Penn State enjoys short-yardage success with old-school formation

Nov. 16—When the Penn State offense rolled out the old-school T formation in the opener at Purdue, many at Ross-Ade Stadium and watching on TV did a double take.

"What the heck are (head coach) James Franklin and (offensive coordinator) Mike Yurcich doing?"

Some might have scoffed at the Nittany Lions' retro look, but not any longer. It has been mostly successful in short-yardage situations and has helped them convert 17 times on 25 fourth downs.

Former Gov. Mifflin star Nick Singleton ran for touchdowns of 45 and 27 yards out of the formation on fourth down last Saturday in a 30-0 victory over Maryland.

"It went from a few plays to now it's a very extensive package that can score anywhere," quarterback Sean Clifford said. "It's impressive. It's a great package. I think it does really well in short-yardage situations.

"Obviously it has big-play potential, especially when you have guys like Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. It makes it even better."

Penn State hasn't tracked how many times it has used the T formation so far. In those situations, the Lions take out the wide receivers and use tight ends Brenton Strange, Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren with Singleton and Allen.

Johnson and Warren line up on the outside of the offensive tackles, and Strange in the middle of the backfield flanked by Singleton and Allen with Clifford under center.

"The first thing is it's balanced," Franklin said. "So, defensively they have to defend runs to the right, runs to the left, runs in the middle. So wherever you show weaknesses, we have the ability to attack.

"And then you have to defend throws to the right, throws to the left, play-actions, keepers. And then we've shown on film that we have the ability, because of our tight ends, to explode out of that and get an empty formation (with the tight ends and running backs lined up as wide receivers)."

In the first quarter against Maryland, Penn State had fourth-and-1 from the Terrapins' 45. Singleton lined up on the left side of the T, took a handoff to the right, followed blocks by Allen, Strange and Warren into the open field and sprinted to the end zone.

"You don't really expect (to score)," guard Hunter Nourzad said, "because it's kind of just a gritty play where we're trying to get a yard or two to get the first down. But when you have backs that can run like ours do, and they can make those cuts, it offers up a lot of opportunities for us to get more than just the 1 or 2 yards."

In the second quarter, the Lions had fourth-and-1 from the Maryland 27 and lined up the same way. Singleton took the ball from Clifford, cut inside blocks from Allen and Strange, found a crease and dragged a defensive back the last 10 yards into the end zone.

"You know, it's fourth down and everyone is in the box on both sides," Maryland safety Beau Brade said. "There is a wide-open gap. The running back cuts upfield, and we're making some arm tackles. Then he's gone."

Singleton's blazing speed makes the formation even more effective. With defenses crowding the line of scrimmage in those situations, he just needs a few yards to break loose.

"We're playing pretty good on the O-line," Franklin said, "and playing pretty good at tight end. We got some backs who can make you miss and break tackles.

"When (defenses) do that in those situations, it's like cover zero (not having deep safeties). If they're going to commit that much to stopping the run, if you can break a tackle and get through, there is nothing left."

The freshman running backs have made an impact. Singleton has run for 801 yards and 10 touchdowns, a school record for freshmen. Allen has rushed for 631 yards and eight TDs.

"To be honest, both of them have just scratched the surface," Franklin said. "They'll continue to get better when it comes to pass protection; they'll continue to get better in the passing game, which is an area that would help us to get them more involved."

Short-yardage situations caused problems for the Penn State offense last year. Not anymore with the young backs, the talented tight ends, an improved offensive line and an old-school formation.

"It's been a good package for us," Franklin said. "We're going to continue to use it. We take a lot of pride in it."