WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The words came 8 minutes and 38 seconds into a post-game press conference after James Franklin had already done it all here at Ross-Ade Stadium.
Thanked the fans and his players’ families. Praised Purdue. Deflated questions about road wins.
Simultaneously answered a question while wiping his sweaty bald head with a big ‘ole white Gatorade towel.
Managed the back entrance of the interview room to cut down the ambient noise.
Shared his juice box story.
Said he didn’t like calling his 6-2 squad a second-half team.
(But hey, since it had just hung 45 on Purdue in the final two quarters and given its 17 fourth-quarter points vs. Ohio State, 26 second-half points vs. Minnesota and 25 second-half points vs. Pitt, why not?)
“I don’t want to say we’re a second-half team, because we’re trying to change,” said Franklin, now 8-1 over the past two Octobers. “We’ve done a better job of that recently. But today it helped us coming in and telling the guys, ‘Look: Don’t worry, stick to the plan. We’re a second-half team and we’re going to come out and make some adjustments.’”
He didn’t want to admit it, but it was true. A 167-to-81 margin this season in the second half true.
But that wasn’t the most telling statement of the day.
Instead, it came on the third-to-last answer of the steamy presser. Franklin had yet to comment on Saquon Barkley’s 18-carry, 207-yard day that featured a TD run of 81 yards that gave him 888 yards in the year. (But he would: “…He’s one of the better running backs in college football.”)
SAY SAY THE SECRET WORD
Franklin had addressed almost everything else. Except this, and it came near the end of the 11 minutes and 19 seconds he spoke with 80-some media types crammed in a tiny, East Hall dorm-sized press room:
“You guys have heard me say this enough, that we’re a young team,” Franklin acknowledged. “But we’re a young team and we’re handling things well. Hi Saquon…”
Barkley appeared in the back. Franklin continued.
“…But we’re handling things well,” said Franklin, now 20-14 at Penn State. “Maturing every day. Maturing every single game. We still can get a lot better. We really can.”
There it was. Better than this? Whiting Out No. 2 Ohio State, then scoring 45 in a half? Really? Really.
4 FOR OCTOBER
Penn State is on a legitimate roll, winning four in a row – including an OT win over Minnesota, a blasting of rival/non-rival Maryland, an upset of No. 2 Ohio State and the avoidance of a trap game at Purdue in explosive fashion.
A near-tsunami of injuries has subsided, although usual starters Parker Cothren (DT) and DeAndre Thompkins (WR) didn’t play on Saturday. The linebacking corps is now – get this — deeper than ever. Quarterback Trace McSorley hasn’t committed a turnover in 16 quarters. Barkley has had two 200-yard games in 15 days.
Penn State will go bowling for the third straight season – three post-season contests that 53 months seemed like a NCAA-mandated impossibility.
At 6-2, the Nittany Lions are off to their best start since 2011.
Youth is being served: Wide receiver Juwan Johnson and defensive Robert Windsor were first-time starters on Saturday, giving the Nittany Lions 16 of those for the season.
The next four opponents – Iowa (5-3), Indiana (4-4), Rutgers (2-6) and Michigan State (2-6) — all appear to be beatable.
Penn State is ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press Top 25, and in the rankings for the second consecutive week for the first time in five seasons. (They also broke into the Coaches Poll on Sunday, at No. 23.)
There’s an aura and perhaps a new era of good feelings in the Nittany Lions locker room, says team captain Brian Gaia: “We have confidence in what our coaches are going to do. And the coaches have confidence in us, so it goes back and forth. … It’s a great meld right now, with the player-coaches relationship.”
So, three new hires and a promotion on the assistant coaching staff seem to have worked out.
What were once vices are now good habits along the Penn State offensive line, exemplified by the performances of Gaia, who switched from guard to shot-gunning center in the off-season; Brendan Mahon, who switched from right tackle and left guard to left tackle in the off-season and from left tackle to right tackle after Andrew Nelson was injured against Maryland; right tackle Paris Palmer, who has returned from exile; and youngsters Ryan Bates (redshirt freshman) and Connor McGovern (true freshman).
#THERE’SMORE
The James Franklin-branded #WhiteOutX2 – trademark and patent pending, with #1.4k retweets and #1.7k likes, and counting, according to Franklin’s Twitter page – is slated for 7:30 p.m. this Saturday against Iowa in Beaver Stadium.
The hot seat is down to a chilly 38 degrees.
And, as Franklin himself has now said, “We still can get a lot better.”
Fire up the bandwagon: Those high expectations are back.
