Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1528325
1 8 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Everything came together for Andy Kotelnicki's offense on the fourth- quarter drive at USC that allowed Penn State to take the game to overtime. With the Lions trailing, 30-23, junior quarterback Drew Allar engineered a 75-yard march, including a pair of drive-extending fourth-and-long con- versions to senior receiver Julian Flem- ing and a 14-yard touchdown toss to junior running back Nicholas Singleton. The Lions went on to win, 33-30. Through Kotelnicki's first six games at PSU, the Nittany Lions were tied for 31st in the FBS in scoring (34.2 points per game) and were 14th in total offense (471.2 yards per game). There have been some lulls, but the team's playmakers, particularly senior tight end Tyler War- ren, who caught 17 passes for 224 yards against the Trojans, have thrived in the highly inventive new scheme. Kotelnicki recently talked to report- ers about the state of the Nittany Lion offense at midseason. QUESTION: How important is the quarterback option in your offense? Are you getting what you want out of that facet of the running game? KOTELNICKI: "It's important in the sense that we want to make sure that our best players are touching the foot- ball, and we want to be really stressful for the defense. To make [defenses] be disciplined in everything they're doing, that's part of what we want to do and who we want to be. "Am I getting what I want? I would say yes. We're always hunting and searching for more explosive plays, es- pecially in the run game. Those things have been really, really productive, maybe not overly explosive, but that's OK, because people are spending a lot of time preparing for it." QUESTION: Where are you guys at from an explosiveness standpoint, and how far do you need to go in that area? KOTELNICKI: "I think, from a big- play standpoint, we're pretty high up there, so I feel good. I feel like with that investment, that emphasis, we're reap- ing the rewards, but we still want to be explosive, really, in every facet, both run and pass. "I tell our guys all the time, as you get into the season, this stuff only gets more important and it really requires more ur- gency. It literally is going to get harder every step of the way, from practice to games. One of our core principles here is daily improvement, so we have to make sure that we maintain our focus on being an explosive offense." QUESTION: When you took this job, what were your initial thoughts about Ty- ler Warren and what he might be able to accomplish in your offense? KOTELNICKI: "When I got here, he and Theo [Johnson] were here, and I could see on film they were both talented. There was a discussion about whether they were going to return or proceed to the NFL. Theo moved on and Ty stayed, and he has been everything that I anticipated he was going to be [from watching film]. "But then to work with him, I was un- aware of how football-smart he is. … He's able to understand and pick up things quickly. He played high school quarter- back, and he's intelligent, he's smart, he works at it. So, you don't need to invest as much [time] because of who he is. He's been elite." QUESTION: What has impressed you most about Drew Allar's develop- ment and the level he's been playing at this season? KOTELNICKI: "He's just really em- braced this one-percent-better-every- day mentality. He has embodied that for our football team. And obviously he's a leader. Because of the position he plays, we want to see those things, and he's done that. "I think the best thing about that [USC] game was that we were dealing with adversity. We had a couple inter- ceptions and we stalled out in the red zone. It wasn't perfect, and we had to scratch and claw and fight our way to find success. But that last drive was a big-time drive, and he showed up, made some big-time plays keeping the ball alive and delivering some throws on time. The touchdown to [RB Nicholas] Singleton was a play earlier in the game that he had thrown an interception on. For him to come back and us to go back to him, I think, shows our belief in him and being able to go through and grow and develop and execute when it was dialed up again at the end of the game. "I've just been super pleased with his development and growth, and I think fundamentally, it all just goes down to him wanting to get better. He wasn't sitting and sulking when we did throw an interception. He was evaluating what he's going to do next time that situation comes up." Sitting Down With Offensive Coordinator Andy Kotelnicki In his first season at Penn State, Kotelnicki has helped the Nittany Lions rank 14th in the FBS with an average of 471.2 yards per game. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS