On Thursday, Penn State made a wonderful rent when it poached offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki from Kansas as first reported by Bruce Feldman of The Athletic. After turning round a beforehand unwatchable Jayhawks offense, expectations can be excessive for Kotelnicki to get essentially the most out of a proficient Nittany Lions group.
Quarterback Drew Allar has monumental potential and may gain advantage from Kotelnicki’s teaching simply as Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels did.
This season, Allar was 214-of-350 (61.1 %) for two,336 yards, 23 touchdowns and one interception for Penn State (10-2, 7-2 in Massive Ten). He struggled in losses to No. 2 Michigan (12-0, 9-0 in Massive Ten) and No. 6 Ohio State (11-1, 8-1 in Massive Ten), nevertheless it’s cheap to anticipate progress from him as a junior in 2024.
The Jayhawks ranked thirtieth in scoring offense (33.6 factors per sport) throughout the 2023 common season and twenty first in 2022 (35.6 factors per sport). Accidents held Daniels to solely 12 video games throughout the previous two seasons, however he was 208-of-305 (68.2 %) for two,719 yards, 30 complete touchdowns and 5 interceptions with 499 speeding yards on 104 carries throughout that span. In July, he was named preseason offensive participant of the yr by the Massive 12 media.
Previous to Kansas’ offensive turnaround the previous two seasons, the Jayhawks ranked outdoors the highest 100 in scoring offense for 10 consecutive seasons from 2012-21.
In the meantime, Penn State ranked 14th nationally in scoring (37.2 factors per sport). Nevertheless, that quantity was inflated with a pair of 63-point performances in opposition to FCS Delaware and UMass, which is 24-112 in 12 seasons since rejoining FBS (2012-23).
2024 is a pivotal yr for head coach James Franklin. Penn State has struggled in opposition to Michigan and Ohio State since he took over in 2014, and the Massive Ten provides Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.
Penn State avoids Michigan subsequent common season however has a street sport at USC and residential video games in consecutive weeks in opposition to Ohio State and Washington in November.
It is about to get more durable to win within the Massive Ten, however including Kotelnicki ought to give Penn State hope it might swim with the large fish.
