Penn State Football
James Franklin Postgame Press Conference
Washington – November 9, 2024
Opening Statement
So, like always, appreciate guys coming out to cover Penn State football. I want to start with the crowd. Awesome crowd, again, one of the best sporting events, not just football; one of the best sporting events that there is out there. The White Out is always fantastic. I appreciate our Athletic Director, Pat Kraft, working with the Big Ten to give us a chance to play this game at night as well. So, all things considered, real positive. You look at the game, in my opinion, the game was won on third down. We were 77% on third down to their 30%. I think we were 7-of-7 in the first half to start the game. The turnover battle was tied. Explosive play battle, we won. Not as explosive as we would normally like to be, but we still won that battle. I think it was 13% to 5% in the sack battle. That was a dominant aspect of the game. I thought our O-line, we didn't give up any sacks in the game. Some of that was Drew extending plays, but then our defense was able to get five sacks in the game. Penalty battle, I still think there's some things that we need to get cleaned up, but overall, that was a toss-up. And then, I thought the end of the first half was big. In the middle eight, we put up 14 points to their zero. So, you’ve got to give Washington credit. I think that's a talented football team and a good football team. Coach [Jedd] Fisch will do a great job there. But tonight, our guys played exceptionally well, and specifically in the first half. Tyler Warren continues to make plays in a ton of different ways, and I'm proud of him there. Jaylen Reed continues to make plays for us. Abdul Carter continues to make big plays in critical moments. So it was just really cool. And then, the last thing I'd say is that their defense was one of the top passing defenses in the country. I think they were the number two pass defense in the country, and we threw for over 220 yards. They were giving up 142 per game this season. And then obviously we were able to protect the football. I think that's one of the things that Drew has done a phenomenal job of in the last two years. He doesn't get enough credit for that, but being able to protect the football, make great decisions, and be accurate is impressive. So, I’ve got a list here of about 35 records that Tyler Warren has broken. I'm not going to get into all of them, but he's a really good football player. I can't see how this guy doesn't win the Mackey Award and the Paul Hornung Award. I don't see how he doesn't. And they'd be proud of that guy representing their award, because he does everything right both on and off the field. He's done it that way since the day he stepped on campus. So, he’s just a great example of what a Penn State football player is. So, appreciate you guys again being here.
Q: Can you speak to the resilience your entire program has shown that you talked about the last week, about this new college football landscape where there's still things to play for? How important it is to not let one game beat you twice? Can you speak to that resilience?
A: Yeah, in our locker room and in the Lasch facility and on our practice fields, we’ve got a ton to be proud of, and we focus on that. We focus on making corrections, and I'm proud of my guys. I'm proud of my staff and how we go about our business. We value winning, and if you watch college football all over the country, it's hard to win on a consistent basis. You see it every single week, upsets and things like that. So, we value winning. We respect winning and what it takes. And we get back to work on Sunday’s, in the Lasch building and on the Lasch practice fields.
Q: James, we didn't see Nick Singleton for the last quarter and a half. Didn't see him on the sideline. Can you shed any light on what happened?
A: No, as you guys know, I don't kind of get into those types of things. You know, you'll find out when you come out to practice. I don't have a whole lot more. Typically, I get in there after this, I shower, everybody's gone. I get done with the shower, and Andy Mutnan is waiting for me, and he goes through how we got out of the game, and what the injuries were. Typically, we don't have a whole lot of information until the next morning. But as you can imagine, I don't usually get into sharing that information with you guys.
Q: A lot of guys saw the ball, especially in the first half. Can you talk about the execution of the team today to make it possible for all the guys to get touches?
A: I think the biggest thing on offense and defense is that we were able to control first down. On offense, we averaged seven yards per play in the first half. Defensively, we were able to stay ahead of the sticks all night long, and that allows you to be in advantageous third down situations. That allows you to push the ball down the field. That allows you to be aggressive on defense to go after the quarterback. So, I think first down was a big factor in that game and how it played out.
Q: In what ways have you seen Abdul Carter progress and grow into a complete edge rusher from early in September to right now?
A: He’s a disruptive football player. He was that way when he played linebacker. He’s disruptive when he plays defensive end. I still think there has been an evolution for him there, in terms of playing the run on a consistent basis, rushing the passer on a consistent basis, getting good at his get-off. He’s just getting better. To me, that’s the exciting thing. He’s got a lot of football ahead of him. He finds a ton of different ways to disrupt the game.
Q: Coach, could you take us through Tyler Warren’s incomplete pass? You called a timeout, chatted with the officials, and do you think that they were going to review that?
A: Yeah, obviously we’ve got to decide, is it a first down or not? Ninety-nine percent of the time they’ll buzz that down and review it. But they said not only did they do it, but they did it in Chicago that quickly. I haven’t seen that done all year long. So, we end up burning a timeout trying to give up more time to review it. But they already said they had reviewed it. That’s typically why I don’t challenge things, so kind of unusual to me. Usually they’ll buzz it down, stop there and take a second look at a big play in the game.
Q: Coach, Julian [Fleming] got his first touchdown, Trey [Wallace] had a nice game. How important was it for you to get the receivers really involved?
A: Yeah, it’s great to get those guys involved. We want to do that every single week. It’s really good to see Julian do some things. Trey did some good things today, and we need more of that. We’ll continue to invest in that throughout the week. But I’m really proud of our guys. I thought they played well tonight; I thought Trey’s catch at the sideline was a huge catch. We need those guys, so we’ll continue to invest in that.
Q: First half, with the offense scoring touchdowns on all four of its possessions and the defense pitching a shutout, would you say that’s the best half of football you guys have played all season? And how much would you attribute that to coming out with a mean taste coming out of last week?
A: Yeah, I’m not sure about that. You guys can determine that. We’ll watch the film tomorrow. I thought we played very well in the first half, like I mentioned, on third down we were seven for seven. I think after seven yards per play on offense and holding them to no points on their opening drive, and the end of the half, how that ended, the stop and the two minute drive, but I’ll let you guys decide if that was the best half we’ve played.