James Franklin tackles some, not all, injury concerns: Notebook

Penn State head coach James Franklin returned to the Beaver Stadium podium Tuesday afternoon, ready to recap Indiana and look ahead to Maryland. And, in something of a moment of respite, Franklin handled not a single question about Penn State’s starting, or primary backup, quarterback.

(The position did not go entirely undiscussed, though.)

Still, Franklin had plenty of immediate and long-term concerns to discuss for the program as it looks to finish out its final three games of the 2022 season on a strong note. 

Here’s a look at some of the most pertinent news and notes items to emerge from James Franklin’s press conference on Tuesday:

James Franklin press conference news and notes

Bumps and bruises

There are many to mention, and many that went without resolution, through the course of the press conference.

The first and most notable was the one that was resolved. Landon Tengwall, Penn State’s redshirt freshman guard, will miss the rest of the season. He has undergone surgery to repair an unspecified injury. 

The others at issue for Penn State this season were not so plainly addressed. Those include, on the offensive line alone, starting left tackle Olu Fashanu, who did not travel with the team to Indiana, Sal Wormley, the starting right guard who left late in the game and didn’t return against the Hoosiers, and Hunter Nourzad, the backup left guard who also saw one of his lowest rep counts of the season in Bloomington after getting rolled up on during the first offensive snap of the game.

According to Franklin, Fashanu is a “week-to-week” situation. Nourzad’s decision to return for the 2023 season was addressed, but not his rash of injuries. And, Wormley was not touched upon at all during the press conference.

On the positive, though, right tackle Caedan Wallace, who traveled and dressed for Indiana but did not play, was reported by Franklin to potentially be back this weekend against the Terrapins. 

Whether specified or not, though, Franklin acknowledged the generalities of the situation up front for Penn State right now as it moves forward: 

“You hate these types of setbacks and disappointments. It is part of the game,” Franklin said. “We do seem to have a little bit more of them right now than we’ve had maybe in other years… I think it’s probably been understated by me.”

James Franklin on bumps and bruises continued

The other side of the ball is not without big questions on the injury front. 

Asked about Penn State’s linebackers, specifically about Kobe King and then Tyler Elsdon and Curtis Jacobs in the two-part question, Franklin answered only about King before moving on. Elsdon was limited to just 14 snaps on Saturday and Jacobs played just nine before exiting without returning.

James Franklin’s redshirt approach

Understanding that Penn State is going to have to be creative with how it addresses the offensive line the next three weeks given its injury situations, Franklin laid out one bottom-line reality.

“We’re going to do whatever we’ve got to do to be 1-0 this week,” he said. “But, there’s still the possibility of us maybe being able to redshirt some of these guys if we can. But that won’t trump what we have to do this year and this season to be successful.”

That will include how Penn State handles Vega Ioane, J.B. Nelson, and Drew Shelton, specifically. Ioane traveled to Indiana but wasn’t used. He’s played in two games thus far this season. Nelson played extensively against the Hoosiers, a season-high 77 reps, in what was his third game played this season. He has one more game available to him before his redshirt would be exhausted. And Shelton started at left tackle and also saw extensive action with 89 total reps in the win. It was his third game played this season, too.

Noting that Wallace’s return would help the situation, Franklin acknowledged some strategy could be involved as the group moves forward to continue to try to preserve redshirts, if possible.

“Then there’s also the discussion about how many games left do they have available,” Franklin said. “So do you play Vega now this week to get him one game and then shut somebody else down to try to manage it as much as you can? But, not so much so that it limits your ability to be effective and explosive and be 1-0.”

Christian Veilleux’s next steps

Though not addressing the issue directly, Franklin acknowledged the reality that third-string quarterback Christian Veilleux will have decisions to make following the season.

What he did address is that Penn State would love for Veilleux to continue with the program. Calling the third-year quarterback “phenomenal” for how he’s handled the season, remaining engaged and ready throughout the year, Franklin described a valued piece of Penn State’s quarterback room.

“He’s been great. His body language, his demeanor, his leadership, his attention to detail, and the way he’s preparing as if he was the starter, has been really good. Those types of things specifically at those positions I think are really important,” Franklin said. “We’ll see how this all plays out. But I hope he stays at Penn State and continues to chase his dream and gets his degree and see how it all plays out. Because again, there are a lot of twists and turns along these journeys. 

“There’s part of me that it breaks my heart a little bit about the conversations and the things that you’re having now in college football that you didn’t used to have. But I also understand this is where we’re at and kind of embrace it. And there’s good in both, right? There are a lot of good things that I believe existed in the old model. And there’s a lot of good that exists in the new model. I don’t know if they’re necessarily the same things, though.”

Indiana 2020, James Franklin’s nightmare, revisited

Franklin acknowledged that he wasn’t looking for a conversation with one of Indiana’s chain gang members on Saturday. In the converse of the story he recounted, what immediately met the eye might not have been the worst thing.

“He goes, ‘I’m a pastor at a church, and two years ago you were here and you were talking on the sideline about ‘Don’t score, don’t score, don’t score!’ And I’ve never heard a coach in 30 years talk about not scoring. Then you go on the field and you’re screaming ‘Don’t score, don’t score, don’t score!’ and then you scored. And you know how it plays out over time and how the game plays out. But I’ve used that in my sermon I don’t know how many times.’”

Acknowledging that he wasn’t sure of the point that was being driven home, Franklin heard the man out. 

“‘What may look good in this moment may not be the right thing for you down the road.’ So finally, the message kind of comes. But it was just an interesting interaction after all these years,” Franklin said. “I’ve never really had that kind of conversation, and during the game. But it was an interesting interaction that I had with this gentleman on the sideline talking about a situation that I really didn’t want to talk about or remember. But he did bring it up and had a message about how he’s used it in his church.”

Finding himself as the unwanted, unwitting object lesson of a pastor’s sermon, Franklin was given a gift in return. 

Two years after the debacle at the end of Penn State’s 2020 game at Indiana in which Devyn Ford scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, returning possession to the Hoosiers which ultimately led to their upset win, Franklin came clean about a topic he’s held his tongue about throughout that time.

Taking cover for Ford at the time, the story revealed what’d been debated about that game. Franklin, and Penn State’s coaching staff, in fact, had repeatedly instructed its players not to score. Protecting Ford, a sophomore, from the criticism at the time, the on-the-record reality came to the forefront on Tuesday.