SB Nation - Login for mobile commenting

Black Shoe Diaries

Post-Apocalyptic Venting Thread


Well, THAT was fun. Now what? A thread for your continued insight on the TicketCity Bowl, other action around the country, and the vague and limitless places Penn State's football program will see next.

0 recs  |  433 comments

Comments

There are only 2 things in this world

Death and B1G bowl losses.

This MSU - Georgia game is pretty damn good.

Yes!

I think the plates on the bus are from Michigan.

Overland Park, specifically.

Is that for the PSU game or the B1G in general today?

Can't wait to learn the new coach's identity...

Considering the way the last 2 months have gone, it’ll be nice to see who the BOT anoints to help guide Penn State into the gutter for the next several years, maybe have him start out his press conference by apologizing for Penn State existing?

BoT

Can’t figure out why Vince Lombardi is not returning their calls

I had to go to a local bar / cafe to watch the game

and missed the BSD open threads. Just as well, I guess.

Thank you to the seniors and the coaches for persevering through the last two months.

Thank you to the BSD fans who commiserated with me through all of this.

FU to Jerry Sandusky and the media.

Mercifully, this season is over.

+1 to your last four lines. I couldn't have said it better.
Jeez, they just showed Oregon's helmets for the Rose Bowl.

You could blind an opponent with them. They look like they’re chromed.

Houstons Offensive Coordinator is

the coolest looking guy Ive ever seen

Tom Cruise missing a chromosome...
I think the Mayan 2012 prediciton came a little bit earlier than expected today.
There's a cougar in my Platoon.

Might be rough for PT.

Tell him his quarterback is a soccer player.
Do you outrank?

Lock his/her heels and make him/her sing the SpongeBob SquarePants verse about “Now, drop on the deck and flop like a fish.” in honor of Keenum.

Sadly, I do not.
Work harder to ensure you eventually outrank him.

Thanks for your service.

Hard work rarely impacts promotions in my experience.
Of course.

But by “hard work”, I could be including such things as “boot-licking”

I once heard an E-7 jump all over a 1st Lt.

I said, “John, how did you get away with that?!?!” He said, "You can say anything you need to say to an officer, as long as you use “Sir/Ma’am” somewhere in your ass-chewing."

GREAT life lesson!

I second RR’s salute to your service.

True statement. I was taught long ago a good SNCO never lets a LT tell them what to do...

…they’re just kids, ya know. Smart kids, but kids nonetheless.

And if the LT is truly smart

he will listen to what the NCO is telling him.

+1 Exactly... :-)
And it sounds like you have served, T5, so

a tip of the Beret to you as well!!!!

Right backatcha PSU_Lions_84....

Yessir, still savin’ the world, lol…

Stay as safe as you can.

Peace through fire superiority!

Take whatever he/she hands out, with a smile on your face.

Show them heart, and help them understand that whatever happened on the field today by no means will prevent you from wiping the field with them should they get froggy…but at the end of the day, this was just a game, a game with absolutely no consequences. So what, we lost to Houston. Take your lumps, they were a better team today. And paybacks are a bitch….Looking forward to a new HC and next yr!

Over/Under 2

Number of non-conference victories next season.

4
Navy and Temple aren't going to be cupcakes

Virginia is on the road and they are getting better.

Temple will be a win, considering the OL losses

UVA is still UVA. Their fans think they were pretty bad this year, and their QB situation. Same feel.

Navy- Not a cupcake, but shouldn’t be too close.

Texas fans brought Pedobear to the game

That seems kind of uncalled for.

http://cfbsection.com/2012/01/pedobear-trolling-penn-state-fans/

My impression of Dallas hasn't changed much

Annoying football teams with annoying players, water that tastes bad, and people running around in weird costumes.

Is your name a reference to first year of law school?

If so, you need to adjust your tolerance for hell.

An operative from ShaggyBevo.
this is perfect example of why...

…I no longer attend live sporting events.

I’ll assume Westboro Church wacko was in suit until I hear differently.

Are the names of the people who did this known?

Because we can submit an open letter to the University of Texas with their names and how it violates their code of conduct: “respect toward peers and community.”

That first quarter was absolutely awful

The rest of the game was bad, but not off-the-charts bad.

And now, we plunge into the unknown.

But we stand with each other,

for the most part, NENL, and will rely on each other to persevere in the face of adversity.

Indeed

I remain optimistic. The next year will be the hardest in history for the school and the program, but we have what it takes to get through.

Good point re next year.

But it will pass, and we will continue to put one foot in front of the other until we get through the negative situation. As the GIs at Normandy used to say, “The road home leads through Berlin.” Our road to redemption may lead through Hell, but we will trudge along.

"If you're going through Hell,

…keep going"- Winston Churchill

We've been through the hardest part

Nothing will touch that week of the Nebraska game.

I know there are much bigger things out there to worry about

But I really hope that we don’t have to endure another 2/3 season long QB competition next year.

What bowl performance was worse?

McGloin’s Outback Bowl or Bolden’s Ticket City Bowl?

C. Even

Ten tons of crap does not smell much worse than five tons . . . .

bolden bolden bolden

at least we had a prayer with mcgloin last year

Both were ugly losses

So does it matter since we lost both games?

Once again

McGloin moved the football and gave our defense time to rest; hence they performed better as compared to what you saw today when Bolden and our offense (who, to be fair to Bolden, didn’t play well either) failed to give the defense nearly as much time to rest.

Would you rather get shot in the right knee, or the left?
Are they my knees,

or yours?

incorrect analogy

McGloin is getting shot in the knee. Bolden is getting shot in face. Twice.

Actually this is incorrect too

McGloin is like getting shot in the gut. Bolden in the face. Either way your going to day, but the former is long, drawn out, and incredibly painful, with only a slight glimmer of hope you might survive (though you probably wont). With Bolden there is no hope.

McGloin pulled out the Illinois game.

There’s no way Bolden does anything except make it worse.

"Would you rather get shot in the right knee, or the left?"

If it’s Bolden pulling the trigger, he’d probably end up shooting you in the face instead.

Unfortunately, both were exactly the wrong QB for the situation.

That Florida offense was bad. Our defense and a conservative plan beat that team 9 times out of 10 in a low scoring affair. The worst thing for that game was 2010 McGloin.

This year we needed someone with the confidence to take some chances and ability to actually complete some short passes. Instead we got the guy that had our coordinators bring in the reigns.

Bolden's by far.
Our next HC has a game in about a week.

Just wait.

MSU going to the wire vs UGA
Imagine if Cousins was the QB for PSU. Oh, to dream.
All I know is......

They could hire Jesus H. Christ for HC, Allah for DC , and the Mosad for Special Teams and I wouldn’t give a good BM right now. I just think that The Lords of the Manor have handled THIS terribly and any “New Team” will not have the blessings of Nittany Nation. This game has left me sapped. As Rodney used to say, “I looked up my family tree and I found out I was the sap.” Sooooo I am not surprised with the outcome today. New suggestion for 2012—-resume some serious drinking…eff the doctors…..and JS, President Lackey tBoT and that Ahole Joyner….Did I get ’em all???

so hire Tim Tebow?
Thanks, I forgot TBow.
So....

If they hire a really good coach, you’ll still think they handled this terribly. Got it.

In this case.....

I think the 2nd hire after Joe will be the one to succeed.

yes, the next coach is the rebound coach
Could be

But I’m willing to wait until the final decision to decide whether this has been handled poorly.

Sparty!
MSU goes 85 yards in under 2 mins.
Whatevs dude. PSU went 85 yards in 3 quarters!
Don't forget their 2 arm punt strategies.
This is a win-win-win strategy
Everybody bring your Dr. Pepper to my house for the Rose Bowl

We’ll have a real good time.

Mustache is the new D coordinator for the Bills.

My day can’t get any worse!

Mustache? Apologies for my ignorance

but who is Mustache (so i can join you in commiserating)

Dave Wannstedt
Disregard...LOL

didn’t realize it was written in sarcasm font. My Bad

Dave Wannstedt
I guess this means that George Edwards is available.
FTFY.

George Edwards Michael is available.

This George Michael?

I was thinking more of the Boy George one.
Do you mean Wham?

I figured who you meant, but I can’t pass up an arrested development joke.

Yeah, that Wham guy.
that looks like Tebow?

JORTS and all

Dantonio went for the tie and OT rather than

for the win in regulation. Hmmm.

I was really wondering what he would do in that situation.

I kinda wanted him to go for 2.

On the plus side

Schenn just scored his first goal for the Flyers (possibly of his NHL career?).

Maybe I can get some enjoyment out of sports today.

It looks like the referee in the Outback Bowl

is about 4’10".

Whelp, that was a group effort

Which is why I’m not a big fan of the “Boldan iz suck” posts all over facebook. He sucked yes. But so the defense right out of the gate. They couldn’t stop who’s offensive plan is roughly a game of madden, long pass after long pass followed by a QB keeper because you want to keep the program honest. Our recievers dropped several very catchable balls and our punter/kicker/kickoffer shanked half his punts and our return teams slaughtered our field position with dumb penalties.

In every single phase of the game we failed and dramatically at that.

So I can’t single out any one player to blame this on, to me, they were all bad at different things, today PSU lost, Bolden didn’t lose, Fera didn’t lose, the secondary didn’t lose, Moye didn’t lose, they ALL lost and all share the blame pretty equally.

I wish it didn’t have to end this way, I wish Bradley would get an actual shot at the job, he’s handled this so well and he knows exactly what success with honor is all about, but this really cements that door shut.

and now we wait

Thank you for the perspective

Yes, Bolden played poorly. But he did not give up 500+ passing yards. Somewhere in the analysis someone has to point the finger at the poor pass coverage.

I think we all know the offense was not good today. But let’s not forget that the passing defense was not stellar today either.

The defense played much better after the 1st quarter

It doesn’t help they were on the field constantly from our offense going 3 and out all the time.

For Truez

Can’t expect a defense to play balls-out when they’re on the field 70% of the game. Your offense has to eat up SOME clock to give the D a chance to rest.

The pass coverage wasn't really as bad as it looks.

Yes 500+ passing yards looks bad. But that’s the entire scheme of this defense. It doesn’t matter if they get 800 passing yards, as long as we keep them from scoring. After a bad first quarter, they only gave up 13 points for the rest of the game. 7 of those points were because a safety slipped and blew up coverage.

Yes, you can make the argument that that bad start put us in a hole, and that really hurt us. I’ll agree. But really, this defense wasn’t nearly as bad as people are saying. If The offense could have done ANYTHING and given the D more time to rest, we would have had a chance.

Also, as much as Bolden sucked

What the hell Moye? He was supposed to be the guy to step up and lead this offense this year, and man did he underwhelm me. He had some bad drops, and generally just seemed to be disinterested. He might have played himself out of being drafted.

+1

This. A billion times this.

Agreed, Bolden did not win it, nor did he lose it for us.

He had a few really nice long passes once he hit his stride, caught the receivers at a full gallop. The same receivers also flubbed a few nice passes and did not help him out. I am by no means a Bolden fan, but as you stated, no one was impressive today. It was a group failure, and congrats to Houston for being the better team today. Now pls, “Search Committee” hire us a good HC and let’s move on…

The only thing I got from this game is...

… Bolden sucks. Sorry. No one can “catch his balls”, except for him.

What about his girlfriend?
Houston caught them just fine
But but but...

He only threw 3 INTs in a bowl game. Doesn’t that clearly make him better than McGloin?

She dropped him because he kept

underperforming, if you know what I mean.

Her: “I though you were a 4-star stud!”

Response fail.

Should have been a reply to psu2007.

Keep fighting Sparty!
Wow

Georgia just screwed the pooch

I root for the team, and while

I may pick on certain aspects, and even certain players, at times, today’s loss was attributable to just about every facet of the game. And, I blame the fatigue of the whole scandal thing — just ran our guys through the meat grinder over and over and over.

Forget about the search committee for a new head coach

Hire a committee to find us a quarterback.

I was always on Team Bolden...

but this game made me realize, that although both Bolden and McGloin stink, and although McGloin can lose you a game as easily as he can help you win one, Bolden can’t even win you a game.

I really can’t wait for this program’s future to start, sooner, rather than later i hope.

it started when the TicketCity Bowl ended

we shall see, we shall see.

I'm not that upset

It was my gut feeling we’d have this type of game, given the way our offense performs under Bolden. I was … SPARTY YES!!!!!!!!

SPARTY YES!!!!!
Bolden is the worst QB I have ever seen

With him you know there is zero chance of winning. I really wanted to see McGregor come out at some point, it would have been a glimmer of hope.

The closest anyone got...

to coming up with someone worse than Bolden was Matt Seneca. And Seneca would have got some snaps today. Also, he literally gave up football.

Glad I skipped this game

I figured Houston was going to win based on the ability to move the ball and PSU’s anemic offense. And once McGloin went down for the count, there was zero hope. Bolden’s stat line is one of the most atrocious I’ve ever seen from a QB playing on a respectable team: 7-26, 137, 1-3. Yeah, I’m sure I missed a few drops, but probably not 10 drops.

My take.

This team just mailed this one in. You can tell they didn’t want to be there. Maybe they should have just declined the invite after all.
Not one phase of the game played well (or even mediocre).
Offense was spectacularly bad. Bolden is not a D1 QB (and I started the year TeamBolden). Our run game was an embarrassment. 160 or so yards? Rice ran for almost 400 yards against them!
Defense was the usual bend and sometimes break we’ve come to love.
Special teams was horrible. Fera had his worst day not mango-related. Three penalties on kick returns?!
Dropped passes. Blown coverages.
Even the coaches clearly didn’t care. I can’t believe we finished the game holding 2 timeouts. I’ve never seen a team down only 2 scores basically let the last 3 minutes of a game run out. Maybe Joe wasn’t the problem after all with our historically lousy clock mgmt.
I can handle losing to a superior team but the effort the whole team gave today is more than disappointing.
Rant over. Offseason Begin.

Never looked this forward to offseason
Can I just say that Wisconsin's defense sucks ass?

Just as much as I supposed before our game? Problem is our offense – as proven in two straight games – is significantly worse than I imagined possible.

You can

Also let’s enjoy how great Oregon’s offense is.

Uh... They played two teams with a pulse.

OSU exposed Oregon’s O for what it is – a more talented, slightly more gimmicky version of Georgia Tech’s.

Zuh?

They scored 27 on LSU.

Meh.

I chalk that up to a bad game by LSU. WVU nearly scored the same, and frankly, there are no offensive juggernauts in the SEC to compare to. Fact is, OSU was able to shut them down, as are most teams, most of the time, when they have time to prepare and a staff worth a shit.

Over the past 3 seasons

They’ve only had 4 games where they scored less than 20 points (and only 1 in single digits). They’ve also broken 50 points 11 times in that span. I don’t care who they’re playing, that’s a pretty good offense.

eh.

They’re playing the same schedule as the team we played today, in large part, and they’re scoring about the same. That team was especially set up to take advantage of our weaknesses and still only managed 13 points after an initial onslaught – 7 of which came from a guy on our team tripping. No, Oregon’s offense isn’t good against a good defense, especially one that has an offense of its own attached to it.

Conference USA and the Pac-10 are the same schedule?

Come on man, that’s a bit of a stretch. I’m not saying their offense is the best ever, but you make it sound like it’s a joke. Also, you say OSU shut them down, they scored 19 in that game. That may be well below their average, but it’s hardly being shut down.

42 points against wisconsin kind of makes your arguement moot

Also if you watch what oregon is doing it is amazing, on most run plays they are melding two different plays into one look out of the gun, in a no huddle offense, which is pretty damn innovative. IMHO.

42 points already more than any B1G team scored against them

Still 8:00 to go, and the defense has given up 38 pts so it’s not like they’ve had the ball all game.

I'm just worried

that with all that happened, that will affect recruiting for years and Penn State football for years to come will be no better than Indiana. Thats my biggest fear.

All I can say is

Don’t worry so much about things you can’t control. It is what it is. Look what IU went through in basketball. 6-8 years of bad teams and finally looks like they are back to (almost) an elite team.

But I'm not sure

if I could handle 6-8 years of pathetic Penn State football, it’s just not natural.

How old are you?

I handled about 4-5, and 3 of those were when I was a student.

Take a deep breath.

Would you believe I’m 42. There is a certain standard that I have come to expect from Penn State football, and several years of quite possibly horrible football doesn’t sit well with me or any other self respecting Penn State fan.

amen...

I’ve discovered that the older the psu fan, the higher the expectations…I am closer to your age…I think the 2008 and 2009 seasons were acceptable, but not “good” seasons. Talk to the younger fans and they talk like those seasons were great. Since the mid-90’s, we have had exactly one season that I would classify as “good.” That was 2005. Even then, that was not what I would classify as a “great” season. Truth be known, I suppose I’ve just been sitting around waiting for Joepa to retire since about ’99 so psu football could get back to being psu football

LOL Bradley fans,

u mad bros?

Yes, we are.

He should have been named head coach weeks ago.

If you still think that

you’re part of the problem.

dude

No need to try to provoke others.

I've had enough

of the old fossils and inane clowns around here trying to hold on to the legacy of the Paterno personality cult.

Let’s clean house and start winning. Today (and in fact the catastrophe of the last several weeks of players insulting UH and brawling while “Scrap” was at dinner with friends) is evidence of absolute chaos. Jettison the garbage – and all the foolish fans as well.

Yeah, those of us that graduated in the 21st century are such old fossils.

FYI- Bradley was at dinner when the press called him 4 hours after the incident. Not during. But those are just details and get in the way of your weird vendetta.

Your screenname is getting sloppy with its pronouns

Revealing your trollee nature.

If you’re really a bammer fan, RBR runs a perfectly excellent blog. Do us a favor and spin your whatever elsewhere please. You haven’t brought anything of value to this living room.

You have a point…

… but all dicks do.

When you think about it, the defensive scheme was perfectly effective but for two players.

It gave up tons of short-intermediate plays and limited scoring. Or at least it would have but-for Willis getting beat one on one 65 times in the first quarter and Astorino literally falling on his face.

And the obvious problem in this game.

Which is that it was lost by the offense and not the defense.

Shut your hatch
Apparently

you were all mad, bros.

I bet you’ll be angrier when we get a new coach. Probably less when you reap the benefits (not that you’ll actually be able to figure out the causal link between this staff’s dismissal and future successes).

Troll (Hatch)...

Go back under your bridge. This is a forum where adults exchange ideas and opinions and generally are respectful toward one another. Please do not try to ruin what is a rarity when it comes to blogs. BSD is better than most because of this.

Awww

so sad.

Unfortunately, my arguments are supported by on-field performance rather than sentimentality. My view is that anybody that’s loyal to these current coaches is harming this football program. I’m tired of your willful blindness to the lousy defensive scheme that’s been exploited several times (‘06 Notre Dame, ’08 USC, yesterday). I’m tired of your crap about “being loyal to the Penn State ideals” – as though only somebody who’s been on the staff 35 years will keep PSU from becoming a corrupt program. I’m tired of the idolization of Joe Paterno, a man whose ego forced him to continue coaching even though he knew Sandusky had been arrested – a man whose desire to cling to old and faded glories overrode what should have been legitimate concern about what would happen to the program when those bad memories he had suppressed came to the fore.

Joe Paterno and Penn State’s administration made this mess – both in the scandal and in permitting the program to undergo a general decline (by Paterno surrounding himself with sycophantic incompetents over the last 20 years, including his own unqualified son).

Most neutral observers would agree with this. Most of you in here wouldn’t. You’re too blinded by your love for a once-great program and a once-great man. It hurts to admit all these things. But they’re true. Hiring Bradley is just an attempt to keep on keeping on. We are better than that. We are Penn State. And we are bigger than one ancient man’s personality cult and better than the coaching job that I saw yesterday.

I’m looking forward to the new regime.

And we are looking forward...

to you getting banned. Seriously… there has to be a 3 knockdown rule for this guy?

I think the board needs the benefit of the doubt

The only outside guy that we know they’ve talked to is Clements and he is a strong QB guy. That shows that they are at least paying attention and see where the most pressing need is right now.

Greg Roman

“confirmed” as a finalist. By his agent, whatever that’s worth.

"Finalist" meaning he's one of a few who would take the job
Name Skyler Mohrninweg the starter tomorrow....

cause he can’t be worse than the other options currently on the roster.

Maybe

Skyler will bring Marty with him.

Think Bolden

will transfer now? He obviously isn’t a D-1 QB.

If he believes that now

Maybe he will change positions. He’s still a very good athlete

I swear

That kid never sees or feels the defensive pressure. He got clocked on the play right before he hit Brown for the long TD. I like the kid, but he just doesn’t have the pocket awareness that better QB’s have.

However, I do think our offensive schemes don’t help our QB’s. Pass plays seem to take too long to develop.

I imagine I am not the only one.

But I can’t help but feel bad for Bolden. The kid had potential, but he has been destroyed mentally. It reminds me of those occasions in which a pitcher just suddenly can’t throw the ball over the plate or a golfer with the yips.

He needs A LOT of coaching
He can blame himself for a lot of that destruction

i.e. the whole transferring mess

How do you figure?

He’s a young kid, thought he got a raw deal (he did), his dad felt the same way and they wanted to move on. Doesn’t mean we have to take it personally. I’m sure he put that behind him. Seems to me the obvious pressure on him is coming from his own family.

SO many ways..

they could have handled that. And he was given every opportunity to be “the guy” this year. Beyond his mediocre position coach (and that’s putting it lightly) I’m done making excuses for him.

It's not making excuses for him to acknowledge that,

at the time of the discussion; (1) he did get a raw deal; and (2) his dad probably should not have been contacting the media about it until they talked to Joe. Has nothing to do with this year. He was clearly a basket case on the field all year. I don’t think you can attribute that to exploring a transfer the previous January. Seems clear to me that something is going on upstairs with the kid. And he is that, a kid.

they didn't do

him any favors starting him last year. But he just never got any better.

I knew it was going to be a long day when...

we had 3rd and 1 on our first possession and Bolden threw it over the receivers head by about 8 feet. I’m pretty sure anybody on this thread could have thrown it better.

As far as awareness in the pocket, Bolden has 0. When our wildcat qb is moving the ball better than him, you know your in trouble.

Find a coach that can recruit but also coach a qb.

I just want a coach

As pertains to the program right now, what else really matters at this point?

Here's the thread on a Longhorn message board with the people responsible for the Pedobear stunt

http://www.shaggybevo.com/board/showthread.php/102812-Shaggy-to-Ticket-City-Bowl-%28UH-v.-Pedo-State%29-FEATURING-PEDO-BEAR-UPATE-It-s-on

The last few pages of comments is the new stuff. Classy folks over there. Even came equipped with a sign with a PSU logo that said “Keep Quiet and Don’t Tell Anyone”. Naturally the Cotton Bowl put him on the Jumbotron. (http://deadspin.com/5872516/pedobear-showed-up-at-the-houston+penn-state-game-today). Unbelievable.

It's Texas, don't expect many smart things from Texas
I'm glad...

that making light of alleged child rape is funny to people in Texas.

Seriously, its pretty heart-warming coming from a state with such a straight moral compass.

"easily offended Penn State fans"

Yeah, we want to be associated with child rape. Deadspin is ass.

DS sucks..

Magery writes one, maybe two decent articles a year. The rest of it is all fart jokes and mailed in stories from frat boys.

Deadspin does blow

They had a great post yesterday about how the Texans’ failed 2-pt conversion blew their playoff chances. Except, of course, they clinched 3 weeks ago.

Yeah

I’m definitely not clicking on that link.

Artie's Thoughts....

1. initial reaction “Kick my ass. I’m not asking, I’m telling”. Yeah, pretty much

2. A Conference USA defense was in PSU’s backfield all day. CUSA PEOPLE! Somebody on Twitter pointed out that Houston is actually going to the BEast. THAT ACTUALLY MAKES IT WORSE.

3. Regarding point #2, if Bradley is retained, he has to clean out the offensive staff. Every aspect of it was terrible from QB play, to blocking, to catching. I’ll give Green and Redd a pass because they were getting hit in the backfield everytime they touched the ball.

4. The time has come to recruit better DB’s and run better defensive schemes. Also, where the hell was our great DL? Keenum’s jersey was clean all day.

Props to Houston. They earned the win.

I don't think Bradley has to clean the offensive house

I think it’s cleaned for him. Those guys are all gone anyway; Hall and Anderson were clearly just staying on for Joe, Jay similarly. That leaves who, Kenney?

That said, I think there’s no way Bradley is being kept on anyway.

I agree.

I like Bradley. And I think that, if given free reign, he could do something special at PSU. Its probably not gonna happen.

Same

People go apeshit when our defense actually gives up a few TDs because we’re so used to 14 points being enough to win, but the consistent defensive excellence is not something other fanbases would take for granted. I’d love to see the Bradley-Vandy-LJ combo with a productive offensive staff. But it’s not happening.

Hard to blame the DL when Houston could play in the gun and a two seconds after he caught the snap it was out of his hands.

I have a few points

1) I was solid team Bolden at the beginnign of the year but he has obviously regressed. He cant see pressure that is right in front of him let alone someone coming from the backside. So for me #TeamMorhinweg

2) Case Keenum while he is a great QB is the biggest puss I’ve ever seen. I hope NFL scouts ask him why he won’t take a hit from someone.

3) The defense wasn’t ready to play at all. We all knew what kind of offense they were: dink and dunk passes to open up the long ones.

4) I love Bradley but he didn’t have the team ready to play like they should have been. We all know they deserved a better bowl but you still need to show up wherever you play.

5) Im not looking forward to another year tainted by Jerry Sandusky with the trial presumably starting right before the football season.

I don't think Bolden has regressed

He was never accurate, and he could never feel pressure. Problem is he has never improved, despite being given more rope to hang himself with than any QB in PSU history.

This team would have been 11-2

with Morelli

Yes.

The expectations differences between Morelli, Clark, McGloin, and Bolden have distorted the way people remember their actual performances. Morelli wasn’t the five-star savior he was hailed as out of college, but he was a shitton better than McG or Bolden.

the only time we have had a good QB

is when he has developed himself (Robinson, Clark). JayPa will have trouble finding a job at any level because he isn’t a good coach.

I don't think that's fair

How do you know Robinson/Clark “developed themselves” and that Morelli/Bolden didn’t “undevelop themselves”?

Exacty

Bolden and Morelli were the only guys who came in with lots of hype.

Newsome was always regarded as “raw.” Jones just needs to do better in school.

Mills was barely recruited and yet did fairly well until after he injured his shoulder. Thompson and McGloin were never great talents. He at least got something out of them.

He made the most out of Clark and Robinson despite a less than great OL. And he had success with QBs at JMU and UVa way back when.

So it’s really just too small of a sample size to generalize, but he seems to be better at developing schemes like he did with Robinson and Clark than coaching QBs.

I’m wondering, if Ganter retires, would Jay want that job as director of football ops? He clearly knows lots of people around football and loves PSU. He’d be good in that kind of job. Less stress. Less travel.

Interesting

I think Jay would do a good job in that position. I think there’s no denying his intelligence and knowledge of the game. I don’t see him coaching again, but Ganter’s job might be a very good fit.
(Though I hate to see Ganter go, but mainly b/c I’ve always liked the guy. I coached the boys’ summer swim team 20 yrs ago and was always impressed with the family.)

I thought Fran was released, like the day after Joe was
I completely agree.

I was just reflecting on QBs past that didn’t quite live up to the hype.

its really too bad

i truly do feel bad for every kid who comes here with dreams of the NFL because it won’t happen unless they switch positions

Bolden

This kid had two years now to man up and show he’s the guy for the job…and he hasn’t.

And please, team Bolden, don’t whine to me about his "confidence". If his psyche is that delicate he doesn’t belong in big time college ball. I mean Joepa had to challenge this kid to stick it out and fight and work for the chance at the starting job to keep him from transferring. You don’t have to do that with a kid that has the right mental mindset about his goals and abilities to begin with. This ain’t the pros, you don’t have years to let some kid slowly develop into a potential starter. He has to show from the get-go he’s somebody that you can get 1-2 good seasons out of. Cause that’s all you generally get. This kid and his daddy are opportunists, they have no love or loyalty to PSU (and don’t think his teammates don’t know that). He came to PSU cause daddy, who has probably been counting the kid’s NFL signup bonus millions since high school, saw an opportunity for the kid to make a big splash at the college level right from the start. Of course when the kid failed to do his part and play like a 4****, they couldn’t wait to get out of Dodge. Even now he has made no firm commitment to remaining here. Don’t think that sits well with a team full of guys who work hard 3-4 years to maybe be a starter in their senior, or if really good, their junior year. It really shouldn’t be a wonder to anyone why the offense and even the defense, always seemed to step up their games and play harder and better when McGloin would be in. He’s the leader that has the blue and white running in his veins. He’s one of them.

I had hoped Bolden could play well enough to not lose the game. But, he’s as good as he’s ever going to be, and that’s not good enough for this level.

While I’m on QBs, Paul Jones who has had two years to do nothing but get passing grades, has failed to get passing grades. He will flunk out before he ever sees the field on a game day.

There is no Team Bolden
tell that to all the posters

here who I have seen refer to themselves as that. Like poster some 10 messages up from this one

Lots of "used to be Team Bolden"

Nobody still is on Team Bolden.

All there is is Team McGloin and Team No But Really McGloin Also Is Terrible.

I'd like to think that, even if PJ can't make the team

Maybe he gets an education that he wouldn’t have otherwise. Maybe he ends up being another guy whose better off having attending PSU and been a part of PSU football, even without playing.

I’d like to think that’s still a success.

I would like that that too

Of course, you still have to get passing grades.

My understanding is he does have passing grades

I thought he met NCAA standards, but not Joe’s standards. Am I wrong about that?

I think that this season it was about not having enough credits taken on time because of a NCAA rule change.

From what I understand, that as the issue.

He couldn’t handle too many classes and they miscalculated based on a rule change of applying summer classes. Then Bradley said he thought they would have him “up to” a 2.0 with enough credits for the Bowl Game. Then they announced he didn’t qualify with the NCAA. Which to me sounds like he didn’t hit the 2.0 mark.

True. I was just referencing this season. Hopefully he can get it turned around in the spring. Sounds like he may have benefited from going the JUCO route.

How the hell did he graduate High School early

If he is so clearly unprepared for college.

You tell me.

What kind of high schools are you running that part of the country?

Depends which one you went too I guess.

My guess is that PJ’s sucked.

Jones' is one of the worst.

Sto-Rox is a joke. The fact that he graduated early from it means nothing to me. They graduated kids every year from that school who should’ve been failed multiple times and deserve no diploma.

He is not NCAA eligible.

He has not attained a 2.0.

Well then, I hope he can bring that up.

My understanding was that he was close, so hopefully he can do it.

I could be wrong

but I thought I heard he had at least a 2.0 for the semester, but his cumulative GPA was not up to snuf. I don’t know what the rules are for which GPA is used.

I think he is fine NCAA wise

But not by PSU harsher standards.

Speaking of Jones? What is his major? You would think having graduated HS would mean he could pas some gen ed classes.*

(*I realize some public school systems are horrible)

And his, from what I understand,

sets the standard for horrible. It is the horrible other horrible schools hope to never sink to.

That bad? The state of some school systems really is sad.

From what I've heard, it is the worst in the entire state.

Also, he’s, ironically,enrolled in the college of Education per gopsusports.com

He's a college kid,

and he just confirmed his dedication to our school in a very difficult time to do so. He was tragically awful this year, that doesn’t mean he’ll never get any better. Most importantly (if what he said today is true), he is going to graduate a Penn Stater.

/Slide Whistle

I never thought I’d say “fuck yes projects that are due tomorrow that can only be started today,” but I didn’t have to watch that… the Yahoo! play-by-play was bad enough.

I am going to take a shot.

For every time Musberger refers to Bielema as Bielman.

Don't forget to chug when he does the Honey Badger voice
And a drink for every time he calls DeAnthony Thomas the 'Black Mamba'.
RE: Bolden

My uncle has had a few hunting beagles in his time. I remember one pup in particular. My uncle tried to teach it to return to him on command, hunt rabbits, etc. But no matter what, the dog couldn’t/wouldn’t do its job. It kept chasing deer, wouldn’t listen to commands. Eventually, my uncle had to tell his small daughters that the dog “ran away” when they noticed it wasn’t in the backyard anymore.

Bolden is the beagle. He’s finished.

They going to

shoot Bolden behind the barn?

That might really get us the "Death Penalty"!
Hahaaaaaa

Quite punny.

Course,

the SEC has been doing that for years with all the oversigning. They just take those kids that can’t get it done and take em out behind the barn!

:|

:| face hardcore

Jim Caldwell

Looks like the Colts are cleaning house. Jim Caldwell may soon become available. What do you all think of him as the next HC?

I think he's a terrible coach and I don't want him

Raheem Morris and Steve Spagnuolo are better choices out of fired NFL coaches.

Can he bring Peyton with him?
we shouldn't hire anyone from the NFL

who was just fired

Saban and Carroll worked out ok
I posted the same thing the other day

and got completely flamed. He lost almost everywhere.

But with every sensible choice spurning us, it is not as bad as it seems at first.

IT'S STILL AS FUCKING BAD

A literal ham sandwich is better. At least that would have the virtue of novelty.

This seems like so long ago.

im all for Blount on this one

Boise State guy was definitely being a Dbag

well

Blount was talking crap before the game, saying how they were going to do this and that. That’s what happens when you talk and don’t perform. Was the Boise guy over the line. Maybe. But if Blount didn’t light the match before the game it wouldn’t have happened.

Well after 40 minutes of trolling, I've finally been banned at shaggybevo
Oh wow, looking at the time signatures, it's been longer than that!
Are you proud of yourself

We’re proud of you!

Can I get a link to your work?
I'm making a fanpost about it. It'll be in there
Not surprised it took them that long

They are definitely a dimwitted bunch of cows

BOLDEN ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

He’s coming back, baby.

As a QB?

He might want to check with the new coach

New coach isn't going to revoke his schollie.

Quite frankly, ANYONE who sticks it out through this has earned some respect from me.

He could play another position

could you

post a link or tell me where you heard this? my dad is in disbelief

24/7 is where I saw it
thanks

this definitely makes our QB picture bigger (sarcasm)

fail

clearer* not bigger

Hopefully to graduate
At least the Rose Bowl is entertaining

Looking forward to the Fiesta Bowl tonight too.

All downhill from there though.

i cant beleive they tried to spike it
That was awesome
Haha Bielema...

And I thought we had stupid clock mgmt

It’s like they thought the clock started when they snapped the ball

So did Herbie.

He made a comment “Did they start the clock before the ball was snapped?”

I feel like if your profession is announcing football games

That maybe you could learn the clock rules? That was about the third time that mouthbreather Herbstreit had no idea how football works. Does ESPN have to assign a fulltime producer to reminding them were they’re wrong?

True

He also didn’t know that when you are pushed backwards out of bounds, the clock doesn’t stop.
These aren’t hard rules.

Is that the rule?

I remember that and thought the call was wrong. But, the game just kept going.

If they give you the spot for forward progress

And that spot happened while you were in bounds, then the clock continues to run.

He didn't bring it up again

so, I think somebody prompted him that he was off a bit

That was glorious.

I’m not sure which reaction I preferred; Bielema’s look of total confusion or Wilson’s look of, “Hey, I signed up as the college football equivalent of a mercenary for that?”

So Wisky loses two big games on replayed played.

And they were the correct calls.

God the B1G...

makes me hate football sometimes.

Honestly, they usually get unfavorable bowl match-ups.

That's a cop out...

win some damn games. Wisconsin has lost back to back Rose Bowls they should’ve won. What was unfavorable about the matchups this year? The B1G has won like 1 Rose Bowl in the last decade.

I thought this game was a toss up. Both good teams. And how is that a cop out? A lot of the match-ups involve a 4th place BIG team playing a 3rd place SEC team and etc. I also hate that people rate the conference based on Bowl game record.

Why...

how else do you compare conferences? This year Sparty was the 2nd best team in the conference and played the 3rd best SEC team. The 4th best team in the SEC (S. Carolina) played the 4th best B1G team (Neb). The 5th best team in the B1G lost to the best team in C-USA. Wisky and Oregon was a toss up that Wisky lost because their coach is an idiot.

Why compare conferences? Do conferences win the National Championship? Individual teams do. Yes, the top teams usually do have even match-ups. The records get skewed by the lower match-ups.

The top of the B1G is not...

as good as you think and hasn’t really been very good in a while

I agree with this

And the bottom is atrocious. Indiana and Minnesota are about as bad as you can get in D1.

And yet both the Michigan St game and Wisky game were good? I agree, they have not been NC worthy but they have not been horrible.

Yes...

they were fun. Also, the two best defenses in the B1G got destroyed today. Utterly destroyed.

I don't think you can say MSU's defense got destroyed.

I also think you could make the case that we performed well above average against Houston.

statistically..

PSU and Wisky were the two best defenses in B1G. Both gave up over 600 yds of offense.

statistically...

that’s an average of their 12/13 games they’ve played this season so far. but today, both played against prolific offenses that do nothing but put up big yardage numbers… which is not typical of all the other teams they faced previously. (caveat… i haven’t done the research to back this up… but this is going on gut feel.)

Didn’t Alabama give up 27 points to Oregon this season?

That was LSU.

But yes.

Oregon scored 7 of those in garbage time, FWIW.

To best based on what?

I have watched plenty of Wisco and feel more than comfortable saying they do not have a good defense.

I agree with this.

Wisconsin’s defense looks better than it really is.

Yes they did.

To me comparing conference bowl records is just for people to use when trying to bash another conference. Some teams care about winning the bowl game they are in and some seem to just go through the motions.

It's not the be all end all...

but it is a measuring stick. The B1G is great at making $ (far ahead of anyone else), but aren’t great at winning football games. They used to be good at both.

And I think some of it is cyclical. Like it or not, Meyer to OSU may help bring back some of the “respect” that the BIG has lost in recent years.

And Ham Sandwich to Penn State will erase that respect
I once thought that too...

but it hasn’t been cycling back to the B1G like it should.

The Rose Bowl was a pretty good match up.

It was a tossup, right to the end. Wisky just didn’t win. I think year in, year out the B1G has a couple strong teams but it drops off after the top two.

What was unfavorable about the matchups this year?

The fact that the teams they faced were better than them.

see response above.
I couldn't decide which team I hated more

I still can’t choose because Bielema is a dick and Oregon is as dirty as a hooker in Las Vegas

Go with Oregon

Even hookers can be redeemed

Oregon is always better than having USC taking the trophy!

OSU or Standford? I think OSU can win it.

ill pick OSU

because this could very well be Weeden’s last game ever. He’ll be a 28 year old rookie next year. Not exactly great draft material

see weinke, christopher

as you alluded, didn’t work out so well

I am sure he will land somewhere.

probably

but I doubt he’ll have the time to get used to the NFL game before he starts his decline.

True, but I would take making back up money in the NFL for a couple seasons if that what he turns out to be.

"That's not helmet-to-helmet"

Excepting the physical contact between one helmet and the other. Never change, Millen.

the only smart football moves Millen has ever made are

1) going to Penn State

2) Drafting Calvin Johnson

He was a starter on...

a couple of super bowl winning teams.

I was surprised ESPN would put him on a bowl game this high profile.

He was pretty good linebacker

For a pretty long time, on some really good teams.

yes he was

im still bitter about his terrible days as a GM. it overshadowed the other things

haha

Millen just won’t let it go. I think he went to the James Harrison school of illegal hits.

I'm already bored with this game
who heard the problem Justin Blackmon is having?

“Inner thigh infection”?

Is that what they call an STD nowadays?

two words

crotch rot

ahhh...growing a big crop of Fumunda cheese
he's

“sore and lethargic”

definitely an STD

I hope Luck throws 10 picks tonight

I can’t stand how over-hyped he has been.

How do you think RGIII feels?
Probably cries himself to sleep next to his Heisman trophy
yeah i feel pretty bad for him
he's good

but no one is that good

Depressing post about the coaching search

From the NY Times.

“There are two possibilities left….

“The first is that Penn State has executed a deftly orchestrated search that has been so calculated, exacting and secretive that it has had a big-name hire lined up for weeks. The interim athletic director David M. Joyner and the board of trustees member Ira M. Lubert, who are leading the search, will be able to take a bow when a coveted and veteran head coach is finally introduced.

“The alternative is not so cheery. It involves Penn State’s search committee being overmatched by the nuanced and cutthroat world of coaching searches and ending up with someone who is prepared to be little more than a placeholder. That would be a coach brought in to answer the hard questions, expunge the program of the stench of the Jerry Sandusky scandal and then be in a position to be jettisoned after a few unremarkable seasons.”

More depression at the link. Read the whole thing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/sports/ncaafootball/penn-state-coaching-search-not-inspiring-confidence.html?_r=1

#2

is what I’ve been expecting since the search began.

Depressing yeah,

when I hear the name ‘Bill O’Brien’ I can’t help but think it’s the latter.

False dilemma

There are more than two possibilities. One is that they have a guy they really want but haven’t convinced yet and are stringing their plan Bs along. Another is that their guy was tied up doing something like the NFL season or playing a bowl game and is only going to be available to be locked down and announced this week.

Seems to me like the prolonged search has invited a lot of agents to use it as a stepping stone. First one was Mike London who worked an extension from UVA out of it. Now O’Brien is the most blatant, with his agent responding to reporters with “dunno about PSU but he is interested in NFL jobs if they come.”

I'd say

that if they have a guy who was tied up, it falls into the first point the Times guy made. They’ve had him locked up for a while. Re: your point, he probably said, “Yeah, I’ll do it, but I can’t sign and you can’t announce till after NFL season/bowl game/whatever.” Your point that they have an A-lister but haven’t convinced him I will concede. Munchak is probably the only A-lister left, since Calhoun, Mullen and Grobe are said not to have gotten much interest from Penn State. And Munchak is probably only a possibility because he went to PS and might feel some loyalty. But, really, is an A-lister gonna wanna go there?

I’m not saying they have him tied up, I’m saying they know who they want and don’t have him convinced yet. They could continue to interview Plan B guys while they’re recruiting Plan A.

I don’t know if that’s happening or even likely; I’m just saying that nothing Thamel wrote eliminates it as a possibility to me. The bland quotes from Blackledge make me if anything more convinced he mailed that column in without knowing anything.

Well we might get lucky

Another version

Is that they simply want more time to talk to their leading candidates and haven’t had that chance until this week now that the bowls are over and the NFL season is over. This is a huge deal. Not somebody you hire hastily the way Pitt has done it.

The only guys who wouldn’t be available this coming week are guys coaching for teams in the Wild Card or teams that haven’t played their bowl yet. But there’s nobody I can even think of, let alone one that’s been mentioned, who is in that category.

you are one of those "glass half full" people, aren't you?

our glass is half empty

If that's true about Joyner

dealing directly with agents, that’s a bit unsettling. I’d rather have Lubert doing that, simply because he’s made of money and guys like that are usually good negotiators.

But I disagree with the writer and am going with elefantstn here: I think they have their guy, but he just hasn’t decided yet, so they need to keep their options open. Going that way, I feel like they really want Munchak, but will settle on Clements if he doesn’t go for it.

I think we get option #2

a rebound who is the 5 that looks like an 8 at last call, that you pick up the week after you get dumped by a 10

yes, girls do this too

#2 wouldn't be the end of the world

In a few years, we may have more and better options to chose from.

NYTimes

Who cares what the New York Times has to say. Their opinion doesn’t matter a bit, although I’m sure they think it does.

The game was over when they won the toss and decided to kickoff.

I couldn’t believe they made that decison! I said it all week…they needed to score more than 30 to win (and I didn’t think they were capable of that, especially with Bolden at qb) and that whatever they did, if they won the toss they should elect to receive. No way could they get down quick, but the were stupid and did.

Bolden did not surprise me at all. He’s horrilbe and is the only reason another horrible qb (McGloin) sees so much playing time at PSU.

Keenum, despite his great stats, did not impress me much. He’s a very qb for that SYSTEM, but it won’t translate to the pros. Still, I give him credit…he whupped up on PSU.

O-line was horrible. They should be ashamed.

Bradley did not fare well as a head coach.

I would be ok with a complete housecleaning of coaches. Not that they’re all awful, but this team is just stale.

I thought I kept reading here that Houston’s passing game was not the type that would give PSU trouble??? (I never did believe that. I kept saying this matchup scared me.)

Hats off to Houston. They dominated the game. The outcome was never in doubt. PSU was an embarrassment most of the game. Congrats to the Cougars.

zzz
Oops. That was a mispost
No, that about sums things up. You're fine.

Jesse Palmer might be developmentally challenged.

I think he is Canadian
new name

As if mediocre names havent been enough. Now im hearing greg roman. What a depressing day.

I am so tempted to start my own Coach rumor

And see how far it spreads, see if it can get on these major “in the know” reporters and try and pass it off as fact.

Imagine how much fun people with actual information are having

B/c they get to tell 3 different people 3 different rumors and then watch as they trickle into the internet. It’s like The Departed where they make shit up to see if it gets leaked to the cops, to try and find the rat.

It's amazing how these reporters are falling over themselves with these rumors

Within hours of each other:

Schefter: “Jaguars requested and received permission to interview Patriots OC Bill O’Brien, who still is squarely on Penn St.’s radar.”

Charlie Casserly (CBS): O’Brien “Won’t be going to Penn State. Greg Roman SF Off Coord has been interviewed. Penn St to take another shot at Peterson(Boise).”

Let’s throw as much crap up against the wall and see what sticks!

I already did this on twitter, I am now a candidate for HC

the “source” is me. The story was confirmed by my agent (my Mom)

I jusst heard that same thing on ESPN
We can do it!

Just look at all the teams with very good coaches in today’s games alone – Stanford, Oregon, Georgia, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Michigan State, Ohio State, and South Carolina. Then look at how many other teams have great coaches – USC, Alabama, LSU, Boise State, TCU. There are others in our own conference – like Northwestern, Iowa, and Michigan. There are so many good coaches out there and they all had to come from somewhere. So, there is no reason to think that we won’t hire a great coach at Penn State, whether it’s Bradley, some big name, or even some relatively unknown.

You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Black Shoe Diaries to post a comment.