Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1511150
1 4 D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M The Scarcity Of Explosive Plays GREG PICKEL: What if I had told you before the season began that by the end of October, Penn State will be ranked 90th in the FBS with only 93 plays of 10 yards or more? What if I had then added that the Lions will rank 129th out of 133 teams tracked by CFBStats.com with a mere 18 plays of 20 yards or more? And what if I concluded by telling you that this suppos- edly explosive offense will be ranked 120th with just nine plays of 30 yards or more? Based on the fact that Penn State finished inside the top 40 in all three categories a year ago and had a highly anticipated prospect set to take over at quarterback in sophomore Drew Allar, you would likely have never believed me. Yet, that's where the Lions stood coming out of their game against Indi- ana. It's been a truly stunning turn of events. Make no mistake: There was nothing wrong with the me- thodical way in which Penn State won its first six games. But at some point, even if they just come in spurts, those big plays have to happen. They did not happen at Ohio State. Will Penn State finally begin producing them with any regularity in the games that remain? The Lions did hit a 57-yard pass play to defeat Indi- ana, so the potential exists, but it's hard to have a lot of con- fidence based on what we've seen so far and the caliber of the teams on the November schedule. I'm not going to single out any player as being responsible for the downturn in big plays. It's the entirety of the attack that has surprised those who fol- low this program by not being as dynamic as expected. The Performance Of Tyler Warren And Caedan Wallace RYAN SNYDER: Greg is looking big-picture, and he makes a good point about the lack of explosiveness on offense. But the Lions were still averaging just over 40 points per game even with their 12-point showing in Columbus factored in, and I'd like to shine a spotlight on two players who deserve more recognition than they've gotten. While Penn State's receiving corps has struggled this year, junior tight end Tyler Warren has emerged as a consistent target in the red zone for sophomore quarterback Drew Allar. With 6 touchdowns in nine games, Warren was not just leading the team in receiving scores; he was also second among all FBS tight ends. Last season, Warren finished with an overall grade of 61.2 from Pro Football Focus. This year, his grade has improved to a 70.4, which ranks eighth in the conference. That still leaves room for improvement in the coming weeks, but while fellow junior Theo Johnson has continued to get attention from NFL scouts, Warren has actually outperformed him. Johnson had an overall grade of 58.3 through nine games. I also need to mention redshirt senior offensive tackle Caedan Wallace. The past few seasons weren't great for Wallace; he fin- ished with overall PFF grades below the baseline 60.0 threshold. This season, he's up to 69.4, which ranks ninth in the conference among linemen who have played at least 300 snaps. His pass blocking has especially improved, with Wallace owning a 78.7 grade to place fourth in the conference. There was a point last year where I wondered if Drew Shelton could potentially surpass him as a sophomore, but Wallace has improved and deserves recognition for that. The Biggest Surprise Of PSU's Season On The Offensive Side Of The Ball Has Been … Point – Counterpoint Drew Allar has excelled at times, but the Nittany Lion offense has struggled to produce the big plays that were its hallmark a year ago. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL Warren was ranked second in the FBS among tight ends with 6 touchdown catches through Penn State's first nine games. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL