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P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> 'Listen, you can't listen to the praise now. I didn't want you to talk about the criticism, I didn't want you to listen to the criticism early on.' That's me as well. Minnesota, the fans were telling me ex- actly how they felt in that game. That, in a lot of ways, helped me help the pro- gram at the end of the season stay level and stay consistent and not get caught up in the emotions and the highs and the lows. "I'm a big believer that you savor all of life's experiences. The only way you re- ally can appreciate and recognize the good is if you've been through the chal- lenges." Franklin has strived to make construc- tive use of challenging circumstances, in part by ensuring that players know ex- actly where they stand at all times. If someone is falling behind in a position battle, he wants that player to know about it – not by seeing someone else get more reps, but by hearing it directly from his position coach. "I think that's really important," Franklin said. "I think it's going to mag- nify the competition. I think it's going to give the players really good, honest feedback about where they're at. And that's something that I've always be- lieved in professionally, when I was an assistant and now as a head coach. I want to know right away. I always hate, and still do, the HR meeting you have at the end of the year where your boss tells you all year long you've been doing all these things wrong. Don't wait until the end of the year to tell me. Tell me now so we have an opportunity to fix them." One position at which the Nittany Lions have a clearly defined two-deep is quarterback. McSorley, who beat out Tommy Stevens last summer and went on to become one of the more celebrated passers in the country, has taken to heart a mantra that Moorhead likes to use in the quarterback room: "Feel the rush, see the coverage." In leading the Big Ten in total offense and pass efficiency in his first season as a starter, he showed an aptitude for finding receivers downfield, even when he was having to bail out of the pocket. As the team's starting quarterback, McSorley will of course have a dispro- portionate effect on Penn State's per- formance this season. But no matter how much brinksmanship he displays, no matter how many deep passes he heaves, no matter how hard he mashes down on the gas pedal, he and Moorhead won't simply be looking to create chaos in the hope that someone in a blue jersey emerges with the ball. "You hear people say, 'Are you guys going to be able to consistently live on the 50-50 ball down the field?' " Moor- head said. "That's not what we do. Our offense is designed to stretch defenses horizontally and vertically and create mismatches by a number of personnel. So the things that we did throwing the ball down the field, they didn't happen by chance. They happened by choice." ■ FANTASTIC CUISINE EXCEP TIONAL ATMOSPHERE Colleg W ve Av . College & Cato carnegieinnandspa.com | 814.234.2424 Corner of C Corner of Cricklewood Dr. and Toftrees Ave. carnegieinnandspa.com | 814.234.2424 . Colleg W. 814.861.3463 gigisdining.com ve Av . College & Cato 814.861.3463 gigisdining.com

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