Penn State Football: causes for concern against the Minnesota Golden Gophers

Cause for concern #3 – play calling

I hate to question the decision making of D1 coaches, because there’s a reason they’re down there on the sidelines and you (the reader) and I are not. However, there are still some head-scratching things that I’m not so sure about when it comes to certain plays.

The first thing that comes to mind is offensive formation. Early in the season, the offense was going under center far more often than they have in a long time, and it was working. The running game got going, and it set up play action nicely. Over the past two games though, it seems like they’ve taken very few snaps under center. If it was working, why change it?

Another play that sticks out was on Penn State’s opening drive of the second half. They did a nice job marching down the field, then were faced with a third and four from the Michigan 10-yard line. At that point, the Nittany Lions decided their best play call in that situation was a fade to the endzone.

A fade is a low percentage throw to begin with, and when you don’t even need a touchdown–rather just four yards–that’s the play they went with? I’m not an offensive coordinator, so I don’t know exactly what should have been called there, but I know it wasn’t that.

Perhaps some type of bunch formation could have schemed one of the wide receivers or tight ends open? Heck, even a handoff there has a better chance of converting than a fade route to the corner of the endzone, even despite their struggles running the ball.

If this ineffective play calling continues this week against the third ranked scoring defense in the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions will likely struggle to move the ball and score many points.