21 Random Thoughts On Penn State’s Loss To Indiana

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1. Saturday was a super weird day. I, for the most part, have basically had my guard up since the UCLA loss. I didn’t think I could be affected by a loss the rest of the season.

2. Northwestern didn’t bother me. I had tickets to the game and was outside tailgating and decided to not even go in. If anything, the loss was a good thing because it was clarity for what needed to happen next.

3. Iowa didn’t really matter to me, in part because anything (outside of WrestleMania) on Peacock is meaningless to begin with.

4. For Ohio State, I knew that was coming and I had zero expectation of even scoring a touchdown. Being down 17-14 at halftime so I could poke fun at Ohio State fans was more than enough for me.

5. And even this past Saturday, I was completely positive that Penn State was going to lose even if it put up a good fight for portions of the game.

6. But man, was I wrong on the “couldn’t be affected by a loss” thought. When the fourth quarter played out with so many great moments — the Nick Singleton 50+ yard run, the King Mack INT, the Singleton receiving TD, forcing Indiana to punt with under four minutes to go — I was back in hook, line, and sinker.

7. This season has sucked. No two ways about it. But seeing Penn State fight back from down 20-7 against the No. 2 team in the country and making some big time plays, you kind of forget the 3-5 record and you live in the moment. Like *this* was supposed to be the season and *this* was supposed to be the feeling we felt during every game. Not one of apathy and indifference, but one of excitement, hope, and a bit of anxiousness too.

8. I just wanted that victory so bad. Selfishly for myself because I spend a lot of time on this dumb team, but for everyone really. The fans. The players, especially the guys who have been around for four seasons. The coaches, especially Terry Smith. A win against Indiana would be momentary reprieve for what otherwise has been a hellish season.

9. Instead, reality struck. We are not guaranteed a happy ending, let alone even one happy moment apparently.

10. The game was summed up on two plays. The first one, Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza throws up a duck ball while getting hit on second and goal. It is the flutter ball of all flutter balls. All linebacker Amare Campbell has to do is run underneath it. Instead, he can’t getting his football and slips on the grass, falls over, and the ball lands harmlessly on the ground.

11. The following play, Mendoza throws up a prayer to WR Omar Cooper Jr. He makes the catch and somehow gets one foot down while Zakee Wheatley is pushing him out of bounds, defying everything we thought we knew about gravity and physics.

12. That’s the Penn State season in a nutshell. The other team is proving the Laws of Physics to be a bunch of malarkey, while the Penn State player trips over himself trying to catch an arm punt.

13. I do want to give some flowers to Ethan Grunkemeyer, who played really well. That’s a very stout Indiana defense and he performed admirably. He needs to clean up some accuracy issues on short throws — it feels like almost everything is behind — but he has nice touch and ball placement on the intermediate routes.

14. Going to Iowa and Ohio State and then facing this Hoosier defense was far from an easy three-game stretch for Grunk to really start his career, so I’m excited to see how he does against some easier competition in Michigan State, Nebraska (very solid defense though), and Rutgers. I’m not expecting 250+ and 3 TDs every game, but it’s a much more manageable slate.

15. Like Terry Smith has said, he’s gotta push it vertically. I know those comments from Terry seem directed at Andy Kotelnicki (and they partly are), but I do think Grunk is hesitant at times to toss it deep. Have to coach that out of him. Mistakes, including interceptions, are OK. This is a 3-6 football team, Grunk. Let it rip.

16. Speaking of letting it rip — or lack thereof — the play call on 3rd & 9 with 2:09 left in the game was bad. A play action pass to a tight end in the flat short of the first down marker is so freaking soft man. It’s one of those calls I wasn’t apoplectic about in the moment, but the more I think about, the more enraged I get.

17. Indiana knows you are throwing the ball there. You need nine yards and the two minute timeout is coming up regardless. So why the play action? That’s a call you make on second down, giving Grunk an easy pass and hoping Indiana overplays the run and gets burnt. But on third down? Come on, Andy. This is a 3-5 football team, this year has sucked ASS, but you have a chance to ice the game with a first down. Why don’t you try something beyond the sticks?

18. Just incredibly lame, folks. Throwing the ball 8 yards shy of the first down marker when a first down WINS THE FREAKING GAME.

19. Koby Howard should have every snap over Kyron Hudson, which man was I FOOLED by him after the Nevada game.

20. Honestly, I should do a whole post on which players fooled me the most this season. It’ll be a long article because man was I hoodwinked.

21. Last thought: Fernando Mendoza is a really good college QB. The comebacks he’s had are impressive. But this Heisman talk between him, Diego Pavia, Marcel Reed, Ty Simpson, and Julian Sayin doesn’t make a whole ton of sense to me. One of those guys might be the best QB in the country, but does anyone think those guys are better football players than Jeremiah Smith? The dude is going to end the regular season with 90+ receptions, 1200+ yards, and 15 TDs. He is the best player in the country. Give him the award.

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