Were Penn State struggles tied to tipping plays? James Franklin responds

When Villanova and Penn State met on Sept. 25 at Beaver Stadium earlier this season, the Nittany Lions emerged with a 38-17 win.

Keeping the Wildcats at bay defensively, a late-first quarter field goal was the closest the visitors would get at 7-3. By the time Parker Washington notched a 52-yard touchdown reception, bolstered by two more third-quarter passing touchdowns, Penn State held a comfortable 31-3 advantage. 

But against a Villanova program that would go on to finish win its conference, eventually losing to South Dakota State in the FCS Championship quarterfinals, the Nittany Lions struggled in one key area. And All-FCS All-America linebacker Forrest Rhyne, in a feature story with the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this month, suggested he knew why.

Finishing with just 80 yards rushing on 34 carries, the Nittany Lions produced just 2.4 yards per attempt that afternoon. John Lovett finished with 45 yards on 11 carries, complemented by 21 yards on seven carries for Keyvone Lee. 

Rhyne, stressing the importance of his intensive daily preparation, insisted that the Wildcat defense knew what was coming. Run or pass, before the snap, every snap. 

“Every single play, I knew if it was a run or a pass,” Rhyne told the Inquirer. “Every single play. And it wasn’t just me. We knew as a defense.

“It was crazy. We haven’t matched that in terms of percentages. We try to get as many run-passes [percentages] as we can. Some it will be 20 percent, some weeks closer to 50. That week, we had a locked-in tell.”

After a 7-5 season in which the Nittany Lions struggled on the ground, logical follow-ups ensue. 

With a 3.1 yards per carry average for the season, and the nation’s No. 118-ranked rushing offense at 106.4 yards per game, was the tell isolated to that game? Or, was a Penn State player unwittingly revealing intent ahead of the snap throughout the season? Could it serve as a possible contributing explanation for Penn State’s offensive struggles?

A Mike Yurcich-led group that entered the 2021 season with lofty aspirations, Penn State finish without topping 28 points scored offensively in any of its 10 Power Five games on the schedule.

Meeting with the media ahead of the Nittany Lions’ trip to Tampa to face No. 23 Arkansas in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day, Penn State head coach James Franklin suggested otherwise.

Not a subscriber? Follow Penn State football for $1

Noting that every team has tells and that every team is studying its opponent each week to identify them, Franklin said this year’s Villanova matchup provided an opportunity to compare notes. 

“I have friends on the Villanova staff. So what you try to do with the opponents that you have friends is, you reach out to them afterward. You say, ‘Hey, do you guys have anything on us? We had some things on you guys as well,’ and be able to share those,” Franklin said. 

Bearing fruit in that instance, the program was able to glean a necessary change in technique in the trenches.

“We had an indicator (of) one of our offensive lineman’s stance that we were able to get resolved after that game. There is always something in yours and always something in your opponent’s,” Franklin said. “And you’re trying to figure out what those things are and try to either eliminate them or complement them with a tendency breaker.

“That’s a big part of our weekly self-scout as well as an opponent scout. You’re trying to find tells and tendencies based on safeties’ depth and width or different type of stances.”

Concluding that there are tells on every team, including some that cannot always be eliminated, Franklin said the strategy follows from there. 

“Maybe it’s something you can’t eliminate,” he said. “It’s going to be there, but that you’re going to have some other plays or other schemes that you’re going to run out in a similar tendency to break it so they’re not as confident.”