Penn State’s practice on Wednesday afternoon hadn’t been going on for very long when a rumble of thunder made itself heard over the music blasting out of the speakers at the Lasch Football Building.
One rumble, well maybe things will pass.
Another, somewhat more persuasive rumble, that sent the team packing into the adjacent Holuba Hall.
All things considered the sudden change in weather and location does little to impact the course of practice. Two 80-yard practice field side-by-side, total some 118,000-square of turf and playing surface to work on. It might not be outside in the warm weather, but it sure beats the rain pouring down outside.
“Tim (Ream) and his (equipment) staff have radar on their phones,” James Franklin said after practice, the rain still pounding on the Holuba Hall roof. “And as soon as it shows it is in the vicinity we have to get off the field to make sure our players and staff are safe.”
“But the fact that we’ve got good size in here, we’re pretty much able to get everything done. Except the kicking game.”
And that’s something on Franklin’s to-do list. Maybe not a complete overhaul of the facility, but certainly an upgrade. If nothing else a tweak to make everything possible outdoors possible inside as well.
“I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this to your guys or not, but one of the plans, I want to flip the fields,” Franklin said. Alluding to turning the two 80-yard fields into a longer 100-yard field headed in a different direction in relation to the building shape.
“I want to have one full field in here that goes long ways. We’ve already measured it out. There is plenty of room on the outsides. Tear up this rubber and turf it all the way to the wall. And now we wouldn’t be limited in anything that we do because we’d have a full field to go. So that’s part of the plans.
