UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The speakers blared a mix of Tom Petty, Smash Mouth, Phil Collins and country hits as the Nittany Lions worked down the final minutes of Wednesday night's practice.
The moon rose behind the Lasch practice fields as James Franklin had No. 4 Penn State line up and run off the field a second time, this one more authoritative than the first time. All the little details add up from the Lions' practice music to executing the final steps off the field, this way there are no excuses come Saturday at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT when the Lions take the field to play Northwestern. The 11 a.m start local time is a little unusual for most, which is why Franklin has been preparing the team for it since he brought it up in meetings on Sunday.
"I think the biggest thing is talking about it," Franklin said following Wednesday night's practice. "We've been a great first quarter team this year. That needs to continue on Saturday.
"No excuses. We all know at 11 o'clock, we're kicking the ball off, and we need to be ready to play, so let's not act like we didn't know that was coming," he continued. "In the past, we talked about bring your own juice, where we didn't have the music at practice. We decided on Sunday, we're not going to do that. We have a routine, our practices have been really good, so let's make sure we're maximizing practice and not change our routine."
So yes, even the Lions' head coach bobbed and sang along to Collins' 1981 hit 'In the Air Tonight' while barking out orders and watching as tight end Jon Holland scored a touchdown during the end of the workout. Routine is routine and as the Lions head into their sixth game of the season, they're also mindful that this is the time of year where they start scaling back their practice times, trimming a minute or two from a practice period here of there, which is why Franklin is all over them about making sure the execution is top notch when they are out there.
They certainly looked loose, as evidenced by the always high-energy back Mark Allen who was a dancing machine during the workout:
RB Mark Allen dancing was the most entertaining part of the 10-minute portion of practice open to the media. pic.twitter.com/ckLXTjvQd4
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) October 4, 2017
"Our schedule stays on Eastern Time. When we went to Iowa, it was a 7:30 Eastern kickoff, but 6:30 central. Everything we did was set as if the game was at 7:30 Eastern," quarterback Trace McSorley said Wednesday morning. "You just move the times back an hour. For a noon game, if we'll usually wake up at 7, it's the same amount of time. Everything stays on an Eastern schedule."
The focal point of the 10-minute portion of the Lions' Wednesday workout that was open to the media involved tight end Mike Gesicki, who was dressed, had his helmet in his hands and was sweated while the Lions wrapped up practice. Franklin said Tuesday he expects the senior to play on Saturday after Gesicki wasn't on the sideline for the second half of the Lions' win against Indiana after taking a hit to the midsection.
"I feel better and better about Mike every day," Franklin said. "We'll see come Saturday."
Gesicki caught passes on his back after the workout like he normally does, so perhaps he'll be on the field come Saturday.
QUICK HITS
• Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Antonio Shelton is a player who has caught Franklin's eye during workouts this season. Franklin said in this program there really isn't any place for players to "hide." The Lions do a lot of one-one-one drills during the early portions of practice that is closed to the media and that's why Franklin highlighted Shelton.
• I asked Franklin about the development of redshirt freshman offensive lineman Michal Menet, who is part of the field goal unit but hasn't cracked the starting lineup yet, which should be expected given the depth ahead of him and the fact that, despite being highly touted, he's still young.
"He's a talented guy. He's an athletic guy," Franklin said. "He's also a guy that was always just bigger and more athletic than everybody else. So he's learning every single day and he's getting better and we need him to. He's kind of that next wave of linemen that we need to continue to grow and develop. But I see flashes. Like a lot of players, it's the consistency aspect that needs to change. And I think that's probably the hardest part for a guy who's transitioning to college is the intensity and the focus that you have to have play after play after play to be successful."
Franklin talked several times this year about the Lions' line needing to develop a nastiness and a mean streak so seemingly, like Steven Gonzalez and many others, Menet also has to work on being a little nastier on the field.
• Punter Blake Gillikin met with reporters following practice and while I outlined the relationship between him and his brother earlier this week, I asked Gillikin about the scuff marks in his childhood home from when his brother, the Wildcats' long snapper, would snap to him.
It started in the basement when Tyler would snap to Blake, but that it moved to the family's foyer and:
"I'd hit the ceiling sometimes and the ball leaves significant scuff marks on the ceiling and that kind of migrated to our foyer outside our living room. When you walk through the door all over the ceiling on the left side there's just pretty much brown scratches going like 10 feet all over the wall. I told my parents that I would paint the wall at some point but haven't gotten around to it."
So maybe the bye week will be time for the Atlanta native to go home and do some painting?
"Maybe. The problem is when I go home I still do it," Gillikin said with a laugh. "It's kind of a habit. I revert back to my old self."