Penn State Football Head Coach James Franklin met with the media following the Maryland game on Saturday afternoon inside of Beaver Stadium.
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OPENING STATEMENT
So first of all, like always, I want to thank you guys for coming out to cover Penn State football. I also want to thank the fans that showed up and supported us. Big Game, big win. So the fans that came back into town, the students that came back into town over Thanksgiving break to support us, we really appreciate that. Overall, obviously, the game did not start the way, if you like. It started very, very sloppy on offense and defense. But after that, from that point on, very pleased. We won the takeaway battle, three turnovers. And to be honest with you, really five turnovers, because we had 2/4 down stops as well. I kind of look at them as turnovers as well. Explosive play battle, we won that, the third down battle, we won that the sack battle, we won that the field position battle, we won that the penalty battle, we did not got to get those things cleaned up. And then the middle eight, we won that. So talk about statistics that we talked about being important and impactful in college football. You did a great job with those things, but overall, we found a way to get another win if you if you study college football, not just Penn State, if you study college football, it's hard to win consistently. And the fact that our guys were able to find a way to win 11 times this season, during the regular season. I'm proud of them. And, you know, I told them in the locker room, good news and bad news. Good news, excuse me. Bad news is that we were supposed to have practice off tomorrow. They were supposed to have the day off. We did not have the day off anymore. We'll be we'll be back to work tomorrow morning. Enjoy this for a couple hours and get to work. So open up the questions, James, James, when did you find out about the result of the Michigan, Ohio State game, and did you say anything to the team before they took the field?, you upcoming, just everything that we did, yeah, you know, I'm not sure about that.
Q: When you heard the results of the Ohio State game, does that change anything at all about your preparation or the way you approach the game, or is it the same old, same old?
No, we had to find a way to beat Maryland, and we had to find a way to get better besides the opening drives. I thought I thought we did that today. So, you know, we played a ton of guys, which I think is really valuable, our threes and fours against their ones. They kept their ones in the entire game, and our threes and fours were able to get in there and get really good work, which will be important for their development. Probably not as clean as we'd like it to be, but that was really good work. No, I didn't. I didn't we knew, but I didn't say anything to the team. Actually, I did the opposite. I said, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, because I think a lot of people were aware of it, and I was trying to keep us focused. Maybe that's why the game started out the way the game started. But you got to control the things that you can control, and the things outside of Beaver Stadium are not in our control, so we needed to win and play well. Lot of eyes watching these games, looking at the statistics, all those things are important. We're fighting to keep this family together as long as we possibly can. Wins. Do that, statistics. Do that, how it looks. All those things matter. So we're going to play for four quarters and fight for the end and do everything we everything we had to do to put ourselves in the best position to continue to see it as long as possible and also be seated as high as possible.
Q: Can you explain the emotions of the alma mater after the game, the scene after the game I saw you interact with some seniors ?
I mean, it was a win on senior day, which is always emotional for me. Kaytron, he's the one guy like he will, he won't, he won't, kind of let me slide. You know, I got emotional at breakfast this morning talking to the guys. And Kaytron doesn't like that whole it gives me a hard time anytime I get emotional. But Senior Day is an emotional day for me. You know, you're with these guys. You know, with four years with COVID, some guys five years, six years, good and bad. It's not always puppies and rainbows. So you know, to think about some of the journeys I've been on with these guys, it's a lot, so I'm proud of them, but it's an emotional day in general. And then on top of that, an opportunity to go to Indianapolis and play within a championship game. Pretty cool. So I would, I'd be emotional either way, but that's kind of like a little bit of a cherry on top. Coach.
Q: How is your Denmark called the touchdown there at the end of the game. What is his progress been like this season? What do you think that play specifically can do for him moving into the postseason?
Yeah, he's a talented guy, he's a talented guy, he's a confident guy, and he's a tough guy,, which, you know, we put a premium on toughness in our program, and that guy has kind of all those qualities. He continues to get better. We're going to need him, more and more here in the off-season, excuse me, in the postseason, excuse me, but I'm proud. He could be a punt returner for us. He could be a slot, I think he could also play z but he's a young, talented player that we're excited about his future. So pretty cool for him to get that touchdown. And good for the threes and fours again against their ones, they'll have some success.
Q: On the growth of his team
We focus on the things that we can control in Beaver Stadium and the last building, and if you're going to ride the wave of emotion and passion of fans and sometimes media, you'll drive yourself crazy. So I've been doing this long enough to not do that. Understand that you guys got a job to do and and again, focus on the things that we can control. I've talked about it before. We got a history here on the defensive side of the ball. We've had it for a long time, way before my time, every defensive coordinator I've had since I've been here, finished in the top 10. Their defenses pretty consistently in the top 10, a lot in the top five. That's a credit to those men in their leadership. It's also credit to how we operate, how we do things. I think it's telling about the culture of the program. So, you know, we're playing really well on offense, defense, and special teams. We got to get our fuel ball protection cleaned up. Had some moving parts in there, some new guys with some injuries, and that wasn't good enough again today, but, but overall, pretty darn good. I think Barker is kind of a quiet story. No one, no one wants to talk about the field goal kicker until he misses something. He's been he's been really good for us taking over that spot.
Q: On the impact of Tyler Warren
Yeah, he's a beast. And I think the point is that everybody goes into it saying, You got to stop Tyler ward. Everybody's defensive game plan is we can't allow 44 to impact the game just like for us, it was Ty Felton. We went into this saying, Ty Felton's gonna make some plays. He's a really good player, but we gotta limit his impact. Everybody said that every single week with Tyler Martin, no one's done they ought to bring the Mackey award tonight, put it on a private chat, flying to Tyler Martin, give it to him on Sunday, and then he should get an invitation to New York. He's done it week in and week out. He's a big time player, and he's doing it when all eyes are on him, and he's the focus of the game. So he's a he's a special guy. His humility is impressive. Yeah, you guys ask him questions. Every question he gets. It's an opportunity for him to turn the attention to his teammates. He's a stud. He's a stud. I'm gonna try to convince his parents. I'm gonna send them to one of the Romantic Vacations up in the Poconos, trying to get the parents to have more.
Q: What did he learn about his program this month?
I just, I what I don't think a lot of people understand, except for people that really study the game, like you guys and NFL people and college coaches, it's, it's hard, you know, especially with the expansion of these conferences. This is the, this is the most competitive Big 10 there's ever been, and to have your team ready to play week in and week out, it is very, very difficult to do, and it doesn't happen very often. And you look around college football, you watch the highlights not happening. So this team finding a ton of different ways to win, blow outs, comebacks, overcoming adversity, winning because of defense, winning because of offense, winning because of special teams. When you play as many games as we do now in college football and the type of opponents that we play, you're going to have to find different ways to get it done. It may not always be pretty, but I also think that's the beauty in it, right? So I'm just I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of everybody in that locker room, because everybody played a role in it. I'm so appreciative of the managers and how they run our practice every single day, the equipment people, the student managers and student trainers. They're phenomenal. The D squad has been great all year long. The grounds people that we got new sod in the stadium, our grass was phenomenal from this time of year in this part of the country, all this stuff matters, and all this stuff adds up. Pat Kraft and his leadership willing to fight for our program, which that has happened in the past. Neeli Bendapudi has been phenomenal. Michael Wade Smith, Matt Schulyer, everybody deserves credit, because you don't, you don't win 11 games in this type of conference. You know,, without everybody playing a role.
Q: On his post-game handshake with Mike Locksley
Yeah, I get it right at the end of the game. We throw a touchdown. I get it. But a couple of things I will say. My job is to put the threes and fours in the game. But when the threes and fours get to go in the game, they get to play football. Those guys deserve to play football. Your ones are in the game. You are. You're trying to score. We're trying to score. On top of that, you're playing cover zero, if you don't play cover two. So I'm good with it. And on top of that, there's also a change in college football. We are trying to play as long as we can make the playoffs be seeded as high as possible and scoring as many points, and a point differential matters. All that matters. And if you don't get that, it's really not my problem. So w want to know I'm good with it. Anybody that's not, that's, that's their problem.
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