With Penn State in the midst of its second and final bye week of the 2024 regular season, James Franklin's only media availability this week came on Tuesday evening following a shortened Nittany Lions practice.
The Nittany Lions, entering their second bye week, are a perfect 6-0 and are coming off an exhilarating 33-30 win over the USC Trojans in Los Angeles last weekend.
While Penn State is off to a strong start this season with their undefeated record, it feels as though the Nittany Lions haven’t played their best football yet—a sentiment James Franklin seemingly expressed on Tuesday evening.
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"The exciting thing is I still feel like, you know, there's a lot of room for improvement for us, and that's the exciting thing, right?" Franklin said about his team through six games. "You know, we're fortunate to get a win going into the bye week. We had a really good practice today—not very long, but a smart, really good practice. We're able to work on some things that I think we’re going to need moving forward. We’ll get a chance to do that tomorrow as well, and then, obviously, get into actual game week to build on it even more."
Penn State not getting distracted by outside noise
This week, the Penn State Nittany Lions reached their highest ranking in the AP Poll since the 2017 season, now standing as the No. 3 team in the country. It's a significant achievement for the Nittany Lions, but it's not something James Franklin's program is particularly focused on at the moment. In fact, the Nittany Lions haven't discussed it at all inside the Lasch Football Complex.
"We just literally don’t really talk about it," Franklin said when asked on Tuesday. "You know, we wanted to go 1-0 last week, and we're appreciative of that. I don’t think we’ve mentioned it one time in our building."
Instead, the Nittany Lions remain focused on their next opponent, the Wisconsin Badgers.
"I think so far our guys have done a pretty good job of that," Franklin added. "We're going to need to do it again this week because we’re going on the road for a night game in another tough environment—Jump Around, all that good stuff. It’s a really good program, well-coached. So we’re going to need to take another step this week because these road games are challenging."
Penn State enters second bye week with good vibes and good mojo
The Nittany Lions’ second bye week also comes at an opportune time, according to James Franklin.
"I just think when you talk about the middle of the season, game six, it's a good point to have a bye. Sometimes you get a bye really early, sometimes you get it late, and that’s not the best timing, but this is a good point, and obviously coming off a win. I’d probably feel very different if we hadn’t come off a win, but coming off a win, there are good vibes, there’s good mojo. We’ve got a chance to still learn, teach, and grow after a win, which I think is a really important skill and tool for us all to learn. You know, like I’ve talked about before, you shouldn’t need a setback to take a step forward. You have to have the maturity to work on the things you need to improve. So, I think the staff is approaching it that way, and I think the players are too. Today was a really good example of that."
As mentioned earlier, Franklin believes there is still plenty of room for the Nittany Lions to improve coming out of their bye week. One area where the head coach specifically seeks improvement is special teams.
Nittany Lions need to start 'making a few' plays on special teams
One facet of Penn State's game that has left more to be desired this season is the punt return unit. The Nittany Lions have returned just nine punts for a total of 39 yards, highlighting an aspect that will need improvement in the second half of the season.
Earlier this season, the Nittany Lions relied on a hampered Kaden Saunders as their primary punt returner, primarily due to his strong decision-making and reliable hands. However, as the season progressed, it became clear that Saunders needed to focus on getting fully healthy. Fellow wide receiver and punt returner Jake Spencer is also dealing with injuries, leaving true sophomore cornerback Zion Tracy to take over as the team’s punt returner.
"I think he did a nice job and the most important part of the job, which was catching. I thought there was one that he let get to the ground that he needs to catch. I do think as he gets more comfortable and more confident doing that, then he'll have the ability to make some more plays for us," Franklin said about Tracy's first handful of opportunities to return punts.
"But as you know, we've been kind of working through that all year long, and we've been down this road before, so hopefully we'll be getting Kaden back at some point. Hopefully, Zion continues to grow, which I think he will. Hopefully, we'll get Jake Spencer back as well. Another guy that's called punts in college games before as well. And then there's other guys that are working on it," Franklin added about the Nittany Lions' punt return game.
"If you look at us like punt return, I don't think anybody's gotten a yard this year on punt return. That's based on coverage, and that's also based on how we're punting the ball. So, I think we're doing a really good job of limiting explosive plays and game-changing plays on special teams; now we've got to start to make a few."
Penn State's first opportunity to showcase potential improvement in all facets will be in primetime on October 26, when the Nittany Lions travel to Camp Randall Stadium to face the Wisconsin Badgers.
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