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Tre Wallace has averaged 86 yards through his first four games as a receiver for Ole Miss. He averaged 31 yards in 39 games as a Nittany Lion. Beau Pribula has thrown for 962 yards through his first four games at Missouri, which is 538 more yards than he logged through 24 games as a part-time Penn State quarterback.

Both of these former Lions are statistically out-pacing their current Penn State counterparts, which begs the question as the Lions prepare for one of their biggest regular-season games in years: Is there a fundamental flaw in Penn State’s offensive system?

To answer this question, which has been brought up more often than you would expect for a team ranked No. 2 and averaging a solid if not eye-popping 437 yards of offense per game, we must consider parts and wholes. The best football teams at any level of the game typically have better parts, on average, than their competitors, but the truly special teams can maximize the individual talents by getting them to blend into a synchronized, consistent whole.

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