James Franklin has been recruiting at a high level this winter – not just with players (Penn State currently has the third-ranked Class of 2022 in the country according to the 247Sports Composite) but with his swift and surprising addition of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Yurcich.
The recruitment of the latter could play a big role in helping Franklin land an even more important piece of the Nittany Lions’ 2021 puzzle.
It isn’t hard to see why Franklin pounced when Texas parted ways with Yurcich’s former boss, Tom Herman. The 45-year-old Yurcich’s career resume reads a lot like that of Franklin’s; he was a Division II quarterback at California University of Pennsylvania (Franklin played quarterback at another PSAC school, East Stroudsburg) and, like his new boss, earned a degree in psychology. Franklin had coached for nine different college or professional teams before getting his first job as a head coach in 2011; Yurcich, who has never been a head coach, is now at his eighth stop after making his third move since New Year’s Day 2019.
FTB’s Rapid Reaction/Stream of Consciousness Following Penn State’s Bombshell Friday News Dump
Now, it’s the defense’s turn. Same general premise as yesterday. As we turn the page to 2021, let’s take one last look back on what was the 2020 Penn State Nittany Lions – specifically defensive coordinator Brent Pry’s unit. We’ll explore what trended well, and explore what needs to be fixed in the offseason. And how are we going to do that, you ask? Same way we did weekly during the season – using a mix of basic and advanced stats within the broader context of the James Franklin era at PSU.
You’ve watched all the games but it’s worth reposting the basic stats summaries. Let’s start with yards allowed. In the graph below we have the passing yards (blue), rush yards (orange), and total yards (red) surrendered in each game.
Introduction
Before we turn the page to 2021, let’s take one last look back on the 2020 Penn State Nittany Lions. What trended well? What were the consistent strong/weak points? And, finally, what needs to be fixed in the offseason. Today, it’s the offense’s turn under the microscope. As we always do, this season-ending summary will be a thorough mix of basic and advanced stats within the broader context of the James Franklin era at PSU.
Basic Statistics Summary
Our first graph shows the yards generated in each game. Passing yards (blue), rush yards (orange), and total yards (red) .
With the exceptions of Indiana and Nebraska, Penn State really struggled to run the ball early in the season and relied heavily on the pass game to generate yards against Ohio State, Maryland, and Iowa which were (probably not) coincidentally the three biggest losses. Penn State’s lack of a rushing attack against good defenses like the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes –two teams that typically have strong, opportunistic defensive lines – left the Lions offense vulnerable to sacks and turnovers. If we look at passing yards as the % of total yards generated (Pass Share) in the graph below, you can see how much the offense skewed towards passing, especially early on.
Thanks Temple for Spending Four Years Developing an Unwanted Recruit Into an All-Conference Pass Rusher…We’ll Take It From Here
We’re Portal People, now. Embrace it.
While the rest of college football was on IG Live squawking about how they kicked dudes in the face and duct-taping squeeze bottles atop trophy stands, Penn State spent the dying breaths of 2020 putzing around the Transfer Portal – College Football’s Monster.com. And wouldn’t you know, while traversing this strange, foreign place, four players 99.9 percent of us have never seen play one snap of football decided to continue their careers in Happy Valley.
Sweet.
The latest (as of this keystroke) and most intriguing newbie is former Temple Defensive End Arnold Ebiketie, a 2nd Team All-AAC Grad Transfer with two years of eligibility left to finish tapping a deep reservoir of talent/potential. By now, you’ve seen his 2020 stats: 42 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 4 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and one defensive touchdown – a gift score that might have been his LEAST impressive highlight all season.
There is a simple path for Penn State to return to football glory after a weird, wild and abbreviated 2020 season the Nittany Lions and their fans can only hope was an aberration:
Get in the damn end zone. As many times as possible.
If you watched Penn State’s strange and maddening autumn odyssey, from the stunner in Bloomington to the beatdown of Illinois, you saw both dysfunction and gradual improvement from the Nittany Lions in all three phases. You might have heard James Franklin profess one or two or 40 times over the years the importance of “complementary football,” and, yes, a stout defense and at least average special teams play are crucial for any team to have a chance to win at this level.