Penn State Rose Bowl Practice Highlights
LOS ANGELES — Penn State traveled to Los Angeles Monday to begin its preparations for Monday’s Rose Bowl showdown with Utah. James Franklin’s team practiced on Tuesday and Wednesday behind closed doors at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.
Thursday presented the first opportunity for the media to get an up-close look at the team. Nittany Lion fans can watch highlights from Thursday’s practice below.
Yurcich wants Penn State to start fast
The Penn State offense has not always started fast this season. However, it will be crucial that the team does against a Utah team that can both put points on the board and keep them off of it.
“You get off to a good start by playing fast, so no hesitation, and calling the plays that we feel will keep us on schedule,” Yurcich said on Thursday. “At the same time, [call] the plays where we’re going to be explosive as well.
“We’ve got to get our running backs involved, we’ve got to get our tight ends involved, [and] we’ve got to get our receivers involved. So trying to make sure that we have a good balance with that and trying to find the mismatches and trying to create space, playing with some tempo at the same time. All those sorts of things help in starting fast and making sure that we’re doing a great job of getting on top early.”
Bowl practices have prepped Penn State for the present and the future
Bowl practices help a team beyond just the current postseason. It also helps springboard a unit into the next season. Penn State has made the most of its extra days of drills prior to coming to Pasadena. The focus now is fully on Utah. But, the strides made already in December should not be overlooked.
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“It’s been great,” Yurcich said. “Early on you kind of phase it. You try to develop your younger guys as much as you possibly can, so the reps get shared, and you get to rest the older, more experienced players, guys that maybe are dinged up, but maybe guys that are so well-versed in the offense like Sean, to where you can sacrifice some reps there early in bowl prep to where it’s more developmental, get back to the basics.
“Then as you get closer, you get more game-plan specific and get your guys that are going to be significant contributors the majority of the reps. It’s another — I don’t know, whatever it is, 16 practices, so it’s additional spring ball, so you’ve got to utilize it and try to maximize your development as much as possible with that.”
