James Franklin: ‘The progress is there’

James Franklin sat in front of a room of local media on Tuesday afternoon, for his last presser of this year’s regular season, and to his credit, he answered every question.

He was asked, after a season that showed successful touchdown drives from within the red zone on eight of 11 attempts, why he was left with three field goals in a loss to Michigan last week.

“We need to be much more physical on the offensive and at tight end,” he said. “There were times where we did not win those match-ups, too many times that we were getting knocked back in the backfield…Got to score touchdowns and not kick field goals in the red zone. That goes hand in hand with my initial statement of being able to run the ball and be physical.”

The physicality he’d hoped for all season was not there on Saturday, he added, and the physicality of Michigan’s big, experienced defensive line didn’t help matters much.

It did, however, seem to sum up Penn State’s season well.

“That was the biggest difference,” said Franklin. “If you look, to me, our season, the games that our D-line has had an advantage over their O-line or the games that our O-line has been able to battle and be scrappy with the opposing D-lines, we’ve been successful. The games that have been out of whack, we’ve struggled.

“You know, that’s something that we’ve been talking about for two years, and we’re headed in the right direction but not as quickly as everybody would like, including me.”

That was the biggest talking point — the progress; or seeming lack thereof, the Nittany Lions have displayed on offense as the season has taken its course.

Penn State is second-to-last in the country on third down, No. 111 in the country in total offense, and scores on average just 4.4 more points per game than it did last season, despite returners in all major positions, a second-year staff, and the addition of freshman running back Saquon Barkley in the ground game. At an average of 338 per game, the team attains three yards per game more than last season.

The offensive line has given up 36 sacks through 11 games, though not so many as the 10 allowed in the season-opening loss to Temple. Hackenberg has thrown just three picks this season, as opposed to 15 last. Penn State averages a Big Ten 12th-worst 136 rushing yards per game; though last season averaged a conference-worst 101 yards per game.

Penn State was 2-5 in the conference by this time last year, and 6-5 overall.

“I think we have improved,” said Franklin. “Again, you look at our conference record (4-3), it’s better right now. You look at some of the things we’ve been able to do on offense, defense, and special teams. You look at times we’ve done some nice things, so I think we have improved. We have more wins right now than we did at this time last year, so there is progress being made.

“Is it to the degree that everybody wants it to be, including myself? No. No, it’s not. Is it the pace that everybody wants it to be? No, it’s not. But there is progress being made. Our O-line has improved from the beginning of the year. Our O-line has improved from last year.

“So I would make the argument that we have, but those conversations, like I said in the beginning of the year, was not going to be solved overnight, and there are options out there.”

Franklin is also very aware of the criticism toward and questioning of his staff — especially offensive coordinator John Donovan, offensive line coach Herb Hand and special teams/running backs coach Charles Huff.

But when asked whether he felt confident he had the right personnel to work through these issues, Franklin was vague, and elected to push focus onto upcoming opponent No. 6 Michigan State.

“Let me say this,” he said, voice rising a bit. “I am just aware of our challenges, and more so than anybody else that’s looking at it. I know on offense we have some challenges that we need to get cleaned up. I know on defense we’ve got some challenges we need to get cleaned up. I know on special teams we’ve got some challenges we need to get cleaned up… There’s a lot of areas, and there is nobody that’s taking a harder, more detailed look than me.

“But besides that, right now, our focus is on doing everything we possibly can to prepare for Michigan State. Any other discussions, any other conversations, I don’t see how they help us get ready to beat Michigan State.”

The pace and price of Paris Palmer’s progress

Franklin said that while he would like to see his team moving along faster than the rate at which they currently are, the staff essentially chose this route instead of what he called the “quick fixes” of plugging in junior college transfers at each position as needed.

“Are there quick fixes? No doubt about it,” he said. “That first year we could have went out and signed 15 junior college players. This year could have went out and signed 15 junior college players. But I don’t think myself or the administration or our fans really want to do it that way. We want to do it for the long haul. Once you start doing that, then it’s almost you have to commit to continuing to do that because your turnover happens every year or two.”

But in the case of left tackle Paris Palmer, the quick fix was necessary according to Franklin. Palmer was the top-ranked JuCo prospect at the position in the nation, but has thus far not shown the development and ability to protect at the level required of him — last week, he was pulled for Andrew Nelson against Michigan as the game progressed, re-entering only to load the line on a goal-line rush attempt that ultimately failed.

“There’s a difference between going out and filling a specific hole or going out and signing five or 10 or 12 junior college players,” said Franklin. “And now you get into a situation where you almost have to do that every year because the turnover happens so much in your program. So yeah, we’re going to look at junior college from time to time, but we’re going to build this program with high school prospects, and high school prospects when they’re 17, 18 years old takes time.”

Franklin said he building a roster of four-year players has taken patience from himself and his staff; and thinks the community has understood the developmental process required.

Right now, Penn State is playing about a 7-man rotation on the offensive line instead of a true two-deep, which would be helpful when spelling players or switching roles where some struggle. Franklin has not deemed the younger linemen ready to compete at the level required of them, quite yet.

“When you’ve got it rolling, your O-line and D-line is redshirt sophomores, redshirt juniors and redshirt seniors in the two-deep that are rotating in and playing at a high level,” said Franklin. “So I’ve mentioned this before, that that’s a position that it’s hard to solve it overnight. You look at our D-line, why is our D-line playing at a high level? Because we have depth and experience at that position.”

Banged up before Sparty

As Penn State prepares to take on Michigan State this weekend in East Lansing, Franklin said he doesn’t think he’s seen a group of players nursing physical issues as his current roster is in his year and a half with the program.

“We’re banged up right now this week probably more so than we’ve been in a long time,” he said.

Offensive lineman Andrew Nelson is still recuperating from an “ongoing issue” that’s sent him back and forth to and from the sideline for the last month, tight ends Mike Gesicki and Brent Wilkerson were seen last week with their shoulders heavily taped in ice, senior safety Jordan Lucas is out for the rest of the season and starting defensive end Carl Nassib sat all but two snaps last weekend after it was decided by staff he was not healthy enough to play.

“That’s shown up as the season has gone on, but probably more so this week than really in the year and a half we’ve been here,” said Franklin.

Not ideal for the Nittany Lions, as the importance of the week heightens. Penn State has the opportunity to spoil the Spartans’ chances at a Big Ten East title with a win; and even without it, the team wants to end the regular season on a high note.

“Trust me, we’re playing for a lot,” said Franklin. “We played for a lot (last) Saturday. A lot of people live and die Penn State football, and it’s very, very important to them, so trust me, my staff and our players feel like we’re playing for a lot on Saturday and feel like that every single Saturday.”

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 5:23 PM with the headline "James Franklin: ‘The progress is there’."