On FOX's Big Noon Kickoff, the crew talked about how Penn State football's situation crashed and burned so quickly in 2025. The culprit landed on the lack of offensive identity the Nittany Lions (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten) have yet to have since running back Saquon Barkley was in Happy Valley.
Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki headed into year two with quarterback Drew Allar. The chemistry between the two was supposedly only growing and getting better. Like many other things in 2025, that connection fell well below standards. According to FOX's crew, Kotelnicki's initial welcome to State College was highly anticipated, but he ended up trying to change the kind of quarterback Allar naturally was. His offense did not fit Allar's skillset, and the Big Noon Kickoff crew said that the senior quarterback had a lot more to give than he was able to.
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Expectations loomed over Penn State, which the crew pointed out as another reason why the Nittany Lions' season crumbled as well. Feeding into that pressure, though, Allar, Kotelnicki, and the rest of the offense can't meet any kind of bare minimum expectation without an identity. Lacking an offensive identity crushed what could have been a breakout season for a lot of players on that side of the ball.
Kotelnicki's system doesn't capitalize on the players' strengths. Allar is not a horizontal quarterback, but that's the system Kotelnicki wanted and attempted to force him to be. If Kotelnicki can't adjust to use his quarterback's strengths, the pass game as a whole will never play to its peak potential.
In Allar's six appearances in 2025 before his injury, he rarely looked confident and frustrations were evident. The wide receivers were supposed to be somewhat of a saving grace for Penn State's pass game, and they have yet to make any sort of in-game statement in seven contests. The run game is relying exclusively on running back Kaytron Allen while his backfield partner Nicholas Singleton struggles to find a rhythm more than halfway through the season.
The entire offense, in other words, is a mess. It was never a defensive issue chipping away at the Nittany Lions' national championship odds. It was the offense consistently fighting against itself - or rather, the players trying to squeeze into the package Kotelnicki stubbornly enforced.
Without that offensive identity, the Nittany Lions are always going to be a beat behind. Penn State needs to figure out who it is on offense and make the adjustments necessary, even if that means looking for a new offensive coordinator once a new head coach comes to town.