I live in Penn State country. Right in the heart. Ninety percent of my friends are Nittany Lions fans. Ninety percent of my co-workers are Nittany Lions fans. Ninety percent of my neighbors are Penn State fans.

Ninety percent of those friends, neighbors, and co-workers don’t like head coach James Franklin. Many would love to see him replaced. Odd sentiments for a fan base that enjoys 10 win seasons on the reg.

I am a USC fan living in the heart of Penn State country. Fanatic is more accurate, and that is still probably an understatement. I wear USC clothes almost every day. I plant red and yellow flowers, have flags, garden stones, and more on the outside of my house. Inside my house is even crazier. After Saturday’s flat line loss at an average Minnesota team I joined many, many other USC fans on Twitter criticizing a coach who has been to the playoffs three times and major bowls five times in his seven year career. Many Trojans fans want the school to buyout Lincoln Riley’s contract and send him packing after this season. Could we be overreacting?

Will the losing coach of this game be on the hot seat? For sure not Franklin, and doubtful Riley’s job would be in danger either. The losing coach will hear it from their fan base, that you can count on.

Fanatics lack patience.

Penn State fans —those that are logical— realize Franklin has not won the big games on the schedule. Penn State’s schedule is not difficult this year, so the USC game Saturday is considered a big game. The other big game on Penn State’s schedule is with their nemesis Ohio State. Penn State could lose both games and still be almost assured of a playoff spot. Still, it would be another season where Franklin caved in big situations. That is what irritates most Nittany Lions fans about Franklin.

Riley came to USC with a ton of hype and a huge price tag. It was almost a coup for USC to wrangle Riley away from Oklahoma. I was cautiously ecstatic. He was bringing a defensive coordinator —Alex Grinch— who had terrible defenses at Oklahoma. It was the reason Oklahoma never won a championship under Riley. Riley also brought Caleb Williams to play quarterback. Williams would win the Heisman at USC and mask the many warts Riley’s first Trojan team suffered from.

That 11 win team set the bar too high for Riley. He took over a mess created by former head coach Clay Helton.  Recruiting had plummeted and a general apathy smothered the program. Riley hasn’t been able to duplicate the results of that first season. He wisely dumped Grinch, and this team’s defense is significantly better. The thing Riley has failed to do since arriving in LA is recruit at the highest level, ala Pete Carroll. Carroll emphasized the trenches in recruiting, knowing skill players will come to USC. Riley has not had a quality offensive or defensive line yet. Those shortcomings are coming home to roost this year. Riley doesn’t have Caleb Williams playing quarterback. Miller Moss is a good quarterback, but he needs a pocket to throw from. The passing game has suffered due to lack of blocking up front.

Riley also handles losing about as well as a six year old. He pouts, makes excuses, condescends, and acts like a general ass. Case in point, this was Riley reprimanding a reporter for an “unprofessional” question.

 

 

The question was simply to ask the player if he thought the Minnesota quarterback got in the end zone on the controversial replay overturned winning touchdown. How dare a reporter ask such an appropriate question.

Riley spent last year telling the press week after week, loss after loss, that the Trojans defense was close, that it was just a play here or there, that they just needed a break to go their way. This was condescending to reporters who dare question the defense, and it was patently false. Anyone with two eyes —and you didn’t need 20/20 vision— could see USC had a high school level defense.

This year the offensive and defensive lines are the weakness of another flawed Riley team. The offensive line is particularly tough to watch on pass protection. Admittedly, several of the players are young and will need some development. Correction, they will need much development. Yet, when asked about the line play this is what Riley said.

 

 

“Took some steps”. Notice he didn’t say in which direction the steps were taken.

He also repeated this refrain from last year.

 

 

Last year as the losses mounted, Riley kept saying the same thing. “We are two plays…no, three plays…I mean four plays.” That kind of delusional talk from the coach doesn’t sit well with a rabid fan base aching to get back to the top of the mountain. This year it is actually true that they are a couple,plays away from being 5-0. However, it is equally true that USC doesn’t have the trench talent to beat good teams.

So two coaches that the respective fan bases are waiting to pounce on meet Saturday. Here is my two cents on what I have seen and what I expect.

  • USC appears to be getting the new kid on the block treatment that I felt Penn State got when they first entered the Big Ten. The schedule has the Trojans going 2 or 3 time zones every other week. That isn’t easy for an NFL team let alone college teams. Also, the Trojans can’t buy a call. Unlike Oregon, the Trojans aren’t good enough to overcome the one sided whistles. The Michigan game was ridiculous. This past week it seemed as though the Big Ten officials weren’t going to call holding at the line of scrimmage. USC and Minnesota held at will with no calls. The call that ended the Trojans chances was this fourth and inches sneak with :56 left. I think the Gopher quarterback was probably in, but on the field they said he was short. On replay you can’t see the ball. Plus, at some point the ball came loose. How do you overturn the call? Shady business. And Fleck trying to fist bump the ref certainly is a thing.

 

 

  • Both teams seem to start slow. Penn State’s second half defense is elite. USC’s second half defense was very good until last Saturday. Their interior defensive line was exposed.
  • Penn State is still trying to find a reliable receiver. I think Drew Allar has been okay this season, but they clearly lean on the run game. When they watch film of USC, it will be clear leaning on the run is a good strategy.
  • New offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is very creative. Kotelnicki vs D’Anton Lynn, the USC defensive coordinator could be interesting.
  • Penn State hasn’t played a team as good as USC, which should give Trojans fans a sliver of hope. The same could be said of the Trojans, as Penn State is clearly the best team on the schedule to date.
  • Another sliver of Trojan hope: Big Ten teams traveling two or more time zones are 1-8.
  • USC can’t get behind big early. Doubt is already creeping in for sure, so a big deficit early will make that doubt grow.
  • At the time I am typing this, I would say a Trojan victory sits at maybe 20%. A Penn State blowout isn’t out of the question.

This is possibly James Franklin’s best all around team. A playoff berth seems like a fait accompli. That should quiet the fire Franklin faction of the Nittany Lions fan base.

Lincoln Riley is in a bit of a different situation. He needs to finish in recruiting, especially in the trenches. Then he has to stop losing to teams with less talent. He was out coached by a stark raving idiot —PJ Fleck— on Saturday night. He needs to quit telling the fans how close the team is to elite and make them elite. This isn’t a statistic that works in his favor.

 


And the most damning thing you can say about Lincoln Riley is this.

 

 

Being unfavorably compared to Clay Helton isn’t good for anybody.

I am not looking forward to being taunted by all my Penn State friends. I mean, I would be mature if USC won. I just don’t see a way that can happen right now. Three weeks ago I thought USC would be a field goal favorite. Last week I thought Penn State would be a field goal favorite. Right now the Nittany Lions are a 4.5 point favorite, and that is generous of Vegas.

I didn’t think USC could beat Saquon Barkley and Penn State in the 2017 Rose Bowl. Thanks to James Franklin’s pea brain the Trojans pulled it off. Maybe lightning will strike twice. If not, USC will officially be playing out the string and I may have to go into hiding.

Two Cent Takes

College Football

~Vandy over Alabama, Arkansas over Tennessee, Minnesota over USC, Washington over Michigan. Welcome to the NIL/transfer portal world of parity. Going on the road, no matter who you are or where you are going, won’t be easy.

~Every week is different. Alabama has looked shaky in more games than just their loss to Vandy, yet looked like world beaters against Georgia.

~Miami is either living right — and judging by some of their famous alum that can’t be true— or they have the ACC officials in their back pocket. They got a curious overturn on the Virginia Tech Hail Mary a week ago, then this hit is NOT called targeting. It would have given Cal a first down and probably the ability to run out the clock. Instead they punt, the defense caves, and Miami sneaks out of Berkeley with a win.

 

 

~Vandy over Bama reminded me of something. SEC teams will be allowed to have bad losses and more losses than teams from other conferences. USC losing to Minnesota is a bad loss —it really is for the record— but Alabama losing to Vanderbilt is an SEC team playing inspired football proving how balanced the SEC is. See how that works.

~Army and Navy are both 5-0, and they have been routing most opponents. They both play Notre Dame this year. Keep an eye on those games.

NFL

~Coaches are getting conservative in end game situations where a field goal will win the game. With kickers making 55 yarders with ease these days it seems like an okay strategy. What about when they miss? Maybe ask Bengals coach Zac Taylor. The Bengals missed a long field goal in overtime after not trying to get closer, and the Ravens promptly went down and kicked a short field goal for the win. I hate to see teams lose that aggressive nature simply to rely on a kicker.

~It appears DeShaun Watson has given up on his team, but the team refuses to give up on him. What an organization.

~Scoring is starting to go up. That goes to figure considering the first few weeks are almost like preseason games.

~Aaron Rodgers looks like he is 41. It doesn’t look like the Jets-Rodgers marriage is going to have a happy ending.

~It appears JuJu Smith-Schuster can still be useful. I know he was a lightning rod in Pittsburgh, but is he not significantly better than Van Jefferson?

~Andy Reid is the best football coach on the planet. It doesn’t matter who the Chiefs lose personnel wise, they just keep winning. That is coaching.

~Kyler Murray doesn’t have many highlights these days, but this level of taunting is always encouraged. Flashing deuces at the 43 yard line is quite a move.

 

 

~Max Crosby is a heckuva football player. And with moves like this, Crosby is becoming one of my favorites.

 

 

MLB

~Tune in to my Musings of a Sports Fanatic podcast to hear my thoughts on the MLB playoffs. All the division series are tied 1-1 right now. Sneak preview: I am having a blast watching these games but still question whether the expanded wildcard messes with the integrity of the 162 game regular season.

The Weekly Shiny Penny

This one was easy this week. Very cool moment between father and son, after father had the game winning hit to walk off game 2 for the Phillies.

 

 

A Penny For My Final Thought…

What a weekend I had. Following USC’s Saturday last minute upset at Minnesota, the Steelers had me stay up until 1 AM to see them also lose in the last minute. The Steeler loss showed who they really are.

I could save myself time and just copy and paste my column from two weeks ago when I warned of what was going to happen.

It is simple. You cannot win with an offense like the Steelers.

The offensive line has been average. Granted the unit has been in flux all season due to injuries, but the performance has not been solid. Broderick Jones is still underperforming and Dan Moore is only going to be so good. Zach Frazier has been the bright spot at center. Overall, it is the same old story for this unit.

With the inconsistencies of the line, Najee Harris has had little room to run. Harris runs hard but isn’t a game breaker. I am a fan, and I would like to see him actually run with some room. Until then the jury is out on Najee. Jaylen Warren has been a big loss, and last week Cordarelle Patterson was out, too. Both have a bit more explosiveness and can navigate better with less room.

The wide receiver position is pathetic. George Pickens could be elite. Or he could be Chase Claypool. Like many before him. Pickens is a head case. I tend to think he is closer to elite, and he has reason to be frustrated. He hasn’t had a competent quarterback since he arrived in Pittsburgh. However, he may want to take Pat Friermuth’s advice on how to handle a lack of quality targets.

 


Speaking of Friermuth, the tight end room is good. He, Darnell Washington, and Connor Heyward can all be weapons. They could help make up for the lack of wide receiver talent. They seem to be the one group the quarterback feels comfortable throwing to.

Ah, the quarterback. Still trying to replace Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers brought in Mitch Trubisky, drafted Kenny Pickett, dusted off Mason Rudolph, and signed Russell Wilson and Justin Fields this offseason. Ben Roethlisberger, in retirement, is still better than any of them.

Fields has been okay at times, but unfortunately timid and inaccurate at times. Based on the results, I almost think you have to try Wilson next week. It won’t matter. Fields is what he is. Wilson will be, too.

The real problem with the Steelers offense is the head coach.

Mike Tomlin wants to win with defense, but even on that side of the ball they play it safe. The defense has been really good for the most part. The biggest playmaker on the back end of the defense is Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Steelers pay him a lot of money to make big plays. He makes none. They have Fitzpatrick playing a deep centerfield, almost like a safety valve. He is far too distanced from the line of scrimmage to make the plays he did in past years. It is Tomlin playing it safe.

So, winning with defense will only go so far. Offenses today will score on even the best defenses. That means the offense has to score more points. This stat would indicate that won’t happen.

 


Again, look no further than Tomlin. He finally fired Matt Canada. Then he hired a coordinator who is a run first, conservative play caller. Sound familiar? Again, the stats say you should recognize this offense.

 

 

Kenny Pickett was just a slower Justin Fields.

Arthur Smith is Matt Canada.

Mike Tomlin is Mike Tomlin.

Tomlin wants to play conservative and hope the defense can hold in the end. Sunday night, er Monday morning, the defense didn’t hold. They were not great. But the fact is the Steelers lost to a team that had 3 turnovers, 11 penalties, and had a field goal blocked. They lost because they simply don’t score enough points.

I would be all for them trading for a quality wide receiver, ala Davante Adams. How much difference would it make with the quarterbacks at hand? You know who threw the best pass on Sunday night? Future third stringer Kyle Allen. Not good.

The best thing the Steelers could do, since I doubt they will ever cough up the money for a veteran like the Falcons did with Kirk Cousins, is to stink big time for a year. That would put them in draft position to pick a high end quarterback. Otherwise you have to get ultra lucky with a Tom Brady or Brock Purdy, who were drafted low. That rarely happens.

Without a quarterback and a more progressive coordinator, the Steelers will continue to score little and bore you to death.

Mike Tomlin says he doesn’t care about the string of winning records. Whether he does or not, his coaching style has become one synonymous with conservative offenses, high end defenses, and winning just enough close games to secure 9 or 10 victories. That may be enough to make the playoffs in the AFC this year. So what?

For a guy who preaches not living in his fears, Mike Tomlin coaches like he is afraid.

Just my two cents…