Penn State coach James Franklin radio show recap: 3 key takeaways
Penn State head coach James Franklin once again held his weekly radio show Thursday evening as the Nittany Lions continue their preparations to host Villanova Saturday at noon at Beaver Stadium.
Joining host Steve Jones and a crowd at The Field restaurant in State College, Franklin took questions from fans in the audience as Penn State gears up for a traditionally strong Villanova program at the FCS level this weekend while aiming to find additional benefits from the game
Here's a look at three of the key takeaways from Franklin's appearance:
1) Focal points
At this juncture, the Nittany Lions feeling good following Saturday night’s 28-20 win against Auburn, Franklin has repeatedly touched on his optimism about the team’s standing and future.
That doesn’t mean, however, that Penn State’s head coach isn’t still seeking improvement.
Asked Thursday night about the major points of emphasis this week in practice for his Nittany Lions, the veteran coach pointed to two specific areas that have taken precedence for necessary improvements.
“We emphasized (the running game) a little bit more this week in practice. That’s an area I think we can get better and need to get better,” Franklin said. “Going against Wisconsin and Auburn, I think that’s the two things that they do well. So the stats are a little bit skewed there but in general, we need to get better in the running game on offense.”
Continuing, Franklin also touched on the team-wide issue that has sent the Nittany Lions down something of an uncharacteristic path this season.
“I think we’ve gotta clean up some of the penalties. We’re not having a bunch of them,” he said. “And I actually am a believer that you should have a few penalties a game. I’m OK with the aggressive penalties. It’s the pre-snap and post-snap penalties.
“We’ve been one of the more disciplined teams in college football for a while, so I just want to make sure that we get some of those things cleaned up so we’re not giving away free yards.”
Through three games, Penn State is tied for 51st nationally in the fewest penalties per game at 6.00 with a significant 58.67 yards per game surrendered via penalties (tied-79th).
Column: Fulfilling team objectives, Nittany Lions unbothered by run numbers
Penn State football offensive line notebook: Run game, Tengwall, plus more
2) One more dunk
Franklin wasn’t finished with his thoughts on penalties.
And, with a friendly crowd listening, he took advantage of the opportunity to get in one more shot.
Coming off a Saturday night performance in which the head coach has expressed his frustration as diplomatically as possible, the Nittany Lions hit with three intentional penalties, two defensive penalties, and one glaring miscount on a standard set of downs, Franklin had a final message to send regarding the SEC officiating crew.
“I think we have Big Ten officials this week, so, I don’t know if I ever would have said this before, but thank God.”
3) Bryce Effner's availability
With one of the highest graded performances among all of Penn State’s offensive players, lineman Bryce Effner has made the most of his 38 reps this season.
The Nittany Lions’ redshirt junior did not, however, see action in the program’s first win of the season in Wisconsin and against Auburn last weekend, Effner appeared exclusively at left guard with 17 snaps there according to PFF.
Thursday night, Franklin explained what to expect of Effner's potential contributions this game and what's next for the 6-foot-5, 305-pound versatile lineman.
“I’m really pleased with Bryce and I’m really hoping that he’ll have an opportunity on Saturday to get some more reps,” Franklin said. “We kind of view him as a starter for us. He’s also a guy that’s showing the flexibility to be able to play both tackle and guard.
“He did get dinged up a little bit last week so we weren’t sure. But he’s practiced really well this week so he’ll be available to go on Saturday. And we need him to get some more significant time at both tackle and guard because we do think he’s got a chance to really help us not only this year but in our future.”
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