2017-2018 Penn State Football thread

Postby **count2infinity** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 9:53 am

Again, no fancy titles needed. A day after the 1 year anniversary of making the last thread where I accurately predicted our regular season record (albeit I put one of our L's in the wrong spot), I figured it's time to start it up for this coming year.

Akron - W
Pitt - W
Georgia State - W
@Iowa - W
Indiana - W
@Northwestern - W
Michigan - W
@Ohio State - L
@Michigan State - W
Rutgers - W
Nebraska - W
@Maryland - W

That's right... 11-1. I just don't think they can win in Columbus, especially after last year. I think they'll be pumped up for Pitt and Michigan to the point where they win both. 8-4 at worst, I think.

I'm really just hoping this season isn't a let down. Lots of expectations on them in the upcoming season. Need to deliver.

Postby **Sam's Drunk Dog** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:00 am

The optimistic part of me says they will go 12-0. The realistic part of me says they will go 10-2 with a loss to OSU on the road and a loss to either Nebraska or Michigan. Anything less than 10-2 will be a disappointment.

Postby **count2infinity** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:07 am

Yeah, optimistically speaking, they can go 12-0, but I wouldn't bet on that one. They'll have some stumbles down the road. I think 11-1 is optimistic as well, and I think 10-2 is realistic. 8-4 is a bad season with the team that's coming back. Anything worse than that, it's catastrophic.

Postby **Beveridge** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:28 am

9-3

Losses to Ohio State and Michigan and one to someone else that shouldn't be a loss because that's how they roll.

Postby **relantel** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:43 am

Georgia State?!?

I thought the Big Ten wouldn't allow 1-AA opponents anymore?

Postby **Sam's Drunk Dog** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:56 am

After some research GA State has apparently been a FCS school in the Sun Belt since 2013. They have won 7 games since then with 6 coming last year.

Postby **relantel** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 11:42 am

After some research GA State has apparently been a FCS school in the Sun Belt since 2013. They have won 7 games since then with 6 coming last year.

That still doesn't take them off the cupcake list. Did a stronger opponent back out and they had nothing left?

Postby **Sam's Drunk Dog** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:02 pm

After some research GA State has apparently been a FCS school in the Sun Belt since 2013. They have won 7 games since then with 6 coming last year.
That still doesn't take them off the cupcake list. Did a stronger opponent back out and they had nothing left?

I agree they are cupcakes. I don't know if GA St is replacing a previously booked school that backed out, but Franklin and the former GA St coach are longtime friends per this article http://www.ajc.com/sports/college/georg ... uTfrhnWLK/ He was fired in November.

Postby **Orlando Penguin** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:14 pm

I understand WHY they play teams like Georgia State (easy opponent, easy home date) but if you're gonna play a MAC team to lead off, then why not schedule a bigger-name team from a power 5 conference? Oh, right, because it could be a loss and it would keep you from playing 7 home games some seasons. Tickets cost way too much to be going to games against freakin Georgia State. It's opponents like GA State that makes me wish we were back in our independent days when they'd play the Eastern teams but then also go after a USC, Texas, Alabama, ND, etc. At least Temple is off the schedule.

If the offensive line comes back healthy and improves even more with all the experience they have coming back, I don't see any reason why they can't go undefeated, even winning in Columbus, which they've only done once since joining the Big Ten. The potential is certainly there to be a 1994-esque team...certainly not in the firepower department, no one will ever match that. But I'm talking that they're known for the offense and the defense is sort of along for the ride. The biggest key on defense is how they handle the linebacker depth. Cabinda and Bowen will be the lynchpins with Brandon Smith and Cam Brown providing support. This was the one position on the field where if someone got hurt, they were in trouble. But I agree with the above posts and I'll go so far as to say that anything less than 11 wins would be a disappointment. I hate expectations but it's difficult not to have raised ones after what happened this year and what is coming back next year.

Postby **count2infinity** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:41 pm

At least Temple is off the schedule.

Amen. I don't care about playing the team themselves. They've been at least decent the last couple years, so they haven't been a "cupcake", but the fans from Temple are your typical Philly fans. Just nasty.

Postby **Staggy** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:48 pm

It’s a tough schedule this year. A decent power 5 non-conference game, Nebraska, @Iowa, @Northwestern as the crossovers, then Michigan, @Ohio State, @Michigan State in a row. I’ll say 10-2 with losses to Ohio State and one of the B1G West teams . I think we’ll take down Michigan this year, they lose a boatload of starters plus it should be the night game whiteout. Realistically I see anything from 8-4 to 11-1, with 9-3 being the minimum for a successful season.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:10 pm

At least Temple is off the schedule.
Amen. I don't care about playing the team themselves. They've been at least decent the last couple years, so they haven't been a "cupcake", but the fans from Temple are your typical Philly fans. Just nasty.

Hey, if you had to walk to classes at nighttime in North Philly for four years, you'd be nasty too.

Postby **Orlando Penguin** » Tue Jan 24, 2017 10:44 pm

At least Temple is off the schedule.
Amen. I don't care about playing the team themselves. They've been at least decent the last couple years, so they haven't been a "cupcake", but the fans from Temple are your typical Philly fans. Just nasty.

I didn't really care about the fans (disclaimer - my dad is a Temple grad and even as a PSU STH for all those years, he'd always wear his Temple stuff to Beaver Stadium...and got mostly sympathetic pats on the back) because there was one year they were any good and they took down the big bad beast. But like playing Pitt, playing Temple just doesn't do anything for PSU. And now here come the Pitt folks with their torches.

Postby **Sam's Drunk Dog** » Wed Jan 25, 2017 6:53 am

I wouldn't say that playing WUP doesn't do anything for us, but we get much less of a benefit from a victory and way more harm from a loss than they do.

Postby **Staggy** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 12:27 pm

PSU picks up a late commitment from 4* ILB Ellis Brooks. Huge pickup as we only started recruiting him last week when our only other ILB in the class flipped to Virginia Tech.

Postby **count2infinity** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 12:28 pm

Nice... was he committed anywhere else, or was he still making up his mind?

Postby **columbia** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 12:29 pm

I wouldn't say that playing WUP doesn't do anything for us, but we get much less of a benefit from a victory and way more harm from a loss than they do.

That was EPP's theory on WVU playing Marshall: "no win scenario."

Postby **Staggy** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 12:30 pm

Seems like he was a Maryland lean with Oregon and LSU in the picture. He mentioned PSU as his dream school and Rivers has been a flip candidate for a while, so maybe he was holding out for an offer.

Postby **count2infinity** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 12:31 pm

That's great... getting in good talent is about 70% of the game in college ball.

Postby **Sam's Drunk Dog** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 2:01 pm

I wouldn't say that playing WUP doesn't do anything for us, but we get much less of a benefit from a victory and way more harm from a loss than they do.

That was EPP's theory on WVU playing Marshall: "no win scenario."

He wasn't wrong, although Marshall isn't really any different than any other cupcake school that WVU could schedule. If everyone was scheduling multiple P5 out-of-conference schools each season, then WUP would be on PSU's schedule every year, but since that is not the case, PSU limiting themselves to WUP as the only out-of-conference P5 team every year doesn't benefit them especially with the PSU alumns that have no connection with the Pittsburgh area.

Postby **slappybrown** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 2:06 pm

I really don't want to go down this road again, but Marshall and UWV have played like 7 times. Pitt and UPS have played 100 times. If you truly value tradition in college sports -- and the word "tradition" is basically erotica for B10 schools -- they should play yearly.

Postby **count2infinity** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 4:25 pm

I think I've been on record (especially after this last season's game) to say they should play yearly, and through the ebbs and flows of college football there will be periods of time where the rivalry will favor one school over the other as far as a "no win scenario" is concerned... right now really isn't that time as neither school is terrible.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 4:43 pm

If I had to guess where these two teams will be five years from now, I like Penn State's chances. Who knows though.

Postby **willeyeam** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 5:16 pm

If I had to guess where these two teams will be five years from now, I like Penn State's chances. Who knows though.

Is this some newfound Shad reverse jinx or did you just guarantee Pitt's dominance?

Postby **slappybrown** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 6:06 pm

If I had to guess where these two teams will be five years from now, I like Penn State's chances. Who knows though.

All things being equal until I personally donate 500mm to a school I didn't attend to build the new Pitt Stadium on campus + open up my line of exotic vehicle dealerships that recruits will be charged with "washing and maintaining", this is generally the safe bet.