Penn State Emerges From Bye Week With Positive Injury Report
Penn State emerged from the bye week "in a pretty good place" regarding team health, which coach James Franklin wants to extend beyond that to the program's biggest game of the season so far.
"The reality is we need to be in a good place going into this game [against Massachusetts] and we need to be in a good place coming out of this game as well," Franklin said Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
The Lions, who host UMass on Saturday at Beaver Stadium, left the Northwestern game with some injury concerns, notably on offense. Left guard JB Nelson and running back Kaytron Allen left the games with injuries in the first half and did not return. Allen participated in the open portion of Penn State practice last week. Franklin did not address Nelson's injury specifically other than to say that it wasn't season-ending. Otherwise, Franklin said the Lions began this week on relatively good injury terms. That becomes even more important as the Lions visit Ohio State next week.
"In terms of health, I think we're in pretty good place from the things that we talked about in terms of the number of reps our guys have had in games, the number of guys we're playing. I think we're in a pretty good place from that perspective," Franklin said. "I mean, obviously you'd always love to be totally healthy, and we're not that, but I think we're in a pretty good place."
One player whose return would help significantly is receiver Harrison "Trey" Wallace. Though he was listed as questionable at Northwestern, Wallace did not play after re-aggravating an injury that caused him to miss the game. Wallace, who ranks second among receivers with 10 catches, has not started since the Delaware game.
"I think getting Trey back is a huge piece of that puzzle," Franklin said of the receivers. "I think it helps KeAndre [Lambert-Smith], I think it helps Drew [Allar], I think it helps our team, I think it helps our offense, I think it helps Coach [Mike] Yurcich in calling the game. But I think that will really help us having those two guys both on the field at the same time."
Drew Allar's Turnover-Free Start
Franklin didn't want to tempt fate by discussing Allar's turnover-free start to his career. The quarterback has yet to throw an interception in 218 career passing attempts, including 158 this season. He also has not lost a fumble, recovering his own against Northwestern. Franklin tiptoed around the topic but did praise Allar's mastery of the offense that allows him to play under control.
"I don't want to talk about it a whole lot, to be honest with you," Franklin said. "But yeah, he's doing a really good job from a decision-making perspective. I think from an accuracy perspective, with an understanding of the offense — one of the things I thought was most exciting in the last game was his ability — [Yurcich's] ability to call shots down the field, and if the underneath coverage sinks, taking check-downs. That's extremely valuable as a play caller when you have a quarterback that will allow you to call shots, not force the ball down the field and take the back as a check-down, and still I think in some of those create explosive plays. So I think all those things kind of factor into it."
What Makes James Franklin Uncomfortable?
Though Allar has completed one pass longer than 40 yards this season, Franklin wanted to consider taking deep shots specifically to boost the quarterback's confidence even less than he wanted think about turnovers. A reporter asked Franklin whether he or Yurcich would call a deep pass "to get [Allar] some confidence in doing this." Franklin's response? A resounding no. To the transcript:
Franklin: I don't really understand what you're saying because we would never — like my skin is curling when you say, just drop back and chuck it deep no matter what. I don't know what you're saying. It's like you're speaking from Mars.
Q: Post pattern, take the shot, throw it, give your...
Franklin: No matter what.
Q: .... Receiver a chance to make a play on a ball, even if he might be covered 30 yards down the field, maybe you think he'll be open 40 yards down the field like [Chris] Godwin or with Jahan [Dotson] or KJ [Hamler]...
Franklin: Still, you're speaking Japanese. We have never done that, just throw the ball up and maybe he'll be open and maybe he'll catch it. Like my skin is like, you're making my uncomfortable. I don't know what you're talking about. We would not do that. We would never do that. We've never thought about doing that, as a head coach, as an offensive coordinator, as a receivers coach — when I coached the receivers I didn't want them to do that.
So no. No. Strong no. Like yeah, no. I'm hoping we can cut this out so this doesn't even get out into the universe.
James Franklin's Recruiting Calendar
The Penn State coach visited five states on a four-day recruiting tour over the bye weekend. The Lions had Friday and Saturday off before returning to practice Sunday.
"I think I started in Connecticut, then went to North Carolina, then went to Florida, then went to New Jersey, then went to Massachusetts, if I'm remembering that correctly," Franklin said. "Got a ton of work in recruiting done, so that was valuable, and so did the rest of the staff."
Notably, Franklin also mentioned that staff expansion over the years has allowed for more analysts to work on "other projects." Ohio State prep certainly was one of them.
Penn State coach James Franklin (left) and assistant coach Ja'Juan Seider (right) meet with athletic department officials at Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Oct. 6.
Thomas Cordy/USA Today Sports
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