Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1540433
7 0 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M country to one of the scariest. At one point in their Rose Bowl matchup against USC, they scored touchdowns on four consecutive plays, the most memorable of which was a 79-yard gallop by Barkley to open the second half. With Barkley and McSorley both back and Moorhead still running the show, the Nittany Lions were even better in 2017. They averaged 41.1 points and 460.3 yards per game, ranking seventh and 19th, re- spectively, in the FBS in those catego- ries. Those marks stand as the best of the Franklin era at Penn State. PSU didn't make the College Football Playoff that year, falling to Ohio State and Michigan State. But in contrast to its re- cent setbacks against highly ranked op- ponents, the problem wasn't an under- whelming offense. In its 39-38 defeat in Columbus, Penn State converted 7 of 15 third downs and went 3 for 3 in the red zone. It held the ball for just over 31 min- utes, with McSorley tossing 2 touchdown passes and running for another score. The 38 points that Penn State racked up that afternoon were the most it had man- aged against the Buckeyes since a 63-14 rout in 1994. A Challenging Spot Moorhead left after the 2017 season to become head coach at Mississippi State. He went 14-12 there before being fired in January 2020. After a two-year stint as offensive coordinator at Oregon, he took over Akron's program. Heading into a visit to Ball State on Oct. 18, he had gone 10-33 with the Zips and was ranked third on CoachesHotSeat.com's list of college football's most endangered head coaches. The Lions, meanwhile, have experi- enced their own ups and downs. They've had four offensive coordinators since Moorhead left and have never finished in the top 10 nationally in scoring offense. Their best statistical performance since Barkley departed came in 2023 when they finished 12th nationally with an average of 36.2 points per game. Oddly enough, that was the season that cost offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich his job. He was fired on Nov. 12 of that year, one day after PSU flatlined in a 24-15 loss to Michigan. Offensive problems have been a recur- ring theme of Penn State's biggest games in recent years. Since 2018, they've been held to 17 points or fewer in four of six games against Michigan and three of seven versus Ohio State. This year's game against Oregon fit that pattern. Unable to run the ball or throw with any consistency, Penn State scored three points through the first 49 minutes of its White Out clash with the Ducks. While two late touchdown drives sent the game to overtime, the Lions weren't able to keep pace with the visitors, losing 30- 24 when Oregon came down with a game- clinching interception. "When you're not able to have success on first down, you're not able to get ahead of the sticks on second down," Franklin said afterward. "In the first half, I think we averaged almost third-and-9. That's not a good situation for any O-line. That's not a good situation for any quarterback. We were not able to get our running game going, and that put us in a very, very chal- lenging spot." A Fitting Finale Barkley never faced Oregon, but he did end his college career against a Pac-12 team. In the 2017 Fiesta Bowl, he rushed for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns on 18 car- ries, helping Penn State go 13 for 17 on third down en route to a 35-28 victory over the Huskies. The Nittany Lions could have used some of Barkley's mojo against the Ducks, but he's in Philadelphia now, hoping to bring the Eagles a second consecutive Su- per Bowl title after rushing for 2,005 yards in his first season with the team. The two seniors who anchor the Li- ons' current backfield, Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, have enjoyed out- standing careers, and both may end up with more career yards than the 3,843 that their celebrated predecessor amassed in his three seasons. Still, there's only one Saquon Barkley. That's the problem with generational talents. They don't come around nearly as often as you'd like. ■ Penn State's Offensive Performance During The James Franklin Era Season Coordinator Pts/Game FBS Rank Yds/Game FBS Rank 2014 John Donovan 20.6 110th 335.3 111th 2015 John Donovan 23.2 101st 348.6 105th 2016 Joe Moorhead 37.6 21st 432.6 49th 2017 Joe Moorhead 41.1 7th 460.3 19th 2018 Ricky Rahne 33.8 32nd 423.0 45th 2019 Ricky Rahne 35.8 15th 411.9 57th 2020 Kirk Ciarrocca 29.8 54th 430.3 37th 2021 Mike Yurcich 25.0 90th 376.4 82nd 2022 Mike Yurcich 35.8 19th 433.6 33rd 2023 Mike Yurcich* 36.2 12th 399.8 53rd 2024 Andy Kotelnicki 33.1 28th 430.2 26th 2025** Andy Kotelnicki 35.7 32nd 369.8 78th * Was dismissed after 10 games and replaced by assistant coaches Ty Howle and Ja'Juan Seider ** Averages through six games Barkley rushed for 137 yards and a pair of touch- downs in the final game of his career, a 35-28 win over Washington in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL