What Penn State’s James Franklin said about Oregon ahead of the Big Ten championship game
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Big Ten championship game
Penn State is headed to Indianapolis to take on Oregon for the Big Ten title. Read below for everything you need to know before the game.
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Penn State head coach James Franklin spoke to the media Wednesday night, just a few days before his Nittany Lions take on the Oregon Ducks in the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis.
Here’s everything Franklin said about the Ducks and the matchup.
On both Penn State and Oregon playing Ohio State
“When you have similar opponents, those games are valuable because you’ve got perspective on both teams and both opponents. Their game came down to a few critical plays, a couple of them on special teams. Joe Lorig was with us and is now the special teams coordinator at Oregon and has done a nice job. ... Both offenses were able to move the ball and make plays. The thing that really kind of stands out when we look at Oregon is you want to stay out — like everybody does — but you want to stay out of obvious passing situations. You want to stay ahead of the sticks. Starting fast against this type of team is going to be really important. We’re gonna have to play well for four quarters. You look at them statistically, as well as on film, they’ve been a dominant football team all year long. The Ohio State film was good for us. That was a close, competitive game for us and for them.”
On Oregon’s size and speed
“They’re talented. They’ve done a really good job of recruiting and developing. They have size and speed and athleticism. They’ve done a good job of using it. They got some guys that are somewhat unusual in terms of their measurables for the position they play, specifically at defensive end. Got a ton of respect for their nose guard as well. I think that’s what everybody’s trying to do, right? You’re trying to get as many big athletes as you possibly can. We’ve talked about this in the past. On offense, you’re trying to create space. On defense, you’re trying to take space away. How do you do that? You can do that with size in terms of weight and being sturdy and not allow people to get any movement on you. You can do it with size in terms of length and taking up space on the field. And then you can do it with speed, in terms of being able to close space down as quick as you possibly can.
“When you can have a combination of all those traits, then that it makes for a very, very challenging opponent. And that’s what they’ve been able to do against most of the teams that they played, and for us, we’re going to have to be aware. There’s certain players that we need to be aware of, just like they need to be aware of (defensive end) Abdul (Carter) right? There’s certain players you better have a plan for, or they can make the game even more challenging than it needs to be. So we spent a ton of time on that, but we’re gonna have to go execute the plan against a really good team. And as you also know, if you’re giving extra help on a defensive end, yes, that helps solve one of the problems that you have at defensive end, but then it also exposes you in other areas. So that’s kind of the the chess match, right? You’re you’re trying to solve one problem, and it does, but it also allows you, or creates you being susceptible in other areas.”
On Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel
“The thing that stands out about him, it seems like he’s been playing college football for the last 10 years, and he’s just so poised and relaxed. You watch him play, he just looks so relaxed. He looks so poised. You’re not going to give him a whole lot that he hasn’t seen before. And he’s surrounded with really good talent. The running backs are really good. The tight end is a really good player. The receivers are dynamic. So he’s put himself in really good situations where he’s played a ton of football. You got an experienced quarterback, their play caller does a really good job of getting people in space, and he looks very comfortable and relaxed. And because of that, he’s thrown for a very high percentage. You very rarely ever see him get rattled, and he’s throwing the guys that can make plays for him. 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, plus experience.”
On challenge of playing a team it hasn’t played
“I think the good thing is they’re in the same situation. We’ve got to see them a decent amount in crossover games. ... Kind of follow what they’re doing, because they’re doing some really nice things on offense, defense and special teams. But it really just came down to a normal game week, probably very similar to what we’ve faced in terms of UCLA, USC, and Washington — new opponents that we don’t have a whole lot of familiarity with. At least with them, you could do a little bit of summer studies and things like that, but at the end of the day, we got a week to get ready for these guys. We’re maximizing that time, and I’ve been pleased so far with how the players and the staff have handled it.”
This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 8:31 PM.
