While Penn State football’s running backs have continued to steal the spotlight for the last few weeks, the Nittany Lions wide receivers have been a large part of this season’s success.

The group hasn’t put up flashy numbers this season. Penn State’s leading pass-catcher is Tyler Warren, with 1,158, followed by Trey Wallace with 723. Wallace sits 300 yards in front of Omari Evans, who’s ahead of Nick Singleton by a small margin.

Even though the wide receivers haven’t been consistent game-wreckers, James Franklin said the team owes the squad a lot for the position they’re in.

“The development of our wide receiver room is something that I don’t think has been talked about enough and it’s turned into a strength,” Franklin said.

One of the underrated strengths of the wide receiver room is Evans. The wide receiver didn’t see much playing time last year and ended the season with four catches for 94 yards. Sixty of those yards came on one catch against Michigan State.

This year, though, Evans has wracked up 415 receiving yards and has four games with a long catch of over 30 yards. Averaging 19.8 yards per catch, the junior has hauled in 21 targets on the year, five of them for touchdowns.

While Evans has taken on a bigger role for the team this year through his continued development, he knows there are always areas to improve.

“I’m way better than I was a year ago, thanks to my teammates pushing me every day in the weight room, speed training, and then spring ball,” Evans said. “The things I gotta get better on are top of the route things, contested catches, and holding on to the ball throughout the whole catch.”

The Nittany Lions offense has a lot more of an explosive element than it did last year, and Evans has been on the receiving end of a deep ball numerous times throughout the regular season and the College Football Playoff. During the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State, he had two receptions for 55 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown on a rainbow pass from Drew Allar.

Heading into the semifinal against Notre Dame, it was the perfect time for Evans to have a big game. Notre Dame’s passing defense is an admittedly much tougher test than the Broncos, though. The Fighting Irish have the fifth-ranked passing defense in the nation. Boise State is ranked 107th.

After the Fiesta Bowl, though, Evans knows what he’s capable of.

“It’s definitely a confidence booster. I’m pretty confident right now,” he said. “But having a good game will always give you more confidence going into the next game and the next game.”

Along with Evans’ development, the rest of the room has improved, too. The numbers don’t jump off the page, but Franklin said the room is in a much better spot than they were last year.

Only one receiver can catch that play’s pass, but blocking and route running are also aspects of the job that have to be done every play, yet don’t show up on the stat sheet. Therein is where the receiver’s strengths lie.

“Where are the explosive plays coming from? The receivers who are owning all of the responsibilities of being true wide receivers,” Franklin said. “I think Marques Hagans and those wide receivers in that room have done a really good job of making plays at critical times.”