Read everything that Penn State head coach James Franklin had to say after the Nittany Lions' thrilling 33-30 win over the USC Trojans on Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles.
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OPENING STATEMENT
Like always, I want to thank you guys for coming out and covering Penn State football. We appreciate it. We don't. Take it for. Granted, I want to thank all the Penn State fans that traveled. It was a really cool environment and I thought, you know, obviously once we got going to start making some plays, you could feel. Our Penn State presence in the stadium, which was awesome, haven't been a part of too many games where you lose the turnover battle like that like we did. That's something we take a lot of pride in and have done a really. Job. So to get that type of win while turning the ball over the one the Hail Mary, I don't really count that one, but the other ones you know were significant, but we did win the explosive play battle. We won the third down battle, which I would not have thought that until I saw the stats. We won the sack battle, although it was not. There wasn't a ton of that action for either sides. We lost the starting field position battle, which obviously was the turnover. Years penalty battle the last two weeks you guys were on me about that. Fair enough. But we have been better the last two weeks and are proud of our kids showing discipline in the coaches, making those corrections. And then I thought the middle 8 was big. They took the ball, we got the ball in the second-half. We had 10 points to their three points and back to the turnovers. Although we had three turnovers, there were only able to get six points, all for those turnovers, so that was big. Obviously a big story of the game is Tyler Warren, 17 catches for 224 yards, a school record for tight ends, and the second most yards ever for a Penn State. Football player. That doesn't even count what he's doing in the running game. He's got a pass. What he's doing blocking. I've been talking about him being the best tight end in college football, but the reality is he's now part of a conversation and one of the best players in all of college football. Great story, Ryan Barker. You know, walks on at Penn State. And the opportunity knocks and he's ready. And to me, that's what our country is about. That's what the game of football I think teaches. He earned his starting job, then lost the starting job, then comes here. He's 4 for four on the road game-winning field goal there and overtime. Ryan cold as ice Barker is what I'm calling him. So I'm just. I'm really proud of him. Just how the whole game went, you know the offense. You know, started out a little slow. The defense really did a good job then. Then the offense started going and the defense needed the offense to have their back and then special teams. I thought, number one, that we went into this game with a ton of respect for him. We always take a certain player or a certain scheme and we say this guy can't be a factor in the game. All American returner and impactful at wide receiver and I thought we did a good job in terms of pump location, kick location and coverage. So that was big. I was just proud of our kids. We found a way to get a tough win on the road. This is going to make the bye week. Awesome, because it would not have been awesome without this. So just proud of our guys and again appreciate the fans and the support that we got and we're going to need to spend this bye week getting better. There's still a ton of stuff that we can get better, but we're one in O and that equals 6 and O and. And I'll take it and run to the airport. Do you guys ever see the movie soul plane? Probably. Yeah. This group probably not. Not a whole lot of. Reactions. Yeah, take take a peek at it. Soul plane. That's what it'll. Be like on the ride home. No reaction from this group, so obviously no.
Asessing Drew's play against USC
"Yeah. You know, when I probably loved the most about Drew and it was probably reflective of our whole team. As it didn't go perfect for him today. And he just grinded it through it and he pushed through it and he flushed the bad place and moved on. And that's what you got to do in college football. It's not going to go perfect. They got talented guys, they got scholarship guys, they got a ton of NFL and our guys just battled through it. They battled through, I think Drew's a great example of that. I don't know what. Final stats were, but I also want to give. I also want to give Julian Fleming, you know, his flowers too, because you talked about, I think it was 2 huge 4th down plays. Two huge 4th down plays so you know that that that was big for us. But I think Drew was just a really good example of what I think our team did all day long is just kind of kept battling and overcoming adversity."
On the Nittany Lions philosophy in overtime
"So a couple of things we were going to run the ball in that situation. You never know. You split one and score a touchdown. That's what you prefer to do, but also want to be borderline conservative as well because you're already in field goal range and you don't want to do anything that's going to take you out of field goal range. So that that was managed really well and stick. Just standing next to me on the sideline and said listen. If at all possible, prefer the ball either middle or to the left and we were able to call a play to get us back into that sweet spot. Then they tried to ice him and he just went out and hit it. He's kind of like this all the time, like. Like literally, he's been like that. Just steady. Eddy doesn't get too high. Don't get too low. He really was like this as a freshman as well, and I think according to our people, I think that's the worst. The first walk off field goal win we've had since Dublin, Ireland. My first game which was also pretty cool. So it was great having TIG with us on the sideline came down for the game. The brotherhood that we have here at Penn State is special. And love that those guys wanna be back with us and be around whenever they have time. That's cool too. So a lot of cool things and a lot of things to be proud of. And I hope all the people back at home are proud of us and the and the letterman are proud of us as well because I know I am."
On Drew bouncing back from the INT to lead Penn State on a 9 play, 75 yard scoring drive
"The first thing I'd like to say and I'm going to answer your question though, is our defense. Again, after those turnovers only give it up six points. That was huge. That was huge, because if they don't do that, then it's hard to. It's hard to have that ending that we just had. But yeah, Drew, just. He's just growing up. I think, you know, based on kind of how he was recruited. And then when he shows up and the expectations are through the roof, right. And then last year, you know, he's a first time starter in the Big 10. And I think he was like, what was his touchdown interception ratio? A lot too, a little and like people were still critical, right? And I get it. You know, Penn State, we got really, really high expectations. And he's just gotten better, and he's gotten better and really every single area and one of the big reasons he's gotten better, though, is guys are making plays for him. The wide receivers are making plays this year in a way they didn't last year. The tight ends are as well. We weren't able to get the running game going today, the way we had hoped. I got a ton of respect for their defensive coordinator as a Penn State guy. I got a ton of respect for their staff. That's a talented team and that's a talented staff and then coming on the road and finding a way to get a win was big for us and obviously Drew was a huge part of that."
What does it mean in the development of a team to overcome adversity early and pull out a win?
"Yeah, I think you need to find different ways throughout a season to win. Some are going to be blowouts, hopefully more of them are blowouts, but some of them are going to be comebacks. Some are going to be home when you got the fans, you know they're supporting you. Some are going to be on the road where where things are going against you and you don't have a whole lot of support in the stadium or it may be weather or whatever it may. B. That's big and I think the word resilient was probably the best word to define our team today. And you know, it's it's good to be able to go in and say guys, we're a second-half team, but I I prefer not to say that anymore. I prefer to be a fourth quarter team, a start fast Team, a fourth quarter team, all of it. And we're going to have to be to continue to win the. Games that we want to win moving forward."
On the Nittany Lions ability to get explosive plays in the second half
"Well, I just think with the type of players that we have in the scheme that we have. And and what we worked on all week and that's I think you guys know that's that's kind of what I do during the game is on defense and during offense it's not only manage the game 4 downs, timeouts, those types of things. When to kick a field goal, when to go for it on 4th down. But it's also reminders to Tom and Andy when I can. Hey, you know, next opportunity we get. Let's take a shot. You know, let's make them earn it right here on this third and long. Let's not go after him. Let's prepare if I'm not. If I'm going against us right now, it's offense corner. I'm calling the screen. Running the ball to set up a set up a fourth down that they can go for, cause they're out of field goal range, whatever it may be. So just for reminding those guys from time to time. On things that I think could be helpful and and sometimes it sometimes it works."
How challenging was the balance of USC's offense with Marks with the passing attack and the defenses's late stops in the win.
"I just, I think that's a talented offense and play caller, let's be honest. And it's been that way for a long time and. To say about, our defense to step up and make plays as the game went on, they were doing a ton of check with me. Motion in the back out to see if we are in man coverage or zone coverage, and then call in. And great man beaters and things like that. So being able to disguise when they look back us look back and changing some coverages and changes. Some calls. Thought we did a better job with that as the game went on. But then at the end of the day, you know, players got to make plays. And I thought our guys did that when it mattered most down the stretch so. That was pretty cool. See a guy like Jay Reed who always busted my chops for being emotional. Jay Reed's a tough dude from Detroit, Michigan, and to see him after the game, how much it meant to him was really, really cool. So. I'm just. I'm just happy for our guys and our defense stood up when they when we needed it most."
What the locker room was like after the win?
"Yeah. You know, in some ways. It was really cool, but the visiting locker rooms make it hard because they're so small and there's no space. Like most home locker rooms, you got space where you can enjoy it all together, and the visiting locker rooms are broke up and divided and small. So it's it's it's hard, it's not, it's not the same, but as you can imagine it was. It was awesome in there and and to me that's what it's all about for me at this point of my career. I just want to see the. Players. Achieving their dreams and and having fun and being rewarded for all their hard work and the same thing with the staff. So that's that's what it's all about for me at this point in my career. I want to see them achieve their dreams and goals. So really, really cool for me. It's going to make for a great ride home. It's going to make great. Make for a great bye week and you know there's a ton of things that I think we're going to be able to learn from this game and we need to learn from this game because we're far from perfect. But we're also six, and oh, and one and oh, this week, and we're going to take it and run. So thank you. Appreciate you guys."
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