Blue White Illustrated

N A T E   B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M James Franklin had heard enough. On a wet, dreary aAernoon at Beaver Stadium, the mood in the stands follow- ing Penn State's 20-14 win was celebra- tory. The mood in the postgame media room, however, was more akin to a pres- sure cooker than a victory party. So by the time a local reporter asked the final allotted question to Franklin – about his program potentially coming up short of fan expectations spurred on by a four-touchdown point spread over the Black Knights – the Nittany Lions' sec- ond-year head coach offered his retort. "First of all, I have no concern about point spreads," he began, noting that no coach in the country pays any attention to gambling lines. Though slightly steering from the point of the question, Franklin found his way back to the message he'd spent the pre- vious 10 minutes trying to hammer home. Readily granting that his Nittany Lions need work across the board, espe- cially on the offensive side of the ball, Franklin asserted that his mentality and outlook on the direction of the program has not and will not be diminished. "I am going to come in here every single week and be positive, even if it kills you guys and you want me to be negative," he said, his voice rising. "I love our players, I love our school, I love our colors, I love Penn State, I love Happy Valley, I love the community. "Do we need to get better? Yes. But you guys can ask me every question in the book and try to get me to be negative, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it." Certainly, questions surrounding Penn State's offensive performance Saturday and to this point in the season have not been without merit or prompting. Flum- moxed by rainy weather conditions for three of the season's first five games, his Nittany Lions entered the game ranked 110th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total offense with an average of just 345.5 yards per game. The team's passing of- fense was ranked 107th. Scoring offense? Not much better. There, the Lions were tied for 89th place with an average of 25.5 points per game. AAer being outgained 293 yards to 264 against Army, Penn State is unlikely to move up in the next batch of statistical rankings. It threw for 156 yards on a 10- of-19 performance by Christian Hacken- berg, gained only 108 yards on the ground, totaled 12 first downs and, maybe most notable, scored 20 points on 11 possessions. Those numbers had fans and media alike wondering how the Nit- tany Lions could produce such a per- formance against an Army defense that was rated among the worst in the FBS. Franklin's players, meanwhile, spent the postgame news conference seeking their own responsibility for the output. Said wideout Chris Godwin, "It can be a little bit frustrating at times, but at the same time, we understand that it's our fault. We have to take the time to put in the work to execute more throughout the game." Repeatedly emphasizing that his Nit- tany Lions have "a long way to go" and that he is "not happy with where we're at," Franklin maintained that the end ob- jective is ultimately what matters most to him. "We've got to get better. I know it, you know it, the fans know it," he said. "Point spreads and all those things, I don't even understand them. "We won today. We're 1 and 0, and we're going to do everything in our power to be 1 and 0 next week. And I'm going to come in here and I'm going to be positive. I'm going to be positive. And I'm not going to go down that road with anybody. I love our players, I love our coaches, I love our media. I love everybody. I love it." O c T O B E R 3 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 6 THINKING POSITIVE Franklin stays upbeat despite Nittany Lions' offensive struggles COLLISION COURSE Army's Spencer Welton chases after Hackenberg. The Nittany Lion quarter- back threw for 156 yards and also had a 19- yard run for a first down. Photo by Steve Manuel

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