Penn State's offense is headed in the right direction with the new & improved Drew Allar

that didn't take long the new Drew Aller is already here you are locked on nitty Lions your daily podcast on the Penn State nitty Lions part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day let's go more in depth with Penn State's offense after that game against West Virginia the new look Drew Aller Andy cotal Nikki system is well in place however there still are some remaining concerns this is lockon 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 today's episode is brought to you by ultimate college football HC it's a brand new mobile game that is completely free has no ads and is 100% playable offline use the promo code locked on CFB all caps inside the game store to receive a free Bo boost to your program begin your coaching Legacy today I'd appreciate it if you left a like on this episode but more importantly be a part of the discussion your thoughts on Penn State's offense after that game against West Virginia so let's start with Drew Aller go to Andy codal Nikki and then the wide receivers running backs offensive line tight ends to finish up the show Drew Aller the new Drew Aller is here it didn't take long but now you see a more confident aggressive had a bit of swagger to him as well not that not the quarterback that you know seemed to second guess himself at times seemed to lack a little bit of confidence a season ago how much one off seon and a coordinator change can make that happen and it it was just great to see that moment later in the game like that was the the exclamation mark on all of this when Josiah tried her he stiff armed Josiah Trotter into the turf and then he let him know about it that was the biggest thing about Aller is how what was his mental capacity confidence level going to be going into this season and it is completely different the dude was 19 a first year starter last season with a coordinator that just didn't play to his strengths properly that's what it boiled down to and now you enter Andy cotal Nikki and you have the new Drew Aller where his skills are maximized within this offense let's take a look at that performance 11 of 17 216 yards three touchdown passes zero sacks taken and zero interceptions 199 of those yards came in the first half so Aller could have had more if he wanted to Penn State's passing offense really could have opened it up but they didn't need to so the overall box score is okay you know but they did all of the damage in the first half pen State certainly let off the gas there because they were well out in front but what was really impressive and something that we talked about on this show was all's running ability six carries 44 yards he averaged more than West Virginia's supposed prolific prolific ground attack right with Garrick green CJ Donaldson and Jem white and Aller average more yards per carry between the three of them there the supposed statue quarterback ended up averaging over s yards per carry on the ground the supposed statue quarterback ended up having a better day than West Virginia's ground game he did exactly what we talked about on on this show he doesn't have the afterburners he doesn't need to have the afterburners but you still have to respect him as a running threat he's tough to bring down at 235 lbs 6'5 and he can move pretty well for someone who is that stature West Virginia was chasing him all day within the pocket and then when he needed five 10 yards West Virginia didn't it seemed like they did think to account for him and he made them pay that third down where he stiff armed Josiah Trotter ended up being a conversion to sustain the drive and just completely take West Virginia out of the ball game that that was it that was the icing on the cake that was everything he can he ended up converting multiple third Downs with his legs and kept plays Alive by moving around in the pocket kept drives alive most importantly and the big reason why Aller looks and is performing the way he is granted one game this is a reaction to the first game I I understand that but the big re the biggest reason for Aller Success is Not only his personal development but Andy codal Nikki himself you don't make an offensive coordinator change you don't fire Mike yuch in the middle of the season begin doing your research you're planning you're plotting and then you go get your top Target that is Andy codal Nikki that's how all of this happened this wasn't the second third fourth fifth choice this was their top priority and they brought him in for a reason total Nikki's offense and play calling was refreshing to say the least it it was refreshing last year's offense it it was described this way so I'm sure I'm paring what other people had said in the past maybe even myself but this offense felt like it was it was called and played in a phone booth there was no there was no movement whereas this offense under cotal Nikki uses every single square inch on the football field let's start with the most important part of this the explosive plays so why Penn State's offense needed a change because there were little to no explosive plays from a season ago sure you had some of them pop up but it almost seemed like by accident at times the explosive plays were there Penn State had five plays of 20 plus or more yards and 17 plays of 10 plus more 10 of over 10 yards as well and that might not seem like a lot because it's actually not it's the middle it's it's in the middle of the pack SMU for example had 16 plays of 20 plus more yards so Zach what you're probably asking okay Zach so is Andy cotal Nikki's offense really that different but yes it is because if you look at it Penn State didn't run that many plays overall they didn't run Drew Aller only threw 17 passes right but if you look at week one statistics overall in terms of yards per play right now Penn State is number four in the country so you so when you look at the statistics and say well Penn State didn't have that many explosive plays they maximized the opportunities that they did have and they're in the top five in terms of yards per play right now overall so look at it from that way that you you only have quantity they had quality over quantity this time because they just went in there and took care of business this was a this was a fast game aside from the weather delay it would have been quicker had it not been for the weather delay but Penn State Penn State's offense scored in in 22 seconds at the end of the first half they scored in 22 seconds to go up 20-6 that should have been 13 to6 not many offenses are able to do that and the fact that they were able to do it in week one with a new offensive coordinator and go out there and score at will and turn and and just turn on the Jets when they needed to that's what was most impressive now they they weren't perfect they couldn't sustain drives effectively and and I'll talk about that more a little later but what else did we see from Andy codal Nikki we saw the Dual threat Drew Aller we saw the two quarterback system with Bo prula used as that Wildcat quarterback heck he even threw a touchdown pass to Tyler Warren so it's not that he's just going to be an additional Runner you're able to utilize his arm as well so cotal Nikki brought that over with him from Kansas exotic motions pre- snap movement a 350 lb vanga Yuan came across the formation to block on a pass play you can't even do that in the in the video game cot Nicki seriously dialed up some interesting stuff wide receivers were running open they were running free the running backs were utilized in the passing game it was a step it it was a giant leap forward with Annie codal Nikki calling the plays we saw we saw a little bit of everything but not everything so this offense is still is still a work in progress because this was not a perfect performance but the things that I saw I liked it and I liked it a lot because Penn State still has to put it all together they did a lot of things well they did a lot of things correctly there's still some things that they could fix in terms of execution and they're still again sustaining drives is one big thing but this group will be humming by the middle of the season if you look at what they did against West Virginia and that's the framework that's the that's the basement for what it's going to be the base level of their performance that is massive compared to what this offense was in 2023 so let's address some of those remaining concerns on the other side of this break and today's episode is brought to you by ultimate college football HC hey lock on NY lion fans I'm excited to share with you a game that I know you will love and that's ultimate college football HC you step right into the role of being a head coach and you lead your team to Glory imagine coaching the nitty liines from recruiting players to managing training camps scholarships every crucial decision is in your hands so hopefully you can handle the pressure what I love most is the ability to actually call offensive plays during the games that allows you to shape your season and your program's future ultimate college football HC is free it's adree and it's playable offline perfect for gaming on the go and as listeners viewers of locked on nitty Lions you can use my promo code locked on CFB in the game store for a free boost to get you started and all you have to do to download the game is go to ultimate-fx today I'll discuss the wide receivers and the running backs and the final segment we'll talk about the offensive line and the tight ends for the wide receivers wide receivers look great okay well I I should say a wide receiver looked great and that was Trey Wallace five receptions 17 yards two touchdowns he was wide open and made some pretty spectacular catches the end of the first half that scored the touchdown getting wide open on that on that first touchdown he scored to open up Penn State season Wallace was everywhere he was very effective and was to an extent almost very unguardable Trey Wallace looked like the number one wide receiver that we talked about all off season as it Wallace is the guy Wallace is going to be the number one wide receiver I still want to see it against better competition but he showed that he can handle number one wide receiver responsibilities right now and for the season moving forward Amari Evans was the second wide receiver on the on the box score two catches 55 yards he is the key to unlocking this offense to its true potential he has big explosive playability now you're able to manufacture that to an extent but you still need someone that can just take the top off the defense at any time you have to account for his speed and that's Amari Evans Amari Evans is a top three player in terms of overall speed on the roster purely he is one of the fastest players on this roster and then is the fastest player on the offense he had that contested catch but didn't do much else he had two catches 55 yards but that one catch alone was 55 yards if you want to debate if that was offensive pass interference I see it as has a 50-50 contested catch Amari Evans certainly extended his arm but you can't tell me that the West Virginia defensive back didn't grab his jersey and tried to pin him so I I don't think that Evans got away with a pass interference I think that was a 50-50 contested catch and the referees let them play now here's what does concern me outside of that big play to Omari Evans and what Trey Wallace did on his own accord there was really not a lot of other production from the wide receivers now granted Aller only threw 17 passes but not a single receiver registered a reception outside of Wallace and outside of Evans that has me concerned because if Wallace is double teamed you play a more effective defense again West Virginia doesn't have this Elite defense I think they improved but clearly should to Penn State's offense but if Wallace is double teamed Wallace is is effectively schemed out of the game plan who steps up in that instance Evans just had the one big catch no receptions for Julian Fleming Liam Clifford Kaden Saunders is banged up and if I'm being honest Penn State doesn't have a lot of options at Wide Receiver right now that they can trust that's just it so if Wallace doesn't have that great game Who steps up for them in in the receiving now we'll talk about the tight ends later you still have Tyler Warren right but if we're strictly speaking about the wide receivers you you can't feel great as a wide receiver when you walk away from a game with zero receptions a team win is is all well and good I so everybody's for the team that's what James Franklin preaches and I'm sure that's what the team emphasizes as well okay there's not a lot I I don't see a lot of I don't see any selfish players on this team but if you're Fleming you're Clifford I probably not going to factor Saunders into this uh very much and even Evans outside of the big catch you have to walk away thinking you know my job is to get receptions get yards and potentially score uh touchdowns and we didn't do any of that you're just probably not feeling the best walking away from that game so team victory of course is important you can't win a championship without without the team right but let's let's be honest again it's kind of like the same thing with running backs if you're not getting your your yards you probably don't feel like you're doing the best to contribute to that team Victory I get it it was a wacky day the weather delay it's only week one but I do want to reemphasize what I said at this very moment in time Penn State only has five wide receivers that it can trust Trey Wallace in no particular order well Trey Wallace is first but then after that it's kind of a toss up between a Liam Clifford or an Amari Evans a Julian Fleming and a Kaden Saunders if and when he's back to 100% being healthy all right that's kind of a week by- we thing but he did play he did play in the game but just as the punt returner they didn't Factor him into the offense so the the stock is up for Wallace but not really the rest of the group Evans has a lot of potential I need to see more from Clifford and Fleming Saunders not going to criticize him too much given his injury status right but that's where the wide receivers are at this point it's it's all Wallace and still looking for more from the rest of the group as for the running backs Nicholas Singleton had a great game Nicholas Singleton looked like vintage Nicholas Singleton he still got it and and then some 13 carries 114 yards and the 40- yard rushing touchdown and he weighs 226 pounds he is the PowerBack and still has those true after burners but KRON Allen non-existent outside of his receiving touchdown cam Wallace played a bit too the two of them combined together for 19 carries in 44 yards that that is barely over two yards per carry that's rough however I don't blame them I actually don't blame them overall I think the backs had a good game between the three of them I thought they were Singleton had some rough pass blocking issues when he stayed in for protection but KRON Allen did well cam Wallace did did well right they did they did well uh they weren't perfect by any stretch of the imagination but Singleton was the only one to have that big threat ability in the ground game KRON Allen had the one receiving touchdown and and that and that was was really about it so the the running backs did you know above okay and there's there's a reason for that and I'll talk about that reason as we pivot to the offensive line and the tight ends coming up next today's episode is also brought to you by Five Hour Energy you want to get in shape but are you having trouble staying motivated make 5H Hour Energy Shots part of your lifestyle and get the 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CFB for 20% off your order go to 5our energy today we're here to the point of what I'm alluding to the offensive line the reason the running backs did not have a great game or didn't have a better performance overall had to do with the offensive line and not so much Singleton did his job but Allen and Wallace 44 yards between the two of them that's that's not impressive and that had to do with the offensive line but I will give credit where credit is due I'm not going to hammer the offensive line here because they performed very well and very well under the circumstances this is a relatively almost a completely new starting five aside from s Wormley he's the only consistent here because they were great in terms of pass blocking I'd go B+ a minus I really thought when they were protecting Drew Aller and setting up pockets for him they did an exceptional job again zero sacks allowed but in perspective part of that's Drew Aller keeping plays alive he's actually very Shifty within the pocket at 6'5 don't don't ask me how he does it but at 6'5 235 lbs he is very good at keeping at very he's very good at pocket mobility and and just shifting around inside of where he wants to throw the football truly and keeping the Play Alive part of that was the offensive line again credit where credit is due offensive line did well they were admirable part of that is also West Virginia's defensive line is below below average after at in terms of getting after the quarterback they're just not that good all for for two three weeks after I pointed out that hey West Virginia's defensive line isn't all that good they're they're below average and in terms of the analytics they're actually bottom 20 in the entire FBS and West Virginia podcasts reporters fans did not like that because they led the Big 12 in in team sacks and that it it proved once again that West Virginia's defensive line just just isn't good they beat up on inferior competition and it showed but back to Penn State's offensive line conversation again you did your job you won your pass blocking reps but when it came to run blocking and that's backed up by the analytics Penn State's offensive line when it when it came to pass blocking exceptional phenomenal when it came to run blocking horrific bad a a average at best for individual cases well below average for everybody else and that's why they couldn't sustain drives give the give the defense a break as often often enough James Franklin when he was going into the tunnel for halftime had said to the sideline reporter Jenny Taft had said to Jenny Taft hey we're not sustaining drives it's great that we're scoring points but we're almost being too explosive in a sense because they had to adjust since Penn State's offensive line couldn't allow them to sustain those drives now what is the reason does this have to do with chemistry because this is the first game against live competition doing it in practice is one thing but you have to be able to gel against actual opponents who are trying to win and and and defeat you as the opposing team or is this a talent issue I I think time will tell Penn State from what they've expressed from James Franklin to assistant coaches that they have eight or nine offensive linemen that they feel are really talented and can play at any given time West Virginia for what it's worth did focus on trying to take away the run and that's why the passing game was so effective Drew almost threw for 200 yards in the first half because West Virginia for the second year in a row dared them to throw the football they basically said we think Singleton and Allen are your bread and butter they're not wrong but they dared the former five-star quarterback to throw it and he made them pay so part of that his scheme part of that his game plan regardless Penn State's offense of line was not good they were below average they were poor in some individual performances on running plays but pass blocking was outstanding and you have to again give credit where credit was due I I also just want I kind of like the wide receivers I want to see them do this against better competition Illinois and UCLA isn't it is going to have to be the measuring stick because you're not going to see it against Bowling Green and Ken State before you get to USC I kind of almost wish there was another caliber opponent you're getting Big 10 conference teams but those teams are going to be on the bottom half of the Big 10 as as opposed to the top so we'll see how they adjust let's finish up with the tight ends here Tyler Warren scored a touchdown late overall he had a fine game but outside of that tight ends really didn't amount to much Warren himself had three catches for 30 yards Andrew Raper played 24 snaps Luke Reynolds had 12 snaps so we did technically see them for a decent amount I I think that's what James Franklin meant as far as on field availability because they were primarily used as run blockers no targets and barely ran any routes between the two of them and Joey schloffer also saw one snap as well at the end of the day Penn State used four tight ends Tyler Tyler Warren is that true number one tight end I don't think Penn State has the same game plan or mindset where when you have Brenton strange and Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren who are all relatively close to one another they have clear-cut Futures in the NFL you don't have that this time around raple still needs to develop Luke Reynolds still needs to develop they're just inexperienced whereas Warren has been playing at Penn State for quite some time now and is versatile and has been a co-staring tight end for the third season in a row whether it was strange Johnson or Warren he's been a co-starter and been factored into the offense since 2021 in in this case it it's not surprising that rap leer Reynolds did not finish with a reception they didn't cost Penn State any anything on that day right they didn't stand in the offense's way but there was nothing spectacular about the tight ends overall and Tyler Warren did his job effective blocking on the outside and had the touchdown pass from Bo prula late in the game now coming up next here unlocked on nitty lines of course it it's Bing green week so we're going to have a preview we're going to have interviews and everything to get you ready for Penn State versus Bowling Green Plus more about Penn State's defense moving forward because kind of going into a period where Penn State can kind of fine-tune some things but they're really not going to be tested they're really not going to be challenged until that USC game in the middle of October but we'll have all of that content and more again I appreciate you for checking out this episode please leave a like on it more importantly be a part of the conversation in the comment section let me know your thoughts down below and if you're not already be coming everyday or subscribe to locked on nney lions on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast again my name is Zach Seiko your host of The Show for all things Penn State Sports in addition to football men's basketball wrestling recruiting keep it right here un locked on nitty lines