Penn State Football
James Franklin Postgame Press Conference
At Nebraska – November 14, 2020
Opening statement
First of all, like always, I give Nebraska a lot of credit. I thought they played a consistent game for four quarters which isn't what we did. We came out, got down by 21 in the first half. Turnovers continue to be a problem, not only turnovers but turnovers for touchdowns, red zone touchdowns. We've got to be better in the passing game. I thought we got our running game going today, not only the traditional running game with the running back, but also with the quarterback. But again, the turnovers hurt us. I thought Will [Levis] did some really good things. But we've got to be more detailed in the passing game and we've got to be better in the red zone on offense. Some of those balls we've just got to make, put them in a position where our guys have a chance to go get it. But that's kind of the story is the turnovers continue to be an issue for us and we've got to get it resolved and resolved quickly. I thought what we did in the second half was obviously good and we've to build on that, so a lot of work to do.
Q: What made you decide to go to Will [Levis]? How did you evaluate his performance? And is that his job now? Or is that going to continue to be evaluated between him and Sean [Clifford]?
A: Yeah, we're not going to name a starting quarterback right after a game before discussing it as a staff and before evaluating the tape, watching the tape and all those types of things. But yeah, where we're at in that game, again, with the turnovers, and with what's gone on in the season so far, we had to make that change. And I thought Will did some really good things coming in for us. So obviously, that'll be discussion all week long and I know we'll talk about it later in the week.
Q: You mentioned the red zone issues, particularly the last two possessions. What didn't you like about those two possessions from your standpoint?
A: Red-zone offense is about running the ball and being detailed in the passing game. All the windows are shrunk down, so it magnifies. It magnifies if you're good in the red zone passing offense and it magnifies if you've got some things to work on. And we just we didn't make enough plays. We didn't put the ball in a position where our guy had a legitimate chance to get it or you're going to get the PI. So, we've got to clean those things up. We were able to move the ball today, but too many times in the red zone where we didn't come away with points.
Q: What would you say about the running game? Particularly [Keyvone] Lee especially seemed to really get off today.
A: Yeah, I thought, again, it was just traditional running game. We were able to get that going today. We moved Will Fries to guard and had Caedan [Wallace] at tackle and I thought that helped us. I think we can build on that. But I thought a bunch of those young guys - Keyvone Lee, Caziah Holmes - both did some good things. Devyn Ford did some good things and then obviously Will was able to make some plays with his legs. But we were more physical up front. we were more consistent up front. And again, you look at the stats, the stats kind of tell a different story than how the game came out, again, because of the turnovers.
Q: You've been outscored 93-26 in the first half. I know you mentioned the turnovers [are] up this season. Can you put your finger on anything else? Because that's just a huge disparity, it would seem it would be more than just the turnovers that are leading to that.
A: Yeah, I think early on, it was the turnovers and the lack of the running game. But, in my opinion, it's turnovers. It's hard to get into a rhythm. It's hard to get a groove. It's hard to call when you don't have the confidence that you're not going to turn the ball over. So, the running game is going to help us. We need to continue to detail the passing game.
Q: Your defense has surrendered 11 scoring drives in the last three first halves. What do you think that's attributed to, the slow starts defensively? And where you're searching for most from that defense to take a step forward?
A: If you look back at us in general, opening drives is an area that needed to get better. That's something that I know me and Coach Pry talked about in the offseason, opening drives and people having a script against us. We've typically done that since we've been here, where would have been able to kind of get everybody adjusted, calmed down and get idea what they're trying to do and go from there. Obviously this year, it's made things even more challenging. I thought, today, we were able to get some sacks in the second half and some turnovers, which is another area that we haven't done a good enough job. We haven't been creating big plays on the defensive side of the ball either with the turnovers. So not only do you have the offense turning the ball over, but us not getting enough of them on defense. It's not it's not a winning combination.
Q: I know you said you won't name a starting quarterback right now, but just to see Will Levis play the way he did down the stretch, how much does that inspire confidence for your team moving forward?
A: I think there's no doubt about it. He went in and gave us a spark. He made plays in the passing game. I thought he did a good job managing the game overall. And he made some good throws. So we're going to have to build on that, there's no doubt about it. He was fairly efficient, but we need to be a little bit more consistent in the details and the things that we're doing. But yeah, I think he definitely gave us the spark and gives us something to build on for sure.
Q: One issue the program has had for a number of years is the slow starts in the first half. Are there things that you guys look at internally, that aren't just about one game or one series or one opponent, but just things that you're doing in these first halves to get off to slow starts?
I think I guess it's hard for me to say that because for the last four years we've been pretty successful. This year, obviously, we're not making enough plays and we're not playing winning football when it comes to turnovers and it's been it's been challenging to overcome. But you know we've played a winning brand of football here for four years.
Q: Going off the number about being outscored in the first half, how would you evaluate the job that Brent Pry has done during these four games with this defense?
A: All of us, the head coach, and every assistant and every person in the program, obviously we're not doing a good enough job. That that's all of us. And it starts with me. That starts with me. And I think all of us in every single area can be better and we've all got to do our jobs. But I also know, over not only the last seven years here at Penn State, but over the last 10 years, we've played pretty good defense around here.
Q: I know there's some strange circumstances in this season unlike any other, but do you perceive any difference in this team compared to all your others in the way they get off at the start of the game, especially the defense – tackling, effort - compared to other teams?
A: We're not tackling well enough. We're not consistent in our tackling. I do know, over the last four years, that's always been a conversation that we want to tackle better. But obviously, this year with the results, it magnifies everything, all of your issues are magnified, there's no doubt about it. I think the biggest thing for us, in my opinion, defensively, is getting people off schedule and creating turnovers on the defensive side of the ball, tackles for losses and sacks and things like that, which we have not been able to do. But yeah, we're not tackling well. And that that's been a discussion from the beginning of the season until now.
Q: James, you didn't have very many penalties in the game, but two of them that were impactful were the personal foul penalty that came before the Nebraska touchdown and the other one was the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that almost took you out of field goal range. What do you have to say about the penalties where the guys weren't really too disciplined?
A: I don't know if I would say that about the one. The one was a tackle. A lot of times I feel like things are late and I'm our worst critic. I didn't necessarily feel that way on that play. I thought that's one of those that they wouldn't call. It wasn't, to me, blatant, where it's a discipline issue. The other one, we've got to get corrected. All the little extra stuff after every single play. That's got to get corrected. We've been we've been talking about it for three years.