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James Franklin highlights strong play from Penn State freshmen in Week 1 road win
By Paul Harvey
Published:
James Franklin highlighted seven true freshmen that played for Penn State in Week 1 during his weekly press conference. Though he liked what he saw out of most of those freshmen, the task now turns to getting better and ready for another opportunity.
Running backs Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton were a part of that youth movement. The two combined for 17 carries and 53 yards with the offense.
Drew Allar – a 5-star quarterback coming out of high school – also played on one drive in relief of Sean Clifford. He completed 2-of-4 passes for 26 yards.
Franklin called it a “positive” that the Nittany Lions were able to play such a high number of freshman on the road and win a B1G contest:
Franklin on the freshman class' performance against Purdue: "The fact that we were able to play seven freshmen on the road against a good Big Ten team is a positive…Good first step. We need to take the next step this week."
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) September 6, 2022
Included in the group of freshmen that played is linebacker Abdul Carter who was expected to see a decent amount of action. Unfortunately, Carter’s night ended on a targeting call during his first snap on the field.
He’ll return in Week 2, and Franklin wants Carter to get some solid playing time in multiple areas against Ohio:
Franklin said they expected LB Abdul Carter to play a "decent" amount vs. Purdue (then got ejected for targeting). "This week I'd like to get him a ton of reps both on special teams and on defense." Said Tyler Elsdon and Kobe King will keep rotating by series.
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) September 6, 2022
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.