Andy Kotelnicki breaks down where Penn State can improve offensively next season

The Penn State Nittany Lions are expecting to compete for the College Football Playoff once again in 2025. A major reason for that is that the offense anticipates getting better in its second season under Andy Kotelnicki.

Recently, Kotelnicki shared the key for the Nittany Lions to improve offensively in 2025. In particular, he highlighted cutting out key turnovers as being vital to getting better results next season.

“What you’re talking about is the margin between winning and losing,” Andy Kotelnicki said. “And playing the level that we’re playing at, it’s so small. Really, to the layman, it might not even seem so noticeable, quite honestly. The reason Coach [James] Franklin talks all the time about turnovers and explosives because those are the two major statistics. If we don’t turn the ball over a couple of times in those critical games, we’re winning.”

In 2024, Penn State was 17th nationally in turnover margin, at +11 in 16 games. That included an offense that had 10 interceptions and lost five fumbles. The problem was how many of those came in key moments. Against Ohio State, Oregon, and Notre Dame, the three games Penn State lost last season, quarterback Drew Allar threw four interceptions. That included some very poorly timed mistakes to ultimately sink the season.

“So, those are obvious, I know, and they’re not very subtle but those really are the difference. So, you hope that those things get eliminated, at least for our side of the ball. In those moments, that’s what you hope it looks like,” Kotelnicki said. “But there’s still things that happen. It’s competitive. So, I don’t think we’re going to be able to go the whole season without ever turning the ball over. We’re gonna try. You know what I mean? So, stuff like that.”

Now, going into Kotelnicki’s second season at Penn State, the offense has some advantages. Notably, they don’t need to reinstall. That means there’s more time for that side of the ball to focus on improving this offseason, rather than starting from scratch.

“It’s about understanding. It’s about anticipation for the quarterbacks,” Kotelnicki said. “It’s about the prep and any kind of stress or anxiety going into an install or go into a gameplan. All of that is gone for all our guys. There’s no ‘What does this look like?’ It’s not new at all anymore. It’s totally rehearsed. They get it. Then, they just get a deeper understanding of everything we’re doing. So, some things might not be noticeable. But, at the end of the day, the only thing anybody notices is winning and losing. So, we just want to be on the right side of the path.”

Penn State made it to the College Football Playoff semifinal last season. They’d like to build on that with their experienced offense returning, led by quarterback Drew Allar. He’ll be joined in the backfield by star running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Together, they’re hoping to lead the Nittany Lions over the hump in 2025.