by Kyle Golik
If you ask Penn State head coach James Franklin if we have written enough positive materials about his wide receiver group, Franklin would say we haven’t and did during his Orange Bowl press conference this week.
“There has not been enough stories written in my opinion about that because there sure was enough articles written about the opposite,” Franklin said. “They have been a huge part of our season, and our development, and again, at a time in college football and in society where maybe that’s hard to do in terms of every receiver wants 80 catches and a thousand yards.”
When you look overall at the group throughout the season, the inconsistencies of the room plagued the Penn State offense at times, leaving the offense vertically challenged. While Franklin is correct, sometimes we emphasize the number of targets, receptions, yards, and touchdowns, there is more to playing wide receiver at times. The things that aren’t measured statistically are run blocking, the ability to draw defenders, and sometimes effective route running plays a large part in it.
However, in the Fiesta Bowl, the wide receiver group, namely Harrison Wallace III and Omari Evans, had their best game of the season as a group. Statistically you will find better showings for both— Wallace had a big game to open the season at West Virginia, Evans had his biggest game against Kent State. Wallace and Evans had eight targets from quarterback Drew Allar, who seemingly was pushing the ball down the field with ease to them.
Evans finished with two receptions for 55 yards, which included a 38-yard touchdown reception to give Penn State a two-possession lead that they wouldn’t relinquish to Boise State. While Wallace had a quiet three receptions for 37 yards, two of Wallace’s receptions went for critical first downs for Penn State.
Franklin took time to review his much-maligned room with the media.
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“You look at the year Trey has had. We felt like Trey has been able to have those years the last couple years but he’s had injuries. Omari coming and playing to his superpower, line of scrimmage. Julian; you think about the catches Julian had against USC, we are not here without those. And I get it they are not gaudy numbers, but you watch how Julian is blocking. Where are the explosive plays coming from? The receivers owning all of the responsibilities of being true wide receivers.”
There is no denying the play on the perimeter by the wide receivers has exponentially improved over last season. In Penn State’s biggest games in 2023, the wide receivers simply couldn’t gain separation, weren’t physically competitive against elite secondaries, thus forcing Penn State into being one dimensional.
This season, while the attention goes to tight end Tyler Warren, who set a Penn State school record with receptions, as the primary target and running back Nicholas Singleton as Allar’s second favorite targeted pass receiver out of the backfield, the wide receiver group follows suit behind them.
It seems Allar and the chemistry with them came together in the Big Ten Championship Game against Oregon where Penn State faced multiple possession deficits. While the ground game ran the ball at will, it was the play of Wallace and Evans that gave Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi fits. Both Evans and Wallace had highlight touchdowns against Oregon and the momentum has continued throughout the playoffs.
“Those guys are a big reason that we’ve won the games we’ve won and that we’re where we’re at at this point in the season. Because if you don’t have it, those two running backs are not getting the yards that they have because people are loading the box up. The fact that we have been able to get down the field vertically to receivers and tight ends has had a huge impact on our running game as well,” Franklin said after defending his group that has had a season to really begin to develop on their own.
It is appropriate that the Orange Bowl is the setting for the potential fruition of the wide receivers becoming a major cog for Penn State. Without them, Penn State will be unable to run the football effectively as they have. Without them, Tyler Warren will attract significant attention and be unable to distinguish himself. Penn State sits on the precipice of playing for its first national championship since 1986.
It will be the moment wide receivers coach Marques Hagans will realize whether his group has finally arrived or is it still a long journey into 2025 of cobbling together new imports (Kyron Hudson – Southern California; Devonte Ross – Troy), promising young talent (Tyseer Denmark), plus Wallace and Evans returning, if they don’t hit the portal.
