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The Red Zone – a place where elite offenses flourish and also-rans stall out like a 1977 Ford Pinto. To many, it’s puzzling why an offense can be so explosive, fluid and rhythmic in the open field then, suddenly, stub its toe and step on rakes once inside the final 20 yards to paydirt.

It’s an enveloping paradox Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich couldn’t untangle from during his first season in Happy Valley but did everything in his play-calling power to smooth out and make right in 2022.

As our friend and FTB contributor Nate Wilmot laid out in his end-of-year statistical recap, Penn State averaged 4.2 points per Red Zone visit in 2021 – “good” for a 114^th place tie in FBS alongside neutered attacks like Rutgers and UMass. Last year, different story…the Nittany Lions averaged 5.8 points per Red Zone trip, trailing only Tennessee in this vital metric. Red Zone Efficiency represented the biggest year-to-year leap for Penn State in any basic or advanced statistical category.

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SPONSOR: Is this Heaven? Far from it…it’s Des Moines, Iowa. Regardless, STUBHUB has your tickets for Penn State’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in a dozen years. Find your seat HERE, using FTB’s STUBHUB LINK. 

Quick off-season recap for those of you who live off the grid but somehow manage to read this blog…North Carolina DB Storm Duck waddled his way to Happy Valley. As of this typing, Penn State still hasn’t hired a defensive line coach. And Kent State WR Dante Cephas (a Pittsburgh native) chose Penn State over Pitt in the transfer portal this winter — yet another knife in the back for Panthers fans who insist they’re on the same level as the Nittany Lions.

Our hearts certainly go out to them in this trying time.

Alright, enough with the punching down. At the risk of counting unhatched chickens, in 2023 Penn State should field one of the most loaded teams (if not THE™ most loaded team) in the James Franklin era. Talent wins games, sure, but depth captures banners. At least that’s what we’ve told ourselves to justify this blog post. Therefore, let’s take a look at some of the unanswered questions on this year’s depth chart as the spring practice schedule begins on Tuesday.

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An Alignment That Put The ‘Smashmouth’ In Mike Yurcich’s Smashmouth Spread At Oklahoma State, The Diamond Formation Has Been Re-Imagined In Happy Valley Thanks To A Collection Of Tight Ends That Can Do More Than Just Wreck Stuff. 

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As a fanboy of studying offensive football, I’m a sucker for some good wrinkles.

Not the wrinkles that suddenly appear the millisecond you blow out the candles on your 40^th birthday cake, nor the wrinkles you lazily try to smooth out of an unironed shirt on a rushed workday morning with sprinkles of tap water and a 5-minute tumble in the dryer (always does the trick). No, I’m talking about play-calling wrinkles – those delightful miniscule scheme adjustments that coordinators make as a season goes on.

In Week 8 vs. Ohio State, Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich finally flashed a formational wrinkle — a blast from the past dating back to his Okie State days – that had previously been oddly absent throughout his tenure in Happy Valley. It’s called the Diamond Formation.

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