Penn State football’s James Franklin during Michigan week: ‘A win would be good’

The Penn State football team’s Senior Day this Saturday at noon in Beaver Stadium is loaded with meaning.

“This Senior Day is probably more important than many that I’ve been around,” said head coach James Franklin on Tuesday afternoon. “What these seniors have done for the program is so dramatic. These seniors, in four to five years, have been through what many programs go through in 20 years.

“You can list it out: Five different head coaches in 27 months. You can think about the sanctions, you think about the bowl, you think about the loss of coaches, you think about the loss of personnel and teammates, you just think about everything these guys have been through, and they’re kind of the glue that kept this program together, the glue and the foundation that stood strong when Penn State needed them the most.”

Nineteen players will be honored, including starters Anthony Zettel, Carl Nassib, Trevor Williams, Kyle Carter, Angelo Mangiro and Jordan Lucas.

But, the fact that No. 14 Michigan will be the opponent that day, according to Franklin, is not as impactful — at least, the ranking of the opponent doesn’t seem to have any influence over the head coach.

“A win would be good,” he said. “We like wins. A win would be awesome. Sundays are much better. Mondays are much better…

“Fans, media, everybody else tells stories, and I get that. That’s part of it. I understand that. For us, it’s just another opportunity to play together. Another opportunity to get a win. I think the thing that kind of makes this a little bit different is it being the last time these guys are going to run out in Beaver Stadium. I think that’s probably the biggest difference.”

Franklin has said before, including during the week prior to a loss at Northwestern, that he doesn’t believe in the idea of signature wins, and in turn, the significance of beating a ranked opponent is not an internal discussion.

He has beaten just one ranked opponent in 11 tries since his head coaching career began at Vanderbilt in 2011, and it came over a then-No. 15 Georgia in 2013.

Still, a chance to go undefeated at home by capping the streak at Beaver Stadium with a win over a ranked team and much-lauded head coach?

“Again, we don’t make one win or one game out different than others,” he said. “I know other people do. We want to be 1-0 this week. I know perception is a powerful thing because it’s that person’s reality of how they see situations and how they see things...We want to be 1-0 this week.”

It might mean a little more to some of his players, though.

Zettel is a native of Michigan, and not only played in the quadruple-overtime win over Michigan in 2013, but will also walk onto his home field for the last time to face the Wolverines on Saturday.

“It would mean everything,” Zettel said emphatically on Tuesday afternoon. “Coming from Michigan, I kind of have a little, I’m not saying hate, but just a little competition factor. … I think, just from being a competitive person, I always want to go home with that win. Not for bragging rights, but just kind of for everybody to know we beat them.

“Penn State’s a huge program. So are they. So, two big programs clashing, going to war, it’s going to be a memorable game.”

By the Bye

Franklin said the team accomplished many of its goals during the bye week, despite a “battle” he went through as a coach when considering what to emphasize.

“As a coach, you want to run as many plays full-speed, technique, fundamentals, some of the combination blocks and the banging, and the feeding blocks. … There’s part of you that thinks that is the right thing to do, and then there’s the part of you that is looking down the table at your trainer, and what he thinks you should be doing, and (strength coach Dwight) Galt, and what he thinks you should be doing, and all the coaches…”

The head coach said the team knows they’re still a little short-handed, thus the time off for true rest was important ( “Probably more important than at other programs, and has been for the last four years”), and he feels good about the modifications and rest his players did get.

“I thought we got a lot done,” he said. “We still need a lot of reps, but I thought we made the right choice.”

Extra rest, he said, was helpful for freshman running back Saquon Barkley, who suffered an ankle injury in the first half of Penn State’s game against San Diego State early in the season, and missed the two games after.

“I would say he’s still been productive and still playing well, but he’s not 100 percent,” said Franklin. “I think the bye week for him was probably, like a number of our guys, very important to get him closer back to 100 percent as he possibly can be.”

The team will continue to modify practice this week, with pads and helmets on Tuesday afternoon, but just helmets on Wednesday before settling into walk-throughs.

Explosive plays affect run defense

From starting the season as one of the nation’s best units against the run, Penn State has plummeted to No. 47 in the FBS.

It started with a combined 900 yards of offense given up to Ohio State and Maryland, and more recently continued with a Northwestern offensive unit that put up 227 yards on the ground against the Nittany Lions.

Franklin thinks that the reason for that is the allowance of explosive plays (defined by 15 or more yards per play) on the ground.

“You’re going to get a run against you for eight yards or 12 yards,” he said. “You can’t have the runs for 35 and 45. Those kill you. They obviously swing field position, they swing momentum, and that’s what we’re not doing a great job of.”

That, in turn, he said, is due to sometimes-poor execution of the ample shifts and rotations the team has utilitzed all over the back tiers of the defense this season — the linebacker unit and the secondary.

Part of that has been filling in players due to a string of injuries that have either sidelined players for the year or for even a few games at a time. Other blame can be placed on a regression of fundamentals; missed tackles and the like.

“That’s just as easy as a guy who’s coming up from the second level or the third level that doesn’t fit correctly, and now all of a sudden, instead of tackling the guy for a 12-yard gain, it now goes for 35. That’s what we haven’t done a great job of this year at times is giving up big plays in the run game.”

Franklin said he and defensive coordinator Bob Shoop have gone over five years of film, and the explosive plays are what has stood out to them the most.

“We looked at it from every angle...It’s not like we’re seeing or facing different schemes,” he said. “It’s about that second level, the linebackers, and the third level of the defensive backs, making sure they get the guy on the ground and that our fits are correct.”

Jim versus James: Round 1

Franklin and Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh have never coached against each other.

In fact, they’ve hardly even ever spoken to each other.

“Obviously, you see guys on the road recruiting,” said Franklin. “You see guys at coaching conventions. Obviously, I interact with him at the Big Ten head coaches meetings and things like that. Not a whole lot more than that.

“I know a lot of people that have worked for him at Stanford or in the NFL, guys that I know personally or have coached with or things like that. … But not a large amount of time.”

The Michigan head coach spoke at his weekly press conference on Monday. According to reports from beat writers at mlive.com, Harbaugh was brief in his synopsis of the Nittany Lions, but did call Penn State “a formidable task.”

Quotable: “I try to keep my emotions more on the inside. Try not to cry too much even though I cry at some movies. King Kong is the saddest movie ever, at the end,” said Zettel, on whether he’d be emotional on Senior Day.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Penn State football’s James Franklin during Michigan week: ‘A win would be good’."