What James Franklin Said About West Virginia

Tuesday afternoon, Penn State head football coach James Franklin previewed Saturday's season opener against West Virginia. Below, you'll find a few quotes pertaining to the matchup.

Respect for Neal Brown

"I got a ton of respect for Neal and his background as an offensive coordinator and as a head coach. From what I understand Neal will be calling the plays this year which is really his background."

Playing WVU

"Obviously, this is a regional game which makes sense. I know college football has gotten away from the regional-type games and the regional conferences. But I think it makes sense for both schools from a travel perspective as well."

General thoughts on WVU

"They return 16 starters. They ended the year with a really good win on the road at Oklahoma State, which is a tough place to play. Got a bunch of transfers and a receiver named Devin Carter that they got that we were involved with in that process as well. They got some offensive linemen that we recruited heavily and didn't get those young men to come to Penn State. They're playing well up front."

General thoughts on WVU's offense

"They're predominantly an 11 personnel, all spread team, RPO-based offense. If you look at specifically what they do best, at least from last year is the red zone. They were first in the Big 12 and 12th overall in FBS. And then fourth down conversions, they were 68%. They were first in the Big 12 and 10th nationally. So I would anticipate in this type of game that they're going to go for it on fourth down. That's something they have confidence in doing and I think that's going to play a factor in this game."

"Obviously Garrett Greene, the quarterback, who I would anticipate is going to be the starter in this game, that'll be a big storyline. Got a ton of respect for the running back CJ Donaldson which has kind of an interesting story who came in there as a tight end and got moved to running back and played very well for them."

General thoughts on WVU's defense

"Six returning starters. The middle linebacker number one [Lee Kpogba]...extremely, extremely productive. He's an impressive player and has made a ton of plays for them. The safety, Aubrey Burks, the defensive end Jared Bartlett, and then another young man that we recruited number 91, Sean Martin, is a very productive defensive lineman that we're very familiar with."

WVU's special teams unit

"Five starters. They're really the complete opposite of us. They've got everybody back. Long snapper, punter, kicker, return men - they're all back. Experienced in that area. Preston Fox the punt returner, he was third in the Big 12 and 24th nationally in punt return so that'll be a challenge. And then they have an Australian punter in Oliver Straw who has the ability to do the variety of Australian style kicks that can be challenging and problematic."

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