Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1439730
2 8 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Penn State closed out its regular season at 7-5 following a 30-27 loss at Michigan State. BWI graded head coach James Franklin and his staff, as well as their position groups, following every game. Now, with the regular season complete, we're assigning a mark to each unit. Here is our report card: OFFENSE To grade the performance of offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich's attack this year, you have to mesh the first six games and the second six. There is some good and bad to that. Mostly bad, actually. There is no ques- tion that the Lions' offense was much better when senior quarterback Sean Clifford was healthy. However, at no point were the Lions a threat to run the ball when they wanted to. Clifford also struggled with moments of inaccuracy and rushed decision- making both before and after being injured against Iowa on Oct. 9. Protec- tion was problematic throughout the year, drops were too pervasive in key moments, and 22 offensive touchdowns in 12 Big Ten games just aren't enough. The offense's highest-scoring games against Power Five opponents were 28-point outings against Auburn and Rutgers. (The Lions scored a defensive touchdown in their 31-14 win over Maryland.) Disappointing is the only word to use when summing up the first year of the Yurcich era. It started with high hopes and ended with an inability to ef- fectively move the chains and convert in the red zone, among other things. GRADE: D DEFENSE Penn State finished third in the Big Ten in scoring defense, fifth against the pass, and seventh against the run. Nationally, it was a top-40 unit in the yards- per-game department and ranked 11th in average yards allowed per play. Now-departed defensive coordinator Brent Pry has to get major credit for the win at Wisconsin and for holding off Auburn. The defense also kept matchups with Iowa, Michigan and even Ohio State closer than they prob- ably should have been. Don't forget the shutouts of Indiana and Rutgers, either. Add in three defensive scores and strong work in the turnover department as reasons to support an "A" grade. And yet, Penn State struggled for much of the year with consistent pressure. Injuries played a role, but the Lions finished ninth in the Big Ten with 22 sacks. Pro Football Focus ranked Penn State's pass rush 73rd in the country out of 100. Missed tackles were problematic, too, and a sour taste was left by the way things went at Michigan State, a game in which the Lions spotted the hosts a 14-point first-quarter lead. Still, Pry's unit far exceeded expectations from this point of view. And the team's 7-5 record could have been worse without it. Some will quibble with this grade, perhaps rightfully, but we think it best represents the stats and the impact on the season. GRADE: A- SPECIAL TEAMS If we were only grading punting and kickoffs, senior Jordan Stout and his coverage team would get an A+, and that would be that. But there's more to special teams than just those areas. Penn State did next to nothing in the punt- and kick-return games this season. Then, there is Stout's role as the placement kicker to consider. He was 16 of 23 on field goals and missed some extra points. That part of things was anything but reliable, even if he did drill a pair of kicks from beyond 50 yards. The Lions will undoubtedly miss Stout as he moves on to the NFL. Overall, it's a big offseason for coordinator Joe Lorig. New specialists are needed across the board. GRADE: B COACHING We can all agree that great coaching decisions are rarely lauded or even remembered, while bad ones are endlessly brought up and picked apart. Fairly or not, that's always been the case, and it won't change. For all the good that James Franklin and his staff did this season, there were plenty of blunders. Many will say that not having a backup quarterback ready to go at Iowa leads the list. But, let's face it, not many teams would have suc- ceeded there. The bigger problem from this point of view came two weeks later when a far-less-than-fully-healthy Clifford was still considered the best option against Illinois. The Lions lost, 20-18, in large part because Clifford was clearly limited in what he could do. Then, there was the botched fake field goal deep in Michigan territory and some odd timeout decisions at Maryland and Michigan State. As noted above, Yurcich did not have the year that was expected. Is that entirely his fault? Of course not. But the buck stops with him, and there were not enough in-game adjustments when necessary. Pry brings the overall staff grade up. Lorig is mostly neutral from this point of view. He picked the right gunners and let Stout do his thing. GRADE: C- OVERALL A season that had A+ potential at the end of September quickly began trending downward in October. Penn State's coaches and players shoulder the blame together. At times, the first group didn't put the second in the best position to suc- ceed. In other moments, the call was right, and the opportunity to succeed was there, but the execution didn't follow on the field. That's the story of many 7-5 seasons, and it certainly fits this one. GRADE: C — Greg Pickel Nittany Lions Earn Mixed Grades After Wrapping Up 7-5 Regular Season Penn State's offense struggled at times during Mike Yurcich's first season as coordi- nator. The Nittany Lions finished seventh in the Big Ten in both scoring (26.3 points per game) and total offense (380.8 yards an outing). PHOTO BY THOMAS FRANK CARR