For many, the Penn State receivers are the team’s Achilles Heel but the coaching staff feels it’s a group that can make a statement in these College Football Playoffs.
Statistically speaking, life hasn’t been good for PSU’s receivers since Jahan Dotson left for the NFL after the 2021 season.
Here’s the evidence.
Here are what Penn State’s top receivers have done since Dotson— who eclipsed 1,000 yards in 2021– played his last college game:
- 2022: Parker Washington (46 catches, 611 yards, two TD)
- 2023: KeAndre Lambert-Smith (53 catches, 673 yards, four TD)
- 2024 (so far): Harrison Wallace III (43 catches, 686 yards, four TD).
Penn State’s second-leading wide receiver, Omari Evans, has 360 yards and four touchdowns on 19 catches.
116 of those yards came against Kent State, which went 0-12.
So, yeah, people are concerned about these receivers, but the coaching staff has faith.
‘DIFFERENT GUYS IN DIFFERENT GAMES’
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now: Liam Clifford
As much criticism as Penn State’s receivers have, eh, received, there has been progress from 2023.
Last season, Penn State had two 100-yard receiving games, both by KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who transferred to Auburn over the spring. This season, Penn State had four in the first five games, all by different receivers. PSU had four different leading receivers in all 13 games last season and matched that in the first five games this year. So progress has been made, and receivers coach Marques Hagans is encouraged.
“They’re playing well together,” Hagans told Nittany Sports Now at the team’s Fiesta Bowl media day Sunday morning. “There’s been different guys in different games that have stepped up and done different things, and not just necessarily catching the ball but blocking the ball, do whatever our team needs on the offensive end and on special teams, too. So, I’m just proud of the way the guys are playing, playing for each other, playing for our team. We have a good opportunity coming up on Tuesday.”
For offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, the stats aren’t indicative of the success the receivers have had in 2024.
“You see them being unselfish,” Kotelnicki told NSN, “which is a big deal, and then you see them improving week to week. And it doesn’t always show up in the stat line, and it’s really hard for receivers because running backs are almost always going to get touches. But when you look at receivers and tight ends, their stats really only show up in catches.
Kotelnicki went onto point out that Penn State’s tight end is kinda good.
Tyler Warren won the John Mackey award, presented annually to America’s top tight end.
“We have a really good tight end,” he said. “So sometimes, the receivers and other tight ends are doing things that open up him, right? Or vice versa. You know, they’re doubling him and it opens up those other guys for opportunities. So, I would tell you that they’ve improved every week, and they’ve gotten better and they’ve done everything that we’ve asked them to do.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Kotelnicki feels the biggest example of how the receivers have “evolved” has come in run blocking.
“Like, our guys get in there and they get dirty,” he said. “And I was really proud of that last game (against SMU). It was one of those cold games where you have to run the football to win, and they were going in there, they were taking their shots and they were trying to block their ass off, and I appreciate that. So they have gotten better every week although that hasn’t always showed up in the stat line, you can see it throughout the course of the season. Each of those guys, a lot of times, they’ve had 100-yard games on their own, and you can kind of see how they’re being used. But the fact that they’re getting better every day, the fact that they’re playing selflessly, that’s why we’re here.”
KING JULIAN’S FINEST HOUR
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now
Penn State would not be in the College Football Playoff without Julian Fleming.
No, Fleming doesn’t have the stats many Penn State fans would want.
He currently has 14 catches for 176 yards and a touchdown. Warren had 17 catches for 224 yards and a score against USC. But Fleming has contributed in other ways, mainly blocking, and in that USC game, had two big, late 4th-down catches that kept Penn State’s college football playoff hopes alive.
Julian Fleming caught two passes Saturday at USC.
They were both massive 4th-down grabs that moved the chains and helped set up the game-tying TD 🥶#B1GFootball x @PennStateFball pic.twitter.com/Or8mtdDZKp
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 14, 2024
This shows that Penn State’s receivers are capable of making big time plays in massive situations.
So what makes Fleming confident that more moments like that are possible for him and the rest of the group?
“Honestly, it’s just the confidence that we’ve built with the coaches and the quarterbacks as well,” Fleming told Nittany Sports Now. “We’ve been doing things since early January, just building confidence within our group with the quarterbacks and the coaches, and I think that’s one of the reasons I feel like we can come out and be confident every single day.”
Kotelnicki echoed that.
“I’ve seen them every day do it,” he said. “I’ve seen them do it over and over again. I’ve seen them show up in big opportunities. I’ve seen them practice and prepare. So that’s what’s going to show up in games. It’s what you see in practice and the way that they’ve practiced has been really impressive. As a unit, that group has practiced as well as any on our football team, just consistently, and that’s a group that’s hard to practice because they have to run a lot. They’re running a lot, they’re doing all those things, and they have done a good job, especially those four guys that we’ve talked a lot about between Omari, Julian, Liam and Trey. Those four guys have really practiced their butts off all year.”
No. 6 Penn State takes on No. 3 Boise State during the Fiesta Bowl Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 7:30 on ESPN.
