James Franklin wants Penn State to keep mixing it up on offense in second half vs. Minnesota

It took about a quarter for the Penn State offense to get in gear and get rolling and once they did, the balanced attack was tough for Minnesota to handle in any number of ways.

Head coach James Franklin said at halftime that the Nittany Lions will need to keep things shaken up on offense, not giving Minnesota easy answers or predictable looks.

“Well, just a little bit more diversity. We did some things to keep them on their toes. We spread the ball around. Mixed the pass and the run. We’re going to have to continue to do that in the second half,” Franklin said.

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Quarterback Sean Clifford went 14-for-21 in the first half for 195 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. And his 14 passes went to seven different receivers as the Nittany Lions have peppered the ball to receivers, running backs and, in the case of both touchdowns, tight ends.

Running back Kaytron Allen also seemed to kick in to gear in the first half, rushing seven times for 36 yards. His freshman counterpart, Nick Singleton, struggled to get going with just seven carries for 15 yards.

Minnesota clawed back in to the game late in the second quarter, getting deep into Penn State territory before letting running back Mo Ibrahim pound the rock into the end zone. Outside of that series, with starting quarterback Tanner Morgan out and Athan Kaliakmanis starting in his placing, the Minnesota offense has been largely impotent.

The Gophers only got there by virtue of a long play down the sideline.

“Well the big play up the sideline. They throw a go ball down the sideline, it was tightly contested, but the kid made a big play, got them going,” Franklin said.