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What James Franklin said at Penn State’s weekly press conference
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Penn State was able to rinse the awful taste of a blowout loss to Michigan from its mouth last Saturday, posting an impressive 22-10 win over Wisconsin. The win pushed the Nittany Lions to 7-3 on the season and 4-3 in B1G play.
Now, Penn State enters the final two games of its season with a great opportunity to finish 9-3. It travels to Rutgers this weekend before closing out the season at home against Maryland.
Tuesday, James Franklin met with the media to discuss last Saturday’s victory over Wisconsin and preview the upcoming matchup with Rutgers. Here’s what the head coach had to say.
JF admits that at one point this season, "in some ways, we were using (Tommy Stevens) as our backup running back.''
— Mike Gross (@MikeGrossLNP) November 13, 2018
Franklin cites things that you don't know about (injuries, discipline, readiness etc etc) for why it's not hard to manage Stevens as a backup running back when you might think "Hey what about Slade, Brown, Thomas?" Only real option in that role. So now you know.
— Ben Jones (@Ben_Jones88) November 13, 2018
https://twitter.com/audsnyder4/status/1062407412559290368
JF: If Penn State protects the ball and catches the ball more consistently, a little bit more every week, "our offense will explode"
— Donnie Collins (@PennStateTT) November 13, 2018
JF: "Style of play" isn't the issue with the Stevens-Sanders fumble at the end of the game. Execution was. Knows some fans would like two TEs, pound the ball inside in those situations. But that's not the offense, not what this team can do well.
— Donnie Collins (@PennStateTT) November 13, 2018
https://twitter.com/audsnyder4/status/1062404566757658625
JF: Quoting a player — not sure which one — who said Parsons not relying on athleticism anymore, relying on keys, instincts, other things about playing linebacker. (Jonathan Sutherland said something to that effect; not sure it's him.) But, again, "it's not all about stats."
— Donnie Collins (@PennStateTT) November 13, 2018
https://twitter.com/audsnyder4/status/1062402825509134336
https://twitter.com/audsnyder4/status/1062401533713768448
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB