James Franklin talks Penn State running back picture, UCLA QB situation, and more: Everything he said Wednesday

Penn State coach James Franklin held his final news conference of UCLA week on Wednesday night after the Nittany Lions wrapped up practice inside Holuba Hall. The first question he fielded centered on how the program is preparing for possibly having to face Bruins backup quarterback Justyn Martin, who has only five passing attempts at the college level, if injured starter Ethan Garbers is not able to go.

“We’re controlling the things that we can control,” Franklin said. “From what I have seen and heard, they’re planning on playing [Garbers], if he’s available to play. All we can do is prepare off of what we’ve seen on tape. We haven’t seen the other kid. We went back and watched his high school tape, but there’s not a whole lot we can do but just prepare for what we see on film. And then obviously, this guy supposedly is more of an athlete, so we get that, but we can’t chase ghosts. We got to prepare for what we have seen.”

The next question asked if Franklin had anything he could share about junior running back Nicholas Singleton’s status that would cause him to not be able to play on Saturday after he was not seen at practice on Wednesday. Franklin said “No, not at this stage.”

Watch everything Franklin said in the embedded YouTube video (click here if you cannot see it) and read his comments below.

On the progress made by freshmen running back Quinton Martin Jr., and Corey Smith so far

“[Martin and Smith] have done some really good things, and they’ve learned to pick things up so far. I think both of those guys, specifically, Quinton, is preparing, ready to play,” Franklin said.

“But we’ll just see how this thing plays out. I mean, the challenge is, you know, Cam was our number three, right? So what you don’t want to do is, you got two guys that could possibly redshirt. If you’re going to use one of those guys as your number three, you want to make sure that they get enough reps that it makes it worthwhile.

“And as you guys know, we want to make sure that both Kaytron and Nick get enough touches, and there’s just not enough touches to go around if you’re going to make sure that those two guys get enough, let alone all the other guys; that’s one of the questions that you guys, thankfully, haven’t really given me a whole lot this year. Why are these guys not touching the ball? They are. We start getting more touches for other guys, and that’s going to impact our running backs too. So it’s a balance of all this, all the time.”

On various Penn State players on offense saying this week that they are having fun so far this season

“I’d say, first of alI, I think, to be honest, it probably shouldn’t be this way, but they’re getting a lot more external praise, which I wish didn’t affect them,” Franklin said. “I’d like them to tune all that stuff out, but it has an effect. That’s the reality of it. But I also think Andy has just got a fun personality. I also think Andy is a relationship-based leader, which is something that we believe in here, and he’s done a really good job explaining the why. 

“So the combination of him having a fun personality and making it fun and developing relationships with the guys, coupled with the fact that we’re having success, specifically in the explosive play category, that’s probably the biggest part. I mean, just like you guys love big plays and the fans love big plays, the guys love big plays too. I mean, you rush for for 100 yards, and you do it eight yards at a time, or you get one 80-yard run; everybody loves the 80-yard run.”

On offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s personality

“I just think there’s a time to work and there’s a time to have fun,” Franklin said. “And I think that one of the most important traits that we can all learn is, how can you have fun while doing hard stuff, and you’re going to do hard stuff the rest of your life, so you might as well find a way to enjoy it while you’re doing it. 

“And I think Andy does a good job of that with the staff as well as with the players. As you guys know, we’re in here a lot of hours, so what you don’t want is, you don’t want those hours to be like grueling hours mentally, emotionally and physically. They’re already physically and mentally challenging, and they don’t need to be emotionally as well. 

“But there’s always that fine line, right? If you’re messing around and laughing and playful too much, then that’s not what you need either. So that comes with time and experience, and that’s kind of where the art and the science, [it’s] the balance of those.

On freshman offensive lineman Cooper Cousins

“Yeah, Cooper’s been doing great, really, since he stepped on campus,” Franklin said. “Been a lot of talk about Cooper. He’s done it in practice. He’s done it against [the Penn State] defense, [and] he’s done it in games. Kind of unusual for a true freshman, but he’s pretty far along, and I’d like to get him more work. So far, so good, and hopefully that will continue to grow as the season goes on. But we’ve been very, very pleased with him, really, since he stepped up campus.

On the Penn State defense taking a big step last week against Illinois

“I think it’s really just, I think everybody is kind of been settled into their roles, and I also think we’ve gotten more settled with technology,” Franklin said. “I think the technology, the first couple weeks, was challenging in terms of figuring out the best way for Penn State to use it. And we just got to a point where now the technology has been a positive. It’s been a benefit, and it’s not cumbersome. Where, I would say it was probably that the first couple weeks, and I think it’s that as much as anything.

“The players feel that from the coaches, the coaches are comfortable and confident. The players are comfortable and confident. And I think that we’re back to calling the defense the way I think Tom would like to call it, which, hold your calls until you have as much information as possible, whether that’s personnel or whether that’s formation, or whatever it may be. 

“And obviously, depending on a huddle team or a tempo team, if a tempo team’s at the line of scrimmage, you can a lot of time to see the formation. If you’re a huddle team, that’s harder to do that. So all these different things based on who we’re playing and how they operate, kind of impacts how we call defense. But I just think we’re kind of getting back into the rhythm of it. And you also got to remember, Tom hadn’t done it for a number of years, although it was his defense at Indiana, he hadn’t done it for a couple years, in terms of the actual living the job every day. So I think that plays a part in as well.”

On facing the multiple fronts UCLA can present on offense and defense

“I think it’s getting to a point as coaches and players to understand you’re not going to cover it all, but we’ve done enough throughout training camp and throughout this season that if they do this motion, or they line up in this formation, or whatever it is, we have rules that account for those things,” Franklin said.

“And OK, we didn’t cover this this week. There’s a chance something’s going to show up in this game that we haven’t covered. You can’t cover it all. It’s just impossible to do. So just follow your rules. So you know that’s on offense, that’s on defense, that’s on special teams as well, and and you prefer to be able to handle it when it happens. But then again, you still have the opportunity to get on the iPad and make some corrections throughout the game, too.”

On Kaytron Allena and Nick Singleton staying at Penn State together for three years

“Again, like literally from the beginning, as you guys know, we have recruited a number of classes where we’ve signed two running backs and two tight ends, and specifically, at that position, we’re selling it on, you don’t want to be the back that in your college experience, you carried it 800 times, and people are concerned about how much wear and tear you have all yet,” Franklin said. “And what do you what do you have left?

“I think sometimes it creates a management during games where they want more touches. But I think in the big picture, out of the emotion of a game, I think both of them would sign up for it again, and obviously we would, but it’s something that that I believe in, that Ja’Juan believes in, I think our running backs believe in.

“We’re going to keep those guys as fresh and as healthy as we possibly can. And that’s not a concern when people draft our guys, that they’re not concerned about how much treads left on the tire. So I think there’s just total buy-in to that. And we talk about that during the recruiting process. And I think there’s times maybe as freshmen, where either they don’t understand that or sometimes the parents don’t understand it. But I think after some time and some seasoning, and I think when they all look back on it, they’ll all see the value in it.”