UCLA Football Preview: Penn State's Offense Balances the Run and the Pass
The Nittany Lions have averaged 44 points per game in their three wins.
Despite struggling offensively against Oregon, Penn State will bring a high-powered offense with them when they visit the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. In their three wins against Nevada, FIU and Villanova, the Nittany Lions have averaged 44 points per game.
Overall, the Nittany Lion offense is a well-balanced mix of run and pass with the running game making up 53% of their plays to 47% for pass attempts. That isn’t to suggest that the passing attack hasn’t been effective. Penn State is averaging 217 yards per game through the air while averaging 180 yards per game on the ground.
Interestingly, Penn State hasn’t started the same offensive lineup in more than one game yet. That’s because they’ve varied the starters at the skilled positions. In fact, the offensive line has been very consistent with the same five guys starting each game. Let’s look at the Nittany Lions offensive personnel.
Quarterback
Senior QB Drew Allar is back again this season. While Allar has thrown more than 90% of the team’s pass attempts, redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer has played in each of Penn State’s three wins.
Allar has completed 71 of 113 pass attempts wit six touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s also run the ball 19 times for 69 net yards.
It looks like Grunkemeyer has played mostly a garbage time role in blowout games. Since he already used his redshirt season last year, he could see significant time on Saturday if this game goes as expected. He’s completed 8 of 11 pass attempts for 105 yards and a touchdown. He has run three times for eight yards with a touchdown.
Running Game
When it comes to the running game, the Nittany Lions have a thunder-and-lightning duo at running back. On one hand you have senior running back Kaytron Allen. He’s the lightning. Allen has carried 46 times for 327 yards and four touchdowns. That’s an average of 7.1 yards per carry. To be sure, that’s inflated a bit by his season long which was a 67-yarder. When you remove that run, he’s averaging almost 5.8 yards per carry. That’s still nothing to discount. It’s just not as impressive without that big run included.
Meanwhile, senior Nicholas Singleton provides the thunder. He’s carried 52 times for 207 yards with five touchdowns. That’s an average of 3.8 yards per carry. Singleton’s longest carry of the year was a 16-yard run.
Normally, I might not mention a wide receiver here, but Trebor Peña has carried eight times for 68 yards. That’s an average of 8.5 yards per carry. Peña carried once against Nevada, four times against Villanova and three times last week against Oregon. As such, it’s worth noting because the Bruins need to lookout for him to run the ball at least a few times on Saturday.
Passing Game
Overall, 13 different Nittany Lions have caught a pass for Penn State this season. Of those, Pena is the most productive receiver on the team. He’s caught 15 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown.
Kyron Hudson, who has started two games, but played in all four, is tied with tight end Luke Reynolds for the second-most receptions with 14 each. Hudson has gained 156 yards and scored a touchdown while Reynolds has gained 151 yards.
If Hudson doesn’t start, expect Liam Clifford to get the nod, even though he’s only caught one pass of 11 yards.
Reserve receiver Devonte Ross is the only other receiver with more than 75 receiving yards. He’s gained 125 yards on nine receptions. What’s most significant about Ross is that he seems to be Allar’s go-to target for touchdowns. His three scores make him the team’s only receiver with more than one touchdown.
Allar’s favorite safety valve is Singleton. What Singleton doesn’t do when running the ball, he makes up for when catching it. He’s made eight receptions this season for 73 yards.
Finally, Penn State’s second tight end, redshirt senior Khalil Dinkins, has made four receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Offensive Line
Not only have the starters on the Nittany Lion offensive line started every game, they bring a lot of experience as well. They have made a combined total of 95 starts for Penn State.
From left to right, senior Drew Shelton will start at left tackle. His 26 starts lead the team.
Olaivavega Ioane will be the starting left guard. Ioane has the second-most starts with 25. He also didn’t allow a sack all season last year, and he was one of two linemen to do that.
Redshirt super senior Nick Dawkins will anchor the line at center. He’s started 20 games for Penn State and was the 2024 recipient of the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy, which is presented to the FBS player who best combines exemplary community service with leadership achievement on and off the field.
Moving to right guard, redshirt sophomore Anthony Donkoh has started 14 games for Penn State. Donkoh is the other offensive lineman who did not give up a sack last season.
Finally, redshirt senior Nolan Rucci will start at right tackle. Rucci has started 10 games since transferring to Penn State from Wisconsin for last season.
Analysis
Penn State is a 25.5-point favorite in this game and it seems low.
The Bruin defense is going to have their hands full on Saturday. When you combine a solid offensive line with a pair of good backs and an effective passing game, it can add up to a lot of points.
Considering the disappointing state of the UCLA defense, I’m expecting Penn State to find the end zone early and often.
Go Bruins.
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"Penn State is a 25.5-point favorite in this game and it seems low." It does to me too.
I will be in the game day thread as misery absolutely loves company.
It will be interesting to see how the 'new' coaching staff of PB 1.0 (Skippy aka 'Peanut Butter' 1.0 and brethren to Jelly 1.0) falls even further into the abyss.