Penn State fails in another big test.
No excuses will silent the critics. No comeback matters if you ultimately end up on the short side of the scoreboard.
Moral victories died three years ago.
James Franklin is every bit as bad in big games as his record suggests. It’s mathematically improbable how many times he’s lost in these big games. You’d think a bounce here or there would go Penn State’s way. Nope. Just big L after big L.
There’s little use in crying over the spilled milk of past seasons, so let’s focus on the here and now. This season is all that matters, and the mistakes that cost the Nittany Lions Saturday night could have been avoided.
Mistake One: The offensive system. Offensive Coordinator, Andy Kotelnicki, is a highly regarded, creative, forward thinking play designer. That sounds great, but Kotelnicki isn’t playing to his quarterback’s strengths. Drew Allar is a slow-footed, big armed, pocket passer. All the pre-snap cutesy motion and audibles don’t do a darn thing to help the offense. In fact, I think those plays went for less yards than when Penn State just lined up and ran offense. This is the Big Ten. You cannot manipulate your way downfield. You must force it. I won’t grade Allar on his freshmen season because he barely played. His sophomore season was underwhelming but not totally unexpected for a young quarterback at a premiere program. Let’s focus on Allar’s best performances over the past 15 months: USC last September and the Big Ten Championship Game in November against Oregon. What do those two games and the 4th quarter this past Saturday have in common? Desperation. Kotelnicki had to throw out his high brow offense and allow his quarterback to play backyard instinctual football. That’s where Allar excels. Let him chuck it downfield. Let him create opportunities with his legs. Give him a downhill running attack so he can play action. Allar has been a disappointment, no doubt, but Penn State has failed him as much as he’s failed them because instead of building an offensive system around him, they’ve tried to fit him into a system that doesn’t suit him.
Mistake Two: Boxers don’t fight amateurs in local gyms and then go right for the champion. They work there way up through the ranks until they’re ready for the champ. Penn State played Nevada, FIU, Villanova and had a bye before their showdown with Oregon. It was impossible to know where their weaknesses were on defense. It was impossible to know what a legitimate defense would do against their offense and what kind of adjustments would be necessary. This is poor program management.
Mistake Three: Penn State has lost its identity over the last two or three seasons. Somewhere along the way the ground and pound run game died. Despite two stellar backs, Penn State cannot run the football at will. The offense has lost its way. Kotelnicki still has a Big 12 mentality of explosive plays and fancy offense. Force works better in the Big Ten. Penn State has almost always been able to churn out four yards at a time on the ground. If you can’t run the ball in the Big Ten you cannot win. Penn State failed to run the ball well Saturday night. They’ve failed to run it well in some of the biggest moments over the last two seasons. There are reports that the offense is playing the five most talented offensive linemen as opposed to the best player at each position. Who knows what is true, but that offensive line is too big and too talented not to get a better push. The run game must be revived for the season to be salvaged.
Yes, the season can be salvaged, but at some point, Penn State and Franklin will have to win a big game. Addressing the aforementioned mistakes would go a long way to finding that elusive program-defining victory.