Penn State football mailbag: Scheduling, run game struggles and more

Every Wednesday, Nate Bauer, David Eckert, and Greg Pickel of Blue-White Illustrated field your burning Penn State Nittany Lions football questions in their weekly mailbag presented by JFQ Lending.

The topics this week include thoughts on how soon the backups could get in against Villanova, debates about whether there should be more than one all-stadium White Out game per season, and inquiries about the offense and defense as the Nittany Lions get ready for a noon date with the Wildcats at Beaver Stadium. The game is being broadcast by Big Ten Network.

Let's get to your questions, and remember: You can submit them weekly to us on twitter (@NateBauerBWI, @DavidEckert98, @GregPickel, and @BWIOnRivals) or through the Lions Den premium message board.

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"Why has Penn State refrained from scheduling more home and homes with Power 5 opponents down the line after the West Virginia series concludes in 2024? How does inevitable playoff expansion and the ACC/PAC/BIG alliance factor into scheduling for Penn State in the future?"

Eckert: I'll recuse myself here and defer to the two guys below whose answers are smart and informed.

Pickel: I think we're all going to have a similar take on this, but here's how I'll spin it: Your second question basically answers your first. That's not to say that Penn State and others in the three 'Alliance" conferences knew such a pact was coming, but everyone in the sport knows that change was coming at some point in time, and so tapping the breaks a bit on the longterm scheduling so that things could play out was the right move to make. I have no doubt that those games will be scheduled in the future, and that many are working on doing so as you read this.

Bauer: Bottom line here, guys, James Franklin does not want to play home and homes with Power Fives. If he has to play Power Fives at all in the non-conference, which obviously his program does at least once, he is advocating for neutral site games in a one-off situation, which is what you see Alabama do virtually every season on the opening weekend of the schedule. The last time the Tide didn't take that approach? Their home-and-home with Penn State in 2010 and '11.

But even then, you're talking about an Alabama program that has the benefit of playing only eight conference games, so Penn State could take the same approach and still be behind the eight-ball if it schedules even one marquee neutral site game a year.

The reality here is this: Fans want fun matchups like Auburn. But it's a bad strategy when it comes to making the playoff, which is the destination Penn State is desperately trying to reach every season. And Franklin knows all of this first-hand given the program's experience in 2016 when a Week 2 loss at Pitt was the only thing separating the Nittany Lions from an otherwise assured playoff berth.

Call it what you will, but the Big Ten's nine-game slate, and the Penn State administration's pursuit of marquee home-and-homes, have been getting this wrong for years now.

"James Franklin said during his press conference this week that they need to take steps to improve the run game. What do you believe can be done now we are 3 games into the season?"

Eckert: I do think we've seen some "running through the air" concepts that are prevalent throughout modern football from Mike Yurcich. Penn State has attempted 26 passes behind the line of scrimmage so far this season, and those have resulted in 138 yards and a touchdown for the Penn State offense. That said, Penn State's rushing game is certainly a concern — it's probably the biggest issue with how these first three games have panned out if you're a Penn State fan. The Nittany Lions need more from their offensive line in that regard, it's pretty simple. There are several running backs in that room that we know are good, they just need more from the guys in front of them. If that doesn't happen, I'll be curious to see if Penn State doubles down on the short passing game a bit more, especially in short yardage situations.

Pickel: Through three weeks, Penn State is last in the Big Ten with a rushing offense that averages just four yards a carry and 132 a game, which is definitely not a sentence I would have expected to type on Sept. 21 back on Aug. 21. The Lions, with 98 rushing attempts, have the fewest in the league so far, and only it and Ohio State (99) have under 100. Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich has done some things that work similar to the run game with quick passes at the line of scrimmage and screens, so it's not like those concepts have been totally absent so far, but the biggest culprit to date has been the lack of a consistent push up front to open up big enough holes for the backs to run through. John Lovett provided a positive spark against Auburn, so that's a start, but ultimately, it just comes down to the backs and offensive line doing producing more when runs are called. I wouldn't sound the fire alarm just yet, but it does need to function better before the Iowa trip in two weeks.

Bauer: In no way am I intending this as a flippant response but, the best step to improve Penn State's running game is going to be for Sean Clifford to continue to complete 88 percent of his passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns week-in and week-out. There is a reality to the notion that defenses hellbent on taking away the run can do so against even Penn State's absolute best intention to make it work. But Mike Yurcich is smarter than that and is going to exploit the vulnerability that comes as a result of that general defensive strategy. After last season, it makes complete sense that defenses would start the season determined to make Clifford prove he can beat them. Well, he's doing that. Here's guessing fewer resources are going to be directed toward Noah Cain, Keyvone Lee and the crew sooner rather than later.

More: Film Study: Penn State football takes advantage of Auburn's failed approach

"Have we not needed to take shots downfield in the last 2 games? Or have defenses just been playing too much zone and taking it away on purpose? Hard to tell defenses sitting low in Beaver Stadium?"

Eckert: I'll keep it simple here and just offer some statistical perspective from PFF. Sean Clifford attempted eight passes of at least 20 yards against Wisconsin and completed three of them. In both the Ball State and Auburn games, he attempted five and completed one. So, obviously, Penn State took a couple more deep shots against the Badgers than it has in the last two weeks, but I don't think the difference is that substantial. We might just be remembering them more subconsciously because they completed three of them.

Pickel: As T-Frank said on the postgame show and his subsequent film study, Ball State had only one concern, and that was not allowing Penn State to take any shot plays. It tried a couple, of course, but otherwise went along with it and picked up plenty of yards and points otherwise. The shot plays were there against Auburn, to the tune of seven passes of 15 yards or more and two runs of 20-plus yards. Defenses certainly want to take those away, and teams might try more and more to emulate Ball State's plan, especially if the ground game is going to continue and be a bit problematic, but ultimately, Penn State isn't avoiding shots down the field and won't moving forward. However, when your quarterback can be efficient as Sean Clifford was against the Tigers at all levels, you don't need to take as many of them.

Bauer: Let's go straight to Franklin for an answer on this one, building on what Greg said already: "Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to hit all of them. I’d like it to be the ball flying down the field, from sideline to sideline, the 50-yard bombs, they’re exciting, they’re fun," he said on his radio show last week. "We all know explosive plays have probably as much of an impact on winning than any statistic in all of football, creating explosive plays on offense and eliminating them on defense. But we’re going to just keep working on them and we’re going to keep making them defend not only 53 1/3 width of the field but all 120 yards of the field as well."

Penn State digs the long ball. If that's a realistic option against what defenses are presenting each week, those shots are going to be taken, especially as Jahan Dotson continues to prove the type of threat he presents specifically in that department, not only for the spectacular catches he can make in one-on-one matchups but also for the pass interference penalties he's going to draw.

"You don’t want to overkill the White Out experience, but do you think there’s any chance of a second one this year since we missed out last year? 2 For obvious reasons, any chance they go with their all white uniforms for a future White Out?

Eckert: I think one a year is fine, generally speaking. It's clearly become an event that everyone in college football marks on their calendars every season, and that's something you don't want to lose by diluting it too much. That said, James Franklin began asking fans to wear white all the time back in 2016, when Penn State was pushing for the Big Ten title, if I remember correctly. So maybe we could that happening again. As for the uniforms, I'm not sure. I'd personally like to see it just from an aesthetic point of view, but it doesn't seem like it's in the cards.

Pickel: To answer the first question, this comes up seemingly every year, and the debate always falls between the lines of not wanting to overdo it and ruin its uniqueness and impact versus wanting to rev up the home crowd at every possible turn. I think one a year is perfect, but good luck keeping that Michigan game to just a student-section White Out if things are still rolling along then as they are now. As for question two, Penn State likes the fact that opponents' uniforms can blend into the crowd and make them hard to see, so no, I don't envision the Nittany Lions ever wearing all white during a White Out game.

Bauer: The other two guys have you covered on the first, but to your second point, the opponent would have to agree to a uniform reversal and I'm not sure any team is going to go along with handing any possible ammunition to Penn State in those circumstances beyond what the Nittany Lions already have waiting.

"PSU’s O since the 2nd half of the Wisconsin game has looked like they can consistently move the ball down the field much better than recent years. Do you think that will improve more as the year progresses as Coach Yurcich unloads more of his scheme, and how do you see that affecting Penn State’s chances to win the Big Ten this year?"

Eckert: Yeah, it's pretty clear to me at this point that what we saw in the first half of that Wisconsin game was the exception, not the rule. The Nittany Lions are averaging six yards per play this season, which is up from 5.5 last year despite the fact that they've played two very good defenses in their three games so far. I think it's reasonable to expect the offense to continue to improve. This is, despite the positive early results, something the Nittany Lions are still getting comfortable with and I would expect them to execute better as that comfort grows. I'm still a little concerned about Penn State's running game. It wasn't very good against Wisconsin, and it wasn't very good against Auburn. For the Nittany Lions to win the Big Ten, that's going to have to get sorted out.

Pickel: There is no question that Mike Yurcich always will have something new waiting for the Nittany Lions' opponents week in and week out. Jahan Dotson throwing a pass and Tyler Warren running for a touchdown are all the proof anyone needs to believe that. To directly answer your question, however, we've seen how this offense wants to function so far, and that's through lots of movement, some tempo, short throws that offset a sometimes ineffective run game, and some deep balls that keep defenses honest. It's a straightforward scheme that, when run to perfection and with precision, is really hard to stop, and that's what you need to win a Big Ten title. It helps, too, that they've cut down on the turnovers big time compared to last year. I would say before the season started, I wasn't sure if Penn State's offense would be good enough to lead it to the Big Ten title, but now, I feel better about saying it is, even if improvements are still needed.

Bauer: Points win championships, and I think if you're Penn State today looking at the three performances to open the season, you are salivating at the fact that at no point has the offense been completely consistent through all four quarters to the level it has shown when it gets rolling. They want to be moving downhill, they want to go fast, they want to utilize the plethora of avenues and weapons they have to win offensively. It's a pick-your-poison situation with this offense and I don't see, other than maybe the offensive line's run blocking, a major inhibitor to establishing success in the same variety of ways.

"What happened to Marquis Wilson? Did he play on either side of the ball against Auburn?"

Eckert: Yes, he played some. He got six snaps on offense and a snap on special teams. Of his six snaps on offense, one of them came in the slot and the other five were out wide. Last week he played 13 snaps on offense and eight on defense. In close, meaningful games, wideout seems like the spot where he can best help Penn State, given the depth the Nittany Lions can field at corner.

"How quickly do you see the 2nd team in the game this week with all the snaps the D has played the first three weeks? Roberson too?"

Eckert: It's difficult to predict an exact time in the game without knowing how it will play out, but certainly Penn State will look to start getting those guys in the game once it feels like the game is won and is comfortable with the scoreline — you don't want to beat Villanova by seven points when you're in the position Penn State is at the moment. Franklin has expressed a few times how valuable it is to get Roberson experience, so I think they'll be relatively aggressive about getting him on the field.

Pickel: I think it's instructive to go back to something James Franklin said after the Ball State game when talking about Ta'Quan Roberson and when he might play.

" I wish we would have got the stop a little bit earlier because I think we had decided to put him in with a little over nine minutes to go in the game and they went on a long drive, so it ate up some of that," Franklin said. "But it was important to get him in the game and obviously to be able to throw a touchdown pass was big time so, there's a lot of value in it. It creates a healthy locker room as well."

Penn State always has a plan for this kind of thing but sometimes the game's flow doesn't allow it to happen as they want it to. Assuming the Nittany Lions build the kind of lead you'd expect them to I'd think he'd play most of the fourth quarter. As for the defense, the plan should be similar to Ball State with heavy rotations early and often before the twos and threes takeover for most of the second half.

Bauer: This is one game where, if you're James Franklin, you might have to do your absolute best to fight against your instinct to have the game be well out of hand before you're willing to insert your deep reserves. Yes, there is still some risk involved if you're up 21 early in the second quarter, but that is probably a risk that Penn State needs to take this week because the opportunities to start to develop depth not just for this season but also for future years aren't likely to be plentiful after this.

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