What James Franklin Said Before the Penn State-Oregon Game

The Nittany Lions coach previews the Ducks' visit to Beaver Stadium at his weekly press conference.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin walks around the field prior to the game against the FIU Panthers at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State coach James Franklin was in a chatty moody Monday at his weekly press conference before the Nittany Lions host the Oregon Ducks. Franklin talked for more than 40 minutes on a variety of subjects, including the Ducks, the forthcoming "White Out," running back Nicholas Singleton and more.

Here's a look at what Franklin discussed during the media session. Penn State hosts Oregon on Saturday in the annual "White Out" at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

RELATED: James Franklin issues a challenge to Penn State fans for the White Out

Franklin on his view of the Ducks

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin during the second quarter against the FIU Panthers at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

I've got a tremendous amount of respect for what [Dan Lanning has] been able to do and for the Oregon football program and university as a whole. It's been impressive to actually watch what they have been able to do in a short period of time, number of different coaches, and with tremendous support. So it's been impressive. Obviously Dan has a defensive background with his time as the defensive coordinator at Georgia. Small-school guy that worked his way up, which I got a ton of respect for.

We were able to get some film, obviously of Montana State, Oklahoma State, Northwestern, and Oregon State. I know being on the road, me and [quarterbacks coach] Danny O'Brien were just talking about we were hoping that Oregon State game was as competitive for as long as possible so that we would have as much film to watch, so that turned out to be a positive as well.

On the Oregon offense

Oregon Ducks tight end Kenyon Sadiq (18) makes a touchdown reception vs. Oregon State Beavers defensive back Tyrice Ivy Jr. (12). | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Obviously they got a bunch of talented players. I think the tight end [Kenyon Sadiq] really makes them go. You know, obviously with what we were able to do with Tyler Warren last year, they're getting that out of their tight end position. He's a match up problem in the pass game. He's physical in the run game. Extremely explosive.

Mainly 11 personnel team, but they'll go 12 personnel, too. Dante Moore, a young man we recruited the heck out of out of Detroit, Michigan, was a five-star recruit and I think was a No. 1 quarterback in the country. Went to UCLA, transferred there sat behind last year and now is playing really good football. No surprise there.

Their running back [Jayden Limar] is very productive, very physical. Been impressed with him.
And then obviously No. 1, their wide receiver, Dakorien Moore, who obviously we're very aware of. True freshmen, playing at a high level. Quick, explosive, very, very good ball skills.

On how Oregon's offense is different with quarterback Dante Moore

Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore prepares to throw a pass vs. the Oregon State Beavers. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

I don't think it's a whole lot different. He's a throw-first guy, very accurate, can extend plays. Obviously has a ton of playmakers around him. They both [Moore and former quarterback DIllon Gabriel] had the ability to extend plays. I would say that Dante runs a little bit more than maybe they had in the past.

But the other guy was a really good athlete as well. So I think it's still very similar. I think Dante sitting behind that guy for a year was really valuable for his development. It also shows a tremendous maturity of that kid. Five-star recruit. Could have gone anywhere and he would've pretty much been the starting quarterback the day he stepped on campus, and chose UCLA. Didn't redshirt his freshman year, so that became his redshirt year. It's been a real positive for him and them.

On Penn State's wide receivers rotation for the Oregon game

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receivers Kyron Hudson (1) and Trebor Peña (8) celebrate a touchdown vs. the Nevada Wolf Pack at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

We feel the same. Although you guys have not seen a whole lot of Tyseer Denmark and Koby Howard, it's not because we don't have confidence in those guys. We wanted to make sure we built the chemistry with our starters. Again, now we're in a situation just like I talked about with the defense that we need to make sure that our guys are on the field for as many reps as possible with tap opportunities to guys that back them up that we have confidence in.

Yeah, nothing has really changed. Maybe your question is based on perception; it's not that we don't feel like those guys can come in and contribute. It's more we've been using a rotation at wide receiver very similar to what we're talking about doing with the other positions in this game.

On whether Penn State held back plays for Oregon

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar looks to throw a pass during the third quarter against the Villanova Wildcats at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

I think that's one of those long-term kind of questions, right? Are you saving things? I don't know if saving is the idea, but you've done some offseason studies where there is certain things you worked on during training camp that you're planning on using against certain opponents.

Are there some things you could have used early in the season but didn't feel like you needed to? Yeah. I think that's always the case. It's not like offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators, head coaches you're going into a game saying, we're going to be conservative in this game. It's not that. Or vanilla.

It's, okay, this is what we need to do in this game to win, to score points, to stop people scoring. It's all about the matchup and the opponent that you have there. But I guess it just depends on your lens. Do you call everything in every game? No, you don't. Obviously. It's impossible to do.

So there are packages and things that you're going to see in the Oregon game that you didn't see in the Villanova game. Some things you saw in that game you didn't see in the FIU game and Nevada and so on and so forth. I guess the answer is a little bit of both, right? But it's not because we're taking the approach to be vanilla or conservative. It's based on what you think have to do in that game to be successful.

James Franklin on the environment he wants for the White Out. Urban Meyer gets a shout out from James.#PennState #NittanyLions pic.twitter.com/vnYKi2dMWl

— Andrew Kalista (@KalistaAndrew) September 22, 2025