PSU will be facing Texas Tech or Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl. While not a big time bowl game, make no mistake, this is a big game for PSU. A bowl game give you an extra month of practice. An opportunity to get some good momentum going into spring practice. A chance to get 9 wins (it should've been 10, fuck!) An opportunity to see Clarke or Devlin? Unlikely but that sure would be nice. Your last chance to see Dan Connor in the Blue & White.
To focus in on what Is at the forefront of PSU fans' minds: how much will Clark or Devlin get to play? I sure hope they get to play some. I completely understand that Morelli "lead" PSU to this pinnacle of excellence but we gotta see what these guys can do. I'm not saying bench Morelli, I'm saying give the other kids a quarter to see what they can do. I was calling for Clark or Devlin to be used in a Tebow-esque role (from last year) in order to get them some experience and to add another dimension to the offense. Alas, that did not happen. I really don't think Joe reads this blog, or knows what a blog is. Regardless, this is going to be a big game.
GO STATE! BEAT ONE OF THOSE TEXAS SCHOOLS!
Showing posts with label Morelli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Morelli. Show all posts
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Butler TD Breakdown
Fight On State has a great breakdown of the long TD strike from Morelli to Butler. Find it here. It really is great.
The Play.
The Formation
This is the kind of break down that I wish i was smart enough to do! Great work FOS!
GO STATE! BEAT INDIANA!
The Play.
The Formation
This is the kind of break down that I wish i was smart enough to do! Great work FOS!GO STATE! BEAT INDIANA!
Monday, October 01, 2007
Monday Morning Hangover
If you are reading this I'm sure you already know that PSU lost to Illinois 27-20 on Saturday. This pushed the Lions out of the top 25. This is also the second straight week that the Lions have lost to an unranked opponent. There are few disturbing trends emerging for the Lions which could cause for 2007 to be a long season for PSU.
First, and most glaring, is Penn State's penchant for turning the ball over. The Lions had a reasonably effective offense this weekend gaining over 400 yards of offense including nearly 300 yards passing. What truly kept PSU from having a "good" offense was the fact that Morelli threw three picks and fumbled the ball while diving for what would have been a critical first down. There were 2 other fumbles on Saturday but the Lions managed to recover the ball. This cannot continue of the Lions are going to stop this losing skid and have a hope of a successful season.
Second, the Lions defense needs to play better. After giving up nearly 170 yds rushing to Mike Hart PSU surrendered 216 yds to Illinois (5.7 yds/carry). This is simply not going to get it done. The defense is also going to have to create more turnovers. The offense seems obsessed with simply handing the ball to PSU's opponents so the defense is going to have to step up its play in order to win the turnover battle.
The redzone offense was terrible and has to improve. Penn State was able to put long drives together only to look utterly useless with the ball when inside the opponent's 30 yd line.
Morelli has become a giant puzzle which the coaching staff needs to solve. He can be excellent one play and atrocious the next; take his stats for example. AMMO was 21 of 38 for nearly 300 yards and a TD. He completed 55% of his passes but he threw 3 picks and fumbled. I think that, at the very least, a competition for QB should begin. Lets give Clarke a chance to make some plays.
GO STATE! GET FIRED UP FOR IOWA!
First, and most glaring, is Penn State's penchant for turning the ball over. The Lions had a reasonably effective offense this weekend gaining over 400 yards of offense including nearly 300 yards passing. What truly kept PSU from having a "good" offense was the fact that Morelli threw three picks and fumbled the ball while diving for what would have been a critical first down. There were 2 other fumbles on Saturday but the Lions managed to recover the ball. This cannot continue of the Lions are going to stop this losing skid and have a hope of a successful season.
Second, the Lions defense needs to play better. After giving up nearly 170 yds rushing to Mike Hart PSU surrendered 216 yds to Illinois (5.7 yds/carry). This is simply not going to get it done. The defense is also going to have to create more turnovers. The offense seems obsessed with simply handing the ball to PSU's opponents so the defense is going to have to step up its play in order to win the turnover battle.
The redzone offense was terrible and has to improve. Penn State was able to put long drives together only to look utterly useless with the ball when inside the opponent's 30 yd line.
Morelli has become a giant puzzle which the coaching staff needs to solve. He can be excellent one play and atrocious the next; take his stats for example. AMMO was 21 of 38 for nearly 300 yards and a TD. He completed 55% of his passes but he threw 3 picks and fumbled. I think that, at the very least, a competition for QB should begin. Lets give Clarke a chance to make some plays.
GO STATE! GET FIRED UP FOR IOWA!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Michigan: The Post Mortem
Now that we're a little removed from the travesty which transpired on Saturday. As everyone knows, the Lions fell to Michigan 14-9. This caused the Lions to fall 11 positions in the polls to #21. There were a variety of reasons the Lions fell on saturday, I will try to highlight some of the reasons I think were most responsible for PSU's poor showing.
On Offense:
Most glaring is Penn State's ability to only convert 33% of their third down plays. This has got to
change in Penn State is going to be any good at all this year.
The Rushing attack was less impressive in person than it was in real life. The lions ended up rushing for 101 yards on 29 attempts or 3.5 yds/carry. If you hadn't watched the game you might have thought that PSU did ok rushing the ball, this would be completely inaccurate. Penn State struggled running the ball all day. It resembled a mentally handicapped child running into a wall time and time again. The staff's reliance on the I-formation nearly made me vomit with rage. Instead of spreading the field Penn State seemed happy to try to run out of the I-formation. It was awful. If you were afraid PSU wasn't going to base it's attack off of the Appy St./Oregon playbook than now is the time to start hitting yourself with a heavy blunt object (insert Morelli joke here).
Morelli was not very good. He was relatively mistake
free throwing the ball as he had no INTs (that is about as positive as one can get about his performance), howver, he had a critical fumble early in the game which set up Michigan's first TD. He completed less than 50% of his passes (48%). The simple fact of the matter is that Morelli is not making the plays necessary for Penn State to win. He just isn't. I've been a Morelli supporter through last year and so far this year, but a change needs to be made. PSU has to find a player who can make things happen to put points on the board.
There is also the little matter of Austin Scott's complete unwillingness to hang onto the ball. It went something like this:
After his second fumble-prone game Austin has probably butter-fingered his way out of a starting role.
On Defense:
While the Offense didn't convert enough third downs the Defense gave up far too many third down conversions. Michigan was able to convert 56% of their third downs which allowed Hart to run the ball 44 times for 153 yards (3.47 yds/carry). However, the defense only gave up 14 points, which includes the early gift Morelli gave Michigan when he fumbled deep in PSU's territory. For Penn State to win the defense needed to not only have a good game but also to have a game-changing, beat-down, kind of a game. This simply did not happen, however, without the Defense's effort it could have been much worse than it was.
You did see a lot of DC-40 in the first half.
I don't know what Penn State needs to do to get the offense moving. I think trying Clark at QB and giving Royster more touches at RB is a good start. I can't believe that we've lost nine in a row to Michigan.
GO STATE! GET FIRED UP FOR THE ILLINIS!
On Offense:
Most glaring is Penn State's ability to only convert 33% of their third down plays. This has got to
change in Penn State is going to be any good at all this year.The Rushing attack was less impressive in person than it was in real life. The lions ended up rushing for 101 yards on 29 attempts or 3.5 yds/carry. If you hadn't watched the game you might have thought that PSU did ok rushing the ball, this would be completely inaccurate. Penn State struggled running the ball all day. It resembled a mentally handicapped child running into a wall time and time again. The staff's reliance on the I-formation nearly made me vomit with rage. Instead of spreading the field Penn State seemed happy to try to run out of the I-formation. It was awful. If you were afraid PSU wasn't going to base it's attack off of the Appy St./Oregon playbook than now is the time to start hitting yourself with a heavy blunt object (insert Morelli joke here).
Morelli was not very good. He was relatively mistake
free throwing the ball as he had no INTs (that is about as positive as one can get about his performance), howver, he had a critical fumble early in the game which set up Michigan's first TD. He completed less than 50% of his passes (48%). The simple fact of the matter is that Morelli is not making the plays necessary for Penn State to win. He just isn't. I've been a Morelli supporter through last year and so far this year, but a change needs to be made. PSU has to find a player who can make things happen to put points on the board.There is also the little matter of Austin Scott's complete unwillingness to hang onto the ball. It went something like this:
AMMO: Hey, Austin! Take this football!
Scott: Sure thing.
UM Player: I'm going to tackle you. Prepare yourself!
Scott: AAAAAAH! (fumbles)
ME: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
After his second fumble-prone game Austin has probably butter-fingered his way out of a starting role.
On Defense:
While the Offense didn't convert enough third downs the Defense gave up far too many third down conversions. Michigan was able to convert 56% of their third downs which allowed Hart to run the ball 44 times for 153 yards (3.47 yds/carry). However, the defense only gave up 14 points, which includes the early gift Morelli gave Michigan when he fumbled deep in PSU's territory. For Penn State to win the defense needed to not only have a good game but also to have a game-changing, beat-down, kind of a game. This simply did not happen, however, without the Defense's effort it could have been much worse than it was.
You did see a lot of DC-40 in the first half.
I don't know what Penn State needs to do to get the offense moving. I think trying Clark at QB and giving Royster more touches at RB is a good start. I can't believe that we've lost nine in a row to Michigan.
GO STATE! GET FIRED UP FOR THE ILLINIS!
Monday, September 17, 2007
The State of Nittany Nation
PSU has rolled through weeks 1-3 with an unbeaten record and nothing but the Big Ten schedule left in the way of a national championship and another undefeated season. Yeah. Through three 
games PSU has outscored opponents 135 to 34 (or almost 4:1). Sadly, 24 of these 34 points came against Buffalo. However, 21 of those points came in the fourth quarter when the game was all but out of hand and the starting defense was enjoying it's Gatorade on the sideline.
Buffalo gave PSU a challenge until the very end of the first half but then Quarless and Golden hung a quick 14 around their neck to put PSU up going into the half.
But enough about Buffalo! We are here to talk about Penn State.
The simple fact of the matter is that PSU struggled to move the ball early....AGAIN! Austin Scott struggled as he fumbled two times in Penn State's first three possessions. At this point I had only one opinion: "This is
unacceptable." I'm not usually one of those "This is unacceptable!" kind of fans. However, Scott's play through the first two games really didn't buy him a lot of breathing room for game #3. (only 161 yds through 2 games). Apparently the coaching staff could stomach no more than I could so they stuck Kinlaw in there. All of a sudden, Kinlaw was ripping off huge runs and the offense really came alive.
Morelli, had a great game statistically as he passed for 4 TDs and over 202 yds while completing nearly 75% of his passes. If you didn't watch the game you'd be just about ready to make sweet love to AMMO, right? After all, this is exactly what everyone has been waiting for Morelli to do over the last two years. However, if you were lucky enough to be at the game or watch in on the BTN, you saw a QB who was consistently bailed out by incredibly talented receivers. AMMO's passes were consistently inaccurate but the receivers found a way to reel them in. Despite the positive numbers nobody can tell what to expect out of Morelli. He could step up and play well, he could play terribly, or he could just squeak by. Two of the aforementioned will get the job done against Michigan.
Michigan, rolled against ND. Which was a change for Big Blue as they had been victimized for seventy three point in their first three games. However, they mananged to circle the wagons against ND.
(via MZone)
PSU must attempt to penetrate this mighty barrier of canvas, wood, and pioneering spirit on September 22, 2007. Michigan remains just as dangerous now as they were at the beginning of the season. First and foresmost, PSU will have to contain this guy
to be successful.
Oh, right, and minimize the potential mistakes on offense. And win at Michigan. Really, just get a win against Michigan. All easier said than done. After all, Michigan has defeated Notre Dame! (hushed admiration ensues)
GO STATE! GET FIRED UP FOR MICHIGAN!
games PSU has outscored opponents 135 to 34 (or almost 4:1). Sadly, 24 of these 34 points came against Buffalo. However, 21 of those points came in the fourth quarter when the game was all but out of hand and the starting defense was enjoying it's Gatorade on the sideline.Buffalo gave PSU a challenge until the very end of the first half but then Quarless and Golden hung a quick 14 around their neck to put PSU up going into the half.
But enough about Buffalo! We are here to talk about Penn State.
The simple fact of the matter is that PSU struggled to move the ball early....AGAIN! Austin Scott struggled as he fumbled two times in Penn State's first three possessions. At this point I had only one opinion: "This is
unacceptable." I'm not usually one of those "This is unacceptable!" kind of fans. However, Scott's play through the first two games really didn't buy him a lot of breathing room for game #3. (only 161 yds through 2 games). Apparently the coaching staff could stomach no more than I could so they stuck Kinlaw in there. All of a sudden, Kinlaw was ripping off huge runs and the offense really came alive. This begs one giant question: Who will be Penn State's RB for week Michigan?The answer is simple, it has to be Kinlaw. Scott has been given a chance to prove himself as the starting back. However, he pissed that all away when he fumbled two times in two possessions against Buffalo. Kinlaw immediately stepped in and rushed for 129 yds on 23 carries. Job=Stolen. Scott might be a more complete back but you have to have someone who can move the chains!
Morelli, had a great game statistically as he passed for 4 TDs and over 202 yds while completing nearly 75% of his passes. If you didn't watch the game you'd be just about ready to make sweet love to AMMO, right? After all, this is exactly what everyone has been waiting for Morelli to do over the last two years. However, if you were lucky enough to be at the game or watch in on the BTN, you saw a QB who was consistently bailed out by incredibly talented receivers. AMMO's passes were consistently inaccurate but the receivers found a way to reel them in. Despite the positive numbers nobody can tell what to expect out of Morelli. He could step up and play well, he could play terribly, or he could just squeak by. Two of the aforementioned will get the job done against Michigan.Michigan, rolled against ND. Which was a change for Big Blue as they had been victimized for seventy three point in their first three games. However, they mananged to circle the wagons against ND.
(via MZone)PSU must attempt to penetrate this mighty barrier of canvas, wood, and pioneering spirit on September 22, 2007. Michigan remains just as dangerous now as they were at the beginning of the season. First and foresmost, PSU will have to contain this guy
to be successful.
Oh, right, and minimize the potential mistakes on offense. And win at Michigan. Really, just get a win against Michigan. All easier said than done. After all, Michigan has defeated Notre Dame! (hushed admiration ensues)
GO STATE! GET FIRED UP FOR MICHIGAN!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Big Ten Roundtable: Week Three
MSC brings us the questions this week. I'm all a-tingle with anticipation so lets get straight to the questions.
Austin Scott is really starting to show that he can have a very good season this year. He still has to do it against a truly quality opponent but he has 162 rushing yds (4.2/carry) and 4 TDs in the first two games of the year.
Anthony Morelli is playing better than he did this time last year, however, his decision making still is not where anyone hopes it would be. For PSU to join the ranks of elite teams he will have to get his completion percentage into the 60s and just eliminate the truly awful decisions.
Judging from what teams have shown so far, PSU and Wisconsin seem to be the best two teams in the conference. Michigan has looked terrible and Ohio State struggled with Akron into the third quarter.
Oh yeah. The obvious choice is Penn State's loss to Iowa in 2004. The final score was Iowa 6, PSU: 4. I mean, when your defense is so good that it only gives up 6 points and scores 4 points on its own AND YOU STILL LOSE BY 2! Absolutely awful. These guys know what i'm talking about.
GO STATE! GET FIRED UP FOR BUFFALO!
1. Now that two weeks of play are behind us, what is one encouraging surprise and one downing disappointment from your team? (Easy answer to the latter part of the question for Michigan bloggers)
Austin Scott is really starting to show that he can have a very good season this year. He still has to do it against a truly quality opponent but he has 162 rushing yds (4.2/carry) and 4 TDs in the first two games of the year.
Anthony Morelli is playing better than he did this time last year, however, his decision making still is not where anyone hopes it would be. For PSU to join the ranks of elite teams he will have to get his completion percentage into the 60s and just eliminate the truly awful decisions.
2. A look at the current Big Ten standings shows things dead-locked record-wise for the most part. Once conference play actually begins, which two or three teams pull away from the rest of the pack?
Judging from what teams have shown so far, PSU and Wisconsin seem to be the best two teams in the conference. Michigan has looked terrible and Ohio State struggled with Akron into the third quarter.
3. Has your team ever played in a game that was just downright boring and impossible to watch? I ask this because going into the Michigan-Notre Dame game, looking at it on paper, it is shaping up to be one of the ugliest we may see all year.
Oh yeah. The obvious choice is Penn State's loss to Iowa in 2004. The final score was Iowa 6, PSU: 4. I mean, when your defense is so good that it only gives up 6 points and scores 4 points on its own AND YOU STILL LOSE BY 2! Absolutely awful. These guys know what i'm talking about.
GO STATE! GET FIRED UP FOR BUFFALO!
Sunday, September 09, 2007
PSU vs. Notre Dame: Initial Reactions
The most striking thing was how well the stadium-wide-white-out was executed. The stated goal was to be able to pick out every Irish fan in the Stadium and it was accomplished. I really didn't think that a lot of the older fans would get the memo but it seems that I was horribly wrong.
Photo by Nate Smith via The Collegian
I thought Jimmy Clausen, who i started simply referring to as "Pickle" (ex. "Eat that, Pickle!" It was very satisfying. I would really recommend it to any Michigan fan for next week.) played very well. He didn't seem rattled by the atmosphere in Beaver Stadium. He completed several short passes and did what Weiss wanted him to do...Survive.
The defense played extremely well. They sacked poor pickle 6 times, hurried him a lot more, and held Notre Dame to ZERO yards rushing. Yes, zero. The only ND TD came on an Int returned for a TD. The defense looked great.
William's punt return got me insanely fired up. That is the kind of production PSU needs out of D-Will.
Scott played well rushing for 116 yds on 28 carries (4.1yds/carry) and scoring two TDs. Scott really did a good job of putting his head down and doing his best Tony Hunt impression as he ate up yards and the clock with equal zeal. Scott really put the game away for Penn State.
Morelli didn't play particularly well. 12-22, 131 yds, 1 TD, 1 Int. He needs to play better for PSU to make it to the next level. To be fair, he was only 1 mistake away from having the exact game PSU needed.
Photo by Nate Smith via The CollegianI thought Jimmy Clausen, who i started simply referring to as "Pickle" (ex. "Eat that, Pickle!" It was very satisfying. I would really recommend it to any Michigan fan for next week.) played very well. He didn't seem rattled by the atmosphere in Beaver Stadium. He completed several short passes and did what Weiss wanted him to do...Survive.The defense played extremely well. They sacked poor pickle 6 times, hurried him a lot more, and held Notre Dame to ZERO yards rushing. Yes, zero. The only ND TD came on an Int returned for a TD. The defense looked great.
William's punt return got me insanely fired up. That is the kind of production PSU needs out of D-Will.
Scott played well rushing for 116 yds on 28 carries (4.1yds/carry) and scoring two TDs. Scott really did a good job of putting his head down and doing his best Tony Hunt impression as he ate up yards and the clock with equal zeal. Scott really put the game away for Penn State.
Morelli didn't play particularly well. 12-22, 131 yds, 1 TD, 1 Int. He needs to play better for PSU to make it to the next level. To be fair, he was only 1 mistake away from having the exact game PSU needed.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
AMMO UNLOADS!
Morelli is quoted in an ESPN article as saying the following about playing college football and playing during a PSU White-Out.
Clausen, You have been warned. Dan Connor and Sean Lee are coming to getchya!
40 + 45 = Pain!
GO STATE! GET FIRED UP FOR ND!
"You might think you know everything," Morelli said. "I had Mike [Robinson, former PSU QB] pull me aside at practice for two years and tell me what I had to do to be a good quarterback at this level. So you think you know what you're doing. You think so, until you get in there and realize how fast things are moving."
Clausen, You have been warned. Dan Connor and Sean Lee are coming to getchya!
40 + 45 = Pain!
GO STATE! GET FIRED UP FOR ND!
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