Oct. 6, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" Head coach James Franklin addressed the media on Tuesday to preview Penn State's Homecoming contest against Indiana.
The Nittany Lions (4-1, 1-0) and Hoosiers (4-1, 0-1) will meet at 12 p.m. (ESPN2) inside Beaver Stadium on Saturday, finishing off a streak of five straight weeks of home football in Happy Valley. Franklin reviewed Penn State's 20-14 win over Army and looked ahead to the second Big Ten game on the schedule.
Another superb outing from the Nittany Lion defense fueled Penn State past Army last week. The Lions had three sacks against the Black Knights, despite Army only dropping back to pass fewer than five times. Penn State's ability to play in the backfield will again be a focal point on Saturday against an Indiana team that has only allowed three sacks thus far in 2015.
"We could improve our tackling. That's an area that we need to do a better job of," said Franklin. "...We have to do a better job of that, but overall doing really good, we're second in the nation with sacks, with 21 sacks, we're third in the nation with tackles for a loss at 46, which I think is going to be really important this week because they've only given up three sacks."
The Nittany Lions have averaged 4.20 sacks per game and accounted for a loss of 186 yards in 2015 thanks to the 21 sacks. Keeping Indiana's offense off balance will be something to watch. Indiana averages 84.4 offensive plays per game.
Turnovers will also play a big role in Saturday's Big Ten tilt. Penn State and Indiana enter the game as two of the best teams in the nation in turnover margin. Indiana is ranked fifth in the nation (+1.80) and Penn State is seventh (+1.60). Taking care of the ball will be a big point of emphasis for both teams, and it's been a big key to success during the first five games. The two teams have lost just five total turnovers this season.
"I think the turnovers have been huge, probably, in my opinion, I don't think it's gotten enough attention as it should, especially the conditions of the games that we have played in," said Franklin. "I think that's been really, really important for us and we've done a good job of that and we have to continue doing that."
Offensively, Penn State wants to be successful limiting mistakes, running the football and making big plays in the passing game when they present themselves. Wide receiver Chris Godwin has been at the forefront of the chunk plays in the passing game down the field. Godwin's ability to make tough plays in traffic can also play a big role in helping the offense on third down.
"We gotta improve on third down. That's gonna be with protection, contested catches, which actually Chris Godwin has done an unbelievable job of," said Franklin. "I know we have had discussions in here about creating separation. You can do one of two things. You can create separation, which is very, very important, we're going to continue working on that, or be able to catch contested catches, and Chris does a great job with that."
Indiana is 4-1 coming into the game. All five of its contests were decided by one touchdown or less. The Hoosiers are no strangers to close games, and Franklin and the staff have taken note of how IU has been successful in crunch time.
"They found a way to win. Last week they played Ohio State very, very well in a closely contested game," Franklin said. "Kevin Wilson in his fifth season. One of the things Kevin has been talking about and stuff that I've read and seen is probably for the first time since they've been there, they are big and physical on both fronts. They feel like they have the depth and the size and the talent that they have been looking for since they got there, and that shows up."
The Nittany Lions will practice in pads on Tuesday and Wednesday before the final game week session on Thursday. Saturday's game will kick at noon on ESPN2.
Press Conference Notes:
- Coach Franklin announced that Nick Scott (Offense), Jason Cabinda (Defense) and Manny Bowen (Special Teams) were the internal players of the week.
- Coach Franklin on safety Troy Apke's impact on defense and special teams...
"I would like to make a big deal out of Troy Apke. Troy took every single snap on defense and every single snap on special teams. As a second year player he is really starting to have a big impact on our team and on our roster, and we're really happy he's with us. I didn't even realize that until we watched the tape and graded everybody, but that's who Troy is. He's said about 12 words since he's been here, and he just goes out and does his job."
- Coach Franklin on defensive end Carl Nassib...
"First of all you look at him, he's an impressive guy in terms of his height, weight, arm length, things like that, his physical testing numbers have been good, I wouldn't say freakish but they have been really good. But really what probably makes Carl special is he's somewhat odd. He's a different guy. I talk about it all the time, because I like this. I like that different odd, peculiar way that he has in terms of how driven and how motivated and how intense and how focused he always is."