Why Penn State's Offense Is Willing to Be 'Bored'
How many college football coaches used the word "bored" Saturday? Ohio State's Ryan Day defended his team from Lou Holtz, and Oregon's Dan Lanning allowed ABC's cameras into the locker room, where he predicted of Colorado, "the Cinderella story is over." Meanwhile, Penn State's James Franklin encouraged offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich to stay "bored."
"I thought Mike did a really good job of calling [plays] and not getting bored against an Iowa defense who is damn good and not getting bored of the plays that were consistently getting us five to six yards and coming back to them," Franklin said after the Nittany Lions' 31-0 victory over Iowa. "Don’t get bored with them. Keep coming back to them until they prove that they can stop it."
That's Penn State football through four games of the 2023 season. The Nittany Lions (4-0) run the nation's second-most efficient defense, according to the ESPN Football Power Index, one that leads the country in passing defense (138 ypg) and total defense (219.5) and is part of the nation's best turnover margin (plus-11). Drew Allar is the only Big Ten quarterback with at least 50 passing attempts and no interceptions. He has yet to throw an interception through 185 college passing attempts. And Penn State is the only FBS team that hasn't committed a turnover.
Following the win over Iowa, Franklin mentioned "efficiency" four times. His team scores with efficiency (28 consecutive quarters, the longest FBS streak). The Lions have covered the spread as a favorite in nine of their last 10 games (pushing a 19-point number against Michigan State last season). They're even efficient in the Coaches Poll, standing firm at No. 7 for five consecutive weeks. Efficiency wins games, and Franklin respects boring wins.
"You can't get bored of grinding it out," he said. (At least the locker room wasn't boring afterward.)
What else happened Saturday? Some last thoughts on Penn State's win over Iowa.
The trustworthy Drew Allar
Only one quarterback has attempted more passes this season without an interception than Allar. Washington State's Cameron Ward (141) is 16 ahead of Allar (125). That's perhaps the most influential element of Allar's start. The big-armed playmaker has been astonishingly protective of the football.
Certainly, Yurcich and Franklin have coaxed Allar into a protective mindset. He averaged just 6.4 yards per completion against Iowa, dunking on the Hawkeyes' defense for 166 yards on 25 completions. He respected the weather and Iowa's coverage, took checkdowns and throwaways and kept drives going. Allar has yet to trail in his career as a starter, so we don't know how he'll play as a chance-taker. But the sophomore is entirely comfortable staying on schedule.
"We stress that every week in the quarterback room," Allar said. "If we keep dinking and dunking down the field, that leaves them vulnerable over the top. And with the offensive line we have and the running backs we have, we can just run the ball and give them body blows the whole time."
The non-boring call
Because Yurcich played better Iowa football than Iowa doesn't mean he lacked creativity. Penn State's first touchdown demonstrated that. After calling quarterback sneaks on a pair of 4th-and-short plays (one of which gained six yards), Yurcich put Allar in the shotgun on 4th-and-1 from the Iowa 9-yard line. Allar threw a dart to tight end Khalil Dinkins for the game's first touchdown.
It was a masterful call, and throw, to the No. 3 tight end who hadn't caught a pass all season. Allar spun the ball right at Dinkins' fingertips and credited the tight end for making a savvy catch.
"Khalil has been doing everything right," the quarterback said. "That was a very tough catch to make."
Three stars
Tyler Warren: The tight end caught two touchdown passes and blocked up the run game assertively once again. Warren leads the team with four touchdown catches and is a major red-zone threat.
Kaytron Allen: The running back was central to Penn State's 15- and 12-play touchdown drives in the third quarter that withered Iowa.
Curtis Jacobs: The linebacker recovered two fumbles, becoming the first Lion to do so in a game since Mark D'Onofrio against Temple in 1991.
The amazing defensive snap counts
Iowa's offense ran just 33 plays, so Penn State's defensive snap counts rightfully were low. Still, some of these are stunning. No defensive starter played more than 28 snaps (linebacker Abdul Carter's top number). End Chop Robinson played just 22 (capping one of those with a new celebration), and Dani Dennis-Sutton played only 13. In the secondary, just three defensive backs played 20 or more. Again, efficient.
Noteworthy numbers
0: Offensive plays of 20 or more yards by Penn State
6: Penn State drives of 10+ plays (the Lions scored on four of them)
11: Targets to receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith in 40 passing attempts
14: The longest completion to a receiver (KeAndre Lambert-Smith)
24: Passing attempts by Penn State of 0-5 yards
62: Percentage of plays Penn State ran in Iowa territory (the Hawkeyes ran 15 percent of their plays in Penn State territory).
64: Snaps advantage for Penn State (97-33). Per TruMedia, no FBS team has taken 60 more offensive snaps than an opponent in the past five seasons.
100: Percentage of Penn State plays that converted a first down of 2 yards or less (5-for-5).
They said it
"I would imagine they start freaking out when they see all three of us out there."
Defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton on the Lions debuting a formation that included three ends on the field simultaneously.
More on Penn State
Penn State 31, Iowa 0: Breakdown of a Big Ten beatdown
Penn State-Iowa report card: A White Out shutout
Penn State's defense flattens Iowa with 2021 on its mind
Penn State and Iowa have a wild history at Beaver Stadium
Flashback: In 2021, James Franklin responded to Iowa's suggestion that his team faked injuries
Football's only part of Micah Parsons' success, James Franklin says
AllPennState 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 Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.
