This Is NOT What Penn State Fans Were Promised...

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1:01Wow, that had everything. Reces, suspense, Reese's. What an atmosphere. What a crowd. New attendance record at Beaver Stadium absolutely shattered. The Penn State fans showed up and delivered, but this, this is not what they were promised. You are locked on Nittany Lions, your daily podcast on the Penn State Nittany Lions, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. My name is Zach Seiko, your host is always. He is in Brandsfield, associate producer of the podcast. And thank you so much for joining us here to again, react to Penn State versus USZZ. I the fans showed up over 114,000. They were here to back Penn State, this Matt Campbell team. And once again, just let down in a big moment.

2:05I consider this a big game. I mean, but that's just it, Zane. It's just another game. So we're gonna break down this Penn State USC game further, but I gotta start there with how this, this is not what the fans were promised, right? You get blown out by Northwestern. You, I don't even know how to describe the Wisconsin game anymore because you were in the lead. You were leading 17 and nothing at home. And you just let Wisconsin right back into the game. The Northwestern game, yeah. They won that game definitively. But now, twice, Matt Campbell and this Penn State team have basically, they can't get out of their own way. And whether it's Matt Campbell being outcoached or the overall not making adjustments, it's a shame that this Whiteout game is historical, but somehow it's just another game. It's forgettable at the end of the day.

3:06It is, and that's like the difficult part here with Matt Campbell taking over at Penn State. It's like some of these games are just another game, but at the end of the day, they're still stepping stones to what is gonna be the future down the road. And that's why I think it's so frustrating to watch that where this was a win-able game. Wisconsin was a win-able game. Can't say the same thing about Northwestern here, but two moments where, and I went live after the game and said, man, Lincoln Riley really pulled out all the stops, and no, he didn't. No, he didn't. This team, it was more so about the fact that they couldn't capitalize on Lincoln Riley making decisions that he really teed up for Penn State to, again, capitalize, cash in on. Okay, attempting close to a 60-yard fuel goal, right? That, again, it didn't come back to bite, Lincoln Riley. When you attempt, you know, the fake, what was that?

4:07Because I said, okay, USC's being cute. They're trying to draw up a play, or they're faking like they're gonna go for it on fourth and five, and it's like, they finally, you know, plays blown dead. And it's like, okay, USC called a timeout, great. Like that's, glad that's just over with whatever that was. And timeout Penn State, I'm like, did I hear that right? It's those, and Matt Campbell was brought in to be, yet, to reestablish the Penn State program, yes, but what I mean was, when I say, hey, Penn State was promised, or Penn State fans were promised a certain type of football team, a disciplined, well-coached team, not beating yourself, okay? Matt Campbell is an exes and aes coach, at least he's supposed to be. Why is this Penn State team more often than not beating itself? This was a win-able game. Do I even know that Penn State drives down the football field, scores that touchdown, and then gets the two-point conversion? I don't know, but at the end of the day, you ruined it to where you couldn't have multiple opportunities

5:10to do that. That wasn't something USC prevented you from doing. It was something you did to yourself with the decisions and the lack of adjustments that were made, again, saying, these aren't the best of the best opponents. USC's a good team, right? That's a good team. Maybe they catch lightning in a bottle. I don't know, that's a tough schedule. I'm not here to judge them. But Northwestern's not a world-beater, Wisconsin. These are middle of the pack, big 10 teams at best. This is a very favorable schedule, and now Penn State's completely out of the playoff schedule. Three games into big 10 conference play. This is not what the fans were promised here, that, hey, Penn State would go out, and this is where Pat Krav comes into the conversation, that the coaching search was mishandled, and even if Matt Campbell is the right guy at the end of the day, I think he's supposed to be a good coach, right?

6:14He's supposed to be. But I'm looking at this and how Penn State thought they could win with a coach that could bring over a strong portion of his team, capitalize on this favorable schedule, easy schedule, and here we are where this talent issue, coaching issue, doesn't matter. It's Penn State's undoing. It is, and it's tough, because I don't think it's just one of those things. I think it's a combination of a lot of different things that are holding Penn State back, like we're going to be talent, coaching, whatever that may be, culture. I think now Penn State has to figure out how can they balance back from this rough start, and hopefully finish the season with the win in the big 10 conference play, because... Jesus, that's where we are. But they can't win a big 10 conference. I think that's where you have to look to this point, though, because next week's the Michigan, and then, obviously,

7:14they play Washington, too, who's also not great. So maybe you win that or Purdue, but Penn State needs to get back in the win column, and I think it starts with a confidence of themselves. And today was a step in the right direction, because shortly after last week, they probably felt terrible after getting blown out by North Lester. But Chase Swell was saying today, that this one hurts worse, because it wasn't a blowout. It was closer. It was right there. And it was right there around the win. And then they just came up short. And so whether that be all on Matt Campbell or players, or whatever that may be, Penn State lost, and they needed to figure out how they can bounce back from that. And I don't know if they have just a general direction how to go, because you could blame the rushing attack, you could blame the defense, you could blame play calling, whenever that may be. But Penn State has some things to figure out here. And I think it does start with the rushing attack, as far as Penn State's concerned, because you can't have guys out there running the ball

8:16and only getting three yards of carry. You can't win games that way. You need sustained drives so the defense isn't on the field. But at the end of the day, too, the defense was on the field for all that along. There was a difference of 16 seconds between when you see those on the field and Penn State's offense was on the field. And so you can't even blame that anymore. So there's no excuses for Penn State to lose any game like this. They lost, you said they beat themselves, but it's not even just penalties. They had two penalties today. So it's not even that. It's just a matter of like taking care of the football and limiting all those little variables. Overreaction here on a Sunday is just that it's disappointing. It's disappointing at the end of the day, because these moves were made with the intention that this team could win now. They could win right away. And this team didn't really give itself a chance from the coaching search to, again, and it wasn't. It's a wow.

9:18The coaching search itself, the process. What if Matt Campbell was hired slightly earlier? You could have started having these conversations and maybe gotten some more players out of the transfer portal that would have fit the defense. Got Dan Lynn hired at an earlier time. And I know people are going to go crazy. Well, they shouldn't have hired Dan Lynn at all. If it's not the offense, it's the defense, right? And if it's not the defense, it's the offense. So just, but overall, Penn State fans were promised, hey, this team can win now. We can take the core of that Iowa State team, combine it with Penn State's former players and build a winning team. And now is it a lost cause? Because 9 and 3, 8 and 4, 7, 5, 7 and 5, 6 and 6, all sound the same to me in a way. So that's why the rest of this season, I'm not saying Matt Campbell and Penn State need to pun on it, right? That's not how this works. But you got to find a way to bounce back and then some

10:21because it can't continue to look like this. So like you said, the long-term problems are really going to manifest. So let's talk about how Penn State can bounce back, how they can readjust. And could they go into Ann Arbor? And potentially beat the name brand program that they absolutely need to at this point. That is coming up next here. I'm not done any lines. And today's episode is brought to you by 5 hour energy. If you've got a sweet tooth like I do, you know how tough it is to find that perfect tree without all of the sugar. That's why cotton candy, five hour energy shots, bring back that nostalgic flavor in a whole new way. This is that classic cotton candy taste that you remember but with tasty caffeine and zero sugar. It's a quick and easy way to satisfy that sweet craving while keeping things simple and on the go. Now I've always loved cotton candy when I was growing up, but I can't be eating sweets all day. You and I know that. This is the perfect alternative.

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14:25You started mentioning, OK, well, look at the ground game. Obviously, the defense, again, if it's not the offense, it's the defense and vice versa. Because I looked at the offense aside from the rushing attack, Rocco Beck looked better. Thank goodness, but the bar was so low, right? He only had nowhere to go, but Chase Soel, right, Eskyl Synef, he doesn't have the costly fumble. I'm thinking, man, he's starting to put things together. Just look more like a reliable target. You have finally get the football to Andrew Rappli, after how many games this guy might be your best overall pass catcher, but we wouldn't know it since they did. There's no concerted effort to really get him the football. And now there was Taylor Mauser steps up right. He, I thought he called a much better game. Granded USC's defense is mediocre. So we'll see against the Michigan defense that, ah, has two weeks to prepare, right? But the ground game is still seriously limiting because I do think it affects the defense. Dateland and the defense got to basically do a total makeover. They just need to break the plate

15:26and start completely fresh. I have no idea what's going on. How, yet, maybe it was just, they took advantage of non-conference competition. And really, and everything surfaced, the second you got to Wisconsin Northwestern, but you forced the takeaways against Wisconsin. So it's, but clearly the defense is not as good as we initially thought. That is clear. I do think there's an element of playing complimentary football. You have to be able to sustain drives. You have to be able to give your defense a break, OK? I think the defense is just out there constantly. And you're seeing the lack of pass rush and a defense that is just now breaking because they really don't have a lot of answers on that side of the football. There's not a lot of superstar playmakers. There are some good players, Tony Rojas. Tony Rojas, I think, is a star player. But he's only one person.

16:28So if you can get the offense to just be a little more sustainable, break the plate, start over on defense somewhere. That can maybe get Penn State more competitive in these games. And it's such a favorable schedule. Am I, am I, am not crazy for thinking that they can go eight and four? They lose to Michigan and then maybe start to figure it out after the by-week. But Minnesota, Purdue, Maryland, Rutgers, come on. You got, you got to win game. You got to win games. Don't make this any worse. I want to see what happens. I think my biggest concern here with the defense, like, first of all, they're out there and it looks like somebody's cutting through like a warm stick of butter. But I think the issue with that is they don't have an identity of who they are. Like the defense is a whole, like, forget the whole team for the second. Matt Campbell said today that Marcus Neil Jr. didn't play today because they wanted to focus more on coverage, guys. Yes, he has a liability uncovered. So I'm not surprised by that ventging. However, though, at the end of the day, like Marcus Neil Jr., he's built kind of like a linebacker. And surely you could scheme some things

17:29to play to his strengths. And Penn State could have used some beneficial guys like him to maybe even pressure the quarterback because Penn State had one sack today and that came from linebacker Tony Roas. Was it a defensive end? I mean, I'm surprised at the, now that I think about it, I guess it didn't really fully process. He was supposed to be, he was an all conference caliber player at the big 12 level. OK, we know there's a jump from the big 12 to the big 10. We understand that. But that, OK, he can still be a good player, right? And they didn't use him at all. Like you said, there was nothing to scheme up or anything like that. So what's going on there? I don't know. And that's why I'm concerned here. Does the defense even have an identity? Because if you try to do one thing, you're like, are you trying to play against like USC? Well, that's not really work because they still ran right through. So why don't you change it up? Adjust it. Maybe throw Marcus Neil Jr. in there. Let him pressure the quarterback. Something, this defense needs to figure out how they can best play to their players strengths.

18:30Like instead of trying to make the players form like what Dan's land is trying to do. Because the only guy out there that's even doing anything, that's just because he's naturally athletic and plays good football, Tony Rojas. The rest of the guys sometimes look lost. The defensive ends aren't coming quick off the edges. The linebackers are missing tackles because they're out of position. The defensive backs do OK. But like today, like Jimi or Joseph, I felt like we were just getting targeted at times. And like they just kept throwing the ball. USC would feed the ball over his direction. And then they'd get a completion. And it's not like a hit on Jimi or Joseph. I think he's a good ball player. But it's that Penn State is a 20-inch level. There's levels to it, too, right? USC's wide receivers are pretty darn good. Should Jimi or Joseph just might not be at that level. But also like Penn State needs to be able to find guys that can play to their strengths and figure that out and find an identity of who this defense is. We can sit at home or wherever on our couches and talk about, oh, these are the issues. But until Penn State and Dan Lynn and Matt Campbell actually look at their defense and realize what's going on,

19:31this is going to happen weekend and week out. It just happened to be that USC was a pretty decent offensive team today. And Penn State basically today, tonight, I mean, it's Sunday when we're recording this. They basically said, well, no pass rush. We have to drop back eight. And if you can't get after the quarterback, if you can't put any sort of pressure on Jade Mayava, even with the blitzes, Penn State's blitzes weren't really working either. And does Dan Lynn need to scheme up better blitzes? Probably. But easier said than done, it also would help if you had a player that if the players aren't going to win one-on-one matchups, OK? You can only do so much to scheme guys open on certain pass rush maneuvers. Eventually, a player's going to make a play. And the pass rush being non-existent, because I think the secondary is really good. There's levels to it. USC's wide receivers are clearly better. OK?

20:32Those things can be mutually exclusive. Or they can exist independently. Penn State's secondary can still be a good group. But when they're left on an island, when there is no pass rush, whether that's Dan Lynn's fault or the players' fault, eventually the secondary is not going to be able to cover forever against a really talented group of wide receivers. And a quarterback that plays for the most part, mistake-free football. So that's what happened here. Again, that's why I say, kind of, you might just have to break the plate and start completely over with this group and say, what can we do to manufacture more of a pass rush? Who can we really lean on? Because other than Tony and Real-Hos, I don't see anybody on the defense that Dan Lynn is really leaning on. And maybe is that because there's just nobody capable? But I would like to think otherwise. Darius Dixon, Zion Tracy. Sometimes you just need to have a player do more. I think Penn State's defense is trying to basically

21:33get equal output from 11 people. And that's just not going to work for this group. No, that's what I already said. You've got to find your strengths and weaknesses. And even like Caleb Bacon too, lean on him the first week and then he's kind of sick. Again, you can lean on him against Marshall. That's fine. They've been leaning on Tony, Real-Hos for the most part. Somebody else somewhere. It can be Keanu Williams. It can be, I would like to see Ivan Camigew or Alex McPherson, right? Because they have the potential. But potential, I think it's just so much at this point in time. There's so many moving parts. And Zane, as we conclude, the bottom line is that, it's like, well, why isn't UCLA having these issues? Why isn't Kentucky having these issues? I think there were so many moving parts. And this is a makeshift team. And it's just like, well, the excuse is the excuse is, you also have to kind of name what it is at this point in time. So this is what it is. There are so many competing parts of the puzzle that it's not going to come together quickly because Penn State is undoing a previous culture

22:36that had success up to a certain point. Penn State was very successful to an extent under James Franklin. You also have to undo all of that. There was no precedent set at UCLA, the Dishon foster culture. You didn't have to uninstall that. What Tom Allen and Indiana, Kurt Signati, could walk in and basically hit reset all over. You can't do that at Penn State. So Matt Campbell is in this midst of trying to undo one thing, install his culture, build a team, build a program, and easier said than done with the way that it goes. But that's how if you want to try to start salvaging the season, you have something to build off with the offense. And then with the defense, I'd say hit the reset button. I would just try anything at this point, especially. And you can't against the Michigan offense that doesn't look like they know what they're doing at all. They have no answers. Yeah, I agree with you. You got to reset the defense, find something because it's not working now, figured out. And it's not everybody's going to turn out like Kurt Signati

23:38in Indiana or whatever your situation may be. Oh, we can't. We just got an Indiana just, it's its own. They're not. It's its own anomaly at that point. You can't compare it to them. No, you can't. But UCLA and Kentucky make this a little more difficult too. But that's where we're going to wrap this up. Are you in situations different? Yeah, that's where we're going to wrap things up on this edition of Lockdown. And in Lioney is in Brandsfield. So see a producer. My name is Axeco. Your host is always there. So just know your thoughts down in the comments section if you are new to the show, subscribe to the YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcasts for the latest conversations around all things and stuff.