STATE COLLEGEfather – With the opening games just days away, the whirlwind of changes in the varsity sports landscape may be slowing. At least for a short time.
Change is in the air. Have the final parts of the realignment moved? What regulations, if any, are emerging when it comes to Names, Images and Likenesses (NIL) and collectives popping up across the country? Roster management remains difficult in the age of the transfer portal. On the field, coaches are faced with rule changes aimed at shortening games and reducing the number of plays.
Penn State football coach James Franklin noted how the sport has changed and continues to impact the job and collegiate athletics overall.
“Probably there’s been more change in the last five years than in the previous 50 years, and I don’t think it’s anywhere near that,” Franklin said at media day. “I think the game and the rules were probably the same for at least 50 years. In the last five years there have been changes and dramatic changes. I think we could have a pretty interesting debate that some of the changes were necessary.”
Recent changes focus on realignment. Following the addition of Southern California and UCLA in 2022, the Big Ten announced the addition of Oregon and Washington on August 4th. All four are slated to play in the Big Ten in 2024. Those moves, coupled with the Pac-12’s defeats to the Big 12 also in Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, leave the long-running West Coast Conference with only four schools for next year: California, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State.
“What you’re seeing in college football right now isn’t shocking that things like this are happening,” Franklin said. “It’s a bit sad in some ways, not that these people are being added to our conference because I think there’s obviously a lot of strategy behind it. I think it comes with some challenges. It’s very different from the college football we all grew up watching. Not really college football, college athletics where it was pretty regional at least most of the year.”
Regarding the transfer portal, Franklin said the “pendulum overcorrected,” meaning the NCAA, student-athletes, and coaches had to continue to respond and change how they handled the portal.
“Rather than maybe allowing coaches, I think it would have been much better if the conferences and the commissioners had worked out a standard rule, whatever it may be, five schools or you can’t switch within your conference or whatever.” said Franklin. “I also don’t think it’s good to just broadcast completely openly. When a lot of people say things like that, it comes across as anti-student athlete. For me it’s exactly the opposite. I still believe in that.” We are a student-athlete model and I still believe that the most important thing we should do is education.
“If you look at graduation rates, the data shows very clearly that with each transfer, the likelihood of graduation decreases because you lose credits. This is a much more complex issue.”
The biggest change on the pitch this year will involve the running clock. Since the late 1960s, the game clock has stopped after the first down and restarted after the ball was planted by the officials. Now the clock continues after a first down unless it is within the last two minutes of each half.
Penn State University offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said that likely means teams have about seven fewer offensive games per game.
“For us, it’s not about total yards or total games, it’s points per game,” Yurcich said, noting that he believes points per game is the most important statistic in football. “It’s about being efficient with every single snap. With the rule change, that means efficiency will be even greater. You have to stay on schedule and be explosive.”
In 2022, Penn State averaged 465 points in 911 games for an average of 0.51 points per game, up 0.16 points per game from 2021. The Nittany Lions averaged 0.35 points per game in 2021 and 0.38 points per game in 2020.
“It’s the same for both teams,” Yurcich said. “It’s just about making sure we’re as efficient as possible at every single football game.”
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