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Today's Orange Bowl press conference

Not only is Franklin ignorant of the historic reasons for ND's independence, he is apparently ignorant of why and how PSU joined the Big 10 in the first place. Recall that PSU was itself an independent up until 1993. Its move into the Big 10 was done not out of any high-minded principles, or because PSU desired to set up rivalries with the existing members of the Big 10, but because PSU found itself in desperate financial straits and needed the promise of conference revenue sharing to keep its athletic department afloat. This article (which I found posted on the NDN site) details that history pretty well:


Interesting that the vote to take PSU into the Big 10 was 7-3, so even after months of negotiations there were some schools strongly opposed to it. And the article goes into detail on some of the resentment from other schools of bringing PSU in, which apparently smoldered for a number of years.

I guess Franklin forgot about all that stuff. Makes his complaints about ND not being in a conference look pretty shallow.
You are wrong, sir. PSU did not give up their cherished, treasured, sublime independence, which no one gives a F about anywhere other than ND fans, for whom it has become a fetish typically deified for its own sake, but occasionally defended when under attack as being a totally superior status to enjoy purely on strategic and economic grounds.... they did not do so only because their backs were against the proverbial wall and they were almost insolvent, otherwise they would be happily and preferably 'independent' to this day.

I feel like I can say with absolute certainty, without knowing any insider details, that it was done simply as a reasonable, prudent decision to make, as there is no reason to be averse to conference membership, certainly not a conference like the Big Ten, and that the time had come and they were going to go ahead and make this move, whatever changes it might have on the status quo for PSU that up to that point that they had through sheer time and inertia gotten used to, and was comfortable as an old shoe. And so they joined the Big Ten. And it was a great move for them. Natural move, no downsides really. Win win win all around.

But you insist on portraying it differently, which I think hurts your cause. Don't defend 'independence' on the merits. It makes you look weak, as if you need reassurance, and justification as a particularly sound and superior arrangement for a CFB program to want to have and jealously maintain. Just say that's how we roll at ND, that's how we like to do it, which is true. And never mind what our reasons are, which frankly it'd be better not to get into. And F y'all if you don't like it. You're being honest that way. And it's way more of an alpha move.

PSU QB is the best ND has faced. He is the real deal.

He's not a massive disappointment
Yes, an exaggeration but until this year, he would have been considered one. He was the top QB recruit in his class and a 5 star.

At the end of the day, he didn’t make the plays his team needed against the best defences he’s faced. I am of the belief ND has a defence better than Oregon’s and on par with Ohio State’s. Get after him and he will throw a couple picks.

PSU QB is the best ND has faced. He is the real deal.

So what are you saying? Are you saying he is average? 7 picks in 15 games is elite. He went 11 games with zero picks.
Like I said, I do not believe he will torch the ND defense. If the guy stinks it up tonight it does not mean he is garbage or even average. It just means what we all know, the ND defense is playing at a high level.
I'm just saying against better defenses he's struggled a bit

Today's Orange Bowl press conference

Not only is Franklin ignorant of the historic reasons for ND's independence, he is apparently ignorant of why and how PSU joined the Big 10 in the first place. Recall that PSU was itself an independent up until 1993. Its move into the Big 10 was done not out of any high-minded principles, or because PSU desired to set up rivalries with the existing members of the Big 10, but because PSU found itself in desperate financial straits and needed the promise of conference revenue sharing to keep its athletic department afloat. This article (which I found posted on the NDN site) details that history pretty well:


Interesting that the vote to take PSU into the Big 10 was 7-3, so even after months of negotiations there were some schools strongly opposed to it. And the article goes into detail on some of the resentment from other schools of bringing PSU in, which apparently smoldered for a number of years.

I guess Franklin forgot about all that stuff. Makes his complaints about ND not being in a conference look pretty shallow.
The Big East was courting them first, but I believe Pitt was fiercely against them joining the Conference. Wonder if the Big East would still be intact if PSU had been in that conference.
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PSU QB is the best ND has faced. He is the real deal.

Allar has been a massive disappointment. He is good for a few missed wide open receivers a game. Puts a lot of air under the ball, which should give our defensive backs opportunities to make plays on the ball.

He’s a sneaky good runner if anything. ND should be able to make him very uncomfortable. He’s not better than the Louisville QB IMO, but he is probably the second best we’ve faced.
He's not a massive disappointment

PSU QB is the best ND has faced. He is the real deal.

So what are you saying? Are you saying he is average? 7 picks in 15 games is elite. He went 11 games with zero picks.
Like I said, I do not believe he will torch the ND defense. If the guy stinks it up tonight it does not mean he is garbage or even average. It just means what we all know, the ND defense is playing at a high level.
Picks are only part of the equation when evaluating QBs. RL only has 6 picks, but would any of us call him an elite passer?

I think the best way (although not perfect) to evaluate a QB is how he does against the best competition on his schedule. In this case the best 2 teams he faced were OSU and Oregon. Against those 2 he's 32/59 for 372 yards, 3 TDs and 3 picks. 15 rushes for 85 yards. This doesn't exactly bode well for him against an ND defense. I think ND will be fine.

Today's Orange Bowl press conference

Not only is Franklin ignorant of the historic reasons for ND's independence, he is apparently ignorant of why and how PSU joined the Big 10 in the first place. Recall that PSU was itself an independent up until 1993. Its move into the Big 10 was done not out of any high-minded principles, or because PSU desired to set up rivalries with the existing members of the Big 10, but because PSU found itself in desperate financial straits and needed the promise of conference revenue sharing to keep its athletic department afloat. This article (which I found posted on the NDN site) details that history pretty well:


Interesting that the vote to take PSU into the Big 10 was 7-3, so even after months of negotiations there were some schools strongly opposed to it. And the article goes into detail on some of the resentment from other schools of bringing PSU in, which apparently smoldered for a number of years.

I guess Franklin forgot about all that stuff. Makes his complaints about ND not being in a conference look pretty shallow.

PSU QB is the best ND has faced. He is the real deal.

Allar has tools & is getting better. He’ll be tough to limit. Bring middle pressure early and hope he sails one into watts’ arms. Rattle him early, don’t let him sit in the pocket. But it won’t matter if we don’t stop the run. That’s first and foremost. If Allar beats us all night w/ his arm, I tip my cap, but I’d load the box and bring middle pressure all night.
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X factor tonight

Lots of candidates…. Is it Faison? Greathouse? Raridon? Price? Bowen? Sneed? Shuler?

Defense: I’m going Watts. The gameplan is simple, stop the run and force Allar to beat you with his arm. Take away Tyler Warren and Penn State will struggle mightily to move the football. They keep telling us Tyler Warren is a unicorn, but our safety tandem is the best in this playoffs. I am confident Watts can contain Warren.

Offence: going left field here and going to say Greathouse. Faison is the candidate to break out but I think he may get extra attention. Penn State might limit our ability to run the football and Leonard will have to have some success throwing. We will have lots of one on one coverage and I think Greathouse’s superb route running will create separation and some big gains.

Who do you guys think are going to be the X factors for the boys tonight?
For me everything starts in the trenches with the Oline and Dline. If the Oline struggles then no WR will be a factor.

But as far as picking an individual to be the X factor, I have to say our QB. He has to play big and make big plays. He has to find the WRs.
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