Another beautiful night on Penn State's campus, and the 13th of the Nittany Lions' 15 spring practices completed at the Lasch Football Complex.
I'm running through some news and notes items to emerge from tonight for you guys right now, which I'll include once I'm done. But in the meantime, here is video from James Franklin's post-practice press conference for you guys to chew on, and videos of Sean Clifford and Sean Spencer interviews will be on the way, as well.
In the meantime:
1) Maybe the biggest news out of Franklin’s press conference was the emergence of a philosophy that hasn’t previously matched what Penn State has done in the past on the offensive line.
Specifically, Franklin laid out indications that C.J. Thorpe, Mike Miranda and Steven Gonzalez will all play at guard, and tackle will have a similar situation in which three will play.
“Obviously, C.J. going to defense last year, you lost some things fundamentally. But he is so physical, he's so aggressive, that he brings something to our offense that we need. You go back and watch those early games that he played in, he was very, very physical. We just had some issues that we felt we needed to move him over to help us on the defensive tackle position and I think he was able to do that, but that was always more of a short term answer and not a long term plan,” said Franklin. “Miranda is, although he hasn't gotten a lot of reps, he's more of kind of a seasoned veteran. O-line is kind of what he's done his whole life and didn't lose a season. But I think that's a really good battle.
“I really see us right now playing all three of those guys. I don't think it will be like last year where we had a starting five and tried to stay with the starting five. The third guard right now is going to play. The third tackle is going to play. So I think you'll see a little bit more of that.”
2) On to some of what we were able to see in the brief period of work the Nittany Lions had that was open to the public:
QB Sean Clifford
RB Journey Brown
TE Pat Friermuth
WR Justin Shorter
WR Jahan Dotson
WR K.J. Hamler
LT Rasheed Walker
LG Steven Gonzalez
C Michal Menet
RG C.J. Thorpe
RT Will Fries
DE Shaka Toney/Daniel Joseph
DT Damion Barber
DT P.J. Mustipher
DE Yetur Gross-Matos/Jayson Oweh
LB Lance Dixon
LB Jan Johnson
LB Jesse Luketa
CB Marquis Wilson
CB Trent Gordon
S Lamont Wade
S Garrett Taylor
Clifford threw one pass and it was an incompletion before the next group came in.
QB Will Levis/Ta’Quan Roberson/Michael Johnson Jr.
RB Noah Cain/Nick Eury
TE Zack Kuntz
WR Daniel George
WR Dan Chisena/Justin Weller
WR Colton Maxwell/Benjamin Wilson
LT Des Holmes
LG Bryce Effner
C Hunter Kelly
RG C.J. Thorpe
RT Anthony Whigan
DE Daniel Joseph/Dan Vasey
DT Fred Hansard
DT Judge Culpepper/Aeneas Hawkins
DE Jayson Oweh/Adisa Isaac
LB Ellis Brooks/Max Chizmar
LB Jesse Luketa/Brandon Smith
CB D.J. Brown
CB Keaton Ellis
CB Marquis Wilson
S Jonathan Sutherland/Drew Hartlaub
S Tyler Rudolph
Kuntz had a reception and Eury had a nice run in traffic that looked like maybe it should have gone for a touchdown, but didn’t. On another play, Michael Johnson Jr. ran for a short game.
That’s about all I could make out before they moved to the opposite end of the other field.
At that point, Yetur Gross-Matos got some run, Ricky Slade came in, Wade, Sutherland and Rudolph were all on the field at the same time, with Gordon, Wilson and Ellis all in, Luketa and Brooks paired at linebacker. Clifford had a short run. There was an incompletion. Basically, it looked like the defense was getting the best of the offense for the very, very brief period of time we were permitted to watch today.
Other notes to come from Franklin’s post-practice press conference:
3) Franklin offered up an overall evaluation of the progress that he’s seen made on a team-wide basis through the spring, to which he was generally very optimistic and positive.
“I think our habits are better. Just in terms of how we do things. Staying off the ground, we've done a much better job of that. Defensively, when the ball is on the ground, scooping and scoring. How we approach walk-throughs. All those types of things,” he said. “We're somewhat young and inexperienced in some spots, but we don't necessarily practice and meet like that. The staff has been together now for a number of years, even the coaches we brought in are experienced guys. But I'm pleased.”
That sense of accomplishment, however, does not preclude this program from continuing to make necessary strides through the rest of the offseason before gearing back up for action in August camp, he added.
“I think we got a lot out of the spring. We've got a lot of work to do still between now and our first game, but I've been very pleased with this spring,” said Franklin. “Offensively, I thought we've done a good job of protecting the ball and being explosive. Defensively, we've had some guys come in and really kind of make their presence known right away. I think the two young corners, Marquis and Keaton, Marquis had two interceptions today. Those guys have made plays.
“So I like where we're at. And then I'm really excited about what we're doing on special teams, culturally. I think Coach Lorig hasn't changed a whole lot in terms of scheme, there's been some changes there, but it's more about kind of the mentality of special teams. The buy-in, the approach, the cultural aspects of it I think have been really fantastic.”
4) No official visits this weekend, which Franklin went on to explain.
“We just felt like we'd encourage to get as many guys here unofficially and then save our official visits for later in the process, closer to the decision making time, closer to signing day,” said Franklin. “And then the other thing is, it takes away from our players. We do a big picnic, which is a really good deal after the game, and when you're trying to balance time with the recruits on official visits and our own players and parents, you can't do it. And I don't get enough time with our players and I don't get enough time with our players' parents. So we just felt like we needed to make a decision there, and that was the route we went.”
5) Trace McSorley was on hand for practice this afternoon.
That’s all I’ve got for you tonight.
As always, questions, comments and concerns can all be addressed here, which I’ll do to the best of my ability.
I'm running through some news and notes items to emerge from tonight for you guys right now, which I'll include once I'm done. But in the meantime, here is video from James Franklin's post-practice press conference for you guys to chew on, and videos of Sean Clifford and Sean Spencer interviews will be on the way, as well.
In the meantime:
1) Maybe the biggest news out of Franklin’s press conference was the emergence of a philosophy that hasn’t previously matched what Penn State has done in the past on the offensive line.
Specifically, Franklin laid out indications that C.J. Thorpe, Mike Miranda and Steven Gonzalez will all play at guard, and tackle will have a similar situation in which three will play.
“Obviously, C.J. going to defense last year, you lost some things fundamentally. But he is so physical, he's so aggressive, that he brings something to our offense that we need. You go back and watch those early games that he played in, he was very, very physical. We just had some issues that we felt we needed to move him over to help us on the defensive tackle position and I think he was able to do that, but that was always more of a short term answer and not a long term plan,” said Franklin. “Miranda is, although he hasn't gotten a lot of reps, he's more of kind of a seasoned veteran. O-line is kind of what he's done his whole life and didn't lose a season. But I think that's a really good battle.
“I really see us right now playing all three of those guys. I don't think it will be like last year where we had a starting five and tried to stay with the starting five. The third guard right now is going to play. The third tackle is going to play. So I think you'll see a little bit more of that.”
2) On to some of what we were able to see in the brief period of work the Nittany Lions had that was open to the public:
QB Sean Clifford
RB Journey Brown
TE Pat Friermuth
WR Justin Shorter
WR Jahan Dotson
WR K.J. Hamler
LT Rasheed Walker
LG Steven Gonzalez
C Michal Menet
RG C.J. Thorpe
RT Will Fries
DE Shaka Toney/Daniel Joseph
DT Damion Barber
DT P.J. Mustipher
DE Yetur Gross-Matos/Jayson Oweh
LB Lance Dixon
LB Jan Johnson
LB Jesse Luketa
CB Marquis Wilson
CB Trent Gordon
S Lamont Wade
S Garrett Taylor
Clifford threw one pass and it was an incompletion before the next group came in.
QB Will Levis/Ta’Quan Roberson/Michael Johnson Jr.
RB Noah Cain/Nick Eury
TE Zack Kuntz
WR Daniel George
WR Dan Chisena/Justin Weller
WR Colton Maxwell/Benjamin Wilson
LT Des Holmes
LG Bryce Effner
C Hunter Kelly
RG C.J. Thorpe
RT Anthony Whigan
DE Daniel Joseph/Dan Vasey
DT Fred Hansard
DT Judge Culpepper/Aeneas Hawkins
DE Jayson Oweh/Adisa Isaac
LB Ellis Brooks/Max Chizmar
LB Jesse Luketa/Brandon Smith
CB D.J. Brown
CB Keaton Ellis
CB Marquis Wilson
S Jonathan Sutherland/Drew Hartlaub
S Tyler Rudolph
Kuntz had a reception and Eury had a nice run in traffic that looked like maybe it should have gone for a touchdown, but didn’t. On another play, Michael Johnson Jr. ran for a short game.
That’s about all I could make out before they moved to the opposite end of the other field.
At that point, Yetur Gross-Matos got some run, Ricky Slade came in, Wade, Sutherland and Rudolph were all on the field at the same time, with Gordon, Wilson and Ellis all in, Luketa and Brooks paired at linebacker. Clifford had a short run. There was an incompletion. Basically, it looked like the defense was getting the best of the offense for the very, very brief period of time we were permitted to watch today.
Other notes to come from Franklin’s post-practice press conference:
3) Franklin offered up an overall evaluation of the progress that he’s seen made on a team-wide basis through the spring, to which he was generally very optimistic and positive.
“I think our habits are better. Just in terms of how we do things. Staying off the ground, we've done a much better job of that. Defensively, when the ball is on the ground, scooping and scoring. How we approach walk-throughs. All those types of things,” he said. “We're somewhat young and inexperienced in some spots, but we don't necessarily practice and meet like that. The staff has been together now for a number of years, even the coaches we brought in are experienced guys. But I'm pleased.”
That sense of accomplishment, however, does not preclude this program from continuing to make necessary strides through the rest of the offseason before gearing back up for action in August camp, he added.
“I think we got a lot out of the spring. We've got a lot of work to do still between now and our first game, but I've been very pleased with this spring,” said Franklin. “Offensively, I thought we've done a good job of protecting the ball and being explosive. Defensively, we've had some guys come in and really kind of make their presence known right away. I think the two young corners, Marquis and Keaton, Marquis had two interceptions today. Those guys have made plays.
“So I like where we're at. And then I'm really excited about what we're doing on special teams, culturally. I think Coach Lorig hasn't changed a whole lot in terms of scheme, there's been some changes there, but it's more about kind of the mentality of special teams. The buy-in, the approach, the cultural aspects of it I think have been really fantastic.”
4) No official visits this weekend, which Franklin went on to explain.
“We just felt like we'd encourage to get as many guys here unofficially and then save our official visits for later in the process, closer to the decision making time, closer to signing day,” said Franklin. “And then the other thing is, it takes away from our players. We do a big picnic, which is a really good deal after the game, and when you're trying to balance time with the recruits on official visits and our own players and parents, you can't do it. And I don't get enough time with our players and I don't get enough time with our players' parents. So we just felt like we needed to make a decision there, and that was the route we went.”
5) Trace McSorley was on hand for practice this afternoon.
That’s all I’ve got for you tonight.
As always, questions, comments and concerns can all be addressed here, which I’ll do to the best of my ability.
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