Takeaways from Penn State Football’s blowout win over Ball State

Penn State Football Takeaway #3 – Variations in Offensive Playcalling

In the first half, Mike Yurcich did an excellent job of changing up formations, play types, tempo, and personnel to keep the defense guessing.

The Penn State offense was constantly substituting, causing Ball State to have to have to also bring in different personnel to match it.

Additionally, Yurcich was constantly changing formations, never doing the same thing twice. To build on that, he really alternated between having Clifford take snaps under-center, and in the shotgun formation.

There were also certain times when Penn State Football would opt to go fast and up-tempo, and others where they would not.

The primary complaint of Yurcich’s offense Saturday afternoon would be that they struggled to finish drives when they got inside Ball State territory.

Jordan Stout was forced to attempt field goals 4 times, two of them from inside the red zone.

Part of that is playcalling, most of it is execution. Regardless, the Nittany Lions need to improve on their ability to finish drives with touchdowns.