Oct. 27, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" Head coach James Franklin talked with the media on Tuesday afternoon to preview Penn State's return to Beaver Stadium this week.
The Nittany Lions (6-2, 3-1) will meet Illinois (4-3, 1-2) on Saturday at 12 p.m. (ESPN2). Franklin reviewed Penn State's victory over Maryland in Baltimore and looked ahead to the penultimate home game of 2015.
The Lions reached win No. 6 for the season in eight weeks of action following the 31-30 triumph. The team scored its sixth victory during the 10th week of the season in 2014. Coach Franklin was proud of the team's effort and how it handled adversity during a back-and-forth game that featured seven lead changes at Maryland.
"I loved how when our defense needed our offense to respond the offense responded," said Franklin. "I loved how when our offense needed our defense to respond, they responded. Same thing with special teams. So really, really pleased with that."
Defensively, the Nittany Lions played their best when the game was on the line. Penn State forced Maryland off the field with three three-and-outs and two four-and-outs in its last five positions. The strong finish was a byproduct of the Nittany Lions being very disruptive up front. Franklin wants to see the group clean a few things up, but the Lions have a lot to build on.
"[We] played our best with the game on the line. That was really big," said Franklin. "Areas to improve, we've got to tackle better, too many missed tackles. We've got to eliminate the big plays. It's something we did a good job early in the season, hurt us here recently."
On offense, Franklin circled the explosive plays as the difference in walking off the field with a victory last week. The Lions set goals each week with the number of explosive plays ââ'¬" running plays of 12 yards or more and passing plays of 16 yards or more. The team exceeded its goals in Maryland.
"I think the big part of the game was explosion plays," said Franklin. "Our goal was eight, we had 10. Whenever you have that many big plays in a game, you have a good chance to win. [We had] touchdowns of 37 yards, 20 yards and 27 yards. Completions of 40 yards, 38 and 31 yards."
Looking ahead to Illinois, Franklin said the Illini boast a defensive line as impressive as anyone the team has played this season. The matchup between the Nittany Lion offensive line and the Illini front is an area the staff is circling heading into Saturday.
"They are impressive. That's going to be a real challenge for us," said Franklin. "Also, I think linebackers tackle, safety tackles really well. It's going to be a real challenge for us. We need to be great on first and second down to get to third down and manageable situations. And we need to find a way to convert them."
Penn State converted a pair of third and 13 situations into first downs at Maryland last week.
With it being the ninth week of the season without a bye, the Nittany Lions will scale back a bit on the practice field this week. Penn State will not limit the work that goes into preparing for each of the final four opponents, but when it comes to the amount of hitting and activities on the field, things will modified to keep the team fresh come Saturdays.
"That was something I actually told them in the locker room right after the game that we were going to modify some things this week," said Franklin. "So I just think it's the right thing to do. It's hard because the old school coaching just wants to say we're going to go out and grind it out. We still need work. We need more physical up front, pad work and all that kind of stuff. But the other thing is you've got to get to the game as healthy as you possibly can. It's a game that people get worn down physically and mentally, so there's a time and a place."
The Nittany Lions will practice in pads on Tuesday and Wednesday before the final game week session on Thursday. Saturday's game inside Beaver Stadium will kick at 12 p.m. on ESPN2.
Press Conference Notes:
- Coach Franklin announced that the internal players of the week for the Maryland game were as follows: Offense ââ'¬" Wide Receivers Defense ââ'¬" Defensive Backs Special Teams ââ'¬" Jordan Lucas
- The teams will be greeted by a brand new playing surface on Saturday. New sod was installed inside Beaver Stadium beginning on Oct. 14, marking the first time in 10 years that the grass had been replaced.
"Our turf management people are the best in the country. They take a lot of pride in it, just as much pride as we all take in our jobs, and felt like it needed to be replaced. They felt like it needed to be done, and obviously they felt like the turnaround amount of time was enough. So I got all the faith in the world that this field will be in great shape come Saturday."
- Coach Franklin on the team's kicking:
"I could see at some point this year even maybe this weekend where one of them handle just the kickoff duties and the other one handle just the field goal duties, just because we've got two guys that we think can do it. And especially considering Joey's (Julius) still a redshirt freshman. That's one less thing that we can worry about. And now each guy can focus on really maximizing their impact in that area and really working on their craft because right now we are a little inconsistent."