What James Franklin said about the Rose Bowl vs Utah

James Franklin says he has a lot of respect for Utah as they are a gritty team that finds ways to win.

Opening Statement: "Truly appreciate the opportunity. Obviously, the history and the tradition of the Rose Bowl.

Speaks for itself. We had a phenomenal experience last time we were involved. Our players and staff could not be more excited about making the trip again.

Obviously, got a ton of respect for the University of Utah, their history, their tradition, and Coach has done a phenomenal job there. I was able to watch their game the other night, and what a great game for college football. They played so well and really played well all season long.

We're just getting started with the breakdowns and trying to kind of understand who they are. It's one thing to watch the game on TV as somewhat of a fan. It's another thing to study them and break them down.

Really good football team, coached extremely well, an experienced, gutsy quarterback who's a competitor, and this is going to be a great game.

I think there's obviously some really cool facts. The fact that Penn State has played every Pac-12 school except for Utah, it's not too often in 2022 that you're able to do things for the first time ever, so that's really cool.

Then for Penn State, we played in this game 100 years ago, so really, really excited about this opportunity. 

There's a ton of cool facts and things about it, but at the end of the day we've got to go out, represent the Big Ten well, and play well for our Penn State community."

Question: Is the Rose Bowl more inviting for players opposed to opting out?

James Franklin: "For Penn State specifically, obviously, in my 12 years as a head coach, I've never had an opt-out until last year, and I think that's a challenge across college football right now. I think that's why there's a lot of conversations going on about expansion and things like that.

Obviously the Rose Bowl, whether you're a coach or whether you're a fan or whether you're a player, the Rose Bowl holds a special place in a lot of people's perspective.

I think obviously playing in that type of game on that type of stage and against an opponent like Utah, I think it helps.

We expect that almost the entirety of our team will play and compete, but that is a challenge in general for college football right now."

Question: Obviously Sean has been through a lot in his time at Penn State; what does it mean to you as his coach to have him end his college career on a stage like this?

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Sean Clifford (14) looks to throw a pass during the third quarter against the Michigan State Spartans at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Michigan State 35-16.

Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports

James Franklin: Yeah, I'm happy for him. I'm happy for the whole senior class. Kyle has been through it, as well, with COVID and everything else that these guys have experienced throughout their career. It's been different.

Sean is just a guy, he's really represented our university and our football program the right way, both on and off the field, in his entire career, and he's been doing it for a long time. I'm going to check the picture of that Rose Bowl played 100 years ago and make sure Sean isn't in it because he's been playing football at Penn State for a long time. He's maximized that entire experience. He's maximized it as a student, as a student-athlete. He's going to go on and be a very, very successful businessman after his football career is done, and he's done it the right way and he's done it with class.

I'm happy for him. I'm proud of him. And I know he's going to prepare like crazy to go out and play the best he possibly can against a really tough opponent."

Question: What are your thoughts on this game as it may be the last traditional Big Ten vs Pac-12 Matchup?

James Franklin: "You know, obviously, again, when you talk about the college landscape, it has changed. I think your point is a good one. We're going to be looking at a very different model here moving forward.

Yeah, I think there's some history when you talk about the traditional Big Ten-Pac-12 match-ups, and specifically when it comes to the Rose Bowl and the significance of the Rose Bowl on both of our conferences for as long as you can remember.

We understand the importance of that, the magnitude of that. But again, at the end of the day, we've just got to do everything we possibly can to prepare and play well against a really good opponent."

Question: What was your first impression when you learned the matchup would be against Utah?

Question: What was your first impression when you learned the matchup would be against Penn State?

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports.

James Franklin: "Yeah, for us at Penn State, obviously you look at the University of Utah and the success that they've had under Kyle's leadership, to me it was exciting.

Then right away I started to think about when has Penn State played Utah from a historical perspective, and found out obviously this is the first time playing each other, so I thought that was something that was, I think, really cool and exciting for our fan base and for our players, as well.

Then after just watching them play here recently, tough, hard-nosed, disciplined, gritty team that finds ways to win all different ways. I've got a ton of respect for what they do and how they do it, and it's going to be a tremendous challenge. That's kind of the first thing I thought of when I heard who the matchup was against."

Question: Sean has meant so much to the program throughout his time there, but this year you bring in two freshman backs who were outstanding. How much does it help your offense to have that kind of balance and have two players who can run the ball so effectively?

James Franklin: "I think the balance that we were able to operate with this year on the offensive side of the ball I think was obviously a big part of our success, really as a team, offense, defense and special teams, to be able to sustain drives and make big plays. It's unusual to do it with a freshman, let alone two true freshmen. But both of them complemented each other really well, and we were able to not only run the ball but I think it created more explosive plays for us. Our play action pass game, as well, you mix a little RPO in there, as well, too, I think it's been really good.

I think it allowed Sean to really kind of operate our offense from a run game perspective in terms of how he IDs the front and sets up our blocking schemes, and same thing in pass protection, and allowed us maybe in some down-and-distance situations, which were traditional throwing downs, to be able to run the ball a little bit more.

I think it's really helped our offense. It's helped our quarterback. I think it's helped our offensive line. Those guys have been big-time players for us all year long, and we're going to need them at the Rose Bowl obviously, too."

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