JOHNSTOWN – Speaking candidly about a wealth of topics surrounding Penn State athletics and the world of collegiate sports at large, Steve Jones – the radio play-by-play voice for the university’s football and men’s basketball teams – held court for roughly two hours during Thursday’s annual dinner for the Laurel Highlands Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association at the Holiday Inn Johnstown-Downtown.
Jones, who partners with Bishop McCort Catholic graduate and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Jack Ham during football broadcasts, also offered his insights to The Tribune-Democrat about the upcoming football season for the Nittany Lions.
He also spoke of his relationship with Ham, who will be entering his 25th season in the booth with Jones.
“He and I play up at Sunnehanna (County Club),” Jones said. “He’ll say, ‘I’m still a member here.’ He and Ron Moehler, they grew up together. Ron’s with us in the booth for home games. The friendship they have is tremendous. The friendship Jack and I have is tremendous. Johnstown was great to him. He has a great fondness for Johnstown. When we come up here, we have a great time up here.”
Ham’s fondness for the city extends to keeping up on his alma mater, which merged its football program with Bishop Carroll Catholic in 2021.
“He always asks, ‘What did Bishop McCort do last night?’ He always asks about how things are going in the city,” Jones said. “He cares very much about Johnstown. His roots are very important to him. I’ve always felt that where you grow up forms you as a person, and Jack is one of the finest people out there. He has no ego and that’s a tribute to Johnstown.”
A season after Penn State finished 10-3 capped with a 38-25 loss to Mississippi in the Peach Bowl, the Nittany Lions’ outlook for 2024 comes with the weight of new expectations with the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams.
“The pulse of the team is that they’ve gone about their business,” Jones said. “They’ve been very much going about what they need to do, how they need to do it. The outside noise is about the College Football Playoff. In some ways, Penn State is in the noise and in some ways, Penn State is below the radar, and I think that they like it that way.”
One of the nation’s winningest programs since 2016, when a dramatic mid-season turnaround led to Penn State capturing the Big Ten championship, coach James Franklin has led the Nittany Lions to a 76-27 record in that span. The program has been left on the outside of the four-team playoff each time.
“I think everybody would like to see it happen now, especially the head coach (Franklin),” Jones said, “because he’s worked hard to get them back to this point. It’s been a long road to get back to this point.
“James, to his credit, took a really bad situation – because of the number of scholarships, not what Bill O’Brien did (from 2012-14) – and he put them in a competitive situation to go toe to toe with the best.”
While it may not necessarily be a now-or-never situation for Penn State to reach the playoff, recent history supports the sentiment that the team may earn a bid if they can play to those standards.
“In an expanded playoff, if they had the expanded playoffs since 2016, Penn State would have been in five times,” Jones said. “This is an opportunity for them to get there. We all know that the first four teams will get a bye, then teams 5-8 will get home games. I think a 12-team playoff, it took too long to get there, but at least we’re there now. People want to see games with stakes. I think that’s the excitement of it all.”
With the Big Ten dissolving divisions with the addition of former Pac-12 schools Oregon, Southern California, UCLA and Washington, the Nittany Lions won’t be slotted for annual dates with Ohio State and defending national champion Michigan, but there are new challenges awaiting, such as increased travel and unfamiliar opposition.
“First of all, the schedule is completely different,” Jones noted. “They do have Ohio State at home, but there’s Washington. There’s Southern California. There’s UCLA.
“Those are conference games, which also includes travel. Now I want to give the Big Ten credit where credit is due. They took a long look at the schedules and 14 schools in the central and eastern time zones have to go to the (Pacific) coast. Of the 14, eight have a bye week the next week, including Penn State.
“The other six have home games the next week. The Big Ten was smart about how they did this when it was time to schedule it.”
The team is also adjusting to three new coordinators following the departures of offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, who was fired Nov. 12, Manny Diaz, who took the head coaching position at Duke, and special teams coordinator Stacy Collins, who departed for Boise State. Jones’ observation is that the Nittany Lions are transitioning smoothly to the new schemes.
“Spring was all about fine-tuning things, because you had three new coordinators (offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, defensive coordinator Tom Allen and special teams coordinator Justin Lustig),” Jones said.
“There’s a learning curve. They got through that part and they’re doing really well with it. Now it’s getting ready for training camp and it’s getting ready to see who is not just going to win jobs, but what I call, ‘Winning playing time,’ because when I look at, for example, the defense, they can play as many as 25 to 28 guys on defense in a game.”
In an offseason of big changes, there have been slight tweaks with the roles of personnel, such as Abdul Carter shifting from linebacker to defensive end. in 2023, Carter racked up 4.5 sacks and 48 total tackles. Getting Carter closer to the line of scrimmage may allow the junior to create more chaos.
“His weight is up to 259 (from 250),” Jones said of Carter’s work to transition to the line. “Tremendous takeoff. He’s going to be a real handful for tackles to handle on the outside. Conversely, when you’re blitzing in the middle, you’re handling guards, centers and maybe a running back. When you’re on the outside, that’s a bigger man that you have to take on. So Abdul is going to have to beat him with his strength and quickness. I watched him in the spring and I thought he took to it with relative ease. It doesn’t mean that he’s always going to be lining up outside, either.”
Penn State’s receiving room is also undergoing change with leading receiver Keandre Lambert-Smith taking his game to Auburn, while Dante Cephas transferred to Kansas State. The cupboard isn’t bare as the Nittany Lions were able to pull in a veteran receiver to add to the mix.
“The leadership comes in two spots,” Jones said.
“(Ohio State transfer and Southern Columbia graduate) Julian Fleming, without question, and also Liam Clifford. Fleming came in from Ohio State and he’s played in the biggest games. He’s played in the College Football Playoff. He’s played in the national championship game. He’s had success and he brings that to the table. Something he’s worked on with the strength and conditioning staff is quicker takeoff off the line of scrimmage. Liam Clifford is relatable and he’s been there. Because he’s been there, I think a lot of people look to him as a leader.”
Getting the ball to the wideouts will fall on returnees Drew Allar and Beau Pribula, who are both expected to see ways to contribute in Kotelnicki’s offense.
“(Allar has) adapted well to the offense, it fits him really well,” Jones said. “Then Beau Pribula, it fits him really well, because Beau Pribula is a superior athlete out there. There’s a role for him somewhere in this. For Drew Allar, he’s the guy that you look at. He’s got the 12 starts under his belt. He’s earned those 12 starts. He’s got a really good feel for everything around him. I think he does a really good job in that 3-to-4-foot area in the pocket where you have to move, I think that’s where he’s made the biggest improvement.”
Penn State also has a two-pronged attack at running back with Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen having combined for 1,654 yards and 14 touchdowns on 343 rushes.
“They were separated by one carry last year,” Jones said. “Two years ago, they were separated by nine carries. They’ve done a great job of keeping each one fresh. I think that’s the big selling point when you get to today’s game. The mileage that’s been put in by Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen is really to this point even, and I think it’s also been important for their long-term development as running backs.”
