Penn State football has been a maddening mix of fits and starts in recent years, and something is clearly wrong — or maybe more accurately, some things are clearly wrong. James Franklin hasn’t been able to put the pieces together properly, on the field or the sideline, as the Lions’ 11-11 record over the past 2 seasons proves.

While Franklin’s quest for “alignment” has veered off on tangents about facilities, NIL and staff retention, the on-field product has been lurching off course. Can it be fixed? Is Penn State just trying to keep the Blue and White car on the Big Ten track, or is it tuning the thing to stay on the lead lap and maybe win a race?

Some tinkering is in order.

Here are 5 areas Franklin and company need to tune up after finishing dead in the middle of the B1G East standings in 2021 with a second consecutive 4-5 league season:

Offensive line

Issue: Penn State never had a 100-yard rusher in 2021 while also giving up a league-worst 34 sacks. Three of the top 6 guys in the OL rotation are gone, with Rasheed Walker, Mike Miranda and Eric Wilson all having moved on. The issues seem to include talent, mindset, scheme and coaching. Position coach Phil Trautwein needs to prove himself entering his 3rd season with the program.

Solutions: Starters Caedan Wallace and Juice Scruggs return, as do promising youngsters Olu Fashanu and Landon Tengwall, both of whom showed promise late in the season, including in the Outback Bowl. Sal Wormley, if healthy, should be in the mix, along with top JUCO recruit JB Nelson and Cornell transfer Hunter Nourzad.

More 4-star and even 5-star OL talent is committed to Penn State over the next 2 years, so Trautwein seems to be setting up a bright future for the team’s offensive front. But until the star-ratings and hype turn into results on the field, he’ll face questions. Are these recruits not of the right size and athletic ability for success in the B1G? Is the blocking scheme broken? Are the Lions still tipping plays? That problem came to light after Villanova held PSU to 80 rushing yards and afterward revealed that its defense often knew what play was coming.

“It’s all of it,” Franklin has become fond as saying in answer to this and other questions about Lions’ struggles. So the fix will need to be multi-faceted. OC Mike Yurcich needs to incorporate more balance and deception into the attack, allowing the OLs to occasionally get off their heels and rumble on power running plays and screens. Too often recently, the big guys are stuck on their heels in pass protection or psuedo-pass protection as a decoy for RPOs and quarterback draws.

In short, Penn State needs to scheme to help its linemen rather than to hide their weaknesses.

Running back usage

Issue: Three deep (or more) is too deep at running back, especially the way Penn State did it in 2021. No one got even 10 carries per game. Guys were frozen out while on a hot streak, most notably Keyvone Lee against Indiana. Lee produced 67 yards on 3 carries in the first half against the Hoosiers, then 5 more on the first play of the second half. After that, though, Lee got only 4 more carries, as Noah Cain, Sean Clifford and John Lovett all finished with more attempts than he did.

Solution: Penn State needs to go back to a philosophy that dictates having a clear No. 1 back. No one can find a rhythm the way the staff is running things now. Cain is gone (portal to LSU), making Lee the top candidate among returnees.

Someone needs to emerge like TreVeyon Henderson at Ohio State and Braelon Allen at Wisconsin did last season. While no PSU back ever got more than 20 carries in a game (and usually far fewer), Henderson and Allen both toted the ball more than 20 times in 3 games and both averaged 14-plus carries per outing. Both of those guys were true freshmen in 2021, suggesting 5-star recruit Nick Singleton might be ready to take the job at Penn State and run with it.

Either way, Penn State needs to establish a No. 1 and put that guy on the field for 60-75 percent of the offensive snaps. By definition, the 3rd, 4th and 5th options provide less chance for success — while also keeping the best option off the field.

DEs/pass rush

Issue: Arnold Ebiketie (team-high 9.5 sacks) and Jesse Luketa have moved on, leaving Penn State scrambling for edge rushers for the second straight offseason.

Solution: Penn State found a transfer portal gem in Ebiketie from Temple a year ago, and is reportedly looking to duplicate that success by bringing in another such player. The promising Adisa Isaac should return from an injury that cost him all of 2021, and 5-star recruit Dani Dennis-Sutton could play right away.  The roster contains some other intriguing names, including veteran Nick Tarburton (30 tackles, 1 sack in 2021) and 6-foot-6 Smith Vilbert, who had 3 sacks against Arkansas in the Outback Bowl.

It’s also possible that new DC Manny Diaz will blitz and stunt more than Brent Pry did last year as Penn State produced just 26 sacks, its worst total in a full season in 5 years. From 2017-19, the Lions averaged 44.5 sacks. A little more disruption on top of the bend-don’t-break style wouldn’t  hurt.

Erratic Clifford doesn’t have ‘it’

Issue: Sean Clifford doesn’t get “in the zone” often enough or stay there long enough. The veteran of 33 starts at QB for the Lions rarely produces the crunch-time magic predecessor Trace McSorley so often did. He doesn’t appear totally comfortable or confident even with 6 years in the program. When it comes to the “it” factor, he’s no McSorley.

Solution: Mike Yurcich needs to better design his offense in Year 2 as coordinator. Penn State needs to run better, protect better and find more easy throws for its soon-to-be 24-year-old leader. Also, the staff needs to keep him healthy by reducing his role in the running game.

Eventually, one of the 3 freshman QBs on the roster will take over, but until then Clifford can be more than adequate if used correctly.

Inconsistent TE play

Issue: The inexperience showed last season as the 3 young tight ends dropped some passes and otherwise just didn’t maximize their potential.

Solution: Another 12 months in the program for these players might automatically solve the problem. Brenton Strange, Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren bring plenty of skill and athleticism to the field. Eligibility-wise, Strange will be a junior and the other 2 sophomores when the season kicks off Sept. 1 with a Thursday night game at Purdue.

As with the running backs, it’s up to Yurcich to get these guys more involved and proportion the playing time properly so a pecking order emerges. One of these guys could be the next Mike Gesicki or Pat Freiermuth, but probably not if all 3 are splitting time equally. Gesicki had 105 receptions over his final 2 seasons at PSU (2016-17), while Freiermuth had 43 in 2019 and 23 in only 4 games played in 2020. Last year, Strange caught 20 balls, Johnson 19 and Warren only 5.

All 3 will need to improve as blockers, as Penn State’s O-line needs all the help it can get.

Warren was fun to watch in special packages last year, especially early in the season, scoring rushing TDs vs. Auburn and Villanova. Yurcich would be wise to mix in more of that once the bigger issues are settled.