Penn State running game lacked identity last season

Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich came to Happy Valley with high expectations last season. To say they fell short would be an understatement, and no area fell further short of fans’ hopes than the running game. But unfortunately, the Nittany Lions were in the bottom half of the Big Ten in nearly every valuable metric tied to the running game in 2021. So how did that happen? Now that the whole year is in the books, we can see some interesting patterns emerging out of the fallout. While the player’s execution on the football field determines the success or failure of a play, the plays themselves are illuminating as well. So we’ll be looking at Penn State’s schematic choices under Mike Yurich and how they changed from his previous stops as a coordinator.