James Franklin’s Penn State 2024 season started with their win against WVU on the road and ended with their loss against Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl. No one could say that they had a poor season. But this was a season that didn’t bring any silverware to the table. They lost their Conference game against Oregon and finished with 2 regular season losses. Where do things go wrong?

Well, Penn State ranked third in their conference in total yards per game. Ranked 9th in their passing yards per game in the Big 10. And were 1st in their conference in rushing yards. Their overall offense, while massively improved since their 2023 season, had one glaring problem. They refused to take advantage of the passing situations. Was it a problem solely on Drew Allar, or was it part of James Franklin’s strategies?

Thomas Frank Carr provided insight into how PSU lagged behind in their passing game. “Every RPO is a decision and so it is a decision that the defense dictates to you. I have a feeling there were a couple of 50-50 chances and you know he’s (Drew Allar) reading the situation and it says to throw and maybe he gave anyway and it might have been a good decision because they got yards. But we’re talking about how you enhance the passing game and so I think being more aggressive generally with the RPOs is a way to get The Passing game. Some easy layups and that’s an area where I think that’s just a simple fix“.  But, how exactly can the team improve on this specifically?’

Well, Frank provided an example of Steve Sarkisian’s Texas Longhorns, who have exploited and reaped massive benefits from their aggressive plays. “I’m a fan of this idea this is kind of what the Texas offense is built around they go hard after this idea of creating these dynamically aggressive down-the-field RPO situations…Target receivers more on these RPOs which if you’re running a skinny post to a receiver running an RPO that’s one-on-one into the boundary or wherever you stack this because Andy Kotelnicki (Penn State OC) can distort the defensive structure with motions and shifts and formation“.And he is right Steve Sarkisian is someone who is a master of executing lethal RPOs. And here’s how.

Sarkisian always puts emphasis on using his wide receivers to get the ball on the run. This mainly happens in his defenses when he notices that a defense is playing zonal coverage. In this way, he forces the defense to switch to man coverage and run crossing routes to move his receivers in space in order to take advantage of their athleticism. But, more than his passing game, Sarkisian also knows when to apply those running routes and uses his back receivers to block the tackles. Here’s how.

Steve Sarkisian’s offensive schemes

The QB hands off the ball or decides to throw as the defense decides to organize its structure accordingly. He also uses the ‘purple tag’ that involves front blocking and a passing play that mimics a running play.  His plays have been very successful in his games, especially his game against Texas A&M, where Quintrevion Wisner (RB) and Mathew Golden combined as Quinn Ewers passed for 218 yards to run some very lethal RPO situations to lead their team to a 17-7 win. James Franklin’s combination of both the passing game and rushing game will turn the defenses upside down if Nick Singleton and Wallace are utilized efficiently in those roles. The verdict?

Well, Drew Allar certainly has enough left in his tank as he coming back for his senior year. But, Franklin will need to utilize his QB to his potential as we saw some flashes of utter brilliance in 2024 from the QB as he finished with a 66.5% pass completion rate and ran for 3,327. However, he still will need to ensure that he has another QB as a backup for the long term as 2025 may be the last season for Allar. Because that is a thing of concern right now.  But also, because their other backup QB, Pribula, is off to Missouri.