Hindsight 2022: Penn State Offense vs. Auburn

War Damn Eagle? Nah, More Like Worn Down Eagle, as Penn State’s Offensive Line Proved  That Speed – Even SEC Speed – Is No Match for a Solid Wall of Competent Blockers

Sponsor: FTB’s Donors Club – the most direct way to support our efforts – is back for another year! (Sally Struthers voice) For $9.99 you can feed a starving blogger and get a cool FTB Koozie in return. JOIN HERE.

*Please remember to click the ‘Share My Address With For The Blogy’ box when checking out so we know where to mail your gift!

BOX SCORE    FTB CHARTING

Just like Seacrest: Orange, Out.

Often imitated but never duplicated, Penn State – creators of the “monochromatic mayhem” known as The Whiteout – sent another color-themed crowd home with an L for the second time in as many opportunities this season.

Despite facing two squads that received votes in the preseason AP Top 25 poll – Purdue and Auburn – both on the road, the Nittany Lions offense has produced Mike Yurcich Results even if they’ve somewhat strayed from traditional Mike Yurcich Methods.

Through 3 games, Penn State is averaging 40.7 points per contest – a tally that resides in the same zip code as Yurcich’s most prolific offenses, 2017 Oklahoma State-45.0 and his COVID pitstop at Texas-42.7. Those two explosive units, though, leaned heavily on a lethal mix of inside and outside zone run concepts – a philosophical fit with what Penn State used under Joe Moorhead, Ricky Rahne and Kirk Ciarrocca. Well, on Saturday, less than 33% of Penn State’s run plays were zone in nature (hopefully that wording makes sense).

Through 3 games, Penn State is averaging 485.0 yards per contest – a total that also resides in the same zip code as Yurcich’s second and third most prolific offenses, 2018 Oklahoma State-499.4, and 2020 Texas-475.0. 2017 Oklahoma State – which racked up an eye-popping 571.3 total yards per game – lives in some swanky gated community. But still, all of those yard-munching attacks loved to stretch defenses with deep vertical passes – a Yurcich hallmark.

2017 Okie State starting QB Mason Rudolph completed 42 passes that traveled 20+ yards in the air.

2018 Okie State starting QB Taylor Cornelius completed 44 passes that traveled 20+ yards in the air.

2020 “We’re Back!” gif Sam Ehlinger completed 19 passes that traveled 20+ yards in the air.

Thus far, Sean Clifford has completed 2 passes that traveled 20+ yards in the air. TWO!

Credit Yurcich for having the courage to stray from two offensive pillars that made him a multi-millionaire, and for mapping a new route – a path more conducive to his current roster’s strengths and weaknesses – to get 2022 Penn State to the same elite statistical destination as his previous offenses…for now, at least.

Formations

In 11 Red Zone trips this season, Penn State has scored 11 times. Quick calculation….carry the nonexistent 5….round to the nearest Integer…that’s 100 percent! Nine of those visits have concluded in the end zone. That’s, well, that’s not 100 percent (no more math) but it’s really stellar.

Conversely, Penn State’s 4.2 points per Red Zone trip last season ranked 115^th in FBS, the lowest listing of the James Franklin era.

So what changed?

One explanation for Penn State’s sudden proficiency inside opponents’ 20 could be Yurcich’s formational diversity once the field shrinks. After showcasing a 85-15 Shotgun-to-Ace formation split between the 20s (not an official ratio, but an educated guess) Yurcich has ordered up previously off-the-menu Red Zone alignments way more than we saw last year.

On Saturday, Penn State scored 4 Red Zone TDs out of 3 different base formations – two of which we had not seen yet this season.

Here’s the first:

12 personnel with an extra OL – 72- Bryce Effner at Far Left Tackle, if you will, lined up outside of standard LT 74-Olu Fashanu. Initially, TE 44-Tyler Warren is flexed out to the boundary, but motions to the backfield four yards behind the Guard-Tackle B Gap, establishing an Off-Set I Formation. Octogenarian, fullback-infatuated message board users probably fainted when they saw this. Thank goodness for Medic Alert bracelets, huh?

Warren totally whiffs, but 72-Effner and 86-Brenton Strange’s playside push, coupled with Singleton’s downhill approach, get Penn State back on the scoreboard. Notice where Effner, Strange and 58-Tengwall are when Singleton crosses the goal line. Impressive surge.

Eleven minutes later: Another new RZ formation, another Penn State TD.

Pistol Formation, Twins to the boundary with a TE Wing. While Yurcich was a Shotgun-centric playcaller at Oklahoma State, he did sprinkle in a handful of Pistol snaps most games. At Penn State, I don’t think we’ve seen Yurcich operate out of the Pistol (I’ll check our 2021 charting later this week and update)…certainly not this season, anyway.

Penn State’s other two RZ scores came out of Shotgun looks, which isn’t anything out of the ordinary. The play design/concept of two TDs was new, though.

Unlike Clifford’s QB Draw TD vs. Iowa last year from a similar spot on the field, this run out of Shotgun Empty features a pulling guard and H-back. Gold Star goes to 77- Sal Wormley on this play for rudely ushering preseason All-SEC DE 25-Colby Wooden out of his gap.

Note: the strongside receivers run slants and Clifford does give a token glimpse their way post-snap, so this miiiight be an RPO even though the announcers said it was a designed QB run. Hard to tell. If there were no pass attachment to this play, then IDK why you’d have these guys running routes that might unintentionally bring defenders closer to the box.

This next TD is definitely an RPO and utilizes a motion wrinkle Yurcich had not previously used at Penn State: ORBIT RETURN.

Orbit Return is exactly what it sounds like. You might remember then-Alabama OC Steve Sarkisian torching Ohio State with it in the COVID championship two years ago. The receiver – in this case, 6-Harrison Wallace — stops and reverses at the crest of his orbit. In hindsight, Clifford probably should have pulled this ball since the unblocked DE crashes pretty hard. Clifford’s post-handoff body language sort of implies he screwed up. On the pull, Clifford and Harrison would have burdened the conflict defender, Auburn CB 36-Jaylin Simpson, with two wrong-no-matter-what decisions to make – either attack Clifford, leaving Wallace wide open, or cover the toss to Wallace, leaving a clear path for Clifford to score on his own.

Nice job by Strange to run interference on the unblocked end, and ELITE vision and instincts from 13-Kaytron Allen. Wow. Yeah, prepping at IMG is like playing minor-league Triple-A college football, but still…true freshmen shouldn’t be this polished, seasoned, and smooth. Unreal cut. No other Penn State RB scores on this play. Not even Nicholas Singleton.

Substitutions

 Safe to say that Week 1 starting RB 24-Keyvone Lee will have to face the same harsh realization that FTB favorite and overall good guy Akeel Lynch dealt with 7 years ago – the young dude(s) are too damn talented to sit.

10-Nicholas Singleton started at RB for the first of what will be many times as a Penn Stater. He finished with 21 snaps, 10 carries, and scored two touchdowns. Fellow true freshman 13-Kaytron Allen ended the glorious afternoon with 20 snaps, 9 carries, and scored two touchdowns. So, yeah, they’re good. Lee only touched the field for 9 plays vs. Auburn. Yes, he was injured…but this ageist trend began last week, not this week, when Singleton and Allen both doubled the junior’s total snap count vs. Ohio, so the writing is on the wall for Lee.

Previously injured (we’re guessing) Ace 84-Theo Johnson finally returned to the fold this week, although he was not targeted. The polite Canadian pass catcher and backup OL 78-Golden Israel-Achumba were the only offensive players to get reps this week that didn’t last week. GIA entered the game for the final drive piloted by polite Canadian pass thrower 11-Christian Veilleux.

Interestingly, Penn State’s starting offensive line – 74-Olu Fashanu, 58-Landon Tengwall, 70-Juice Scruggs, 77-Sal Wormley and 79-Caedan Wallace — stayed in the game for the sole 15-Drew Allar drive. The skill position players didn’t not, however, opening the door for 28-Devyn Ford to rip off a nice 30-yard run.

79-Wallace and 72-Effner continue to bomb the audition process for the leaky right tackle role, as the two hot-and-cold pass protectors split reps nearly evenly.

Run/Pass Blocking

 Short and sweet, but packed with a healthy dose of clip candy in this section. Our latest FTB FILM STUDY, which will be published tonight, focuses on Penn State’s offensive line renaissance and how Yurcich’s use of compressed formations put Auburn’s smallish defenders nose-to-nose against bigger dudes in white, so we’ll save some digital ink and keep our analysis tight here. Don’t get used to it.

86-Brenton Strange sold his soul to the devil and blocked like a man possessed for the first time since…since….since ever.

As hard as it is, divert your eyes away from Singleton on this long run (below) and follow Strange instead as the 4^th-year tight end fertilizes the 45-yard line by planting a tiny DB to stimulate the soil.

Here, Strange gets a piece of two Auburn defenders to spring 13-Allen.

For much of the offseason, a lot of our coverage harped on Penn State’s inability to sustain – or even get to, really – second-level blocks. No such issues on Saturday.

In Play 1, focus on 70-Scruggs as he briefly works a 1-tech double team with 77-Wormley then detaches and climbs to LB 13-Cam Riley.

In Play 2, 72-Effner gets to the second-level and squares up Auburn LB 32-Wesley Steiner as Singleton zooms to daylight. A+ effort from 1-KLS downfield. Turns out, good blocking is contagious.

Slight dip in pass protection efficiency, but nothing too alarming. Right Tackle is a problem. 79-Wallace struggled with speed moves AND power rushes on the road, again. Wallace didn’t give up a QB pressure last week at home. Perhaps the crowd noise is slightly delaying his get-off?

Quarterbacks

*Does not include 1 Throwaway/Batted Ball. Does include plays negated by penalty.

BTW, for those of you currently squinting your eyes trying decode what the hell is happening in the top right corner of this photo, well, we don’t have the budget to pay BIG MEME for a non-watermarked version – we spent it all on these damn charts – so we used the clipping tool. Look, we’re not super proud of it, either, but don’t be a friggin’ narc, OK? Mr. IMGFlip.com’s chubby kids have plenty of food on the table. Our $3.99 (which, again, we can’t afford) isn’t gonna cause them to miss any meals…at least, that’s what we keep telling ourselves to lessen the guilt.

Anyway, enough about premeditated content piracy…let’s talk (type) about the quarterbacks, eh?

Statistically speaking, Sean Clifford’s 14-of-19, sub-200-yard, touchdownless performance on The Plains was the equivalent of receiving socks and underwear for Christmas compared to the rest of the goodies in Santa’s Saturday Sleigh – 11 TFL, 245 rushing yards, 4 takeaways, 73.9 completion percentage, 6 sacks, 3.3 rushing yards allowed per carry.

What Clifford’s beige numbers fail to portray, though, is the total command with which he ran the offense and executed Mike Yurcich’s system – a savage papercutting that provided 80,000-ish Auburn fans plenty of reason to leave early with their voices unexpectedly intact.

Our Analytics Expert/Smart Math Talkin’ guy, Nate Wilmot, spoke extensively before the Purdue opener about Clifford’s Jekyll-Hyde statistical home and road splits through the years….road Clifford being (googles whether Jekyll or Hyde is the bad one) Mr. Hyde.

Not the case, Saturday. Facing a front-seven filled with 4-stars, and a raucous crowd full of collar-wearing Claytons, Garlands, Bradyns, Wyatts, and Codys, Clifford’s eyes stayed downfield, his feet weren’t overly caffeinated, and his poise was platinum. Pocket Presence. Yurcich didn’t ask Clifford to do too much, but what was assigned was executed to near perfection.

Lot to love about this play…although it did stumble out of the gate.

3-Parker Washington motions back toward the formation to chip Auburn’s former All-Big Ten (not a typo. Northwestern transfer) Edge 55-Eku Leota, but he whiffs badly. Compounding matters, 55-Leota detaches from aforementioned PSU RT 79-Wallace, allowing him to push Clifford off-platform with inside pressure.

Clifford takes an efficient, long step to the right to avoid 55-Leota without losing balance, without dropping his eyes, and (most importantly since it’s been Clifford’s bugaboo forever) without compromising his ability to throw in the blink of an eye. Last year, Clifford did a much better job of not dropping his eyes but often negated that growth in pocket presence with spastic lower & upper body movement that made it either impossible to sling it if some WR slipped open late, OR severely compromised his throwing mechanics, causing Ricky Vaughn tosses.

Not here, though. Weight stays even. Calculated, rationed steps – not one of them unnecessary. Upper half and lower half in sync, ready to throw. Unsure if he has the runway to fully step into this throw, Clifford improvises with a slight jump-hop at the end to generate the needed velocity to fit this ball in. First down.

Another one:

Auburn sends 4. Penn State blocks with 5. Tigers (somehow) get a free rusher — Leota. Almost looks like 72-Effner thought this wasn’t an empty set, like there was a non-existent RB staying in to block. Regardless, it’s a busted protection.

Instead of tucking the ball and running, Clifford scoots up in the pocket – thanks to 74-Olu Fashanu’s eclipsing of the boundary DE – ball still in the holster, ready to fire. Auburn LB 13-Cam Riley is caught in the middle of a no-win situation – come up and honor Clifford’s scramble or stay back and cover 86-Brenton Strange. Riley commits to Clifford…Clifford flips to Strange, completing a harder-than-it-appears pass. First down.

We saved Clifford’s highest degree of difficulty throw for last:

Solid job by the two PSU tackles, but Clifford feels interior pressure as Auburn 50-Marcus Harris inches 77-Sal Wormley closer and closer to the QB. Clifford hits eject. For a nanosecond, Clifford reverts back to an old bad habit and dips his head…again, only for a nanosecond, like someone on the sideline shocked his collar when they saw his eyes drop. Clifford almost runs himself into a sack…but because his eyes are up, and his body is balanced and ready to fire, he throws an accurate ball to 3-Washington with incredible touch considering the surrounding chaos.

Pass Catchers

More Brenton Strange love? Sure, why not.

The accomplished pile-pusher and newfound run-blocking sorcerer also picked a few snaps to tease us Saturday with glimpses of play-making ability that, frankly, we never thought was a part of his DNA.

55 of Strange’s 80 yards receiving came after the catch. 4 of Strange’s 6 receptions went for first downs. Strange’s 90.7 PFF receiving grade was higher than the number Jahan Dotson posted (86.9) during his record-setting performance vs. Maryland last year.

Other than Strange’s lead-footed leap on this 24-yard gain that peaked a foot or so short of Saquon’s iconic postering of Iowa in 2017, he had a flawless afternoon.

*Does not include 2 Uncatchable passes. Does include plays negated by penalty.

Finally, mirroring what we observed when analyzing his 2021 WKU tape, 5-Mitchell Tinsley should be the only receiver Clifford considers in deep-shot 50-50 ball opportunities – a one-time staple of Mike Yurcich’s Oklahoma State offense that got lost at baggage claim on his way to State College.

Of course, some of the blame might fall on Clifford…a guy whose turnover-prone reputation from 2020 seems to still spook him when ‘take-a-chance’ shots materialize downfield. Perfect example:

Quit trying to be perfect. Throw it up. Give it some air. Let your athlete (Tinsley) out-athlete the defender.