An expert take on what to expect from Penn State football's new look offense and defense

there's a lot to be excited for when it comes to Penn State's offense and you'll see it week one against West Virginia you are locked on nit Lions your daily podcast on the penate nitty Lions part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day Penn State versus West Virginia is truly finally upon us so let's get one final expert look at the game itself this is Lon nney Lions I'm your host Zach Seiko and thanks so much for making us your first listen and watch every single day we are free and available wherever you get your podcast including YouTube and help me welcome welcome him back the perfect expert to talk about Penn State football and the game against West Virginia itself is the voice of Penn State football the voice of Penn State Men's Basketball he's also a daily radio show host for sports talk with Steve Jones without further Ado Mr Steve Jones himself and Today's Show is brought to you by 5H Hour Energy 5our energy fixes tired fast with zero sugar and a convenient portable size it's the perfect pickme up for getting stuff done go to 5our energy.com and use promo code locked on CFB to receive 20% off your order this offer is only valid until September 30th so we're going to talk about expectations for the big changes coming to Penn State's offense defense and how they match up with West Virginia at appreciate if you left a like on this episode and let me know your thoughts down in the comments section your and what your anticipating the most from Penn State football this season uh Steve you know this team inside and out the roster better than anybody else that is covering Penn State football the first thing that comes to mind or that what everybody's looking forward to is the new look Penn State offense Annie coton Nikki comes in from Kansas he's in short Innovative and he's got a plethora of talent to work with when you look at this group Steve what is the biggest what is the biggest change that you're anticipating from 23 to 24 well first of all Zach it's great to be with you again Zach and I teamed up for a long time and he always has done brilliant work so thanks for inviting me on thank you for doing this and with Andy there's a lot of movement out there pre-nap movement and so forth and the idea is you want to get guys into space where they can make make plays and you want to make your Playmakers get into space where they can make plays and you can run any scheme you want but you need to have the talent to do it and Drew Aller gives him a big arm that can make plays for him Trey Wallace gives him a receiver that can make plays for him Tyler Warren gives him a a tight end that can make plays for him KRON Allen and Nick Singleton give him two running backs who can make plays for him and that's the bottom line he has people he can get the ball to and get them into space that I think can make a difference as to what they're doing out there with this team I think that that will be the important part and of course the offensive line will have to do their part uh in order to give them time to do this and you can mix in a Bo perula Liam Clifford is somebody that I think could be mixed in to make plays Amari Evans has big play capability and Julian Fleming has uh really stepped up and had had ended up having himself a terrific training camp which has been a big plus so you have an opener where because of Andy's background and especially of late at Kansas yes if you had to pick a non-conference team to play in the opener against your brand new uh coordinator it turns out it's a big 12 team that saw him every single year but conversely he saw them every year so it's going to be fun to see how that part plays out because of the familiarity of styles yeah Andy codel Nikki most recently that 2022 matchup that Kansas offense again different group of players was able to score 49 points and I get it those are two different teams two different rosters but what's consistent is that it's Andy cotal Nikki's offense going up against a Neil brown Le West Virginia team and a defense in that as well Steve Andy was brought in with the idea that Penn State's offense lacked uh explosiveness a season ago and and and to an extent somewhat in 2022 but it was obviously egregious in 2023 how absent it was where does that explosiveness come from because they didn't make a lot of wholesale changes on offense quarterback's the same two running backs are the same the receivers aside from Julian Fleming I know who they lost in the transfer portal but Fleming's here now and I wouldn't quote unquote call him an explosive receiver I think he's you know a security receiver possession receiver and a guy who's really good at blocking in the Run game so where is that explosiveness going to come from when that's something that James Franklin really wanted emphasized going into this season well it comes from the ability to set it up big plays aren't just I drop back and I throw it as far as I can and I do that three times in a row and I'm gonna hit one no uh you have to set that up along the way can you get them run conscious and then beat them with a big play can you uh make them pass conscious and then you run a running play to get a big play so you have to be able to set up in such a way either through rubs play calling and of course the execution of the play calling to get them thinking one way which then gives you the opportunity of a big play and the big plays happened at the end of last season uh if you I mean the Michigan State game they had guys running free all over the secondary in that game and this will be interesting because West Virginia had secondary problems last year they've tried to solve their secondary problems this year through the transfer portal so Hollis is an all big 10 performer he comes in from northwester I think Jem Joseph is a good player they brought him in for Northwestern the guy I find intriguing is Garns uh I think the second game of the season last year West Virginia played duaine and Garnes played really well in the game but he was more of a nickel guy they're asking him to go outside and play the outside part as a nickel guy they were really impressed with him and so how's he going to hold up on a playin and play out basis he could hold up really well or it could be like well he's from ducain I don't know uh and then there's Aubrey Burks Jaylen Reed is really gonna play this role for Penn State that's that guy that can be the safety can be near the LI lion right the lion position as they call it well Burks is that guy for West Virginia and Burks is a guy last year the entire Michigan defense the entire Michigan defense you're talking whe they play 15 games had fewer than 10 Miss tackles as an entire defense we can talk about all the ancillary stuff and so forth but the the 10 Miss tackles I think it was I think it was eight or nine for the whole season Brooks Burks last year had 15 all by himself and seven of them were when he was in the box so that's a big question in that game does a guy like that get better is he better and if he's still the same now the opportunity is there to set some things up that you want I'm glad that you highlighted the matchup itself against West Virginia okay you know Andy cotal Nikki's offense and what Penn State's going to do schematically is one thing but how can West Virginia actually adapt to it and something that I've highlighted I Lee Koba the starting linebacker was a do everything kind of player for them and actually had one of the better performances a year ago he's not with the team beanie Bishop all world class I I think he I think the secondary in the defense would have been a lot worse if it wasn't for him breaking up 20 passes intercepting another four and those two guys who ended up being star players for them are not on this team yeah Bishops with the Steelers so yes uh that so it sort of was a step up uh and then the other part is Zack frasers with the Steelers they have four of their offensive lineman back they took one of the guards and they made him a center yes uh but let's face it Frasier was the Lynch pin of that team up front and made such a big difference so you know you everybody's going to miss players these days uh because of either the transfer portal or that thing called the NFL and you so you're going to miss out on some guys and be interesting as to how Pence handles up fromont because they are an odd man front I mean they're are three down lineman two standup end linebacker types I mean that's the kind of team they are some teams are even fronts some are odd fronts they're an odd front and I think that's going to be as the season went last year they didn't Blitz as much and as the season went last year were dropping eight in the cover they had to yeah which number one does give your quarterback more time right and number two it now goes to the point that we made earlier about the ability is in Andy's offense to create space there's less space with eight back there but based on the stats there's more space back there than we realize because the West Virginia secondary they gave up what 13 and half yards per um completion last year and that has for them to win that has to improve still to come on this episode of Locked on nitty Lions we've gotten a better idea of what this offense is going to look like for Andy cotal Nikki utilizing every asset that's available to him one of those assets includes Drew all's legs as being more of a mobile quarterback Nicholas Singleton and KRON Allen in the passing game will discuss that more and how that goes against West Virginia coming up next year on the show today's episode is brought to you by Factor meals Factor meals are great because there's no prep and there's no mess you can even meet your Wellness goals with Factor meals thanks to the menu of Chef crafted meals with options like calorie smart Protein Plus keto plus you get factors fresh never frozen meals that are 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maintain your vehicle and level it up to its Peak Performance got superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're into speed power or style eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you'll always find exactly what you're looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride each and every time or you get your money back because with eBay Motors you're burning rubber and not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it's easy to make your car into that mvp and bring home huge wins keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com that is ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusion Supply eBay guaranteed fit is only available to us customers Steve something that I've talked about a lot for weeks I I got to imagine months at this point I've kind of lost track of how many times I've tried to emphasize that Drew Aller will be more of a mobile quarterback I'm not trying to make the argument that he is dard Robinson from the 2000s or Lamar Jackson when he was at Louisville but allowing Aller to run 5 10 15 yards on on well-designed plays forces the defense to at least to have to account for him so that they can't sell out for a Singleton and Allen on a run play and stack the box and keep everything close to the formation and it also forces defensive ends and linebackers to be disciplined on that read option if it does present itself and that you can't just leave the safeties over the top to again well Drew Aller is not going to run it so we can just sell out for the pass my point is that it keep it keeps the defense honest are you anticipating the same thing that I am that Drew Aller is going to be more involved as a runner himself well look Drew has very good point A to point B speed the difference is like when you for example when you look at a guy like um Bo perula well Bo Pula is a guy that can flat out run yes he drives he can drive defense is crazy but both but Drew from point A to point B has a little more foot speed Than People realize and the other area where it comes into play is actually in the Red Zone because if you have a quarterback that can run or at least has shown the capability of doing it I've now got to keep somebody in to account for him if I don't have to account for him I can now drop as many guys as I want or Blitz whatever I want to do but if I have to account for the possibility he's going to run I've got to keep a guy in the neighborhood which takes him out of the pass game yes and also takes him out of the out of the Blitz game and that's what a mobile quarterback can do now I'm not saying he's a mobile quarterback but he can again from point8 at point B he has exponentially better speed Than People realize now it's the ability to cart cut and dart things like that that's not that's not his game that's not him and then of course he has the the running backs you brought up KRON Allen and and Nick Singleton in the pass game Allen's always been a good pass receiver in the pass game he always has Singleton when he first got here was what I refer to as a body catcher body catcher is a guy up against like makes the catch up here his shoulder pads right right now you watch Nick catching the ball especially in the last year and a half you are out here right and he's making catches because now he's so confident in what he does with it and to put that talent in space in the open field I mean that that just changes all the Dynamics uh you want we talked about setting up big plays you hit a couple plays like that now they're starting to roll up a little bit oh they rolled up time to go right see that's how you there's certain ways to set things up and I think that's an element of the explo where the explosiveness can come from is that you have Singleton or Allen or maybe both on the field at the same time and then you motion somebody out Singleton there's that pre- snap movement Singleton moves into the slot and then you got to put a linebacker that just can't go toe-to-toe with him in terms of his speed a quick slant and the wide open Turf with your safeties back because you have to account for a a deep throw it ju it just sets up very nicely well I'll give you an example of that it was the 2017 game with Michigan and Beaver Stadium Penn State comes up they they'd run a couple of Wildcat plays including the opening touchdown uh where they shifted and they direct snapped at to Squan Barkley and he went for a touchdown later in that game they took Barkley boom and they motioned him out and they put him at wide receiver and Michigan reacted by taking him putting a linebacker out on him well Jack Cam and I immediately said in the broadcast the matchup is up top they can't handle him up there and that's the one word Trace through it he juggled it just for dramatic effect and then caught the touchdown pass that that's the ability to exploit a matchup and hit a big play and using your running back in the passing game to do it Franklin alluded to just the other day at practice that Singleton and Allen could be used on the field in terms of that 20 personnel 21 personnel and that was something that I tried to emphasize a lot I said this is a no-brainer it's too good to pass up on circumstances are a little different because Penn State didn't exactly have the running back depth chart that it wanted to a season ago so I'm I I'm willing to understand that you know yeah you could you could point to play calling and everything else but it's also what players you have available on the roster Penn State with everybody healthy feels really confident in cam Wallace as a number three back so does this open up the potential for Penn State to have both Singleton and Allen on the football field at the same time outside of your classic T formation right um it certainly does um that they can be out there at the same time it depends on how many wides you want to put out there it depends on how many tight ends you want to use I mean there's that's one thing about Andy's offense he can have both running backs back there he can have two tight ends out there he can go with three wides and four wides out there if you want wants to so it just depends on what he's trying to do with the offense at the time and sometimes a formation is window dressing yeah I can go out there Sam I'm sitting there and I I put empty backfield five wides oh but I motion back the running back now I got four wides and a running back I may just run the ball you you know that's that's the glory of it you just don't you don't know um only the NFL forces you to say what player you're going to run that's on onside kicks so I'm kicking it now okay that's the new NFL rule but so it's it's fun when you have a multitude of things you can do but what makes it fun is you need to have the talent to do it does he have the talent to do it yes and that makes a big difference and the fact that the wide receivers have had the camp that they've had opens up a wide range of possibilities for him well I think that's good and reassuring Intel especially because people ask me a lot about you know what are my thoughts on the wide receivers and it's kind of the same thing at least when I hear from coach Franklin or any of the other assistant coaches or even the players talk about it himself it was kind of almost like an elephant in the room in 2023 and Franklin was mum as far as you know mum's the word as far as hey you know which players had stood out and now everybody's kind of quick to praise individuals in this group I mean someone we we haven't brought up yet as Mari Evans I think Amari Evans could have a big season Ami Evans is the guy that can take the top off which is what you're looking for in that big play offense I think he has done a better job of being a far more consistent player in the preseason terms of his level of consistency and this now his third year in the program this has been his best camp in level of consistency and that's made a big difference and that's something I'm looking for but there but above all you have to now do it in the games okay you got to do it in the games right we've seen in practice they can do it in the practice the wide receivers really had an excellent camp but you have to now do it in the game and so we'll start to get a better read on whether the game confirms the practices starting on Saturday I think it will I'm fairly confident it's going to but I think we'd all like to see it we've spent a lot of time and rightfully so discussing the offense because uh the defense was able to do its job week in and week out let's pivot to the defense Tom Allen Group a team that could run a 425 base a majority of the time and how they match up against West Virginia we'll discuss all of that next to wrap things up here on lockon nitty Lions today's episode is brought to you by 5H Hour Energy want to get in shape but are you having trouble 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locked on on CFB for 20% off your order so go to 5our energy.com today today's episode is also brought to you by home field apparel fall is quickly approaching and that means one thing college football is back and to make sure you're ready we've partnered with HomeField the exclusive apparel sponsor of our show to bring you their can't miss kickoff 2024 campaign HomeField is the goto for premium Collegiate apparel crafted with comfort in mind and featuring vintage designs that'll make the Envy of any tailgate with over 180 schools to choose from there's something for each and every fan but the real MVP now this is this is in crazy what this product is the HomeField Platinum football box this is an all access pass to exclusive gear for the 2024 season with three neverbe seen items from your school plus VIPs get even more a special hat and the 2024 Platinum pass for Early Access and discounts all season long so so don't wait head over to HomeField apparel.com and gear up today and locked on nitty lion listeners can use our promo code we r24 again all you got to do is go to HomeField apparel.com use promo code we r24 let's make this season Unforgettable Penn State was number one in a lot of categories from being one of the best run defenses to the team got got a lot of pressure the architect of that defense is no longer in Happy Valley he's over at Duke but in steps a defensive Mastermind in his own right Tom Allen anytime that we've spoken to him he almost seems just grateful thankful that he gets to coach defense all by itself again rather than trying to do everything that he can as a head coach but it it seems like he's gotten back to his roots and he feels really good about the group that he has and of course so much more Talent is available to him at Penn State than it was in Indiana that's just the the the fact of the matter here but I I like this defense I think this defense can absolutely be a top 10 group once you know they get things you know all together timing and and everything in terms of jelling together the chemistry if you will by I think sooner rather than later but Steve can can this group be another top 10 group that flies around and and is all world class and Elite that gets them to a college football playoff well Tom is very much like Andy Colton Nikki and that not square peg round hole guys uh when John beine left West Virginia in basketball and went to Michigan uh I have a lot of respect for John John when he got there there's a certain offense he wanted to run in the first season he didn't have anybody on that team that could run his offense it was all square peg round hole now he his goal was hey look I'm GNA show everybody this is how we play I want to recruit to it and eventually we saw it pay pay off but he had Square pegs round holes Andy and Tom look at their personnel and say okay you can do this you can do this what I like to do you can also do that there's a couple things you're not comfortable with so we stay away from that they don't do square peg round hole so they try to put their all their players in the best position possible to make plays you've got five defensive tackles that are all going to play and play well you got four defensive ends but the key is to me is Carter Adil Carter at defensive end because when a quarterback comes to the line of scrimmage he looks at the middle linebacker that sets the front he looks at the safety that gives him at least the thought process on the coverage right but now every single quarterback has to walk up and go where is 11 Left Right middle right where is he uh what's he gonna do is he gonna is he gonna come after me is he GNA drop and if he comes after me I I may need to keep in a tight ended chip I may need to keep in a running back to ship and so what's the domino effect of that oh Den I Dennis Sutton and a mean vanover on the other side have single coverage oh right that makes a big difference uh he knows that in his system to have three safeties is really important he's got that because of Zaki Wheatley Winston's a given he is a legitimately outstanding safety Reeds a given legitimately an excellent safety but wheatley's the guy that allows him to pull off what he wants to do because Wheatley is really good and has great ball instincts your Corners look Kimber Harris and Miller right but then you know they're going to mix in Washington they're going to mix in Tracy uh you know they're going to mix in some other guys but those three guys are three guys that you can depend on right away I think that can make some plays for you with their athleticism and in Miller's case Miller has great instincts I mean Kimber does too uh Harris is a superior athlete out there but you know they I mean they can run Seven Corners out there they're not going to play Seven Corners but they could uh so they have that kind of depth and you need to have depth to get through just a 12 game regular season let on the possibility of more games moving forward and then he's got linebacker Kobe King had his best Camp by a wide margin uh in the area when Jack Cam and I have been at practice together we both talked about King who is always a good run stopper but in the past game you're like H do I want him out there now he plays the pass well proper death of a drop things like that and then there's roas roas is the perfect example of having a linebacker who is an excellent athlete combined with excellent skills there are a lot of great athletes that play football that in all honesty don't have great instincts there a lot of great athletes that play football in any and really I can say this about every sport great athlete doesn't quite know how to quote play the game Roos is the great athlete that knows how to play the game those guys are special he he jumps out to me at practice every that we get that 10 15 20 minute viewing window where he's just finishing ahead of everybody else in terms of those speed agility technique drills he's always first to finish and there's a step or two in between so that again good information about Roos and how far that especially with a linebacker group that does you know frankly have some question marks but that's good to know that Kobe King and Tony Roar Roos are at where they are where they are in their respect you know going into the season Steve let's let's finish with this Penn State versus West Virginia West Virginia's bread and butter is the offense three returning rushers including the quarterback and Garrick green that had 750 plus yards a piece this is a team that will run it run it run it try to catch a napping and then throw it try to throw it over the top so they have that big play explosive ability as well I don't I don't have any concerns with West Virginia's defense as much as I do with the offense I think West Virginia can score some points if they get things set up so how do you limit this West Virginia offense offense that does have a lot of experience to it and found some Rhythm towards the end of last season well Green's a gutsy quarterback I mean he can really run um I think he throws it a little bit better now than he did a year ago uh he went to the Manning passing Camp I think that helped him out a little bit um Taylor's a good tight end you we have to see about their wide outs I mean they brought in Bray they brought in Robinson Preston Fox is back and I liked him last year I thought he was a good player for them uh but what you want to avoid is the scenario and I know they play a little different style than Georgia Tech does but what Georgia Tech did a great job against Florida State last week was with their running game and the power running game and the use of the quarterback in the running game they shorten the game okay Florida State and Georgia Tech each had seven possessions in the game like no you got to have 10 to 12 possessions when you get into a game like that if you're only getting seven shots at it right that's not good uh and so you want to avoid that which means you've got to be able to do a good job on the game you know on the Run game Donaldson's a hammer White's really quick white wasn't really a factor in last year's game Donaldson was pretty good green of course we know he can run but when he drops back to pass you have to do an excellent job in contain don't let him get outside where now what's he going to do is he going to take off and run is he going to then throw the football you know the wide range of options he has once he breaks contain so you got to keep him in with the confines of that box right so that he has to operate as a drop back quarterback and the offense can help out by giving the defense the lead by playing with the lead in a game like this it's huge because now if you get up a couple scores right now you know they have to do things that they really didn't want to do you forc them out of their comfort zone right right where they're not controlling the tone and tenor of the game they're not have been forced to play your game and nobody wants to play somebody else's game he is the voice of Penn State football Penn State men's basketball and hosts a daily radio show on WK up in Sunbury from 1: to 300 p.m. that is Steve Jones does so much he's obviously going to be call calling the game itself for Penn State football which you can listen to on gopsusports.com Steve thanks so much for the time especially with your busy schedule now that football is back Penn State athletics have fully returned here so you're doing radio shows you're doing radio coverage as well and all of the other and teaching and all the media stuff in between so thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk Penn State football going into the season and against West Virginia well Zach as always it's great to be with with you anything for you you know that it was a pleasure thank you thank you and as always thanks so much for checking out this episode of Locked on nitty lines let me know your thoughts final predictions for Penn State versus West Virginia and expectations for the 2024 season you can check out Steve's work outside of Penn State football coverage Down Below in the description and if you would leave a like on this episode I'd greatly appreciate it share it with friends and family while you're at it if you're not already become an everyday or subscribe to lockon nitty Lions on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast for the latest conversations around your favorite Penn State sports teams and for your second listen and watch check out locked on college football with Spencer mlin The Season's here college football is back and he is getting you ready for it every step of the way with game previews Recaps analysis and talking about the news as it happens all around college football and that's why it's called lock on college football available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every 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