Cotton Bowl could give glimpse into future of Penn State's offense

On the most basic level, Penn State’s football team is about to embark on a pretty standard bowl trip to Dallas to take on Memphis in the Cotton Bowl a week from Saturday.

The itinerary will include sponsored functions, luncheons, scripted sightseeing tours — that sort of thing.

The goal will be to win a football game, which should be enough of a challenge to keep their attention. Playing in the highest-profile game in program history, Memphis should be motivated. The No. 17 Tigers bring an offense that ranked eighth in the country this season in points per game.

“At the end of the day, the most important thing is — after that game — we’re putting ‘bowl champions’ on our rings, bringing that trophy back to the facility and sending these seniors out the right way and also providing some momentum going into the offseason,” coach James Franklin said Friday.

Beyond that, though, No. 10 Penn State will go a long way in the next week or so toward answering a fundamental question about the program’s future: What will the offense look like moving forward?

On Friday, Franklin announced tight ends coach Tyler Bowen will call plays at the Cotton Bowl now that offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne has taken over as coach at Old Dominion.

It is reasonable to think the 30-year-old Bowen has at least a decent chance to earn the offensive coordinator job for good. He studied the run-pass option offense under former Penn State assistant Joe Moorhead, and the way Franklin was talking Friday, coaching continuity is something he covets.

“We don’t really want someone to come in and start all over again,” Franklin said. “You look at that across the country. Look at that even in our conference where maybe it took the first four, five games to people to get used to a new system.”

On the other hand, Franklin said most of the coaches he has talked to and about for the vacant position on his staff already have jobs as coordinators in college or the NFL.

Judging by the contract extension Franklin just signed, there is little doubt Penn State would write a large enough check to pry one of those coaches away should Franklin want to go in that direction.

It is an oversimplification to suggest the performance of the Nittany Lions’ offense in the Cotton Bowl will be a referendum on Bowen’s fitness for the job, but it probably isn’t a nonfactor in the decision-making process either.

Coaching conundrum aside, the Cotton Bowl trip should give Penn State the chance to assess what it has in two of the most prominent positions on its offense.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Sean Clifford did some good things in his first year as starter, throwing for 2,521 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions, but his regular season fizzled when he was injured and ineffective in a 17-10 loss to Ohio State, giving way to freshman Will Levis.

With a solid performance against Memphis, Clifford could make a case he should be entrenched as the program’s No.1 quarterback and won’t have to fend off constant challenges from young up-and-comers intent on taking his spot.

Franklin said Friday that Clifford’s health is improving.

“He’s taking most of the reps. … He’s not 100% right now, but we anticipate him being 100%,” Franklin said. “He’s better right now than he was at the end of the year.”

Penn State also could use the Cotton Bowl to help straighten out its running back situation.

Noah Cain, Journey Brown, Ricky Slade and Devyn Ford essentially split carries most of the year. Will that continue or will Cain, the most talented of the foursome, emerge as a lead back?

Franklin said Cain looked healthy in practice this week after missing most of the last four games of the season with a leg injury.

“If we didn’t have the depth that we had, we probably would have (played Cain),” Franklin said. “But he just wasn’t right. … It just kind of lingered for him.”