Fall has arrived in Happy Valley.
Opening the iron gates into the Lasch Football Complex practice fields Wednesday evening, the media was able to get a glimpse of the Nittany Lions as they continue to prepare for their weekend matchup in Bloomington, Ind., with the Hoosiers. And it felt very, very cold with a whipping wind to go with it.
“Obviously today is the first day where it felt like winter,” said Franklin. “So you kind have that adjustment and we want to be outside as much we possibly can, so you’ve got the noise, and it was fairly windy as well.”
Let’s get right into some of the news, notes, and observations to stand out from the availability:
1) Right off the bat, the first lineup we saw was of interest on the offensive line with Trace McSorley at the helm.
LT - Ryan Bates
LG - Steven Gonzalez
C - Michal Menet
RG - Connor McGovern
RT - Chasz Wright
Could a change be in the works for the starting right tackle spot? On the next series, with Sean Clifford at the helm at quarterback and Johnathan Thomas in the backfield, the Nittany Lions had Will Fries in at right tackle.
LT - Rasheed Walker
LG - Mike Miranda
C - Zach Simpson
RG - Des Holmes
RT - Will Fries
2) Another note from the short play-by-play period we were permitted to watch - both with the first and second team offenses working against the scout team defense and vice versa on the turf practice field - came from Tommy Stevens.
On an otherwise broken play in the red zone, Stevens took off out of the backfield and raced into the end zone. Not that there are many questions left regarding Stevens after his injury, but certainly that was the first time I have really seen that type of speed from him since he’s returned.
Something that should be included, here, is also another thing that you’re probably not going to especially enjoy. In red zone work, K.J. Hamler had an obvious drop over the middle, and apparently, that had been a little bit of an issue through the course of practice.
Given the struggles that Penn State has had throughout the season hanging onto the ball - save for Saturday in which few catchable balls hit the turf but the quarterback/receiver connection was just off, anyway - it’s going to be interesting to see how that group responds Saturday.
3) This one probably deserves its own full story, but needs to be included here because I’m sure it will be a big talking point tonight.
Essentially, in the post-practice press conference, Franklin was asked about his comments previously indicating that the program was still another year or two away from being able to reload at every position, every year. And, by extension, because of the success they’d had the past two years, whether or not those achievements might have been ahead of schedule.
“I think overall if you really study everything, I mean everything, you take a 10 year really deep dive into the program, I know right now when you say this, people look at you like you’re crazy but for what we’ve done up to date, I think most people would say we’re ahead of schedule,” said Franklin. “I know after the last couple weeks people don’t want to hear that, but I think that’s probably the reality of it. If you really take a deep dive and look at every aspect of the program and you’re comparing that to what we’d consider our peer groups, I’d say we’re ahead.
“Obviously I think this season is going to be interesting as to how it plays out to really be able to determine that. I think overall, ahead, and I think a lot of factors are in that. I think Trace McSorley is a big part of that. I think if you look across the country whenever you have a quarterback who has been able to be as productive and as successful and you have him for multiple years it gives you a foundation to build around.”
4) In addressing a question about Garrett Taylor, Franklin actually offered a little more insight into how he views the position as a whole this season and how it has performed.
Beyond just Taylor, who Franklin commended for his patience coming through the program and now how he’s playing this season, the Nittany Lion head coach also highlighted redshirt freshman Jonathan Sutherland extensively.
“I think Coach Banks has done a really nice job of developing those guys at that position,” said Franklin. “Sutherland is a guy we’re also excited about and want to get him a few more reps, but I think GT has been really good. I’d like a little bit more where we don’t have so many question marks in the future because we play two safeties we don’t play the backups as much that we’re always kinda having this discussion… Sutherland is a guy who has really done some nice things. We’d like to get him a little more time but in general, GT has been really good and that model kinda has continued to evolve.”
5) Last but not least, Franklin was asked about the continuing return of defensive end Shane Simmons, who is back in action not only in practices but also in games, following an injury that kept him out of the preseason and into the start of the 2018 schedule.
“We just expect it to gradually increase. Thought [Shane Simmons] did well with what he handled but we need that to grow,” said Franklin. “He’s a talented guy, but we want to make sure we’re taking things slow so we don’t have any setbacks because the type of injury we’ve been dealing with those guys you can have some setbacks so we’re trying to take our time with that.”
Simmons was working with the twos Wednesday night behind Shareef Miller.
Opening the iron gates into the Lasch Football Complex practice fields Wednesday evening, the media was able to get a glimpse of the Nittany Lions as they continue to prepare for their weekend matchup in Bloomington, Ind., with the Hoosiers. And it felt very, very cold with a whipping wind to go with it.
“Obviously today is the first day where it felt like winter,” said Franklin. “So you kind have that adjustment and we want to be outside as much we possibly can, so you’ve got the noise, and it was fairly windy as well.”
Let’s get right into some of the news, notes, and observations to stand out from the availability:
1) Right off the bat, the first lineup we saw was of interest on the offensive line with Trace McSorley at the helm.
LT - Ryan Bates
LG - Steven Gonzalez
C - Michal Menet
RG - Connor McGovern
RT - Chasz Wright
Could a change be in the works for the starting right tackle spot? On the next series, with Sean Clifford at the helm at quarterback and Johnathan Thomas in the backfield, the Nittany Lions had Will Fries in at right tackle.
LT - Rasheed Walker
LG - Mike Miranda
C - Zach Simpson
RG - Des Holmes
RT - Will Fries
2) Another note from the short play-by-play period we were permitted to watch - both with the first and second team offenses working against the scout team defense and vice versa on the turf practice field - came from Tommy Stevens.
On an otherwise broken play in the red zone, Stevens took off out of the backfield and raced into the end zone. Not that there are many questions left regarding Stevens after his injury, but certainly that was the first time I have really seen that type of speed from him since he’s returned.
Something that should be included, here, is also another thing that you’re probably not going to especially enjoy. In red zone work, K.J. Hamler had an obvious drop over the middle, and apparently, that had been a little bit of an issue through the course of practice.
Given the struggles that Penn State has had throughout the season hanging onto the ball - save for Saturday in which few catchable balls hit the turf but the quarterback/receiver connection was just off, anyway - it’s going to be interesting to see how that group responds Saturday.
3) This one probably deserves its own full story, but needs to be included here because I’m sure it will be a big talking point tonight.
Essentially, in the post-practice press conference, Franklin was asked about his comments previously indicating that the program was still another year or two away from being able to reload at every position, every year. And, by extension, because of the success they’d had the past two years, whether or not those achievements might have been ahead of schedule.
“I think overall if you really study everything, I mean everything, you take a 10 year really deep dive into the program, I know right now when you say this, people look at you like you’re crazy but for what we’ve done up to date, I think most people would say we’re ahead of schedule,” said Franklin. “I know after the last couple weeks people don’t want to hear that, but I think that’s probably the reality of it. If you really take a deep dive and look at every aspect of the program and you’re comparing that to what we’d consider our peer groups, I’d say we’re ahead.
“Obviously I think this season is going to be interesting as to how it plays out to really be able to determine that. I think overall, ahead, and I think a lot of factors are in that. I think Trace McSorley is a big part of that. I think if you look across the country whenever you have a quarterback who has been able to be as productive and as successful and you have him for multiple years it gives you a foundation to build around.”
4) In addressing a question about Garrett Taylor, Franklin actually offered a little more insight into how he views the position as a whole this season and how it has performed.
Beyond just Taylor, who Franklin commended for his patience coming through the program and now how he’s playing this season, the Nittany Lion head coach also highlighted redshirt freshman Jonathan Sutherland extensively.
“I think Coach Banks has done a really nice job of developing those guys at that position,” said Franklin. “Sutherland is a guy we’re also excited about and want to get him a few more reps, but I think GT has been really good. I’d like a little bit more where we don’t have so many question marks in the future because we play two safeties we don’t play the backups as much that we’re always kinda having this discussion… Sutherland is a guy who has really done some nice things. We’d like to get him a little more time but in general, GT has been really good and that model kinda has continued to evolve.”
5) Last but not least, Franklin was asked about the continuing return of defensive end Shane Simmons, who is back in action not only in practices but also in games, following an injury that kept him out of the preseason and into the start of the 2018 schedule.
“We just expect it to gradually increase. Thought [Shane Simmons] did well with what he handled but we need that to grow,” said Franklin. “He’s a talented guy, but we want to make sure we’re taking things slow so we don’t have any setbacks because the type of injury we’ve been dealing with those guys you can have some setbacks so we’re trying to take our time with that.”
Simmons was working with the twos Wednesday night behind Shareef Miller.
