Penn State at Michigan Open Game Thread

[KirkHerbstreit]

Penn State's offensive line is one of the worst I have ever seen on the D1 level. It was to be expected with Sanctions. That said, there are times where Hackenberg has time to throw the ball and does not. I don't know if he does not trust his receivers or if they plays are not developing. I said during the summer that I felt the NCAA would reduce the sanctions, but Penn State might not get six wins to play in a bowl game. I might be right.

As for coaching, I will give this staff time to play with 85 scholarship players and a offensive line that does not consist of Dlinemen before I panic, however that fake punt was one of the dumbest decisions I have ever seen. You were in a defensive struggle. Michigan could not move the ball. You punt it (hopefully inside the 10) and try to get it back at your 50 after 3 run plays by Michigan. Just dumb

[Crimson's Ghost]

I think Hack has "regressed" under Franklin to this point. But that might be a year transition, which happens to any QB. He could be better next year. His line isn't good, no impact backs. Decent tight ends and receivers though. Hackenberg is good, but the sure fire first round pick we were calling him (myself included) a few months ago may have been premature.

[KirkHerbstreit]

I agree with that. He has the arm to be an NFL QB, but his poise can be questioned at times. The Oline plays a apart in that, but there are times where he does have time and his decision making is lacking. I don't think all of his problems can be attributed to the OLine.

[konjo78]

remember when you all yelled at me because i said things like, Hackenburg is not even a top 25 qb? well i just like to say welcome back to planet earth my fellow penn state fans. he is very talented but still needs 1-2 more years before even being considered top notch.

[SFB14]

No question that CH has regressed this year. When you are playing behind that OL and cannot run the ball consistently there are going to be problems no matter who the QB is. PSU has 1 scholarship OT in the sophomore, junior, & senior classes. No one can play consistently given the restraints he's playing under. Having said all that he has really made some questionable decision with the ball and seems unwilling to just throw it away at times. There doesn't seem to be a lot of separation with the receivers either and that may speak to the schemes they are running.

It is very hard to make a fair judgment on CH and the coaches until they are on a somewhat level playing field. They currently have 62 recruited scholarship players. Until the numbers and depth can be replenished it'll be hard to see exactly what you have. The only thing clear at this point is that offensively and on special teams PSU is a mess and Hackenburg is really struggling.

Maybe they are incapable of running some of the stuff that BOB ran last year because of personnel issues, but you think they would at least look at it because CH seemed much more comfortable with it then what he is doing now.

[Crimson's Ghost]

O'Brien is a better coach than Franklin. He would have figured out something to get this offense moving at a higher level. With that said, Franklin needs time to figure his system out. In the meantime, Christian Hackenberg's talents are being wasted to a degree. The line is obviously putrid, but I really do think O'Brien would have a better plan of attack.

[KirkHerbstreit]

O'Brien being a better coach than Franklin is a myth and cannot be determined yet. People stating this about O'Brien conveniently forget O'Brien's performance against Ohio, Virginia, and Indiana with much more talent at his disposal. Last year, Indiana could not stop the run and O'Brien passed the entire game and was blown out. I really liked Bill as a coach, but he knew the writing was on the wall. If he were to be highly sought after, it would be last year. He saw they were replacing 4 of 5 olineman and watched enough of them in practice to know it was going to be a long year. That does not factor in replacing a great wide receiver and replacing him with limited experience.

The sanctions were meant to have this effect. People ignore this fact because society is all about right now. It is really difficult to generate an offense when you can't run block or hold a block for 1 second. This year was expected when the sanctions were put in place. The recruiting classes at Penn State that are currently playing were ranked 43rd, 51st, and 36th and their were 15 in the classes. You could put Bill Belichek, Tom Landry, or Chuck Noll coaching this team and the results would be the same. Anyone who expected Franklin to be 6-0 or 5-1 at this point is delusional.

[Crimson's Ghost]

O'Brien coaches in the NFL, Franklin coaches In the Big Ten. I think he's better, but that's a personal assessment.

[Crimson's Ghost]

The sanctions are supposed to make this happen, it's just my opinion that O'Brien could have figured out somewhat of an offense for this particular team.

[KirkHerbstreit]

Crimson outside of Penn State vs Michigan have you watched Penn State games this year? The Oline is abysmal. It's not even adequate. What do you think would work when you can't run, can't pass protect, and when you throw quick bubble screens the WR either drops it, misses a block, or the D is playing press coverage and it goes nowhere. Franklin was able to lead Vandy to 9 wins seasons with much less than Derek Mason has now at Vanderbilt. Have you seen what Vandy is doing? The guy can coach, but he will be second guessed for the next 2 years while he gets players in place.

By the way, Penn State's offense looked just as bad last year in games against Minnesota and Indiana.