Penn State Football 2024 Preview: Addressing the Nittany Lions' Assets and Liabilities

Penn State enters the 2024 season with three new coordinators, plenty of returning talent and several questions.

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar drops back to pass during the Blue-White Game at Beaver Stadium. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

Penn State began preparing for its first College Football Playoff appearance long before training camp. In April, the university rescheduled December graduation by a day to accommodate a possible home playoff game. Beaver Stadium has been a summer construction site with a home playoff game in mind. And Penn State football coach James Franklin openly has discussed not just making the playoff but also seeding strategies.

"How do we get ourselves in a position to have a bye?" Franklin said. "If not a bye, how do we put ourselves in a position to have a home game in Beaver Stadium, which would be an advantageous position with those elements at that time of the year?"

How indeed? Penn State's recent trend of 10-win regular seasons (five in the last eight seasons) should be enough to get the team into its first playoff. But hosting a game, or earning a bye, might require an 11th win. Getting there means hitting on a bunch of key points. Such as these.

RELATED: Scouting Penn State's playoff chance with Mike Golic Jr.

Revive the explosive play lifestyle

Penn State ranked 97th nationally last season in offensive plays of 20+ yards, its worst season since Franklin's first in 2014 (99th). The offense lived on big plays under Joe Moorhead, ranking sixth in 2016 and seventh in 2017, and usually has been in the top-half nationally. Of course, big plays don't define offensive success. But after straying so far from explosive last year, Franklin wants to revive that part of the game. Which is where Andy Kotelnicki comes in.

Penn State's new offensive coordinator has three key tasks this season: nurture quarterback Drew Allar from his checkdown shell, scheme open his downfield targets and take advantage of his potentially explosive running backs. Which leads to...

Lean on the running backs

Ja'Juan Seider, Penn State's veteran running backs coach, has not been shy about his expectations of the backfield. And he wants the offense to catch up with them.

The next step for Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, Seider said, is "to win those games when it's close for us. And I think they could, and we've got to allow them to do it for us, too. Because they're talented enough to take over game. People say I'm just biased, but I think they are the best two running backs in the country, and if you feed them enough good things are going to happen."

Singleton and Allen, who combined to average 4.8 yards per carry last season, will be centerpieces of Kotelnicki's offense. The coordinator is known for his formations and motions that suggest trickery but really mask an embedded zone run game. He'll run these two a lot. Watch for Singleton and Allen in two-back sets, flexed wide and deployed as pass-catchers. As Seider said, use your assets.

Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton runs with the ball against Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Mitigate the offensive issues

Of which there are some. Penn State is in its second year of addressing the wide-receiver position. Coach Marques Hagans said the culture is different. Trey Wallace wants to be the No. 1 Penn State hasn't had since Jahan Dotson. Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming "has a lot more to give the game and a program," Franklin said. The proof awaits.

Meanwhile, Penn State's offensive line is getting attention for its depth (Franklin expects eight linemen to play) but less about its experience and time together. The Nittany Lions had three starting linemen drafted for the first time since 1996. That's difficult to replace. Starting left tackle Drew Shelton has played a lot but missed spring drills with an injury. At right tackle, Anthony Donkoh remains fairly new at the position, while Wisconsin transfer Nolan Rucci is racing to get ready. Center Nick Dawkins, a fifth-year senior and team captain, is making his first start.

Those position groups will need some early experimentation and nurturing. However, they also must establish themselves to beat West Virginia. These are the stress points of Penn State's offense.

Adapt to Tom Allen

Penn State's new defensive coordinator likely won't be the blitz-and-cover aficionado that Manny Diaz was, which might not be the worst way to approach the opener. Remember how West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene exploited some of those aggressive moves with chunk plays? But Allen certainly isn't passive. He'll roll with five defensive backs (including some three-safety sets) and introduce the "Lion" hybrid spot that will deploy across the defensive backfield.

A central figure of this transition will be middle linebacker Kobe King. The returning starter will wear the communications earpiece on defense and is the conduit between Allen and the field. King's an underrated player at Penn State. A defense with talent will flow through him.

Take advantage up front

Penn State has two potential edge-rushing stars in Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton, but Allen really likes his defensive tackles, a group of five players who are strong, agile and experienced. Penn State has two sixth-year seniors (Dvon J-Thomas and Hakeem Beamon), a fifth-year senior (Coziah Izzard) and a junior ( Zane Durant) inside. Allen and Franklin also have been encouraged with the accelerating development of fourth-year player Alonzo Ford Jr., who started 12 games at Old Dominion in 2022 but missed last season with an injury.

Asked whether he's ever coached a five-deep group at tackle, Allen said, "No, and we're going to need them."

Deliver on the cornerback hype

Position coach Terry Smith has called this perhaps the deepest collection of cornerbacks he has led at Penn State. The Nittany Lions are six-deep with three SEC transfers, including likely Game 1 starter A.J. Harris (Georgia) and spring-practice star Audavion Collins (Ole Miss in 2022). The corners will be especially important at USC in October and at home against Ohio State in November.

Place the kicker quickly

New special teams coordinator Justin Lustig stepped into a pretty good spot with returning punter Riley Thompson and kickoff specialist (and college football "freak") Gabe Nwosu. Lustig's primary preseason job has been to develop a starter who can kick field goals consistently.

The three contenders are pretty different. Fourth-year kicker Sander Sahaydak already has won the job once, in 2023. He's likely to do it again. However, redshirt freshman walk-on Ryan Barker and Penn/Tulsa transfer Chase Meyer are pushing him, as Alex Felkins did last year before taking the job in Week 1. No one thinks about kickers until they miss. That has been Lustig's job since spring.

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Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.