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After watching UCLA and USC slow Penn State’s rushing attack, James Franklin and his coaching staff spent time last week evaluating why it happened and what the Nittany Lions have to do to improve it.
Franklin implied Monday that Penn State’s combined 203 rushing yards in its last two games stemmed from the Bruins and the Trojans designing their defensive schemes to take away the run.
“We gotta do whatever we gotta do to win,” Franklin said. “That will be different each week. That will look different each week based on what we’re doing offensively and what our game plan is. It also will be impacted by how the defense decides to game plan, how the defense decides to play us.”
He expects running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen and tight end Tyler Warren to receive much attention when the third-ranked Lions (3-0 Big Ten, 6-0) meet Wisconsin (3-1, 5-2) Saturday night at 7:30 (TV-NBC) at Camp Randall Stadium.
After running for 239 yards against Illinois, Penn State was averaging 251.0 per game and ranked ninth nationally in rushing.
Since then, the Lions rushed for 85 yards against UCLA without the injured Singleton and for 118 yards against USC. Their average has dipped to 201.2, 25th in the country.
“Most teams are going to go into the game with something they’re adamant they’re not going to give up,” Franklin said, “whether that’s double-teaming 44 (Warren) or whether that’s loading the box to stop the run.
“Most people (opponents) will say, ‘We’re going to stop this. If they’re going to beat us, they’re going to beat us doing these (other) things.’ I think that really impacts a lot of this.”
With USC bottling up the ground game, Penn State went to the air behind Drew Allar, who completed 30-of-43 passes for a career-high 391 yards and two touchdowns with three…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/penn-state-offense-adjusting-well-034600667.html
Author : Reading Eagle, Pa.
Publish date : 2024-10-22 03:46:00
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