Sept. 15, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" Head coach James Franklin addressed the media on Tuesday to preview Penn State's Big Ten opener against Rutgers.
The Nittany Lions (1-1, 0-0) and Scarlet Knights (1-1, 0-0) will play the first Big Ten game of 2015 at 8 p.m. (BTN) inside Beaver Stadium on Saturday, continuing a string of five straight weeks of home football in Happy Valley. Franklin reviewed Penn State's 27-13 win over Buffalo and looked ahead to the contest under the lights slated for Saturday during his weekly meeting with the press.
As he does each week, Franklin opened the press conference with remarks about the previous game before shifting focus towards Rutgers. He was very positive about the growth the Nittany Lion offense made from week one to week two. After allowing 10 sacks in the opener, the offensive line turned in consistent outing in the victory over Buffalo on Saturday.
"No sacks whatsoever. Quarterback only got hit two times out of 67 plays I think was the number," said Franklin. "Rushed for over 200 yards, which was significant for us. Had seven explosive plays, six of which were runs. Real positive there."
Communication was a big point of emphasis last week, and senior center Angelo Mangiro noted that with better verbal recognition before each snap, the Lions executed at a much higher level against Buffalo. The mindset remains the same this week as the Lions prepare for the Big Ten opener.
"We wanted to wear on Buffalo. Some of those two-yard, three-yard runs, started popping up to six, seven, eight, then you saw some of those big runs in the third and fourth quarter," said Mangiro. "That was kind of our mindset. We were able to execute that. Hopefully we can continue that this week. We're going to go out to practice this afternoon, get after it."
Defensively, the line again turned in a stout performance in the trenches, spearheading an effort that totaled seven tackles for loss and six sacks. Coach Franklin has gone to great lengths talking about senior defensive end Carl Nassib, who is off to a stellar start to 2015. But the unit's depth has been the key to Penn State's relentless pursuit up front. The defense ranks No. 2 in the nation in tackles for loss and No. 8 in sacks.
Youth continues to be a big part of Penn State's depth chart on both sides of the ball and on special teams. Redshirt freshman Troy Reeder was one of 16 freshmen who played on Saturday. Reeder started for the first time in his career and notched seven tackles in the victory. He lined up alongside senior Von Walker and sophomore Jason Cabinda, who started at middle linebacker for the first time in his career.
"Jason is playing really well," said Franklin. "He's very mature. He's leading very well. I think Jason has a chance to be really good... In the last couple weeks [Reeder has] really come on strong... I'm real pleased with him. I think that's two young guys, a true sophomore and a redshirt freshman linebacker that is able to provide depth and experience for years to come in play-making ability."
For the second-straight season, the Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights will officially open the Big Ten football season. Penn State and Rutgers scheduled a non-conference home-and-home series prior to Rutgers joining the Big Ten. The conference scheduling kept the original dates for the series, and the two schools open one week earlier than the rest of the league. Additionally, this marks the second straight year the two schools are competing under the lights. Like last year, the Nittany Lions are expecting a physical game on Saturday.
"Every football game, especially college football, it's very physical. I think having teams like Penn State and Rutgers go up against each other, it's always a battle," said Cabinda. "That's always a battle up front and being physical."
The staff and players are anticipating an electric atmosphere under the lights.
"Should be a great environment here," said Franklin. "Really, really excited about the stripe out. The white out here has been embraced here for a long time, been a cool thing. We take a lot of pride in our colors, blue and white. What a better way to show that than stripe the stadium out, show that. This could be another tradition at Penn State that people get really excited bout and have fun with. It's going to look great on TV on the Big Ten TV network."
The Nittany Lions will practice in pads on Tuesday and Wednesday before the final game week session on Thursday. Saturday's Big Ten opener will kick at 8 p.m. on BTN.
Press Conference Notes:
- Coach Franklin spoke about senior linebacker Von Walker and his team-first attitude.
"I love Von. I think you know that. You've heard me talk about him over and over and over again. He came in as a running back. He's returned punts. He's played safety, linebacker. He's kind of done it all. He's earned a scholarship. But more importantly, he's earned the respect of everybody in our program. I made a big deal out of him on Sunday with our team, in our team meeting, on the Power Point. Talked about being a leader on this team. A lot of time the offensive guys focus on the offense, and the defensive guys focus on the defense, and special teams guys in their own areas. Von I think did a great job of not only playing on defense and playing on special teams but also coming down to the offensive side of the ball, being real energetic and positive with those guys."
- Coach Franklin on the Rutgers defense.
"I think we're going to see a similar game plan as last year, similar game plan that we saw against Temple. I think you're going to see cover two to help with the young corners they're playing. I think you're going to see load the box, blitz, try to cause confusion with our offensive line. I think it's going to be those two things. It's going to be coverage, cover two, protect the corners, or protect the corners by blitzing like crazy to try to get the ball out of the quarterback's hand quickly."
- Jason Cabinda on why he came to Penn State.
"One of the biggest reasons I came here was because this is Linebacker U, Paul Posluszny, Dan Connor, Glenn Carson, NaVorro (Bowman), LaVar Arrington. There are so many guys in this long line of guys that came here and did so well. I think that definitely played a big part in my recruitment as well."