A look at the history of Penn State Football’s offense under James Franklin

Mike Yurcich (2021)

Franklin’s decision to move on from Ciarrocca had to do with the fact that Mike Yurcich was back on the market.

Yurcich was Penn State’s top target last off season, but they were outbid by Texas for him. Now with Tom Herman being fired from Texas, Yurcich was out on the market.

Yurcich’s first big gig was at Oklahoma State, where he was the offensive coordinator from 2013-18. His best year there was 2017 when Oklahoma State averaged 45 points per game and quarterback Mason Rudolph completed 65% of his passes for 4,904 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Even after a star player like Rudolph moved on, Oklahoma State still put up numbers. They averaged 38 points per game and quarterback Taylor Cornelius had 3,978 passing yards and 32 touchdowns.

Yurcich then moved on to Ohio State where he was the quarterback coach in 2019, the quarterback he coached being Justin Fields. Fields completed 67.2% of his passes in 2019 with 3,273 yards and 41 touchdowns to only three interceptions.

After that, Yurcich got the job as the Texas offensive coordinator. This past season, the Longhorns averaged 42.7 points per game and quarterback Sam Ehlinger threw for 2,566 yards and 26 touchdowns. Texas’ lead running back, Bijan Robinson, averaged 8.2 yards per rush in 2020.

Yurcich’s system is like Moorhead’s in that it is the spread and built on getting as many players as possible involved in the offense. The difference is that, thanks to his time in the Big 12, Yurcich also has a hint of air raid in his offense.