ATLANTA — Dante Cephas jogged through the tunnel and made a beeline for the Penn State locker room. His teammates were still on the field singing a tearful alma mater as the season ended with a thud.
That fleeting moment in the tunnel served as the only real evidence that Cephas was even here. He was decked out in full uniform, but the starting wide receiver did not play a snap during No. 10 Penn State’s 38-25 loss to No. 11 Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl.
James Franklin cited “open competition every week” as the reason why Cephas didn’t play. Wide receivers coach Marques Hagans said there’s “accountability” for how guys practice. Co-offensive coordinator Ja’Juan Seider deferred to Hagans when asked why Cephas didn’t see the field.
“For us to take the next step, we got to hold people accountable,” Seider said.
The mysterious absence of Cephas isn’t why Penn State lost to Ole Miss. It’s far from it. But his absence is a good example of the numerous issues that continue to plague the team’s weakest position group all season. If Penn State didn’t have one wide receiver, only rarely did someone else step up. When it did have them all — which wasn’t often — many struggled to consistently create separation.
Ole Miss’ receivers didn’t have these kinds of issues. Quarterback Jaxson Dart delivered the ball beautifully to his targets as they worked the boundary, making acrobatic grabs and even securing the types of catches they’re expected to make. They made the difficult look easy while Penn State’s receiving corps underwhelmed yet again.
Harrison Wallace III had a touchdown catch in the Peach Bowl. (Dale Zanine / USA Today)
Saturday’s loss — a game in which no Penn State wide receiver caught a pass until early in the fourth quarter — reaffirmed what has been true all season: This receiving corps isn’t and hasn’t been nearly good enough. It heads into the offseason facing familiar questions: Who steps up at wide receiver, and how many receivers does Penn State need to add via the transfer portal? To hang with top-15 programs, the kind that Penn State figures to be seeing even more of in 2024 in the expanded Big Ten, something has to drastically change in this receiving corps.
“I keep hearing about creating more separation and we just gotta make more plays,” Hagans said. “If those things happens and we’re really great in the perimeter in the run game I think we’ll have a really good group. That’s where we gotta excel.”
Top wideout KeAndre Lambert-Smith was targeted once and was credited with a drop. If Lambert-Smith catches it, Penn State either has a first down or a fourth-and-short. Harrison Wallace III returned after not playing for much of the season due to injury. He finished with four receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown, the latter of which came late. But, during Penn State’s final possession of the game, Wallace, who might be the best of this corps, dealt with yet another injury. It remains unclear what, if any, impact this latest injury could have on his offseason.
Omari Evans, who had taken on an increased role late in the season, was working to create separation on a shot play when he was flagged for offensive pass interference. On Drew Allar’s interception in the first half, Evans, running a post route, was the closest receiver to the ball, but even he wasn’t all that close to it. Allar got hit and the ball hung up in the air.
Cephas, who committed to Penn State last winter from Kent State and who was supposed to help elevate this group, was a non-factor. Without him, Seider said it was “frustrating” to be a play caller. He said he felt “stuck a little bit” as the Rebels built a lead and Penn State had no answers on the outside. Feeling frustrated watching this offense and watching it look stuck certainly is emblematic of the 2023 Penn State offense.
New offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who walked out of the locker room after observing the game, surely can see some of these shortcomings with this roster more clearly now, too. The creative play caller has his work cut out for him with this offense in many ways.
“(Those improvements) will happen. They have to happen,” Hagans said of his position group. “I’m pretty confident. It’s going to take a lot of work. I’m not saying that in a cocky way. It’s going to take a lot of work, but that’s ultimately why Coach had faith in me to bring me here and that’s what I’ve got to do. I understand what’s at stake.”
It remains unclear whether Lambert-Smith will stay at Penn State. He has another year of eligibility if he wants it. When approached in the locker room after the game he declined all questions. That response perhaps is a reflection of the accountability piece, which seems to be missing with some in that room.
While Seider will shift back into his role as the running backs coach as Kotelnicki goes from the background to forefront, the running backs coach still understands the narrative of this offense. This time, Penn State has to correct the receivers problem with a few instant-impact transfers or else Kotelnicki’s creativity will be the only hope Penn State has of busting into the 12-team College Football Playoff field next winter. If any portal wide receivers were watching the Peach Bowl, it should be abundantly clear that Penn State needs help.
“We’re young and we just need some kids to grow up,” Seider said of the receivers. “We’ve recruited well. It’s time to be an adult a little bit. That’s the word you gotta use. You get what you put into it.”
(Top photo: David J. Griffin / Icon Sportswire via Getty)
