Live updates: James Franklin weekly press conference
Penn State head coach James Franklin is meeting with the media following a 49-10 win at Purdue, with a trip to Minnesota up next.
Live updates: James Franklin weekly press conference
(Updates begin at noon. Page does not automatically refresh. Press conference ended at 12:40 p.m.)
Drew hurt at Wisconsin, losing, then playing at high level past two games:
11/18/2024 11:38:34 AMThinks he has played at a high level for two years. Data backs that up. Continues to get better. Continues to refine his process. Continues to pour into his teammates, getting on same page, whether it’s OL, spending time personally and as a player. His approach, his gameday demeanor, his ability to run and extend plays. One thing they’ve talked about is, it’s not just the touchdown to INT ratio, because you can get lucky there a little. It’s also grading INT-worthy decisions and throws. You made a bad throw and defender dropped it. That’s graded as an INT decision and throw. Not a whole lot of that on his film. Biggest improvement from last year is his mobility. Not just a guy that can move in the pocket. He can get first downs. When you look at drives where he has a first down with his feet, have scored on almost every one of them. Doesn’t think he’s talked about enough. Doesn’t get enough credit. Knows why. But is very, very proud of him, how he plays, how he goes about his business. His humility is phenomenal. At that position in today’s day and age. Proud of how he has handled it all. It’s impressive. Very pleased with how he is playing, and if you talk to football people out there, a lot of people would feel the same.
Turnovers, balancing aggression vs. staying safe:
11/18/2024 11:33:56 AM
They’re a zone team, and the argument is you can have eyes on QB, which typically can lead to better position for interceptions. In man, you challenge more routes but have to transition eyes on the guy you’re covering to switching to the ball. In zone, your eyes are on QB the whole time. That’s one of the big differences. Goes with aggressiveness. Big difference between aggressiveness in zone vs. man. It’s a skill that is hard to develop. A trait you have or don’t. Ability to take eyes off guy you’re covering, then turn and find the ball in a way that the ball is going to be thrown. Where you turn your eyes. Are you looking back or up? Little things like that make a huge difference.
Ty Howle
11/18/2024 11:31:09 AMNot talked about enough. There is no school in the country, no program in the country, doing what they are doing with tight ends right now and really over the last 10 years. Howle has come into that position as a Penn State letterman and has taken it to a whole other level. Recruiting, developing the best tight ends in the country. It’s a competitive room. Then you look at what’s happening after they’re done at Penn State. All getting degrees, majority getting drafted and drafted high. Look at Tyler Warren – high draft grade last year, came back, and it has been a win-win. Will be the first TE drafted. Having a great year. Having a ton of fun with teammates. That’s what you want. You want it to be a great situation for everyone. If you’re a great tight end in the country and specifically one in the state of Pennsylvania, doesn’t know how you couldn’t come here. There is too much data saying you can get everything you want for your career.
Team not letting one loss turn into two:
11/18/2024 11:28:53 AM
Shows maturity and growth. Do a good job of tuning outside noise out. In 2024, that’s harder to do than people realize. Easier for some more than others. Tyler Warren still has a rotary house phone, so easier for him than most. But being able to stay focused and tune out all the other things comes with maturity and growth and doing really good job of managing it. Also thinks Kris Petersen, Greg Kincaid, and Paul do a great job of that too. Having a plan that guys only get so many interviews a week because they’re fulltime students, playing football, and have media obligations. Making sure these things are balanced. It’s also important and the staff does a good job helping them with that too.
Abdul Carter playing through holds
11/18/2024 11:26:58 AM
If it’s showing up on the field where he’s getting frustrated and effort is changing because he can’t get a call, that would be a concern. But he is playing with phenomenal motor. Try to spend a lot of time talking about real football people studying the tape. NFL scouts, GMs, other college coaches. When you watch the tape, the guy is impactful. Whether that’s sacks, TFLs, holding calls, whether it is obvious that they have a specific plan in how they’re trying to limit his impact, keeping TEs in, RBs in, sliding to double-team him. He is impacting the game in a number of ways that creates opportunities for other guys on defense and causes a lot of headaches. He has been great. Attitude great. Coachable. He is becoming more of a leader every day. After the game, can always find his dad and mom in the stands. Has a great relationship with them. Is more focused on how is he impacting the game and how is his effort and motor, and those two things are at a really high level. A lot of people are noticing it. Favorite play in the game last week was the screen. The effort and burst. And not just him, Zane Durant chasing from behind. Those lead to great things. The other thing is, early in the year transitioning to DE, had offsides which all great DEs do, but those are limiting now too. So now more and more production.
Luke Reynolds, potential:
11/18/2024 11:23:12 AMLove Luke’s development and what he’s been able to do this year, and that will continue to evolve as the season goes on. But when you have Tyler Warren in that room and Khalil is a guy that has done a great job as well – he blocked extremely well and is a threat in the passing game. That’s a competitive room. Coach Howle has done a great job developing that room. Doesn’t see anything significantly changing right now based on opportunity and circumstances. Love his approach every day. Has a very bright future. Excited about it.
Guys who earned more opportunity by playing at Purdue
11/18/2024 11:20:15 AM
About preserving their redshirts. Tyseer Denmark at PR and WR. Eagan Boyer falls into that category. Quinton and Corey, more Corey than Quinton based on games available. Quinton has already played three, so need to decide if he plays this week or next. Xavier Gilliam. Granville is full go now. Harvey is full go and can play for them. Speca is like Martin, only has one game to play so have to be strategic about that. Vaboue, Bellgrave-Shorter, Mitchell, Woseley. They all fall into that category.
Playing Grunk
11/18/2024 11:19:59 AM
That’s the fine line. Beau needs and deserves as many reps as he can get. Unbelievable teammate. Was able to go in and win a game at Wisconsin. That development is critical. In practice or games, if you’re trying to get three guys ready, you’re often not getting anyone ready. Grunk is getting live scrimmage work, 24 reps, every Sunday. Some days are total live, QB included. More than not, it’s live except QB. It’s a fine line, but every rep Beau can get is important. When Grunk is in a similar position, he’ll want those reps as well, whether it’s as starter or backup, he wants every rep he can get too.
Getting off to better starts
11/18/2024 11:16:23 AM
Wouldn’t necessarily say the process has changed. But, no different than question about turnovers, something to discuss. Why? Study the tape, things they’re doing in practice, years they’ve had a bunch, what were they emphasizing? Making sure turning over every stone. Same with starting games. Self-scouts. Tendencies. How to break them. And then making sure coaches are doing everything in terms of dotting Is and crossing Ts and practicing that way as well. Wouldn’t say anything has changed, but when you give up a bunch of yards, or stall on offense, weeks in a row, you spend more time looking at it. But wouldn’t say anything has changed. Nothing dramatic. More just about the process and maybe a little more self-scout.
Big Ten preparing teams for the playoff
11/18/2024 11:13:44 AM
Doesn’t like to talk about more than what’s right in front of them. Wants team totally focused on Minnesota. Understands the question, but if he starts talking about things other than Minnesota, so do coaches and players, then they lose focus, and next press conference is miserable because they didn’t play the way they needed. Focus is completely on Minnesota.
Creating turnovers
11/18/2024 11:12:30 AMThey’re playing some of the best defense in college football. But there will always be areas to work on. Need to work on shots on goal. That’s the second guy punching at football. Making sure they’re doing both at a high level. Doing a pretty good job of PBUs and contested catches, but need to come down with a few. A couple of 50-50 balls where tie goes to offense. Need to win a few more of those. Need other guys involved beyond Jay Reed in terms of disruption. Next step is not just confidence of breaking ball up, but going after it. Most important is playing great defense, which they are. Doesn’t think Tom Allen and D is getting enough credit for how well they’re playing. But when you’re looking for the next step, that’s an area they would love to improve. Those things change games.
Turnover ratio
11/18/2024 11:10:19 AMTurnover ratio and explosive plays are two most important stats in football and has been that way a long time. Something they talk about all the time. When you’re playing a team doing a really good job creating turnovers and protecting the football, they’re doing a good job. That’s PJ. That’s his background at Rutgers with Coach Schiano. A lot of well coached teams understand before you can learn to win you have to learn how not to lose, and that’s by putting the ball in jeopardy and giving up big plays.
It’s always emphasized. Just one of their staples that they talk about and work on every week and every day. When they hire new coaches, non negotiable is working ball security every day and ball disruption every day. A lot of folks think that happens in the course of practice. Something they constantly talk about.
Opening statement
11/18/2024 11:03:52 AMAfter watching tape, got better last week in a bunch of areas. Playing more disciplined football. Three penalties for 26 yards. One was interesting: Got a six yard penalty. Jumped offsides, never seen that before in stats and on the field. Got a ton of players in the game. Started fast.
Areas for growth: Creating more turnovers. Causing fumbles and getting interceptions would help. Take a lot of pride in being a developmental program. Experience for threes and fours did not play up to the standard. It’s a tremendous opportunity they’re getting and they need to approach it that way. Prepare the right way so if their number is called, they’re ready.
Minnesota. PJ Fleck. He visited when they were at Vanderbilt. Came and visited when they first got to Penn State. Does such a good job. Look at their roster, they have 19 players from transfer portal, and Penn State has nine. Even think their number, 19, is fairly low in today’s college football.
Talk about it with our premium members in the Lions Den, here!
