Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547107
3 0 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Penn State's offense needed a bounce-back game on the ground against a statistically vulnerable Northwestern defensive front on Oct. 2. The struggling Nittany Lions had a real opportunity to show progress coming off their 24-20 loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten opener. Instead, PSU stayed stuck in the mud offensively, manag- ing only 48 rushing yards against a Northwestern defense that had surrendered an average of 199.3 in its first three games. There's no single reason Penn State's ground game has gone quiet during the Big Ten season. Rather, it's a confluence of issues, starting with the left side of the offensive line. Redshirt junior guard Trevor Buhr and redshirt freshman tackle Malachi Goodman have struggled to execute the Lions' zone scheme. Penn State streamlined its playbook to let the line play faster and more aggressively against the Wildcats, but Goodman and Buhr had difficulty executing the finer details. It didn't help that redshirt sophomore center Brock Riker appeared limited after leaving the Buffalo game with an apparent ankle injury. Riker's lack of mobility was evident as the game wore on, and he was eventually replaced by redshirt freshman Vaea Ikakoula. The drawback to doing fewer things schematically is that you be- come more predictable. Northwestern clearly did its homework, coming ready with answers for zone concepts even when Penn State's players were technically in the right spot. It's become evident in recent weeks that the Nittany Lions have traded diversity for execution. Right now, they aren't getting ei- ther from their offensive line. The tight ends have also come under scrutiny. Redshirt senior Gabe Burkle remains the unit's most consistent blocker and regularly leads the charge on the front side of plays. He lacks the mobility to be a true receiving threat, but he holds his own as a run blocker. Senior Benjamin Brahmer, meanwhile, remains what he was last year: an in- viting target in the passing game but not a strong blocker. The bigger issue is that redshirt junior Andrew Rappleyea continues to struggle with consistency. He's been hurt this fall, and although he looked healthier against Northwest- ern, he still failed to secure his lead block at the point of attack, at one point turning a potentially explosive run into a 5-yard gain. In the backfield, junior James Peoples has emerged as the Lions' leading rusher, but he hasn't exactly locked up the job. He broke 2 tackles against Northwestern but man- aged just 13 yards on 8 carries, an average of 1.6 yards per attempt. His game blends toughness and elusiveness with enough speed to pick up some yards, but he has yet to show the explosive traits of a top-tier back. Senior Carson Hansen, meanwhile, continues to struggle with balance and playing through contact, the same con- cerns we flagged during the offseason. Even though he stands 6-foot-2 and 216 pounds, he's not actually hard to bring down. Some rushing attacks don't need perfect blocking be- cause the ball carriers can elevate a mediocre line. Oth- ers, like this one, need more from the offensive line and supporting blockers to function. Right now, the combina- tion isn't working. Cleaner running lanes would give this backfield a better chance to churn out the 5- and 6-yard gains needed to keep the offense on schedule and sustain drives. If we were to make some polite suggestions about what to change, we'd start at left tackle. Goodman's attention-to-detail issues were understandable early in the season, but there hasn't been much progress in his recognition of assignments since then. If anything, he's playing with less confidence than before. Would redshirt sophomore Garrett Sexton raise the ceiling here? Certainly not, but it's worth finding out whether he would raise the floor. Sex- ton has NFL-caliber potential of his own; he just lacks the dominant power Penn State wants to unlock in Goodman. There's a delicate balance in fixing a broken offense. You want players to improve at something specific, but if it's not working, when do you pivot? The risk of swinging wildly between plans is that you never get better at anything. Offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser is running a narrow set of concepts. He's putting the tail- back in the pistol, running to unexpected sides of the formation and getting creative with lead blocks to help the line find better angles on linebackers. At some point, though, the staff must decide whether enough of this offensive line has absorbed the zone system to begin adding more gap concepts. The Lions are clearly still practicing those con- cepts, as evidenced by their first running play against Northwestern. Whatever the next adjustment is, Penn State needs to find it fast. With a visit to Michigan set for Oct. 17, the opposition is only get- ting tougher. — Thomas Frank Carr Redshirt sophomore center Brock Riker arrived from Texas State after starting 12 games there in 2025. He's been playing through an injury in recent weeks and was replaced by redshirt freshman Vaea Ikakoula late in the Northwestern game. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL Inconsistency, Injuries Hinder Ground Game