Viking Tales - Game Story from 45-38 Win Over WOU

[ScottHood]

Wild, wacky game. PSU now heads to Washington State with 1-1 record.

http://psuvikingtales.com/vikings-survive-scare-from-western-oregon-45-38/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Happy reading!

Scott Hood
Publisher/Writer
Viking Tales
E-Mail: [email protected]

 

[martymoose]

What a train wreck that was last night.

Some thoughts on the debacle:

- 18 flags on us for 146 yards? Unreal. Unacceptable. Lots of trash talking going on on both sides. I'd rather see our guys shut their yaps and show their talk on the field.

- Our passing game is a hot mess. Take away that lucky as hell hail mary at the end of the first half and we have 174 yards of passing against a DII program. Let's see, 83 yards against a PAC-12 program, and 174 against a DII school. Hello One-dimensional offense. So who can we throw on?

- The Western crowd was way louder. Not a surprise given the game location/time/etc.

- Not holding on to the ball tight will result in a fumble if you play a program from the PAC-12, the Big Sky, or DII. Hold on to the friggin ball.

I've been a bit negative, so lets have some good takeaways:

- The PSU sideline was really rallying in the 4th quarter. Jumping up and down, waving towels, etc. I've seen some games in the past where guys just have their heads down in positions like we were in in the second half. I'm hoping that this means something.

- WOU was killing us with their pass schemes. Killing us. The almost-everyone-up-front-audible look that showed up late in the second half was great. Probably changed the outcome of the game.

- That QB from WOU is really good. He was hit hard quite a few times and kept getting up and making plays. I hope they have a great year.

 

[GreenGiant]

I'm not sure why the VIkings don't use Penn the same way they used Plinke last season. I'm serious, let's just put Keiran and Paris in the game at the same time. They would have to defend two runners and two passers. I think it could be effective.

 

[ScottHood]

You're spot on with most of your comments. I asked Bruce Barnum during preseason camp about putting both McDonagh and Penn on the field at some point. He didn't commit to it. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to talk with him this week.

3 things need to improve w/ Viks: Discipline (18 penalties!) + killer instinct (Can't blow 2 17-point leads vs. Div. Ii school) + passing game.

 

[Guychamp]

Passing Game = Not good. Neither guy reads the D all that well and neither checks down at all. Really tired of seeing KM throw off his back foot. PP would be the equivalent of Colin Kap if he could throw with some accuracy and check down once in a while. Maybe we will improve on this but its not a comfort right now.
What is comforting is that we've had pretty good protection up front. Overall the O Line is better than anticipated.

Running Game = Suspicious. Congrats to Shaq for a nice game, but we never ran the ball with any consistency. Up three scores should result in us pounding the rock with success against a DII team. Nothing going at OSU, and nothing consistent against WOU. Hopefully this shapes up in the coming weeks.

Defense = ? . Seemed like old times at points last week. Had some breakdowns late and total busts on 3rd and long a few times. I was very positive on D after OSU, much less so today.

I think the Wildcat days are over for most of football. Don't see it in the NFL any more and even with Plinke, it stopped being effective after the second or third time we used it. Just me 2 pennies on that one.

Crowds will be non-existent all year b/c we have ZERO media exposure. It's so bad that casual Vik fans have no idea where, when, who we play week to week or whether we won or lost b/c its nowhere in the press. Something really needs to be done about this besides wacky promotions. Don't get me wrong, any promotion is fine with me, but we need more fans in the seats guys, thats the bottom line.

 

[ScottHood]

Guychamp, lack of coverage in the mainstream media is one reason I decided to start Viking Tales (http://www.psuvikingtales.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. Hopefully, you have been to the site and looked around,. If not, I invite you to do so. We are accepting donations, as well, to help promote PSU coverage. Click on the green button in the upper right corner.

Once you've been to the site, I invite you to contact me via e-mail at [email protected] to offer suggestions or other input.

Thanks!!

Scott Hood
Publisher
Viking Tales

 

[pjstano]

Guychamp, lack of coverage in the mainstream media is one reason I decided to start Viking Tales (http://www.psuvikingtales.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. Hopefully, you have been to the site and looked around,. If not, I invite you to do so. We are accepting donations, as well, to help promote PSU coverage. Click on the green button in the upper right corner.

Once you've been to the site, I invite you to contact me via e-mail at [email protected] to offer suggestions or other input.

Thanks!!

Scott Hood
Publisher
Viking Tales

Scott,
I love Viking Tales. Very well done. I'll send some comments/suggestions throughout the season.