Sponsor: FTB’s Donors Club – the most direct way to support our efforts – is back for another year! (sad Sarah McLachlan music plays) For $9.99 you can feed a starving blogger…and get a cool FTB bottle koozie in return! JOIN HERE.

As heartbreaking as the season-ending interception was, hopefully we can provide enough context for the loyal FTB community to chew on until week 1 of next year.

As always, it’s impossible to point the finger at 1 individual flub on these kinds of plays — so we’ll give you all the context needed to draw your own conclusions.

First off, the concept – Inverted Smash H-Cross.

Continue reading

Sponsor: FTB’s Donors Club – the most direct way to support our efforts – is back for another year! (sad Sarah McLachlan music plays) For $9.99 you can feed a starving blogger…and get a cool FTB bottle koozie in return! JOIN HERE.

58 Yards Through The Heart Of The Desert.

While the fate of the Fiesta Bowl wasn’t in much doubt midway through the 4^th Quarter, Nicholas Singleton’s punctuation-mark long touchdown run did officially put the Broncos to bed and entitled our digital audience to at least ONE MORE of these X’s and O’s breakdowns! Rejoice!

Therefore, let’s thoroughly dissect this iconic-ish, gap-scheme jaunt on GT Counter.

Continue reading

True to his nature, Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki pulled-apart then contracted the Hoberman Sphere in the blink of an eye for a gift TD near the goal line.

Sponsor: FTB’s Donors Club – the most direct way to support our efforts – is back for another year! (sad Sarah McLachlan music plays) For $9.99 you can feed a starving blogger…and get a cool FTB bottle koozie in return! JOIN HERE.

While Penn State’s first playoff game might’ve lacked some anticipated offensive fireworks, there were still a handful of very intriguing plays that caught the eye of us football sickos.

For me, personally, a pre snap movement that Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki plucked out from deeeeep in the vault brought a holiday smile to my face. Let’s take a look at Kaytron Allen’s early 4^th quarter touchdown…more specifically, how Kotelnicki used the Picket Fence Shift to gain a gap and create a walk-in score.

PLAY ON DIGITAL TAPE (until the corporate Grinch at Veritone blocks it…so hurry up and press play!):

  Continue reading

Sponsor: FTB’s Donors Club – the most direct way to support our efforts – is back for another year! (sad Sarah McLachlan music plays) For $9.99 you can feed a starving blogger…and get a cool FTB bottle koozie in return! JOIN HERE.

Big 10 Championship. No. 1 team in the nation on the ropes, up 8, without the ball. 2^nd and 1, near midfield, Penn State comes out of the two-minute timeout…and does this?!?!

If any NFL scouts needed further convincing that Penn State QB 15- Drew Allar is a future, no-brainer Round 1 selection, the true junior provided it on a national stage against a Top 10 defense. However, when the game was over in Indy, all I saw scattered across the Interwebs was that this video above was a “bad call” or “Why would your play call be to  throw up a 50-50 ball  when we’ve had success in the intermediate?!”

Continue reading

For all the creativity Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki has shown in 2024, a few base concepts out of distinguishable formations have gotten a tad predictable.

Sponsor: FTB’s Donors Club – the most direct way to support our efforts – is back for another year! (sad Sarah McLachlan music plays) For $9.99 you can feed a starving blogger…and get a cool FTB bottle koozie in return! JOIN HERE.

When playing a Dan Lanning coached defense — or better yet a direct-branch defese from the Saban Tree (Saban—Smart—Lanning), you’re going to have your hands full.

Yes, Lanning and his mentors recruit well, coach toughness and physicality, and have an elite scheme. But, in my opinion, the overwhelming differentiating factor of this defensive coaching tree is the focus on recognizing and exploiting opposing offenses tendencies. In other words, they find a common denominator somewhere, and before the day is over some poor graduate assistant is tasked with putting together an entire folder full of graphics, diagrams, and film cut ups related to this tendency.

Continue reading

If Penn State WR Omari Evans was any more open he’d be a 7-11, but that separation didn’t occur by accident.

Sponsor: FTB’s Donors Club – the most direct way to support our efforts – is back for another year! (sad Sarah McLachlan music plays) For $9.99 you can feed a starving blogger…and get a cool FTB bottle koozie in return! JOIN HERE.

“JUST CHUCK IT DEEEEP,” right?

I mean, clearly, the simple premise has been effective when involving Penn State WR 5-Omari Evans. 2022 vs. Ohio when Drew Allar entered the ballgame. 2023 vs. Michigan State at Ford Field. 2024 vs. West Virginia in the first half’s dying breaths. Now, add 2024 vs. Minnesota on the pile.

But guess what? This heave was calculated and nuanced, especially when you realize the decision to dial it up happened the play before. WTF do I mean? Let’s unpack this:

Continue reading

Yurcich is to T-Formation as Kotelnicki is to: A) Warren Wildcat B) Shirtless Bro Walks C) Terrible Gus Johnson nicknames D) All of the Above.

Sponsor: FTB’s Donors Club – the most direct way to support our efforts – is back for another year! (sad Sarah McLachlan music plays) For $9.99 you can feed a starving blogger…and get a cool FTB bottle koozie in return! JOIN HERE.

Another Penn State game on CBS game, another viral double pass to Nittany Lions TE 44-Tyler Warren for a massive gain. Coincidence? Probably.

The Warren Wildcat (2024’s T-Formation) finally showed another wrinkle for future defenses to worry about – moving forward, Penn State QB Drew Allar lining up 5-7 yards deep in the displaced backfield is ALWAYS a threat for a double pass.

PLAY ON PAPER:

PLAY ON VIDEO: 

Continue reading

Just like airing the Whiteout on a terrible streaming service, what’s Old is suddenly New in Andy Kotelnicki’s Offense

Sponsor: FTB’s Donors Club – the most direct way to support our efforts – is back for another year! (sad Sarah McLachlan music plays) For $9.99 you can feed a starving blogger…and get a cool FTB bottle koozie in return! JOIN HERE.

In an offense where the highlight play typically comes in wild, unorthodox fashion – stuff we haven’t seen before — Saturday’s Whiteout game featured several gains for first down that were simply second layers or iterations of base concepts – stuff we HAVE seen before…just slightly tweaked.

What I mean by this: rather than building a game plan around gadget, gimmicky type plays (to be clear: not saying there’s anything wrong with this), Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki focused on peeling back the 2nd layer to the go-to concepts that the Nittany Lions consistently run.

While the plays themselves may not be all that exciting, hopefully getting inside Coach K’s brain is.

Continue reading

You got questions, we got…the same questions and no answers for Penn State’s four forgettable, unimaginative plays near the goal line with the game hanging in the balance.  

Sponsor: FTB’s 2024 Penn State football coverage is sponsored by the Sports Medicine specialists at Concierge Medical Associates. Schedule an in-person or remote consultation at: conciergemedical.ai

Why fuss around, right? Just rip off the damn Band-Aid. We’re discussing the failed 4^th quarter goal-to-go sequence that sucked the juice out of a record-setting Beaver Stadium crowd like a poorly aimed straw popping a Capri-Sun pouch.

Hold your nose. Here we go.

Continue reading

Sponsor: FTB’s 2024 Penn State football coverage is sponsored by the Sports Medicine specialists at Concierge Medical Associates. Schedule an in-person or remote consultation at: conciergemedical.ai

Wildcat is a popular nickname for high school and college athletic teams across the United States. And two months through the second installment of this in-season weekly series, Wildcat has been the most popular topic of discussion.

Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki has whipped out Wildcat so often this season, that the uncommon formation isn’t really a surprise anymore. Especially with your starting QB hurt, it makes sense to make little tweaks within base concepts to create some distortion on the defensive side.

Continue reading