Penn State's No. 2 ranking and all the attention on the Nittany Lions ahead of Saturday afternoon's showdown with No. 6 Ohio State was a long time coming for James Franklin's undefeated squad.
From Penn State's double-overtime loss to Urban Meyer's Buckeyes in 2014, to Grant Haley's scoop and score to pull off the upset last October, both of those matchups proved something to this Penn State team that rings true this season: They closed the talent gap in a hurry and did so because of lessons learned along the way.
"It played a big role in our game last year because I thought there was a lot of confidence because we had played them tough in the past, and really you could make the argument [we] should've won that [2014] game," Franklin said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. "Our team has steadily grown over the past four years in a lot of different ways and experiences to get to this point. Again, there are no moral victories, but I do think there are lessons learned."
Among those lessons learned is how Penn State can try and slow down quarterback J.T. Barrett, the Buckeyes' quarterback who can beat teams multiple ways. It was Barrett who scored twice in overtime in the 2014 game -- with a 4-yard run and a 5-yard run -- but who wasn't particularly sharp in the matchup last season, completing 28-of-43 passes for 245 yards with one touchdown. He added 26 yards on the ground, but was also sacked six times.
Barrett and the Buckeyes (6-1) are riding high this season, largely due to their multiple offense which, under the direction of Kevin Wilson, has produced big-time results. Ranked No. 3 in the FBS in total offense with an average of 577.3 yards per game -- Penn State is ranked No. 27 with 463.3 yards per game -- Franklin is well aware of the challenge that comes with slowing down Barrett, who's completed 66 percent of his passes this season and who has 21 touchdowns to one interception.
Barrett seems to be playing his best football right now.
"Kevin Wilson is a really, really good offensive coach and been successful wherever he's been, and I think early in the season they were still trying to kind of find their offensive identity and they found it now -- and they're putting up big time points and yards on everybody," Franklin said. "You knew it was just a matter of time because Kevin's such a good coach and they got so many good players. I see J.T. playing with a lot of confidence right now and he's obviously surrounded by a lot of talent and he's doing a great job of distributing the ball to that talent."
Another lesson learned -- this one during the Lions' 2015 road trip to The Horseshoe where Saquon Barkley rushed for 194 yards as a freshman and built on against Iowa this season at Kinnick Stadium -- was how to continue to play in loud, hostile environments. Penn State is certainly walking into one of those on Saturday and will rely on those experiences of being in big-time games to help this team with it's toughest task to date.
"When you know where you come from and how much hard work and extra work we put into this, you're bound to have confidence," senior safety Marcus Allen said on Tuesday. Allen made his first career start against the Buckeyes in 2014. "We're definitely not letting our foot off the gas and are going to keep pushing forward."
And, much like the bye week helped Penn State last week by allowing the offense to reintroduce new wrinkles and ways in which to get Barkley involved, Franklin said Penn State has to be aware of Ohio State trying to do the same this week. The Buckeyes, a fast-paced offense, had their bye last week.
"It helps a lot. There's no doubt about it," Franklin said of coming off the bye week. "You just have more time for everything. More time to recover, more time to get healthy, more time to watch film and plan. It's valuable. I think it's probably the most valuable thing we have on this earth is time and a bye week creates that. So yeah, it helped us last week and it's going to help them this week. There's no doubt about it."
O-LINE IMPROVEMENTS
The showing from the Lions' offensive line Saturday night against Michigan reaffirmed to Franklin a notion he mentioned a few times this summer -- this line, when it hits it's stride, could be pretty good.
Against Michigan's top-ranked defense, the line used Joe Moorhead's new wrinkles to their advantage as they motioned Barkley and had him take direct snaps. It confused the Wolverines and allowed this line to keep McSorley upright, with the exception of just two sacks. It was a huge improvement from the 10 surrendered total in the two previous games.
"They're getting better," Franklin said. "I know everybody wanted, in the beginning of the season, for every position, every unit just to be kind of hitting on all cylinders, but that's just not how it works. Just got to love those guys and keep developing them and keep coaching them and they're getting better."
The Lions started redshirt freshman Will Fries at right tackle last week and he continued making strides, something that was evident when the Lions checked the film too, left tackle Ryan Bates said. But, as is customary with Ohio State, the Buckeyes' defensive line is always a strength and will be yet another test for this developing group of offensive linemen.
"I feel like every defense we played this year we have got a whole lot of blitzes and I feel like they try to disrupt our option, our RPO's," Bates said Tuesday. "I feel like every game we played so far we have got a lot of pressure and I feel like that's what I'm expecting from them."
MAKING MOST OF LAST GO AROUND
Mike Gesicki and Marcus Allen both had the opportunity to bolt for the NFL following the Rose Bowl, but instead decided to play out their final seasons. Both players saw the field as true freshmen and continue to be difference-makers.
For Gesicki, high-pointing balls and even leaping over his quarterback in celebration -- something Franklin said he didn't catch live but did see the replay of after the game -- doesn't surprise the head coach. Keep in mind Gesicki picked Penn State over Ohio State back during his senior year.
"There's not a whole lot more he needs to prove as a receiver, it's as a blocker," Franklin said. "That's the area that he needs to grow and has grown dramatically. But to show people that he can be an every down tight end and be a major factor in the run game as well as the pass game. And he's taken that very seriously and he's worked really hard on it. I think if you look at us right now and our running game, our perimeter blocking with the tight ends as well as with the receivers, I think it's probably maybe one of our most improved areas on our team."
Franklin said he met with them in the offseason, like the rest of the Lions' players who had thoughts about their NFL futures, and Allen's decision to return might've actually been more difficult than some realize. The rangy safety, who doesn't lack physicality, opted to return after sifting through the pros and cons of his junior season.
"He decided to come back to Penn State and really didn't have to," Franklin said. "He had, from pretty much everybody I talked to, had strong enough grades that you could make the argument, and he felt like there was still some areas and things that he wanted to work on and help our team and also help himself."
EVERY MINUTE COUNTS
Given all the attention surrounding the No. 2 Nittany Lions, Franklin is a man in high demand and so are his players. With the national media attention continuing to heat up in anticipation of Saturday's game, Franklin said he's trying to keep his time-management skills the same as usual, which means national media requests will maybe be fulfilled and, if so, it's either happening at the crack of dawn or late at night.
Franklin was on at halftime of the Monday Night Football game this week and with a Heisman Trophy candidate on his roster he's fulfilling all kinds of requests.
"I know most people don't like it with me, but we have a staff meeting every morning at 7 a.m., so I'm not going to do anything after 7 a.m.," he said. "So most of my interview stuff I'm doing before 7 a.m. before the staff meeting. So 6 o'clock, 6:20, 6:40 or whatever it may be, and then we'll also do some stuff, typically late at night. So basically Kris does her best in trying to protect my day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m."
QUICK HITS
• Penn State's players of the game, as voted on by the coaching staff for the win against Michigan: Trace McSorley, the Lions' D-line, Blake Gillikin and Tyler Davis.
• Franklin highlighted wide receiver Irv Charles' play on special teams yet again. Charles' size and speed on the outside makes him a real weapon on the coverage units and he's stepped up in that area while waiting for more opportunities in a deep receiving corps
• Franklin on the road trip this weekend: "It's one thing to win at home in a White Out, it's one thing to win at home College GameDay, 110,000. It's another thing to go on the road and do that. And that's a challenge for our entire program. Coaches, players and everything else. So we're excited about it, looking forward to it."
• Ohio State's J.K. Dobbins continues to put together a strong freshman season, something that hasn't surprised Penn State. Dobbins has 100 carries for 775 yards and 5 touchdowns.
"We recruited J.K. Dobbins, so I think actually coach [Charles] Huff said about two months ago that he'll be the starting running back before the season's over. And that's no disrespect to Mike Weber, we think he's fantastic too. So I think that he's a special player."
• Franklin will meet with the media following Wednesday night's practice and he'll be joined by Barkley. I'll be back in town after spending the afternoon out in Pittsburgh at our staff meeting. The Lions will have four or five other players meet with the media during the day.