Why Penn State finally has the offense to match an elite defense — and make the playoff

Kent State head coach Kenni Burns laughed as he reiterated a point he’d made a few minutes prior in the visiting media room at Beaver Stadium on Saturday night.

Burns was just on the receiving end of a 56-0 blowout loss at the hands of Penn State — his team’s second straight lopsided defeat after it lost to Tennessee on the road last week, 71-0. So he knew what he was getting into in Happy Valley.

“I’ll say this again, and this is a reality,” Burns said. “We played two really good football teams that I expect to be in the top five here shortly.”

Burns’ assessment aligns with the expectations surrounding Penn State. This is not supposed to be a team that earns 10 wins and gets bounced in the first round of the College Football Playoff, or a team just happy to be in contention for the Big Ten title.

It’s one that wants to make real noise in December and January — and finally has the offense to match an elite defense and do just that.

On some level, this year was when the team was supposed to be primed for a breakthrough under head coach James Franklin. He and his staff recruited an elite class in 2022 that is now in its junior year and, led by quarterback Drew Allar, is growing up quickly. Plenty of members of that class were big-time contributors last year, but very few had ascended anywhere near their potential peak in college football.

Last year, Allar would make a nice throw in the middle of the field amid a flurry of checkdowns. Or DE Dani Dennis-Sutton would get a pressure on the quarterback despite being a backup. There were many contributors who flashed last year but didn’t consistently wow — or who competed behind future NFL players.

But this year many of those players are now the guy at their position. Allar at QB, Dennis-Sutton at defensive end, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen at running back, Zane Durant at defensive tackle — all of them entrenched as starters. They’ve transitioned to being leaders in their position rooms, and even players at other positions have taken notice.

“(Allar’s) overall demeanor this year is way different than last year,” starting right tackle Anthony Donkoh said. “... The first drive we had an interception, he was just telling us we’re gonna bounce back, we’re gonna be fine. Just making sure everybody is on the same page and all right.”

A lot of that stems from confidence. Allar and the others from the 2022 recruiting class have seen theirs grow with their playing time, and it’s paid off in a big way for many of them.

Take wide receiver Omari Evans, who never had more than 30 yards in a game under offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich but has seen a spike in his production. (He already has 205 receiving yards through three games this year.) He’s seen his time on the field increase and it’s helped his self-belief. That’s true whether it’s coming in games or even during the week.

“It’s really making plays in practice and translating to the game,” Evans said. “And my coaches giving me confidence, Coach Franklin reaching out and telling us how good we’re getting and improving. (It’s) really from the coaches and my teammates.”

Playing time has helped the players’ confidence — but it’s also been aided by offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and the rest of the offensive staff this year. Evans is a prime example of someone who has stepped into a bigger role in the new offense, but even those players who were on the field last year have grown.

Donkoh said that stems from how Kotelnicki runs his system.

“The way coordinators run it is going to be different,” Donkoh said. “I feel like the way that Coach K likes running our offense is more player-based, personnel-based. Yurcich was more (scheme-based). Because of that we’re always using the best people for trying to run the best plays for us and stuff like that. And that really helps build everybody’s confidence up. And that’s the big difference between this time this year and last year this time.”

The evidence isn’t just in the players’ mentality, it’s in the stat book after each game. The Nittany Lions never stray too far from their path offensively and don’t let one drive impact the next — never letting one mistake lead to another.

Even Burns noticed it from the other sideline.

“He’s really good at responding,” Burns said about Allar. “... I think that’s the sign of a really elite quarterback. They can play the moment, play the next play. And he does a really good job of that.”

Allar will have to continue being resilient. He will make mistakes this season, and his response will dictate whether his team can get over the hump and actually be different from the Franklin-era teams that have preceded it.

For now the Nittany Lions aren’t looking that far ahead. Wide receiver Julian Fleming, who was on playoff teams in his time at Ohio State, said the focus remains the same. It’s about learning from this win and moving on to the next game, this time to take on an undefeated and ranked Illinois team.

But eventually Dec. 8 will get here and the Nittany Lions will find out if they’re in the playoff bracket.

And if they are, they’ll be able to point to Allar, Kotelnicki and the offense’s drastic growth as the reason they got there.