Hindsight 2020: PSU Offense vs. Iowa 

Answers and Solutions Continue to Elude Penn State’s Sputtering Ford Edsel Offense as Recurring Negative Trends Pile Up Saturday After Saturday 

FTB CHARTING – BOX SCORE

One play – the successful 2-point conversion to Keyvone Lee that reduced Iowa’s lead to 31-21 during the sliver-of-false-hope phase of Saturday’s depantsing  — gave us pause and made us ponder a Big Picture question:

How under James Franklin’s thumb is new OC Kirk Ciarrocca when it comes to play-calling and system installation?   

What triggered this question was a tweet from Saturday. Credit Matt Bortner of 1450 AM ESPN State College for eyeballing this reuse of a 2019 play call.

Entering Week 5, Penn State was 0-for in 2-point tries. Here Penn State goes empty with quads to the field side and a 3WR-bunch look off the LOS in-line with the numbers. Tight ends 84-Theo Johnson and 86-Brenton Strange get hands on the Iowa DBs and Lee beats the unblocked defender to the paint. Cool play.

Sure as sugar, Bortner was spot on. Here’s the 2019 play. SAME formation. SAME design – except KJ Hamler runs a corner route, which dumbly brings another defender into play. Even so, if Nick Bowers wins his block Ricky Slade probably scores But he didn’t, so Slade didn’t. 

So who called this play on Saturday – Franklin or Ciarrocca? And who’s play is it? Now, it is feasible Ciarrocca viewed this play in person last November, found it clever, and added it to his arsenal of 2-point plays. But it’s also just as feasible Franklin felt the offense wasn’t up to speed on the nuances of Ciarrocca’s plays and told the new OC to borrow from the old OC. 

When Franklin spoke to the media last December before the Cotton Bowl, he said he wanted Ciarrocca to “blend” the best elements of the new hire’s offense with the best elements of the then-current system – a system which vaulted Penn State out of sanction hell and up toward the upper echelon of college football. 

But what if these blending elements are oil and water?  What if what worked at Penn State and what worked at Minnesota/Western Michigan form some mutant defective Voltron when mashed together? Because that’s sure as hell what this looks like through 5 weeks. Penn State’s offense isn’t simply bad, it’s historically inept in a few categories.  

If Franklin wanted someone to simply add another layer on top of the impressive sand castle he built from 2016-2019, he should have promoted Tyler Bowen from within. 

But he didn’t. Franklin went for the splash – Ciarrocca. And now a 2020 tsunami of suck has washed away that sand castle. So let Ciarrocca do more than dangle his toes in the water, James. Let him cannonball in the deep end! Check your ego at the door and grant Ciarrocca the autonomy Joe Moorhead was afforded – a wise move that really saved Franklin’s job!  

FORMATIONS

Other than the aforementioned 2-point conversion pass, Kirk Ciarrocca didn’t use two tight ends on any other play vs. Iowa – a first this season. 73 of 73 plays featured 11 personnel. 

We’re optimistic Johnson and Strange will continue to develop into reliable pass-catchers and solid blockers, but as of this moment, neither is a mismatch like Pat Freiermuth. Therefore, we’re hoping Ciarrocca flashes some 4-WR sets this week against Don Brown’s stubborn insistence to run press-man coverage. Pop the top off this damn Jack-in-the-Box offense, Kirk!

As far as play calls, Ciarrocca showed off some new looks on draw plays – including this old school HB Draw that we haven’t seen tape on this season or in any of the Minnesota and Western Michigan games we scouted back in September when HOPE wasn’t yet a dirty four-letter word. Nicely designed vintage play that netted a 6-yard gain…and likely more if Journey Brown or Noah Cain carry the ball. 

Sadly, you just witnessed the longest rush by an RB vs. Iowa. Yeah, we just threw up a little in our mouths, too, so you’re not alone.

Ciarrocca put some new sprinkles on tiresome QB draw plays – the flimsy foundation of this disgusting 2020 ground game. On this play and the next, 7-Will Levis motions his sidecar back out just before the snap, baiting the LBs to follow the sudden movement. 71- Will Fries does a fantastic job pulling and sealing the edge while 86-Brenton Strange – who is lined up more as a true H Back in this formation than a TE Wing (another new wrinkle) – gets a quality block on the WLB, allowing Levis to take this thing off tackle for 8 yards on 1st down. 

Penn State ran four QB draws in the 1st Quarter but Iowa never really caught on…this play only nets five yards but could have been 10-15 if 53-Rasheed Walker punctuates his block on the pull. 

SUBSTITUTIONS

Same starters – Walker, Miranda, Menet, Fries and Wallace – on the offensive line with less rotation than Weeks 1-4. CJ Thorpe and Juice Scruggs played one series. 75-Des Holmes was MIA (undisclosed injury/medical issue) for the second consecutive Saturday.

At running back, two true freshmen remain – 26-Caziah Holmes and 24-Keyvone Lee. That’s because Devyn Ford peace’d out early in the first quarter with an injury. Much like Noah Cain’s departure vs. Indiana, we have no clue what the heck happened to Ford. The defacto veteran running back stealthy slipped out of the game and never returned. 

Tight End is a MASH unit, too. Pat Freiermuth is donezo after undergoing season-ending surgery, thus leaving behind an abbreviated legacy at Penn State but a legacy nonetheless. 86-Brenton Strange did his best to fill those impossibly large shoes, posting career highs in receptions (3) receiving yards (38) and notching his first TD in Blue and White (shown further down in the QB section.) 84-Theo Johnson also showed up on the scene and caught this wide-open 10-yard pass – with an assist from Dotson, who slyly screens the safety responsible for that area — on his first play from scrimmage:

No. 44 also played. We had to google him. If you’re wondering, it’s Tyler Warren. 

Wide receiver 6-Cam Sullivan-Brown stepped on the field…so we don’t need to talk about his mysterious absence ever again. Assuming he still wants to play football, Sullivan-Brown likely isn’t long for life in State College. After dropping his name in the Transfer Portal before 2019 Spring Practice, expect the redshirt junior to re-enter for good in four weeks. 13-KLS started but didn’t see a target. 85-Rudy Lutz and 11-Daniel George saw snaps in the 1st Quarter, too. 

It’s Jahan Dotson, Parker Washington, and everybody else, basically. Pray Dotson doesn’t leave early for the NFL. 

RUN/PASS BLOCKING

Hard to believe, but Iowa’s plucky 3-stars outmuscled and outmanned Penn State’s offensive line more than Ohio State’s bluechips did…and they did it from first snap to last snap. Any praise, or benefit of the doubt, we heaped on this unit last week vs. a pathetic Nebraska defense got erased seven days later by a slightly-better-than-average Iowa group.

In this clip, there are 4 minutes left in the 4th Quarter and the Hawkeyes are up two scores.  But, man, they keep coming.  Iowa DE 13-Joe Evans weighs 248 pounds in the program and 235 in real life. Penn State’s Caeden Wallace exceeds 300. Yet little brother bullies big brother back into Clifford’s kitchen. 

Pass Protection chart is a bit misleading (as in it doesn’t exposes all warts) this week since Levis threw so many short, quick passes – which we’ll explore in the next section. After allowing just one sack on 90+ plays vs. Indiana, Penn State has surrendered 19 sacks in the past four games against the 6th, 14th, 12th and 3rd ranked defenses in the Big Ten, respectively.

That can’t happen.

Shockingly, Penn State’s pass blocking was the bright spot on Saturday, because the Nittany Lions run blocking was an absolute joke. No holes. No surge. Bullied bigly. Penn State’s running backs carried the ball 13 times for 26 yards. And yeah, these aren’t the guys the preseason previews magazines thought would handle the load, but these aren’t walk-ons, either. Caziah Holmes and Keyvone Lee are good enough to gain yards if there are yards to be gained.

Perfect example:

An unblocked Iowa LB fills the intended hole, so Lee tries to make chicken salad out of chicken excrement by bouncing outside. Problem is, Iowa DE 97-Zach Van Valkenberg – All-Name Team and a FREAKING TRANSFER FROM DIVISION II HILLSDALE COLLEGE – absolutely owns Rasheed Walker (the 65th best recruit in America three years ago, according to 247 Sports) with ONE EXTENDED ARM so that he’s free to lunge and wrap Lee for a loss with the other arm. 

I’d show you more sad clips, but life is already depressing enough. By now, you get it. These guys aren’t very good.

QUARTERBACK PLAY

It’s like déjà vu all over again…

Out with the old…

*Chart doesn’t include 1 Tipped Ball, but does include throws negated by penalties.

In with the new…

*Chart Doesn’t Include 6 Throwaways/Batted Balls, but does include throws negated by Penalties.

Last week, we shoveled dirt on Sean Clifford’s Penn State career, but like the WWE legend The Undertaker he rose from the grave. I guess he’s the starter this week in Ann Arbor? Sean Clifford’s proven ability to throw accurate pre-determined throws is the perfect counter to Don Brown’s aggressive press-man defensive philosophy. If Michigan State and Rutgers tore apart the Wolverines, Clifford should have a career day…if he plays.   

But first Levis…

To us, the coaching staff did Levis a giant disservice on Saturday. The game plan looked completely lifted from the playbook of Mattel’s handheld Football 2 game, remedial AF. 

Unlike last week, Levis was insanely accurate vs. Iowa – mostly because 80 percent of his throws the fat kid picked last at recess could have completed. What’s frustrating is when Levis threw the ball further than most humans can pee, he looked really good!

Here’s his first pass of the game. Iowa defenders at his feet. Never drops his eyes. Never loses his cool. Step up and fires a catchable ball to Washington, allowing for the necessary RAC to move the chains.   

On that play alone, Levis proved he didn’t need training wheels…but no dice. Instead of stretching the defense vertically, Penn State chose for Levis to dump balls to his unspectacular backs and tight ends…that is when he wasn’t absorbing too much punishment from a plethora of designed QB runs.

Throughout his two quarters-plus, Levis made one critical mistake – his predetermined  low-percentage ball to Dotson on 4th and 2 when Strange was wide open for an easy first down. (86 is lined up in the slot.)

With little to lose and no one in his corner, Sean Clifford electrified the 78 parents, siblings, and cousins who still bother to show up to Beaver Stadium with these two touchdown passes on his first two throws:

Clifford’s footwork is a little funky – like that kid at Dave and Buster’s who mastered Dance Dance Revolution – but otherwise this is a beautifully executed play as the newly-minted backup QB pulls the LB up with the fake to the flat and finds Strange in the bubble with a well-paced pass that aids the tight end’s run after catch. Credit Strange for powering into the end zone, too.

Next pass:

SEAN CLIFFORD IS REBORN! OK, maybe not, but hey 2 for 2 with 2 touchdowns ain’t too shabby. Dotson gets the Iowa safety to bite on a dig route before jetting upfield. Clifford hangs in the pocket long enough – a recurring issue this season – for the full route to develop and throws a pretty deep ball before absorbing a big hit. 

But, of course, the clock soon struck midnight and Sean Clifford morphed back into a pumpkin. Disregard Clifford’s two interceptions, because they were fairly fluky. What hurt was seeing Clifford’s mechanics get sloppy and balls sail. Here’s a montage of those moments – the most disheartening being the last deep ball to Washington who is open by several counties:

PASS CATCHING

*Chart doesn’t include uncatchable passes

Hope you don’t mistake the dearth of pass catching clips in this section as us running out of a steam with a 4-day weekend on the horizon. That’s not it, at all. Rather, we legit have nothing to show you that we haven’t already shown you.

Look at the chart. No real case of the dropsies, and no real BTN Standouts brought to you by Auto-Owners Insurance, either. The running backs caught everything tossed their way, though they weren’t asked to run tricky routes. Tight ends filled in admirably for the injured All-American, but you’ve seen those plays. 

So yeah…