BSD Mailbag 11.20.15

What recruits will be at the Michigan game?--bva-psu

I recommend you check out today’s delightful Committany Nation post with all things recruiting—including a full breakdown of all recruits (and commits) who are confirmed to be going to this week’s game. Spoiler alert: there’s a lot of them.

This is maybe more of a Nick question If the worst happens, does the class stay intact at 7-6? Not asking for names, that kind of thing can cause all sorts of trouble and be self-fulfilling which is not the point of the question. Or, if you prefer, what record, if any, do you think causes Franklin to look for a new OC?--Former_DC_Buck

If you had asked me before the Illinois game I would have said no matter what Donovan was gone. Now, I’m not sure any record will suffice. I wouldn’t be surprised if he stays or goes…I’m just not sure. I’m not sure it’s record based—but we’d have to look completely inept, and score little to no points in our remaining three games for Donovan to be fired. I’m not sure that happens.

And I firmly believe the majority of the class stays intact. Because the team itself is so young, and Franklin is selling them on contributing early and being the future of Penn State football—and not having the best record right now is part of that.

What color jersey should i wear this weekend? I usually wear what the team wears… Blues at home, whites away. But it’s a white out… (i am not going to the game)… do i wear blue or white?--JMO-PSU

Wear blue. If you’ve worn blue for all our home games, and you’re watching away from Beaver Stadium, do your part and keep up with this year’s tradition—we’re undefeated so far when you’re wearing blue. If you wear white and we lose, it will be your fault. Do you want that on your head?

It's the weekend that begins Thanksgiving break...But it’s senior day and Michigan. What kind of a student section showing do we get?—bearwithscarf

It’s not surprise that I’ve been disappointed with the student section much of the year—five home games in a row will do that, I guess. But this being the beginning of Thanksgiving week will likely mean a low turnout—I hope that it being Michigan and a white out means a bigger turnout than it otherwise will be, but likely around 80%. The early game (and them being able to get out of town soon after) hopefully means they’ll stick around longer than if it was a later game.

2-0,1-1 or 0-2 finish? Both Michigan schools look beatable at this point. 1-1 or better should placate fan base. 0-2 and Fiur Donovan will be louder then ever.—jeffmin

Expecting wins in either game is unrealistic. And they won’t be "louder than ever" if the offense is respectable and the losses are close—the manner of how the team plays will determine any calls.

And I’m not sure the coaching staff or the athletic department listens to what we all say anyway—or that they should.

This past weekend I was happier than any weekend since August. My family was happier. No remotes were broken. No in-laws were horrified. No neighbors saw a man repeatedly pacing on his porch cursing at his PSU flag.

Should I watch the last two games? Should I just re-engage in 2017 after Franklin trots 85 4* players onto the field?--ShamefullyObsessed

I think 2016 should be pretty good—not 15-0, but double digits should be (not expected, but) not out of the realm of impossibility. So if you’re that disillusioned and don’t want to watch losses, maybe wait to see who our bowl matchup is and see if you want to wait the rest of 2015 out, and start up again in April.

As for me, I’ll be on the sidelines screaming my butt off no matter what happens. I’ve got to tear down the Hack haters, after all.

Why didn't Saqoun Barkley play vs Temple? I know this is really late but he has been the best player on the team this season--adamp1984

In hindsight, this is obvious, right? But as a smart coach once said (and I’m paraphrasing), sometimes it’s better to play a player a year to late than one game too early—Rob Bolden is a really good cautionary tale in this regard. Perhaps the coaches were just not positive Barkley was ready, and they didn’t want to ruin him. Playing him in 2015 turned out to be a really good thing for everyone involved, but what if it didn’t? He’s a special player, and you want to make sure you take care of your special players.

I know it's almost impossible to predict, but in your opinion, who would make the best pro player on the roster at this point? Is it still Christian or is there someone else (AJ, Zettel, Godwin, even Saquon) that could be a great NFL player?--PSUBeatle

There’s so much talent on the roster, and so much of it is young, that I don’t know who you can say would be the "best". Of the recent guys who’ve left the program, I would’ve bet that Sean Lee would have made the best pro—and he’s in the mix but injuries have severely derailed him, and this season Allen Robinson has shown to be one of the best, if not the best, PSUer in the league. And Adrian Amos is a top 20 Safety in the league—as a rookie. You’re welcome, Chicago.

So, that being said, I’m not going to fully answer your question. I am going to say that the five guys on the Penn State team I think will turn out to be the best pros are Saquon Barkley, Austin Johnson, Christian Hackenberg, Jordan Lucas, Chris Godwin.

If we beat M and NU beats Wisky, do we jump Wisky in the bowl bid process?—JayMPSU

The thing about PSUers is we travel better than nearly every team in the Big Ten. So even if we are one loss behind other programs, if they can, bowls may try to snatch us up in the pecking order—because it means more money for them. We’re money, baby.

Saw that a possible matchup for a bowl would be with Oregon.... Foster Farms in Santa Clara. I think this is a poor matchup for us. Do you agree?—jiminore

I would be so scared of this matchup. I think we’d lose big. We’ve been bad this season in containing mobile quarterbacks, and also I have friends that went to Oregon. And the matchup would be on the west coast…This would be the worst bowl matchup in my opinion, regardless of the time we would have to prepare.

Who's your favorite wrestler and why is it Retherford?--Succss With Honor Always

I started typing a response detailing why my favorite was Nico or Mouse or Bo…but then I deleted it.

How can you not love Zain? My first PSU dual in person (as an adult with an actual wrestling understanding) was the OSU dual in 2013. So…yep. ZPain all the way.

How did Nico and Jimmy lose? And do you think Rasheed will be bumped for gas tank issues?--jaytay13

So, I didn’t turn on ESPN 3 until after Nico lost, opting instead to solely listen to the dulcet tones of one Mr. Pat Byers (and after I turned on the video feed, I still had Pat on the sound). I can’t say with certainty since I only was doing it through radio, but Dance is no slouch—and he countered Nico pretty well and Megaludis just couldn’t get his offense going. It was disappointing, to be sure, but I have confidence that Nico will bounce back and still win the whole thing in March.

As for Jimmy, I’m much more upset with this loss, because it sure sounded (and looked) like the refs had more of a hand in it, refusing to award what looked to me like a pair of takedowns for Gulibon and yet giving Chisko two points on an even more questionable takedown at the end of the third. Let me be clear—not that Jimmy really should have allowed himself to have the refs have a say in the outcome, he shouldn’t have. He’s good enough that he should have dominated from the get-go, and I truly believe he will get there. But this was very disappointing, all around, and I’m sure the coaches agree—they challenged the last TD, after all.

And lastly, no. Rasheed won’t be bumped. I believe the coaches see more upside with him than Garrett Hammond, and Shakur won the wrestle-off, so unless he gets injured or suffers a major collapse, he’s our guy for now at 165.

What is the latest word if any...on Mike Watkins ?--TonyLion

The PSU Athletic Department and Basketball program isn’t talking, but it’s pretty apparent his ineligibility basically blindsided everyone. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he practices with the squad come spring so let’s hope for the best.

Would Rutgers be better off keeping Flood for one more year? Does having a shit ton of programs looking for new coaches make it easier or more difficult for mid tier programs to grab coaching talent? In some ways it would seem to make it harder to compete for hires but at the same time maybe some big time program fired a good coach impatiently and a mid tier program can scoop them up? Thoughts?—PhillyLion

With the vast number of open coaching positions, and the fact that press surrounding the drama on the Rutgers program has seriously died down since September, I think they would be. Keep him on til next year (pulling a MD or ILL, maybe) and get your pick early next year.

There's no way in fuck that Bill O Brien is going back to college let alone MD correct?—PhillyLion

Correct

Have you heard BoB may be interested in the Maryland job…..what kind of crazy nonsense is that?--joey.taylor.jt

Super crazy nonsense. I think O’Brien is ultimately very suited to the pro game—he’s an Xs and Os guy, someone who likes the game of football and not the bullshit that surrounds it, and in college you have to deal with a lot of the bullshit. I think the rumors are a lot of smoke and no fire, and likely have to do with some leveraging of his contract with Houston, if anything.

Why do you think the CFP committee continues to rank Clemson #1 overall? They play in the softest of the 5 power conferences. They only have 2 legitimately good teams in Clemson and Florida State and the B1G has potentially 8 teams that could beat their 3rd best team.--PSU Boston

I get that you don’t think they have a tough schedule, but most of the so-called experts would disagree with you. S&P+ ranks them #1, with a SOS of 14 (in context, Ohio State’s is 78) and out of conference they play Notre Dame, Appalachian State, and South Carolina. They’ve beaten Louisville, NC State, and Miami, which are all bowl-bound, as well as ND and App State—and they beat Miami 58-0, and an 8-win App State team by over 30. I don’t get the hate, really. They’re undefeated, with quality wins. Would you rather an Alabama squad with a bad loss be #1? Because right now that’s your alternative. Or an OSU team that’s shades of 2014 FSU.

Is there a dumber (let alone more aggravating) set of rules in all of sports than the NFL's possession rules?--ReadingRambler

No.

You're a Skins fan. I'm an Eagles fan. Which of our franchises is more hopeless?--PSUHist14

Yes.

You're dead At your funeral, they put up a big screen to show different media to sum up your life. Would you rather they show a)Your random tweets or blog comments without context, b) your facebook profile pictures and "likes" throughout the years, c) your google search history?--skarocksoi

I think I’d go facebook. My mom is my facebook friend, after all, and if you’re not ashamed of what you’d show your mom, I’m sure you wouldn’t be ashamed of it being shown at your funeral (as an aside: hi Mom!).