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C O A C H S P E A K • E X C E R P T S F R O M J A M E S F R A N K L I N ' S W E E K L Y P R E S S E R A4er a loss like last weekend, how difficult is it to strike a balance be- tween correcting mistakes and not overreacting? We're not going to overreact. We're going to correct the mistakes. It's never a personal thing. It's correcting the mistakes. Our guys want to play well. The coaches want everyone to play well and be successful. So yeah, it will never be [overreaction]. We'll make the corrections. We'll watch the tape. We did those things on Satur- day. We've moved on to our next oppo- nent now. We did that on Monday, and then Tuesday is our first day to get out on the field and practice. That's what it's about. It's about correcting the issues that showed up in the game on Saturday. Some of those things are quick fixes, when it comes to fundamentals and techniques and assignments, and some of them are long-term things that we're going to be working on for the next 25 years. You're constantly going to be working on growing and developing the players while they're in the program and in the future. That's what it is. It's correcting, learn- ing from and growing, but it's magnified with young players. The experiences they have – the positive experiences they have and negative experiences – [allow them to] learn and grow and im- prove. On your depth chart this week, you list two of your true freshmen on the first team: Connor McGovern at right guard and Cam Brown at weakside linebacker. Are you planning to start both of them Saturday? How much responsibility will they see moving forward? I was looking at Minnesota's depth chart and they put at the top of it, "sub- ject to change." … That's probably something that we should do, put "sub- ject to change" on there. Connor McGovern has played a lot of football for us. He'll continue to play and we're evaluating this week. That's kind of where we're starting right now. We'll evaluate all week long based on this week's performance in practice who gives us the best opportunity to start in that position on Saturday. Then, obvi- ously Cam Brown is a little bit of a dif- ferent scenario. Cam went in and played as a true freshman and got people ex- cited. He had 10 tackles in the game, re- ally in his first significant time, and right now, he's at the top of the depth chart. We'll have Brandon Smith back. We'll have Manny Bowen. So we feel really good about those guys, as well as Jake Cooper, Koa Farmer and Von Walker. Those guys will get a bunch of reps this week and we'll get those guys ready to play. But, Cam showed a lot to work with and showed a lot of promise. He naturally has the ability to find the ball and make plays, and we want to build on that. I think you'll see him continue to get better each week. How would you assess the effective- ness of the read option in your run game, and do you have any latitude in adjusting the way you get the ball to Saquon Barkley? It's interesting you say that, because there have been a lot of different discus- sions about that this week, and really the last couple weeks. Typically you're read- ing a defender, and if that defender turns his shoulder and collapses down to tackle the running back, you pull it and get on the edge. If he stays square and is trying to play both [the quarterback and run- ning back], you hand it off. That's pretty much what we've gotten week in and week out. We've had defenders who have stayed square-shouldered with the quar- terback's read and we haven't gotten the quarterback on the edge a whole lot, so that has been something that we've dis- cussed, how people are playing us. You kind of see that week in and week out. You have visual reads and indicators that you have during the game, as well, and then sometimes there are what coaches call genetic reads, where that [defender] is square-shouldered but you feel like you're a better athlete and you can beat him to the edge. We've had some discussions about that, there's no doubt about it. I think that's been something I've bought up the last couple weeks. Joe [Moorhead] is obviously very aware of how many different ways can we get [Barkley] the ball, whether it's a tradi- tional running game between the tack- les, whether it's getting him the ball on the edge or throwing him the ball in the flat like we did last week, which got us going offensively. We want to… get the ball in his hands. But we also need to continue to develop our traditional run- ning game and be more physical up front at the tight end position and of- fensive line and get more movement. We've improved there, but we still need to be more physical. Are there one or two things that jump out to you to explain why the third-down offense has been so poor this year? I think it starts with running the ball. We have not picked up some third-and- short situations where we've tried to run the ball and haven't been as physi- cal as we need to be. I think it starts with running the ball and being bal- anced in our approach and making peo- ple defend both [the run and pass]. That's important. And then I think the other thing is pro- tecting the quarterback in obvious pass- ing situations. On third-and-short, [it means] being able to run the ball and mix some of the pass in there, and being physical enough to get those yards, and then when you're in longer-yardage situ- ations, being able to protect consistently when the defense knows you're probably throwing, and giving the quarterback and receivers enough time to get open. You have one of the most talented tailbacks in the country, but your run game is not producing. It's one of the worst-ranked rushing offenses in the country. How do you fix that at this point? Again, we need to be better, there's no doubt. I think the stats are a little bit skewed aBer last week. It's no different than if you play Navy or Army, you're probably going to be one of the top- S E P T E M B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 12

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