Penn State Football
James Franklin Postgame Press Conference
vs. Michigan – November 13, 2021
Opening Statement
I want to thank you guys for coming out to cover Penn State football. I want to give Michigan a bunch of credit, obviously really good football team that we battled for four quarters. I thought defensively, we did enough to give us a chance to win the game., really limited points and limited explosive plays there. From a special teams perspective, I thought we were aggressive. Called the game in a way that we felt could give us a chance to win, one play which led to some points and one fake that did not. On offense, we were able to move the ball but too many situations where we had to settle for field goals in the red zone. We have to find a way to score more touchdowns. In 2021, you have to be able to score a touchdown. So, I give Michigan a bunch of credit. We battled. That's a good football team, but we did not find a way to win the game.
Q: Coach, your offensive line gave up a lot of pressures and hits on Sean [Clifford], but they ran the ball pretty effectively in parts. How do you think they did against the ferocious defensive line?
A: We knew their defensive ends were going to be a problem. We had plans to check them for most of the day. We had plans to screen them as much as we could. And then staying with the run game and not going away from the run game. I thought for the most part we battled, but obviously Sean got hit too many times. But those two defensive ends, you can make the argument maybe the best combination of two defensive ends in the country.
Q: James, can you take us through this decision to go for it on four and two that late. What did you think of your play calling? l I know that that Jahan was not in the game at the time, was there any consideration to timeout and get him in there?
A: Yeah, we weren't going to be able to get him in there in that situation, But it was fourth down you know. We're not going to punt it in that situation. We're going to try to win the game and be aggressive like we did all game long. Obviously, we got to leave the ball on the field and give the guy a chance to make a play for it. Obviously, that's not the time you want to lose Jahan Dotson because at that point in the game, you're thinking players not play and trying to get the ball into your playmaker's hands. That was a critical play in the game.
Q: Take us through the fake field goal, what you were looking for? Did you think of going for it on fourth and two?
A: I think you guys know as well as me, we have not been great in short yardage situations. So, that was our going for it on fourth down. Don't think we had the look that we wanted but it's about details you know. We threw the ball to the back hip. He was not the type of guy that was going to be able to catch a ball thrown behind him and still be able to outrun the defense. You just got to clean it up and the margin of error is really small. Obviously, we're playing a bunch of really good teams, especially on this side of the conference. I'd make the call again but obviously, it wasn't successful. We were going to call the game today in an aggressive way to give us the best chance to win the game. We got to find ways to execute, and we got to do a better job coaching.
Q: James, you guys moved Juice Scruggs to center and kept him there. Eight years into this, how do you feel like in your own mind, you've always kind of mentioned with Ohio State and Michigan, that these games are won in the trenches?
A: Yeah, we lost Mike Miranda. That's why he wasn't in there, he wasn't able to go back in the game. I think at times we did some pretty good things, but we weren't consistent enough. We got to be able to run the ball to take the pressure off the passing game. We got to be able to protect when everybody knows you're going to throw the ball and we got to be able to run the ball when everybody in the stadium knows you're going to run the ball.
Q: Other than the fact that they have great defensive ends, why do you think you were able to pass block less effectively than you ran block this week when a lot of weeks it's been the other way around?
A: They have two of the better defensive ends in the country. We have to be able to run the ball more consistently so it takes the pressure off of the passing game. We have to move the pocket and have enough things in the package to move the pocket to change the launch point up as well. All those things are really important.
Q: How disappointed were you when you couldn't convert the turnover into a touchdown from the 15-yard line?
A: We moved the ball down to the red zone, got a touchdown in the red zone and we've got to be able to score touchdowns in the red zone. I'm not telling you anything you don't know, but obviously you have to score touchdowns against a really good team. At home, you have to find a way to score touchdowns so we have to do a better job of that and we need more work in the red zone, but I also think that also plays a part in running the football and we have run the ball better.
Q: Talking about margin of error and needing to make plays to win games, what can you point to as the reason why some of those plays haven't been made this year?
A: We have played hard, but we haven't made enough big plays. You take Jahan Dotson out, and we're not making enough big plays or explosive plays. We've done that for a really long time, and I don't know if we've had very many explosive runs all year long, so that is something we're going to have to look at hard, but I think that's the biggest issue. We just don't have enough explosiveness besides Jahan Dotson and the offense.
Q: You've had a lot of success here, but you're 10-9 in the last two years. Is battling, and playing hard, and losing close ever good enough for Penn State? How would you analyze the job you've done?
A: I get it, but I'm proud of those guys in the locker room, and I'm proud of the coaching staff. We'll find a way to get a win next week.
Q: How much did those close plays, being the deciding point in all these games, how much did they eat into you throughout the season?
A: Obviously that margin of error is small. When you look at our side of the conference, maybe one of the better sides of the conference in college football, you can pick out four to six plays each game and, for most teams and most people, that's going to determine your success. We will find a way to make those six plays per game, especially the way we're playing on defense. You have a chance to get wins against really good teams, and we have not made those six plays a game consistently enough in the season.