Blue White Illustrated

D E c E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 7 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 P O S T G A M E P R E S S E R Could you discuss the feeling of achievement you have, what you've gone through this season, and to reach this moment tonight? It's hard for me to think about it as just this season. It's been a challenging three years. I've learned a lot about my- self, learned a lot about my family. I've learned a lot about this community and the men in that locker room, the coaches, the players, the doctors, the trainers, everybody. So for me it's not just the season. It's all the hard work and all the positive steps that we've been taking for three years. It didn't always seem that way maybe to others, but we felt that way. It wasn't easy. Those steps weren't down- hill. Those steps were up Mount Nit- tany. And that's kind of how I look at it. What changed from the time it was 28-7? I think in the first half, the game went exactly the way they wanted it to go. Their O-line was having their way with our D-line. Their D-line was giving our O-line fits. And some of our young guys on that O-line were struggling. So we were trying to get those guys calmed down. I don't want to keep saying that we're a second-half team, but I'll tell you this: It's valuable when you're able to go in there [at hal?ime]. I think the last eight games of the year, we averaged 27 points in the second half and only gave up six on average throughout all those eight games. … That was huge going into locker room at hal?ime only down by 14 and obviously to come out and make some big plays in the second half and [have] the confidence and the environ- ment and the momentum just swung in the stadium in our direction. Saquon Barkley really had to battle through it in the beginning, but he still ripped off some big runs. What did he mean to you guys tonight? You know, first of all, I want to credit Coach [Matt] Limegrover on our offen- sive line for battling. Because we lost a lot of guys to injury. It's been a three- year battle for us. And it wasn't always pretty. But I also think that's a credit to Saquon Barkley, the amount of yards he's been able to rush for this year, the dura- bility he's had, the big plays at critical moments in games have just been huge. And we've still got a developing line and a lot of moving parts with injuries and things like that. So it's a credit to all those guys. It's a credit to the O-line- men. It's a credit to Coach Limegrover and Coach [Joe] Moorhead and how he calls the game. We had a lot of conver- sations on the sideline. And when you're trying to manage the O-line sit- uation where maybe you're struggling at that position a little bit, that's the challenge.

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