What Penn State coach James Franklin is saying
Some views from Penn State's coach on Saquon Barkley returning kickoffs, the changing styles of offense, and on Great Valley High School graduate Ryan Buchholz.
Here are some highlights from Penn State football coach James Franklin's weekly Tuesday teleconference:
On why Saquon Barkley returned the second-half kickoff with Penn State leading 35-0:
"We had it scheduled that he was going to return the first kick of the game. We didn't get a first kick of the game until the second half. I know everybody keeps talking about that they felt the game was in hand. Well, if anybody watched college football this weekend, I don't know if you necessarily could say that. But I'm very comfortable with that, and we'll continue to do that."
On Pitt return man Quadree Henderson, from Wilmington:
"In my opinion, he is the issue in the game. He's the guy that you go into the game and you say, 'Who's the guy that could be a game-changer or a game-wrecker,' however you want to describe it. He's that guy, so we have to have a plan for him to limit the impact that he'll have in this game."
On Penn State defensive end Ryan Buchholz, from Great Valley High School:
"He's a massive human being in every area, 6-foot-6, 275 pounds, carries it really well. He's a very, very good athlete, a fluid athlete. He's flexible. He can change directions. He's a guy that can do a lot of things for you."
On the Penn State program, then and now:
"I do think there's an aspect to every fan base and probably every media group that covers historic programs like Penn State. They're comparing things to years ago, which is wonderful, and we have the ability to do that. But the game really has changed in so many different ways, and that's where I think our challenge with the small number of schools like us is, how do you continue to embrace the history and traditions with also moving forward to today's football?"
On modern offenses in college football:
"Before it was, like, if you had 400 yards of [total] offense, that was crazy, where now, that number is probably 600. So it has changed. There's no doubt about it. And because there's so much diversity, you can go from defending the option one week to next week defending a pro-style offense where they're going to try to hammer you. Then you go to the next week where you may not see a tight end or fullback for four weeks running the spread."
[Franklin tries to downplay revenge factor this week against Pitt]
On some things in the Akron win that need to be improved:
"We've got to create more turnovers on defense and we've got to finish tackles. We had a lot of guys that had positions for really good tackles, tackles for a loss or minimum-gain tackles, and kind of slipped through our fingers, so we've got to be more consistent. Overall, I thought special teams were good but I'd also make the argument on some of those other punt returns, our effort wasn't as good as it was on the touchdown" by DeAndre Thompkins.