What James Franklin said before Penn State’s College Football Playoff game matchup with SMU
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Penn State has clinched a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time since its inception in 2014. Find all of our coverage here as the Nittany Lions look for a path to a potential national title.
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Penn State is only a few days out from its first-ever College Football Playoff game and the Nittany Lions continued their preparation with a practice Wednesday evening. Head coach James Franklin spoke to the media following the practice and discussed the upcoming matchup.
Here’s everything he said about the Mustangs, PSU’s backup quarterback and more.
On how Ethan Grunkemeyer has done taking over as the backup quarterback
“Good. Ethan will be the backup quarterback in the game. (Jaxon) Smolik still isn’t cleared medically. Grunk has done a really good job and put himself in this position. We have a lot of confidence in him and he’s getting a ton of reps this week. ... (Smolik) has been cleared for practice but not competition.”
On facing a running back who used to be a wide receiver
“I wouldn’t say that (there’s an added challenge) other than the fact that they’re pretty purposeful in terms of their plan to try to get him involved as much as they possibly can in the pass game. There’s other running backs we have faced that have also done that, but he’s very comfortable doing it and has been very effective.”
On the team’s transfer portal additions prior to the season
“Those guys have been great. I think that’s the thing for us, is we want to be very selective and strategic about who we bring in and what their role is going to be, and why. And to me, we look at it from from a lot of different levels. Is this a good opportunity for them, and does it also make sense for us and our roster? So try to take all those things into account. Obviously, the success that we’ve had makes us attractive to a lot of young men out there that want to play at this level and want to play these types of games. And then being able to have guys like Tyler Warren and Abdul Carter and so on and so forth that are up for awards and All Americans and things like that, those things help too. So it’s an attractive option, but we’re very strategic about who we who we get involved with, and who we bring in.”
On WR Omari Evans’ production
“We want to get all these guys involved in the offense and based on the coverage and what the defense gives us, that’s going to determine guys, one week have a big game, and other weeks maybe not as big of an impact. You can’t get everybody the ball as much as we would like to. We expect him to have a big week this week, and we’ll see how it plays out. But obviously we’d love for all those guys to be able to have an impact in the game. But planning is one thing. What actually happens in the game is another.”
On who SMU QB Kevin Jennings compares to that they’ve played this year
“Lamar. We haven’t played the Baltimore Ravens, but that’s that’s who he reminds me of. Athletic, can extend plays, can make big plays, does a really good job of keeping his eyes down the field. I think that’s his style of play. I don’t know if we have anybody else that we have played this year that’s similar to him, but his game really reminds me a lot of Lamar Jackson.”
On the offensive line’s improvement
“I thought we had a challenge last week, and the guys did a great job stepping up to that. And we’re gonna need to do that again on Saturday. Us being able to go and get a guy like (offensive tackle Nolan) Rucci back, who we’ve known for a very long time, and to be able to get him to be part of the program that was big. Really big for us right now, doing a tremendous job. And he just continues to seem to get more and more confident, more and more comfortable each week. So that’s, that’s going to be an important match up in this game.”
On if LB Keon Wylie will contribute down the stretch
“Yes, he could. But at this stage not fully cleared for game reps.”
On preparing for SMU’s tempo
“We’ve been doing tempo periods the last couple days, good on good. Because as much as we do it with the scout teams and those things are fine, it’s not the same as going good on good. So we’ve done that full speed every day, against our offense and against our defense. Tempo periods, with the plays that we run, but similar concepts that they run, that that serve the purpose and allow our defense to get to get what they need.”
On safety Jaylen Reed sharing that he was in a car accident last week and his status
“Well, what I would first like is for us not to share all of our business on social media, so that this is even a discussion. But at the end of the day, I’m glad J-Reed is safe and healthy. Some ways, I look at all these guys like my sons. I got a very close relationship with J-Reed and his mom. So most important thing is he’s healthy. And I don’t mean just for football, he’s healthy and good. That’s the most important thing. And then obviously we sure are glad that he’s full go and no issues.”
On the differences between a College Football Playoff home game and a regular home game
“Obviously it’s in Beaver Stadium but one of the things I think is really important, is the students. Our students make a huge difference for us. And obviously being after finals and things like that makes it a little bit challenging. So that’s a little bit of a concern. And then obviously it’s a home game for us, but the College Football Playoff pretty much runs everything else. So it will not feel like it normally feels to us playing a home game in Beaver Stadium. But overall, in general, we’re glad and fortunate to be home, so we’ll take it. This is the structure that exists, and we’re going to embrace it and move forward.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2024 at 8:16 PM.
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