With run game struggling, Penn State football looks for solutions out wide

No matter where one looks within the online community of Penn State Nittany Lions football fans, the concern is the same after four games.

Why can't Penn State run the ball effectively?

It is, of course, a valid question. Statistically, the Nittany Lions have a below average rushing attack. Their 3.8 yards per carry average ranks 74th nationally, sandwiched by Hawaii and UAB.

It's a problem that James Franklin has not shied away from or disputed, asking for more physicality and more "edge" from his offense.

"We got to be willing to stick our foot in the ground and get down downhill as a runner and run people over, and we got to be able to be physical and finish blocks and make sure that we're doing a great job with our double teams," Franklin said Wednesday.

While the classic running game has failed to live up to expectations, Franklin has repeatedly indicated that the approaches taken by the opposing defenses are playing a part in that as well. Penn State has frequently found itself lined up across from stacked boxes with defenses hoping to force the Nittany Lions to beat them through the air.

That's where the solution comes in — the short passing game.

In four games so far this season, quarterback Sean Clifford has thrown 34 passes behind the line of scrimmage for a total of 28.1 percent of his attempts. Last season, passing plays to receivers behind the line of scrimmage accounted for for 11.9 percent of Clifford's total attempts. In 2019, that number was 14.3.

It's something new the Nittany Lions are doing under offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, and it's partially to supplement their sputtering run game.

"That's a huge extension of the running game, but you got to be able to complete it, and you got to be able to get four to five yards and, every once in a while, it turns into an explosive play," Franklin said.

So far this season, Clifford is completing those passes at a 91.2 percent clip. Those 34 attempts have yielded 165 yards — an average of 4.9 yards per attempt — as well as one touchdown.

The Nittany Lions currently sit 84th in the country in rushing yards per game with 124.3. Incorporate the yardage from passes behind the line of scrimmage, and Penn State moves to 55th, comfortably in the top half nationally.

The key to executing the short passing game well is accuracy, according to both Clifford and Franklin.

Franklin said he'd like to see the Nittany Lions complete 100 percent of those passes. With three incompletions this season, Clifford isn't far off his pace.

"When you're throwing short game, you want to make sure that it's accurate so that way you can get some YAC, run after the catch," Clifford said. "But I think that it's also reads, just making sure that you have something short, completing it in a timely passion, and making sure that it's to the right looks, so that your guys can make plays with it."

The short passing game also allows the Nittany Lions to be physical on the perimeter of the field, according to Franklin.

Often times, these looks will result in a tight end blocking a corner. Given how the Nittany Lions feel about their tight end room, that is certainly a matchup they'll take every time. Sometimes, they'll even find themselves with a numerical advantage.

"Typically, you're going to be on a two-on-one-and-a-half or three-on-two-and-a-half, and when I say that, I mean a guy that kind of splits the box and the apex," Franklin said. "But hopefully, even if you get more of a two-on-two look, that you can be so physical with the one — whoever the guy who's the most dangerous to the play — and then hopefully athletically, you have the ability to make the other guy miss."

That's where accuracy enters the equation once again.

Clifford explained that the accuracy of his throw is directly related to the ability of Penn State's wideouts to secure yards after the catch. With athletes like Jahan Dotson, Parker Washington and KeAndre Lambert-Smith on the edge, few would envy any defensive back trying to deal with them in space.

"We have a very talented group," linebacker and defensive end Jesse Luketa said. "Guys like Jahan, Parker, KeAndre, Brenton Strange, Theo Johnson, even our running backs coming out of the backfield, they're all weapons."

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