Blue White Illustrated

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 How did the bye week affect the overall health of your team? I think it helped a little bit. As you guys know, we've had a significant amount of injuries, specifically at some positions, but I think there's a chance we could get [Jason] Cabinda back this week. Now, we have to remember, he hasn't played football or practiced in a long time. So to think jumping back in there aAer missing that amount of time is going to be a challenge. It's the same thing with Brandon Bell and [Jake] Cooper. There's a chance we could get those guys back, but we'll see. We'll see how it plays out. Like I said, it's not [as if] last week they practiced and this week we're hoping to get them back. They haven't practiced at all. So we'll work those guys in and see if they are ready to go or if they can go, as long as the doctors clear them. But that would be a nice bonus. Obviously the more Koa [Farmer] and the more Cam [Brown] play, the better. The more expe- rience they get, the more confident they become. Blake Gillikin had a little something bothering him two weeks ago, but it shouldn't be anything moving forward, and we expect to have him back full go. As we all know, he's been a weapon for us this year, so we need him back full speed. You focus on the guys who have been out, but I would say just as important are the guys who have played a lot of reps – all camp, all season. For them to get a little bit of time off [is valuable]. We practiced last week but we didn't do any banging with the old guys. The young guys did some [hitting]. With Andrew Nelson hurt, can you kind of just go through some strength and weaknesses for guys like Chasz Wright, Paris Palmer and true fresh- man Will Fries? I think [Brendan] Mahon is playing re- ally well right now, so we're pleased with him. He's done a nice job for us all season. Like all of us, there are some times where I think he would like to have a do-over, but overall I think he's playing extremely well. Paris has played a lot of football. Not necessarily this year, but he has played a lot of football for us. It's not like we're putting a guy in there who has not had experience playing big-time football. So that's a positive. Chasz is a guy we've been excited about, and he is starting to come on, the lights are coming on for him. He is a big, strong guy, 6-foot-7, 340 pounds. He is really starting to get some confidence and understanding of what we do and how we do things and why. Then, Will Fries is a guy who we've been excited about since we signed him and since he got on campus. He's had a lot of reps with the travel squad and is ready to go if needed. We'll just see how this week plays out and who is going to give us the best chance come Saturday. Wisconsin looks to be the team that has had the most success moving the ball against Ohio State so far. What stood out to you about what Wiscon- sin was able to do on offense, and can it help you prepare for this week? I don't know if it really [helps]. First, Wisconsin is really good on defense. We've seen that all season long. ... It helped them stay in the game and play the style of play that Wisconsin wants to play, traditionally year-in and year- out. They are a traditional pro-style, pound-you offense, and their defense is playing so well that it allows them to play that way and not have to drop back and throw the ball. Obviously, that's a different style than we're playing right now. So that film for our offense isn't overly valuable. What we do is we try to take formations and situations that are similar and break those down. What kind of effect have these White Out games had on recruiting? I don't know. I think if you talk to our players, a lot of the guys on our team were at Penn State for a White Out, ei- ther for an unofficial or for an official visit at some point. It's interesting. I went back and looked at that four-overtime White Out [against Michigan in 2013], and some- body had posted pictures of all the guys who were at that game and a bunch of guys who signed with us who are on our team. And you kind of look at them and they look like babies, it's amazing. I think it's a factor. I don't think there's any doubt about it. Again, the most important thing for us right now is to continue to develop our guys, con- tinue to make sure they are graduating and then go out and play well. The most important thing that we can do is con- tinue to play well. The last two weeks, we've taken some really nice steps in the right direction. This is a very talented team that we have coming in. But I think a White Out probably exemplifies what makes this place so special. There are not too many places in the country that can fill up a 107,000-seat stadium. Even our weekly attendance is in the top 10 in the coun- try. You look at the other teams in our conference and what they are averaging, so it's just interesting when you look at all those things. I think the White Out exemplifies what this place is all about. It's about our community coming together, the fans, the professors, our alumni and our play- ers and going into that stadium and hav- ing fun together and representing Penn State the right way. It's special, there's no doubt about it. Everybody knows about the academics and all those things, but I think I've said this before, I think THON and football, when you can get that many people pulling together for one common cause and to do some- thing bigger than just themselves, it re- ally connects and unifies this school and this community like very few places in the country. So it's special. I think obviously if you talk about that from a recruiting perspective, the peo- ple have a chance to get a taste of that. And when you see it and when you're around it, you say, "Hey, this is some- thing really special that I would like to be a part of." You guys are going to be playing the No. 2 team in the country in front of a O C T O B E R 1 9 , 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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