Hearing:

[OttoinGrotto]

That last part makes me wonder though...could PTG wind up being our leading receiver, in terms of receptions? Kind of a Brian Westbrook sort of thing? I wouldn't put it outside the realm of possibility...

I think West will get 50 catches, but I could also see either PTG or Wales being a surprise leader in receptions.

I think Wales will catch a lot. West I really don't know. Making 38 catches as the third WR is really good, but he was also getting 3rd WR attention. PTG will catch a lot of passes, but he's in a crowded rotation.

I'm saying I have no idea.

 

[GoSU96]

One man's opinion, but he has been attending SU FB practices for about 25 years)

Defense looks very good. D line big and strong, but untested. LBs and DBs looking good.
Allen seems to be the guy. Thinks he is a good one.
O-line looks good, but hold your breath for no injuries.
RB as good as we thought.
WR - Help!

FWIW.

Agree with OL, my guess is Knapp has been out with a concussion, which can be a lingering problem. Any major issues there could make it a long season.

People are getting too worked up about WR. There are enough decently talented kids that 3 or 4 will emerge. As a group, bigger, faster, taller, stronger than the guys that left. Doesn't mean they are as good football players, time will tell on that, but the "Help!" stuff is a little over the top IMO.

Hackett and Marrone were finally able to scheme guys open last year because, 1) the WR stayed healthy of the most part, 2) there was finally a running game, 3) the OL was excellent in pass pro once Pugh came back, and 4) Nassib improved a great deal in all aspects from the prior two years. Lemon, Sales, West, and Wales didn't run by guys or dominate physically, they got open for the most part because of design and execution. MacDonald and Lester have to pick up where the previous staff left off and match that performance.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Agree with OL, my guess is Knapp has been out with a concussion, which can be a lingering problem. Any major issues there could make it a long season.

People are getting too worked up about WR. There are enough decently talented kids that 3 or 4 will emerge. As a group, bigger, faster, taller, stronger than the guys that left. Doesn't mean they are as good football players, time will tell on that, but the "Help!" stuff is a little over the top IMO.

Hackett and Marrone were finally able to scheme guys open last year because, 1) the WR stayed healthy of the most part, 2) there was finally a running game, 3) the OL was excellent in pass pro once Pugh came back, and 4) Nassib improved a great deal in all aspects from the prior two years. Lemon, Sales, West, and Wales didn't run by guys or dominate physically, they got open for the most part because of design and execution. MacDonald and Lester have to pick up where the previous staff left off and match that performance.

That last paragraph had a lot of parts to it, if we have to rely on all of that to happen for this years team to have a decent passing game I think were in trouble.

 

[jgeorge322]

I agree with this but I just don't see the major concern at receiver. West was not the "go to" last year maybe if he was he would've had better stats. He is more than capable. I think Broyld is gonna hold his own and have a few really good games but maybe some not so good. Flemming made some nice grabs at fan fest and I am pretty sure he scored at the fort drum scrimmage. Chris Clark played a decent amount last year. Kobena also has some game experience. We have Brisly Estime already playing with the 2s. I was impressed with Cornelius at fan fest. Ben Lewis was turning some heads this pre season. Kinder is also there now. Plus we have Wales at TE. I think we will be just fine.. I am more worried about our line.

Of course this is from limited observation and maybe this guy has seen a lot more practices than me.

love the positivity but to me this is the greatest unknown going into season. i'm more wary of the wr then the qb.

 

[javadoc]

Agree with OL, my guess is Knapp has been out with a concussion, which can be a lingering problem. Any major issues there could make it a long season.

I sure as hell hope not. Knapp and Emerich are the two guys I was most interested in seeing develop.

 

[FAL]

So we are gonna be out numbered 2:1?

Annual enrollment at the University Park campus totals more than 45,000 graduate and undergraduate students, making it one of the largest universities in the United States. It has the world's largest dues-paying alumni association. The university's total enrollment in 2009–10 was approximately 94,300 across its 24 campuses and online through its World Campus.

SU has a total enrollment of 21,000; 14,000 of which are undergrads.

Extrapolating from these numbers as well as their alum association factoid, we should be happy that they will be outnumbering the SU faithful by only a factor of 2.

 

[JeremyCuse]

love the positivity but to me this is the greatest unknown going into season. i'm more wary of the wr then the qb.

WR is by far the biggest question mark on the team. A lot of bodies but even more question marks including West who we are asking to go from a 3rd/4th option to a number one. I was hoping one of the new/younger guys would emerge but it appears Funderburk is struggling and Winfiedl/Avant are likely to redshirt. Its encouraging that Estime is allready with the 2's but I think it might be asking to much for him to become an immediate contributor. Going to be a big learning curve for him but I love the fact he seems to be ahead of schedule. To me the passing game likely hinges on what we get out of Flemming, Kobena, and Clark. I have confidence Broyld will hold his own but the first three Flemming, Kobena and Clark have to be positive contributors and one of them will need to step up each game to give this team the type of passing game we will need to become bowl eligible.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Possibly...remember PSU has a ton of fans in Eastern PA and NY Metro. Plus this will be their Bowl game.

I'll be very happy if we have a legit 25k there.

Funny thing though. I live in Eastern PA and know dozens of Penn State fans yet I have yet to encounter any that are going to Metlife.

 

[RMH44]

When we needed a catch, we went to Sales and Lemon - Sales in my opinion was the most reliable WR on the team last year.

West had many bad drops.

The young guys need to step up - Estime, Broyld. .

Sales did a very nice job last year but I don't think there is any question that Alec Lemon was the most reliable wr on the team.

 

[OrangePA]

Sales did a very nice job last year but I don't think there is any question that Alec Lemon was the most reliable wr on the team.

Lemon was obviously very productive.

But it seemed to me that when a ball needed to be caught - Sales made the catch.

We can debate that I guess.

But certainly West was not a particularly reliable pass catcher last year - I recall him dropping many.

 

[GoSU96]

That last paragraph had a lot of parts to it, if we have to rely on all of that to happen for this years team to have a decent passing game I think were in trouble.

This years formula = 1) better athletes + 2) better depth + 3) running game carry over. To be successful I don't think they need to be as dependent on the passing game to move the ball and they don't need to accumilate as many yards. There should also be less need to be dependent on scheme and execution because there is better speed, more potential to make plays out of YAC instead of having to hit 18 yd outs and skinny posts and can use more swing, screens, and flairs to get the ball to playmakers in space and then go over the top and hit super explosive plays.

 

[RMH44]

Lemon was obviously very productive.

But it seemed to me that when a ball needed to be caught - Sales made the catch.

We can debate that I guess.

But certainly West was not a particularly reliable pass catcher last year - I recall him dropping many.

I remember the dropping instances as well. I also remember him making a few big plays that kept drives a live over the course of the season.

Hopefully that's the version of JW we'll see this season.

 

[JeremyCuse]

This years formula = 1) better athletes + 2) better depth + 3) running game carry over. To be successful I don't think they need to be as dependent on the passing game to move the ball and they don't need to accumilate as many yards. There should also be less need to be dependent on scheme and execution because there is better speed, more potential to make plays out of YAC instead of having to hit 18 yd outs and skinny posts and can use more swing, screens, and flairs to get the ball to playmakers in space and then go over the top and hit super explosive plays.

Good points, wtih Broyld/Estime I think the ability for bigger plays is there. In fact thats probably the one aspect Marrone and Hackett could never get going offensively in there four years here. Every scoring drive had to be a 12-15 play series where as you noted scheme and execution were critical because we werent getting much YAC or any big plays ( 30 yards +). My only concern is that if the WR's struggle we have to resort to a short passing game that teams eventually catch up to (see the 2011 season). Regardless of who wins the QB battle I hope they are prepared to take a few shots deep and really utilize that 15-25 yard intermediate passing game. Last year Hackett and Marrone really started throwing the ball downfield after the Rutgers game and we were torchign teams with it (USF/Mizzou etc)

 

[rrlbees]

WR is by far the biggest question mark on the team.

I think the biggest question mark and my biggest concern is DE.


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[JeremyCuse]

I think the biggest question mark and my biggest concern is DE.


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That could be true, but at least you can mix in some things with blitzes and exotic defensive looks. If your struggling at the WR position theres not much you can do other then try some different players.

 

[Scooch]

Possibly...remember PSU has a ton of fans in Eastern PA and NY Metro. Plus this will be their Bowl game.

I'll be very happy if we have a legit 25k there.

PSU is the most popular CFB program in metro NYC. I imagine it will at least be 2:1, probably worse.

I was disgusted by the turnout for the USC game last year, soured me on the entire MetLife arrangement. Now that we have big boy conference money rolling in I hope we can extricate from that deal ASAP.

 

[orangepassion]

My biggest ? is RT-Don't want Lou Alexander part II

 

[TexanMark]

PSU is the most popular CFB program in metro NYC. I imagine it will at least be 2:1, probably worse.

I was disgusted by the turnout for the USC game last year, soured me on the entire MetLife arrangement. Now that we have big boy conference money rolling in I hope we can extricate from that deal ASAP.

Not sure it'll happen but yes it is not needed now...Ruttie and Maryland going to the B1G doesn't help us to get tOSU and Michigan to MetLife.

 

[Scooch]

On the WRs... if our QB is solid, the OL is solid, and the RBs excellent, then our WRs will look that much better.

We get mediocre-to-lousy QB/OL play then the WRs will look awful.

Seems like a group that needs others to be successful for them to be good enough.

 

[iommi]

That could be true, but at least you can mix in some things with blitzes and exotic defensive looks. If your struggling at the WR position theres not much you can do other then try some different players.

I think our TE's have a chance to be really good; that will help our passing game considerably. We know Wales is a good possession TE; maybe Parris becomes a dynamic receiver?

 

[OrangePA]

I think the biggest question mark and my biggest concern is DE.


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This years formula = 1) better athletes + 2) better depth + 3) running game carry over. To be successful I don't think they need to be as dependent on the passing game to move the ball and they don't need to accumilate as many yards. There should also be less need to be dependent on scheme and execution because there is better speed, more potential to make plays out of YAC instead of having to hit 18 yd outs and skinny posts and can use more swing, screens, and flairs to get the ball to playmakers in space and then go over the top and hit super explosive plays.

We did win at least two games on the last possession - our ability to throw effectively and efficiently was the difference between 7-5 and 5-7.

Marrone was basically two series from a losing season - pretty amazing that the margin for error at this level is so thin.

So, we better be more athletic and we better have more depth and we better play defense more effectively or this could be a tough season.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I think our TE's have a chance to be really good; that will help our passing game considerably. We know Wales is a good possession TE; maybe Parris becomes a dynamic receiver?

Yup good point with Wales, Parris and Batten thats three pretty good TE's. I think Batten is in the mold of a receiving TE while Parris and Wales are more possession TE's but getting solid TE production would be a huge help as you noted. I think Wales could have a huge year.

 

[OmahaCuse]

Well you could say we were two games from 5-7 but we outgained NW by 350 yards and gave the game away. We gave the Rutgers game away. We had 4 turnovers against Minny..Could have easily been 10-2

 

[iommi]

Yup good point with Wales, Parris and Batten thats three pretty good TE's. I think Batten is in the mold of a receiving TE while Parris and Wales are more possession TE's but getting solid TE production would be a huge help as you noted. I think Wales could have a huge year.

It's always been a huge part of our offense whenever we've been good and will be this year since TE's usually serve as the safety blanket for QBs in a new system.

I think you are underestimating Parris; he's not a burner but on film he has good RAC ability and is a great athlete for his size.

 

[iommi]

Well you could say we were two games from 5-7 but we outgained NW by 350 yards and gave the game away. We gave the Rutgers game away. We had 4 turnovers against Minny..Could have easily been 10-2

NW game we also ran into some terrible officiating. Cincy game was winnable too and we had some questionable calls, especially that one on the goal line. Turrible.