Moorhead says best of Lions' explosive offense still to come

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Joe Moorhead heard the armchair quarterbacks complain about Penn State's shortcomings around the goal line Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium, but Penn State's offensive coordinator is far from concerned about the results.

"When you get down tight into the red zone, from the 10 [yard line] in, space gets constricted and there are certain ways teams are going to play you," Moorhead said Thursday afternoon. "When we got inside the five, Iowa was running a double outside blitz with zero coverage. The run game is about creating numbers, angles and grass and that's the thing you're trying to do."

Improving the goal line offense is a focal point for this team, as is the Lions' third-down conversion percentage -- 17 of 48, or 35 percent --which is 95th in the FBS. Moorhead said he'd like to see the offense bump that percentage up to 50, though, with an offense that's averaging 40.5 points and 465.5 yards this season, there's a lot to like about what the Lions' coordinator is doing in his second season in Happy Valley.



Quarterback Trace McSorley, who through four games completed 66 percent of his passes for 1,037 yards with 10 touchdowns to three interceptions, also has showcased his mobility. Breaking the season into four-game chunks, something that Moorhead and James Franklin like to do,  McSorley's numbers are better than they were one season ago. His touchdown total thus far has doubled, and having arguably the best running back in college football in the backfield certainly helps bolster Moorhead's offense.

Scheming to get the Lions' Heisman Trophy candidate the ball in as many ways as possible, while also balancing Saquon Barkley's workload, was all on display in the Lions' win against Iowa. With Barkley averaging 7.8 yards per carry, Moorhead isn't surprised by anything he sees from the human highlight reel.

"I don’t get to see every player in the country on a weekly basis, but if there’s a better one I’d be hard pressed to believe it," Moorhead said. "The kid’s done a fantastic job in his role and he’s been a great teammate and a great leader and when you have arguably the best player in the country on your team you’ve got to look to find ways to scheme to get him the ball because he’s a game changer.”

With an offense this explosive and a back this powerful, why did the Lions struggle to convert their yardage into more than five points in the first half during last Saturday's win against Iowa?

"Iowa is a two-high coverage structure really just by nature and really what they were doing is staying in a loose quarters coverage and playing the safeties with depth, the corners with depth and trying not to let anything get over their head. Trying to keep everything in front of them," Moorhead said. "If teams are going to try to do that moving forward we’ll have to try to continue running the ball and taking things underneath in the passing game.”

Penn State still posted 14 explosive plays in the win, including a season-best eight rushes of 12 yards or more. Moorhead is widely regarded as one of the top coordinators in college football and was profiled this month by Sports Illustrated where he was dubbed 'the man behind the most dynamic offense in college football.' While that should certainly make him a hot commodity this offseason on the coaching carousel, Moorhead's work with this offense is far from finished.

"At this point of the season, averaging 40 [points], close to 500 yards of total offense, I do think we have more in us and I do think we have to continue working on it," he said. "Our preparation, our play calling and our execution, but I think offensively our best football is still ahead of us.”

QUICK HITS

This was the first time Moorhead met reporters since media day in early August, which is typically how Penn State does it. So, there were a lot of other items he touched on, including:

• The Lions' two quarterback package with McSorley and Tommy Stevens: "Tommy's done a very good job in the two-quarterback package," Moorhead said. "With his positional flexibility, being able to operate the offense as a true quarterback and having the skill set to be a runner and be a receiver, it gives us a diverse package to utilize the things he does well. That'll continue to grow throughout the season. When he's had the opportunity to get in there as the true quarterback, he's shown the ability to move the ball down the field and put points on the board, which is a comforting feeling to have if you would need him in a full-time capacity.

• Moorhead also said freshman quarterback Sean Clifford has "shown tremendous maturity" and has a solid understanding of the Lions' offense at this point in his young career. Clifford is the No. 3 quarterback and his backup, Jake Zembiec, who redshirted last year, hasn't appeared in a game this season. Zembiec stood next to Moorhead during Wednesday night's practice, watching the coordinator along with the rest of the position group.

• Penn State doesn't have a fullback on the roster but that hasn't stopped people asking and wondering about it. That notion popped up again within the past week after the Lions couldn't punch the ball in around the goal line. Again, much like how Penn State doesn't practice going under center and therefore won't ever do it in a game -- even to take a knee -- they won't use a fullback. Never. Not in this offense.

Scrap the under center theories too if you haven't already, something that was hammered home time and time again last season too.

"Philosophically, we’re not at two-back team that runs those kinds of plays so it’d be like asking a wishbone team to spread out and throw four wides when you need a passing situation," Moorhead said. "That’s just not really what we do or who we are. I also am of the firm belief that with the playmakers we have the more space that you create, whether it be up the field or on the goal line, it gives you an opportunity to either read somebody or allow Saquon or Trace the opportunity to make somebody miss.

"I know the last game certainly wasn’t a great cross section of that philosophy because we got stuck down on the goal line," he continued. "But, when you look at it across the board, our possessions inside the 5 yard line for the number of games we’ve been here in the past year and a half have been very good. Outside of Michigan last year and the fumble at Kent State I can’t remember a series that started inside the five that didn’t end with a touchdown.”

• Why were there so many players around the ball on the Lions' game-winning touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson? Franklin said earlier this week it had to do with players not running their routes at the correct depths. Moorhead was a little more detailed when asked about it.



"Based on the play that we called, our spacing needed to be a little bit better there. But the play that we scored the touchdown on we had run previously in the game," he said. "It was the one where Trace got pressured and it went to [Mike] Gesicki on the right sideline [on the final drive]. We had run the complement to that play, the shorter version, where we don't run the double move.

"In terms of field spacing on that route, DeAndre [Thompkins] needed to be a little more shallow," Moorhead continued. "Hammy needed to be a little wider and more flat. That's why it looked like there were a bunch of guys congested. We knew that Juwan was the target on that play, based on the coverage they had earlier and coach Gattis made a great suggestion. The o-line did a great job protecting, Juwan ran a great route, and Trace put it where it needed to be. It was very exciting."

• The Lions' offense is predicated on lining up, seeing what the defense gives it and then going from there. This season so far it's resulted in fewer chunk plays of 50-plus yards, though the Lions -- using their explosive play benchmarks of rushes of 12-plus yards and completions of 15-plus yards -- are on pace to surpass last year's numbers.

"While the ones that you said over 40, over 50, over 60 may be down a little bit, the interesting thing is entering the season a lot of people asked if we’d be able to maintain our explosiveness with pushing the ball down the field in the pass game and some people felt we maybe needed to be more efficient and work on the underneath stuff," Moorhead said. "But, you just have to strike a balance and I think maybe the pure down the field throws, the ones that are going over people’s heads are down a little bit, but that hasn’t affected our exploiveness per se, or our ability to create plays of 15 yards or more. The ones going deep down the field are down a little bit and I think that’s a byproduct of two things: What the defense is giving us and how we’re trying to get the ball and disperse it amongst our playmakers."

• It's Thursday, which means the weekly Penn State football podcast is up and ready for a listen right here: