Tuesday afternoon, Penn State head coach James Franklin held little back in acknowledging the challenges and issues that presented themselves for the Nittany Lions offensively in the season-opening loss at Temple.
Going back to the drawing board, Franklin suggested that many options would be on the table, mostly in terms of shuffling players from their positions with the possibility of one or two new starters on the offensive line.
“We're going to be looking at different possibilities this week, moving some guys around to find out what's going to be our best five for Saturday,” Franklin said. “We will look at that, we have to look at that for me to come in here and say we're not going to look at the possibilities, I don't think is the right thing to do for our program.
“So we will look at those possibilities this week, what are the best five to get on the field to give us the best chance to protect our quarterback and be able to sustain a running game.”
A walk-through on Sunday and a full practice on Tuesday have not provided a firm resolution, according to Andrew Nelson.
Speaking with the media Wednesday morning via teleconference, Nelson offered both a defense of last week’s left tackle, Paris Palmer, as well as some insight into what progress has been made to this point.
“We could all improve a lot moving forward. That was Paris' first game. He played against a good team, against a good D-line, so I think like Coach Franklin said, Paris played like it was his first game in college football,” Nelson said. “Obviously, there's been talk about re-evaluating the offensive line and switching things around, but right now none of that is really finalized. We're still figuring that out.”
Clearly an option for a switch to left tackle in place of Palmer, Nelson was asked to explain what some of the differences might be between the two sides, and how he would go about handling them should a switch occur for this weekend’s contest against visiting Buffalo.
Certainly, he said, the transition would not be one with which he is completely unfamiliar.
“I've been getting reps at left tackle ever since last season. This camp, I got reps at left tackle,” he said. “So obviously, there is a transition just because you get more comfortable on one side, you feel more dominant on one side if you start playing that side for a while.
“With anything, there's a bit of a transition period once you start taking a lot more reps on a different side of the line. Obviously it's a little bit just feeling more comfortable in your stance and your footwork, and that just takes time and reps.”
Going back to the drawing board, Franklin suggested that many options would be on the table, mostly in terms of shuffling players from their positions with the possibility of one or two new starters on the offensive line.
“We're going to be looking at different possibilities this week, moving some guys around to find out what's going to be our best five for Saturday,” Franklin said. “We will look at that, we have to look at that for me to come in here and say we're not going to look at the possibilities, I don't think is the right thing to do for our program.
“So we will look at those possibilities this week, what are the best five to get on the field to give us the best chance to protect our quarterback and be able to sustain a running game.”
A walk-through on Sunday and a full practice on Tuesday have not provided a firm resolution, according to Andrew Nelson.
Speaking with the media Wednesday morning via teleconference, Nelson offered both a defense of last week’s left tackle, Paris Palmer, as well as some insight into what progress has been made to this point.
“We could all improve a lot moving forward. That was Paris' first game. He played against a good team, against a good D-line, so I think like Coach Franklin said, Paris played like it was his first game in college football,” Nelson said. “Obviously, there's been talk about re-evaluating the offensive line and switching things around, but right now none of that is really finalized. We're still figuring that out.”
Clearly an option for a switch to left tackle in place of Palmer, Nelson was asked to explain what some of the differences might be between the two sides, and how he would go about handling them should a switch occur for this weekend’s contest against visiting Buffalo.
Certainly, he said, the transition would not be one with which he is completely unfamiliar.
“I've been getting reps at left tackle ever since last season. This camp, I got reps at left tackle,” he said. “So obviously, there is a transition just because you get more comfortable on one side, you feel more dominant on one side if you start playing that side for a while.
“With anything, there's a bit of a transition period once you start taking a lot more reps on a different side of the line. Obviously it's a little bit just feeling more comfortable in your stance and your footwork, and that just takes time and reps.”
