Notebook: Penn State football’s James Franklin updates status of Blue-White Game, QBs and more
Penn State football started spring practice Monday, but how it ends remains up in the air. There are still “conversations to work through” about the status of the Blue-White Game, according to Penn State head coach James Franklin.
“I think there’s some discussions, right now, going on with that at the university level with our administration as well as the administration on campus in Old Main and just making sure we’re all on the same page,” he said Monday afternoon during his first press conference of spring practice. “I think for us, our entire focus is on what can we do to best position us for next year.”
The game is held annually as the Nittany Lions’ 15th and final spring practice as a scrimmage open to the public. It was not held last year after spring ball was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its status remains up in the air for the same reason. Although, Franklin said, a resolution could be coming on the matter “sooner rather than later.”
Regardless of whether or not the game happens, Penn State will still hold plenty of scrimmages this spring. Franklin said the team will scrimmage when the team practices on Fridays and Saturdays as it prepares for the 2021 season, a season Franklin expects to look more familiar than the 2020 season.
“We want to try to be able to get back as close to normal as we possibly can for next season,” he said. “I think a lot of things are trending in that direction nationally as well as within our state. That’s kind of our focus.”
And while the Blue-White Game has its benefits, one of the drawbacks is that it’s more about fanfare than actual practice.
Not having the game could potentially allow the team to get more work in than it usually would.
“A final practice or final scrimmage, however you want to put it, a lot of times those things in such a public setting like that are pretty vanilla,” Franklin said. “This would allow us to have a true 15th practice where we’re putting everything out there from an evaluation standpoint, as well.”
Transfer portal an option at QB
New offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich will get his first live look at his quarterbacks this spring, but there won’t be many to get his eyes on. The Nittany Lions’ offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach only has three scholarship quarterbacks to work with, which is less than ideal, according to Franklin.
“You’d like to be at five scholarship quarterbacks all the time,” he said. “I think you can get away with four. Three gets a little dicey.”
The lack of scholarship options could lead to more additions to the QB room before the season begins. The Nittany Lions have returning starter Sean Clifford — a redshirt junior — to go with redshirt freshman Ta’Quan Roberson and true freshman Christian Veilleux.
Any addition could serve the purpose of adding depth, but could also come in to provide competition.
“There’s some opportunities, as well, for us to still kind of look into the transfer market from a competition standpoint, from a depth standpoint and from a lot of different perspectives,” Franklin said. “But it’s got to be the right fit and it’s got to make sense from a lot of different levels.”
Adding a quarterback could provide competition for Clifford as the starter, but the option remains for Roberson to take a step forward and force his way into the picture. The possibility exists for him — or any other backup at a given position — to earn snaps with the starters this spring.
“We want to get all of those (quarterbacks) reps,” Franklin said. “It’s all going to be based on how practice goes. If somebody puts themselves in a position to earn more reps, with whatever group it is, then we’ll look at that. But right now we just want those guys all to go out there and have a chance to get better and build their own confidence, but also build the confidence of the coaching staff and their teammates that they’re ready when their number is called. But we’ll see how that plays out.”
Young Nittany Lions experience first spring practice
The Nittany Lions will begin spring ball with an abundance of players who have yet to experience it — and even some coaches. That could bring issues with understanding routines and how the practices are operated, requiring more of a focus on communication and coordination.
“It’s kind of strange that we have some staff members that have been here going on two years and this is their first spring ball,” Franklin said. “Same thing with some players with their first spring ball. ... We’ve just got to make sure we go through everything in detail so we’re all on the same page about expectations and standards.”
While the team is young, it’s not inexperienced. The team’s offense was littered with freshman playmakers last season who were able to make a massive impact in their first year on campus. Many of those players will now have to take the next step in their development as they continue to grow in their roles on and off the field.
“I think we broke a school record last year, if you take a percentage of offense that was attributed to freshmen,” Franklin said. “So we’ve got to continue to build on that. Obviously, there was a lot of things that went into last season that affected that. ... We need to benefit from that experience this year.”
Part of the next step is using this spring to grow as players and figuring out where they need to go from here. None of the true freshmen who contributed last year have had a taste of spring practice. This will be their first opportunity to self-evaluate without the pressure of a looming season to focus on.
“It’s going to be interesting to watch these guys take the next step this spring ball,” Franklin said. “And then be able to get feedback from their coaches as well as me about what they need to do over the summer to continue to progress and grow.”
Open spots along offensive line
One of Penn State’s most important position groups — outside of quarterback — will be offensive line. The unit lost three contributors from last season in Michal Menet, Will Fries and C.J. Thorpe and will have to replace all three in some capacity. The immediate attention should go to finding a replacement for Menet — the team’s former starting center — and Fries — who flipped between tackle and guard last year.
Luckily for the Nittany Lions, they have plenty of options to replace any lost snaps along the interior.
The team has veterans in redshirt juniors Anthony Whigan, Mike Miranda and Desmond Holmes and redshirt sophomore Juice Scruggs who can play inside, and young players like redshirt freshman Saleem Wormley and freshman Nick Dawkins who can contribute as well.
Franklin said he expects to the group to battle for the vacant snaps left behind by last year’s rotation linemen.
“We’ve got a good group of guys in there,” Franklin said. “Different experience level, different eligibility, but we’ve got, I think, a pretty healthy group of names in there to come in and compete this spring and try to give us a little bit clearer picture. ... It should be exciting.”
Quick Hitters
- Zuriah Fisher moved from linebacker to defensive end, a position Franklin said the team thought the move could be in the cards when Penn State recruited him.
- Franklin’s family has returned from Florida, where his wife and two daughters stayed during the pandemic. He is, however, still staying in the apartment above his garage out of an abundance of caution because one of his daughters is at a higher risk for COVID-19 complications.
- Franklin didn’t mention new men’s basketball head coach Micah Shrewsberry by name, but said he’d be happy to help with the transition to State College, just as others — like Russ Rose, Erica Dambach and Cael Sanderson — have done for him.
- Noah Cain could potentially get some work in during the latter half of spring practice, according to Franklin. The running back suffered an injury on the team’s season-opening drive against Indiana.
