Penn State coach James Franklin on Ohio State game: 'Last year's experience was a learning tool'

COLUMBUS — Penn State is 1-8 against Ohio State under head coach James Franklin. That one win came in 2016 at Happy Valley, and it was not lacking drama. Grant Haley returned a block field goal 60 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter is where most of these Big Ten East showdowns are decided. In fact, the Nittany Lions have led or been tied with the Buckeyes in the final frame five times since 2014, including last year in State College. That was, before Ohio State sprinted to score 28 points in about six minutes.

Penn State is tired, and has been tired, of getting oh so close against Ohio State for years. The glimmer of the 2016 upset is losing its shine as the Nittany Lions’ losses in the series have stockpiled. Penn State-Ohio State is one of the best rivalries in today’s college football, except it’s not protected in the Big Ten’s new Flex Protect XVIII scheduling model.

This weekend, however, the history of the head-to-head will continue.

Franklin talked about that history, last year’s game and more in his weekly press conference. Lettermen Row rounded up his answers that are relevant to the Buckeyes.

Introductory remarks about Ohio State…

FRANKLIN: “Ryan Day, a ton of respect for Ryan and Ohio State as a whole. When you look at who they are, offensively Brian Hartline being one of the most respected wide receiver coaches in the country and recruiter. This year, he’s become the offensive coordinator. Obviously, I think Ryan is still heavily involved in what they’re doing, but they’re continuing to do a really good job. They are still a spread offense. They will go tempo as well, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that’s all they do. A lot of times they’re trying to get a look at the defense.

“You talk about personnel, obviously it starts with Marvin Harrison. We’re very familiar with him. Everybody in the country is. Tremendous, tremendous player. TreVeyon Henderson, the running back. Cade Stover is probably the guy that I don’t think is getting enough attention and enough love. He’s been a very productive player for them, has elite ball skills. Emeka Egbuka, another guy that we got a ton of respect for. Miyan Williams, the running back. Some guys we left out based on we’re not sure whether they’re going to play or not, but a ton of guys we got respect for.

“Defensively, Jim Knowles, who, again, we’re very familiar with and has done a really nice job. Last year did a nice job, and then obviously this year has taken it to a whole ‘nother level. They’re a 4-2-5 scheme. You’re seeing a little bit more of the three-safety look this year that [Knowles] ran when he was at Oklahoma State. I think they’re doing a little bit less than maybe they did the year before, but what they do, they do really well. I think that has equated to them doing a really good job of limiting explosive plays.

“A guy that I got like a ‘coach crush’ on, is No. 35, Tommy Eichenberg. Just a really good football player. He’s fun to watch. Physically he can make the plays. He’s obviously the quarterback of the defense. Everything goes through him. You pick up a lot of stuff off tape watching him as well as TV copies. Just a really smart, instinctive, athletic linebacker who we have a ton of respect for.

“No. 8, their safety, Lathan Ransom is another guy we’ve got a ton of respect for. Their defensive end who had a career game against us last year, J.T. Tuimoloau. … Ton of respect for you and how you played. Again, he had a career game against us last year. And then cornerback No. 10, Denzel Burke. Those are the guys that stand out to us, and then special teams [coordinator] Parker Fleming with Xavier Johnson as the kickoff return guy, and Jayden Fielding as their kicker.

“So tremendous challenge. Also a tremendous opportunity. And we’re looking forward to going to Columbus and playing this game.”

What makes Marvin Harrison Jr. such a ‘tremendous player’?

FRANKLIN: “Well, I think No. 1, the thing that jumps out to me is his body control and ball skills. He’s got the ability to contort his body in the positions and catch the ball effortlessly. I think that’s the first thing.

“The other thing is he’s just so smooth and fluid. A guy that you guys are familiar with that I think was as smooth and fluid similar to him is Jahan [Dotson]. The difference is, this guy is doing it at 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4. It’s interesting, you watch him on tape, and he looks like he’s got good size, but when you see him in person, he’s a big dude.

“And I think it’s his consistency. He’s just consistently made plays. Obviously, he makes spectacular plays, but he makes the routine plays as well. So he’s obviously somebody that we got to be aware of at all times. We got a ton of respect for him and how they use him.”

QB Drew Allar is returning home to Ohio for a big-time road game…is that something you’re talking to him about?

FRANKLIN: “Well, I wasn’t going to talk to him, but this is my third interview today, and everybody obviously is talking to him like that, so I am going to talk to him. We don’t really do things like that, but I am going to have a conversation with him. I can’t control the things outside of our building.

“But, yeah, I want Drew to do the same thing he’s done all year long. I want him to prepare the same way. I want him to practice the same way.

“I don’t think he’s a big social media guy, so tune all that stuff out and get better this week through his preparation and his performance, which is really no different than any other week.”

Ohio State QB Kyle McCord is someone you recruited out of St. Joe’s Prep…what are you seeing from him this season?

FRANKLIN: “Yeah, obviously a big arm. He’s a good-sized guy. He’s been in their system for a while, so he understands their system. He’s surrounded with a ton of talent: wide receivers, tight ends. I think I told you guys, I love their tight end. He’s been extremely productive.

“And then obviously they got running backs, so they do a really good job of — I think they’re approaching it a little bit like we’ve approached it with Drew with a first-year starting quarterback. He’s doing what he needs to do for them to be successful offensively and win games.

“If you look at his touchdown-to-interception ratio, really good. Really good. So I’m not surprised, obviously. His high school coach is on our staff. We recruited him. We know a lot about him. We had a ton of respect for him out of high school and continue to. We think he’s going to be a challenge for us on Saturday as well.”

Is it a concern that your team hasn’t had much experience in down-to-the-wire, close games this season?

FRANKLIN: “Again, I think you control the things you can control. I think we’ve had some situations where maybe we went into halftime and the game was closer than maybe people thought it would be. Maybe there was some sense of that. But you control the things that you can control, and I think we’ve played the way we needed to play to get better.

“But, yeah, I think obviously you got to be able to win big games in the fourth quarter. You got to be able to win one-possession games. We practice those things with two-minute drills and things likes that. Yeah, there are some things that are just going to have to organically happen. But we expect this to be one of those types of games. We’ve played these guys for a long time. Probably up to the last two years, probably played them as well as anybody in the conference. But we got to find a way to be able to win in the fourth quarter and win these one-possession games.”

How much is last year’s game against Ohio State something you guys have talked about this season?

FRANKLIN: “Yeah, I think all of us, right, we’re a combination of our previous experiences. Whether you’re a first-time coordinator in this league or first-time player in this league, I think all those experiences, both positive or adversity, I think if you approach them the right way they help you grow. But we got a ton of respect for Ohio State and their history. And not just now. Like literally from a historical perspective, it’s interesting kind of looking at what Penn State’s records were against all these teams before we even got here. Those things are important to study and understand.

“But I think last year’s experience was a learning tool for our entire team, for all of our coordinators and all of our coaches. I think this probably goes back to the previous question — I think we played really well for three quarters and didn’t finish. I think that’s a combination of a lot of things. But, yeah, there are opportunities to grow and get better as long as you approach them that way.”

Do you see this game as a measuring stick as well as a hurdle that you need to clear to get to where your team wants to go?

FRANKLIN: “You know me very well — I get you’re going to ask these questions. We’re trying to find a way to get a win this week against a really good team, against a program we got tremendous respect for, a coaching staff we got a ton of respect for, the talent that they have. But we approach it the same every single week. Everybody on the outside is talking. We’re approaching it the way we do every single week. This is a really important game. Why? Because of how we’ve handled the previous six. If we didn’t handle the previous six the right way, you wouldn’t be asking that question. So each week is really important. That’s how we approach it.”

You mentioned Ohio State is using more three-safety looks this year…what kind of challenges does that present, given how much your team uses 12-personnel?

FRANKLIN: “Yeah, I think it’s the same reason why people do it, right? When you’re playing, say, a traditional 4-3 or a traditional 3-4 [defense], you got rules of how you account for the guys in the box. And how you’re going to block to the SAM, how you’re going to combo block to the MIKE, how you’re going to combo block to the WILL or you’re reading the WILL in the RPO.

“Now when they got this extra safety like Ohio State’s doing — Iowa State was the team that made it kind of sexy and popular out there — it’s different than your normal rules of how you account for that guy in the run game, how you account for that guy in the passing game, either as a blitzer or as a ‘robber’ in coverage. No different than in some ways why it’s difficult to defend the ‘wishbone’ when you don’t see it all year long or the ‘Delaware wing T’ when you don’t see it all year long. Or now, in some ways, a traditional two-back power set.

“So that’s where it can become challenging, is you’re having to teach things different than you normally do, which with coaches, right, just like teachers, you’re trying to as much as you can teach like ‘same as’ or ‘like’ — ‘OK, this is like this. This is the same as this. You’re putting it into this category. This is how we’re going to treat this.’ And this defense kind of forces you out of that a little bit, and it’s got to be more specific to this defense and how they play. So you just don’t have the accumulated reps against this type of defense. Unless you’re Iowa State’s offense who faces it every single day in practice.”