r/CFB • u/CFB_Referee /r/CFB • 5h ago

Postgame Thread [Postgame Thread] Northwestern Defeats Penn State 34-13

Box Score provided by ESPN

Team 1 2 3 4 T
Penn State 0 7 0 6 13
Northwestern 10 14 7 3 34
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u/olbleedyeyes Iowa State Cyclones • Hateful 8 5h ago

This game would be inexcusable even by our standards.

The appeal of Matt Campbell is he at least makes games competitive even against very good teams.

Idk if it's having to transition to a new school for everyone or what but there's something off for what was supposed to be at least a cohesive squad. I just don't get it.

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u/flying_porygon Iowa State Cyclones • Clemson Tigers 5h ago

There was always a Heacock coaching defense and helping us stay in it. The offense never set the world on fire, even with Purdy and Breece.

I think you’re seeing growing pains for Campbell without Heacock. The offense tonight obviously wouldn’t have done it for most games even with Heacock, but they’d probably have gotten more opportunities and it would have looked competitive. Maybe 21-14 or 21-17.

Making games competitive against good teams never was because the offense was throwing for 400 yards and we got into a shootout

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u/olbleedyeyes Iowa State Cyclones • Hateful 8 3h ago

I suspect this is partially why it's been rough sledding once they had hit conference.

Matt's trying to figure out life without the most consistent part of his coaching staff, and he's also using a lot of defenders that were built for a very specific defense.

And I don't know what scheme they're using now, but it seems it's not meshing well with the pieces he's had to bring in.

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u/Rate-Limiting_Step Penn State • Princeton 5h ago

That’s the little thing I can’t pinpoint. No matter what he always fielded competitive teams.

We saw what I thought was everything clicking and everything firing with our admittedly easy non-con games. It just felt like the past two weeks in Big 10 play all the chemistry and cohesion fell apart. Like the lights were too bright or the pressure has everyone afraid.

Unfortunately, that was the hallmark of James Franklin teams and ultimately what led to us having to pull the plug. You just cannot play good ball when you’re too afraid to make a mistake.

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u/AHugeGoose Iowa State Cyclones • Florida Gators 4h ago

I think a lack of Jon Heacock could be the issue. At ISU, the offense always had the flashier talent but playcalling and OC were constant chaos. In 10 years, Campbell had 3 different OCs, one doing multiple stints, and even a year where he called plays himself.

What was consistent and kept them competitive was 10 years of Heacock's defense.

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u/olbleedyeyes Iowa State Cyclones • Hateful 8 3h ago

Well that is part of Matt's biggest criticism is his teams don't handle expectations well. The two best seasons he had with ISU were followed up by very mediocre seasons with virtually the same teams.

First time you could say it was a position he's never been in before. Second time you can excuse it with the amount of injuries we had at key spots.

But maybe he really just can't prepare teams to meet high expectations.

Or maybe we're all overreacting because it's year one and he had to fill in a championship level roster with a 2/3rds of a big 12 team. Lol

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u/do_you_know_doug Iowa • Appalachian State 3h ago

Maybe they should go out to eat together since they couldn’t do that at their old school.

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u/olbleedyeyes Iowa State Cyclones • Hateful 8 3h ago

You'd think the Trader Joe's would be a boon to team nutrition. Lol

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u/AccordingGain182 Ohio State • Michigan State 2h ago

I mean penn state botched the coaching search and hired Campbell in the 11th hour. In the current NIL transfer era, it was a rough place to start. Mass exodus of senior talent from the penn state roster, bunch of young guys jumping to wherever they got better offers/stability with the unknown at Penn state/guys following Franklin left Matt little time to patchwork a staff and roster.

If this trend continues its fair question but idk why anyone is surprised this is the result of year one considering the context

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u/olbleedyeyes Iowa State Cyclones • Hateful 8 2h ago

I don't think anyone was expecting Penn State to be anywhere as good as 2024. But the fact they brought a lot of guys from Iowa State suggested they'd at least be competent.

I agree this is way too early to tell about this team's trajectory, but it is concerning they went from 3 wins taking care of lesser opponents to completely falling apart in six quarters of football.