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Does Penn State need to be a complete team to win? Press conference reactions

Headshot 5x7 reduced qualityby:Thomas Frank Carr•10/17/23•

ThomasFrankCarr

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Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar (15) passes against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State Football faces Ohio State on Saturday in one of the most pivotal games of the 2023 season. Head coach James Franklin addressed the media on Tuesday afternoon to kick off the week. We highlight the major takeaways from the afternoon conversation, which you can hear on the Blue White Illustrated YouTube Channel. Senior Editor Nate Bauer joins us to discuss the major themes of today’s press conference. 

In today’s recap we discuss Drew Allar, the team’s identity, the program’s margin of victory over the last two years and more. We also ask the question. Does Penn State need to be a complete team with no flaws to win a championship? 

Penn State QB Allar under the spotlight

We’re never far from talking about Allar in any game, but the Ohio native was the subject of lots of the majority of questions on Tuesday. When asked about where the starting Penn State QB is playing well, Franklin went back to how well he’s controlled himself and the football this year. 

“You spend your whole career trying to get quarterbacks to take checkdowns. Like every quarterback wants to throw the corner route or the go route or the post. I mean, who is throwing checkdowns in their backyard, right?”

The Penn State head coach then explained why he reacted to the viral question from last week the way he did.

“So that’s why I got so uncomfortable and upset last week. It was just so foreign. So here we got a young kid who is starting for the first time, and we can call those plays, and he’ll take the check down.

To me, he’s doing a really good job of keeping the main thing the main thing, which is protecting the football, trying to create explosive plays when they’re there, but not forcing them,” Franklin said. 

Do you need to have a complete team? Or a really good one?

Part of the conversation this season has been about the lack of explosive plays in the running and passing game. The subtext is that Penn State is excellent on defense and can be a complete team. Franklin has talked about balance on offense this season, but do you need to evolve as the season progresses? Do big games like the one Saturday force a status change? Franklin gave his thoughts. 

“Yeah, I think what you have to be careful of is you have to understand and figure out what the identity of your team is and embrace that identity no matter what the outside world is saying.

You have to be comfortable in your own skin and own who you are and how you have to play. That doesn’t mean that you’re not looking to improve in certain areas,” he said. 

We’ve got more coverage of Franklin and the Penn State football team this week. Get premium observations tomorrow night after Penn State’s open practice from Bauer and Sean Fitz. Join Blue White Illustrated right now, and new members get 50% off the yearly subscription price.  

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