James Franklin took to the airwaves on Thursday evening for his weekly radio show. While most weeks are uneventful on paper, following Penn State’s loss to Temple it opened the door to perhaps a few more testy fans than usual.
But that wasn’t the case, nearly every question either about Buffalo, or general observations.
And so, James Franklin can now put the Temple loss behind him on both the internal and public fronts.
Assuming things go well in the coming weeks.
Kyle Carter update.
“There’s a lot of things go on behind the scenes that at times I don’t talk about at the time. Kyle had a surgery this offseason and I didn’t release it at the time because I didn’t want our opponent knowing it. He just started practicing the week before the season started. He’d been out all summer. We have a number of issues like that that go on and they’re magnified right now because of our depth. I think you’ll see Kyle’s role this week grow and I think as the season goes on he’s going to be a big part of what we’re doing.”
On the fact the offense was good under O’Brien, less so under Franklin.
“First of all this year’s not over. We’re starting out in a way we didn’t want to start. And there’s no doubt we’ll need to improve in those areas. Mac McWhorter just got done talking to the team and said we lost to Ohio U at home, following week lost at UVA. We went through it as well. Keep battling and stay positive. That’s been our message. We’ve got to identify some issues and correct them. The offensive line is one of them. I agree about last year and the first game of the year but this season is far from over.”
Last week offense seemed like it was moving well with no-huddle
“I think you’ll see a mix this week. Part of it is what I just talked about — great defense, great on special teams, run the ball and find a way to have a great team win. As we have more success we’ll be able to do more things. Right now it’s about building confidence with our offensive line and putting them in situations to be more successful. I believe if you go one tempo all the time, people adjust to that. It’s important to switch that tempo up so the defensive coordinator and players don’t get settled into one style.”
Are you seeing correctable mistakes?
“Very much so. When we lost Nyeem, there was communication problems. We lost Bell during the game, lost Nyeem during the game. At one point we had Bowen playing, had Cooper playing and Reeder playing. That’s a redshirt freshman and two true freshmen. There was some communication issues with our defense. We don’t run a real sophisticated defense but there is a lot of communication that goes on. Offensive line, we had the same communication issues we’re talking about on defense. I was proud of the guys and how they came in on Sunday, how they attacked and approached it.”
Using good players on special teams.
“We’re going to play our starters anyway on special teams. Offense defense and special teams are very important to where we’re going and what we’re trying to do. You look around college football and that’s happening everywhere. Punt safe is something we’re going to have to use at times to discourage people from punt fakes.”
If Penn State can’t get push on line against Buffalo what can we do to make sure we’re able to move the ball?
“That’s where moving the pocket comes. Nakeds, sprint-outs, things like that. There were plays we haven’t made whether it’s been throws or drops or screens. We’ve got to be creative. We’re going to get a push up front and protect the quarterback. There’s really no other option. We’ve got to run the ball, protect the quarterback. We can three step and get the ball quick out of our quarterback’s hands. If we have to, me and Steve are going to put the helmets on. We have to get it done. No other option.”
What kind of response have you seen in practice?
“I’ve felt really good about it. Last year the defense really got after the offense in practice. This year the offense has really shown some nice signs. Making plays in passing game and running game. Today we did twos against the ones. Both offenses went right down the field and the kickers kicked field goals in two minute situations. We just need to have it click in a game. I think Saturday’s our time.
