Mike Cagley, Co-Host Sports Spectacular and Big Sports Radio
Photo courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
January 13, 2025
This week we saw:
Let’s take a deeper dive into a few subjects…
It’s human nature to analyze a loss and try to figure out who is at fault for the loss. There are a lot of folks who want to place this latest loss at the feet of Drew Aller and another group of people want to assign blame to James Franklin.
Aller looks the part of the great quarterback. He stands 6’5” and weighs 238 pounds. If there is a picture in the dictionary of the prototypical strong-armed passer, it might show Drew Aller’s image.
Aller has improved season over season in his second year as a starter. His completion percentage increased to 66.5% and his passing yards increased to 3,327 yards. He has played better against most of the Nittany Lion’s schedule but struggled against both Ohio State and Notre Dame.
From an intangible standpoint, he didn’t seem to ever get comfortable against Notre Dame. His accuracy was off, and his footwork wasn’t as precise as usual. One could make the case if he played better in the first half, the Nittany Lions would’ve racked up a nearly bulletproof lead. That didn’t happen. Worse, an errant Aller pass set up the final drive for the Fighting Irish to kick the winning field goal.
Meanwhile, some believe that James Franklin’s 1-15 record against Top 5 teams means he can’t win the “big game” and even some are saying he should be fired as the Penn State head coach. It should be noted that former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was 3-12 in his first 15 games against top 5 teams at Penn State. It is also very hard to do well when the two teams that are perennially in the top 5 happen to be in your division and you must play them each year (Ohio State and Michigan).
Franklin didn’t have any glaring moments in the Notre Dame game. I do wonder why he tried to “big brother” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman in press conferences on game week. It was clear through the media coverage that Freeman didn’t respond positively to this verbal strategy. One wonders if a less boisterous and less inflammatory approach wouldn’t be a better way to deal with opposing coaches. No one knows if this was a key factor or just trivia, but why give an opposing coach motivation when he should have plenty already?
Clearly, as a developing collegiate player, Aller needs to keep improving. There are dozens of colleges who would love to have him playing quarterback at their school. Even more schools would love to have James Franklin on the sidelines coaching their football team. I’m not sure if either one is the primary issue with Penn State football, though.
To my eyes, Penn State hasn’t really changed much over the last decade or more. It feels like 2 things keep happening:
Sometimes, you lose games until you don’t. Think of Harbaugh taking heat for losing his first five games against Ohio State and then starting a streak that is now up to 4 consecutive Michigan wins.
Penn State must keep improving their talent level until they can look back at a season that they take down a top 5 team, or two. The CFP will allow for even more opportunities to do so. In the future, Penn State must turn opportunities into accomplishments.
They will not do that unless their future quarterbacks have more individuals to throw to – and that means beyond throwing to the tight end and running backs. In CFP games, you’re going to need talented wide receivers to stretch the defense and provide your quarterbacks open targets to throw to. No quarterback can thread the proverbial needle every time.
Ohio State vs Texas was a fantastic game to watch. And as great as Ohio State has played, they were two plays away from going home without a “W” themselves (maybe just one if you think about it). To be clear, the reason why teams win is because they make big plays and Ohio State made plays, but what if…
What if the Buckeyes hadn’t made the perfect call and TreVeyon hadn’t looked like he was a modern-day version of Tony Dorsett streaking down the field like a bullet. Without this play, later the Longhorns would’ve been tied instead of being down by a touchdown. Maybe Texas kicks a field goal to go up by three instead of going for it on fourth down. Voiding that fourth down attempt, the second huge play never happens. Note: this is not an Avengers movie, but the reality of what I’m postulating is true.
Jack Sawyer’s 83-yard strip of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and then sprinting, er running, well maybe rumbling for a touchdown was nearly as dramatic as the first round of Hagler Hearns - and it took almost as long to happen. Sawyer’s heroics have been legendary and whether the Buckeyes win or lose in the title game, it should be a crime if he has to pay for a drink in the state of Ohio ever again.
But without that incredible screen pass at the end of the second quarter, Sawyer’s moment may not have happened.
The margin between the team going to the title game and the team going home is razor thin. When a coach says play hard every play; he’s correct, it really can make a difference.
The Buckeyes made big plays and advanced to be the heavy favorite against a Notre Dame team that is very comfortable as the underdog. This has the makings for a classic championship game.
I can’t wait.
The Illini did a few things that were rare in their win over Penn State.
This was an impressive win over a team that was 12-3 overall, 2-2 in conference coming into the game.
Why is the team playing so well? I think there are two areas the team has improved in mightily:
Give Coach Underwood and his staff a thumbs up for improved roster construction for this season. At the same time, what could cause such a poor outing the very next game?
This team is still young in B1G experience, and it showed. Taking any B1G opponent lightly is dangerous. Not being ready to play sets up any team for a loss. The Illini looked as though they imagined the word “Illinois” on the jersey would be enough to win the game. It was not. It never has been.
Whatever happened during preparation, whether it was a late night out on Friday, lack of effort to study the game plan, simple lack of respect for USC, or a combination of multiple factors; this Illini team learned a hard lesson. In Division 1 basketball generally, and in B1G basketball specifically, you must show up ready to play and then give your best effort to guarantee a victory. Half-assed efforts will not win games.
Instantaneous eligibility in the transfer portal and NIL funds to motivate players to utilize the portal to gain financially and from a minutes played standpoint has evened out the talent more than ever. Showing no respect – in the form of preparation is the recipe for failure.
This was an inexcusable home loss that comes ahead of a brutal road trip to Indiana and then a Michigan State team that is outplaying expectations. Brad Underwood hates 3-game losing streaks. With Kasparas Jakucionis injured and his ability to play in question, this trip is much more dangerous than it looked on paper. And it looked scary enough on paper.
YouTube:
Audio:
