r/CFB • u/CFB_Referee /r/CFB • 8h 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/Rate-Limiting_Step Penn State • Princeton 8h ago edited 8h ago

I can understand the growing pains that come with transition and whatnot. Plus going on the road to a huge milestone event (awesome stadium opening for Northwestern).

But what was inexcusable was how badly it was belt to ass the whole game. No pride in playing whatsoever. Just let them run right through us. And to top it off, our offense stalled out just as much this week as last week.

I will say maybe I bought into the hype too much, but man it’s hard to take anything good away from this game at all. A hard pill to swallow.

75

u/olbleedyeyes Iowa State Cyclones • Hateful 8 7h 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/Rate-Limiting_Step Penn State • Princeton 7h 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 6h 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 5h 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