James Franklin UNLOADS on suggestion for Penn State offense

Coming into 2023, many expected the Penn State offense to look different than it has in years past. The Nittany Lions were breaking in new starting QB Drew Allar, a former five-star prospect with about as strong of an arm as any QB in recent Penn State football history. But the offense has struggled to push the ball down the field through five games, raising concerns about the Nittany Lions’ ability to compete in the biggest matchups on their schedule. While explosive plays have been acknowledged as an area of focus moving forward, James Franklin vehemently opposes one change to his offensive scheme proposed during his weekly press conference today.

Penn State offense has lacked explosive plays in 2023

Drew Allar is undoubtedly the most talented QB to step foot in Happy Valley in quite some time. The sophomore has lived up to his five-star pedigree, touting a perfect 13-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his Penn State career. Allar currently leads the nation in most consecutive passes thrown without an interception.

However, if there’s one thing that Allar, and the entire Penn State offense, has lacked in 2023, it’s explosive plays. The Nittany Lions lit up West Virginia for 13 plays of 10 or more yards in the season opener. But after that, the big plays have practically disappeared for the offense.

Penn State football comes into this week ranked 121st nationally in explosive play rate. A widely criticized stat, many feel that this level of offensive output won’t cut it against stiff competition like Ohio State and Michigan.

James Franklin strongly opposes just letting Drew Allar chuck it deep

Perhaps the most discussed aspect of the Penn State football team during the bye week, James Franklin was questioned on Tuesday about the lack of explosive plays in the passing game. While Drew Allar has been successful with checking the ball down this season, Franklin was asked about the possibility of just letting the 19-year-old gunslinger rip it deep no matter what to build confidence and give the Penn State WRs a chance to make a big play.

But Franklin’s response made it clear that we won’t be seeing that out of the Penn State offense any time soon.

“I don’t really understand what you’re saying, because we would never. Like, my skin is curling when you say just drop back and chuck it deep no matter what,” Frankin said. “I don’t even know what you’re saying. It’s like you’re speaking from Mars.”

“Like, we have never done that. Just throw the ball up, and maybe [the WR] he’ll be open, and maybe he’ll catch it,” Franklin continued when pressed about letting Allar take a shot no matter what the defense is playing. “You’re making me uncomfortable. So, we would not do that. We would never do that. We’ve never thought about doing that. So, no. No. Strong no.”

Explosive plays may be closer than you think for Penn State football

 While the response from James Franklin was likely partly tongue-in-cheek, it does highlight an important aspect of the Penn State offense. 

The Nittany Lions lead the nation in time of possession and rank 11th in scoring offense. Penn State is scoring nearly 41 points per game and is winning its games by an average of 31 points this season. All of that points to an offense that is slowly suffocating its opponents. 

With the biggest games of the year right around the corner, asking the offense to play outside of itself could produce disastrous results. And the big plays could be closer than most expect. 

“We want to be as explosive as we can as an offense; that’s always the goal,” Drew Allar said when we last heard from him after the Northwestern game. “…You can say all you want about not being explosive, but people don’t know how close we are to breaking a lot of things off. It’s one missed block here, or one missed assignment there. It’s missed throws by me… It’s all things we can clean up. It all comes down to timing.”

Penn State football comes off its bye this weekend with a homecoming matchup against UMass.

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