Oct. 28, 2014
COACH FRANKLIN: What I would like to do first is thank everybody for coming. Number two, I would like to address some things that have been in the media, which I typically wouldn't do but I thought it would be important to address these.
There are things being reported in the media about Ryan Keiser that I don't think are completely accurate. Ryan did suffer a fracture in a rib in practice last Thursday. After undergoing operations at Hershey Medical Center for a small bowel injury sustained, he's recovering and improving.
There is no infection. I wanted to make sure that we're clear. Ryan's family has our complete support. I've talked to his mother; I've talked to Ryan. Our trainers and doctors have been in constant contact and have been involved every step of the way. I just want to clear that up because I know how the Penn State community supports one another and I want to make sure that everybody understands clearly what's going on. That's about all I'm going to comment and talk about that.
The rest of it is up to the family and their personal information and what they want to share. This has been approved by the family as our statement.
I would like to summarize our game against Ohio State: the turnover battle was even, technically. Penalties in the game, we won that battle. Explosive plays, defense met their goal which is three or less, offense did not meet their goal of eight, they had three. On offense, I think we showed flashes. You're talking about the one drive that was a 19 play drive, which is challenging to do for any team. [Angelo] Mangiro played three positions [on the offensive line]. That is a challenge for us. For most teams, when your left tackle has to leave the game, the back up left tackle goes in. That's not a situation we're in. So, when we lose our left tackle our center goes to right tackle, our right tackle goes to left tackle and our backup center comes in the game. That's how we're trying to create our depth but a guy like Angelo [Mangiro] played three positions during the game and played them well.
It was great to see [Saeed] Blacknall stepping up as a true freshman. Three of our four receivers playing for us right now are true or redshirt freshmen and they are doing a good job. However, we've got to eliminate the critical mistakes. One of the things going on with the offenses right now is missed assignments.
Defense I thought we played really hard. They had a 91 percent pursuit grade, which is really good. I think that's one of the things we believe in, just the importance of running to the ball. We had two take aways, including a pick six. I thought [Mike] Hull, [Anthony] Zettel and [Marcus] Allen all played well. We needed to play better in overtime, we had a chance to finish the game we just needed to play better in overtime. On We-fense it is consistency, consistency, consistency. We have good effort, we just need good execution. I Thought [Von] Walker, [Christian] Campbell and [Matt] Zanellato are doing some nice things for us. You look at some of our young guys that are playing; Allen is now a starter and [Jason] Cabinda has played of late. Campbell, [Grant] Haley, Blacknall, [Mike] Gesicki, and [Chris] Godwin have been playing for us since the beginning of the season. Now as a punter, Daniel Pasquariello, is seeing time. Obviously, that's an area we have to improve. We will have open competition from a punting perspective this week. We tried to make adjustments during the game to try to help those guys out. Not only do we need to find a groove there, another area that would help is don't punt, that's another thing that would be helpful for us.
We got redshirt freshmen playing big roles, as well. You talk about Parker Cothran, DaeSean Hamilton, Andrew Nelson, Brendan Mahon and Chris Gulla. So we're talking about 13, if my math is correct, freshmen there are playing for us and playing pretty well.
Getting into our next opponent Maryland, head coach [Randy] Edsell does a great job and has been doing a great job for a long time. He is in his fourth year as head coach - 16th overall. They had 17 of 22 starters returning this year, highest in the conference. They have eight [returning starters] currently playing on offense and nine currently playing on defense.
If you look at a comparison of statistics: they have the advantage in turnover margin. We have the advantage in penalties per game. They have the advantage in total offense, but we have the advantage in total defense. Scoring offense, they have the advantage, but scoring defense, we have the advantage. It's interesting how that breaks down.
On defense, Brian Stewart is their defensive coordinator and he coaches the defensive backs. I've known Brian for a long time. He's a very experienced guy, coaching for 23 years, eight of which were in the NFL. He was a defensive coordinator in the NFL. [They have] nine returning starters, so they are an experienced group. They technically call themselves a 3-4 defense, but I would say they are more of a 4-3 defense, but their one defensive end stands up.
They're able to play from a three- and four-down front. They play a variety of coverages, pressure the quarterback well and have returned two interceptions for touchdowns. That's William Likely, who is a good player. He may not be very big, but he's an explosive player.
Obviously I have a little history with this program, so I know a lot of the sixth year and fifth year seniors. Darius Kilgo is playing well for them at nose tackle. I know Darius because we recruited him. André Monroe, is a defensive end who is playing really well for them, I know him extremely well. He has eight tackles for loss and six and a half sacks, I know him because we recruited him. Linebacker Cole Farrand is playing well for them and we talked about Likely.
On the offensive side of the ball, Mike Locksley, who I worked with [at Maryland], I've know him and his family for a long time. He is a great football coach, a really good person and a great recruiter.
It is his ninth season there, third as the offensive coordinator, and 23rd in coaching overall, one as the head coach at New Mexico. They are averaging 31 points a game and are a spread, no huddle team. They use tempo and are big into the quarterback running game. They have a really fast and productive wide receivers unit. That's one of the things I would say in general about Maryland, their skilled positions are really good. C.J. Brown is their sixth year senior at quarterback, 6-foot-3, 218 pounds. I recruited C.J. and know him extremely well. He is an athletic guy who plays extremely well. He is able to make plays with his arm, as well as with his legs. Brandon Ross, know him extremely well. Stefon Diggs, it seems like he's been playing there forever. I know Stefon and his family fairly well and he's doing nice things for them. He continues to be one of the more explosive athletes in the country. Deon Long is someone who I've known for a very long time. He's a big time playmaker for them, as well. They have athletes across the board.
On special teams, Andre Powell, their running back's coach, is also the special teams coordinator. Their leading the Big Ten in the punt return average, are third in kickoff return average and that has a lot to do with their scheme, but that has a lot to do with their personnel. Likely, who we have talked about, is their punt returner. He's seventh in the nation right now and has one return for a touchdown. That's going to be a challenge for us. Diggs is their kick returner and is first in the Big Ten in kickoff return yardage. So we're going to have a tremendous challenge there. A guy that jumps out to me is Kenneth Goins. He is a running back, H-back type guy, who is all over the field on special teams. He will be a tremendous challenge for us.
We're excited to be back at home again. We have the opportunity for the first time in the last four years to have back to back sellouts; to be 107K strong. We're excited about that. I cannot stress enough the impact that our fans had on our last game. It gave our defense a real home field advantage. I can't stress enough how much we appreciate their support.
Q. I realize that you're on to the Maryland game but I had to ask, do you have a reaction to the Big Ten statement after the Ohio State game in which they admitted there were significant issues and an error on a couple of key plays in a game that did not go your way?
COACH FRANKLIN: We're going to move on. Even though the conference came out and made a statement, I still don't think it's appropriate or wise for me to comment. We've moved on.
I've never addressed it with the team. We just focus on the things that we can control. The conference came out and answered some questions.
Q. What sort of progress has Akeel Lynch made this year away from the ball? In terms of his blocking, going out for passes and his preparation?
COACH FRANKLIN: I think [Akeel] has made real strides. I'm really proud of him, in a lot of different ways and for a lot of different reasons. He's doing some really nice things. He's a big, strong, powerful guy, but like most running backs, one of the areas he still needs to improve on is his pass protection.
I think that's going to be very, very important for us and as big and strong as he should be able to be dominant in that area. I'm very pleased [with his progress] and I think his role is going to continue to grow this year. Obviously not having Zach [Zwinak] anymore is going to factor into that as well.
Q. I wanted to ask you about Ryan Keiser the player, the person that you've come to know this year. What were your impressions of him in that regard?
COACH FRANKLIN: I love Ryan Keiser. I love everything about him. He is one of the nicest, most kind, most thoughtful kids I've been around. It's the same thing with his family. He's an unbelievable teammate and is really coachable. He has really strong faith and spirituality and he shares that with the team. He's a special guy. I've already talked to Ryan about what his interests are after he graduates. Chasing his dream to play in the NFL and I think he would like to be is a physical education teacher and possibly a coach, as well. I think so highly of him I've talked about trying to get him to work for us in some capacity, whether it's player development or something else. I think he's one of those kids that everybody in our program respects. He is the type of guy that you spend time with and he makes you want to be a better person. He makes you want to be a better coach. He's a special, special young man. He's in our prayers and his family is in our prayers and we can't get him back here soon enough.
Q. Do you know Randy Edsell personally? What do you think about the job he's done at Maryland? Also can you talk about C.J. Brown? I know you recruited and coached him, but what do you think of him?
COACH FRANKLIN: I don't know Randy very well. I've never coached with him, but professionally this is a small industry, we know each other, our paths cross. He's from Pennsylvania, and he has recruits Pennsylvania, so I see him on the road and things like that. I have tremendous respect for what he's done in his career and what he's doing at the University of Maryland. I had interactions with him at the Big Ten head coaches meetings, as well as at media day and all those things.
C.J. Brown, I love the kid. I love his family. I remember the home visit. I remember being down in the basement and playing ping pong and pool with him. I remember going to his basketball practice. He's a great kid.
He's a great student, a great player. Early on in his career he had the injury bug and that's why he got a sixth year there. I'm really happy that he's able to end on a positive note in his career there. He's what college athletics is all about. He's been able to get a great education, and play football at a high level. I'm just really, really happy for him and his family, they are just great people. I root for him in every game but one.
Q. I know you addressed special teams in your opening remarks but I wonder about the two punters, Gulla and Pasquariello, do they perform well in practice? How much promise do they show in practice and what can you say to them about their confidence right now?
COACH FRANKLIN: I think kicking, shooting hoops, things like that they tend to be streaky; especially when you're young and inexperienced. I think [Sam] Ficken can be a great resource for those guys and already has been, has been really good. We're going to do some things and try and help them and we made some adjustments last game. We're going to continue to do those things. We're going to use our directional punt team and do some things to try to help them, put the pressure on the other 10 guys. No different than anything else. There is no magic wand. They're going to keep working hard and preparing and having really good dialogue back and forth.
There are things we can do to help them, as well. [We] just keep working hard and staying positive and loving these guys and supporting them. [We need to] be challenging and demanding on them when we need to be. They've punted well. Gulla won the job and he has a lot of confidence. It's one thing punting in practice; it's another punting in games. I think he hasn't been able to punt as consistently in games. You got to work through that. That's what we're going to do. That's what he's going to do. This week it will be an open competition between the two of them. We will keep track of the yardage, the hang time all week long and whoever is the most consistent guy, we'll go with them.
Q. Can you update us on Miles Dieffenbach and the possibility of him playing this week?
COACH FRANKLIN: I wish I had a clear answer for you. We're still determining that ourselves, and I think you guys have heard me say this before, it's not just the physical aspect, it's the muscle memory of the footwork and the techniques that he hasn't done in six months. It's also the confidence as well.
I think a lot of it is really depends on how practices go. He's been practicing, to some degree, the last couple of weeks. Hopefully he will have a bigger role this week and that will allow us to play him in a game. I think that would be the ideal situation. How much that is, I'm not sure. We'll see, but I think the biggest thing is we are never, ever going to put winning a game in front of what's in the best interest of our student-athletes and their health. We want to make sure he's prepared before we put him back on the field that's mentally, physically, emotionally. That's the whole package.
Q. How does Mike Hull compare to the other linebackers you have been around throughout your career? What's impressed you most about him, not just Saturday but how he's developed throughout the season?
COACH FRANKLIN: Mike Hull is as good as I've ever been around. Coaches, fans, scouts, selection committees for awards and people like that; we sometimes get way too caught up in the eyeball test.
When the guy that walks through the door and he's 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, he just looks what you imagine in your mind. Don't get me wrong, that's not like Mike. He's little [for the position], he's 6-foot, 235 pounds, but how productive he is? I typically meet with our freshmen once a week, and they're probably sick of hearing me talk about Mike Hull because it's not just his physical traits, it's everything [he is able to do].
I don't know if I could find something that I would say in terms of his preparation and his demeanor that I would want more from. It's how he is in meetings or how he is out at practice; his focus, his attention to detail, his work ethic, how coachable he is. From day one, he's embraced everything we've asked him to do as a teammate, as a leader, in the defensive scheme, in the defensive techniques, which isn't always easy to do as a senior.
I mean, he's a model [player]. I think the one thing you would love him to do is be a little more vocal, but that's not who he is. When he speaks, though, people listen and that's powerful. He needs to stay true to who he is. I think he's special. I remember during the spring I saw the whole offense, all their faces drop because of him. We faked an inside zone and handed a reverse. He was there to make the tackle on the inside zone, and it looked like it was going to be a big play on a reverse. Next thing you know, the same guy that stopped the inside zone was making the tackle on the sideline on the reverse and it was Mike Hull. At that moment all the coaches knew we had a special guy and every day he's proved that: in the classroom, in the community and on the football field.
I'm trying to figure out a way that we can appeal to the NCAA and get a few more years out of him or convince his parents to have a few more children. I don't know if that's going to happen, though.
Q. Along those lines and what you think of Mike Hull. You and Coach (Bob) Shoop have been vocal, especially on social media, about his snubs on the national award lists. Today he was added to one of those lists. How much do those awards mean to you guys, at least to get recognized? Do you campaign behind the scenes? Can you influence that at all besides what you're saying to us right now?
COACH FRANKLIN: What we talk about is the individual accolades that you get from the Big Ten or regionally and nationally, all those things are wonderful but they're really not individual, they're about the team.
Mike doesn't have the success he's having without the defensive line, without the secondary, without the scout team on offense, without the schemes. Don't get me wrong, he gets a lot of credit but there are a lot of things that go into it because this is the ultimate team game.
Would you love for him to be on those lists and do I think he deserves it? Yes. But beside that we don't spend a lot of time on it. I know Mike doesn't and we don't as a staff. I think Jeff [Nelson] and his staff do a good job of trying to educate [the media] and we send things out to the media and the public to try to educate them on what we have here. So we do that, but from the a coaching staff perspective, we're too busy trying to develop these young people as men and as students and in the community and as football players.
That's where we spend so much time bringing different people to come in and talk to our team about social issues that we're all struggling with right now in our society. We are reinforcing all the needs of our academic department so our guys can do well there and maximize their experience on the football field.
Besides that, that's why we have Jeff and his staff doing a great job.
Q. How much does it hurt to lose Ryan Keiser and Zach Zwinak from a leadership standpoint given how thin your senior class is? Beyond that how much are you going to rely on them to continue in those roles when they're able to get back and be around the team?
COACH FRANKLIN: I don't think there is any doubt like you're saying, their losses are significant. You think about two of the seniors and we didn't have many in the first place. On offense, we have Zwinak and Dieffenbach. I'm trying to think who else we even have. Bill Belton, he is the only other one. So we have one senior on offense right now. I want their leadership roles to continue and maybe step up to a different level. I'll give you an example, a lot of guys think they have a hard time leading and encouraging and getting on other guys when they're not out there doing it themselves. When the team is running sprints and you're not, it's a factor, I don't think there is any doubt about it.
Losing a guy like Keiser is a big factor, because [Mike] Hull is the quarterback of the front seven and Keiser was the quarterback of the back four. What was great last week is just to see those other guys step up to support Marcus [Allen] and I think you guys all saw, just like we did, as the game went on, Marcus played with more and more confidence. I'm excited to see what he's going to be able to do this week but I don't think there is any doubt, when we had so few seniors in the first place, that when you lose a couple of those guys it probably has a bigger impact than most programs.
Q. Saturday, is there more a sense of urgency? Is there a line that you draw that says to the young players that they are no longer young?
COACH FRANKLIN: From a youth standpoint the young guys that are playing, they're no longer freshmen. That can't be an excuse anymore. Even the guys on the scout team, I met with them and told them they have to make sure they're not in the redshirt mode because if [they are] they won't be ready to compete for jobs come spring practice or for a job if something changes and they need to go in and play. We do start cutting back practice a little bit, I think I told you guys that already, we started to do that last week.
I think that's been helpful. On offense, you know, you have some challenges. You have to practice to get better, but, you only have so many bodies to really get it done with. The fine line is how you go about developing those guys in practice. Most people have 85 scholarship and 125 guys on the team, and that affects everybody's development. It affects the second team corner's development, the second team quarterback's development, the second team's line development, because we don't have a second offensive line. That's where we are right now.
Q. You talked about familiarity with a lot of the Maryland players and even though you haven't coached them recently how much of a benefit is it having known those players and how much of an advantage is that for you guys on the field?
COACH FRANKLIN: I don't see it being an advantage on the field because I know their personalities but I haven't coached them or been around them in four years. A lot of things can change. Guys get bigger, stronger, they develop and they're in schemes that are different.
I don't think we gain a whole lot of an advantage. There is some familiarity. I would say similar with a lot of other schools in this conference that are close. Other schools that we've played, we've recruited their guys as well. So I think the longer we're here, you're going to have more and more of that in the Big Ten because you're recruiting against each other so you have a good understanding of their players and where they come from. Four years is a long time and a lot of things change in that time.
Q. Robby Liebel is a guy you brought in from the IMGA Academy this past fall, is he part of that punting competition and what have you seen from him that you've liked in camp and so far this year?
COACH FRANKLIN: Technically Robby will be part of [the punting] competition but I think there is a good gap right now between those two guys and Liebel. He will have an opportunity and he does have a strong leg. He's a big guy, but just like the issue that we're having with those other two guys, it is about consistency. He will bang one for 60 yards then another one for 27 yards, so it's the consistency of it that we're looking for with these guys. Technically he will be part of the competition, but I would say right now there is a fairly significant gap between those [Chris and Daniel] and Robby.
Q. With Ryan out, how much more important is Adrian Amos to your defense? And, for Marcus Allen what's the biggest hurdle in his way as a freshman trying to slide into the role that Keiser had?
COACH FRANKLIN: Adrian's role has always been very big on our team. Obviously we need him to be more verbal, as well as Jordan [Lucas] and Trevor [Williams], and our linebackers, especially if we're in nickel and our star package. I think Amos has a chance to be more of a playmaker for us and I expect that to happen this week and for the rest of the season and I think that's what he wants and expects as well.
Marcus just needs to do his job. One of the big discussions that we had the last couple of weeks is, guys are trying to do too much. They try to make a big play and when you try to make a big play that's when you usually give up a big play. If you can consistently do your job and know your responsibility, the plays will come. I think he's figuring that out. That was a point that Christian Campbell made yesterday in our freshmen meeting, that I thought was interesting, talking about academics and how they are adjusting and asking what they have learned and that was the one thing that Christian said.
Q. You talked before about wanting your defense to be more explosive and create those "X" plays. You got a lot of that last week, but going forward how is that sustainable? How hard or difficult or easy is that to sustain without the primetime, big time atmosphere?
COACH FRANKLIN: I think that's a really good question and we talked about that. I talked to the team on Sunday after the game that I felt a difference on our team in terms of their focus and in terms of their preparation and in terms of their enthusiasm and energy. I don't know if that was Ohio State, I don't know if that was the White Out, I don't know what it was because of the primetime game or whatever it may be. I talked to them about making sure that our approach and preparation and attention to detail is consistent week in and week out. It shouldn't be based on the opponent, it shouldn't be based on what time the game is. It shouldn't be based on outfits that people decide to wear to the game, shouldn't be based on any of those things.
It should be based on us wanting to go out and play at our highest level. Now, are we all human and do those things affect us? Yes. But what we're trying to do is get them to understand we need to have that type of commitment and respect for our opponent and approach week in and week out regardless, because ultimately it's about us. That was a big discussion for us.
Q. How do you feel Maryland will fit into the Big Ten?
COACH FRANKLIN: I'm not an expert by any means at this point on the Big Ten, and that would probably be a question for them, not really me. I can't answer how their program is going to fit or would fit. I'm more comfortable talking about Penn State and where we're at and where we're going.
Q. Coach, you talked about Angelo [Mangiro] moving around on the line. Does it look like, at least at this point, that Angelo is going to be able to go back to center and Donovan [Smith] is going to be able to go this weekend?
COACH FRANKLIN: That's to be determined. We're anticipating that. We're anticipating being able to have [Donovan] back. We liked having Wendy [Laurent] at center and creating flexibility with Angelo at guard, so that's what we're hopeful for.
Q. Of all the things you talked about with Keiser, one of the other things about his role being the holder. We saw Chris [Gulla] take on that duty last year and of course when Ryan was hurt last year Sam [Ficken] struggled a bit. What's the comfort level between Chris and Sam and when have you noticed and how much extra time will you work on that this week?
COACH FRANKLIN: We will not spend a whole lot extra time. I knew that was an issue in the past so one of the things we did from the beginning of camp is force Ficken to kick with different snappers to force Ficken to kick with different holders, because I knew that had been an issue in the past.
You're going to have injuries, so (Adam) Geiger is another guy who has held in the past and he will be holding a lot in practice this week as well because same thing we need to make sure that Ficken is comfortable with him. We worked on that since day one at camp. The guy that we need to get more reps with this week would be Geiger. We need to make sure there is a comfort level there but we thought that was important going into the season to get him confidence with those other guys.