Brahmer was wearing Penn state gear around Campus before he even left ISU offically...
Ouch. Penn State 2027 Recruiting Decline?
- Thread starter StClone
- Start date
I will say that one thing about CMC is he did tend to win the 'backs against the wall/nobody thought you'd do it' type of games so maybe he gets one CFP game if they get there.
I don't see them becoming the dominant program that ESPN etc wants though.
It seems like ISU did a great job of stopping heavy running teams, which the defense was not designed to stop and the passing teams it was, ate us alive. TCU, Baylor and a few others moved up and down the field on the defense, while power running teams like Iowa struggled. The killer against the defense was if you had a mobile QB that could run and throw, thinking Kansas a few games and others, but those types of QB kill everyone.
You have to wonder if the B10 is getting to the point of having too many really good teams. You already had Oregon and Ohio State, now you add in Indiana, have to think Michigan will continue to be good, throw in a very good PSU, USC if they can turn it around and the top of that league will be deeper than the SEC in their best seasons. Its very well could come down to your schedule and how many of the other good teams you play or miss playing.
You have to wonder that keeping it at 12 playoff teams works to Big 12 advantage simply by creating a little chaos for P2 making them pay buyouts all the time. Although it would mean more P2 poaching coaches too.
As Matt Campbell’s Penn State era begins, new film revisits program’s darkest reset after Paterno
New film chronicles 2012 season when Penn State football, reeling from scandal, nearly collapsed — and how players saved it.
www.pennlive.com
I didn't say he had to win a championship. I also didn't say he will be out the door immediately. Franklin won 2 playoff games in 2024. How can you be so wrong on everything you post?
They aren't going to give him 12 years like Franklin. They got rid of Franklin because their standard had been raised from 10-2 with losses to top teams to competing for a national championship. How are so many people missing this? Campbell can't go 10-2. That's what Franklin was doing. Just getting to the playoff is what Franklin was doing. He has to do more. That's why they changed coaches.
Campbell may beat more top 10 teams. He also may stub his toe to worse teams. It doesn't matter who he loses to, he has to go 10-2 at the least while winning at least a game in the playoff. Minimum. They aren't resetting the expectations. They are raising them.
Penn State has already done that. They won two playoff games in 2024. They want more than that.
In games we gave up 20+ points in, opponents consistently had 100+ rush yards and often more than that. That's not acceptable when your own team plays ball control, limit possessions football like we did.
KSU: 21 points, 110 rushing
COLO: 24 points, 140 rushing
ASU: 24 points, 290 rushing (We let Jeff Sims run for 200+ yards...)
CIN: 38 points, 260 rushing
BYU: 41 points, 103 rushing (outlier here, since they threw for 300+ instead)
We were 12th in the conference in Rush D per attempt, giving up 4.4/carry on the season. That's not a great job at all, that is way below average for CFB. We were right in the middle of the conference in pass yards/attempt, which I would guess was more related to just having fewer attempts put on us overall. We tended to let teams pass if they wanted to pass even at the height of our defense teams, opponents often couldn't score in the red zone instead. That was still mostly true last season from a passing perspective.
you keep saying this. They beat Boise St and SMU in a fluke playoff schedule arrangement that will never happen again (in the 12 team format, could happen in a 24 team format)
What they want is pretty straight forward. When they play Ohio St, they'd like to feel like they will win the game going into it. Campbell doesn't have to beat them all the time but enough (especially at home)
The 3-3-5 was failing because we didn't have the dudes. The LB corps had more injuries than an Indonesian earthquake the past few years.
And even though the 3-3-5 helps hide not having a great DL, you still have to have at least 1 great or a couple good guys in the DL. The last 2-3 years there were a few guys but no dudes.
I get that, but that's a core part of that scheme you have to intentionally recruit/develop for. It requires having some front six dudes, as they inherit an outsized amount of the load. That showed up most painfully for us in run stoppage against teams who had a pulse on offense last season. I don't think that scheme would be necessary for PSU in the B1G, either, just like we are moving away from it now also.
Franklin did make the playoffs in 2025. And he won two playoff games. Lost to ND in the semifinal. Then he was sacked mid season the following year. I think the expanded playoff shifted things for PSU. It was easier for them to rationalize being stuck behind OSU in the league which left them just outside the playoff. With the wider field now, I think they expect to be there every year, and expect to win a game or two when they are there. So I do think the expectation is 10+ in the regular season and at least one win in the playoff each year. Anything less and they will be calling for heads right away, not in year 5.
Kraft may be a little patient with Campbell, but he’s definitely on a short lease, two or three years at most (one if this season is a dumpster fire). Penn State’s AD gave Franklin a $75 million extension six months before Kraft was hired, which really hemmed him in. My question is with Kraft. Why did it take him eight weeks and a number of potential candidates before getting Campbell? Did Kraft turn them off? Will Campbell get a long with him? Those could be huge questions for Campbell’s - and Kraft’s- future.
