James Franklin assesses how playcalling has gone for Penn State in 2024

Penn State replaced both of its coordinators this past offseason. The Nittany Lions fired former offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich almost a year ago to the day, following the second of two underwhelming defeats to top-three opponents in 2023. Penn State mustered a combined 27 points in losses to Ohio State and Michigan last season.

As for the defensive side of things, the Nittany Lions thrived under Manny Diaz — so much so that Diaz got offered the Duke head coaching job after the season. He took it, leaving an opening at the defensive coordinator position for head coach James Franklin to fill.

He brought aboard Tom Allen, who previously served as Indiana’s head coach for eight seasons. Allen has kept Penn State top three in the Big Ten, and top 10 nationally, in scoring defense this year.

Franklin turned to Andy Kotelnicki to run the offense. Kotelnicki came over from Kansas, where he helped Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold breathe life into a previously dormant program.

Kotelnicki has rolled out a creative scheme, complete with a healthy dose of pre-snap motion, quarterback run and “Wildcat.” The Nittany Lions are more explosive than they were in 2023, although they are currently averaging fewer points per game (26.2) against Big Ten teams than they did last year (31.3 points per game).

Now that No. 4 Penn State is nine games into the season, Franklin was asked this week how he’d assess his coordinators’ playcalling in 2024.

“It’s been good,” Franklin said. “If you look at our our numbers, our numbers are pretty good, kind of across the board. There are some areas that we can improve, and we study those things, strengths and weaknesses, all the time and try to tweak some things to help.

“But obviously, like we have talked about a lot, we’ve done that fairly consistently. We’re judged on games, on specific games and specific opponents. So, overall, very good. We got to be at our best, that’s myself and everybody included, when it means the most.”

Unfortunately for Penn State, Kotelnicki’s offense stalled in its first high-profile matchup this season. The Nittany Lions didn’t score an offensive touchdown in a 20-13 loss to now-No. 2 Ohio State in Week 10, despite reaching at least the Buckeyes’ 3-yard line twice. That included four goal-to-go plays where star tight end Tyler Warren didn’t get a touch — on a potential game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter.

That said, the Nittany Lions bounced back offensively last week in a 35-6 win over Washington.

Second-year starting quarterback Drew Allar has made the most of his mobility in 2024, in part thanks to Kotelnicki. Allar has netted 172 yards on ground to go along with three rushing touchdowns this season. The junior has scrambled for 192 yards this year, according to Pro Football Focus, with 11 first downs gained and seven missed tackles forced on those scrambles. It’s important to note that Allar has been sacked 10 times in 2024, so that’s where a bunch of that rushing yardage has gone.

Allar has also notably bumped his completion percentage up to 70.3%. Last year, he hit on only 59.9% of his throws while recording five games with a sub-50% completion percentage. This time around, he’s completed at least 60% of his passes in every contest.

Plus, Kotelnicki’s offense has as many 40-yard plays from scrimmage this season (eight) as the Nittany Lions recorded in 13 games last year.

Allen’s defense is comparable to Diaz’s in terms of points per game allowed yet has created less havoc. The Nittany Lions have dropped from first nationally in sacks per game (3.77) to being tied for 35th in that department this year (2.44 sacks per game). Additionally, the Nittany Lions were tied for 13th in the FBS in takeaways last season, as opposed to 66th this time around.

Still, Penn State has a major goal within reach: making its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance. The Nittany Lions can book their ticket if they take care of business down the stretch of the regular season.