Northwestern's David Braun Invites Penn State Back to Ryan Field
Penn State doesn't have a Big Ten future football schedule yet, but Northwestern coach David Braun already is inviting the Nittany Lions and coach James Franklin back to Ryan Field. Following Penn State's 41-13 victory over the Wildcats on Saturday, Braun responded to Franklin's comments about practicing without music during certain periods to prepare for a quieter environment in Evanston.
"Do we know when Penn State returns to Evanston, to Ryan Field?" Braun, Northwestern's interim head coach, said during his postgame press conference. "... I look forward to inviting coach Franklin and Penn State back into Ryan Field and seeing what type of environment we can create for him next time he's here."
Last week Franklin said that Penn State conducted a practice period without music to simulate the atmosphere at Ryan Field, which has the smallest average attendance among Big Ten venues. The announced crowd of 25,064 was the smallest Penn State has played before since 2005, when it rallied to defeat Northwestern 34-29 at Ryan Field. A week before this trip to Northwestern, Penn State hosted an announced crowd of 110,830 for the White Out, the nation's largest attendance so far this season.
"Just being very honest about what it’s going to be like," Franklin told reporters after practice last Wednesday in State College. "These guys are 2-0 at home. If you look at Northwestern, they've typically had good home records. Why? Because it can be challenging to play there. They're used to the environment. Other people may not be. It's going to be very different than what we played in last week, so just being transparent and honest. Are we internally motivated or are we externally motivated? But for me to act like it's not a factor, it is."
On his weekly radio show last Thursday, Franklin expanded on the subject when asked about preparing for Northwestern.
"I hope this is coming off with total respect, because I do have a ton of respect for Northwestern, the university and the football program," Franklin said on the Penn State Coaches Show. "They're 2-0 [at home] at the moment. It's a challenging place to play. It's a very different environment and, let's be honest, there's very few places like State College and Happy Valley with 110,000 [fans]. So that's a challenge for us in general. But it will be magnified. They've obviously had some challenges in the offseason. I think their head coach, coach [David] Braun, has done a really good job of steadying the ship. That win that they had last week against Minnesota, where they were down 21 points in the fourth quarter but came back and won, that's hard to do under normal circumstances. They've done a great job, and we're going to have to be prepared to play.
"But to your point, I do think it's fair, and we've been very honest with the players. You're going to go from a White Out, maybe the best environment in all of sports let alone college football, to a stadium and to an environment where I think they're averaging 17,000 fans this year. So it is going to be very different, and that's not a knock and that's not disrespect. It is what it is. It's the reality of the situation, and I want to be upfront and honest and prepare our players for it, because on top of that, it's an 11 a.m. kick, so there's a lot of things that can make that challenging."
Northwestern took the first lead against Penn State this season and was tied 10-10 at halftime. The Lions outscored the Wildcats 31-3 in the second half, including a 17-0 third quarter to take control of the game. Braun said that "no one on the outside expected us to win this football game for many reasons," adding that "we expected to." Braun also described an "energized" crowd at Ryan Field.
"I’ll tell you what: I saw a student section, maybe not right there at 11 o’clock but as the game went on, I saw a student section that started to show up," Braun said in his postgame press conference. "I saw a group of energized fans in that first half and I see a football program that’s trending in the right direction. New stadium on the way, a lot of awesome stuff to get behind."
More on Penn State
Where is Penn State headed after its 5-0 start?
The Penn State-Northwestern report card
Penn State 41, Northwestern 13: Breakdown from Evanston
Takeaways from Penn State's 41-13 win over Northwestern
An Ivy League kicker embraces his new role at Penn State
Why the Lions' defense feels 'unstoppable'
AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.
