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Penn State head coach James Franklin Wednesday press conference: Illinois

Headshot 5x7 reduced qualityby:Thomas Frank Carr09/13/23

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Post-Practice Franklin (White) (19)
Penn State head coach James Franklin. (Photo: Thomas Frank Carr)

Penn State football head coach James Franklin spoke with the media for the final time this week before his team heads on the road to take on Illinois on Saturday at noon EST. The Nittany Lion’s leader answered questions for roughly ten minutes after Wednesday night’s practice and you can hear his full comments here. 

Franklin addressed his team’s preparations for its first road game of the season, and answered questions about players, such as defensive end Adisa Isaac.

Franklin discusses Penn State road game preparations

The Nittany Lions take to the road for the first time this season and it’s not lost on Franklin that his team has to open outside of Beaver Stadium yet again.

“We go to Illinois, which is a tradition around here, opening on the road in the Big Ten. We love it. I actually called [AD] Pat [Kraft] a little bit ago. I think they were talking about coming out with a new schedule, so we’re going to try and reverse psychology and ask to be on road this year and see what happens — this coming upcoming year,” Franklin said.

Jokes aside, Franklin commented on how his team has prepared so far this week. One addition to practice were defensive end Amin Vanover, cornerback Daequan Hardy and defensive tackle Coziah Izzard. Franklin was mum on the specifics.

“We’ll see how it all plays out. I’m not sure at this point. Coziah has had some bumps and bruises that factor into that too. But all three of them have handled that well,” Franklin said.

Franklin also spoke about one of his veteran players, Adisa Isaac who, along with Chop Robinson has drawn extra attention from the offense so far this season.

“He’s very mature, very prepared, very stead. I’ve been impressed with him. He continues to develop as a football player.”

Illinois game week coverage

Franklin has one final media event of the week on Thursday with the Penn State Coach’s Show. Blue White Illustrated will recap the event and you can catch the highlights later that evening. 

Want to know more about what happened at practice? Join the BWI Live Thursday show at 10 a.m. to get a recap from industry insiders Nate Bauer and Sean Fitz. The duo attend practice each week and give their observations of what they saw and heard. Want to be part of the show? Join Blue White Illustrated to get access to the BWI Mailbag Submission Thread and ask a question before the show!

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