Penn State Football
Head Coach James Franklin Postgame Press Conference
vs. Idaho – August 31, 2019
Opening Statement
Appreciate everyone coming out to cover Penn State football. I want to obviously start by thanking the crowd. I thought that we had a great crowd for the opening game. I am really appreciative and I think that we had around 104,000 which is special. We don't take that for granted, there aren't too many places in the country that can do that. Overall, obviously I think that we did some good things. There is obviously going to be a bunch of stuff on tape that we need to get cleaned up. A couple things -- we won the field position battle which is great. Forty two yards compared to the 30 and probably would have been even better without the special teams turnover. Turnover battle was a push. Penalty battle, we won that one. We had 3-for-30 and in an opening game I think that is really good, I think they had 10. Explosive play battle, both the offense and defense met their goals. I think we were 18% on offense and 7% on defense, so that is really good. Some specific points, obviously I thought Jordan Stout, 53-yard field goal, tied for the sixth longest in Penn State history which is fantastic, but he also had 13 touchbacks. I remember on the headset coaches were talking about [Dan] Chisena being tired because he was on four special teams units, I said "What about [Jordan] Stout's leg?" He had a really good game for us. Devyn Ford's 81-yard run was I think the longest since Saquon's [Barkley} in the Fiesta Bowl. Yetur Gross-Matos played really well. Forty nine points in the first half was real positive for us. I think that we haven't done that since Illinois with 56 points. 406 yards of total offense; just lots of things. John Reid with an interception. There were other things that kind of jumped out to me. Having five running backs all score touchdowns was fantastic. To see Nick Eury score a touchdown and how our sideline reacted. I was a little worried that we were going to get penalties because guys were running on the field without helmets. Thirty five first downs, and then little things; [Justin] Shorter running down the field and shielded guys off, didn't clip, but shielded guys off on the long touchdown run. I thought the defense really kept them on their heels all night. Their offense played within our system. Obviously, [Tariq] Castro-Fields, we talk about championship habits, ball was on the ground and he scoops and scores; just little things that I notice that I am very pleased with. A lot of guys got a lot of really good experience. So overall, really good game for us. Going to have a bunch of stuff that we will need to look at on film and get better, but it was a really good start.
Q: Could you address further the ability to get so many young guys a lot of quality reps in a game like this in front this sort of crowd?
A: Yeah, it was really valuable. There is always the discussion on the headset of when do you get guys out. I think we played shutout football on defense although the scoreboard doesn't really show that. I thought we were able to get guys like Lance Dixon and Brandon Smith a bunch of reps, Adisa Isaac with a bunch of reps, the young backs, I could go on and on. Salem Wormley and even some guys that we weren't planning on getting in there. That is going to pay dividends, not only this year, but over the next couple of years so that is really positive. I'm not exactly sure how many guys played in the game, but a bunch of them.
Q: You mentioned the other day, all the running backs would play. A lot of them got in, a bunch of them scored touchdowns. When you can evaluate them like this in a game setting, how valuable is that as opposed to just practice?
A: Well it seemed like they played really well obviously based on the statistics and just the flow of the game. The other thing that I would say is I thought that Sean was pretty comfortable in the pocket most of the night and that our offensive line was playing really well, but that is also an area where young backs could miss a blitz pickup or whatever it may be. I thought that they played well from that perspective. Had a few new wrinkles to get the running backs involved in the passing game, but they did a good job with that too so overall, I think really good.
Q: Can you give us a quick evaluation of how Sean [Clifford] did in his first start? It looks like he was a little excited in the beginning.
A: Yeah I thought that the first two drives he missed some throws, not because of lack of arm strength, but missed some throws and was inaccurate. His feet were probably a little antsy, but I thought that after those first two drives, and he even admitted that to me, that he really settled down and got comfortable. I thought that he managed the game really well. His stats I wouldn't say were overly gaudy, but played really well and protected the football and was really good with the decision making process, was able to run the ball a little bit and I think as the game went on he was accurate. I think one of the things that stood out to me, again I haven't studied all of the stats or the film yet, but we have to get better at third down. We weren't as good on third down as we need to be. Obviously, that will be an emphasis as we continue moving forward.
Q: How pleased are you so far with your overall performance of the wideouts today?
A: You've got two true, redshirt freshman, I thought they did some really great things. We've got a bunch of guys involved -- (Weston) Carr, obviously KJ (Hamler) did some great things like everybody expects. I thought early on, with some of the punt returns, they had a plan that they weren't going to let KJ win the game. Early on KJ was pressing a little bit, was getting frustrated, wanted to get some of those punt returns and other things but we all know he's a weapon. I think he's one of the, if not the most explosive player in the country and we want to make sure that he's involved on kick return and punt return. We kind of had a discussion at that kick return to start the second half. We wanted to get it on tape so we could work on it, clean some things up for moving forward in the season, but we decided at that point to get him out of the game. Overall with the wideouts we did some really good things and we got a lot of guys touches and we got a lot of guys involved
Q: Coach you mentioned the reaction when Nick Eury scored the touchdown. Can you talk about the quarterback that engineered the final drive and what you said to him and set up for him?
A: He's another guy. Michael Shuster has been phenomenal. I'm not sure if this is the right decision or not but he has started leaning into coaching. He already got a job offer in the real world. He just does a great job for us. He's like having another coach. He takes a lot of pride in it. He's been a fantastic student, a fantastic teammate. I'm a huge Shuster fan. He brings a lot of value to our organization.
Q: You mentioned that you wanted to get a lot of tackles involved and you guys did. What's the benefit of that as you work to try to get more comfortable?
A: Right now we've got three tackles, we've got to continue to get Caeden (Wallace) some experience but we think we're going to play three tackles throughout the year. We feel like Will Fries can do both but we think he is really one of the much better right tackles in the country. With Rasheed (Walker), we think our answer at this point is that he is the back-up right tackle and Des (Holmes) is the back-up left tackle. Des is just more comfortable as left tackle. We feel like Rasheed (Walker) can do both, so that's why. As Caeden (Wallace) continues to gain experience, hopefully we can be in a situation where he ends up being the backup, true backup, not just on the depth chart .
Q: Yetur Gross- Matos seems like he picked up right back where he left off. How has he impacted these last five weeks or so since he joined the team?
A: He's been really good. I think you guys know what his motor is like. It jumps out to you on tape. He's really a guy that's a yes sir, no sir, hardworking guy. He's been that way since the way he stepped on campus. I think we all realize he has tremendous potential. He's not a one-dimensional guy. Some of these guys put up all these stats, Yetur is physical and is as good against the run as he is the passing game.
Q: We all lost count in the press box how many defensive linemen you played today. When opposition gets tougher, how many guys do you think you could get in on the defensive line and not lose quality?
A: I think at defensive end we are truly three-deep on each side, so six guys that we feel like we can play. I think at defensive tackle, we're hitting that argument between five or six guys and the other thing is, the reality is we have to keep playing those guys to gain experience and to gain our trust. This game will give us a better determination when we watch the film in detail, who really played up to the level that we needed them to play. We think we're in a conversation between five or six guys at defensive tackle and five to six guys at defensive end. We probably have less questions at defensive end than we do at defensive tackle, but we're still talking five or six.
Q: At this kind of margin it is kind of hard to point to one play. The fourth and one really early that you guys stopped, did you anticipate that they were going to go for that? What kind of momentum did that help set the tone for you?
A: I don't know if I would necessarily say that we anticipated that, but we're always kind of ready. Looking at their sidelines to see if they were going to bring the punt team on, or not, and how we're going to have to call it. That goes back to the point we just made which is upfront, our defensive line. I think we're disruptive on the defensive line, but I also think a few years ago, a guy, Mike Stole, who probably doesn't get enough credit, one of the better college linebackers I've ever been around, phenomenal. I think we're at a point right now where we've got some linebackers that are erasers for us. That can make some plays and do some things. I think a combination of our defensive line play and athleticism, experience and feel and instincts that we have in the linebacker position. I think it's a really good combination that will hopefully continue to help us ensure that we are ready for challenge situations.
