Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1507572
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 3 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M A s is his custom, James Franklin rattled off a checklist of game- defining stats following Penn State's 38-15 victory over West Vir- ginia on Sept. 2. The Nittany Lions, Franklin said, had won or split all of the major statistical battles that are predictors of wins. Field position is a key metric, and Penn State came out on top in that category, starting its drives, on aver- age, at its own 33-yard line, despite opening the game with drive starts at the 6, 18 and 19. West Virginia took possession at its 26, on average. The penalty battle went in the same direction. Penn State finished with just 1 flag, a 5-yard false start charged to sophomore cornerback Cam Miller on punt coverage. The Mountaineers were whistled 5 times for 55 yards, another win for PSU. The turnover battle ended in a 0-0 tie, an impressive showing by both sides, given that it was the first game of the season. And then Franklin concluded his sta- tistical breakdown with one last point: "Explosive plays, we won that. We were at 15 percent." By Penn State's calculations, 15 per- cent of its 65 snaps were "explosive." PSU defines explosive plays as runs of 12 or more yards and passes of 15 or more. If you adjust the parameters slightly to include runs of 10 or more yards, the team was at 20 percent. In the passing game, sophomore quarterback Drew Allar racked up 239 yards on 9 explosive completions. On the ground, sophomore running back Nicholas Singleton had 3 carries of 10 or more yards. Redshirt freshman quarterback Beau Pribula, meanwhile, tacked on an 11-yard run late in the fourth quarter, giving PSU 4 chunk carries for 45 yards. In other words, 20 percent of Penn State's plays from scrimmage gener- ated nearly 60 percent of its 478 total yards. Additionally, 2 of its 5 touchdowns came on chunk plays, and Penn State had at least 1 chunk play on each of its other 4 scoring drives. This is the way Franklin wants to win football games. With Allar orchestrat- ing the show, a solid offensive line in front of him and a talented playmaking cast in place, the Nittany Lions just might have constructed a team capable of executing that plan. For each of the previous nine sea- sons, success, failure and everything in between have depended on the team's proficiency at creating big plays. Due in large part to the lingering effect of the NCAA sanctions, the early years of Franklin's tenure were plagued by a lack of explosive playmaking. In more recent seasons, Penn State has had only part of the run/pass equation. In 2020 and '21, for example, the Lions couldn't run the ball with any consistency. The best Penn State offenses of the past nine years have been the ones that could produce home runs through the air and on the ground. When I spoke with offensive co- ordinator Mike Yurcich this sum- mer, the framework of what was coming was seen in his evaluation of the Nittany Lions' two returning tailbacks. In Singleton and fellow sophomore Kaytron Allen, Penn State had a pair of home run hitters who could create big plays for them- selves, while also freeing up explo- sive opportunities for others. "At the end of the day, you have to stop them," Yurcich said. "You may be in a really good call, but they're talented enough to still win. "Everything that we do has to be efficient, and in everything that we do, we're working toward ex- plosives. There's a time to make sure that you're equating numbers, whether it be in the play-action pass and trying to be explosive there, the RPO world, or in the option world. You have to be diversified, and at the end of the day you have to put points on the board. That's the most important thing." If its first game against a Power Five opponent was any indication, Penn State is moving forward precisely as Franklin and Yurcich envisioned. Junior receiver KeAndre Lambert- Smith made big plays. Allar extended plays and made throws to break a de- fense that was determined to pressure him and bottle up the run. In the pro- cess, the approach that Penn State will use to maximize its offensive potential emerged. Singleton explained it nicely. "After what Drew did today, I feel like defenses will back up more," he said. "They've got to respect the throw, which helps us a lot. Now they've got to defend the throw and defend the run. It's going to be scary." With their toughest games yet to come, the Nittany Lions are counting on it. ■ Running back Nicholas Singleton had three runs of 10 or more yards in Penn State's opener against West Virginia. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL O P I N I O N NATE BAUER NATE.BAUER@ON3.COM HOT READ When It Comes To Playmaking, PSU Is Thinking Big