The media was able to take in a portion of Penn State's Wednesday practice ahead of Saturday's Big Ten Championship Game and talk to James Franklin following the game. Here's what you need to know.
Trey Wallace, Elliott Washington return to practice ahead of Big Ten Championship Game
Penn State wide receiver Trey Wallace who missed the regular season finale against Maryland returned to practice on Wednesday for the Nittany Lions. James Franklin on Sunday said the Nittany Lions hoped to have Wallace available for the Big Ten Championship game after being absent last week. Cornerback Elliott Washington also returned to practice this week.
"As you guys know, I don't get into a whole lot of that kind of stuff unless it's a long term injury," Franklin said in response to a question on Wallace and Washington's availability. "But we have confidence that both those guys would be available to solve those out here contributing to that. One of the challenges seeing that was on the schedule."
This season, Wallace has played recorded 35 receptions for 579 yards and three touchcdowns for the Nittany Lions, making him the program's No. 2 receiving threat only behind tight end Tyler Warren.
Washington, a budding cornerback for the Nittany Lions has 19 tackles and one interception this fall in 10 games played.
Penn State taking advantage of similar opponent game tape
Saturday's Big Ten Championship game will be the first time that Penn State and Oregon face off in nearly 30 years and while the Ducks are now in the conference, Penn State has yet to have to prepare for the Ducks, bringing some challenges to this weekend's matchup. That being said, the Nittany Lions have been taking advantage of the game tape of Oregon against opponents that Penn State has also faced this season such as Ohio State and Illinois.
"Obviously when you have similar opponents to those games are valuable, but you got perspective," James Franklin said on Wednesday. "You know, obviously their game came down to a few critical plays, a couple of them on special teams" he added in referring to the Duckcs matchup against Ohio State.
"The thing that really kind of stands out when we're looking forward is you want to stay out of obvious passing situations," Franklin noted about the Ducks. "You want to stay ahead of the sticks, starting fast against this type of team is going to be really important. We're going to have to play well for four quarters. we'll have to play well. You look at them statistically as well on film, they've been a dominant football, all year long. Obviously, the Ohio State film was good for us. That was a close, competitive game for us and for them ."
"It seems like he's been playing football for the last 10 years," Franklin talks Dillon Gabriel
The Nittany Lions on Saturday will be the NCAA's No. 2 passing leader all-time in Dillon Gabriel. The veteran quarterback has been around the block a few times now, spending time at UCF, Oklahoma, and now Oregon. On Wednesday, James Franklin talked a bit about what Gabriel brings to the table.
You know, it seemed like been playing football like the last 10 years," Franklin said on Gabriel. "He's just so poised and relaxed and watch him play. He just looks so relaxed and looks so posied. You're not going to give him a lot that he hasn't seen before and he's surrounded with really good talent,'" he added.
"The running backs are really good. The tight end is a really good player, the receivers are dynamic, so you know he's put himself in in really good situations. He's played a ton of football. You got an experienced quarterback, their player caller does a really good job of getting people in space and he looks very comfortable and relaxed. Because of that, he's thrown for very high percentage. You very rarely ever see him get rattled, and he's throwing the guys that that can make plays for. So it's a combination of skill, it's a combination of scheme and it's a combination of the guys that he has around him .
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