What the App St game showed

[jbenedict]

App St is better than Purdue and Syr and not much worse than Pitt or BC.

You might be correct but we will have a better feel as the season progresses.

 

[jbenedict]

To me the PSU game showed that the Lions have a very inexperienced defense.They have talent but made too many mistakes to beat a good team.They'll get better and will be OK by week 5-6 because of athletic ability.Like 2016 Pitt is playing them at the right time of year.PSU offense has McSorley that means they always have a chance to win.PSU doesn't have last year's firepower but isn't chopped liver either. I'll also think unlike the last 2 years James keep s few things up his sleeve for Pitt.Kenny Footballs time to shine but will he is the question.

I would have to agree with your thoughts.

 

[BurghNit]

Most PSU fans I know were pleasantly surprised by the preseason 9th/10th ranking in the polls but always faced with a little double standard in how one pollster thinks a team stands on Day 1 vs. where another sees them in November. I thought 15th was a realistic starting slot for them all things considered.

But the difference between PSU being a top 20 team and a top 10 team is how fast the D can gel. They were fine though 3 quarters on Saturday (probably much better than fine given the stat line), but any fan expecting 9 new starters to plug in and continue on business as usual is naive, whether this is Penn State or not. The athletes are there. The experience as a unit is not. There will be ups and downs and it may click this week or gelling will be a problem through November. No way of knowing.


I expect PSU to look significantly better as guys like Parsons, Mustipher, Hansard and Jordan get more reps...and assuming Givens is back soon along with Simmons from injury (although later seems like a longshot this week).

In the meantime, it's a vulnerable unit, and Pitt has a couple of assets that can exploit that in a hard downhill runner like Ollison. Will be interesting to see how much they use Picket's legs as well. Weather looks sloppy so may not be putting in the air as much.

 

[Nit777]

Except the

It’s rare tho big overperforms. Every year they get blasted in bowl games. Everyone know wisky isn’t that good. Michigan and Michigan state aren’t that great anymore. Nebraska May get better under frost, but the big tens top teams aren’t that great. The media will love the big ten all year, and then we will watch them get destroyed in bowls like they usually do. They refuse to schedule tough out of conference opponents.
Psu is going to end up 20-25 this year.

BIG was 9-1 last year in bowl games. Best bowl record by far.