How bad have College Football teams in the Northeast become?

[KirkHerbstreit]

Year after year the gap only appears to widen. Yesterday, Penn State, Pitt, Maryland, Boston College, West Virginia were embarrassed. Syracuse saved face by having a bye week. . They seem slow and a step behind other teams. Will it change any time soon? After watching Pitt and Penn State yesterday, I would say not next year. The talent level between OSU and PSU is immense . It will take years of recruiting to catch up. I think eventually Penn State will do so, but I am not certain this is rock bottom yet. Defensively, I think next year could be as bad. I think O'brien will be a great recruiter, but those results won't be realized until 2015 (if he is even there) Pitt lost to Navy and appears to be trying to run a college offense from 1988. Run on first, run on second, maybe a handoff on 3rd and 4. I don't think much of Chryst as a coach. In my opinion, he has a dull personality and plays it closer to the vest than wanny.

[El-Moldo]

You know, people thought George Bush had a dull personality. So now we have a flamboyant President, and look where we are today. At least, Chryst isn't a poor loser. Did you see BO'B's handshake with Meyer after the game last night? It was like a track relay in reverse. They were coming toward each other, and it looked like BO'B grabbed the baton from Meyer's hand and speeded away in the other direction. And what's with the "I'll have to see the tape" routine when answering questions from the media after a loss by PSU. Yes, BO'B does have a better personality. I loved it when he ripped Zwiniak a new a$$hole on the sidelines after he fumbled the ball in the 3rd quarter. The nation got to see the real personality of BO'B after that scene. Even his answers when interviewed after halftime were quite flippant. But he's got the Nit fans snookered, so that's what counts.

[lhacbigfan]

Only Moldo would watch and criticize a handshake after a 63-14 football game.

[El-Moldo]

Yep. Most Penn State fans stopped watching at halftime.

[KirkHerbstreit]

I would have expected Urban Meyer to do the same exact thing to Bill O'brien, if O'Brien challenged a spot up 56-7 with 8 minutes left in the game. I'm sure it ticked him off. I like that O'Brien is like that. I like that he is fiery. John Harbaugh was fiery at Stanford, so was Chip Kelly at Oregon. I'm sure Moldy likes it that Don Bailey is fiery with kids.

Since being put on sanctions, Penn State has a better record than Pitt. This past week they had 57 scholarship players available. Pitt is going to struggle, because they have had turnover and transfers from coaching changes. Both teams are going through transition, but i see Penn State coming out of it stronger than Pitt. I'd like to hear your thoughts on Pitt, Moldy. We hear them about Penn State. Let me know what you think about Pitt and their current path.

[abpk2903]

Penn State will not catch up within a decade. They may have an occasional "good" year but they are so far from an elite program. Let's recap the past 2 seasons:

-2 losses to non-BCS schools at home. And neither one was even a nail biter

-2 losses to BCS conference doormats.

-now a 2-4 road record

-2 blowout losses to Ohio State. Let's face it last year the score wasn't indicative of the dominant performance from OSU.

-The 2 wins that Penn State has that are worth a dang came at home in multi overtimes.

I posted earlier this week claiming that I thought northern football was starting to turn over a new leaf. I couldn't have been more wrong. Losses like this can't happen.

I'll be interested to see how many are going to the game next week. If there is 90,000 there, I will be amazed.

[Nets77]

Classic Moldy, with everything that happened during that game and he picks out the handshake and BOB screaming at Zwinak. It just proves he knows little to nothing about football.

Just wondering what everyone else thinks about the defense and coach Butler. Were the breakdowns on defense due to the talent gap or was it coaching. OSU had guys open with nobody within 15-20 yards! Tackling also played a role, as they had Miller in the backfield several times and missed tackles.

[KirkHerbstreit]

That's not exactly going out on a limb APK. Penn State hasn't had elite status in over 20 years. Having the occassional good year was Paterno's staple for the last 20 years. I think they can get back to that level fairly quickly. As far as elite, that's reserved for few teams. There is potential that by the time Hackenberg is a senior and recruiting classes of 25 back that they could make some waves into the top 20.

Penn State played Ohio State with 57 Scholarship players available to him. Ohio State probably had between 80 and 85. Of those recruits many of Ohio State's were 4 and 5 star recruits. Paterno's last recruiting classes were nothing to write home about. If you expected anything more than what you saw Saturday or what you are seeing, then you must think O'Brien can work miracles.

[abpk2903]

Oh I think the way Ohio State beat Penn State Saturday was expected. I also think it hurt Ohio State in the long run. If Penn State wins 3 or 4 games in this conference, how bad is it? Michigan lost to Penn State and now Ohio State must beat Michigan by 30 points to hold credibility late in the season...the sad thing is, I don't think Ohio State wins 6 conference games in the SEC.

[KirkHerbstreit]

Many people thought Texas A&M and Missouri would struggle playing an SEC schedule, too. Don't get me wrong the SEC is good, much better than the big 10, and Alabama would beat OSU, but this isn't a Jim Tressel OSU team. They could play with anyone outside of Bama and are deserving of their ranking.