Penn State Football
James Franklin Postgame Press Conference
vs. Villanova – September 25, 2021
Head Coach Coach James Franklin
Opening Statement
A: As always, I appreciate you guys coming out to cover Penn State Football. It was a great crowd, I want to thank the fans for the crowd that we got, that's going to be obviously important next week. I think right now we got 4,000 tickets left for next week's game. We need this place rocking and sold out, so I'll throw that out there. I thought overall, our starting defense played well. We gave up three points, made some big plays. Offensively, we threw the ball extremely well, we were explosive. Obviously, we got to get the running game going. That's going to be something we're going to have to continue to emphasize and get better in that area. And then on special teams, I thought we were solid. I'm going to need to watch the tape in more detail, but I thought we were solid on special teams. I think the other thing is that I was pretty aggressive on the headset with the staff of getting those guys in the game. I thought the reps that we got were awesome and they're going to be really, really valuable long term. When they go in they have to live up to the standard, and we did not do that today with our depth guys and with our backup guys, so that'll be something we'll address during the week. But we are 1-0, and we continue to build this thing and look forward to next week's opportunity.
Q: How would you assess your team here now that you've been through the first four weeks of the season and what did you learn about it today?
A: I got to give Villanova credit, which I did not do that to start like I normally do, I've got to give them credit. I thought the moment was not too big for them, I thought they executed a smart plan on offense. They were going to run quick game screen, sprint out, mix a little bit of run in there to keep you honest, but I thought their plan was good. I think for us we took a step. I feel like our guys, a little bit, were enjoying people patting them on the back. We talked about it all week long, and I don't know if we had the same edge today that we've had the previous three weeks, but we found a way to win. There'll be a lot to learn from this, there'll be a lot to grow from this, and we'll go from there, but we have found four different ways to get wins, and we're going to need to learn from that and grow and take another step this week.
Q: You mentioned not having the edge that you wanted, as well as correcting the run game, what can you do to correct both those things going forward?
A: It's one of those deals that you talk about until you're blue in the face, you show examples. We have had to have setbacks in the past to really grow and learn and we shouldn't have to do that, so we'll emphasize that point as strongly as you possibly can. We'll have pretty aggressive meetings tomorrow going through these things. What I would never want to do is go in a locker room after a win, and it doesn't feel like a win. I think you have to be very careful of that as a coach. In the running game, we just have to emphasize it more. If we are throwing the ball 40% of the time in practice, but I need to throw it 50% of the time or 60% of the time in practice. There's a number of factors that go into that, but we need to be more detail oriented. We need to be more physical. The touchdown we scored down here against Auburn, you look at Rasheed [Walker], he collapsed the side of the line, and we got to do those types of things more consistently.
Q: Where would you like to see the running game right now, and to follow up, was Noah Cain's absence after the early part of the game a coach's decision or something else?
A: Noah got dinged up a little bit last week and didn't practice as much this week as we wanted to, so we planned to go a 1-to-1-to-1 rotation with those three guys, we had been going 2-to-1, but it was a combination of the rotation, it was a combination of him not practicing much this week, so I guess you'd call that a coaching decision kind of coming into it. I'd like to see us leading the nation in rushing.
Q: Can you speak to the level that Sean Clifford is playing at and is there a balancing act with your quarterbacks playing that well in the passing game and working that well and you're trying to get the running game going?
A: You have to play to your strengths, but you have to recognize your weaknesses, and you have to work on them, and there's that balance. What we don't want to do is obviously abort the passing game especially with the weapons that we have right now, and go all run game, because then you won't be where you want, so we just have to gradually take seps in the run game, continuing to get better in the passing game, which I still think has a lot of areas for improvement there as well. It's not like we're going to come in next week and rush for 400-yards. We just have to get better and continue to emphasize it and work it in.
Q: Some of the between tackles, how do you deal with that in practice while still not wanting to get many people hurt, is that part of what goes into establishing a better run game?
A: No, we've got it the same way as everywhere I've ever been. You've got to run the ball between the tackles and be physical, you've got to run the ball on the perimeter. I think we've done a better job of mixing the outside zone, and that has helped us. We've usually been a pretty good gap-scheme team, we're not doing that right now. I didn't think we played as well at the tight end position, especially in a running game, as we have in the past. But now, we will practice the way we always practice. Tuesday and Wednesday will be physical days and they need to be heavy emphasis on running the ball.
Q: Do you believe in mental health days? This was a big game.
A: This was a big game. I can tell you right now if we're not 1-0 today, it would have been a real big game. No, that phrase you used last week, load management. No, I don't believe in what you said. Hopefully the mics aren't strong enough to pick it up, but no, we're going to coach hard on Sunday, the meetings will be hard on Sunday. To me, if we have the team that I think we do then they want that. They want us to coach them hard and make the corrections. I don't want to do it after a win, but there's things that we have to get fixed and get fixed quick. We have a really good football team coming in this week, and we need to find a way to get better in the areas that we're weak in right now and that's on offense, defense and special teams. To speak to your point, another point that people are making is that you can't be one dimensional. You can't sustain it, being one dimensional. You have to be able to run, there's going to be times where we're going to have to run the ball out on offense and a four-minute offense is going to magnify those issues. We have to find a way to improve in these areas because we can't be so one dimensional.
Q: With so much attention on Jahan [Dotson], Parker Washington may be underrated a little.
A: I think you guys know how we feel about Parker you guys saw flashes of it last year. I think we have to get KeAndre more involved, he obviously showed what he can do when he gets opportunities and he needs to take advantage of them. I think it becomes even more difficult to stop for people when they're focused on Jahan Dotson, and to your point, then all sudden Parker has a huge game. Then if we can get KeAndre going, now it's like what do you if you put an emphasis on stopping Jahan Dotson, and then the other two guys go for over 100 yards on you that makes it really difficult to stop on offense. Now, if we can be a little bit more effective in the running game, then we can give some people challenges throughout this this season. There's going to be games where the defense's weakness is stopping the run, we need to be able to capitalize on that and I wouldn't say we'd be able to do that right now.
Q: Throwing the perimeter screens. Was there less of it today?
A: The one thing I would say, that probably isn't being talked about a whole lot - if people are going to out-number you in the box. We've had a lot of success throwing the perimeter screens. That's really an extension of the running game. I thought we got the ball on the perimeter a decent amount, but I could be wrong, but I think that's an extension of the running game as well if people are going to defend you that way.
Q: The explosive plays that you guys had, how much do you think that was a matter of player-versus-player or something you guys were doing systematically?
A: Well, to be honest with you, our explosive play percentage I think was about 12%, which is about what it's been. So to me, you know the point about player-to-player, I think it's a combination like it is every week scheme, players strengths and players athleticism, but that's about how we've been this season. Wisconsin, I think we were just about that, Auburn, we were just about that, Ball State, we were just about that, so that's about where we've been. We want to be 16% so I think we can be better there, but that's been obviously a big part of our success so far.
Q: As the wins start to stack up do you find your players becoming complacent or do you have to keep that underdog mentality? How do you look at that as you continue to have success down the stretch?
I thought today was a little bit of an issue and when I say today, I mean this week. We did not practice the way I think we should practice on Wednesday. We've had very little of that since I've been here. The other thing I would say is we haven't really had a lot of that during camp, but I thought Wednesday we did not have a good practice, so I think they're getting patted on the back. I think they are reading articles, and we'll make sure that there's no leftovers of that come Sunday. I'll make sure that we clear all those things out of the fridge.
Q: What have you seen from John Lovett these past two weeks being back with the team and showing up today?
A: He's been with the team from the beginning. Sometimes you guys make little statements that I don't necessarily agree with, but he's been with the team the whole time. Yeah, he has some quickness, he has some speed, he's an experienced ball player. He also shows up in the passing game as well. He's got really good hands and ball skills and body control, so we're going to need that to continue to grow really with all those guys. Obviously we got two of the other guys in late in the game and they both put the ball on the ground so that is obviously something that we're going to continue to emphasize. But John, John brings an aspect that we're going to need. We're going to need to get that whole group going because I think they're very talented, very capable, but we need to be better at the running back position, O-line position. I thought today specifically in the running game and the tight end position.