Takeaways from James Franklin’s weekly press conference

James Franklin wrapped up Penn State’s 21-19 win over Iowa and looked ahead to Saturday’s game against Indiana at his Tuesday press conference.

He discussed Tommy Stevens, Will Fries and more:

Givens in a new spot

Frankin said “one of the better coaching decisions” his staff made last week was deciding to use defensive tackle Kevin Givens at defensive end. It was a move orchestrated by Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry and defensive line coach Sean Spencer, and it worked pretty well.

Givens — a 6-foot-1, 287-pounder — provided a thicker body setting the edge against Iowa’s power running game. The Nittany Lions coaches like their depth at defensive end but using options like Yetur Gross-Matos (248 pounds) and Shaka Toney (233 pounds) didn’t make sense on Saturday.

Givens played 18 of 47 snaps — all at defensive end — while Gross-Matos and Toney recorded only one and eight snaps, respectively, per 247 Sports.

“Are you going to put a young, inexperienced, maybe slightly undersized guy out there, or are you going to take one of your D-tackles who started out at defensive, and now you’ve got a 285-pound defensive end at the point of attack, when we all know they want to run the ball,” Franklin said. “I think that’s kind of one of the storylines (behind) the scenes that went into our success in that game.”

Franklin said he’d consider using Givens at defensive end again if it fit the game plan.

Franklin likes Fries

Left tackle Ryan Bates thought redshirt freshman Will Fries “held his own” manning right tackle against the Hawkeyes — and his coach agreed.

Fries, who’s primarily Bates’ backup at the blind side, hopped in at right tackle in Iowa City when grad senior Andrew Nelson struggled. The fifth-year 305-pounder let up a strip sack in the third quarter, and Franklin said it wasn’t an “ideal situation” having Fries play that much at Kinnick.

“Did he play perfect? No. Is there areas that he can get better? Yes, there’s no doubt about it,” the coach added. “But actually I think long-term, this is going to pay dividends for him and for us, just having another guy that’s been in there in the heat of the battle in a very, very tough situation.”

Stevens’ time

Backup quarterback Tommy Stevens has scored three touchdowns in Penn State’s last two home games: Will the Indiana native find the end zone against the Hoosiers?

Maybe — he’s scored several times thanks to quirky packages.

But that’s not Stevens’ future at Penn State. After Trace McSorley leaves his mark, Franklin intimated that Stevens could be the guy in Happy Valley.

“We’ve just got to keep developing Tommy,” Franklin said. “We have so much confidence in him and so much faith in him and want to keep him involved in the game plan.

“I think he sees kind of how this thing is evolving and how it’s going. When his opportunity is going to come, you know, I’m not sure. But based on how he’s handling everything, I know he’s going to be ready when it comes.”

QB sneak? Nope

In case anyone needs a refresher course, Penn State will not have a quarterback sneak play or any package that involves a fullback and being under center.

Under offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, it’s never going to happen.

Even with Penn State’s early red zone struggles at Iowa.

“No,” Franklin said when asked if it’d be a possibility. “No.”

Keegan-Franklin Key

Franklin addressed actor and comedian Keegan-Michael Key’s College Gameday impersonation after the Nittany Lions’ win on Saturday, saying he received “100 nasty messages” from people who thought it was him.

“That was not me,” Franklin said tongue-in-cheek, referring to Key’s viral response to WFAN’s Mike Francesa. “It’s somewhat ridiculous I have to say that.”

Well, turns out Franklin knows someone who thought it was actually him: Pry’s mother.

“I’ll tell you a funny story,” Franklin said Tuesday, when asked about Pry. “Brent told me that his mom thought that Keegan was me. And I’ve known her for 35 years.”

This story was originally published September 26, 2017 at 7:56 PM with the headline "Takeaways from James Franklin’s weekly press conference."