James Franklin talks Penn State Top 5 showdown vs. Iowa in weekly press conference

All eyes will be on this weekend’s top-5 matchup between Iowa and Penn State. The all-B1G showdown will feature the No. 4 Nittany Lions and their nine-game winning streak meeting up with the last team they lost to in the No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes.

Penn State finished up the 2020 season with consecutive wins over Michigan, Rutgers, Michigan State and Illinois. The 9-game run is Penn State head coach James Franklin’s longest in his 93-game tenure in Happy Valley.

The Hawkeyes host the Nittany Lions at Kinnick Stadium with a 4:00 PM kickoff, and the winner will surely make its way to the forefront of discussions about landing in this year’s College Football Playoffs.

Franklin took to the podium on Tuesday to discuss the upcoming game with the Hawkeyes, and below are some of his comments.

#PSU coach James Franklin on playing at Kinnick Stadium: "The sidelines are tight. They are right on top of you. And kind of like our stadium, you've had fans who have had season tickets forever. We've started to build a relationship with those people. You know their names."

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) October 5, 2021

James Franklin, when talking about Jahan Dotson, mentions the importance of in-state players staying home and HS coaches being on board with it too.

I think that's meant for us and PSU's 2023 prospects.

— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) October 5, 2021

Franklin on preparing for Iowa's special teams: "The other thing is trick plays. We're gonna spend a lot of time on them this week. … Any trick that they've run (we've watched). And they've run some good ones."

— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) October 5, 2021

James Franklin's weekly news conference is going on now:
-On Iowa: "They do an excellent job with their play action. We're going to be working that all week. Play action, play action, play action."
-Says PSU needs to have a complete week of preparation.

— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) October 5, 2021

"I think we've all seen what Noah has the ability to do and then in terms of what he's working through, that's part of football," Franklin said.

Mentions everyone playing through "things" this time of year.

"We expect him to be full-go on Saturday."

— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) October 5, 2021

Franklin on the rushing attack: "I'd like to see, at times, us be more physical…I think the rotation has probably played out the way I thought it would. You'd love for somebody to really jump out…I wouldn't say that's happened yet."

— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) October 5, 2021

Franklin: I would not say that they're simple. But you look on tape, who they are this year is who they are last year and the year's before that."

— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) October 5, 2021

Franklin notes that "the biggest thing" against Iowa will be defending the play-action pass.

— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) October 5, 2021

Franklin on Iowa: "The level of consistency they've had, not just from a wins and loss perspective but as a coaching staff — really all of it — is really impressive."

— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) October 5, 2021

Franklin mentions the importance of protecting the football and creating a few takeaways of their own: "That's the storyline of this game. They're doing a lot of things well and that's the thing that makes them special."

— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) October 5, 2021

#PSU coach James Franklin, asked by @Ben_Jones88 about B1G division alignment, says it should be an annual discussion between coaches, administrators. "That's a healthy thing to do, to get as many perspectives on this as possible." Says every conference should do this.

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) October 5, 2021

Franklin on Big Ten East vs. West issues: "You'd like to split it up as evenly as you can… If you're trying to get as many teams in the Playoff as possible, that should be in the conference's interest a well."

— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) October 5, 2021

Franklin says Sean Clifford has done a "really good job" of extending plays throughout his career, but OC Mike Yurcich has done a great job helping him with that as well.

— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) October 5, 2021

"Mike's does a really good job of hammering these things home and teaching them…He's got an athletic quarterback who can take advantage of them."

— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) October 5, 2021

Franklin: "There should be more people studying Iowa and Coach Ferentz and what he's been able to do."

— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) October 5, 2021