Clifford was able to move the chains picking apart a zone where our DBs didn't look like they were in sync, leaving big holes for short/mid frequently.

It seemed like there was opportunities to get CJ better looks with more roll out and bootleg.

This was a tough opponent, but I felt we willed this victory more with talent than scheme and adjustments. I felt some frustration and stubbornness was going on because certain plays weren't working so we would double down instead going with the ones that gave us higher percentage.

It felt like we used less motion and window dressing than usual.

The gameplay ended in a W, so success, but I think this was one game where there might have been some tilt style playing calling instead of adjusting to take what was being given. Usually you take what the defense gives you but I feel like we get used to playing weaker teams that we decide to take what we want and it still works, but when you face stiffer competition this doesn't happen as much. I feel like with the talent and better adjustments this wouldn't have been nearly as close as it was.

Hats off to PSU for being able to make it a close one, but as always, fuck PSU.
 
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LordJeffBuck said:
Then with 4:17 left in the third quarter, Henderson made his highlight reel play, a 68-yard jaunt (his longest run of the year) that took the ball down to the Penn State 3-yard line
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To follow is Henderson's 68-yard run. The hole on the play is huge, and even Jerron Cage might've gone for 10 or 12 yards, but Henderson has such subtle shiftiness in the open field and that's what make him so special. When Henderson gets to the 40-yard line (one yard past the first down yellow line), he has a DB in front of him. Of course, the DB thinks that Henderson will go outside, and that's what most backs would do. So Henderson makes a slight move inside which freezes the DB (it's very subtle, but also very effective), then he turns on the jets and simply outruns the guy down the sideline for an extra 57 yards before he gets pushed out of bounds. And this against a top defense with NFL talent, not some MAC chump or Big Ten bottom feeder.



Here are screen caps at 39-, 40-, and 41-yard lines. Notice Henderson's angle of travel in each shot - 45 degrees toward sideline, straight upfield, 45 degrees toward sideline - which you almost can't see on the video. Again, like Stroud's throw to Olave, it is the little things that make big plays against good teams.

Screen Shot 2021-10-31 at 2.48.37 PM.png
Screen Shot 2021-10-31 at 2.49.00 PM.png
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About this game....

First thing I noticed is it seemed like Penn State's defense was playing to Ohio State's tendencies and it really appeared that Ohio State checked into plays that Penn State was ready for more often than not. I'm sure that's not fully the case but it certainly seemed that way more than once.

The "Not our Rival" chant was epic too.
 
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LordJeffBuck said:
Here's the play that I'm talking about (first play on the highlight reel). Note how Stroud lets Munford get into position to block the blitzter - Munford doesn't do much on the play, but he keeps himself between the blitzer and Stroud and that buys just enough time to get the throw off. A lot of QBs in that situation would panic and scramble and likely be taken down for a sack, and fans would be screaming about Munford missing the block when in reality the QB would have run away from his protection. Stroud's eyes are downfield the entire time, unconcerned with the blitzer, trusting his lineman. He looks right first (to Ruckert?), then back left, finds Olave, steps up four yards in the pocket with three defenders surrounding him and delivers the perfect strike. In reality, the throw, perfect as it was, was almost anticlimactic, because the play was made play Stroud's patience, movement in the pocket, and awareness of his receivers. Can't really do any better than that.

Click to expand...

Beautiful throw.

I hope we never wear all Scarlett again. Oof.
 
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lowbuck said:
I know Day already had "grind it out, play the long game" tactic going into this game. I still was not a big fan of the in game adjustments even though I know he had a master plan to get a W with a grind.

My biggest complaints were:

Running straight up the gut when we weren't run blocking well to create hole in the middle. Would have like to seen more running off the edge, or between the TE and T and T and G. Also more play action and also finding Henderson in the flat or checking to the middle when he had green grass out front in the middle.

Stretch the field a bit more, clear outs and find those crossing routes in the middle when they were selling out to stuff the run.

Our defense in zone was getting picked apart for stretches. I'm not sure if our DBs weren't on their game or PSU had a really good plan to beat our zone, but I feel like we have talent to switch to man free coverage with the safety cheating a bit towards Dotson. It was amazing to me how Clifford was able to move the chains picking apart a zone where our DBs didn't look like they were in sync, leaving big holes for short/mid frequently.

It seemed like there was opportunities to get CJ better looks with more roll out and bootleg.

This was a tough opponent, but I felt we willed this victory more with talent than scheme and adjustments. I felt some frustration and stubbornness was going on because certain plays weren't working so we would double down instead going with the ones that gave us higher percentage.

It felt like we used less motion and window dressing than usual.

The gameplay ended in a W, so success, but I think this was one game where there might have been some tilt style playing calling instead of adjusting to take what was being given. Usually you take what the defense gives you but I feel like we get used to playing weaker teams that we decide to take what we want and it still works, but when you face stiffer competition this doesn't happen as much. I feel like with the talent and better adjustments this wouldn't have been nearly as close as it was.

Hats off to PSU for being able to make it a close one, but as always, fuck PSU.
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This is a great breakdown. My only issue all year has been with Stroud NEVER keeping the "read" option. How many times last night could Stroud have pulled it on 3rd or 4th and short and just walked for a first down?? It would obviously also open up the run more later on if he only kept it a few times a games. If he doesn't want to take a hit that's fine. Just slide after the line to gain. But down the stretch here Day is going to have to make Stroud pull it a few times to make the playoffs.
 
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