James Franklin credits Mike Yurcich for avoiding boredom in rout of Iowa
James Franklin and Penn State rolled in Saturday’s White Out, shutting out Iowa by a final score of 31-0 in Week 4. While the final outcome was lopsided, the offensive numbers do not necessarily pop off the page.
Quarterback Drew Allar did throw for 4 touchdowns but finished with just 166 yards and an average of 4.6 yards per pass. The running game also averaged just 3.8 yards per carry but did finish with more than 200 yards in the game.
Asked about his team’s ability to put the game away with 21 points in the second half, Franklin credited halftime adjustments as a staff and a focus on getting the first possession after the break.
“I think obviously being able to get in there at halftime and talk through some things as a staff, halftime adjustments. I think we did a good job of that this week. I thought we were able to stay on schedule,” said Franklin during his press conference. “You look at the two biggest stats for facing Iowa: First-down efficiency… That was a big stat. The other one was the middle 8. We put a huge emphasis on being able to come out and get those points by deferring the initial coin toss.”
Franklin also shared some unique praise for his OC, saying Mike Yurcich did a good job of “not getting bored” facing the Hawkeye defense. Franklin explained that meant going back to the consistent plays that were getting medium yardage every time.
“I thought Mike (Yurcich) did a great job of calling the game and not getting bored against an Iowa defense that is damn good. To not get bored of the plays that were consistently getting 5-6 yards and coming back to them,” Franklin explained. “Don’t get bored with them, keep coming back to them until they prove they can stop them.”
After acing its first top-25 test of the season, Penn State will turn its attention to a Week 5 road trip vs. Northwestern. That game is set to kick off at 12 p.m. ET on BTN.