Well, give Jimmy Franklin some credit he is finally taking responsibility on his Teams losses and poor coaching on Game Day! He has a tough Road to Hoe in beating Michigan's Harbaugh and has 2 weeks to figure it out? MSU Dantonio could well be playing for the Big Ten Title if they beat Ohio State. The Penn State Kicker would have missed it anyway, Franklin went to the same Coaching Clinic as Paul Chryst on Special Teams? Zero Learning!
Articles & Links:
EVANSTON, Ill. — No one can possibly know what Penn State might have done with more time after Jack Mitchell's 35-yard field goal put Northwestern up 23-21 with 9 seconds to go. It would have been interesting to find out.
After Curtis Cothran downed Mitchell's kickoff at the Penn State 25, 7 seconds remained, time for just one play. Quarterback Christian Hackenberg completed a 12-yard pass to Chris Godwin, who lateraled to DaeSean Hamilton in an attempt to duplicate one of those crazy multilateral plays that rarely work (Miami notwithstanding).
Rewind to an earlier play: On third-and-5 on the Penn State 31, Justin Jackson gained 7 of his career-best 186 yards and picked up a first down. Instead of immediately calling timeout, Penn State coach James Franklin waited. And waited. Finally he called one, after about 30 seconds had run off. Thirty valuable seconds.
Afterward, Franklin took the heat. From himself.
“I should have burned the timeout right away,” he said. “Didn't make the play there. Should have called timeout, no doubt about it.”
Asked what happened, Franklin said, “It's a combination. Have an idea of what I want to do and running it by people on the headset. That was my mistake. One of 12 opportunities we had, and we didn't get it done.”
Quick thinking
Even though Penn State lost, Hamilton and receiver Geno Lewis turned in the play of the game, with unintended help from another receiver, Brandon Polk.
Polk went in motion from the right side, as if to run the jet sweep. He got the ball from quarterback Christian Hackenberg, and, before he could shovel it to Lewis coming around from the other side, he fumbled.
Lewis, without breaking stride, picked the ball up on one bounce and continued with the play. He headed right as if to run a reverse but stopped and threw a perfect pass to Hamilton that went for a 32-yard touchdown to cut Northwestern's lead to 20-14 in the third quarter.
“My main focus was just to get the ball when it hit the ground,” Lewis said. “I just scooped it while I was still running. It took a really good bounce for me.”
Lewis said for an instant he thought about not throwing but decided to proceed with the play.
“It's all about reaction,” he said. “You've got to see what's going on, and you've got to think fast. The thing is, I bubbled around good enough to where I had enough time to throw the ball, so I just put it out there.”
Lewis, who was hit after he threw and never saw the catch, said he knew the play worked because “I could see everyone jumping up and down on the sideline.”
No-show
Kicker Tyler Davis replaced Joey Julius, who was benched last week against Illinois. Not only that, but Julius did not make the trip (although he did tweet during the game). Asked if Julius was absent for disciplinary reasons, Franklin replied, “It was not disciplinary.” Which doesn't necessarily mean that he's hurt. Or maybe he is. Franklin hates discussing injuries.
http://triblive.com/sports/college/pennstate/9379693-74/state-penn-kick
Second Article:
One might hope Penn State coach James Franklin suspended his one-game-at-a-time stratagem and reminded his players they are 7-3 entering the bye week, not 0-1 after losing to Northwestern on Saturday.
A .700 winning percentage, even against shaky competition, feels better than .000. Given the down time this week, it would seem more prudent to dwell on that and not on Saturday's bitter 23-21 loss.
Penn State's fate officially was sealed by a final-seconds field goal, but that 20-7 halftime deficit also mattered. Probably no one talks about Jack Mitchell's 35-yard kick with 9 seconds left — or any field-goal attempt from any distance — if the Nittany Lions had played in the first half as they did in the second.
The healing process, physically and psychically, is underway, preparations to follow. Still searching for their first win against a formidable opponent, Penn State has two remaining opportunities — in their next game, Nov. 21 against Michigan, ranked 15th in the latest poll, followed by the season finale at Michigan State, which lost a 39-38 shocker to Nebraska and fell from sixth to 14th.
“You'd like to go into a bye on a positive note and get healthy,” Franklin said. “The bye is coming late in the season, but we're going to take it.
“There's no doubt you'd like to go into a bye with a win feeling really good, getting ready for those last two games. Our guys bounce back and are resilient. We'll come in on Sunday and have our normal practice, and go from there.”
The loss, in a sense, typified Penn State's season. Running back Saquon Barkley, an 18-year-old freshman, continued to demonstrate he is a force who deserves better blocking.
Quarterback Christian Hackenberg, under heavy pressure again, and the offense had some quality moments, but sporadically strung them together. The defense recorded six sacks but again had trouble defending the run. Only this time, instead of a mobile quarterback or a Heisman Trophy candidate giving the Lions fits, it was running back Justin Jackson who found some lanes and gained 186 yards. Special teams play again hurt.
Northwestern, ranked 21st by the College Football Playoff committee before the game, was the third quality opponent to beat the Lions. Meanwhile, among Penn State's victims, Rutgers, Maryland, Army and Indiana are a combined 11-25. Illinois is 5-4. San Diego State (6-3) and Buffalo (5-4) play outside the Power 5 conferences.
“Everybody's down, thinking what they could have done,” said linebacker Brandon Bell, whose strong game — 2 1⁄2 sacks, another tackle for a loss — took a back seat. “Everybody obviously wanted to do better. We've got to watch the film and correct mistakes and hopefully make the play next time.”
Bell paused and corrected himself.
“Make sure you make the play next time,” he said.
Medical update
Defensive end Carl Nassib left the game in the fourth quarter shortly after recording his 15 1⁄2 sack, breaking the Penn State single-season record set by Larry Kubin in 1979 and tied by Michael Haynes in 2002. Nassib appeared to aggravate a shoulder injury he has been dealing with all season (as usual, no specifics were provided).
Safety Jordan Lucas came out of the locker room in the second half wearing a sling and street clothes. Tackle Andrew Nelson, who got hurt against Maryland and missed the Illinois game, saw limited action in the “Jumbo” package.
Bob Cohn is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at bcohn@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BCohn_Trib.
http://triblive.com/sports/college/pennstate/9379768-74/state-penn-game
Articles & Links:
EVANSTON, Ill. — No one can possibly know what Penn State might have done with more time after Jack Mitchell's 35-yard field goal put Northwestern up 23-21 with 9 seconds to go. It would have been interesting to find out.
After Curtis Cothran downed Mitchell's kickoff at the Penn State 25, 7 seconds remained, time for just one play. Quarterback Christian Hackenberg completed a 12-yard pass to Chris Godwin, who lateraled to DaeSean Hamilton in an attempt to duplicate one of those crazy multilateral plays that rarely work (Miami notwithstanding).
Rewind to an earlier play: On third-and-5 on the Penn State 31, Justin Jackson gained 7 of his career-best 186 yards and picked up a first down. Instead of immediately calling timeout, Penn State coach James Franklin waited. And waited. Finally he called one, after about 30 seconds had run off. Thirty valuable seconds.
Afterward, Franklin took the heat. From himself.
“I should have burned the timeout right away,” he said. “Didn't make the play there. Should have called timeout, no doubt about it.”
Asked what happened, Franklin said, “It's a combination. Have an idea of what I want to do and running it by people on the headset. That was my mistake. One of 12 opportunities we had, and we didn't get it done.”
Quick thinking
Even though Penn State lost, Hamilton and receiver Geno Lewis turned in the play of the game, with unintended help from another receiver, Brandon Polk.
Polk went in motion from the right side, as if to run the jet sweep. He got the ball from quarterback Christian Hackenberg, and, before he could shovel it to Lewis coming around from the other side, he fumbled.
Lewis, without breaking stride, picked the ball up on one bounce and continued with the play. He headed right as if to run a reverse but stopped and threw a perfect pass to Hamilton that went for a 32-yard touchdown to cut Northwestern's lead to 20-14 in the third quarter.
“My main focus was just to get the ball when it hit the ground,” Lewis said. “I just scooped it while I was still running. It took a really good bounce for me.”
Lewis said for an instant he thought about not throwing but decided to proceed with the play.
“It's all about reaction,” he said. “You've got to see what's going on, and you've got to think fast. The thing is, I bubbled around good enough to where I had enough time to throw the ball, so I just put it out there.”
Lewis, who was hit after he threw and never saw the catch, said he knew the play worked because “I could see everyone jumping up and down on the sideline.”
No-show
Kicker Tyler Davis replaced Joey Julius, who was benched last week against Illinois. Not only that, but Julius did not make the trip (although he did tweet during the game). Asked if Julius was absent for disciplinary reasons, Franklin replied, “It was not disciplinary.” Which doesn't necessarily mean that he's hurt. Or maybe he is. Franklin hates discussing injuries.
http://triblive.com/sports/college/pennstate/9379693-74/state-penn-kick
Second Article:
One might hope Penn State coach James Franklin suspended his one-game-at-a-time stratagem and reminded his players they are 7-3 entering the bye week, not 0-1 after losing to Northwestern on Saturday.
A .700 winning percentage, even against shaky competition, feels better than .000. Given the down time this week, it would seem more prudent to dwell on that and not on Saturday's bitter 23-21 loss.
Penn State's fate officially was sealed by a final-seconds field goal, but that 20-7 halftime deficit also mattered. Probably no one talks about Jack Mitchell's 35-yard kick with 9 seconds left — or any field-goal attempt from any distance — if the Nittany Lions had played in the first half as they did in the second.
The healing process, physically and psychically, is underway, preparations to follow. Still searching for their first win against a formidable opponent, Penn State has two remaining opportunities — in their next game, Nov. 21 against Michigan, ranked 15th in the latest poll, followed by the season finale at Michigan State, which lost a 39-38 shocker to Nebraska and fell from sixth to 14th.
“You'd like to go into a bye on a positive note and get healthy,” Franklin said. “The bye is coming late in the season, but we're going to take it.
“There's no doubt you'd like to go into a bye with a win feeling really good, getting ready for those last two games. Our guys bounce back and are resilient. We'll come in on Sunday and have our normal practice, and go from there.”
The loss, in a sense, typified Penn State's season. Running back Saquon Barkley, an 18-year-old freshman, continued to demonstrate he is a force who deserves better blocking.
Quarterback Christian Hackenberg, under heavy pressure again, and the offense had some quality moments, but sporadically strung them together. The defense recorded six sacks but again had trouble defending the run. Only this time, instead of a mobile quarterback or a Heisman Trophy candidate giving the Lions fits, it was running back Justin Jackson who found some lanes and gained 186 yards. Special teams play again hurt.
Northwestern, ranked 21st by the College Football Playoff committee before the game, was the third quality opponent to beat the Lions. Meanwhile, among Penn State's victims, Rutgers, Maryland, Army and Indiana are a combined 11-25. Illinois is 5-4. San Diego State (6-3) and Buffalo (5-4) play outside the Power 5 conferences.
“Everybody's down, thinking what they could have done,” said linebacker Brandon Bell, whose strong game — 2 1⁄2 sacks, another tackle for a loss — took a back seat. “Everybody obviously wanted to do better. We've got to watch the film and correct mistakes and hopefully make the play next time.”
Bell paused and corrected himself.
“Make sure you make the play next time,” he said.
Medical update
Defensive end Carl Nassib left the game in the fourth quarter shortly after recording his 15 1⁄2 sack, breaking the Penn State single-season record set by Larry Kubin in 1979 and tied by Michael Haynes in 2002. Nassib appeared to aggravate a shoulder injury he has been dealing with all season (as usual, no specifics were provided).
Safety Jordan Lucas came out of the locker room in the second half wearing a sling and street clothes. Tackle Andrew Nelson, who got hurt against Maryland and missed the Illinois game, saw limited action in the “Jumbo” package.
Bob Cohn is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at bcohn@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BCohn_Trib.
http://triblive.com/sports/college/pennstate/9379768-74/state-penn-game
