Penn State offensive duality and crisis explained

The Penn State offense isn’t clicking. That much is clear for all to see through the last month of the 2022 season. After the defense set the offense up to score 33 points against Central Michigan, the Penn State offense has produced 17 and 10 points in the last two games. Yes, one game was in the remnants of a hurricane, but teams had played in the rain before and still scored points. So what’s the issue? Despite some stagnation and frustration at times, the Nittany Lions came out hot, scoring 35, 46, and 41 points in the first three games. It might have something to do with how opponents have adjusted to Penn State’s new identity this year. “I think when it really becomes legitimate is probably by game four because most people are doing a four-game breakdown of who they’re playing. That’s when you have enough of a sample size to say, ‘okay they have a legitimate tendency’. And again, tendencies aren’t always a bad thing. That means you’re usually pretty good at something,” Franklin said before the game against Northwestern. Northwestern played Penn State in week five. So the book is out on Penn State’s ‘balanced’ approach this year, and so far, the Lions haven’t been able to adjust to how teams have defended them. So let’s dive a bit deeper and look at the underlying issues philosophically that the staff has finally admitted are a challenge this season.