TE Tyler Warren describes the versatility of Penn State's offense

Tyler Warren was considered a touchdown against Kent State. A week later he was chasing points against Illinois. Two weeks later, he caught 17 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown at USC – that touchdown reception came on a one-two pass that began with him snapping the ball.

Warren is one of the most dynamic players in college football this season. He is also a 1.90 meter tall and 110 kilogram tight end.

“Obviously we had a lot of fun,” Warren said when discussing Andy Kotelnicki’s versatility Penn State Offensive on “The Triple Option” podcast on Wednesday. “And I think Coach K has brought a new energy to this offense and what he does. From the outside it looks like a bunch of crazy stuff, but in reality there are only 11 people.

“Each of us has a job to do on each play, and we can move and do it in many different ways. But I think that's kind of what makes it work: our preparation and knowing that our only job is in this game and being able to move on. Whatever we can do on offense to help depends on our approach.”

After being poached by Kansas last offseason, Kotelnicki has spiced up the Nittany Lions' offense with multiple formations and changes and has embraced the quarterback run game.

The Nittany Lions are more explosive in 2024. That puts them only 10th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten, but they have 33 plays with more than 20 yards of offense this season. In other words, they're averaging 4.71 of those plays per game this year, an improvement over their average of 3.62 per game in 2023.

Additionally, Penn State has seven plays of at least 40 yards from offense this season, while there were eight such wins all of last season. Three of those seven players took the field as running backs this season Nick Singleton And Kaytron Allen Star. This running back tandem has combined for 992 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns this year.

At the beginning, Kotelnicki temporarily puts two quarterbacks on the field at the same time Drew Allar and backup Beau Pribulaand on other occasions, a non-quarterback takes the snap.

Warren has had plenty of opportunities in that department and is used to it, considering he played quarterback at Atlee High School in Hanover County, Virginia. Reading EDGE players is particularly comfortable for Warren, as the southpaw ran a Wing-T attack that featured a ton of power and read-option runs during his final two high school seasons.

Former Alabama and NFL running back Mark Ingram, a co-host of “The Triple Option,” asked Warren how he became such a tough tight end quarterback in high school. Warren had a good answer.

“I played fullback when I was growing up,” he said. “My father was the coach. He didn't want me to be the running back and said, “You're going to play fullback and block for the running back.” So I did that and played linebacker and stuff as a kid. So it wasn't really like I was a quarterback who had to play quarterback. That was exactly what the high school team needed at the time.

“So that’s what I did, and that’s how it went.”

The humble Warren called Kotelnicki “the mastermind” behind Warren's colorful array of games this season.

“Really, our entire offensive team is doing a great job,” Warren said. “And we've given little tidbits and things that you might have ideas for, and (Kotelnicki) listens to them and if he likes it, he'll incorporate them. But I have to give him and the staff a lot of credit for being creative with the tools we have on offense.”