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Penn State

James Franklin discusses confidence coming into Michigan game, poor showing

Wade-Peeryby:Wade Peery•10/15/22
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(Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)

The Penn State Nittany Lions kept it close with the Michigan Wolverines for a half on Saturday, but they simply could find no answers for the Wolverine dynamic tailback tandem of Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards. Michigan rolled up 418 rushing yards on Penn State this afternoon–that’s the most the Nittany Lions have allowed in a single game since 2000. It was only the second time since 2000 that Penn State has surrendered more than 400 yards on the ground. Following the Nittany Lions’ 41-17 loss on Saturday, PSU head coach James Franklin spoke with reporters about how surprised he was with the way his team played.

You can listen to the audio clip below from 3:45-4:42 or you can read the transcribed quotes below.

James Franklin was obviously disappointed with his team’s performance on Saturday

“They’re a good football team. Let me start by saying that. They’re a good football team, but we didn’t play well. So, yeah, I’m surprised that we didn’t play well. Again, when you’re not able to control the line of scrimmage, the way you need to control the line of scrimmage, you’re gonna have a hard time in games. They’re able to stick with the game plan. Stick with what they do,” the Penn State head coach said.

“We knew early down success for their offense was critical. We knew starting the game, you look at all the analytics, that was gonna be very important. And for the most part, we were able to battle our way. Maybe not conventionally, but we were able to battle our way to keep it close in the first half. That opening drive to start the second half was really important. We deferred. That was really important for our offense and for our defense. But we were unable to do it consistently enough today,” Franklin said on Saturday afternoon.

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Donovan Edwards had 173 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the afternoon and Blake Corum had 166 rushing yards and two touchdowns. They’re one of the best tailback tandems in college football and the Wolverines once again have their ground game rolling along like a well-oiled machine, much like last year when they trotted out the tandem of Corum and Hassan Haskins.

Franklin and the Nittany Lions will look to regroup next weekend, when they face the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Oct. 22.