Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541276
4 0 D E C 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 O P I N I O N THOMAS FRANK CARR T F R A N K .C A R R @ O N 3 .C O M P enn State dropped a heartbreaking game to a quality opponent on Nov. 8. The Nittany Lions unexpect- edly pushed second-ranked Indiana to the brink, forcing a gut-check, game- winning drive from Fernando Mendoza in the final two minutes. It didn't have to end like that. The Lions could have iced the game without giving Mendoza the ball back, but they came up short on third-and-9 while trying to run out the clock and had to punt. It was a tough ending made all the more frustrating by the realization that Penn State contributed to its own downfall by being too indecisive in its four-minute offense. If you've been in a relationship of any kind for a length of time, you've prob- ably had the "What/where do you want to eat?" debate with your significant other. Both of you will say a version of "I don't care" or "I'm fine with anything." The food is not the problem. The prob- lem is that neither party wants to make a decision. Decisions are hard, because you must live with the consequences. In Penn State's game against Indiana, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki had the "what do you want to eat" conversation with the Indiana defense on the Lions' next-to-last possession. In this situation, the decision to throw the football is choosing a meal or a restaurant. With just over four min- utes left, Kotelnicki knew that he would need to do it at some point. But instead of being decisive, he chose to play op- tion football. The beauty of run-pass options and read-option plays is that they force the defense into choices. The goal is to put a player in a situation where he cannot be right. But the other way to look at option plays is that you are allowing your op- ponent to dictate your play call. In the most critical moments of the game, Indiana forced the ball into places that Penn State likely did not want it to go. Whether it was RPO passes to red- shirt sophomore tight end Andrew Rappleyea or a quarterback sweep that could have iced the game for Penn State, Kotelnicki's option crutch kept the team from making bold and decisive plays with the football. Instead, Indiana cor- ralled the ball inside the framework of its defense by giving the quarterback the looks the Hoosiers wanted him to have. Sometimes, you just need to call a passing play. In the end, redshirt freshman quar- terback Ethan Grunkemeyer had to throw the ball for the team to win anyway. Kotelnicki could have called a passing play on his terms. Instead, Grunkemeyer was put in a losing situ- ation for a young starter by trying to answer a Heisman Trophy frontrunner's career-defining drive with 48 seconds and one timeout left. In life, we can face our fears on our terms or on theirs. Either way, it's going to happen. Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, Indiana's success at the end of the game against their option-based approach was not a new phenomenon. What started as dynamic, hard-to-defend concepts in 2024 are now defensive stops, thanks to key alignment changes from opponents. On option rushes, Penn State has gone from averaging 7.0 yards per at- tempt last year to 5.8 this season. On RPO runs, it's gone from 6.3 to 4.9 yards, and on RPO passes, the dip has been from 6.8 yards and an 85 percent completion rate to 4.3 yards and a 66 percent rate. This isn't just about the loss of All- America tight end Tyler Warren. It's about opponents adjusting to Kotel- nicki's option concepts and taking them away by not allowing one player to be leveraged into a busted play as easily. Much of the recent conversation about Penn State's offense has centered on Grunkemeyer. Clearly, Kotelnicki does not trust his young passer to ex- ecute a full passing game at this point in his career. In the first halves of the Ohio State and Indiana games, the lack of trust has strangled the offense. Against the Hoosiers, PSU declined to let Grunkemeyer throw on first down without the assistance of an RPO or a screen during most of the first half. After halftime, something changed that was genuinely different in the play-calling. Penn State threw the ball on nine of the first 10 plays of the third quarter. Many of them were also true passes into the intermediate and deep parts of the field. After a rough start, Grunkemeyer gained confidence and began hitting players over the middle. By the end of the game, he was averag- ing just over 10 yards per completion on play-action passes. If only the Nittany Lions had trusted him to do it one more time on the four- minute drive that could have clinched the season's biggest win. ■ PSU Declined The Option To Pass … And Paid The Price Quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer rallied Penn State back from a 20-7 deficit against Indiana, but the Hoosiers responded with a comeback of their own. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL Upon Further Review