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How To Save Penn State’s 2007 Season

Dear Joe,

First off, I want to congratulate you on your 42nd year as head coach of Penn State and 58th overall. You have stood the test of times and even told NFL teams to look somewhere else because of your commitment to Penn State. You are the definition of class, on and off the field. You are a living legend with 366 career wins, second all time and you just happen to be at the ripe old age of 80.Joepa, you are the man. And while I have the utmost respect for you and your coaching staff, changes must be made to save this 2007 season. This isn’t like the teams from 2000-2004 (rule out 2002), this team has the talent and skill to compete for the national championship. And with the loss to Michigan today, that possibility is almost entirely gone. This team, this group of players, has what it takes, to win the Big Ten. Big Ten line them up, run it down your throat is your specialty. And not many have done it any better than you. But this isn’t the Big Ten of old. This isn’t the same college football. While you philosophies might not have changed in the past 42 years, the game has. Speed is now the key, strength is a bonus. And I know I know nothing about football compared to you or Galen Hall or your likely successor Tom Bradley, but here are some suggestions to saving perhaps a dream season, one that ends with a march around a certain stadium in Pasadena.

  1. Don’t take this personally but how many Austin Scott fumbles does it take to get the point across that he isn’t that good. I’m not saying he’s horrible because he is a lot better than I could ever be, but to say he’s better than Rodney Kinlaw is pushing it. Kinlaw should be starting and getting the majority of the rushes. He has shown the ability and poise to find holes and explode on through. Austin Scott just hasn’t shown that since his break out game in Miami. That’s not to say to bench him and never put him in but he can’t keep fumbling like he is. He very well could have cost us 7 points in today’s game against Michigan. To put up a long drive and then fumble isn’t fair. I know it happens but it seems to happen a little too much.
  2. This one might seem a little shocking but in my opinion I believe you should install QB Daryll Clark into the system. Morelli is too much of a stationary pocket quarterback and teams can feed off of that and wait because the option of running is irrelevant. I am impressed though with Morelli’s footwork to escape the pocket this year, which is a much improved factor of his game, but he still isn’t exactly mobile. But Clark could help. He has the ability to run a little. He can make defense lose focus by using his feet. Don’t let him throw the ball but let him spin. Maybe this is a stupid idea, but if I remember correctly, two men by the name of Chris Leak and Tim Tebow did this and won a National Championship not too long ago.
  3. Let it all loose. It is as simple as that. This goes back to your style of coaching which is how I think it should be but it isn’t the way it is anymore. Morelli could throw the ball 50 yards when he was 12; odds are he can throw it a little father nowadays. Let D-Will, Butler and Norwood go deep. Let Morelli go deep because odds are your receivers are faster than the cornerbacks and/or safeties.
  4. Well the defense could be better…no I’m just kidding. Of course you and Bradley established an amazing defense as usual. Connor and Lee are the real deal, Scirrotto is so good at his position QB’s have refused to throw his way. Kudos to this defense, this is one of your best yet and don’t change anything (by the way, Sargent was screwed on that pass interference today, that was a horrible call, of course it ended up costing us 7 points. Don’t you just hate scUM?).
  5. I had the privilege of going to opening day of the 2005 season against South Florida, and there was this kid that wore the jersey #7. Now he wears #1 and is a stout cornerback but back then his best weapon was his legs. I am obviously referring to Justin King, but I remember that season consisting of a barrage of reverses to him and most of them ending up for big gains. Since then he has not had the ball in his hands like that because of his defensive responsibilities. But the kid could fly and could find a crease as good as anyone. So why not letting him play a role in the offense? I’m not saying to put him in 20 plays a game but 5 times would work nicely. It would give the defense one more thing to worry about.

I understand to you I’m just another person but I’m a diehard Penn State fan. I take a lot of heat because I have this habit of not talking for hours after a loss but it’s just the way I am. My suggestions have the right intentions, to make this season something to remember. Whether you take these suggestions into consideration is totally up to you, but think about it. Why settle for good when you could be great?

10 replies on “How To Save Penn State’s 2007 Season”

roaring back

  1. the run game is inefficient regardless who plays because of the o-line.
  2. clark at qb is certainly not the answer. the answer lies in the future will devlin. not clark. and morelli is no tebow and clark is no leak i can guarentee that.
  3. ill talk more of “letting loose” in a bit
  4. seargent did commit a foul on that play that was clear when he pushed off to get in position.
  5. the offense has enough weapons you said it yourself. king is a first round draft pick THIS YEAR in the nfl… he is going no where on offense.

back to letting loose… here is the thing all penn state fans need to remember: this is big ten football. the big ten is NOT the SEC god damnit. we are not about speed or big plays. we are about defense (which penn state has) and a hard gritty run game which is obviously suspect thus far in state college this year. the game yesterday was a typical big ten game. thats how it is. no one in the big ten has changed their philosophy its just not gonna happen, sorry. its the reason why the big ten suffers so badly in the big games vs other confrences cause they refuse to change their ways for the ways that have revolutionized college football. but its unique. its the big ten. its not changing anytime soon. deal with it.

run the table penn state. go state go!

We were…. I saw the game, and here were my comments about 24 hours after the game. Imagine what I was like one hour after it!

Right – the defence was fucking great. You can’t stop Mike Hart all the time and that Morelli fumble was sympomatic with what happens when we play those b***s. Needless to say, I was also furious at Austin Scott for THAT error.

As for the offence, it ABSOLUTELY sucked. Morelli couldn’t hit anyone – but even when he did, the running backs certainly didn’t *

*ing help out, did they? Kinlaw had one monster break, but that was about it. It was a pity that JoePa decided to bring out Scott because I thought he was causing some real problems out.

Michigan weren’t that good (apart from Mike Hart and to some extent Mario Manningham), but our ‘O’ was just awful. I’m still *

**ing furious about the game.

reply… i understand the big ten is different than other conferences. as i said, im all for line em up, run it down your throat style football. i would rather all of college football be that way, its better, but as you said its hard to compete with the wide open offenses of other conferences. i dont know about you but i hate losing and sometimes change is needed, no matter how hard it may be. i dont want them to stop running like they do but they need to do something differently to compete.

also clark would be tewbo and morelli would be leak.

and finally, i understand your postion on the sargeant play but i still believe that it was clean, yes he did push his way into position but on the other hand the michigan reciever also pulled him down from the jersey, correct? so if it wasnt clean, they should have at least offset the penalties.

reply… the defense is amazing. i mean considering hart had what? 43 carries? 43 carries against an average defense and hart racks up about 300 easy i tink. there isnt much more to say about scott, he is really getting on my nerves. maybe he should call up tom coughlin. he helped tiki, why cant he help scott? yeah michigan wasnt that great but either was our offense, so it really offset. i just want them to open the play book a little, i think it could do alot.

no seriously the offense is what it is. and they WILL compete with that offense.

i know what your comparisons to the qbs were.. what i was saying is clark isnt anywhere close to the quality qb tewbo is and morelli obviously doesnt have what it takes to be leak.

watch the replay of the play, push-offs on the offensive side happen all the time. good players know how to do it. just watch shockey do it hes always been one of the best even back when he played at thug U. watch it and try to tell me sargeant didnt first hold him then push back.

Big Ten Since I am a Big Ten guy myself, I feel like I can add soemthing to this debate. Cernig, I don’t see how you can say that the Big Ten will always be gritty run-first offensively. Offensive philosophies change all the time. You can’t just accept the fact that we are a run-first conference focused on defense. If the Big Ten wants to be a power conference, it must adjust its philosophies which it has already begun to do. My Hoosiers run the spread offense and Kellen Lewis threw the 50 times last saturday. You may enjoy living in the past, but the fact of the matter is that the Big Ten can’t just stay with it’s old philosophies “because that’s what the Big Ten is.” It must evolve inorder to succeed against other power conferences and I believe, that’s what it will do.

I love spread offences I’m a big fan of the spread offence rather than the PSU’s offence. It depends on how quick your QB is out of the pocket. That’s where PSU profited with Michael Robinson….

i never once said i liked that style of play all i was saying is that is the big ten all all big ten followers know it. and until someone like a michigan or osu or wiscy, not a hoosier (sorry but you have basketball) does it consitently it will never catch on in the conference. if one of those teams do use it consitently then the conference may improve dramatically like, as much as i hate to say it, the pac-10 has.

That’s where I disagree… Yes of course the powerhouses of the Big Ten are Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State, but that doesn’t mean that they need to change inorder for the Big Ten to change. I think it will actually happen the opposite. When my Hoosiers and Illinois start beating these powerhouses, it may convince some of the teams to change thus creating change in the Big Ten as a whole. I’m not saying they will all adopt the spread offense but I wouldn’t be suprised if the spread started influencing other Big Ten offenses. And if you haven’t seen IU play, I suggest you take a look. We have 2 big time playmakers in Kellen Lewis and James Hardy.

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