Penn State isn’t a Top 10 team either
Last week, following Penn State’s double overtime loss to Oregon, I was the first to say that they should never have been ranked in the Top 5. They had beaten nobody and until that happens you can’t rank them that high, not in the James Franklin era.
Let me be the first to say following their loss on the road to a win-less UCLA team on Saturday that they’re not a Top 10 either. They took the trip out West, ranked No. 7 in the country, then let a Bruins team with four losses put up 42 points on them.
This was an unexpected loss. This was a Penn State game you turn on during a Saturday afternoon and get a few things done around the house. You take a look every so often at the score and go about dusting some furniture or something.
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Even if they struggled at times, it should have been an easy double-digit victory and a get back on track until the next loss to a really good team. Maybe Franklin is trying something new, a little reverse psychology.
Lose to a bad team, then he’ll be able to beat a good team. I didn’t even bother watching much of this one.
The Yankees game was on roughly a half hour or so after kickoff and, after a couple of series’ in the Penn State game, I turned on the Yankees game to watch Luke Weaver come into another close playoff game and give it away.
The good news is that it was just Game 1 and Luis Gil was the starter, and they didn’t waste another strong Max Fried outing. I’m not worried about the series yet. Fried’s on the mound today and I expect another solid performance from him.
I’m not necessarily worried about Penn State either. The preseason hype surrounding the team was odd to me. James Franklin has to prove he can win big games before you can take any Nittany Lions team he’s coaching seriously.
And they weren’t the only Top 10 team to notch a really bad loss on the road to an unranked team yesterday. No. 9 Texas was also handed their second loss of the season by Florida in Gainesville.
Normally, the unranked taking down Top 25 teams is one of my favorite things about college football. It still is, but you don’t want your team to be one of the ones it happens to.
That said, it’s time to move on. It happened, you can’t change it, the season goes on and in a few weeks Penn State will get destroyed by Ohio State and everything will return to normal in the universe.
Nittany Lambs
– Jim T in San Diego writes:
When you can’t beat a bad UCLA team in a bad year for UCLA football …
Penn State shouldn’t be ranked at all after this game.
SeanJo
Hey Jim, you’re not going to get an argument out of me. That was as bad as a loss can get for a team that was supposedly a Top Ten team.
I think they’ll still be ranked, but they shouldn’t be anywhere close to the Top 10. Not until James Franklin proves he can win big games.
Photos
– Eric in Bloomington writes:
Sean,- great job filling in for Joe! (as always… the Screencaps bench strength is solid!!)
Two photos… was in Scotland last wk… great sunset in Edinburgh! Got home and fired up the grill for a little surf & turf. Delicious!
SeanJo
Hey Eric, I appreciate the support. The sunset is awesome, as is the fact that the grill is still going. You can’t go wrong with a little surf and turf.
Meat!
– Lloyd in Clearwater writes:
3 bone beef plate ribs done on a Weber 22″. Used the offset method with a log blocking the coals closest to the ribs. Started around 3.5 pounds, ended up around 2. The 22 Weber is more versatile than most people think.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
SeanJo
Lloyd, you know what you’re doing. Those ribs look great. Keep sending in your meat. I can never get enough solid content from the grill.
Let’s Go Yanks
– Spencer writes:
56 year old Yankee fan here. Ribs below were oven slow-cooked, 225 for 4 hours, then finished on the grill for 30 minutes at 300. Spread a layer of homemade BBQ sauce. Almost perfection. You can see the rack split apart.
SeanJo
Thanks for reaching out, Spencer. The Yankees are all I have left in sports. Penn State isn’t going to do anything this season. The Carolina Panthers are a joke.
I honestly wasn’t expecting the World Series run they went on last season and, going into this postseason, I wasn’t expecting much either. Then Cam Schlittler showed up and dragged his nuts all over the Red Sox.
That had me looking at this team differently. First things first, they have to take care of the Blue Jays.
As for the ribs, they look great. Keep sending your meat my way.
Meat!
– Glyn writes:
Soon to have smoked white chili! And left over in the freezer for something in the future.
Thanks for what you do,
Glyn
SeanJo
Love it. Keep sending me your meat Glyn. Whether you smoke it, grill it, or cook over an open flame, send it to me.
I thought squeeze this in before you start scrolling
It’s James Franklin on the field after arguably his worst loss as Penn State’s head coach wondering if he should have spent the week trying to get the team ready by preparing as if they were playing a ranked opponent.
The approach backfired, unless, of course, he’s going the reverse psychology route and hoping this leads to a win over a good team.
————
That’s all I have for this week’s Sunday Screencaps. As always, I appreciate the emails. We have a busy day with another international game in the morning between the Minnesota Vikings and the Cleveland Browns.
There are a couple of playoff baseball games on the schedule as well, after all four Division Series’ got underway on Saturday. The Yankees and Blue Jays, and Tigers and Mariners will play today.
The Dodgers and Phillies, and Cubs and Brewers resume tomorrow night. Needless to say, the YouTube TV multiview is going to be working overtime in my house over the next couple of days.
If all goes well, the Yankees will take care of business, and we’ll be talking about them as they get started in the American League Championship Series next Sunday.
Until then, have a great week. The inbox is always open. Send your meat my way or anything else, for that matter, my way sean.joseph@outkick.com. If you’re on Twitter, you can follow me there too.
Numbers from:Stuff You Guys Sent In & Stuff I Like:
