Tuesday Roundup: Penn State vs. Indiana
No. 9/11 Penn State welcomes No. 24/25 Indiana to Beaver Stadium for its annual Military Appreciation game. Saturday's game marks the Nittany Lions fourth opponent in the last five game against an opponent ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. Here's what we learned from Tuesday's press conference with head coach James Franklin and kicker Jake Pinegar.
Fuel for Saturday
Head coach James Franklin addressed the media to recap Minnesota and flip the page towards Indiana. "We're 8-1. We're one of the best teams in the country. You know, probably doesn't feel that way around here right now, but we dealt with it," Franklin stated on Tuesday. "We had a bunch of discussions about it on Sunday and had a bunch of discussions about it on Monday, as well. I think obviously the most important thing is finding the best way for your team to make the corrections and that's all of us, coaches, players, everybody, make the corrections, grow from it, learn from it and then put it to bed and move on.One of the things I might have mentioned to you guys is that everything can be used as fuel."
"When you have success and you win, you're more confident and when you have setbacks and you lose, it challenges that," Franklin added. "We've got a resilient group of guys and a resilient coaching staff. Although we need the time to prepare, Saturday can't come soon enough."
Sophomore kicker Jake Pinegar was also asked about turning the page towards Indiana. "I think right after the game, there was a lot of raw emotion," Pinegar said. "I think the next day, everybody moved on. We shifted to Indiana, kind of using that as fuel, really determined and stuff like that. What happened is in the past and we're just moving forward right now."
Running Back Philosophy
After collecting two touchdowns as a unit this past Saturday, head coach James Franklin was asked about the running back room and their overall body of work.
"We've said in the past that if a guy was hot, we would stay with them and that's happened," Franklin said. "The only difference has been we've had some guys get banged up that we could have played. Noah could have played, but it didn't make sense to play a 90-percent Noah when we had three other guys at 100 percent.
Game Information
No. 9/11 Penn State welcomes 7,500 servicemembers for its annual Military Appreciation game on Saturday. The Nittany Lions hold a 21-1 record over Indiana and is Penn State's first game against a ranked Hoosiers team. Saturday's game can be found on ABC or the Penn State Sports Network. Check out @PennStateFball following the game for exclusive interviews and more.
