[Postgame Thread] Penn State Defeats Marshall 45-0

[u/CFB_Referee]

Box Score provided by ESPN

Team	1	2	3	4	T
Marshall	0	0	0	0	0
Penn State	17	7	14	7	45

[u/btr5017]

Seeing WRs catch the ball in space is a beautiful thing

[u/ElStegasaurus → u/btr5017]

Was this the ‘wide receiver separation’ everyone keeps talking about?

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/ElStegasaurus]

Wait you are allowed to do that!!! Why didn’t we try that the last 4 years!?!?

[u/ElStegasaurus → u/LabOwn9800]

It was unbelievable to see an offense that knows what they want to do and play sound football. It was beautiful.

[u/ixvst01 → u/ElStegasaurus]

Hopefully the new Steelers coaching staff can come to the same revelation. It’s kinda crazy how the Penn State and Steelers offenses had the exact same issues with bad play calling and getting WRs open in midfield.

[u/TheOnePSUIsReal → u/ElStegasaurus]

Shit I thought that was when all the good receivers committed elsewhere.  I like this better.

[u/EverMU → u/btr5017]

No it isn’t lol

[u/AngleParticular2914 → u/btr5017]

Here I thought it was illegal

[u/AmsterdamAlbatross]

Hats off to Penn State, they very well could be a legit top 10 team and a contender for the CFP but this Marshall team showed no improvement from last year. Same swiss cheese secondary and unimaginative play calling on offense. I had high hopes, hopefully we will still be competitive in the Sun Belt. Go Herd!

[u/TheSameThing123 → u/AmsterdamAlbatross]

I can't imagine it gets any harder than what you saw today from Penn State. Hopefully things go well for you guys this season!

[u/BlessShaiHulud]

<image>

[u/Cog_HS → u/BlessShaiHulud]

I think this is actually precisely how I feel.

[u/zgh5002 → u/BlessShaiHulud]

I promise I love Campbell more than I ever did Franklin.

[u/soils_Ksat → u/zgh5002]

That’s my wife!

[u/zgh5002 → u/soils_Ksat]

Well now this is awkward.

[u/steppe5 → u/BlessShaiHulud]

Iowa State Nittany Lions

[u/RevolutionaryDot4762]

Koby Howard is a beast. Cant believe he was sitting behind Liam Clifford last year.

On the other hand that run game is concerning

[u/Scar_Killed_Mufasa → u/RevolutionaryDot4762]

Ehh. They were obviously stacking the box to stop the run.

What’s refreshing is that the team had an answer with the passing game. Last year we would have looked completely lost if things didn’t go perfectly.

[u/txgsu82 → u/Scar_Killed_Mufasa]

That’s a fair point that Marshall clearly had exactly 1 goal in mind on defense: stop the run.

On the other hand, if Marshall could do that against our OL/RB, it doesn’t spell confidence how we can handle conference opponents doing the same, but with better pass defenses.

Only time will tell! No panic here.

[u/MisterPenguiner → u/txgsu82]

We did have 165 rushing yards at 3.6 per carry. Not great, of course, but not disaster territory for a team that had like 7-8 in the box every single play.

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/txgsu82]

I’m prone to homerism cope but I’ll allow it.

You pitch a shut out while scoring almost at will and I’ll allow a few areas that aren’t 100% dialed in.

If this continues over the next 2 games I’ll worry but for now I’ll allow myself to believe it was because they sold out to stop the run.

[u/Big_Watch4135 → u/LabOwn9800]

Ya we gotta trust the coaches to coach. It was literally game 1. I’m not too stressed

[u/RevolutionaryDot4762 → u/Scar_Killed_Mufasa]

Fair, selling out to stop the run is a little easier when you have a 380 lb DL

[u/KingVladimir → u/Scar_Killed_Mufasa]

Despite the score we had to battle on offense against Villanova last year. This was effortless, its night and day. Offense looked the best its been since at least Clifford, hopefully since mcsorely

[u/TheNittanyLionKing → u/KingVladimir]

We kept the starters in until the last 2 minutes against FIU last year. 

We took them out midway through the third quarter today and even got the third string some reps on the last drive

[u/Roar-Lions-Roar → u/RevolutionaryDot4762]

Liam blocked better, had to keep him out there /s

[u/PaisonAlGaib → u/Roar-Lions-Roar]

Plus he can play QB!

[u/Big_Watch4135 → u/PaisonAlGaib]

Gotta get a return on your 500k investment

[u/FireSilver7 → u/RevolutionaryDot4762]

It’s a concern, yes. But hopefully they can fix that as the season goes on.

[u/Apart_Selection7722]

:(

[u/The_Summer_Man → u/Apart_Selection7722]

At least the uniforms are pretty fresh

[u/zgh5002 → u/The_Summer_Man]

I loved the helmets!

[u/TheNittanyLionKing → u/The_Summer_Man]

It’s a cool shade of green. It’s my favorite color

[u/TKarrus → u/The_Summer_Man]

Dude for real, those helmets slap

[u/ScreamingGoat25 → u/Apart_Selection7722]

Hurt to see our SBC brother get done like this

[u/ComradeIroh]

Kobe Howard might be him

[u/TheNittanyLionKing → u/ComradeIroh]

I figured Sowell and Eskildsen would be pretty good. I didn’t know Howard could do that. Holy crap!

[u/ShamrockAPD → u/TheNittanyLionKing]

I remember seeing some highlight reels of Howard last year in camp. He was making our very good secondary look bad.

I was hyped to see him play. And then…. Franklin just didn’t.

Glad that Campbell sees his value

[u/youheardaboutpluto-]

Keep in mind Franklin and Kotelnicki had LIAM CLIFFORD starting over Koby Howard because Koby Howard needed to learn how to block.

Koby went for 6-161-1 today.

Says all you need to know.

[u/SabresStix → u/youheardaboutpluto-]

Football terrorist James Franklin?

[u/LionsAndLonghorns → u/SabresStix]

Franklin wasn’t a bad coach, he just wasn’t a great coach

[u/FuckTheStateofOhio → u/LionsAndLonghorns]

Andy Kotelnicki on the other hand is an actual football terrorist. We ran the most gimmicky offense in existence despite the talent we had.

[u/Separate_Sand3958 → u/FuckTheStateofOhio]

John Donovan, Mike Yurcich, and Andy Kotelnicki is the holy trinity of Franklin football terrorists. Add in Jim Knowles if you want to make it Mount Rushmore.

[u/Mattp55 → u/FuckTheStateofOhio]

Kotelnickis gimmick was decent when we had Tyler Warren, but he had just no idea how to run an offense without that dude

[u/FuckTheStateofOhio → u/Mattp55]

Yea but what offense wouldn't be effective with Tyler Warren and one of the best RB duos in the country? Occasional gimmicks are fine but it was frustrating as hell when it's 3rd and 3 and we aren't just running Kaytron up the middle and instead are running a reverse jet sweep for -2 yards.

[u/Mattp55 → u/FuckTheStateofOhio]

Trust me I’m not arguing with that at all. 

He was in way over his head without Tyler Warren band-aiding the scheme deficiencies 

[u/Elbit_Curt_Sedni → u/SabresStix]

Nah, he wasn't a terrorist. He was the type of coach that could get your team to 10 wins a season, but never win anything.

[u/AdRemote1017 → u/Elbit_Curt_Sedni]

Considering how bad of a development and gameday coach is, I give Franklin a lot of credit for being so good at recruiting he could get the program to a 10 win level. 

[u/SCsprinter13 → u/AdRemote1017]

He couldn't develop QBs or WRs but overall PSU players were drafted higher than you'd expect given the recruiting rankings.

[u/Chesehead6 → u/SCsprinter13]

They’d perform well in the underwear Olympics and improve their draft stock. Ofafe oweh was the definition of a james Franklin player. Total freak athlete but didn’t put up a sack in his last year. 

[u/PaisonAlGaib → u/Chesehead6]

Jayson Oweh is more the modern Aaron Maybin somebody gets drafted high based on traits all the time. Micah Paraons, Abdul Carter, AK, etc were all productive and also freaks 

[u/TheNittanyLionKing → u/SCsprinter13]

The strength and conditioning coach might be one of the best in the nation. If there’s one coach I wish we retained, it was him

[u/Electromotivation → u/TheNittanyLionKing]

Did he go to vt?

[u/TheNittanyLionKing → u/Electromotivation]

Yeah. Fancy mustache man went to VT

[u/PaisonAlGaib → u/Electromotivation]

I assume who he's referring to  is Dwight Galt III who is in fact a legend. He retired in 2023 and chuck losey took over, he did a fine job but I don't think the resume exists to call him best in the nation the way you could Galt, Losey followed Franklin to VT where he ironically replaced Dwight Galt IV, the legendary Galts son who was hired by Franklin assistant Brent Pry as then VT head coach and now VT defensive coordinator 

[u/highgravityday2121 → u/SCsprinter13]

I mean we had solid WRs until KJ left. Parker Washington was decent, Jahan Dotson, Chris Godwin, desean Hamilton ,

[u/AdRemote1017 → u/SCsprinter13]

Besides a couple guys and maybe 1 season of Franklin, our OL was always 'year or two away' and maybe 1 season where they were a strength of the team. Michigan collapsed and rebuilt to a Natty all during CJF time. A big part was because their OL was dominant. 

[u/Elbit_Curt_Sedni → u/AdRemote1017]

Until last year they did consistently beat teams they were suppose to. Problem is Franklin was bad at adjustments/development, etc. He seemed to coach not to lose against better teams. Especially OSU. Seems like the type of coach that penciled people in no matter what and micro managed too much.

[u/TheNittanyLionKing → u/Elbit_Curt_Sedni]

Coaches who are only great at recruiting tend to always get exposed and it just doesn’t work long term if you have higher ambitions. Why would any top recruit commit when they’ve seen him fall short time and time again. People forget that top recruits were already decommitting when Franklin started losing last year. 

[u/Mattp55 → u/TheNittanyLionKing]

Yup Kemon Spell was out before Franklin got fired and I really dont blame him either

[u/GogglesTheFox → u/Elbit_Curt_Sedni]

Man would completely change his gameplans for big games to the most conservative play calling. I keep thinking back to that Iowa game where he refused to change to a silent snap count until the second half because the Iowa Punter kept Penn State Locked on their 3 yard line.

[u/I_Enjoy_Beer → u/Elbit_Curt_Sedni]

Hell, look at the first quarter against VMI as a prime example.  Has a QB he's worked with for years, and the guy is averaging 5.4 yards per attempt.  Yeah they are winning 21-0, but its on the heels of a special teams block and pure out-talenting VMI.  Hallmark Franklin, really.  

[u/Electromotivation → u/I_Enjoy_Beer]

Idk man they are up 45-0 at half. I don’t think there’s anything to draw from that

[u/Big_Watch4135 → u/Electromotivation]

A better comparison is our opening schedule last year. The score lines are impressive but if you actually watched the games, they were slogs until the 4th quarter. Literally the most frustrating football I’ve ever watched.

[u/Chesehead6 → u/SabresStix]

Bald fraud

[u/TheDarkGrayKnight → u/youheardaboutpluto-]

But what were his blocking stats?

[u/A_Rolling_Baneling → u/youheardaboutpluto-]

WRs were always Franklin's weak point. Idk if I can think of a single season he had a legitimately dangerous WR corps

[u/ComradeIroh → u/A_Rolling_Baneling]

2016 with Godwin, Hamilton, Blacknall and Thompkins is Franklins peak when it comes to receivers.

[u/eaheckman10 → u/ComradeIroh]

Also had KJ Hamler, Jahan Dotson. The WR thing got really dire really quick - definitely didnt define his entire tenure.

[u/what_user_name → u/eaheckman10]

Also Parker Washington wasnt bad.

[u/BeerorCoffee → u/eaheckman10]

You don't need WRs when you have god-tier pass catching TEs. Of course, when those go to the NFL that doesn't workout. I wonder if he has a 5th year...

[u/FuckTheStateofOhio → u/A_Rolling_Baneling]

We've had some great WR talent come through up until the last 4 or so seasons of his tenure. Franklin had difficulty competing against big schools in NIL and a lot of PA's best WRs were getting big money to go elsewhere. He would rather pay Liam Clifford $500k to ride the bench in his 5th year than try to pay big money to a freshman prospect.

[u/ElStegasaurus → u/A_Rolling_Baneling]

Which is insane because he came up in coaching as a WR coach!

[u/AngleParticular2914 → u/A_Rolling_Baneling]

Which is concerning considering he’s a former WR coach

[u/DunamesDarkWitch → u/youheardaboutpluto-]

Why is everyone regurgitating this incorrect statement? Did someone tweet this and now everyone is repeating it or something? Liam Clifford was not a starting WR last year. It was pena, Ross, and kyron Hudson. Plus, is it really that unfathomable to you that Koby may in fact be a better player today than he was a year ago as a true freshman? (He is).

I know people hate Franklin but you don’t have to make shit up.

Ironically, Koby himself talked about needing to work on his blocking this offseason in order to be more consistent:

“Playing receiver, you always just want the ball,” Howard said. “But when you aren’t getting the ball is when you need to be consistent. Being consistent blocking.
“The majority of the time when receivers are lined up and it’s a run play, you just jog off the ball. But that is the next step in my game that I need to work on, because I’m always excited for my teammates, so when the running backs are running the ball, or when someone else gets the ball, just turning up, going to block somebody, showing that I care, showing my love for the game.”

[u/youheardaboutpluto- → u/DunamesDarkWitch]

you’re right but by starting over I simply meant ahead in the depth chart and got more playing time than Howard did until he became the backup QB where his playing time at WR was zero

[u/Thisisaprofile → u/youheardaboutpluto-]

But it’s against Marshall so multiply those numbered by 30%

[u/samspopguy → u/youheardaboutpluto-]

I thought he was as good as gone after the season

[u/anongp313]

Well that felt different

[u/McChillbone]

Matt Campbell iced the kicker at up 24-0 before the half and single handedly wiped three points off the board and preserved the shutout.

[u/OutForARipAreYaBud69 → u/McChillbone]

While I also enjoyed this, don’t forget Franklin did the same while up 50something to 0 against maybe Buffalo. Or Georgia state?

[u/Stuckinengland → u/OutForARipAreYaBud69]

It was Georgia State haha good times

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/OutForARipAreYaBud69]

Loved it then too.

I’m all for sportsmanship but during those 60 mins I want my team to try everything they can to score as many points as possible and let the other team score as little. I expect the same from our opponents.

In my opinion that’s respect.

[u/TrickMichaels → u/McChillbone]

Loved that move.

[u/youheardaboutpluto-]

I’m honestly impressed. We actually dominated and the energy was outstanding. Our defense looks great and Rocco looks like the real deal.

[u/EvilHarryDread]

This is, without a doubt, the most well-coached, perfectly executed game of Penn State football I have ever seen in my life. 4 passing TDs for Rocco, no turnovers, the third string QB got playing time, and two takeaways from true freshmen on defense.

[u/txgsu82 → u/EvilHarryDread]

Minimal penalties as well. Hard to think what could make this debut more perfect.

If I were being the absolute nitpickiest, I would say I would’ve love to seen more explosion from the run game.

[u/FireSilver7 → u/txgsu82]

The run game is our weak spot. I don’t expect it to improve drastically over the season, BUT the fundamentals are there.

[u/txgsu82 → u/FireSilver7]

Depth is there too, I think! I don’t think any RB made a statement today, but I think all 4 had moments that showed us they’ve got it.

[u/FireSilver7 → u/txgsu82]

Martin was the standout for me, but you’re right!

[u/Tmonkey18 → u/txgsu82]

According to the announcer it was a B+/A performance around halftime. Like they didn't see how shit Franklin was last year.

[u/Steelwolf73]

I'm just gonna come out and say it, and I don't care who sees it- I enjoyed how Coach Campbell's era started.

[u/Extraspicy_mp4]

Kobying my Howard rn

[u/txgsu82 → u/Extraspicy_mp4]

We’ve been tricked in the very recent past with great WR performances in the first game of the season. I will however completely ignore that evidence and confidently declare we have our WR1 back!!

[u/FormerNowNow → u/Extraspicy_mp4]

She Koby on my Howard til I touchdown

[u/ghgerytvkude]

Quality of opponent and all, but the team looked so much more efficient than any point last year as a supposed 2 or 3 rank.

Long way to go but you only get one first impression, and Campbell made it a good one.

[u/McChillbone → u/ghgerytvkude]

Good teams are supposed to beat the brakes off of unranked teams like this.

Not saying Penn State is going to the playoffs, but this was about as well as this could have gone, and like you said, felt far more convincing than any of the soft W’s they had at the start of last season.

[u/Whaty0urname → u/McChillbone]

The last few years we just looked unmotivated unless it was the 1st half of a white out.

[u/pixelflop → u/ghgerytvkude]

Tell the Quality of Opponent thing to the 2024 and 2025 teams. I watched them struggle against Bowling Green and look sloppy against FIU and Villanova.

Today they looked like they should against a less talented team.

[u/hoennevan]

but what about koby howards blocking on special teams today?

[u/gridguy]

Obviously an overmatched opponent but aside from the early 2nd quarter lull Penn State looked very sharp.

[u/pkrhawk7 → u/gridguy]

They’ve got years of chemistry carrying over.

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/pkrhawk7]

Yes and no.

Yes they brought over a bunch from Iowa state but this team is a Frankenstein of players. No one knew how it would look until today.

[u/Friendly_Limit_5633]

I have a bad feeling that the Matt Campbell era could be better than the James Franklin era. He seems to lack the negative personality traits that held Penn State back, just seems like a more locked in, detail oriented, less emotionally volatile individual

[u/McGillicuddys → u/Friendly_Limit_5633]

Campbell doesn't have the burning hate in his heart for Maryland that Franklin had so it may work out for you in the end

[u/PaisonAlGaib → u/McGillicuddys]

Right if we could only get Maryland game Franklin to show up for the OSU game every year Franklin would have been amazing 

[u/MisterPenguiner → u/PaisonAlGaib]

I swear to god he spent half the offseason ensuring we hate fuck Maryland and then osu week finally picked up the tape for them, satisfied Maryland was buried in the dirt

[u/Big_Watch4135 → u/MisterPenguiner]

Except for the year they didn’t shake hands. THE ONE YEAR I wanted to beat their ass the most

[u/LionsAndLonghorns → u/McGillicuddys]

Franklins hate of Maryland was fun. Same with his hate of Nard Dog. Campbell seems too locked in to care which is probably better

[u/Big_Watch4135 → u/LionsAndLonghorns]

Can’t wait to see him and NardDawg in the ACC together

[u/Renaissance6285 → u/Big_Watch4135]

And the fact that he plays both Pitt AND Maryland in his first season at a new school is just classic college football comedy to me lol

[u/Fear_the_chicken → u/Friendly_Limit_5633]

Keep going I’m almost there

[u/FireSilver7 → u/Friendly_Limit_5633]

We also have QBs (!!) that are stone cold, disciplined and have good instincts. Rocco showed up and impressed

[u/DisgruntledCascadian → u/Friendly_Limit_5633]

Franklin was definitely detail-oriented. To a fault. His ultimate problem was he got "I can be the first African American HC to win a natty" disease, started obsessing over that and stressing out, micromanaged everything even worse than he did before, and then slowly went insane.

[u/Fear_the_chicken → u/DisgruntledCascadian]

He’s just not an in game coach Franklin didn’t know what to do when things didn’t go his way. That’s why he never won big games

[u/TheNittanyLionKing → u/Fear_the_chicken]

He’s great at recruiting great players and coaches on paper, but he’s not really good at taking those pieces and turning it into a truly great team

[u/MisterPenguiner → u/DisgruntledCascadian]

I dunno if I would throw the race race into it (see what I did there), but yeah he became insanely uptight at the end and borderline psychotic

[u/DisgruntledCascadian → u/MisterPenguiner]

I only bring it up because he explicitly said in a presser that it was a life goal for him, and I surmise he got obsessed by accomplishing it.

[u/jizz_toaster → u/Friendly_Limit_5633]

I’m sorry to break the news, but he is incredibly emotionally volatile

[u/FireSilver7 → u/jizz_toaster]

To be fair, it was over a bullshit no-call, not against one of his players.

[u/pjs32000 → u/jizz_toaster]

But has he tried to climb into the stands to pick fights with students? Probably the dumbest thing I've ever seen Franklin do. And he's gotten into a shouting match with a student on another occasion. He can't take criticism at all.

[u/jizz_toaster → u/pjs32000]

Never climbed into the stands, but has gotten into it with a fan

[u/pjs32000 → u/jizz_toaster]

Not great, that's very similar to a hot head Franklin reaction.

[u/MisterPenguiner → u/jizz_toaster]

In game is one thing, being insane basically all the time for like 2 straight years to the point everyone around you starts freaking the fuck out too was the problem

[u/Fine-Sea-8941 → u/jizz_toaster]

Would you also not react like that? Seems valid af lol

[u/birthdaycakefog → u/jizz_toaster]

He literally said in his press conference this week that he wears his emotions on his sleeve, sometimes to a fault lol

[u/AngleParticular2914 → u/jizz_toaster]

Franklin had to be physically restrained on multiple occasions from trying to fight fans in the stands

[u/HurtBackup → u/Friendly_Limit_5633]

Can talk beat Franklin?

[u/GoStateBeatEveryone]

I think I like Matt Campbell

[u/throwawaynoways → u/GoStateBeatEveryone]

I'd make love to Matt Campbell. 

[u/CouldntBeMeTho]

Does Marshall have to surrender the "WE..ARE..." chant now? seems just.

[u/Numerous-Impact-434 → u/CouldntBeMeTho]

We can share

[u/PaisonAlGaib → u/Numerous-Impact-434]

If we beat USC then we will clearly be the lineal We Are champions 

[u/FireSilver7]

First game of Campbell’s career at Penn State and it’s a shutout!

The future is bright in Happy Valley!

[u/darkfox45]

Penn State wins the We Are Trophy

[u/JRockPSU]

First shutout of the Matt Campbell Era™®

[u/PSUNittany18]

I didn’t expect this outcome to be honest - I thought it would be close and then we pull away at the end. Solid start to the new era.

Not playing Howard at the start of the season last year was coaching malpractice.

[u/theManWOFear]

Well coached game. Disciplined team. Only thing I’d like to see moving forward is slightly better blocking in the run game.

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/theManWOFear]

Biggest improvement a team makes is between game 1 and game 2

[u/yukoncowbear47]

I'm happy. We played way more cleanly than in any of the early season games the past several years. No dumb mistakes just good football.

I still have no expectations for this year and am going to live in each moment, but it feels good.

[u/Chardoggy1]

I’m pretty sure I walked more yards today than our football team had

[u/bowdog171]

That was fun!

[u/ALStark69]

Well alright then

[u/Roar-Lions-Roar]

The vibes are immaculate right now.

[u/jznastics]

First of all GG Marshall, best of luck to you the rest of the season, I will be rooting for y'all!

Overall, really liked what I saw for the most part. Offense looked great outside of a few drives. Need the run game to be better and would like to see the TEs more involved, but felt good to see Koby Howard get over 100 yards receiving. Defense looked good today too. I'm not going to get ahead of myself, but I thought we were going to struggle a lot more than we did today.

Glad to have college football back. Go State!

[u/adamsworstnightmare]

Just want to give my props to Marshall's qb for repeatedly making 1st down completions while 200+ pounds of D lineman ran completely free at him.

I know I would shit my pants in that situation.

[u/Pretend_Barnacle2855 → u/adamsworstnightmare]

Absolute football sicko, got up laughing half the time. I was glad for him that they finally pulled him, if only to make today slightly less painful.

[u/throwawaynoways → u/adamsworstnightmare]

Oh he probably shit his pants. We just won't hear about it. 

[u/EverMU]

GG PSU; we were never in it.

And that “never in it” part is extremely concerning for me. I know we don’t have another PSU on the schedule but we were even competitive today. Here’s hoping there’s better days ahead.

[u/n00PSLayer]

I thought this was supposed to be a rebuilding season. Don't give me hope...

[u/TheNittanyLionKing → u/n00PSLayer]

I don’t think it’s as much of a rebuild as some think. Iowa State’s transfer players just so happened to fill in a lot of areas of weakness that we had. We also didn’t lose that many players that were poised to start this year except for maybe Chaz Coleman and now he’s not playing anywhere. Is it the most talented Penn State team ever? I wouldn’t say that, but it certainly has the potential to win any game on this particular schedule and maybe win a Playoff game depending on the matchup 

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/TheNittanyLionKing]

Maybe aj harris as well. Saw he got hurt in the first drive too. Sucks for him hopefully he’s ok.

[u/pjs32000 → u/n00PSLayer]

With our schedule we should win 9 but if things fall right the ceiling is legit 12-0. Missing the top 3 in the conference is huge.

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/pjs32000]

Michigan looked terrible so I’m feeling better about at least 10-2 or 11-1. I still think that Washington game will be an issue but I want to see them play today

[u/AllEliteSchmuck → u/n00PSLayer]

I always had rather high expectations for the season with how baby shit soft our schedule is. I think we’ll meet them too.

[u/Mattp55 → u/[deleted]]

Hope y'all beat them next week

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/[deleted]]

If it makes you feel better there’s a strong contingent of psu fans that hate Iowa. They’ve been just shitty opponents so many times.

[u/kachoooxix]

We are!

[u/Apart_Selection7722 → u/kachoooxix]

Marshall

[u/Roar-Lions-Roar → u/Apart_Selection7722]

It’s ours now

[u/BeerorCoffee → u/Roar-Lions-Roar]

It's always been ours.

[u/TheNittanyLionKing → u/Apart_Selection7722]

I mean you are that for sure. I got my Bachelor’s Degree from Penn State, so I’m with the we are Penn State group. 

[u/Pipes32 → u/Apart_Selection7722]

My brother went to Penn State for undergrad and Marshall for grad school. Just really couldn't get enough of the We Are.

[u/PhDShouse → u/kachoooxix]

Farmers!

[u/SoarinSkies]

I’m just happy we didn’t embarrass ourselves in our first game with a new coach with dumb mistakes

[u/ChapterThr33]

Glad to see one of my long time scary conference games getting their feet under them again.

[u/Noahj615]

That’s how you get the back ups in during the 1st 3 games of the season.

[u/BeerorCoffee]

Iowa State ends week 1 2-0!

[u/Jyingling21]

Koby Howard is a beast

[u/TheOnePSUIsReal]

Today was good.  It was not bad.  But instead, good.  I am happy.

[u/BBDBVAPA]

I refuse to believe the Penn State teams of the past 3 years were so devoid of talent that they couldn’t have done that to FIU, Nevada, Villanova, Bowling Green, etc.

The lack of discipline, vision, and overall coaching philosophy under Franklin left everybody confused. This team looked like a good football team. His regularly looked talented and clueless.

[u/TheNittanyLionKing → u/BBDBVAPA]

I’ve been saying that it’s possible that Franklin had better players, but that didn’t necessarily make them a great team other than that 2016-2017 group. I think Matt Campbell wants a truly great team where all the coaches and players are on the same page

[u/Star_Z → u/TheNittanyLionKing]

I felt those 1 point losses to ohio state in 17-18 broke Franklin. He put a lot of pressure on himself and the team. After that the team always felt like it was pressing, not having fun, nothing was easy.

[u/Roar-Lions-Roar]

This feels all the better because for years we’ve come out so flat against teams we should dominate. And this time we just dominated.

[u/revarancy123]

Things are looking good post big game Franklin era

[u/10_17my20]

Interesting stat at the end of the game via Penn State Radio: this is the first debut shutout by a head coach since.... Rip Engle

[u/Lord_Bloodraven_11 → u/10_17my20]

TV crew said first PSU debut shutout since Dick Harlow in 1915

[u/10_17my20 → u/Lord_Bloodraven_11]

Oh shit I thought they said 1950. 1915 is even wilder

[u/McGillicuddys → u/10_17my20]

That's still only what, a half dozen coaches? Maybe 8?

[u/ProductIntegortion]

Under Franklin this would have been 7-7 at the half

[u/PSUDolphins]

WINNING IT ALL BABY

[u/Jonjon428]

Poor Marshall never had a chance

[u/NDinFL]

PSU dumping Franklin might actually be what gets them over the hump. Yall looked legit today, and are a major threat to take the BIG championship

[u/LabOwn9800 → u/NDinFL]

Idk about a big ten title.

My confidence is higher we might make the bigten championship game but that’s a product of an easy schedule. After that idk. But I’m 100% over the moon with that outcome.

[u/PaisonAlGaib]

Just like that I'm back to loving life again 

[u/zawwery]

we are so back

[u/sportsfan113]

I think we’re better than I thought. Great first game.

[u/Kram22598]

It’s been almost 3 years from the last time we shut out an opponent. That was against Iowa

[u/TheSameThing123 → u/Kram22598]

They shut out kent state in 2024

[u/Kram22598 → u/TheSameThing123]

Shit we did it to FIU too last year. Disregard my incompetence.

[u/Pyromania1983 → u/Kram22598]

While that stat is wrong, that shutout against Iowa was such a fun game! Controlled the tempo from start to finish.

[u/a_few_nugs]

Tony Gibson come back to nc state now please

[u/Difficult-Sea8868]

PSU @ Temple and then hosting Buffalo will be 2 PSU wins by a combined 110 points.

[u/Bill3ffinMurray]

Not a MAC team so does it really count?