Penn State Football
Head Coach James Franklin
Postgame Press Conference
vs. Maryland – November 24, 2018
Opening Statement
First of all, I want to take a minute and thank the fans that came out and supported us. This was a tough year weather wise for us. I think there was a record amount of precipitation, which caused a lot of issue with parking and everything else. The fans that came out and supported us in some tough weather conditions, especially tonight, I can't tell you how much we appreciated it. Our attendance was unbelievable, all things considered, and we had a huge home field advantage. I think the thing that really stands out to me is that we were able to play well up front on both the offensive line and the defensive line. I thought our defense played fantastic. Maryland had been running the ball on everybody. The tackles for loss that we were able to get, the sacks, the pressure, played really well. Offensively we were able to run the ball consistently. Overall, some pretty positive things. We were able to win the penalty battle by playing very disciplined. We won the explosive play battle on both sides, which was huge. We did lose the turnover battle with the one turnover we had late in the game on a great drive. We were able to send the seniors out in the right way, which was special. I thought it was also great that we played a complete football game where we were able to get a lot of those fourth and fifth year seniors that have been on the scout team for four or five years, but haven't been able to get in the game a chance to play tonight which was special as well. It ended the way it should have ended. Obviously Trace McSorley was able to do Trace McSorley things. Yetur Gross-Matos had 20 tackles for loss this season, which is really special. We had 40 sacks; this was the fourth straight season to do that and the first time in program history. Tonight we had 15 tackles for loss, our fourth double-digit tackle for loss game of the year. A lot of really good things that I couldn't be more proud of. The staff, the players, the coaches we will all take a little bit of time off. Tomorrow we will go into a bunch of meetings, then the coaches will go out recruiting, and then we will get into bowl week. Wherever they tell us we are going, I am not sure when that is going to be but maybe in the next week or so, we will figure it out after the championship games. Wherever they tell us we are going we will be very appreciative of the opportunity. We will go enjoy ourselves and try to be 1-0. You think about this three-year run, I know that this season there have been some ups and downs and some challenges and adversity. When you talk about the Big Ten era this has been one of the best three-year stretches in program history. We have a chance to do some really special things by winning the bowl game. Again, I could not be more proud of our guys.
Q: James, is this the best that Trace has been able to have a burst of speed and explosion since the Iowa game? Secondly, what will you miss most about him?
A: I think that this game was the best that Trace has felt in a while. I think that the last couple games where we have been able to protect him has also helped. I think we gave up one sack tonight, which was one sack in the last couple of weeks. This night there was a lot of motivation and a lot of emotion for the type of game it was going to be, which probably helped as well. I think with Trace its probably not going to be the sexy quote that you guys are looking for, but it is consistency. Trace McSorley is what you want in all of your players. You love him because he is the same guy every single day. The guy has not had a bad day in five years. He has not had a day where he has had an issue academically, an issue with a girlfriend or an issue with family that he has brought into the Lasch Building. He is the same guy, from the day he stepped on campus during the recruiting process to now. You know what you are getting with him. He is going to be a great teammate, always a class act, unbelievable downtown with the community, compete like hell on Saturdays and he is going to prepare like nobody else. I think he is a great model for all of our young players and I think he is a great model for college football in general, just about how you go about your business. He did it in high school, he has done it in college and he will continue to do it at the next level; there is no doubt in my mind. I love his mom and I love his dad. I walked into the stadium tonight and his mom was crying, and you know me I am a big crybaby so I was trying not to cry with her, but then I look over and dad was crying so that threw me over. I came around the corner after that and Mrs. Bates was crying. We have been through a lot with these kids and we have been through a lot with these families. For us, it is so much more than football. It is the academics, the community service, it is watching these guys as 17 and 18 year-old men grow and develop and turn into amazing fathers, football players and CEO's. I wish I could get another four years out of them but I don't know if it's possible.
Q: What were you thinking about and what was going through your mind in getting Trace McSorley a curtain call?
A: Obviously, you would love to be in a situation like that where you can send Trace onto the field and take him off like we did. He has earned that and unfortunately you never know how games are going to play out, but like I previously said, I do not know if you could have written a better script for how this last game would have went for this senior class. Not only with Trace being able to get the curtain call, but Johnathan Thomas being able to get in the game and run the ball, Joe Arcangelo catching a pass, and Christopher Welde getting into the game. It was fantastic to see all of those guys get on the field and have a chance to play. Tyler Shoop getting on the field and playing as well. I don't know if you could have written a better script for the way that this regular season ended.
Q: With no Michal Menet today, what kind of luxury was it to have a guy like Connor McGovern who has played so much center to slide back in there and help out?
A: There is no question about it. And also a guy like Mike Miranda who has been training and training, I think most of you know we almost played him as a true freshman, he has just been working. He was great late in the week in being able to coach those guys up and support them. Matt Aloni has been able to help as well. Obviously we were able to rush for a bunch of yards and able to protect with not having our normal five in there. What we try to do is we try to create flexibility inside with our offensive linesmen so that our guards can play center and our centers can play guard and our tackles have some swing-ability there as well. It was great that Connor was able to slide into center. He did that early in his career and from what I saw we also got Miranda to play at a pretty high level.
Q: James, you've been around Brent Pry for quite some time now and I'm just curious how you would evaluate him this season given the fact that you came into the season with a lot of question marks. This group has really progressed, it seems, each week and may be playing as well as anybody since the start of November.
JF: I agree. Brent has been phenomenal. As you guys know, I go way back with Brent. His dad is in town this weekend, he was out at practice this week. His dad was my college coach. Me and Brent were just two young guys running around trying to figure it out. He's been fiercely loyal, and I'm fiercely loyal to him. I think our defense probably as much as any unit just kept getting better. We came into the season with a lot of question marks on that side of the ball, at linebacker and at defensive tackle. We kind of just kept getting better. I think tonight was a really good example of that. I think we gave up one explosive pass early on but besides that we did a good job. [Anthony McFarland] had been rushing for over 200 yards against everybody, so [Brent Pry] has done a phenomenal job. Sean Spencer has been a big part of that, obviously, he's been with us since day one as well. Tim Banks is an extension of the family. We go way back to when me and Tim were on the staff at Maryland. Phil Galiano has done a great job and obviously Terry Smith has been invaluable. That whole defensive staff lead by Brent Pry has been fantastic. These guys mean a lot to me, more than just coaches but part of my family.
Q: You mentioned finishing strong and where the program is right now, how much does a good performance in your senior day, carry into the bowl practice and throughout the next month?
JF: Winning always helps and winning in a convincing manner helps. We are going to go into the bowl prep with good mojo. We have victory Monday dinners at the café at Pollock Commons, you guys should come it's phenomenal. The guys get extra helpings of food, steak and lobster and all kinds of good stuff so they'll enjoy that. It's just good stuff when you win. The energy is much better with the coaching staff and with the players. It's great going into the bowl game on a high note, there's no doubt about it but it's going to be work. We're going to play a really good opponent and we're going to have to find another way to get a W. I don't think there is any doubt, going into the bowl game off a win, and a convincing win at that is helpful.
Q: What were you thinking about as you watched the seniors take their victory lap after the game?
JF: It's kind of surreal in a lot of ways to be honest with you. It feels like just the other day that Trace was in my office saying he's coming to Penn State with his mom and his dad. It seems just like the other day that I met Johnathon Thomas and Nick Scott and Mark Allen, that were committed already. I can go on and on about all those guys. It just seems like the other day that those guys were stepping on campus. They've been tremendous leaders and they are going to leave a legacy here that is going to go on for a very long time. It was just surreal. Their last game in Beaver Stadium, one of the more special venues in college football and in all of sports. I know that I am going to enjoy the last couple weeks that I have with them. We talked about that all week long, we only have so few days left with this football family then it's going to be different next year. We're going to have to start this whole thing over. I hope everybody enjoys the time we have together in the locker room, at the hotel, at the practices and meetings, because the clock is ticking. We only have so much time left together.
Q: James, Maryland had more than 300 yards rushing each of the last two weeks, today only 74 [rushing yards], what were the one or two keys for you defense that enabled them to stop [Maryland] like you did?
JF: It was some subtle adjustments up-front, with our defensive ends specifically. The other thing is, Maryland's offensive coordinator was at Pitt a few years ago and we struggled with the fly sweeps and things like that. We kind of had a plan of compartmentalizing their offense, so that our front was going to deal with the inside zone and the running game while the perimeter guys were going to deal with the fly sweeps and similar plays. I think that's what you've seen them do against a number of opponents, where linebackers are starting to worry about the perimeter sweeps and the misdirection action, and now they are out of their gaps and are getting creased for a big run. We just made some subtle adjustments to our fronts and to our defensive ends, and we compartmentalized. You guys [perimeter players] are going to handle the fly sweep and you guys, the core of the defense, are going to deal with the runs in the box. It worked out really well for us. I think there were a couple times were Micah [Parsons] got out of his gap and got affected by it but overall, I thought we played really well. Our defensive line is just playing at a really high level right now. I know that we've played great D-line here for a long time, but I'm really proud of the steps that we've taken. If you look at the teams that we've been able to consistently play well against up-front, on the O-line and D-line, we've played well overall. That's the next step for us, is to play well up front against whoever we play. That's what stands out. There are games like today where we played really well up-front, but we have to be able to do that week in and week out against whoever the opponent is.
Q: You mentioned [Yetur Gross-Matos] earlier, who has been really special. He totaled 20 tackles for loss [this season], what have you seen in his development especially in the second half of this year?
JF: He's a guy that we've always had a lot of faith and belief in. He's got all the things your looking for; he's long, strong, athletic, quick, explosive, and he's one of those guys that does whatever you ask him to do. He practices his tail off, he competes like crazy in morning workouts and in the offseason and in the weight room. He just continues to get better. He gets better because of his offseason work. He gets better because of the way he practices every single day. He's just one of those guys. We have a great relationship with his mom, his dad, and brother and sister. We're all on the same page working together for Penn State success but also for Yetur's success. He's one of those guys, Saquon [Barkley] was like that. Trace was like that. Yetur never questions anything. Whatever we ask him to do, there is no push back, no question he just does it and does it to the best of his ability. Those kinds of guys just get better. They don't waste time questioning things, he just goes to work. Obviously, he's got a lot of ability and I think he has a really bright future. We are excited about him, and excited about his future. We're excited about this opportunity we have in the bowl game.
