Penn State Football: deep dive inside the numbers on new OC Mike Yurcich

Ohio State – Passing Game Coordinator/QB Coach (2019)

Passing game coordinator is the new term and position we are going to hear about both in college football and the NFL, especially after Joe Brady assumed that position for the LSU Tigers before leading them to a national championship in 2019 and the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator job immediately after.

At Ohio State, Yurcich had soon-to-be top-10 pick Justin Fields at quarterback. Together, the Buckeyes’ aerial attack  led the Big Ten with 47 points per game and 530 yards per game.

Fields was a Heisman contender in 2019, passing for 3,273 yards and 41 touchdowns to only three interceptions. Granted, Fields is a special talent, but Ohio State’s offensive design seemed to always have someone open.

Keeping up with the trend from his time at Oklahoma State, the Buckeyes had six players catch 20 plus passes last season. Even running back JK Dobbins caught 23 passes in 2019, once again showing how Yurcich is willing to spread the ball around in his offense. By comparison, Penn State running back Keyvone Lee had 12 receptions last year.

Granted, Ohio State has a gaggle of five star prospects for Fields to fling the ball around to, but he threw an interception on 0.84% of his passes in 2019. That is a trend under Yurcich that cannot be ignored.

Yurcich puts his quarterbacks in good positions to succeed, and gets the ball out of their hands, attacking space with numbers and hoping to allow playmakers to make plays with the ball in their hands.

Fields made all the throws with the Buckeyes, but completed 67% of his passes, showing the efficiency in which Ohio State passed the ball. Meanwhile, Penn State Football quarterback Sean Clifford has a completed passes at a 60% clip over the last two seasons.

The excitement of Yurcich’s ability to have five receivers involved in this offense catching passes should intrigue Penn State Football fans.