On Tuesday afternoon, Penn State head coach James Franklin held his weekly press conference to recap the Nittany Lions' game from the week prior, this time a 41-17 loss to Michigan as well as to discuss the Nittany Lions' upcoming opponent, the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Here are the notables;
All quotes are courtesy of the Penn State football communications team.
Opening remarks on Minnesota:
Franklin opened up his press conference with high remarks for a few Gophers and coaching staff members.
On PJ Fleck:
"Moving on to Minnesota with PJ Fleck and the University of Minnesota. I've known PJ for a long time. PJ, actually when I was at Vanderbilt, came and visited, when I first got to Penn State, came and visited, so I knew him before both of us were in the Big Ten. Obviously, followed his career closely."
OC Kirk Ciarocca:
"Offensively, Kirk Ciarrocca, a ton of history there not only coming from the state of Pennsylvania, but also had been on our staff for a period of time. Kirk has done a great job. He has had a great career and is back, obviously, doing a really good job with their offense."
DC Joe Rossi:
"Defensive coordinator is also a Pennsylvania guy, Joe Rossi. I know Joe, got a ton of respect for what he does. He's from Pittsburgh and has done a really good job in taking over the defense there and improving it year-by-year."
On standout players:
"Guys that jump out to us, the running back is a really good player, Mohamed Ibrahim. His sixth year there. He’s from Baltimore and Good Counsel High School and has had as productive a college career as there is. They’ve got a massive tight end, No. 88 in Spann-Ford. Their quarterback is also another six-year guy, and him and Kirk have worked extremely well together. Then their center is on every award watched list there is and he's another six-year guy as well. "
Regarding QB Sean Clifford:
James Franklin has a very strict policy when it comes to discussing injuries. Franklin will only disclose injuries if they are season-ending. Much like the Gophers, Penn State saw sixth-year quarterback Sean Clifford leave last week's game against Michigan with an undisclosed injury. Thanks to Franklin's policy, we know Clifford's season isn't over but in the same regard, it's unclear if he's available on Saturday for the Nittany Lions. If Clifford can't go, the Nittany Lions will go with true freshman Drew Allar.
On what he's expecting from Minnesota's offense:
"I think there are similarities and I think we also know this is a copycat business, right? So people are going to watch the film and take some ideas. Minnesota wants to run the ball. They want to constrict the life out of the game in terms of time of possession, all those types of things.
So, yeah, we're going to have to be ready to defend the run and the play-action passes that come off it for them. They’ve got a really, really productive back that does a great job within their system. So that will be a challenge, no doubt about it. We are going to need to be ready. The corrections we made on Sunday from the previous game as well as getting prepared for what Minnesota is going to try to do, obviously, is going to be a big storyline in this game."
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