Much has been made about Penn State football’s struggles in the run game, and for good reason.

The Nittany Lions tallied a paltry 80 yards on the ground against Villanova — an FCS opponent — in their most recent game. The effort was an area of emphasis for Penn State coach James Franklin after the game, when he said the team needed to be better and show improvement in the coming weeks.

A few days after those comments, Franklin emphasized the need for the offensive line to play with more intensity as a way to help get the rushing attack going in the right direction.

“I’d like to see us play with a little bit more of an edge, specifically in the run game but in the passing game, as well,” Franklin said in his weekly press conference Tuesday afternoon.

So what exactly is the edge the Penn State coach wants to see the line play with? It’s about the willingness to go right up to the line of legality when it comes to aggression and showing you won’t be pushed over, he said.

“I’m looking for fanatical effort, which I think we’ve done a pretty good job of playing with really good effort,” Franklin said. “I’m looking for an amount of aggressiveness that is right up to the edge of what is legal and appropriate, from the snap of the ball until the whistle is blown. Nothing that is gonna be viewed or looked at as dirty, nothing that’s going to create penalties after the snap.”

An added edge could benefit the line, but it doesn’t need to do nearly as much in the passing game. The group, even with its shortcomings against the run, has graded well overall in Franklin’s eyes.

That’s mostly because of how good it has been when offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich calls pass plays. There have been multiple occasions where starting quarterback Sean Clifford has had 5-plus seconds to throw a pass, and more often than not he has time to work through his entire progression.

The credit for that has to go to the line, even if it’s struggling in running situations.

“I think overall, I would say good,” Franklin said about his offensive line’s play this season. “I think we have protected the quarterback better probably in a four-game stretch to start the season than we have in the past. I still think we can get a little bit better there.”

While the offensive line needs to improve its run blocking, it’s not the only position group that is not putting the ground game in a position to succeed.

The running backs themselves have struggled to gain traction even when the line does its job.

Franklin said he’s happy with the current distribution of carries — with Noah Cain, Keyvone Lee and John Lovett factoring in as the position’s primary contributors — but believes the on-field production can improve by eliminating some of the mistakes he’s seen the running backs make.

“I think there’s always going to be a sense of wanting more and thinking that we can get more,” he said. “That’s breaking more tackles, that’s being physical when you need to be physical, that’s bouncing when bouncing is appropriate. More times than not we want to be downhill and cut back than bounce. We’d love get a little bit more explosive plays. … I think it’s a combination of all of it. It’s the tight ends, it’s the o-line, it’s the running backs, it’s the coaches — it’s all of us.”

Some of the attribution for the poor showing on rushes also has to go to how defenses plan for the Penn State offense.

Franklin cited the schemes the offense has gone up against as part of the reason for the lack of success, including teams stacking the box and bringing defenders closer to the line of scrimmage to force the team to throw.

Soon enough, opponents may be doing the opposite in order to stop the pass. It’s in those situations that the running game’s ability to impact a game will become clear.

Use of analytics

Some coaches follow analytics to a T, but Franklin still relies on what’s going on around him when making decisions about going for a fourth down or attempting a 2-point conversion and various other pivot-point situations.

The Penn State coach said there’s a lot that goes into that process when the time comes to make the call.

“There’s a lot of information, and how do you use it all effectively?” Franklin said. “I think that’s one of the things you have to be careful, right? There’s the numbers that you’re getting from the data and analytics people, and then there’s also the feel of the game, the flow of the game, the momentum of the game, how is your offense playing at that moment, how is your defense playing at that moment, how is the special teams playing at that moment? … All of those things factor in. So you just try to get as much information as you possibly can, and then I think you have to trust your instincts.”

That being said, Franklin still trusts the planning that goes into the decision. That is not just based on gut feel. Rather, there’s planning leading up to each game and in the offseason that affects the decisions he makes, planning for what’s to come based on what has already happened.

“I have a meeting each week to go over game strategy for that game — but based on our opponent,” he said. “How we’re going to handle short-yardage situations, how we’re going to handle 2-point play situations. Then we have (a meeting) reviewing the previous game.”

Quick hitters

• Penn State is ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25 poll, but Franklin once again declined to talk about the big picture with his team, instead saying he just wants to beat Indiana this weekend.  

• Franklin wants the team to be better at rushing the passer because of the big impact sacks and pressures can have but said the team has been solid in that area so far.

• Indiana QB Michael Penix played a key role in Indiana’s win over Penn State last season, and Franklin said he improved off of what he called a “special year” for Penix in 2020.

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