CBS Broadcast Reveals Frank Admission From Penn State Offensive Coordinator

After Penn State's Kaytron Allen gutted a weary Michigan State defense with a 42-yard run in the fourth quarter, CBS' Gary Danielson channeled the thought of Nittany Lions fans everywhere.

"There's so many Penn State fans that wonder, 'Why couldn't we do this all year?'" Danielson said.

As Penn State ran through Michigan State for a 28-10 win Saturday, Danielson then brought up a midweek conversation he had with Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelncki, who made a surprising admission. Evidently, Kotelnicki agreed with Danielson.

"One of the things that was said by Andy Kotelnicki to us was, 'We might have listened to the buzz too much, the crowd,'" Danielson said on the broadcast. "'We thought we had to throw more to win the championship. Maybe we should have just stuck to what Penn State does best and run the ball' just like this."

It's a hindsight thought now for Penn State, which ended a six-game losing streak and won its first Big Ten game of the season on Saturday. But it also begs the question: Why wasn't Penn State able to close out more wins with its running game?

Penn State's offensed line bowed up against the Spartans, leading an offense that rushed for 182 of its 240 yards in the second half. Allen ran for 131 of his career-high 181 yards in the second half, and Penn State scored on a 13-play, 76-yard drive that consumed 9 minutes and included 12 run plays.

After throwing a 75-yard touchdown pass to Devonte Ross (the team's longest play of the season) in the first half, Penn State quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer attempted two passes in the second half. One was dropped, the other was a flip toss on an end around to Ross for his second receiving touchdown of the game.

Penn State didn't have a completion longer than 5 yards after the 75-yard touchdown pass to Ross. In fact, Grunkemeyer attempted only five passes after that. He threw one of those away, another was dropped and another was a receiver screen that lost a yard.

So Penn State abandoned the passing game in the fourth quarter for the Allen and Singleton show. The duo combined for 42 offensive touches and 268 all-purpose yards in the game.

"We know between Kaytron and Nick Singleton, they have to touch the ball," Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith told reporters after the game. "... I always say to you guys, if they're touching the ball, we have a chance to win. And man, did we win today behind those guys."

Penn State changed its formula

Nice to see this happen for Penn State interim coach Terry Smith. pic.twitter.com/AEGbFQKfK2
— Mark Brennan (@MarkXBrennan) November 15, 2025

The passing game has been a season-long pain point for Penn State, one that Smith has addressed multiple times since taking the job five weeks ago. Penn State entered the game ranked 109th nationally in pass plays of 20+ yards and 123rd in completions of 30+ yards.

Smith has said on several occasions that he has asked (nay, compelled) Kotelnicki to throw downfield more often. Penn State took more deep attempts against Indiana last week, when Grunkemeyer had five completions of 20+ yards and went 5-for-11 on attempts of 15+ yards. Asked why that happened, Smith said after the Indiana game that, "We made calls to throw the ball down the field."

"We just didn't make those play calls [in the first half vs. Indiana], and we went into halftime and we made is sure we made those calls in the second half," Smith said during the week. "Because obviously it gave us an opportunity to succeed in the second half. And then once we started making those play calls, that's why the run splits [opened] with Nick [Singleton].

"So we have to grow and build on that, and we're going to come out at Michigan State and be super-aggressive and mix with some play-action and run. That's our formula to success."

Penn State did call an aggressive deep shot to Ross in the first half but was content to run the ball thereafter. And it worked.

Penn State entered the game with the nation's 107th-ranked passing offense, one that hasn't thrown for 225 yards in any Big Ten game this season. Still, the Nittany Lions held fourth-quarter leads against Northwestern, Iowa and Indiana but could not generate game-winning (or game-ending) drives with their offense.

Which is why Kotelnicki's admission to Danielson is so surprising. Kotelnicki spent much of the early part of the season trying to connect quarterback Drew Allar with his three new portal receivers, which proved a trying task.

So what if Kotelnicki had designed more of the offense around Allen and Singleton instead of the receivers and tight ends? Penn State entered the game having run on 54 percent of its offensive snaps, so the split was pretty even. But the offense never really got Singleton on track and didn't use Allen enough early.

"I don't know, you know what I mean?" Kotelnicki said in October when asked what happened to the offense this season. "That answer could be so, so long and into stuff, but the reality is, it hasn't gone like we're hoping. And what do you do? You go to the next play, you go to the next game, you go to the next moment and opportunity. But I don't really have a good explanation for where it is or what it was."

“What happened?” Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki was asked about his offense this season. His summary:

🎥 Penn State Athletics pic.twitter.com/6DBkK8gYHY
— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) October 22, 2025

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Penn State changed its formula

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