Tyler Warren passed for a touchdown against Kent State. A week later he ran for a score against Illinois. Two weeks after that, he hauled in 17 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown at USC — that touchdown reception came on a double pass that started with the snap of the ball.

Warren has been one of the most dynamic players in college football this season. He is also a 6-foot-1, 261-pound tight end.

“We obviously had a lot of fun,” Warren said, discussing Andy Kotelnicki’s versatility. Penn State violation on “The Triple Option” podcast Wednesday. “And I think Coach K has brought a new energy to this offense and what he does. It looks like a bunch of crazy stuff from the outside, but it’s actually just eleven guys.

“We all have a job on each piece, and we can move around and do it in many different ways. But I think that’s what makes it work, because of our preparation and knowing that we have our only job on that play and we can get rid of it. What we can also do in the offense to help it is kind of how we approach it.

After being hired away from Kansas this past offseason, Kotelnicki has spruced up the Nittany Lions’ offense with multiple formations and shifts, and has focused on the quarterback run game.

The Nittany Lions are more explosive in 2024. Granted, this puts them at just 10th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten, but they have 33 plays of more than 20 yards from scrimmage this season. In other words, this year they are averaging 4.71 plays per game, an improvement over the 3.62 per game they averaged in 2023.

Additionally, Penn State has had seven plays of at least 40 yards from scrimmage this season, while posting eight such gains last season. Three of those seven have come on the ground this season, where running backs Nick Singleton And Kaytron Allen star. That running back tandem has combined for 992 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns this year.

Sometimes Kotelnicki puts two quarterbacks on the field at once, starter Drew Allar and backup Beau Pribulaand on other occasions he’ll have a non-quarterback taking the shot.

Warren has had his fair share of opportunities in that department, and he’s used to it, as he played quarterback at Atlee High School in Hanover County, Virginia. Reading EDGE players is particularly comfortable for Warren, as the left-handed quarterback ran a Wing-T offense 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, co-host of “The Triple Option,” asked Warren how he became such a tough tight end as a high school quarterback. Warren had a good answer.

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

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

The modest Warren called Kotelnicki “the brains” behind Warren’s colorful playing palette this season.

“Really, our entire offensive staff 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 them, he’ll record them. But I have to give him and the staff a lot of credit for the way they are creative with the resources we have available in our offense.”