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How to fix Penn State Football’s broken running game

By Chris Snyder

COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND - NOVEMBER 06: Noah Cain #21 of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs with the ball against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium on November 06, 2021 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND - NOVEMBER 06: Noah Cain #21 of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs with the ball against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium on November 06, 2021 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /
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Mike Yurcich, Penn State Football
Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich of the Penn State Nittany Lions(Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

Issue No. 4 – The play calling was terrible

Now, we’re starting to get somewhere.

From a macro view, the overall play-calling (from the running game side) this season was a bit head-scratching. Many times it appeared the Nittany Lion offense was running the ball simply for the sake of running it. And to boot, they dialed up too many slow-developing running plays out of the shotgun.

It was even more head-scratching when Yurcich continued to call running plays which required the blocking help of the tight ends. Both Theo Johnson and Brenton Strange are large, athletic players but they are the official Chris Davis’ of tight ends when it comes to whiffing.

Yet Penn State Football kept trying to convert 3rd and 2 plays on the ground with a combination of those guys in the backfield to block. That’s what people in the football business call a “recipe for disaster”.

So let’s turn our eyes now to the man actually calling the offensive plays, offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich. Did he suddenly forget how to call a good game?

By all metrics, Yurcich has objectively been a success in every stop from Shippensburg (2011-2012), to Oklahoma State (2013-2018), to Ohio State (2019), and then to Texas (2020).

But the question here is how to fix the running game, so how did these teams fair when running the ball?

Oklahoma State tended to be a pass heavy team early in Yurcich’s tenure. But, they were able to round into a very balanced offense in his final three years as the Cowboys averaged 37.4 passes per game for 340.6 yards and 38.7 rushes per game for 181.3 yards.

In 2019, Ohio State averaged 28.9 passes per game for 263.1 yards and 47.1 rushes per game for 267.3. Similarly, the Longhorns showed balance in 2020 with 34.5 passes per game for 280.1 yards and 37 rushes per game for 195.3 yards.

I’m going to apologize in advance, but here are the Nittany Lions’ numbers from the 2021 season.

Penn State averaged 37.6 passes per game for 274.4 yards and 34.1 rushes per game for 106.3.

Woof.

The 2021 season was the first time since 2015 in which a Mike Yurcich lead offense dialed up more passes than runs. So, obviously someone as knowledge as Yurcich realized early on that this Nittany Lion squad was not going to be able to run the ball effectively.

As I mentioned above, I think the play calling from this past season is a big reason for the run game issues. Too many times Penn State was faced with a short down and distance and far too many times they failed to pick it up on the ground.

Is this really a problem? Yes

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