Three takeaways from Penn State football’s humbling 38-25 loss to Ole Miss in Peach Bowl
Penn State ended its season with a whimper Saturday afternoon, getting blown out by Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl, 38-25. The loss drops the Nittany Lions to 10-3 on the season and leaves the team with plenty of questions heading into 2024.
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game.
Young corners are not ready
Penn State got a sneak peak of what the cornerback room will look like next year and, while there is is plenty of upside in the group, it was clearly not ready for the high level of receivers it dealt with against Ole Miss. Penn State DBs Zion Tracy, Elliot Washington II and Cam Miller struggled with Tre Harris, who accrued 134 yards and seven receptions in the game, mostly on shots down the sideline and slant routes where he could easily create separation.
Neither Kalen King nor Johnny Dixon played in the game, and it left Miller, Washington and Tracy in a bad spot with only Miller having real experience. He played by far the best of the group, but it still wasn’t nearly enough. After all, Ole Miss also finished with 394 passing yards, the most allowed all season by Penn State’s defense. The fortunate aspect for the Nittany Lions is that they have three months to continue developing their current group or add to it from the transfer portal.
OC Andy Kotelnicki needs to completely revamp the offense
The Nittany Lion offense was better than its worst games when former OC Mike Yurcich was in charge, but it’s clear something needs to be done to jump-start the passing game. The team’s wide receivers struggled to get separation as they have all season, and nothing was easy for sophomore quarterback Drew Allar. It didn’t help that there was consistent pressure from Ole Miss the entire game but, even when he had time, there weren’t many occasions when he had an option to go to. That’s where new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who didn’t coach in this game, will come into play.
Kotelnicki will likely lean on the running game next season with how good Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen are, but he has to generate easy opportunities for both Allar and his receivers by getting those pass catchers into space to allow them to make plays.
Receiver room needs to be rebuilt
The impact from new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki should help in the offseason, but so would a revamped receiver room. The Nittany Lions proved all season that they didn’t have the high-level play required to beat the best teams in the country, and Saturday was more of the same.
Liam Clifford’s fourth quarter reception was the first of the game by any receiver, and most of the WR group’s total receptions (7) came when the game was already out of reach. They struggled to get open, and there seemed to be a clear disconnect between Drew Allar and the position group, given how infrequently he targeted them in the first three quarters. The offensive system, which should be altered under the new offensive coordinator, doesn’t help — but the best players can make plays even when they aren’t put in advantageous positions. Penn State’s receivers proved incapable of doing that.
This story was originally published December 30, 2023 at 3:54 PM.
