Jan 9 | Penn State

InKellyWeTrust

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I'll eat crow happily but I think most of you guys are out of your mind with big win predictions. Penn State has weapons and has a helluva defense. This will be another battle of wills and J. Love will get 10 snaps at best. Hopefully Marty, Mike and Al can create some magic.
Penn St is a good football team. It will be another Georgia like game and could go either way. I don't think it will be 30-0, lol. If ND keeps playing its brand of football, they will find a way to win this one. I think a 1 score game is upcoming.
 

Dale

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Werent you the one banging the drum about not being able to answer who would do what against someone elses schedule because its hypothetical? Yet somehow youre able to definitely say a team is better than 3 other teams they havent played.

Interesting take.,

Huh? I, or anyone can have an opinion on who’s better. You can have an opinion on South Carolina being better than SMU still too. I’m not advocating on taking said opinion, putting it an against a hypothetical schedule and taking one’s playoff bid from another based off it LMAO. That’s a pretty stark difference. Brutal attempt at a point man
 
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IrishEyesAreSmiling

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I believe we win 23-14. Homerun hit by Love like a 60 yard touchdown run. And we stack the box, double warren and penn states receivers crumble against our secondary.
 

NDShark

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It’ll be a dogfight and we need Denbrock and co to figure out how to move the ball and score points. What gives me confidence is this team believes they can win, we’re getting several players peaking at the right time (Jeter, Harrison, Oben), we have the mobile QB who can improvise, and PSU hasn’t had a top 10 win (or rather almost any “big” wins under Franklin). What keeps me up is they’ve got some dudes on both sides of the ball, they’ve had two extra days to rest, injury concerns on our side, our offense didn’t look stellar against UGA, and they’ve seemed to put things together offensively (albeit against SMU and BSU). Irish in a close one.
 

ThePiombino

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I'm confused. All anyone wanted to talk about all year regarding PSU is what a paper tiger they were. They had three tests all season, including the conference championship game and lost two of them, winning the third in overtime. Now that they beat powerhouses SMU and Boise State we're dubbing them juggernauts? Putting them on Georgia's level? Come on, guys. It's still PSU and it's still Franklin.
 

forkbeard3777

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I’ve watched Penn State a few times this year and their two playoff games. I promise you, other than Warren, they are not as talented as Georgia — including their d-line and linebackers.

Defensively, Abdul Carter is great at getting pressure, but he isn’t some menace in the run game (having to deal with the duo of Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams is much more of a bitch). Their secondary isn’t anything special and they don’t have a player like Starks back there.

Offensively, you certainly can make the case that Allar is better than Stockton. Stockton, however, truthfully made a lot of great throws. Being that it was his first game, against Golden and the ND defense in the Sugar Bowl, he really did play pretty well at times. I think Notre Dame can really get to Allar and rattle him. Their running backs also aren’t any better (at least notably) than Georgia’s. What concerns me is the Warren matchup. I don’t know who covers him and he’s Allar’s safety blanket — he just lofts it up to him at times to make plays. The guy’s gonna get his catches, but hopefully ND can generate enough pressure to make Allar’s passes off target.
 

TracyGraham

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I'm confused. All anyone wanted to talk about all year regarding PSU is what a paper tiger they were. They had three tests all season, including the conference championship game and lost two of them, winning the third in overtime. Now that they beat powerhouses SMU and Boise State we're dubbing them juggernauts? Putting them on Georgia's level? Come on, guys. It's still PSU and it's still Franklin.
Can't speak for anyone else, but I still think they are a paper tiger. I didnt watch a ton of CFB this year, but watched PSU second to ND because they were right in front of us and was pulling for them to lose. Saw them against USC, OSU, Oregon, Minn, Playoffs, etc, and they never looked elite at all. Some college players look like men, Allar still looks like an undeveloped underclassman. The team is obviously talented but they never seem to be a complete package, even for a college team. I dont think they are any better than Indiana, and after our past 2 games some crazy bad luck would have to happen for us to lose IMO. Anything can happen of course. They lost to the only 2 great teams they played and they squeaked by minn and USC.
IMO they are the same PSU team every year under Frankiln. They never look excellent and they lose every big game.
 

forkbeard3777

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Can't speak for anyone else, but I still think they are a paper tiger. I didnt watch a ton of CFB this year, but watched PSU second to ND because they were right in front of us and was pulling for them to lose. Saw them against USC, OSU, Oregon, Minn, Playoffs, etc, and they never looked elite at all. Some college players look like men, Allar still looks like an undeveloped underclassman. The team is obviously talented but they never seem to be a complete package, even for a college team. I dont think they are any better than Indiana, and after our past 2 games some crazy bad luck would have to happen for us to lose IMO. Anything can happen of course. They lost to the only 2 great teams they played and they squeaked by minn and USC.
IMO they are the same PSU team every year under Frankiln. They never look excellent and they lose every big game.
I think they’re good and a notch above than what they used be, but they aren’t some elite team. They were very fortunate to score SMU and Boise in the playoffs. What a freaking joke …

That said, I do think Franklin will have them ready to play. Football is largely about matchups and the only one I don’t particularly like is Warren vs the defense. Under no circumstances can you have Kiser or Bowen guarding him. I don’t know who you put on him. Watts? He’s just not tall enough. That’s why I think it’s imperative to generate a strong pass rush and a lot of pressure on Allar to force his throws and make them off target.

I wish ND had Mills for this one…
 

IrishWayDomer

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We should have Bryce Young cover him. Has the height and keeps him off the LOS. Talk about two birds.
 

Cackalacky2.0

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I'll eat crow happily but I think most of you guys are out of your mind with big win predictions. Penn State has weapons and has a helluva defense. This will be another battle of wills and J. Love will get 10 snaps at best. Hopefully Marty, Mike and Al can create some magic.
I’ll tell myself this just to be level headed about it but I also was not impressed or overly worried by them through the year and I certainly felt we should have been ranked ahead of them at the end of the year. I think we win and comfortably even if that means we get up early and stay ahead like we have been doing all year including the last two playoff games.
 

Te'o4Heisman

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Huh? I, or anyone can have an opinion on who’s better. You can have an opinion on South Carolina being better than SMU still too. I’m not advocating on taking said opinion, putting it an against a hypothetical schedule and taking one’s playoff bid from another based off it LMAO. That’s a pretty stark difference. Brutal attempt at a point man
I asked a question about what he thought and you said it was an unanswerable question because it was based in a hypothetical. That is no different than you sitting here saying one team is definitely better than another team (that was actually ranked higher than them), but never played each other. Not s stark difference at all other than you being hypocritical. I have no beef with you at all, just think its interesting how the goal posts get moved..
 

Cackalacky2.0

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I think they’re good and a notch above than what they used be, but they aren’t some elite team. They were very fortunate to score SMU and Boise in the playoffs. What a freaking joke …

That said, I do think Franklin will have them ready to play. Football is largely about matchups and the only one I don’t particularly like is Warren vs the defense. Under no circumstances can you have Kiser or Bowen guarding him. I don’t know who you put on him. Watts? He’s just not tall enough. That’s why I think it’s imperative to generate a strong pass rush and a lot of pressure on Allar to force his throws and make them off target.

I wish ND had Mills for this one…
Exactly. I think if we get home on Allar they are in for a long night.
 

irish4ever

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Irish need to remain aggressive, but I hope to see a few less penalties. I love what Bryce Young does, but he got the benefit on the 1st 'running into the kicker' call. Being fair, that should have been 'roughing the kicker'. It seemed the Irish bailed out the dawgs with an ill-advised penalty a few times.
Then again, the officials definitely did miss the obvious face mask on Riley Leonard's big run. Also, the Jordan Faison 'illegal shift' call was bullshit too!
 

LifelongFan

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This year, judging by predictive stats, all of the 4 teams remaining plus Georgia and Oregon, are about the same in performance and general team talent. The Georgia game came down to the headset battle. This game will too, and I have faith that Freeman, Denbrock, and Golden can outcoach all of the other 3 teams.
 

Te'o4Heisman

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PSU started really fast in both of their playoff games and got out to big leads with bug plays and turnovers. ND needs to protect the football and stay assignment sound on defense and let the game settle in. I know Boise is not ND but they absolutely shut Jeanty down. Should be another close game with whoever takes care of the football and makes a few more plays coming out ahead.
23-20 ND is my gut
 

notredomer23

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I don’t think many that aren’t from the general geographic area realize how awful PSU fans/alums are about their program. I hope Freeman has the opportunity to run up the score on these scum bags.
 

Jimmy3Putt

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Irish need to remain aggressive, but I hope to see a few less penalties. I love what Bryce Young does, but he got the benefit on the 1st 'running into the kicker' call. Being fair, that should have been 'roughing the kicker'. It seemed the Irish bailed out the dawgs with an ill-advised penalty a few times.
Then again, the officials definitely did miss the obvious face mask on Riley Leonard's big run. Also, the Jordan Faison 'illegal shift' call was bullshit too!
Bryce should've gotten a roughing call, but to me it was a make-up for their BS Gray call a few plays earlier. 29 was looking back for the ball.
The pass interference against Kiser was BS.
Their corners were playing grab ass all night without a flag.
 

BeauBenken

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PSU started really fast in both of their playoff games and got out to big leads with bug plays and turnovers. ND needs to protect the football and stay assignment sound on defense and let the game settle in. I know Boise is not ND but they absolutely shut Jeanty down. Should be another close game with whoever takes care of the football and makes a few more plays coming out ahead.
23-20 ND is my gut
Penn State was good at getting to Jeanty early, but he still broke something like 16 tackles. Penn State is actually one of the worst tackling teams in the country. Stick with the run, block better than Boise State, and make enough plays through the air that the cannot sit in single high coverage all game -- they play more single high coverage than just about anyone not named Notre Dame.

We could really stand to have a couple more wrinkles in the run game/blocking scheme. We've been pretty simple up until now and you really just need to get JD and Love to the second level and they can bust this game open.
 

irish4ever

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Bryce should've gotten a roughing call, but to me it was a make-up for their BS Gray call a few plays earlier. 29 was looking back for the ball.
The pass interference against Kiser was BS.
Their corners were playing grab ass all night without a flag.
Agreed. I told my wife that IF that is what they are going to call as pass interference, then they need to be consistent. Of course, they weren't ... especially one against Thomas on a pass route. Oh well, the Irish prevailed and that is what counts.
 

Irish8248

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I can't be the only one, but doesn't this feel like we're playing the ND teams of the 2012-2021? Sound across the board but not elite. Massive TE target that is the focus of the offense. People questioning their realness due to the schedule. High notoriety coach who the fanbase absolutely love/hates
 

Veritate Duce Progredi

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I’ll tell myself this just to be level headed about it but I also was not impressed or overly worried by them through the year and I certainly felt we should have been ranked ahead of them at the end of the year. I think we win and comfortably even if that means we get up early and stay ahead like we have been doing all year including the last two playoff games.
I thought all of this before Rylie Mills and J. Love got hurt (and way before Cross aggravated something). We're already have freshman all over the starting and reserve units, I just don't know how much more we can handle.

Love was such a massive part of our offense that I don't know how we can produce chunk plays without him. Maybe this team has another trick up it's sleeve or more punishment to dole out but the logical part of my brain keeps saying, 'the center cannot hold'.
 

Veritate Duce Progredi

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I think they’re good and a notch above than what they used be, but they aren’t some elite team. They were very fortunate to score SMU and Boise in the playoffs. What a freaking joke …

That said, I do think Franklin will have them ready to play. Football is largely about matchups and the only one I don’t particularly like is Warren vs the defense. Under no circumstances can you have Kiser or Bowen guarding him. I don’t know who you put on him. Watts? He’s just not tall enough. That’s why I think it’s imperative to generate a strong pass rush and a lot of pressure on Allar to force his throws and make them off target.

I wish ND had Mills for this one…
If we assign a LB to cover him, it's probably 4 - Jaiden Ausberry (despite height limitations, he can run with anyone). But that isn't Golden's 'modus operandi'. He's going to disguise coverages and shade players over/under to disguise. I have no doubt Golden will have a strong gameplan created. Sometimes great players make great plays and Warren will certainly get his targets/touches.

I just hope this team challenges and then punishes every touch. Being big doesn't make you immune to big hits and I think we have a team of strikers.
 

FDNYIrish1

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MF gave a very interesting tidbit in one of his sideline interviews if you were paying attention. He said we have to keep running it even if it’s not working. Commit to those inside runs even if they’re not immediately successful to get the defense crashing so you can get to the edge later on like we did. Just shows the chess match that goes on and how we have that ability due to the faith in the defense. I also love that Golden told Freeman we’ve got your back and to go for it on that failed fourth down (shitty spot in my opinion). It’s really fun to watch the synergy with this team and the staff.
 

mrmcgrail

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Psu OC is also an idiot and will get away from what is working and run some little giants type of shit which will stall them out
 

Te'o4Heisman

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I thought all of this before Rylie Mills and J. Love got hurt (and way before Cross aggravated something). We're already have freshman all over the starting and reserve units, I just don't know how much more we can handle.

Love was such a massive part of our offense that I don't know how we can produce chunk plays without him. Maybe this team has another trick up it's sleeve or more punishment to dole out but the logical part of my brain keeps saying, 'the center cannot hold'.
Nobody is a freshman anymore at this point in the season. Love hurts and we will definitely need him if were going to win 2 more games, but Price is elite as well. Any team with Price and A. Williams as their RB duo should be very happy.
 

Dale

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I asked a question about what he thought and you said it was an unanswerable question because it was based in a hypothetical. That is no different than you sitting here saying one team is definitely better than another team (that was actually ranked higher than them), but never played each other. Not s stark difference at all other than you being hypocritical. I have no beef with you at all, just think its interesting how the goal posts get moved..

One was in the context of who should make the CFP. One wasn’t. No beef either. You’re stretching big time to make it one though
 

IrishWayDomer

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If we assign a LB to cover him, it's probably 4 - Jaiden Ausberry (despite height limitations, he can run with anyone). But that isn't Golden's 'modus operandi'. He's going to disguise coverages and shade players over/under to disguise. I have no doubt Golden will have a strong gameplan created. Sometimes great players make great plays and Warren will certainly get his targets/touches.

I just hope this team challenges and then punishes every touch. Being big doesn't make you immune to big hits and I think we have a team of strikers.
I think it will be coverage by committee but I like Ausberry or Adon. Both physical freaks in their own ways.
 

mrmcgrail

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The only guy on the back end with the length to deal with him is Moore. ausberry from the backers is the best option of them but golden won't do that he is going to play his scheme and confuse psu
 
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