Blue White Illustrated

our lives and make corrections and then move on to the next day. So I know they're hearing it from everybody. I just did something like 17 interviews before I walked in here. So, yeah, I get it. But those are all external things. Internally, we'll keep our process the same. Both of these teams score so many points that field goals sometimes can get overlooked. But if the game does come down to a field goal, where is Jake Pinegar in terms of his progress and what are your thoughts on the overall progress of the field goal unit? We're obviously not experienced, but I think Jake has been great. I've been very impressed with him and the whole oper- ation, from [Kyle] Vasey to Blake Gillikin and to Jake. We've got a lot of confidence in him. He's hitting at a very high rate in practice but hasn't had a whole lot of op- portunities in games. … Overall, I've been pleased with him. I think he's going to have a great career here. I think he's going to have a great year this year. And he'll continue to step up at times when we need him. But most important, it's about being consistent. That's on kick- offs with [Rafael] Checa and that's with field goals with Pinegar and that entire unit. What does Ohio State lose with Nick Bosa being injured, and what impact, if any, will his absence have on your preparation? He's one of the better college football players I've ever seen on tape. He is obvi- ously big and strong and athletic, but his motor is what separates him. There are a lot of big, strong, athletic guys out there, but very rarely do those big, strong, ath- letic guys have the type of motor that he has play aBer play aBer play aBer play. It's impressive. I've got a lot of respect for him and re- ally his family, what his family has been able to do in terms of success and produc- tion on the football field. So obviously, I'm concerned about coaching our foot- ball team and getting our team ready to play, but I do have tremendous respect for their program as a whole, for the type of support that they get, the history, the tra- ditions, the athletes on the field. And he's a guy who really stands out to me when you watch the tape. He plays the game the way it's supposed to be played. There are a lot of talented players who aren't using their talents to the level they should be. And he's a great example of how the game is supposed to be played. Do you need to start better on de- fense, or is it a product of still trying to find the combination that you're look- ing for? Because it looks like you're subbing more frequently early in games. I don't know if I would necessarily say that. Against App State, I think we held them to three points and 175 yards until the fourth quarter. So, you know, we are subbing probably very similar to the way we've always subbed, except certain posi- tions we don't have established starters yet, so there's probably more rotation there. Typically, when we have estab- lished starters we usually do a two-to-one rotation. We've always rotated lineback- ers, it's typically been two-to-one, with two series [for the starters] to one series of the backups, or three-to-one depend- ing on what the gap is like. And then in the secondary we've played a bunch of guys. So I don't view it as us subbing more than we have in the past. The way I view it, we have [fewer] established starters who have created a gap between [them- selves and] the backups. We've got some positions where literally it's about a 50/50 split, because that's what we feel like gives us the best chance to win. As you get ready for Ohio State at home in a White Out, has the 2016 game at all crossed your mind over the past few days? And with where your program is now, what sticks out to you about that night? I think what's probably even more sig- nificant is that three out of the past four games have been decided by seven points S E P T E M B E R   2 6 ,   2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 11 Franklin and spe- cial teams coordi- nator Phil Galiano look on from the sideline during Penn State's Big Ten opener last weekend against Illinois. The Nit- tany Lions won, 63-24, extending their winning streak to eight games, the third- longest active streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Photo by Steve Manuel

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