Penn State still seeking offensive improvement, particularly in setting up splash plays

Penn State’s receiving corps entered the season with something to prove.

Harrison Wallace, Omari Evans and Liam Clifford looked to step up and assume larger roles.

Julian Fleming, after transferring from Ohio State, aimed to make an impact after the Nittany Lions lost two key wideouts from last year — KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Dante Cephas — to the transfer portal.

While the team’s receivers have shown flashes, coach James Franklin hopes to get them firing on all cylinders on gameday.

“We’ve had a game where Liam was good,” Franklin told reporters Wednesday in State College. “We’ve had a game where Julian made big plays. We’ve had games where Omari has stepped up and (Wallace) — we’d like to get to the point where all of those guys are factoring in on a weekly basis.”

Part of the solution rests on the receivers’ shoulders.

“Getting our wide receivers more touches and more opportunities is important, but we also have to create more separation, make contested catches, all of those things,” Franklin said. “It’s a combination of all of it.”

Quarterback Drew Allar has grown used to the critique that No. 6 Penn State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) needs to orchestrate more splash plays downfield.

That remains an emphasis for the offense and first-year coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who has helped the Nittany Lions become the 28th overall total offense (439.5 yards per game) in the nation heading into Saturday’s kickoff vs. Washington.

Of course, last weekend’s loss vs. Ohio State proved an offensive disappointment, with Penn State failing to score a touchdown save for a pick-6 provided by the defense.

What’s more, the receivers were held to only three catches for 49 yards, with Evans and Clifford both finishing without a reception.

Allar remains committed to go for big chunk plays, feeding the ball downfield to many options, including star tight end Tyler Warren, who leads the team with 51 catches and 606 yards.

However, he’s not losing perspective.

“We want to be explosive,” Allar said. “Obviously, a way to be explosive is throwing the ball down the field but, again, we won’t have those opportunities to throw the ball down the field if we’re not staying ahead of the sticks and we’re not in rhythm. It doesn’t make sense just to call (deep) shots on first-and-10 on the first play of the drive.

“We have to get in some sort of rhythm moving the ball, getting first downs to have those play calls called. Getting those first downs is going to lead to more play calls in general, more total plays as an offense and we’ll get more of our shots.”

The Nittany Lions largely have been strong on third down, owning a 47.3% (43 of 91) conversion rate.

That said, vs. Southern Cal, they went 4 of 13 (30.%).

After rebounding on third down against Wisconsin, Penn State struggled mightily vs. the Buckeyes, converting 3 of 11 (27.3%) tries.

Getting into more manageable third-down scenarios should help open up Penn State’s playbook, especially when it comes to getting the ball to receivers deeper downfield.

“We just need to get ourselves in those situations to be able to call those plays and that comes down to us as players executing, getting first downs when we have to,” Allar said. “And then when the shots aren’t there, checking it down.”

To Allar’s point, one of Penn State’s better offensive plays last Saturday was a check-down pass to tailback Nick Singleton on its opening drive.

Singleton took the ball 19 yards for a first down, setting up a field goal.

“I think it just comes down to execution in general, in both the run and pass game,” Allar said. “It’s just little things that we’ve got to clean up. We’ve shown we have the capability to do it throughout this year so far. We just have to do it on a consistent basis for the rest of the season.”