Live updates: Penn State, James Franklin postgame press conferences
Penn State secured a 38-10 win over SMU on Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium to reach the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Next set for a date with No. 3-seed Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve, the Nittany Lions will look to continue what they hope will be a playoff run.
Meeting with the media following the performance, head coach James Franklin, his coordinator and players are discussing the win. Follow our live updates from the postgame press conference, here:
Live updates: Penn State, James Franklin postgame press conferences
(Press conference updates will appear in reverse chronological order. Page does not automatically refresh.)
Andy Kotelnicki, Tom Allen press conference
Appreciating the moment
12/21/2024 03:38:43 PMAK: Didn’t play in these types of crowds at lower levels. But laugh in pregame and production of getting the team ready and travel party. It’s hotel and meals and meetings. So much production and grandeur to it that you don’t get to enjoy it the way you want, but that’s the competitor in you. To win game, you still critical of body of work to get better. Haven’t spent any time in press box laughing with each other and appreciating it.
Tom: During the game, that’s accurate. Don’t have a time where you let up. But have shared experiences which makes you appreciative of where you are. It just makes you appreciate the experience they’re involved in and not taking any of it for granted. Blessed to be in a place that plays at a high level and cares about winning. When you have a group of guys that have been a lot of other places, you do appreciate it. But not during the game. Just will say when you do what they do, hours they put in, it’s pretty special. That’s why these noon kickoffs are good, get a big win and can enjoy the evening. Get back tomorrow and get back to work.
Getting to the CFP and winning a game
12/21/2024 03:35:05 PMAndy: Speaking to tradition of this place, and football this long, and to do something never done here, it’s rare and pretty cool to be part of. Being part of a family, it’s totally true here. Just a spoke in the wheel he has created here. OC is important, but James doesn’t get enough credit for what he’s done here. Blessed to be part of it. All the things he’s said are real. Ton of gritty wins this year, dealt with adversity. That’s what being a competitor is about and deserves a ton of credit for building this program.
Tom: Long journey to get to a place like this. Thankful for Franklin giving them this opportunity. Appreciate his leadership. Great staff. Work so hard the players and staff. Impressed by demands of the players and how much they give them. Keep showing up and working. Winning is hard. A lot of things to id. Very thankful to be here. This team has been forged by adversity in games. Have had to come through things. Complementary football. Each phase when opportunity is there, has to step up. What makes it special. 1-0 mindset and keep learning.
Surprise of going for fourth down
12/21/2024 03:32:04 PMJames communicates what he’s thinking, when they might be able to go for it. Something they practice daily and game management meetings. No surprise. No hesitation. Kids responded that way.
Andy re: Drew
12/21/2024 03:31:14 PMWeather conditions weren’t optimal for ripping it around. But one thing that won’t show in stats is how many times he’s the leader and straw that stirs the drink to put them in the right play. Run checks. Situations that allow guys to execute. Big part of playing QB.
Andy re: Ethan Grunkemeyer
12/21/2024 03:30:22 PMHandled it fine. No adaptation of what they called. Prepped all week to go into the game as they would expect. Prepares like the starter. Handled it well. Want the throw more on the body or hand it off, but it happens. Get it out of the way. It is playoff football, so it isn’t going to go perfect the whole game. Have to respond when it doesn’t go well. Him bouncing back exemplifies how the day went.
Tom on defensive effort
12/21/2024 03:30:06 PMTotal team effort. That QB is tough to deal with. One of those guys when you pressure him, you have to be careful. Leveraging him with layers. He makes first guy miss most of the time. Constant pressure.
Andy on failed fourth down and getting D stop
12/21/2024 03:27:51 PMTalk about complementary football all the time. Got a critical stop and swung momentum back. The mentality of playing to win. Don’t play on heels. When there is adversity, a championship team will respond in any phase of the game.
Andy re: RBs
12/21/2024 03:26:55 PMIt starts up front. These games in this type of weather, you need to win up front. Need great OL and DL play and that’s how they can advance. Did great job blocking. As game went on, could see runs and holes get bigger. Leaned on them. Gains of 2/3 in the first quarter turn into 4/5, then 10-12, and was very pleased by that.
Tom re: Dom DeLuca
12/21/2024 03:25:37 PMWhat a testament to his grit and toughness coming as a walk-on and earning a scholarship. Savvy. One of smartest players he’s ever coached. Huge to have two picks and one for a TD. He has great awareness and ability to anticipate. Film study helps with that, but he’s a gifted player and guy that comes up big for them every week.
James Franklin postgame press conference updates
(James Franklin press conference has ended.)
Running backs peaking right now:
12/21/2024 03:23:27 PMTook some time to get going offensively, in run game, but then got it going. Both guys are fast, big, and violent. That one run where Nick scored a touchdown, it was violent. And he came off. And James said that was a violent run, and Nick screamed at him, and told him he’s a violent ****** man. And James agreed with him.
Loves seeing all these guys getting opportunities to make plays and win and have success because they work so hard. THis is a grind. Have turned college football into a grind. Used to talk about differences between college and NFL and it’s the same now. Grind on everyone. So for them to have success is what it’s all about.
Fourth-and-1 call:
12/21/2024 03:21:14 PMTold everyone to be aggressive and that’s what they did all week, so when the moment came, had to follow through with it. Weren’t able to get it done on fourth down. But, would call it again.
Significance of this team and win:
12/21/2024 03:20:24 PMRemembers in training camp talking to guys about wanting these moments for them. Wants them to experience winning a Big Ten Championship, that type of game in that stadium and environment. Battling like everyone to either get a bye or home game in the playoff. To watch Sal taking in final moments in Beaver Stadium, after long career, and he didn’t want to leave the field. Not an emotional guy but he was emotional.
Coaches talking about the season like it’s a four-game season and it’s not. It’s one-game season. How you prepare gives you an opportunity to play again. Just extended season one more game. Have 10 days and every one of them is like gold. And not only that, wants them to get some time with families for Christmas. Trying to balance all of that. Have played in a bunch of New Year’s Six games. Used to spending Christmas in hotels, but not everyone is. Have to put selves in best position to win this next game, but want to be respectful of guys and their families. Have a plan for that too.
Appreciates bringing up 100 wins, but at this point in his career, it’s all about the players and staff. Chuck Losey and Terry Smith there for all of it.
Defensive stability:
12/21/2024 03:16:51 PMThey’re good and that QB is a dynamic, scary athlete. Combined with tempo they were going, extremely fast. Different conferences, how quickly they spot the ball, the tempo, it can be very different and how the game is managed. It was fast today. Combination of them, how they run their offense, what they do, and Penn State needed to get settled down. One thing to do it six plays, another to do it against that type of team doing it for a living. That’s their reputation.
Just had to get guys settled, get calls in, execute them. Then although didn’t get him on the ground as many times as they could have, impacted him dramatically. Even the one Smith Vilbert kept contain, those things were huge. Pash rush lanes were disciplined and productive against one of the more difficult QBs in the country.
DeLuca journey:
12/21/2024 03:14:33 PMIt’s awesome. Everyone’s journey and race is different. Maximize the opportunities you get. Great example of that. Also the medical team they have here. This isn’t the old days. You can come back better than you were before. Sebastianelli does a great job for student-athletes.
Loves the guys in that locker room. In his opinion, one of the few places left where it’s a real college football program in there. College football program that everyone should be proud of becaue those guys are doing it the right way at a time where it is more challenging than it has ever been. Put teammates first. These guys could have played for Penn State in 90s, 80s, 70s, and 60s.
Proud to be their head coach.
Dom DeLuca:
12/21/2024 03:12:30 PM“He’s a baller.”
Won a state championship on a torn ACL. Came as a walk-on. What a shame that there won’t be more stories like this in college football with the 105 rule. Dom DeLuca may not happen again. Tremendous example for all players on the team. Appreciative, works his tail off, and anything he has been asked to do he does it at 100 mph. This is a change to college football James is struggling with because of all the special stories of walk-ons who are such a significant part of the game and history. Breaks his heart a little that maybe Dom isn’t here if these rules were in place. Tremendous young man. Captain. He’s awesome.
Game reaction
12/21/2024 03:10:38 PMMaybe best performance defensively he’s ever seen in a half.
Took time to get going offensively, and getting run game going was important.
12 wins for the fourth time in program history. 33 wins over last three seasons, second time in program history. A ton of cool stuff to be proud of.
Takeaway battle was big. Three turnovers to one. Explosive plays, won. Third downs, won it. Tied sacks. Penalty battle, won it. That’s a whole other conversation. Won the middle eight. Could go on and on, but got a team win led by defense and by end of game, team win.
Opening statement
12/21/2024 03:06:26 PM
Thanks media. Thanks fans. Environment phenomenal. Turnout unbelievable. Second largest stadium in college football, fourth largest in the world. Other games had built-in advantages of distance between two teams, so to fill it with 106,000 fans, predominantly Penn State, is significant.
Ton of respect for SMU. But it was impactful today and it’s like that all the time. Spring game through the season, get tremendous support and don’t take that for granted. Fans, alumni, lettermen, the community: Phenomenal.
Wishes women’s volleyball success in national championship tomorrow. Special thing about being at Penn State, so many coaches and sports thriving. Big part of that is leadership with Kraft and Neeli. Will be screaming and supporting them tomorrow.
Talk about it with our premium subscribers in the Lions Den, here!
