Let's talk Penn St

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PSU fans may not be sure what to think about the Gophers, but I guarantee you that PSU coaches know how dangerous our team is.

In the HBO special I mentioned above, it was for Penn St's game with Purdue, and you can see where it shows their coaches watching game film of our game vs Purdue. There is one scene in particular where I believe Penn St's OC is discussing the game plan with Franklin and he says something to the effect of "we're going to run this all day!" and pointing to one of our pass routes against Purdue.
 

First and foremost, very excited about this game; I will be there in person rooting on the Gophers!

I've watched alot of Penn State this year and this is what stands out to me...
1) We have got to find a way to contain KJ Hamler. The guy is absolutely electric, far more dangerous than any single player our defense has faced this year. I saw him win a foot race in Happy Valley against seemingly Ohio State's entire NFL-bound secondary last year. If he gets the ball in open space he's as good as gone. Winfield is going to have to keep a keen eye on him.
2) Their front 7 is rock solid. Our O-Line has been for the most part very solid so far, but our OL holding their own against their front 7 is going to be huge. Our run game is not going to come nearly as easy, so we have to pass protect well and trust Bateman/TJ/CAB to find seperation against Penn State's secondary and start using our passing game more out of neccessity (which I believe we can do).
3) Points are going to be hard to come by... I see points this game staying in the teens. Lantz is likely going to need to come up with a few field clutch field goals. If there's any game where he needs to show up big in, its this one. Not going to lie, I do worry about our kicking game.

I expect this one to be low scoring and close. Every detail and every play matters! Really have to think we have a solid shot in this one despite how good Penn State is, and this has to be the most exciting lead up to a Gopher football game I can remember in a long time. Go Gophers!
 
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Penn State's remaining schedule is no cakewalk:

@Gophers
Indiana
@OSU
Rutgers

Indiana will give them a game, they probably lose to OSU, win over Rutgers, and a likely toss-up against the Gophers.
I like our chances...
 

I notice in the B14 stats that Penn State and MN are very close except in two areas: Penn State has a big edge in run defense and the Gophers an edge in pass defense.
 

mjfelton15 said:
Did anyone notice? the last time we played Penn State at home on November 9th we won 24-10. I think it’s a sign.


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I did. Beat me to it.


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Great Plains Gopher said:
I notice in the B14 stats that Penn State and MN are very close except in two areas: Penn State has a big edge in run defense and the Gophers an edge in pass defense.
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Penn State has big edge in scoring defense.
 

It all comes down to running game for us.
If we can run on them effectively, we will win by 17 or more.
 

Face The Facts said:
It all comes down to running game for us.
If we can run on them effectively, we will win by 17 or more.
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If we can run the ball effectively I definitely see us winning. That being said, I don't think any team in the B1G outside of Ohio State is going to be able to run the ball with ease against Gross-Matos, Micah Parsons, and Shaka Toney. Those guys are animals.

Guess you could look at it two ways though. The Gophers haven't faced a front 7 nearly as good as PSUs, but Penn State hasn't faced a running game like Minnesota's yet this season either. THAT is what makes this matchup so interesting.
 

GameDay said:
If we can run the ball effectively I definitely see us winning. That being said, I don't think any team in the B1G outside of Ohio State is going to be able to run the ball with ease against Gross-Matos, Micah Parsons, and Shaka Toney. Those guys are animals.

Guess you could look at it two ways though. The Gophers haven't faced a front 7 nearly as good as PSUs, but Penn State hasn't faced a running game like Minnesota's yet this season either. THAT is what makes this matchup so interesting.
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I have a hard time believing many teams can handle our offensive line with its size, and the fact that they’ve found their steam. I have a hard time believing many teams can handle us having three SOLID running back threats and three SOLID receivers all at once. Our offense is so dangerous, and I don’t think a lot of people realize, even though we haven’t faced a high caliber team like Penn State yet, this offense can burn damn near any defense in the country right now. Especially when Morgan is on his A game. Offensively, who does Penn State have besides Clifford and Hamler? Do they have multiple receivers that are deadly? Do they have a deadly run game? I see they have a pretty solid TE. I just think we can handle them.


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Some on their board are somehow comparing Gophs to Maryland. Had to laugh reading some of the posts...did they not see the score from yesterday? To be fair, others are calling those posters out pretty quickly.
 

mjfelton15 said:
I have a hard time believing many teams can handle our offensive line with its size, and the fact that they’ve found their steam. I have a hard time believing many teams can handle us having three SOLID running back threats and three SOLID receivers all at once. Our offense is so dangerous, and I don’t think a lot of people realize, even though we haven’t faced a high caliber team like Penn State yet, this offense can burn damn near any defense in the country right now. Especially when Morgan is on his A game. Offensively, who does Penn State have besides Clifford and Hamler? Do they have multiple receivers that are deadly? Do they have a deadly run game? I see they have a pretty solid TE. I just think we can handle them.


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SDSU seemed to handle our size pretty well.

Yep, before you even say anything, I know I'm comparing apples to oranges, because that was Week 1 and our guys clearly have made improvements through the course of the season.


But rest assured, this will be the best DL that we've played against all season. Not even close.
 




bleedsmaroonandgold said:
After next saturday. Between now and then, we need to focus on our bye week championship season.
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+1000

without winning the bye week we leave ourselves at the mercy of the committee to decide if a one-loss P5 champion makes the playoff.
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
After next saturday. Between now and then, we need to focus on our bye week championship season.
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The team and coaches can focus on the bye. I'm dreaming big. This team has made this big dreaming possible.

We are going to win the West and the B1G!

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MnplsGopher said:
SDSU seemed to handle our size pretty well.

Yep, before you even say anything, I know I'm comparing apples to oranges, because that was Week 1 and our guys clearly have made improvements through the course of the season.


But rest assured, this will be the best DL that we've played against all season. Not even close.
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I think teams evolve too much to over the course of the season to refer back to the beginning of the season and use it as proof that Penn State can handle our offensive line. They’re drastically improved. they look great compared to the beginning of the season. I’d say it helps more to look at the past few games when trying to take a sample of what Penn State is up against with our offense.


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mjfelton15 said:
I think teams evolve too much to over the course of the season to refer back to the beginning of the season and use it as proof that Penn State can handle our offensive line. They’re drastically improved. they look great compared to the beginning of the season. I’d say it helps more to look at the past few games when trying to take a sample of what Penn State is up against with our offense.


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I know what you're saying, and you're not wrong about our guys improving.

But you also can't possible look at Maryland's DL and say that's the best guess of what we'll face against Penn St's DL.


There is no perfect way to compare it. We'll just have to wait and see. I am not predicting doom for our OL, at all. I'm just saying: doing be surprised and shocked and disappointed if Penn St's DL makes some plays. They're really, really good. They're on scholarship, too.
 

Any chance PSU is a trap game as we look ahead to Iowa?





/s
 

Bringing Floyd home to be with The Axe is a big deal.

I'm willing to guess they miss each other's company...:cool:
 

Penn State has a very good DL. For me, it all comes down to whether or not Penn State has to bring another safety into the box. If we force them to bring up a safety, I feel pretty good. Our receivers are pretty dynamic. If their front 7 can bully us, I think they're a touch matchup.

As to Penn State's offense, obviously we need to find a way to slow down Hamler. He is similar to Rondale Moore, Wandale Robinson types. He is scary good.
 

MnplsGopher said:
I know what you're saying, and you're not wrong about our guys improving.

But you also can't possible look at Maryland's DL and say that's the best guess of what we'll face against Penn St's DL.


There is no perfect way to compare it. We'll just have to wait and see. I am not predicting doom for our OL, at all. I'm just saying: doing be surprised and shocked and disappointed if Penn St's DL makes some plays. They're really, really good. They're on scholarship, too.
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Oh I expect them to make it a really tough game. I won’t be shocked if/when they make plays. I think it’ll come down to the wire. I have a lot of confidence in our team though, because we started the year learning what the wire looks like and how to win those close, clutch games. I’ve said it before on here, but us having to come back at the end and pull off late wins the way we did the first three games was a HUGE lesson for the team. I think that lesson will come in handy for them in these remaining 4 games.


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