SPORTS

Sports Sports Editor: Jeff Hart – J.R.Hart2@iup.edu Hot Take Jake: Russell Wilson is the best player to start an NFL franchise

JAKE TAYLOR

Staff Writer J.M.Taylor8@iup.edu @JakeTaylor8726

A true face of a franchise in the NFL is hard to come by.

Many teams have never had a player that not only defines a team's values but carries them into championship heaven. The few franchises that have experienced this are lucky enough to have seen a level of success needed to win the Super Bowl. For instance, Tom Brady in New England, Joe Montana to Steve Young in San Francisco or John Elway in the Mile-High City. These players are the true faces of the franchise.

What current NFL player would you choose to start a franchise around? My answer may seem obvious now, but it has been my answer to this question for years now: Russell Wilson.

He is finally making his push for MVP, but that is solely due to the media attention surrounding him. He has been the most consistent and reliable quarterback in the NFL for the last eight seasons. The man has never missed a game in his career.

Only playing eight full seasons, Wilson has 31,624 yards, 249 passing TD’s and a 64.9 completion percentage. By the looks of it, Wilson is hitting his prime now. These numbers will only go up. He has led his team to the postseason seven out of eight seasons, holds the 2nd highest passer rating in league history, and he is the fastest quarterback to 86 wins in NFL history. He owns the 2nd highest touchdown percentage in the Super Bowl era with 6.0 percent, and he has the highest 4th-quarter passer rating since 1991 with 109.6.

Wilson has a 31-7 record following an in-season loss, which ranks best amongst QBs since 1970. Since 2012, he leads the NFL with 21 games with at least a 130.0 passer rating. He has 51 career games with multiple TD passes and no INTs, the most such games in NFL history by a QB in his first eight seasons. Wilson joined Peyton Manning as the only players in NFL history to pass for 3,000 yards and have 20-plus touchdowns in their first eight seasons.

He also became the first QB in NFL history with a winning record in each of his first eight seasons. Wilson has been surrounded with talent on both sides of the ball for three years of his NFL career. Seattle went to back-to-back Super Bowls, winning one and tragically losing (ESPN) the other. The man knows how to carry a team through a post season campaign.

If you have been watching the NFL the last 10 years, you know that Wilson is the man that will lead his team down the field for a game-winning drive. He has 23 fourth quarter comebacks and 32 game-winning drives. Since 2012, Seattle has a +269 4th quarter difference that is best in the NFL.

However, Josh Nist (senior, communications media) said he would pick Patrick “magic” Mahomes to start a franchise with.

“The young superstar already built a resume most QBs aren’t capable of achieving in their entire career, let alone in just four seasons,” he said. “The man is such a boss in every sense of the word that he already has part ownership of Kansas City Royals.”

Personally, I am not arguing against Mahomes. I am only emphasizing Wilson.

In 2017, the only year Wilson missed the postseason, he scored 37 of the offense's 38 total touchdowns. Seattle finished 9-7 that year. The definition of MVP is exactly that statistic. He owned a 134.8 fourth quarter passer rating that season.

Wilson is the most valuable player to his team yet has no MVP votes ever. I find that stat astonishingly ignorant. People know me for hot takes, but geez Louise, that is the hottest take of all time.

Wilson remains humble yet hungry. I want a franchise QB to pass deep balls, throw on the run, rush for first downs when the play breaks down and lead the locker room. Wilson checks these boxes and then some. He is the complete player, short, sweet and to the point.

Wilson has led a franchise to the highest heights that an NFL team can achieve. Throughout his young career, he has established a winning culture in Seattle.

Wilson’s career is far from over. He is only 31 and could have up to another decade of football ahead of him. With players like Tom Brady playing into their 40s, it is entirely possible that Wilson could finish his career with top three stats in every category.

Wilson is already a Hall-ofFamer in most people’s eyes. With what he has already done, and what he is going to do, Wilson is an automatic lock to start a franchise. You can’t convince me otherwise.

Get ready to sit down, shut-up, and drink a beer. Russell Wilson is going to break records. (Teddy Jeanette/The Penn) In Wilson’s short career, he has already put up legendary stats.

Doc looking to heal the wounds of 76ers fans

Steven Langdon Jr.

Editor-in-Chief S.Langdon@iup.edu @ThePenn

Sixer fans, raise your hand if you are tired of “Trust the Process.”

Most 76ers fans just want to taste the NBA Finals, something they have not seen since 2001 with Allen Iverson. The team is now in the hands of a top coach in the league with Doc Rivers.

On Sept. 28, the Los Angeles Clippers decided to part ways with Rivers after seven seasons. Philadelphia ownership immediately got him to interview, and five days later, filled the vacancy left by Brett Brown.

What does Rivers bring to the table? A winning mentality, but with some knots.

He has missed the playoffs five out of his 21 seasons, which has been his strong point as a coach. Where Rivers fails to impress is the playoffs. The teams he coached to the playoffs have lost in the first round eight times, or half of the time.

The 2007-08 championship winning coach has been piecing an interesting staff together as well. Dave Joerger, former coach of the Kings, will become an assistant coach. Maybe he could convince De’Aaron Fox to come over in a trade.

Dan Burke will also become an assistant coach coming from the Pacers, where he coached for 19 seasons. It will be interesting to see how he and Joel Embiid work with each other after Burke said he “hated” him.

Sam Cassell will come over after being under Rivers in Los Angeles.

It was clear from the moment the 76ers were eliminated from the bubble that Brown was not returning. While the team did go from historically bad to consistent playoffs, it is just not enough with what they have had since the start of “the process.”

It has not just been coaching that is the problems, but also drafting. They have had 10 first round draft picks since 2013, including four in the top three. Out of those 10, there are three still on the team.

Let’s look at the current roster that Rivers inherits. There will be 11 players under contract for the upcoming season. Just a quick look at the salaries, and it is clear that cap is a problem.

First move on most minds is to move Al Horford. The experiment did not work in the slightest with Horford and Embiid on at the same time, not to mention if they are able to send away his $27 million contract elsewhere.

Tobias Harris will probably stay even though he has a bad contract. He and Rivers worked well together in his two seasons in Los Angeles.

Harris was a borderline all-star his last season with Rivers and the Clippers. He put up 19.6 points and around 37 percent from deep.

The next move is to establish if Ben Simmons is playing the point or forward. Rivers should consider him playing the one as many around the league agree his playing style fits the position more.

Now comes the hard part of trying to pick up reliable shooting. Embiid cannot play 40 minutes and score 30 points per game and win every day. They should bring in players like Jordan Clarkson or Marco Belinelli for shooting.

One player of interest could be an aging Derrick Rose on a rebuilding Pistons team. The former MVP averaged 18 points last season and shot a respectable 30 percent from the arc. This would be a great jolt of shooting to come off the bench when Simmons needs to take a breather.

To replace Horford, Rivers might want to look to a player he coached last season. The Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell. Rivers loves his sixth man and has been coach to five of the last seven players to receive the award. That mentality will not go away with a new team.

With a Harrell to replace the lack-luster production of Horford, this team might be able to make some progress. After a first-round sweep in the 2020 NBA bubble, Philadelphia needs to shake up this roster.

Hopefully, the Sixers have reached the end of “the process.” While “the process” might have garnered the team draft picks that lead to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, it would be a huge waste to have two generational talents on the same team and have nothing to show for it. Fans would hate to waste the careers of Embiid and Simmons. It is time the 37-year championship drought ends for Philadelphia’s sake.

(pittsburghpanthers.com)

After their strong start to the season, the Panthers have not been able to put it all together.

In the ‘Pitt’ of despair: Panthers football struggling

JAKE SLEBODNICK

Managing Editor J.C.Slebodnick@iup.edu @slebby24

After months of uncertainty, college football is back with a revised look at how they are operating.

While division two and three schools canceled their season due to COVID-19 concerns, division one continues to carry out a season with a plethora of major conferences joining in.

But even during a shortened season, one thing continues to carry on: the Pittsburgh Panthers continue to underachieve.

Fans thought the season was a lost cause after All-American nose tackle Jaylen Twyman opted out, however, Pitt showed promise in the opening weeks of play as they shutout Austin Peay 55-0 Sept.12.

They would continue to dominate in the latter part of September with the success earning them spots in the College Football Top 25 rankings. While a national ranking is normally considered the “kiss of death” for Pitt, they stayed ranked for two weeks, holding spots 21 after defeating Syracuse and 24 after defeating Louisville.

However, at the turn of the month, the Panthers’ luck would vanish as they went on a 4-game losing streak, losing in games where Pitt was the heavy favorite to win with the most damning loss coming against North Carolina State after a complete defensive collapse.

Mix that with another close loss against Boston College and two more losses coming from ranked opponents, Pitt has all but solidified the worst performance by any team in the NCAA.

Worst of all, another star player, defensive back Paris Ford, opted out on Monday with four games left in the season. Some believe this is due to Ford seeing the light that Pitt could miss out on a bowl bid and saving himself for the NFL Draft next year. Others believe tensions are reaching their peak among players and coaches.

But what left Pitt in such a treacherous shape?

Offensive woes.

One of the trouble areas in Pitt’s game plan is its ground attack, or lack thereof. Vincent Davis leads the team in rushing attempts with 91 but has only produced 263 yards and 2.9 yards per carry to show for it. While Davis’ total rushing yards may not seem as bad as some think, his yards per carry line is what concerns analysts.

Out of a five-man rushing attack, Davis is second-to-last in that category with quarterback Kenny Pickett coming in last. In addition, Pickett accounts for nearly 74 percent of Pitt’s total yards on offense, making him the second QB in the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC) to bear that much offensive production.

In addition, Davis’ lack of yardage on the ground contributes to the team’s low production in third down scenarios.

According to John McGonigal of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pitt is averaging almost 8.5 yards to gain on third downs this season on top of a conversion rate of 34.3 percent. This mark is four percentage points lower than 2019.

“Without a running game,” he said, “it’s difficult to get to a third-and-reasonable. And without [that] or a reliable passing game, it’s nearly impossible to extend drives and score.”

While Pickett and his aerial attack hasn’t necessarily been a “bad” player this season, it’s tough to take an entire team on one’s shoulders and expect any positive outcome. If Pitt developed a more disciplined and aggressive rushing attack, games could be won easily.

Pat Narduzzi: Pittsburgh’s No. 1 enemy.

What happens when a vinyl record or CD-ROM becomes scratched, leading to repeating lyrics? One throws it out.

Head coach Narduzzi is a prime example of that. However, Pitt fans cannot throw him away.

Listen to every postgame interview, and you’ll most likely hear the phrases “Nobody respects us,” or “It’s us against the world,” uttered from Narduzzi’s mouth. What you hardly hear is him addressing what’s wrong on the field.

Granted, Pitt sells themselves short when it comes to recruiting as they continuously bring in recruits of 2 to 3-star caliber when they could easily get 4-star players due to their national representation. However, losing games on account of poor play-calling in key moments will haunt coaches until they either turn the program around or are chased out of town.

Examples would be attempting run-pass options (RPOs) in the NC State and Boston College games, as they proved to consistently be ineffective. These decisions allowed defenses to keep Pitt in-check by stuffing running backs after short yardage gains and almost giving away pass plays on third down situations.

McGonigal pointed out that 24 percent of offensive carries were stuffed at the line of scrimmage so far this season, which is 4 percent higher than all of 2019. With this abysmal statistic holding precedence, and with no change coming from Narduzzi’s game plan, he is essentially killing any chance Pitt has at turning the offensive production around.

With four games left in the 2020 season, and the season finale scheduled against No. 1 ranked Clemson, Pitt’s time to dig out of this rut is quickly diminishing.