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PSU has lots to think about when benching a QB

To answer this week’s question: Absolutely. Much as coaches want to treat players the same, regardless of position, it just doesn’t, and can’t, work that way. Quarterback is the most important position on the team — one of the most important positions in all of sports. Coaches alternate receivers, even using them as messengers with the plays. Running backs shuffle in and out. Penn State has been subbing in different offensive linemen in a (terminal) search of the best five and the right combination. Defensive substitution can be liberal as rushing the passer is ...

PSU coaches should not treat QBs with kid gloves

There’s no I in team. There’s also no QB in team. No one is above the entire team. No one. If one player is messing up so badly that he’s a huge reason why a team is losing games, then that player has to be benched. Even if it’s the quarterback. OK, so most everyone agrees that not only will Sean Clifford be benched in favor of Will Levis this week, but also that it’s the right thing to do for Penn State. What Neil and I are discussing today is whether making a change at quarterback is a bigger decision than, say, making a change at linebacker or safety. The ...

For Nits, red zone becomes Red Sea

When the book is someday written on “Inventing New Ways to Lose,” presuming he look back and laugh about it, say 20-plus years from now, James Franklin could provide a chapter on Penn State’s 2020 visit to Nebraska. When, for the second straight week, the Nittany Lion offense gave up a ...

Franklin takes steps to save season

In starting out 0-3, Penn State has already lost what it thought was a chance to be in the Big Ten East title race, if not in the running for the College Football Playoff. Beginning today, we’ll find out if James Franklin has lost more than just three games. We’ll find out if he has lost the team. Against Maryland last week, it sure looked that way as the Nittany Lions — by their own admission — lacked energy and certainly a response as the Terrapins bolted to leads of 21-0, 28-7 and 35-7. Being dominated by Ohio State is one thing, but the Lions have owned Maryland since ...

Defensive showing the reason for 2 of 3 Penn State losses

Penn State’s defense played great for the first 58 minutes this season. It’s been flat out awful ever since. There’s no question the Nittany Lions’ offense has had major problems, and Neil points them out. But the offense did enough to beat Indiana. The defense collapsed at the end with that game on the line, setting a bad tone for what has turned out to be a very bad start for Penn State. We all can gripe about James Franklin not making sure that Devyn Ford or anyone else went into the end zone with a one-point lead inside of two minutes at Indiana. The game would have ...

Hoping new normal doesn’t last long

If sports in this unfortunate year of COVID-19 have taught us anything, it’s to embrace the non-traditional. While Toronto and Edmonton were playing host to the NHL playoffs, NBA teams were competing in a bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The entire World Series was played in a ballpark that is home to a team that didn’t even qualify for the postseason. And, as the calendar flipped to November, Coastal Carolina was undefeated and resting comfortably in the AP college football rankings for the first time in the program’s history, which dates all the ...