Wallace on Penn State departure: Looking for ‘pass-focused’ offense

For the second offseason in a row, Penn State football lost its leading wide receiver to the transfer portal. Weeks after helping the Nittany Lions reach the College Football Playoff Semifinal, Harrison Wallace III left Happy Valley for Oxford, joining Ole Miss for his final collegiate season.

Now for the first time since exiting the program, Wallace is speaking out about his decision to leave Penn State. According to the newest Rebel, his desire to look elsewhere was centered around offensive scheme.

“Really just seeing how their receiver room has just thrived over the years and just how their offense is really like a pass-focus,” Wallace said of his desire to join Ole Miss during his first media opportunity this spring. “Just something that I could see myself being a part of.

“It’s always hard, especially leaving a great team like Penn State, but I just really wanted to take a chance on myself on this last year. Really, just find a passing offense and [passing] being their number one focus in that sense.”

How run-heavy was Penn State football in 2024?

Penn State football running back Nicholas Singleton. © Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In 2024, Penn State football ran the ball 615 times compared to 437 pass attempts, which equates to a 58-42 split under first-year coordinator Andy Kotelnicki. The Nittany Lions scored 35 rushing touchdowns compared to 30 through the air, while the passing attack (228) averaged approximately 25 more yards per contest than the run game (202).

Wallace caught 46 passes for 720 yards and four scores, slightly less than a 1/5 of the Nittany Lions’ passing production last year.

Twelve months ago, it was KeAndre Lambert-Smith who entered the transfer portal. In a similar move to the SEC, Lambert-Smith made the most of his one season at Auburn, hauling in 50 receptions for 981 yards and eight touchdowns.

“I spent four years there and graduated, which is the main goal,” Lambert-Smith said at the NFL Combine last month. “[I] just decided to look for a new option for my fifth year. I just wanted to reach that level of who I knew I was.”

Penn State football focused on receiver in the portal as well, landing Kyron Hudson and Devonte Ross.

“To really judge a wide receiver before you’ve seen them at practice and running routes and creating separation and one-on-ones and making contested catches and catch percentage and radius and those things, it’s hard to say,” noted James Franklin on Tuesday. “It’s hard for me to say that. In terms of their attitude, their work ethic, their demeanor, in terms of fit in our locker room, all those things have been really good.”

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