Per usual, paraphrased questions and answers from Penn State head coach James Franklin's weekly radio show Thursday night.
On getting a win in those conditions Saturday:
That was probably the worst wind conditions he’s ever been a part of, and it was difficult to determine because it didn’t come from just one direction. They were fortunate to recover all of those punt drops. They made it interesting at the end, but they were happy to get a win against a really good program.
On rolling out Trace:
Obviously, you can mix those things in. Part of it is their personnel, but part of it is their scheme. Their two defensive tackles aren’t penetrating. They drive at the line of scrimmage and wait there. In the pass game, they bat down the ball. The d-ends get after the QB. It’s the biggest, most physical defensive line they’ve faced in the past two years. They are massive and long, which causes some real problems.
On focusing on shutting down and isolating problem players:
They do a good job of finding those great players and the players focus in on it. They’ve identified these guys each week and have been able to limit them, and it’s a result of scheme, personnel, and the punter. Iowa doesn’t have a bunch of kickoff returns for touchdowns, which makes it interesting, because they just have a consistent ability to return it.
On Iowa’s tight ends:
They all saw with Mike Gesicki that he was a matchup nightmare in the passing game. Iowa is like the Stanford offense where they have two tight ends on the field and use them in a lot of different ways. Fant might be their best receiver. 38 is nasty and physical and Fant is the receiving threat, and they use them a lot of different ways.
On tackling late in games:
The biggest thing they have to do is make sure they spend time each week on individual sessions in practice on fundamentals. You get so consumed by scheme for the opponent that you get away from fundamentals. They want to do a good job of not getting away from those things, because as the season goes on that can creep away from you.
On how Jordan Miner and Nana Asiedu have handled their setbacks:
Both had heart conditions and weren’t able to play. Luckily they were able to catch those things early. It was really tough news for them, but the team has rallied around them. A young man outside of Philadelphia in eighth grade, his mom and him reached out to the program because he’s going through the same thing. And Nana and Jordan have become like brothers to this kid. After practice, they invited them to come to the game and walk into the stadium with the team, and the kid, the mom, and everyone got emotional. It’s something that started as a real challenge for the players, but now they’re able to use it to impact people in a positive way.
On drops for veteran wideouts and younger wideouts:
It’s a fair question. Number one, he has so much belief and faith in DeAndre and Juwan. Maybe to a fault, he’s loyal to a fault. Loyal to Penn State and loyal to the players. He’s been down this road before. Mike Gesicki had drops early in his career, and was criticized. They stuck with him though, he worked through it, and it worked out for everyone. Mike was investing. And when he sees a kid investing in that way, he’s going to return the favor and invest in them. He has so much faith in Juwan, DeAndre and Polk. He’s loyal to a fault. They’ll get those young guys experience, but it’s worked out for them in the past and he’s sure it’ll work out again this time.
On Cam Sullivan-Brown:
He’s been steady. Cam missed his entire freshman year with a non contact injury. He’s just figuring out things out right now. How to run routes vs. coverages. How to run routes vs. coverages against other elite athletes. You have the redshirt freshmen, the true freshmen, and it’s about stepping up next man up to have success.
On onsides kick:
They had four players in that unit that weren’t typically in that unit due to injuries and ejections.
On alleviating pressure on Trace:
That’s the problem they all see right now. Too much load of the offense. You can’t depend on just one guy to that level. Saquon had a huge role, but they had just as much respect for McSorley. Plus Gesicki and Hamilton. Miles played his most complete game last week. At receiver, Freiermuth has done a nice job at tight end, but someone has to step up at WR and scare people and stretch the field.
On Miles as a blocker:
He’s really stepped up there. One of the benefits he had was sitting behind Saquon. The hardest thing for a freshman back is the physicality and the protections. Miles is doing both really well right now, and now he’s getting more involved in the passing game too.
On John Reid development:
He’s getting more and more confident every week. He’s always approached things the right way, week in and week out. You have the physical aspect of getting over an injury, but also the mental aspect to have the confidence to perform. Sees it with young guys performing for the first time, but also for guys coming back from injuries like John.
On getting a win in those conditions Saturday:
That was probably the worst wind conditions he’s ever been a part of, and it was difficult to determine because it didn’t come from just one direction. They were fortunate to recover all of those punt drops. They made it interesting at the end, but they were happy to get a win against a really good program.
On rolling out Trace:
Obviously, you can mix those things in. Part of it is their personnel, but part of it is their scheme. Their two defensive tackles aren’t penetrating. They drive at the line of scrimmage and wait there. In the pass game, they bat down the ball. The d-ends get after the QB. It’s the biggest, most physical defensive line they’ve faced in the past two years. They are massive and long, which causes some real problems.
On focusing on shutting down and isolating problem players:
They do a good job of finding those great players and the players focus in on it. They’ve identified these guys each week and have been able to limit them, and it’s a result of scheme, personnel, and the punter. Iowa doesn’t have a bunch of kickoff returns for touchdowns, which makes it interesting, because they just have a consistent ability to return it.
On Iowa’s tight ends:
They all saw with Mike Gesicki that he was a matchup nightmare in the passing game. Iowa is like the Stanford offense where they have two tight ends on the field and use them in a lot of different ways. Fant might be their best receiver. 38 is nasty and physical and Fant is the receiving threat, and they use them a lot of different ways.
On tackling late in games:
The biggest thing they have to do is make sure they spend time each week on individual sessions in practice on fundamentals. You get so consumed by scheme for the opponent that you get away from fundamentals. They want to do a good job of not getting away from those things, because as the season goes on that can creep away from you.
On how Jordan Miner and Nana Asiedu have handled their setbacks:
Both had heart conditions and weren’t able to play. Luckily they were able to catch those things early. It was really tough news for them, but the team has rallied around them. A young man outside of Philadelphia in eighth grade, his mom and him reached out to the program because he’s going through the same thing. And Nana and Jordan have become like brothers to this kid. After practice, they invited them to come to the game and walk into the stadium with the team, and the kid, the mom, and everyone got emotional. It’s something that started as a real challenge for the players, but now they’re able to use it to impact people in a positive way.
On drops for veteran wideouts and younger wideouts:
It’s a fair question. Number one, he has so much belief and faith in DeAndre and Juwan. Maybe to a fault, he’s loyal to a fault. Loyal to Penn State and loyal to the players. He’s been down this road before. Mike Gesicki had drops early in his career, and was criticized. They stuck with him though, he worked through it, and it worked out for everyone. Mike was investing. And when he sees a kid investing in that way, he’s going to return the favor and invest in them. He has so much faith in Juwan, DeAndre and Polk. He’s loyal to a fault. They’ll get those young guys experience, but it’s worked out for them in the past and he’s sure it’ll work out again this time.
On Cam Sullivan-Brown:
He’s been steady. Cam missed his entire freshman year with a non contact injury. He’s just figuring out things out right now. How to run routes vs. coverages. How to run routes vs. coverages against other elite athletes. You have the redshirt freshmen, the true freshmen, and it’s about stepping up next man up to have success.
On onsides kick:
They had four players in that unit that weren’t typically in that unit due to injuries and ejections.
On alleviating pressure on Trace:
That’s the problem they all see right now. Too much load of the offense. You can’t depend on just one guy to that level. Saquon had a huge role, but they had just as much respect for McSorley. Plus Gesicki and Hamilton. Miles played his most complete game last week. At receiver, Freiermuth has done a nice job at tight end, but someone has to step up at WR and scare people and stretch the field.
On Miles as a blocker:
He’s really stepped up there. One of the benefits he had was sitting behind Saquon. The hardest thing for a freshman back is the physicality and the protections. Miles is doing both really well right now, and now he’s getting more involved in the passing game too.
On John Reid development:
He’s getting more and more confident every week. He’s always approached things the right way, week in and week out. You have the physical aspect of getting over an injury, but also the mental aspect to have the confidence to perform. Sees it with young guys performing for the first time, but also for guys coming back from injuries like John.
