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PSU point-counter: Best and worst part of this season (Giger)

Beating Wolverines would make things better A lot of people are really down on Penn State right now, and the team has shown the past two weeks that it’s clearly not as good as many people thought. But a win over Michigan next week would change everything. Having that tremendous opportunity ahead is the best thing I can say about the season right now. Because regardless of the loss to Ohio State, there is still a path to the College Football Playoff, if the Nittany Lions can find a way to upset the Wolverines. Will that happen? I doubt it. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but to ...

Franklin appreciates his Maryland Terrapins roots

Following are the highlights of James Franklin’s Tuesday press conference: Saturday’s game: at Maryland (3:30, Fox) Records: Penn State is 7-1 following last week’s 33-24 win over Indiana. Maryland is 5-3. After opening the season with five straight wins, the Terps have lost three in a row, including last week’s 33-27 setback at Northwestern. Odds: Penn State is an 11.5-point favorite. Rankings: Penn State is ranked No. 9 by the Associated Press. Maryland roots Franklin has deep roots at Maryland, having spent eight seasons in two separate stints with the Terrapins ...

Franklin must practice showing vs telling

Of all the things that were difficult to fathom from Penn State’s performance against Ohio State and its aftermath, I found this admission from James Franklin to stand alone. During his Tuesday press conference, the last question Franklin took was about his own accountability when the team loses a big game, especially in an era of raising money for program needs and keeping fan engagement high. His answer was both honest and intriguing. He said, “Yeah, if I did not do that (after OSU game), I think you just created an opportunity for me to do that, which I appreciate. Ultimately, ...

NCAA talks to UM assistants

By Larry Lagge The Associated Press ANN ARBOR, Mich. — NCAA investigators interviewed members of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh’s staff Thursday about a sign-stealing scheme, a person familiar with the governing body’s visit told The Associated Press. The investigation has rocked the undefeated and second-ranked Wolverines on their march toward a potential spot in the College Football Playoff. The interviews were confirmed by the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to speak publicly about the details. The NCAA inquiry was ...

Rudel: The most dissapointing part of last week’s loss was …

In abandoning the run, Lions cut out playmakers. This is a long list, but as is the case with every big-game loss, there are few wrong answers. I cannot fathom how Penn State got away from the run. James Franklin (previously) resisted season-long questions on why the Lions weren’t throwing deep more to open up the run. It’s pretty clear now they weren’t throwing deep for a reason — because they didn’t think Drew Allar was ready to carry the team that way, didn’t think the receivers could get open and had the usual offensive line concerns that have been around for the past ...

Giger: The most dissapointing part of last week’s loss was …

Yurcich, Franklin, receivers need to share the blame. Penn State embarrassed itself offensively in the loss at Ohio State, and to me the primary culprits are Mike Yurcich, the wide receivers and James Franklin. The easy part of this is pointing out that the receivers just aren’t very good. There’s not a legitimate No. 1 Big Ten receiver on the team. KeAndre Lambert-Smith is really a possession guy and No. 2 receiver, and everybody else is really a No. 3 at best. I’ll try not to speak Japanese here, but ... when defenses don’t respect your receivers or believe that they can ...