Penn State Football
James Franklin Postgame Press Conference
vs. Maryland – November 7, 2020
Opening Statement
I appreciate everybody being on here. Like always, obviously, you've got to give Maryland credit. They played well and we did not. We've had games in the past where we started slow on offense and our defense kept us in the game long enough for our offense to rally back. And vice versa, we've had games where we've played well on offense early and struggled on defense. We haven't really had a game where we didn't play well in either phase early on in the game so obviously we've got to get those things corrected. There's a lot of things that we've got to get corrected. Ultimately, it's my responsibility and we'll get to work on it on Sunday.
Q: James, I think you gave up over 19 yards on third-down completions in the first quarter. Can you explain what was going wrong there? Was there a lack of preparedness? Or did they hit you with stuff you weren't ready for?
A: Well, I think when you have big plays, like they were able to have it, it skews the stats, but I think your point is more than fair. They made big plays. We weren't as competitive as we need to be. We were out of leverage. They had a few little wrinkles, you know, to challenge our man coverages, and did a nice job of executing them. So we got to get better, there's no doubt about it. We've got to look at the tape, make the corrections. But we were not competitive early on in the game.
Q: James, was there any consideration given to maybe pulling Sean [Clifford] whether in that third quarter or late in the game? If not, why?
A: Yeah, for me with starting quarterbacks, you want to do everything you possibly can with your starting quarterback to give them a chance to be successful and to rally the team. The guy's in that position, obviously, for a reason. You know, in the second half we still felt like we had an opportunity to go out and get this thing swung in the other direction. And at the time we felt like it was the right decision.
Q: You said that you weren't competitive early on in this game. Why weren't you especially after losing your first two games?
A: They made plays. They were able to stay on schedule on first and second down and created a bunch of manageable third down situations, and were able to do that really for the majority of the game. And then offensively, we weren't able to get the running game going, which everything builds off of that, and that continues to be an issue for us.
Q: James, one trademark of your teams is, I mean, I can't think of a time really when your guys weren't spiritually didn't seem spiritually ready to play. Is that your opinion that they weren't ready to play or do you disagree with that?
A: Yeah, I can understand after watching the game, you know why you would ask that question. During the week. I felt like we did the things necessary to come out and play well. It wasn't perfect, but we've had issues in the past that we've been able to overcome. And based on what you watched today, I could understand you know why you would say that, but during the week is typically how you can tell that and there weren't signs of that.
Q: With the running game, what was going on there that you guys weren't able to gain any traction?
A: I've got to watch your tape, but we weren't sustaining blocks. We haven't been able to break tackles consistently and make people miss consistently. It's been similar for the first couple weeks. We're not getting consistent push, we're not sustaining blocks and then, obviously, we're not breaking tackles and making people miss. Then, we're not able to put people in conflict with the RPO stuff because there's not enough respect and concern for the running game right now.
Q: You have mentioned that Sean's [Clifford] been put in a lot of tough situations over the last two weeks and he's been put under pressure quite a bit. How do you feel he has performed under pressure and how do you separate the two when you're evaluating your quarterback?
A: We've got to be able to get the running game going and we got to consistently protect our quarterback. There's too many times where he's under pressure and getting hit early in games. He's been hit way too many times this season. He's been sacked too many times this season and has been under pressure too many times and does that have an effect? Yeah, it does. But obviously there's some throws that we need to make. It's all of it. There's some catches that we need to make. We all we all own responsibility in this.
Q: Can you evaluate the backup quarterbacks and getting them into the game?
A: Yeah, Will [Levis] as you know has obviously played in the past and has done good things and Ta'Quan [Roberson] continues to improve. Obviously, based on who was started and based on what he's done in this past we felt like he's (Sean Clifford) earned that that right.
Q: You guys have really had your way with Maryland the last couple of years. Do you feel like you guys might have underestimated them or how do you assess that?
A: Yeah, I don't think we've underestimated anybody. When you haven't been successful, the first couple games, it's hard to underestimate anyone. So that's not how we've approached it. Our approach hasn't changed. It's been the same approach it's been for six years. But obviously there's things that we got to get fixed and there's things that we got to improve. And we got to play better. We've kind of lost three different ways. And in years past, we've found different ways to win games. We need to get it fixed and we need to get it fixed fast.
Q: James your defense has given up five touchdown receptions of 26-plus yards in the last two games. What needs to change with this defense?
A: Yeah, I'm going to have to watch the tape to get into the specifics and the details with you. But we've got to get more pressure on the quarterback, we've got to contest more balls, be better and tighten coverage. And then, when people do make catches, we got to get them on the ground. And we got to consistently wrap. So, going through this tape in great detail and make corrections will help.
Q: James, how would you assess the play of your offensive line? You went with a lot of different personnel there was that you thinking you have good depth or was that you looking for answers to try to get things going?
A: Yeah, a little bit of both. Trying to find the right the right mix of personnel in there. And guys that have done some good things in practice deserve the opportunity to get in there and get some reps and get some opportunity to see if we can find the right five.
Q: James how hard is it to make a comeback in a game if at a certain point you have to abandon what you want to do and philosophically the idea and the identity of your team at a certain point.
A: Well, we've had to do that in the past and that happens. For a lot of teams where you've got to change your style of play. We weren't able to do that, but that's going to happen, you're going to get down by points. Hopefully you can keep it close so you don't have to change dramatically. But if you can get down 21 points or more depending on the point of the game, it forces that, it dictates that.
