Week 1 - BLAH

[Coach]

Temple very well may be the best team in Pennsylvania this year. Penn State and Pitt both had huge letdowns. Ohio is solid for sure, but they are still a MAC team that Penn State should beat at home (even when they lose scholarships). This was a letdown weekend. I'm still hopeful that PSU turns it around. Week 2 in Virginia...should be an interesting matchup.

[sparky]

Honestly even though they lost, I felt like the game was more exciting, I love the new offense. Actually exciting to watch for the first time in my life.

[El-Moldo]

....One thing about the Pitt loss is, since both YSU and Gardner-Webb are on their schedule this year, and BOTH are FCS teams, only ONE victory over a 1-aa team can be counted toward their total wins regarding the number of wins needed to be bowl eligible. Soooo.....the loss to YSU will not hurt them in their quest to be bowl eligible, since only a YSU or a Gardner-Webb can be counted in their total, but not both. Now I'm not saying that Pitt is headed to a bowl game, and I'm not saying Pitt fans should be happy with their showing on Saturday, but, if Pitt beats G-W, the loss won't hurt chances for a 6 win season and a possible bowl bid.
As of this minute, they haven't hurt themselves as far as going bowling.
....As far as PSU is concerned, wonder if BO'B SHOULD have watched some game film from last season? And the consensus is, PSU looked tired in the second half. Wonder what the toll will be on the players if they keep having 6AM practices. Who's idea was that anyway? And possibly, their uniforms were heavier since their names were added to their jerseys. You add a blue ribbon to their helmits, and 6 or 8 letters to their jerseys, and you got some extra weight to carry around for 3-4 hours. PSU has got to rethink a few things.

[S Cube]

For Pitt, there really is no excuse for losing to an FCS school. The defense absolutely could not get off the field on third down. Sunseri actually had a decent game, if he does what he did Saturday for the rest of the year I would be content. Of course the competition will be better than YSU the rest of the year. The offense really didn't do bad. The defense was terrible though. I don't think the YSU QB Hess would have even gotten his uniform dirty if he hadn't run the ball a few times. I don't think I saw a linebacker make a play the entire game. YSU kept running that 5'5" receiver in motion on jet sweeps and not once did a linebacker make a play on him. I think he had like 6 carries for 70 some yards. Like Moldy said, it's not the end of the world, but it sucks. The sad part is, it was actually a really good crowd for a Pitt game against an FCS school. The stadium was pretty full minus the bleacher seats. The student section packed in and was really into it until they got pissed off and pretty much all left early in the 4th. Gotta turn it around quick, they're headed to Cinci on Thursday night.

I saw the beginning of the PSU game before I headed to Pittsburgh, so I don't have much to comment on it. I actually feel bad for this program right now. And it's only going to get worse.

[The Ancient Enemy]

I didnt see either game, but I was pretty shocked at both outcomes. What an awful weekend for college football in general. I guess I should be happy that UNT only lost 41-14 and not 84-0.

Seriously, didnt I hear that Savannah State hasnt won a game in 3 seasons? Great work, Oklahoma State.

I think you have already got to be looking for Roof to be replaced. I just dont understand how you can NOT make halftime adjustments. And if McGloin is seriously better than Jones... Jones must be pretty awful.

O'Brien is in a bad spot right now w/ those QBs, bc McGloin is a team leader and replacing him could cause a mutiny. This season cant end fast enough.

[KirkHerbstreit]

Penn State actually came out and looked pretty good for much of the first quarter and a half. The offense looked good. However, quite a few questionable calls allowed Ohio to remain in the game. Gerald Hodges, a Linebacker, returning punts and kicks? That is so ridiculous it doesnt even need comment. 2nd and 3rd and 1 saw two incomplete passes in Ohio territory on consecutive plays. A bomb on 4th and 5. Overall, the most dissapointing thing in the game was the front 7 on Penn States defense. Totally dominated by a Mac team. Pathetic. The offense in the second half looked lathargic. Bill Benton is no Silas Redd. No playmakers. It will be a long 4 plus years. You simply won't be able to recruit or compete with these sanctions

Pitt's game deserves no comment if you get blown out by team from d2.

[El-Moldo]

I agree that PSU is probably headed for a long 4 years. However, what about THIS year?????? All I heard last week was how O'Brien was to be commended for keeping more than 90% of his available roster from leaving when they had a chance. And of those that left, only 2 were important to the program this year. Did losing Silas Redd make that much of an impact Saturday? I mean, there were STILL 20 first teamers to be counted on this season? Did losing one RB and one so-so receiver mean that much? There defense was still intact. Could the problem have been poor recruiting over the years? You got a walk-on as your starting QB, and PSU left their cupboard bare as far as running backs was concerned. AND their receiver position is in shambles. Did the kid who left for Oklahoma hurt the receiving corps that much? If you ask me, PSU's problem started several years ago. Losing a RB and a WR and 7 subs should not have made that much difference last week.

[KirkHerbstreit]

Obviously Penn State has had issues long before this scandal recruiting and coaching. They have not been a team in the upper echelon for quite some time. People will point to 2005 as proof otherwise, but the stars aligned perfectly that year to get to where they were at 11-1.

Yes, I would say losing your starting RB and WR would hurt most teams in college football outside of say USC, LSU, Alabama, etc. Those teams recruit so well that they just put in someone of equal talent. Penn State has not recruited that well to do that. They plugged in a former Wideout as their starting RB this year. He got injured and they replaced him with an undersized walk on running back. Yes That hurts. At WR and TE, the returning starters this year had a combined 12 total catches in their careers.

Recruiting, obviously, will not be much better for the next 4 years. So the talent flow now will get worse making each loss to Ohio like teams less surprising.