Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/388513
S E P T E M B E R 2 7 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 10 T I M O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . C O M James Franklin remains tight-lipped about Penn State's plans for the bye week. He wants to discuss the schedule with his players first before making it public. So while it's unclear what exactly the upcoming week holds for the Nittany Lions, Franklin is certain of one thing. "The bye week couldn't come at a better time," he said. Many of his players agreed. "You really want to get this win, but I think it can really show a lot about your- self when you face adversity," safety Ryan Keiser said. "How do you respond?" They'll begin their response Sunday at practice, when the players will officially learn of the week's schedule. Then they'll review the game that was – a crushing 29-6 defeat at the hands of Northwestern – and they'll try their best to learn from it. On Monday, they'll turn their attention to Michigan, but they will still be focused inward, hoping to correct some of the mistakes from Saturday's loss. Despite the Wolverines having an up- and-down season, Penn State is not tak- ing them lightly. So the Nittany Lions will put in extra time this week and, they hope, will come out with a stronger game plan when they travel to Ann Arbor in two weeks. "You get a lot more time to get in the film room to prepare for Michigan and learn from this game," quarterback Christian Hackenberg said. "So I think [the bye week] is huge for us. We're going to come together. We're a tight-knit group. We al- ways are, so I think it just gives us some- thing to work at a little more." One area from which the coaching staff is looking for improvement is the offen- sive line. "We're having the same issue that keeps popping up all year long," Franklin said. "That is consistently running the ball and being able to protect the quar- terback." While Michigan will receive some of Penn State's focus during the bye week, much of the focus will be on the Nittany Lions themselves. "We'll get back to work tomorrow," Franklin said. "We have a modified schedule with it being a bye week, and we'll get it fixed. The one thing I think will be really nice for us is that Sundays are normally rushed for us in terms of looking at the last film and getting onto your next opponent. "Now, we can really spend time, going back and watching this game, correcting the issues that have been showing up throughout the entire season and really spend the week focused on us. We would love to go into the bye week with a win, knowing you still have issues that you need to get resolved. We weren't able to do that, so the bye week couldn't come at a better time." There was no urgency on Penn State's part. As Paterno would say, we got licked. No hustle, no enthusiasm, as the coach used to say. PSUaluminMD The question now is (after today's reality check) can this team win two more games? I still say yes, but not a single game left on the schedule is a gimmie (esp. with inevitable injuries to come). Player2BNamedL8r This team lacks even a mediocre OL. If it had an average Division I offensive line, the team has enough talent to be pretty good. The OL has allowed Hack to be beaten up through five games more than most get beaten up stretched over a whole season. James Franklin is a great young coach who made a decision to keep the TEs in to block and introduce his wildcat system with a green OL. Sorry, not the best idea. We will see if the staff and team are up to handling adversity over the next few weeks. Rip_E_2_Joe_PA Great coaches take the talent present and win! They don't lose on Home- coming at home vs. a conference team that went 2-9 in its last 11 games like we did today. Louisville JD I see people posting about PSU not changing the game plan and such, but what the heck can you do? Hack is getting hit on 3-step drops. There is ZERO run- ning game. It's not that PSU is struggling a bit, they can't run even a bit. Players blocking each other???? It is going to be a huge struggle until these guys learn what they are doing. It isn't like they are getting overpowered all the time; they aren't. They tried quick slants, hitches and NW was sitting on those routes. Any routes that took time, NW was all over the backfield. They can't run, so I'm not sure what you do. We are just going to have to ride this out. uppermaclion FROM THE WEB ONLINE REACTION TO PSU'S LATEST GAME TIME TO REGROUP Following loss, Nittany Lions say off-week comes at an opportune time