Penn State prepares for familiar face guiding Michigan's offense

Penn State football coach James Franklin will see a familiar face calling plays across the field this weekend.

The Nittany Lions are set to take on Michigan on Saturday, and that means a matchup against Wolverines offensive coordinator — and former Penn State wide receivers coach — Josh Gattis.

“Josh Gattis, their offensive coordinator, obviously everyone on this call knows that me and Josh go way back from our time at Vanderbilt as well as our time at Penn State,” James Franklin said Tuesday at his weekly news conference.

Gattis was Franklin’s wide receivers coach, offensive recruiting coordinator and passing game coordinator from 2014-17, holding all three roles by the time he left for Alabama in 2018.

Their time together stretches even before coaching together at Penn State, with Gattis serving as Franklin’s wide receivers coach and offensive recruiting coordinator at Vanderbilt in 2012 and 2013.

Gattis spent a year as Alabama’s co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach before taking the Michigan offensive coordinator role, while also serving as the wide receivers coach.

The offense he runs with the Wolverines had similarities to the one he learned at Penn State, but has since turned into a blend of it and the offenses Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh ran at Stanford.

“I think probably in years past it was similar,” Franklin said. “I think this year there’s been a change early in the season where they were heavy run, and I think it was probably a blend of what Josh has done both at Penn State and at Alabama then (with), I think this offseason, with things that Coach Harbaugh had done in his past, specifically at Stanford. I think there’s probably a little bit more of an influence of that than Josh has shown in the past. I think it’s been a good blend for them.”

The stats back up Franklin’s assertion, with Michigan leaning heavily toward the run this season. The Wolverines have even gained more yards on the ground this season than they have through the air, with 2,107 yards on the ground and only 1,956 through the air.

That type of gameplan can be especially helpful in the red zone, where the field gets shorter and passing lanes are more narrow.

Penn State poses a threat of its own in those situations as a defense, with red-zone defending marking one of the areas Franklin wanted to improve most during the offseason.

“(It was an) offseason priority for sure,” Franklin said. “I would say that we do it every single year, but obviously it’s probably been a little bit more impactful this year.”

Young wide receiver stepping up

Penn State senior wide receiver Jahan Dotson received most of the attention Saturday night, and for good reason. He broke the school’s single-game receiving yards record with 242 while hauling in three touchdowns on top of those yards.

Yet, he wasn’t the only player to hit a career benchmark.

Redshirt freshman Malick Meiga caught his first career pass and has continued to see increased snaps from week to week.

Meiga’s development has come after dealing with an undisclosed injury to start the season. He has continued to see his game improve in large part because of the work he puts in with a position mate.

“He is big and strong and fast,” Franklin said. “… Him and Parker (Washington) are like best friends. They’re constantly together, whether it’s on the JUGS machine, or working in pre-practice or post practice. They’re always together, and it’s interesting because they have different skill sets. I think it’s good for them to learn from each other and challenge each other.”

Meiga’s progression into a player who is more involved would be a welcome one for the Penn State offense. The redshirt freshman would be the team’s biggest major contributor at wideout if he became one at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds. Franklin envisioned the young receiver as someone who can fill a void the team has lacked this season.

“I think he has a chance the rest of the season and long term to be that type of home-run threat for us,” Franklin said. “A guy that can really take the top off the coverage and try to get him involved that way.”

Quick hitters

• Freshman safety Jaylen Reed will continue playing even though he’s already played in four games. Players can use their redshirt year if they play in four games or fewer.

• Franklin said he received his covid-19 booster shot Monday. The Penn State coach said he suffered no notable side effects.

• DT Fred Hansard will be suspended for the first half of Saturday’s game against Michigan after the Big Ten reached out to Penn State to ask what the team was doing about Hansard’s push of Maryland QB Taulia Tagovailoa when he was out of bounds in Saturday’s game. Hansard released a public apology, and Franklin said it did not represent the person Hansard has been in his time at Penn State.