BleedGopher
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per David:
The performance of Minnesota’s offense against his own team’s defense last year had to have been an influence on James Franklin when he needed an offensive coordinator. So, when Ricky Rahne took off to be head coach at Old Dominion, Franklin had an idea where he might set his sights.
Lewisberry-bred Red Land High grad Kirk Ciarrocca was that director of the Golden Gophers' attack that tore up a pretty good Brent Pry defense in Minneapolis. The 31-26 win in a meeting of unbeatens was possibly the difference between Penn State securing a College Football Playoff bid and not.
But it’s difficult to imagine the 2020 Nittany Lions' offense looking much like that of the 2019 Gophers. The material is entirely different. Ciarrocca hinted as much on Wednesday in a video conference that was more interesting than most.
I asked him how he’ll handle the contrast in personnel between his old team full of downfield passing threats and his current one that appears to be much more ground-based – and whether PSU can hope to be anywhere near as explosive. Ciarrocca took pains to explain his holistic approach:
“I think that one of the key things that I do is not necessarily the exact play that I call at the exact time, but how we decide who the ball is trying to get directed to. Who are we trying to allow to give opportunities to influence the game? And I think every offense is a little bit different.”
www.pennlive.com
Go Gophers!!
The performance of Minnesota’s offense against his own team’s defense last year had to have been an influence on James Franklin when he needed an offensive coordinator. So, when Ricky Rahne took off to be head coach at Old Dominion, Franklin had an idea where he might set his sights.
Lewisberry-bred Red Land High grad Kirk Ciarrocca was that director of the Golden Gophers' attack that tore up a pretty good Brent Pry defense in Minneapolis. The 31-26 win in a meeting of unbeatens was possibly the difference between Penn State securing a College Football Playoff bid and not.
But it’s difficult to imagine the 2020 Nittany Lions' offense looking much like that of the 2019 Gophers. The material is entirely different. Ciarrocca hinted as much on Wednesday in a video conference that was more interesting than most.
I asked him how he’ll handle the contrast in personnel between his old team full of downfield passing threats and his current one that appears to be much more ground-based – and whether PSU can hope to be anywhere near as explosive. Ciarrocca took pains to explain his holistic approach:
“I think that one of the key things that I do is not necessarily the exact play that I call at the exact time, but how we decide who the ball is trying to get directed to. Who are we trying to allow to give opportunities to influence the game? And I think every offense is a little bit different.”
New Penn State conductor Kirk Ciarrocca seeks harmony with different instruments than Minnesota’s
The former Minnesota coordinator who had a large hand in ruining Penn State's College Football Playoff plans a year ago has quite a contrasting set of tools to work with in the Nittany Lion offense than he had with the Golden Gophers.
Go Gophers!!
