Penn State coach James Franklin talks fixes on offense and defense and more during the bye week

Penn State coach James Franklin spoke at his first and only news conference of the bye week on Tuesday night. The leader of the Nittany Lions, who is amid his 11th season in State College, covered what he’s learned about the offense and defense after two weeks, a couple of individual players, and some other early season thoughts. The first question focused on the defense coming out of the Bowling Green game. First-year coordinator Tom Allen’s unit was not good in the first half but better in the second during the 34-27 win.

“After tackling really well in week one, I didn’t think we tackled as well in week two,” Franklin said. “I think that was pretty obvious. And then on top of that, we just made some mistakes, made some things more difficult than they needed to be, especially early in the game. You look at our first half statistics compared to our second half statistics, it wasn’t even close. But I think the biggest thing that it really came down to was tackling. There’s some things that we’ve had to clean up with the technology about what is best for Penn State and using the technology on the defensive side of the ball and at home. What are the best ways to use that? Whether we’re using the mic system. And some of the things that you got to work through by doing that, especially at home with the noise. I think that factored in.

More: What did we learn about Penn State defense during open practice?

“And then we had a couple bumps and bruises, so we had some moving parts that caused us some issues on defense and on special teams. But obviously the bye week came at a really good time to kind of spend some time working through some of these things, get some things cleaned up. But I think the biggest issue is we didn’t tackle as well.”

Franklin then added to those thoughts with more to say on the defense.

“The only other thing is, the sacks, we’ve been more disruptive in the past,” Franklin said. “But just like I thought after watching that tape, their whole game plan was not to allow us to get sacks. It was quick game, it was run game, it was move the pocket. They weren’t holding on to the ball. So, in a lot of ways, that’s going to factor in a great deal with your production. The other thing that factored into that is we didn’t play well in the first half, where if you play well in the first half, and the score gets out of whack, then they have to break their game plan and how they want to play, and then that’s usually when the sacks come. So both of those things.”

Here’s everything else Franklin had to say.

On if there will be any internal discipline for DE Amin Vanover after he was charged with DUI on Tuesday

“I think you guys know that have covered us for a long time,” Franklin said. “I don’t know if there’s been very many times, if any, that I’ve talked about internal punishments that we’ve had. We’ve released a statement on it. But I don’t think there’s been many times where I’ve actually told you guys what the internal punishment was.”

On his thoughts on the Penn State offense so far

“I think the biggest thing to me is third down,” Franklin said. “And the reason I say that is, it really goes hand in hand with all of our things that we need to get cleaned up on offense. So what I mean by that is, back to the first half: Our defense, there’s extended drives. Our offense is not. We’re either scoring or we’re going three and out a lot of times. So what happens is the play count is out of whack. We’re not getting enough plays. You’ve heard me talk about balance. Part of balance is not just running and being able to throw the ball in every situation. It’s spreading the field, 53 and a third. It’s also getting touches for guys.

More: Lions handling bumps and bruises, seek offensive opportunity

“We don’t have enough opportunities to get enough guys touches because we’re not sustaining drives. Defensively, we’ve got to get off the field. Our rep count is way up right now on defense. And our rep count needs to be higher on offense. We get 10 more plays in the first half.

“Don’t have a hold on third down, and we convert that third down, or we don’t drop the ball on third down, that may equal another six drive six plays. We do that two more times, you’re talking 10 to 15 plays in the first half. You talk about over a game, that creates more opportunities and more touches, and we want to be able to spread the wealth. That’s us as coaches, but that’s also the players going out and executing so that we can stay on the field.

“I think that will resolve a lot of issues. Our efficiency, our spreading the ball for touches, our third down percentage. Obviously, the more we’re on the field, there’s more opportunities to score points. And it keeps our defense off the field. A lot of reasons. We’re much more explosive. That’s not a question. But we got to get these other things cleaned up.”

On not getting many depth reps against Bowling Green and hoping for more against Kent State

“We got to win,” Franklin said. “We got to win. Having that conversation or talking that way is just not something that we necessarily do. I’m more comfortable talking about past games than future games. But yeah, we would love to play really well, get the rep count and the ball distribution the way we’d like it to be, and then get other guys on the field and get our guys out. We were not able to do that this past Saturday.”

On the play of backup Penn State right tackle Nolan Rucci so far

“He did some good things,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “We had a plan for a rotation to get those guys some more reps, and then the game doesn’t go the way you want it to go in the first half, and you’re scratching and clawing. And we were able to get him in the second half. He did some good things. We need more of that. The coaches have got to play guys. We need to continue to build depth.

“We’ve had more bumps and bruises than this year than we’ve had in the last couple years. Three years ago, we had a decent spike in some bumps and bruises, and we got that right now. So we got to develop depth. That’s going to be really, really important for us moving forward, and we got to play them.”

Is there value in having a type of win like Penn State did over Bowling Green early in the year?

“Obviously that’s not what you want to hear,” Franklin said. “That’s not what anybody wants to hear. But yeah, I think I got a bunch of coaches and ADs who have been reaching out to me about those types of things. The staff, we’ve talked about it. I mean, you’re going to have to win a ton of different ways throughout the year. There’s going to be games where you blow people out. Going to be games where you’re on the road, scratching and clawing for every point you can get. There’s going to be games where, you’re on the road, you’re dealing with weather. There’s a ton of different ways. And we’re going to have to find multiple ways to win games. That was one of them this Saturday.

“I’d love for it to be different, but I do think there’s some value of having the grit to battle through. You guys saw, winning is hard. I know you guys are just like us, you’re in the Penn State submarine. You don’t watch any other games. You don’t see any other games. But there’s some people that would have loved to have an ugly win all over the country. And we’ll take as many of them as we can get. I’d prefer that we can play in a way that we can build the confidence that we need going into Big Ten play and get a ton of guys reps and still be able to clean up some of the mistakes. But yeah, I think there’s some value in winning these types of games.”

What has he learned about Tom Allen the last two weeks?

“There’s been a ton of opportunities to be around Tom and the type of man he is, the type of coach he is, the type of person he is, the relational leader, how he’s developed relationships with our players on a very, very significant level,” Franklin said. “And then, like you’re saying, you have the West Virginia game, which I thought defensively, we played very, very well, especially when you compare it to the year before. And then last game, we faced some adversity that we probably didn’t anticipate. The adjustments we made, how we handled it. And then you’re also talking about transitioning back from being a defensive coordinator to being a head coach for seven years, and then going back into that role.

“And then, on top of that, college football has changed this year with the technology and how you use all those things. I think talking to a lot of buddies all over the country, it’s a lot of people working through how to use the technology and how it impacts you. But I think, Tom’s doing a really good job. This week is going to be a really important week for our staff. And I think it’s going to be really important week for the players. And then to go into next week, really with a lot of these things kind of cleaned up.”

How do you plan for contingencies without spending too much practice time on them?

“I think the first thing is, that’s why, in practice, you rep the ones and the twos and sometimes the threes because they’re going to have to be developed,” Franklin said. “They’re going to have to be ready to play. It’s no different than having some of the scrimmage stuff that we do on Sundays. You got to develop those guys. They got to play. But then it’s also, what’s great about our game is there’s so many scenarios to cover, so the scrimmages are really important. When we do offense versus defense, two minute drill, or whatever the situation may be. There’s a ton of situations that come up that you necessarily can’t always plan and organize for, that just kind of come up organically.

“So that’s how we do that during training camp. We also do that during the season. Typically on Tuesdays, we did it today, where we’ll do two minutes against each other. We’ll have a different two minutes situation, typically, each week. And that’s a great way to do it. And we’ll usually take at least 10 minutes of going good on good every day. Wednesday, we’ll do third down and red zone. And that’s helpful with that. So that’s probably the biggest way. And then obviously, all the stuff that you’re preparing for on tape that you’ve seen of your opponent without chasing too many ghosts.”

On the play of Penn State middle linebacker Kobe King

“He’s a veteran guy that’s been here and played a ton of football for us, and now is in a much more significant leadership role,” Franklin said. “You know, he’s a guy that’s earned everybody’s respect in terms of his teammates and the coaches and staff, and kind of just has evolved into that vocal leader that maybe he wasn’t two years ago. Obviously, your point. I think it’s a good one. You know, he lost his brother, who he’d been with all through high school and then all through college, to the NFL. But I also would make the argument now, after being here, as long as he’s been here, he’s got, you know, 124 brothers in that locker room that he’s very, very close with and very well respected, kind of, throughout the locker room. So he’s doing really well. And we need him to be, you know, like we talked about before, about being strong up the middle with your deep tackles and your safeties and your middle linebacker, really important.”

On Nittany Lions defensive tackle Zane Durant

“I think he’s playing very, very well,” Franklin said. “We had kind of a strong belief in what he was going to be able to do this year. He practices like that every single day, super consistent. Got bigger and stronger and more explosive. He loves football. I think that’s one of the things that’s so important in today’s day and age. You better recruit guys that love football and not love what comes with football. They love football. I don’t like football, and I love the things that come with it.

“He’s a guy that loves ball, and he loves everything that comes with it, the strength and condition, the summer running, the winter workouts. He understands all part of the process, and he embraces that. He literally day in and day out, punching his ticket, and is consistent. So, he’s a great example that we use all time.”