Penn State coach James Franklin acknowledges QB conversation, steps forward: Tuesday Notebook

Penn State head coach James Franklin returned to the Beaver Stadium dais Tuesday afternoon for his weekly press conference. Coming out of a 44-31 loss to No. 2 Ohio State over the weekend, the Nittany Lions are set to next travel to Indiana. 

And, at the forefront of the public discourse coming out of the weekend, Penn State’s quarterback has taken center stage.

Throughout Franklin’s 35-minute press conference, he was asked eight different questions about the position. Ranging from everything including his decision for how to distribute reps moving forward to Sean Clifford’s most recent performance to Drew Allar’s growth, the gamut was run to exhaustion.

And, through it all, where Franklin and his staff are in their thought process addressing the quarterback position has emerged.

Here is a look at what Franklin said, and didn’t say, about the subject on Tuesday:

Penn State head coach James Franklin news and notes

1) The elephant in the room

This was the first question asked of Franklin on Tuesday afternoon:

“Now that you have two conference losses, would you consider taking a longer look at Drew at quarterback the rest of the way?”

It’s the question on everyone’s mind. That’s particularly true coming out of a performance in which Sean Clifford was tagged with four turnovers.

With five-star Drew Allar waiting in the wings as the No. 2 and no shot to reach the College Football Playoff, then, Franklin was asked whether or not he would consider playing the true freshman more.

As good of a jumping-off point as there could be, Franklin’s answer revealed two new pieces of information.

The first is that he has a strong distaste for the question. Saying that he struggles with the notion that the four remaining games of the regular season don’t matter, Franklin insisted his focal point is determining the players who give the team the best chance to win. And that responsibility is one he believes is owed to the other players and the coaching staff.

Speaking later, he put that principle in black-and-white terms.

“I think I have a responsibility to the guys in the locker room as well as the coaches to give us the best chance to win as many games as we possibly can,” Franklin said. “What you would like to do at the same time is getting better and building for your future. I hope that you can do those two things together. I don’t think they’re exclusive of one another.”

The second revelation is that he’s not naive to the notion of the larger conversation happening. And, importantly, he’s entertained the idea of how to proceed at the position. In that, he was acknowledging that the program has choices to make. 

Saying that he wants the feedback of others with experience, talking specifically to Mike Yurcich, Manny Diaz, analyst Ken Wisenhunt, and offensive analyst Danny O’Brien, Franklin added that those conversations were productive and streamlined.

2) Where is Sean Clifford?

The quarterback conversation naturally begins with Clifford and his performance this season.

Against the Buckeyes, it looked like 371 yards and three touchdowns against three interceptions and one critical fumble. For the season, he now has completed 147 of 234 passes for 1,816 yards and 16 touchdowns against six interceptions. His 62.82 completion percentage is the best in his career, as is his 227.0 passing yards per game.

When Franklin was asked how much of the decision-making progress with Clifford revolves around his experience and status as a captain, the head coach rejected the notion outright. 

“That hasn’t factored into any of the discussions we have had,” Franklin said. “Sean has earned (his captaincy) through the players’ vote and how he’s conducted himself all off-season. But, then there is still a responsibility for doing your job at a high level. I think that’s the thing that I don’t know if everybody recognizes because I understand the emotion and passion.”

Acknowledigng Penn State fans’ disappointment, Franklin offered his perspective on the performance.

“If you go back and watch the tape, the guy played his tail off and made some really good plays in that game,” Franklin said. “And he made some really good plays in the previous game, which I think I came in here and talked to you guys about. He made two throws in the last game as good as I’ve seen him make since he’s been here. Four to six plays we got to get rid of.”

3) Where is Drew Allar?

The other half of the conversation, naturally, focuses on Allar’s development. 

Initially offering only that Allar has “done a nice job in practice” and “there is a lot of excitement about him,” Franklin eventually came back around to provide a fuller picture of the strides the true freshman has taken to this point in his Penn State career. 

Recounting an on-field conversation at Purdue with FOX college football analyst Joel Klatt, Franklin said it only took a handful of throws for the obvious to emerge about Allar. “He’s a giant human being with a quick release that can get the ball out and make all the throws. He’s got tremendous arm talent,” Franklin said. “Some guys that are big, strong-armed guys are not very accurate. He has shown to be accurate. He’d throw from different launch points and angles. For a young kid… he’s doing a really good job of preparing.

“So he’s doing a lot of things well. Again, he’s still a true freshman.”

Allar has completed 18 of his 31 throws over six appearances this season, accumulating 209 yards and two touchdowns.

4) What’s next for Penn State football?

Whether it’s Clifford or Allar or any combination of the two moving forward, the meat of Franklin’s takeaway from Ohio State might have gotten lost in the mix on Tuesday.

It shouldn’t be.

Competing with the Buckeyes throughout, Franklin said that the game demonstrated a team-wide improvement over its performance at Michigan. An important step, he offered that it’s not enough to top a team of Ohio State’s caliber. But, it also remains integral to the team’s ongoing performance.

“The thing that was obvious to us as a coaching staff, and whether people agree with this or not, we’re better than we were two weeks ago. We played better. We’re better than we were a week ago. We have gotten better,” Franklin said. “Not enough to beat that type of team. We totally recognize that. But we got better. When you watch the tape there was a ton of stuff on that film to feel good about and be proud of.”

Saying that between four and six plays on offense, and the same on defense, were what decided an otherwise tightly played game, Franklin boiled down the area Penn State must improve.

“I think you got to look at it all. I think after watching and studying and critiquing it all, all of us, I think we felt like as a staff that we got better,” Franklin said. “But we had critical mistakes. Against that type of opponent, when you make a critical mistake, they got a chance to make you pay.”