Penn State's offensive potential 'beyond exciting' under new play-caller

Joel Haas / For the Post-Gazette

On Saturday, quarterback Drew Allar split out wide, right tackle Anthony Donkoh was sent in pre-snap motion and running back Nick Singleton lined up in a Wildcat formation.

These are just some of the wrinkles Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki schemed up for the Nittany Lions during their Week 1 matchup against West Virginia, resulting in 457 yards and five touchdowns in a 34-12 victory.

“It’s awesome, man, Kotelnicki’s play-calling is beyond exciting,” tight end Andrew Rappleyea said. “We're stretching the field now, we're getting out in space, doing all these different things that we haven't done, for myself, ever, and it's really exciting.”

When Kotelnicki arrived from Kansas, speculation ran rampant about the possibilities, with the creative mastermind being given the keys to by far the most talented offense he’d ever coached.

Though he wasn’t in person, Kotelnicki got a jump start, working with the coaches to game plan for the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss. Beau Pribula said some of the two-quarterback looks against the Rebels were courtesy of Kotelnicki, and it’s something the team has flirted with in the past.

Previously Pribula had been used sparingly, appearing mainly in garbage time with few exceptions. In Week 1 against West Virginia, he debuted on the Nittany Lions’ third offensive play.

“When you're able to bring multiple quarterbacks in and create explosive plays and touchdowns, and you're able to bring multiple running backs in and get them involved in not only the run game, but also the pass game, and tight ends and wide receiver, I think we did a good job of that,” James Franklin said.

With talk about the Mountaineers making significant strides from last season — and a betting spread which fell to just seven points — the consensus opinion before the game was clear: This matchup would be much closer than the first.

However, Penn State nearly matched its offensive production from last season, going against an improved unit and doing so in a hostile environment this time around.

The main improvement lies in being proactive rather than reactive, making the defense adjust or get burned.

“Everything that Coach K does makes everything really stressful for the defense,” Pribula said. “It's not really us sitting back and adjusting to what the defense is doing, it's us attacking the defense and making them react to us. So that's made everything a lot easier from all aspects of our offense, and he does a great job of making our jobs easier”

Explosive plays were lacking last season under Mike Yurcich, leading to his dismissal from the program. With a 50-yard receiving touchdown from Harrison Wallace III and a 40-yard touchdown run from Singleton, those issues seem to be fixed.

“Coach Franklin and coach K, they preached about it since spring camp,” Singleton said. “They want to be aggressive, man. They want to take shots. And Drew loves it. The receivers love it, too. You’ve got to be able just to throw it down the field and make a play, which obviously they've been doing”

The wide receiver unit caught flak for an inability to get open last season, but that wasn’t a problem on Saturday. Some of it could be attributed to improved route running with an extra offseason of training, but likely it has a lot to do with being schemed open.

Frequent personnel switches, abnormal alignments and a heavy dose of pre-snap movement all added stress on the defense, allowing Penn State to take advantage of the confusion and capitalize within the chaos.

Penn State’s defense, which figures to be one of the best in the country once again, struggled at times to deal with the creativity of the offense throughout the summer and fall camp.

“It’s tough. Every day you have to be on your P’s and Q’s, because you never know what to expect,” cornerback A.J. Harris said. “Every day, it's a battle. It's war. We're going to get good looks, good battles every day. It's really got us prepared for the season, and I think it'll continue to show as the weeks go on.”

While it’s still early in the season and Penn State has several tough defenses coming up on the schedule, there’s reason to be optimistic for the Nittany Lions, who still have plenty more to show.

“I'm not sure what he has up his sleeve moving forward in the season, but I know he's experienced with doing a lot of different stuff,” Pribula said.