For Penn State, Questions Linger About Goal-Line Offense Vs. Ohio State

Nittany Lions coach James Franklin reflects on what Tyler Warren's role should have been on those final four downs.

Penn State running back Kaytron Allen (13) is stopped at the goal line by the Ohio State Buckeyes defense during the second half of the NCAA football game at Beaver Stadium. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Trailing Ohio State in the fourth quarter, Penn State had first-and-goal from the Ohio State 3-yard line. But the Nittany Lions turned over the ball on downs, and Tyler Warren, whom the program touted as the nation’s best tight end in a media packet, didn’t get the ball during that sequence. Two days later, Penn State coach James Franklin reflected on the series, saying that it could have been called with Warren more top of mind. 

“There is a piece where you can say, in critical moments, you got to think players, not place,” Franklin said Monday at his weekly press conference. “Maybe in one of those three downs at least, you gotta make sure Tyler Warren touches the ball, however that is — whether that’s Wildcat, whether that’s passing game or whether that’s as a ball carrier.”

That series was a defining moment of Penn State’s 20-13 loss to Ohio State, in which it did not score an offensive touchdown in a game for the first time since 2014. Warren had moved the Nittany Lions (7-1) inside the 5-yard line with a pair of big plays: a 31-yard reception and a 33-yard run from the Wildcat. Which prompted the question about Warren that was asked postgame and reiterated Monday. 

Franklin said there was an “argument” to get the ball to Warren in that situation, since he has taken, and score on, Wildcat snaps in short-yardage situations already this season. Instead, running back Kaytron Allen ran up the gut on three consecutive downs, gaining a total of two yards.

On fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar dropped back to pass. There were only three receivers on the play: Warren, the primary read, was covered in the left flat. Receiver Harrison Wallace couldn’t get seperation, and tight end Khalil Dinkins was surrounded by Buckeyes. Allar tried to zip it to Dinkins, who couldn’t make the play. 

“Obviously after you run the ball vertical two times and get stuffed, everybody is telling you to be creative,” Franklin said. “If you're creative in those moments and they don't work, then everybody is telling you you got too cute and you should've run the ball north and south. So hindsight is 20/20. I get it. At the end of the day, you could make a lot of arguments. Could we have been more creative? Could we have gotten the ball into Tyler Warren's hands in that moment? From a technique and fundamental standpoint, could we have gotten more push? All those things.”

The goal-line stand was emblematic of a tough day on the ground for Penn State’s star running backs, Allen and Nicholas Singleton. Allen finished with 27 yards on 12 carries, while Singleton had 15 yards on six rushes, combining for 2.3 yards per carry. Warren was the team’s leading rusher with 47 yards on three runs. Allar was second with 31 yards on 10 carries, primarily from scrambling out of the pocket. 

As a result, Franklin said Penn State has to get its “traditional running game” going again in the coming weeks. 

“I think there’s some things that we gotta do in terms of scheme to make them defend the field and make them spread the box out as much as possible, whether that’s outside zone, whether that’s gap schemes, whether that’s inside zone, whether that’s personnel,” Franklin said. 

Franklin also addressed the conflicting philosophies with short-yardage play calling. He said that if Penn State had stuck with running up the middle, people would have criticized the lack of creativity. But if Penn State had been creative and it didn’t work. Fans would have criticized the staff for being “too cute.” 

“So obviously hindsight is 20/20, but at the end of the day you got to create movement and score when you need one yard,” Franklin said. “Whether that's picking up a critical fourth down or whether that's goal line. We got to do some things better scheme-wise, but also we got do a little bit better job fundamental and technique-wise to make sure we get the movement we need.”

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Sam Woloson has covered Penn State Athletics for the past three years and is currently the managing editor of The Daily Collegian. His work has also appeared in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Huntingdon Daily News and Rivals. Follow him on X @sam_woloson