ALTOONA, Pa. -- It comes down to a matter of respect, and that respect will have to be earned by Penn State's receiving corps.
Until that happens, opposing defenses are going to keep trying to attack the Nittany Lions the same way Illinois did Saturday.
Penn State didn't have a strong offensive performance against the Illini, but the defense was spectacular in a 30-13 victory, forcing five turnovers. Now, a lot of the talk about the Lions' offense is boiling down to this: Where are the explosive plays?
That's where we'll start this edition of the midweek top five.
1. It's hard to be explosive in anything without top-flight wide receivers
We all know that one of the biggest question marks entering the season was whether Penn State has a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver. The hope has been and still is that KeAndre Lambert-Smith can be that guy, and ultimately, perhaps he will be.
But after catching a 72-yard TD on his first reception against West Virginia, KLS has caught 12 more passes for 148 yards. Against Illinois, he had only three catches for 23 yards.
No other wide receiver had more than two catches Saturday. Running back Nicholas Singleton led the way in the receiving categories with three catches for 49 yards.
Illinois played a lot of tight man coverage against the Lions, pretty much daring the receivers to try and take off down the field and beat them. Which didn't happen.
Additionally, by trusting their defensive backs in one-on-one coverage, it allowed the Illini to keep more defenders in the box to focus on Penn State's running game.
Look for this to continue all season. Until, that is, two things happen. First, the receivers have to prove they can get open deep. Second, Drew Allar has to prove he can deliver the ball on target, which we assume he can because of his big arm, but we haven't seen evidence of it yet one way or the other.
So far, there haven't even been any attempts to throw deep, which is very surprising. If the Lions aren't even going to test defensive backs, then they're playing right into the hands of opposing coordinators, whose game plan can remain relatively simple.
"Most importantly, we've got to consistently show people that we can throw the ball over their heads," James Franklin said Tuesday when asked about explosive plays. "Because right now there's no doubt about it -- although I think Drew has shown what he's able to do and what he's capable of -- I still think people are going to say to themselves that we can't allow Kaytron (Allen) and Nick to beat us.
"So, based on that, people are game-planning and saying, 'What do we have to do in every formation and in every personnel group to have the numbers to give us the advantage?' Once we prove on a consistent basis if you're going to do that, that we can take advantage of it by throwing for a high percentage, by making people miss and creating explosives on the perimeter.
"Then, obviously being able to also, like I said in the beginning, throw it over their heads, now people are really having to make a choice because there's enough evidence of both. They're still going to have to make a choice of how they're going to defend us."
For now, and again until the receivers earn the respect of defensive backs, the choice is pretty simple.
All of this comes down to one gigantic question, and that's whether these wide receivers are, in fact, good enough to get separation so that they're open down the field.
Lambert-Smith has shown in the past that he can do that, although not necessarily as the primary focus of a defense. Now that he'll be getting paired up with the opposition's top defensive back, it's up to KLS to prove he's up to the challenge to be a No. 1 target.
I have no idea what has happened to Dante Cephas, who has basically been a non factor through three games with four catches for 71 yards.
Harrison Wallace III missed the Illinois game with an injury, and the offense needs him back. It also needs Malik McClain to hold onto the ball, as he dropped two passes against the Illini.
2. OK, so what is Allar's role in all of this?
He's a young quarterback with a tremendous arm. He's also very smart and willing to take what the defense gives him. There's a lot of positives in that.
But Allar needs to be turned loose -- either by the coaches or in his own mind.
To keep defenses honest and confused, Penn State has to throw deep. So, Allar either needs to have some go routes called where he throws deep no matter what, or he's got to start forcing the issue a little bit and taking more chances.
In short, we need to see Allar be a little bit more of a gunslinger. No, that doesn't mean being reckless with the ball. It means that he has to try and take some shots here and there instead of always checking down, which is really playing into the defense's hands because that's what they want him to do.
"Obviously we want to take shots as an offense," Allar said when I asked him about all this after Saturday's game. "But at the end of the day, it's about being efficient. And when we take the checkdowns, take the shorter stuff, that means the defense is gonna have to respect it."
Sure, defenses have to respect that Penn State's offense can indeed move the ball pretty well like that. But going up against better defenses -- such as Iowa this week -- it's more difficult to sustain drives and score touchdowns just by methodically always taking the short stuff. That's why Franklin loves the explosive play stat so much in the first place.
3. Singleton still looking to bust loose
The running back had some electrifying runs last season as a freshman, including an 87-yard TD against Utah in the Rose Bowl.
But so far, defenses have been able to keep Singleton in check this season, as his longest run has been just 16 yards.
So again, with this all being connected, Singleton's hopes for busting loose depend to a degree on the wide receivers opening up defenses and forcing them to use more guys in pass protection. Unless that happens, defenses can load up the box and focus on Singleton and Allen running the ball.
Illinois did that and held the two backs to a combined 91 yards on 24 carries.
Iowa likely will make it very difficult for Singleton to bust loose, as well, just because of its usual attention to detail on defense.
Franklin was asked about Singleton on Tuesday and how the young running back has handled the lack of explosive plays thus far.
"I think those guys have been great," Franklin said of Singleton and Allen. "I also think in the Big Ten you look at statistically, we play good defense around here. There's going to be games where we've got to grind it out. You guys know Iowa. This is probably going to be another one of those games where we're going to have to grind it out. It's going to be a four-quarter game.
"You look at their defensive coordinator, what he's been able to do historically, then the style of how they play on offense, it's going to be one of those Big Ten, ground-it-out games.
"For me, I'm not really overly concerned with that. We got to find ways to win. There's going to be weeks where we're super explosive based on the opportunities the defense gives us and the plays that we make, then there's going to be other weeks where we got to grind it out and do it a more old-fashioned sense, that old-fashioned model."
Then Franklin delivered this whopper of a line.
"I may put some fullbacks out there," he said.
Uh huh. We'll see about that.
4. Franklin gets in a dig at Big Ten about playing Iowa so much
You can tell when certain things bother Franklin because he won't let them go and likes to get in little jabs about them. He obviously does not like opening Big Ten play on the road every year, which he has made clear repeatedly. And Tuesday, he let it be known that he thinks it's a little fishy that Penn State has to play Iowa so often.
"First of all, it's almost like opening on the road in the Big Ten," he said. "We've played Iowa more than anybody. Maybe you could make the argument, maybe the best team in the West over our time here at Penn State. You could make that argument. Again, we love that. We're appreciative of the Big Ten for that.
"I know it's random."
Sarcasm at its finest from Franklin on that one.
Is the coach correct, though?
Well, despite being in opposite divisions, Penn State and Iowa played every year from 2016 to 2021, took off last year, and now are playing again this season.
Yeah, that's pretty fishy.
5. Heaping praise on Terry Smith -- again
There's no coach on the staff who has drawn more praise from Franklin over the years than cornerbacks coach Terry Smith, a former Penn State player and high school coach in Pittsburgh before joining the Lions' staff during Franklin's first year in 2014.
Smith has been an invaluable member of the staff for 10 years, and it is abundantly clear that Franklin has enormous respect for him.
The subject came up Tuesday when Franklin was asked about the development of the secondary over the years. Penn State hasn't always been a strong program for DBs and still has never had one drafted in the first round.
"I also think what Terry Smith, specifically—and (safeties coach) Anthony Poindexter—have done in recruiting, coaching, and developing DBs is second to none," Franklin said.
"Penn State has an unbelievable history, not only on the football field with winning and success, the NFL Draft, All-Americans, but for whatever reason, that was a position that we had not had a real strong history. Terry and Dex have changed that."
Franklin then continued about Smith: "He's a great coach. He's a great recruiter. He's a great husband and father. He's been a great sounding board for me. He coaches his guys hard, but I think does it in a way where he never crosses the line and has their respect. It's amazing how much honesty there is in that room. I mean, very blunt, direct honesty that he has created that culture in that room, not just from him, but player to player, which he's created that culture in that room, which I think is probably more important than ever."
