Penn State rushing game investment begins producing returns
Penn State’s rushing offense has been earned its place in the Big Ten.
Through seven conference games, the Nittany Lions are among the league’s most inefficient teams running the ball, ranked 12th. With 226 carries for 663 yards and five touchdowns, Penn State’s 94.7 yards per game are ahead of just Maryland and Purdue.
But it’s getting better, Penn State head coach James Franklin said this week.
“I think we’ve been running the ball a little bit better the last couple of weeks,” Franklin said Tuesday. “But there’s been some opportunities for some big plays that we’ve made in the past and we need to make moving forward. That will be a focus all week long… against Rutgers that does a really good job defending the run.”
Though slight, Franklin’s assertion is backed up a few ways.
Statistically, the Nittany Lions’ 109 yards on 42 carries against Michigan represented the first time crossing into triple digits since the Iowa game more than a month earlier. More important, adjusted for the sacks accumulated against quarterback Sean Clifford, Penn State produced 171 yards on 29 carries between Keyvone Lee, Clifford, John Lovett, and Jahan Dotson.
On the heels of another strong rushing effort at Maryland in which Lee, Lovett, and Cain combined for 109 yards on 25 carries, the Nittany Lions produced dividends in an area that has been lacking and lagging this season. And as a result, that offensive deficiency has drawn an emphasis from the program in practice and off-field work since Clifford’s injury at Iowa that Franklin sees as now beginning to pay off.
“We just continue to invest in it. We made some changes at about the midpoint of the season in our practice structure and we’ve invested in it like crazy,” Franklin said. “On the headsets, I try to make sure that we’re staying patient with the run game and continuing to mix those things in there.
“I think we’ve been more physical up front with the offensive linemen and the tight ends. And I think our running backs are running and they’re more decisive.”
The week-by-week Pro Football Focus grading of individual game aspects reflects as much.
Earning a grade of 75.8 against the Terrapins and 69.6 against Michigan, the Nittany Lions’ rushing efforts were the second, and third-best numbers of the 2021 season behind a mark of 82.0 against Ball State in Week Two.
Still desperate to include explosive plays on the ground, however, Penn State’s improvements are far from reaching a serviceable level.
Notching just two more carries of at least 12 yards against the Wolverines, the Nittany Lions are now only up to 13 on the season.
“I think right now we just don’t have the explosive plays in the running game,” Franklin said. “That’s been our challenge and our issue.”
Franklin isn’t expecting the task to get especially easier this weekend, either.
Previewing a Rutgers defense that has allowed 171.6 yards per game in its seven conference outings this season, Franklin said the Scarlet Knights’ tendencies could limit rushing opportunities while opening the door to passing possibilities.
“They do a really good job getting an extra man in the box,” he said. “I think we’ve been fairly explosive in the passing game. We need to be more explosive in the running game and more explosive overall as an offense.
“We’re just trying to get better every week, no matter what point of the season that we’re in. We’re just trying to get better. And we’re going to try to do that again on Saturday against a team that does a really good job of defending the run and prides themselves on it.”