Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1520787
J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 4 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M nationally in passing offense at 215 yards per game through the air. Against Ohio State and Michigan, that number dropped to 132 yards per game. Without 92 garbage time passing yards against the Buckeyes and Wolverines, the adjusted number be- comes 86 yards per game. And without those late possessions factored in, Allar's completion rate for those games was 18 of 49 (36.7 percent) with no touchdowns. On Nov. 12, the day after Penn State lost to the Wolverines, 24-15, offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich was fired. The following month, Andy Kotelnicki arrived from Kansas to fix the stubborn problems that had necessitated a change in leader- ship. Kotelnicki's hiring was the first of sev- eral major developments impacting Penn State's passing game. Although he trav- eled to the Peach Bowl, Cephas did not play in the game, and a few days later he re-entered the t ra n s f e r p o r t a l , eventually landing at Kansas State. Penn State filled the va- cancy immediately, landing Ohio State transfer receiver Ju- lian Fleming on the same day. Lambert-Smith signaled his return for the 2024 season later in Janu- ary, creating a new, albeit tenuous, dy- namic within the wideout corps heading into spring practice. Installing Kotelnicki's new-look of- fense, which is focused on generating ex- plosive plays, was inevitably going to pose some challenges; that's always the case when a new coordinator comes in from somewhere else. But with Hagans in his second season, Lambert-Smith back in the fold, redshirt junior Harrison "Trey" Wallace III healthy again after an injury- plagued 2023 campaign, Fleming bring- ing his Ohio State pedigree, and offsea- son buzz surrounding the development of redshirt junior Liam Clifford and redshirt sophomore Kaden Saunders, Penn State appeared to have an opportunity to make significant progress. "I don't think we've ever really had a talent issue at wideout. If you look at our guys — athletic numbers, testing numbers — I think it's as good as anywhere in the country," Franklin said prior to the start of Penn State's spring practice sessions. "If you take that and now you add an- other year of experience, I think there are some things that we can do offensively to [improve]. And then Marques being in his second year as the receivers coach is going to be helpful as well. "Then on top of that, Julian Fleming has brought an element of experience and maturity that I think has been really good. I didn't really feel like we needed to go out and do a whole lot in the transfer por- tal, but we needed to make sure we had enough competition at every single posi- tion to bring out the best in not only those guys individually, but also us as a team. Julian has helped with that, as well as the younger players already in our program taking the next step. That really means all of them, including some of the vet- eran guys who now have played a decent amount of football. We fully expect them to take the next step." It's been two months since Franklin made that statement, and Penn State's re- ceivers room has again changed dramati- cally. Lambert-Smith entered the transfer portal in April, and he was followed by fel- low seniors Malick Meiga and Malik Mc- Clain. Redshirt freshman Carmelo Taylor left the team, too, although he didn't enter the portal. Their departures, coupled with spring practice changes, mean that an- other new picture has emerged. With Lambert-Smith and Cephas both gone, Penn State is without its two most productive wide receivers from the 2023 season. The pair combined to catch 75 passes for 919 yards and 6 touchdowns last year. Lambert-Smith accounted for the lion's share of that productivity, even though he faded late in the season, catch- ing only 2 passes for 28 yards in PSU's last three games. Additionally, with the departure of tight end Theo Johnson, running back Trey Potts and cornerback-turned-wide- out Cristian Driver this offseason, the Li- ons' returning pass catchers accounted for only 123 of last year's 246 total recep- tions. Of those 123 catches, 74 belonged to then-junior tight end Tyler Warren and sophomore running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. The returning wide receivers combined to make 42 catches last year, with Flem- ing's 26 at Ohio State boosting that num- ber to 68 spread out over five players. The group also had a combined 3 touchdowns last season. However, the lack of returning pro- duction does not mean there is a lack of optimism regarding the talent still in the room. Likely know- ing Lambert-Smith was done with the program when he met with the media after the Blue-White Game on April 13, Franklin laid out a blueprint for the re- ceivers this summer. "I've had all the faith in the world in our wide receivers in terms of talent and abil- ity," Franklin said. "We have to take the next step, and I saw them take a step this spring. We're going to be taking another step this summer. "The reality is, we have to take this next step, and we have to do it on a consis- tent basis. We have to make plays against all the people on our schedule. All those guys are in the locker room for a reason. We have belief in those guys. We believe they're ready to take the next step." The Wild Cards There are a number of ways in which one could define "wild card." The Nittany Lions might, for example, have hoped to bolster their receiver corps via the por- tal following spring practice. But the chances of finding a Chop Robinson-cal- iber transfer were always slim, and when "The reality is, we have to take this next step, and we have to do it on a consistent basis. We have to make plays against all the people on our schedule. All those guys are in the locker room for a reason. We have belief in those guys. We believe they're ready to take the next step." J A M E S F R A N K L I N