The Lions' Pride

THIS! Wow. +1 and Spot on...

Egads! I felt like someone kicked me in the guts. Imagine how bad Team PSU felt. Even more, I felt so bad for Ficken. But I don't blame the loss on him. Jesse James blew his blocking assignment which led to the blocked PTA and Robinson, as good as he's been the first two games, dropped a TD pass! We win as a team and we lose as a team. This was a team loss, inspite of Ficken going 1-5 in FGs. The fact that we need to attempt a FG means that the offense stalled. While the O did a little better today, they still failed to sustain drives and the D gave them field position in VA territory all day long! And even though the D made the big plays (coughing up 4 turnovers), they still failed too many time to halt the opponent on 3rd down! And except for coverage on special teams, we've got a long way to go. All we needed today was the blocked extra pt. to send it into overtime. Or just one more TD. Or if Ficken makes just one more FG. Or if the D stops VA on 3rd & goal. I know alot of folks will be wanting to bust on Ficken, but he's a Soph. He's never started before and you put the game on his leg with 1-sec left to play!?! On a positive note, I think the D made huge strides over last week, and the O was a bit better too. As this group gets used to the new system, I see better things to come. WE ARE....

Jeff, as usual your analysis is right on the money! This was definitely a gut punch loss but I feel that there were definite positives. I agree that there were some deficiencies in prior recruiting . Overall the defense played well except for third and forever and the offense is better than I anticipated since we are without Redd and Fera. Definite signs of improvement in play and coaching.

Davis has looked OK to me. On that specific play, it looked to me like it was more the fault of the underneath guy. If he hadn't started toward the receiver who was already covered, he could have been in the passing lane on that comeback route.

After these first games, I have changed my hopes and expectations for this team. Don't get me wrong, I'm PSU till the day I die. But, what do we have to cheer for other than wanting these players to have/feel success. I don't care anymore about the overall record, it doesn't really matter anyways. I don't care about us winning and impressing recruits that, lets be honest, we don't really have a shot at signing.

Anyone thinking we still have a chance at Hack needs to wake up. It would be awesome if this kid stuck with BOB and showed incredible character by making a statement of his commitment. But c'mon, this is the #1 QB in the country, why would he commit to us when we aren't going to bring is players on his level. Yes, we have Brenneman, but that is an anamoly that won't happen often, or at all in the coming years.

From here on out, I'm only concerned with our players getting what they deserve... and that's success. I don't care about the next4-5 years anymore, I want Navy, I want a complete bashing of Navy next week. Because these players deserve it.