Quite a few of us have been pointing this out since he got here: he refuses to engage with the proven modern concept of offensive football: throw first to setup the run.
His schemes are designed almost exclusively around RPO, and the passing routes are quick outs to the sidelines, often at or even behind the line of scrimmage.
Opposing defenses know that Penn State doesn't throw over the middle of the field, and they know that they don't throw mid or deep routes. That's why they stack the line of scrimmage and play man-coverage.
You see what happened today: when we started using an aggressive passing attack, we erased a 13-point deficit and took the lead. Then Kotelnicki, like a pouting child, refused to acknowledge what was working, and went back to his ultra-conservative garbage, and we lost.
:36 ticks on the clock, we got Reynolds running a short out-route for a 5-yard pickup. Next down we have Singleton take a toss that actually went backwards, and should have kept the clock running, but the refs blew the call.
At no point did they try to get a meaningful amount of yardage that would move them into field goal range. That's what's frustrating: not that they lost, but that the play-calling didn't even give them a chance.