Read everything James Franklin said after Penn State walks-off USC 33-30

LOS ANGELES — Penn State coach James Franklin strolled into his postgame news conference here with a smile from ear to ear. It was easy to understand why. His team had just come from behind to beat USC 33-30 on a walk-off field goal by redshirt freshman Ryan Barker. He started with an opening statement

“I thought once we got going and started making some plays, you could feel our Penn State presence in the stadium, which was awesome,” Franklin said. “I haven’t been a part of too many games where you lose the turnover battle like that and still win. It’s something we take a lot of pride in, and have done a really good job. So to get that type of win  while turning the ball over; the one Hail Mary I don’t really count that one. The other ones were significant. We did  win the explosive play battle. We won the third down battle, which I would not have thought about until I saw the  stats. We won the sack battle. We lost the starting field position battle, which obviously was the turnovers.

“The  penalty battle the last two weeks, you guys were on me about that, but we have been better the last two weeks,  and I’m proud of our kids showing discipline and the coaches making those corrections. And then I thought the  middle eight was big. We got the ball in the second half, we had ten points to their three points. And back to the  turnovers. Although we had three turnovers there, they were only able to get six points off of those turnovers, so  that was big. Obviously, a big story of the game is Tyler Warren, 17 catches for 224 yards. A school record for  tight ends and the second most yards ever for a Penn State football player. That doesn’t even count what he’s  doing in the running game, he’s got a pass, and what he’s doing blocking. I’ve been talking about him being the  best tight end in college football, but the reality is, he’s now part of a conversation of one of the best players in  all of college football.

More: Inside Penn State tight end Tyler Warren’s massive day in Lions’ 33-30 win over USC

“Another great story, Ryan Barker walks on at Penn State, an opportunity knocks, and he’s  ready. To me, that’s what our country is about. That’s what the game of football teaches. He earned a starting  job, then lost the starting job, then comes here. He’s 4-for-4 on the road. Game winning field goal there in over time. Ryan ‘cold as ice’ Barker is what I’m calling him. So I’m just really proud of him and how the whole game  went. The offense started out a little slow.

“The defense really did a good job. Then the offense started going. The  defense needed the offense to have their back. That number one (Zachariah Branch), we went into this game  with a ton of respect for him. We always take a certain player or a certain scheme, and we say this guy can’t be  a factor in the game. And I thought we did a good job in terms of punt location, kick location and coverage. So  that was big. I’m just proud of our kids. We found a way to get a tough win on the road.” 

Read everything else Franklin said and watch video of his news conference below.

On the play of Penn State QB Drew Allar

“What I probably love the most about Drew, and it is probably reflective of our whole team, is it didn’t go perfectly  for him today and he just ground through it,” Franklin said. “He flushed the bad plays and moved on. That’s what you have to do  in college football. It’s not going to go perfectly. They have talented guys and our guys just battled through it.

“I think Drew’s a great example of that. I don’t know what his final stats were, but I also want to give Julian Fleming  his flowers too. I think it was two huge fourth down plays, that was big for us. I think Drew was just a really good  example of what I think our team did all day long. They just kept battling and overcoming adversity.” 

On the Lions setting up for Barker’s game-winning field goal in OT

“We were going to run the ball in that situation, but you never know. You split one and score a touchdown, that’s  what you prefer to do,” Franklin said. “You also want to be borderline conservative as well, because you’re already in field goal  range, and you don’t want to do anything that’s going to take you out of field goal range. So that was managed  really well. Stig (Justin Lustig) was standing next to me on the sideline and said, ‘Listen, if at all possible, we prefer the ball either middle or to the left’. We were able to call a play to get us back into that sweet spot.

“Then  they tried to ice him and he just went out and hit it. He’s kind of like that all the time. He’s been just ‘steady eddie’ doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. He really was like that as a freshman as well. And I think, according to our people, that’s the first walk-off field goal win we’ve had since Dublin, Ireland, my first game.”

On Allar’s perseverance

“The first thing I’d like to say is our defense, after those turnovers, only giving up six points, that was huge,” Franklin said. “If they don’t do that, then it’s hard to have that ending that we just had. But Drew, he’s just growing up. Based on  how he was recruited, and then when he shows up, the expectations are through the roof, right? Then last year,  he’s a first time starter in the Big Ten, and his touchdown touchdown-to-interception ratio was a lot to a little.  People were still critical, right? And I get it, it’s Penn State. We have really, really high expectations. He’s just gotten better, and he’s gotten better at really every single area. One of the big reasons he’s gotten better is guys  are making plays for him. The wide receivers are making plays this year in a way they didn’t last year.

“The tight  ends are as well. We weren’t able to get the running game going today the way we had hoped, but I have a ton  of respect for their defensive coordinator, who’s a Penn State guy. I have a ton of respect for their staff. That’s a  talented team and that’s a talented staff. Coming on the road and finding a way to get a win was big for us, and  Drew was a huge part of that.”

On his team responding to the adversity of trailing at halftime

“You’re going to have to find different ways throughout a season to win,” Franklin said. “Some are going to be blowouts, hopefully  more of them are blowouts, but some of them are going to be comebacks. Some are going to be home where  you get the fans and they’re supporting you.

“Some are going to be on the road, where things are going against  you, and you don’t have a whole lot of support in the stadium. Maybe weather, or whatever it may be, that’s big.  I think the word ‘resilient’ was probably the best word to define our team today. It’s good to be able to go in and  say, ‘Guys, we’re a second half team,’ but I prefer not to say that anymore. I prefer to be a four quarter team, a  start fast team, a fourth quarter team, all of it. And we’re going to have to be that to continue to win the games  that we want to win moving forward.”

Why did he tell TV that he thought Penn State would have more explosive plays in the second half?

“With the type of players that we have, the scheme that we have, and what we worked on all week; I think you  guys know, that’s kind of what I do during the game, on defense and on offense,” Franklin said. “It’s not only managing the game,  four downs, timeouts, those types of things. When to kick a field goal, when to go for it on 4th down. It’s also reminders to Tom (Allen) and Andy (Kotelnicki) when I can; ‘Hey, the next opportunity we get, let’s take a shot.’  ‘Let’s make them earn it right here on this third and long’ or ‘Let’s not go after them and let’s prepare’. Or if I’m  going against us right now, as the offensive play caller, I’m calling a screen or running the ball to set up a fourth  down that they can go for it because they’re out of field goal range. So it’s reminding those guys from time to  time on things that I think could be helpful and sometimes it works.”

On the challenge of facing the USC offense

“I think that’s a talented offense and play caller,” Franklin said. “It’s been that way for a long time, and our defense had to step up  and make plays as the game went on. They were doing a ton of checks with a man in motion in the back out to  see if we were in man coverage or zone coverage, and then calling great man beaters and things like that. Being  able to disguise when they look back, us looking back, and changing some coverages and changing some calls.  I thought we did a better job with that as the game went on. At the end of the day, players have to make plays. I  thought our guys did that when it mattered most down the stretch. I’m just happy for our guys and our defense,  they stood up when we needed it most.”

On what the locker room was like after the win

“As you can imagine, it was awesome in there,” Franklin said. “To me, that’s what it’s all about. At this point in my career, I just  want to see the players achieving their dreams, having fun and being rewarded for all their hard work. The same  thing with the staff. That’s what it’s all about. I want to see them achieve their dreams and goals. So it’s really cool  for me. It’s going to make for a great ride home. It’s going to make for a great bye week. There’s a ton of things  that I think we’re going to be able to learn from this game, and we need to learn from this game, because we’re  far from perfect. We’re also 6-0 and 1-0 this week, and we’re going to take it and run.”