UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- James Franklin called his team "too finesse" Saturday night after the Lions' loss to Michigan State and said Penn State needs to be more physical on both sides of the ball.
It was a blunt assessment of a team that dropped its past two games to plummet from No. 2 in the AP Poll to No. 16, but it's also a problem that isn't new. After having a few days to re-assess the loss it's something the head coach said Tuesday afternoon won't be fixed overnight.
"We've been this way, last year, when we won the Big Ten Championship and this year," Franklin said when asked about his "too finesse" comment. "We have been saying internally and externally, that we want to be a more physical team up front. And when I say that I'm not just talking about the offensive line, I'm talking about tight ends, I'm talking about all of it. I think it's something that we can do a better job of and need to do a better job of to take that next step as a program.
"These things aren't just showing their ugly heads after the last two games," he continued. "But, we've been able to make up for some of those things with explosive plays or leading the country in turnover ratio. We've been doing a lot of good things. The best programs inspect the country had areas of need or areas that they need to improve. And we're no different than them."
So yes, it's not just an offensive or defensive line problem, an issue with the run-pass option, turnovers or some crazy notion the problem stems from do-it-all back Saquon Barkley. Penn State's problems start in the trenches on both sides of the ball where the offensive line has blocking issues and the defensive line has pass rush problems.
Franklin said a "combination of factors" magnified the problems in the trenches the past two weeks and while he's optimistic injured defensive end Ryan Buchholz will be back "sooner rather than later" and left tackle Ryan Bates could be on the mend, as well, fans have been quick to point out several other shortcomings with this team in the past two weeks.
Being too much of a finesse team is just one of the targets of criticism.
"[I] don't really take any meaning to it," guard Steven Gonzalez said Tuesday. "We do a lot of finesse things. We do run-pass options, things like that, nice little dress up schemes to make the defenses see other things. But at the end of the day, it just comes down to the grit and physicality of the game and that's what us as an offensive line we pride ourselves on."
WHY ISN'T TOMMY STEVENS BEING USED?
The two-quarterback package was put in so the Lions could give defenses more to prepare for, and while they primarily used it in the red zone with success, they also used it at other points in games.
However, the two-quarterback package has mysteriously gone missing in the past six or so weeks. That has been something that has left many wondering why Penn State hasn't put Tommy Stevens on the field with Trace McSorley, knowing that Stevens can throw the ball, run the ball or pass catches out of the package that Joe Moorhead put in just for Stevens.
"I think almost every week, except for maybe one, we had that package as part of the game plan," Franklin said. "Then as the game goes on, Brent Pry is the defensive coordinator, Joe is the offensive coordinator, they feel there are certain calls or certain personnel groups, and depending on how the game is going they're calling at that time or not. He's been great from a preparation standpoint. And like I said, more times than not we've had that package. And now it just comes down to when we're calling it and does the situation warrant it and does it make sense."
Penn State continues working on the package in practice and both quarterbacks spoke highly about it earlier this year and all the different wrinkles they thought the offense could add off of it. Tight end Mike Gesicki, the player who comes off the field so Stevens can go on, said he is in favor of it, as well, because of Stevens' versatility.
That hasn't happened, though many have been quick to point out in close losses to Ohio State and Michigan State, the Lions should've tried something else to help their lifeless ground game.
So while Franklin essentially said it's up to his coordinator to decide whether or not to use the two-quarterback look, he's been adamant about wanting to get as many players into games and contributing as possible. Franklin said that helps build camaraderie in the locker room, but for now we'll just have to see if the Lions go back to their old ways.
CLEARING THE AIR
Franklin sprinted off the field at Spartan Stadium right as the game ended and yanked linebacker Koa Farmer out of the tunnel. Franklin was irked that a few of his players wanted to get off the field without shaking hands and while Farmer was the one who got nabbed, the scene was then caught on camera and went viral.
Was trying to figure out what exactly had made James Franklin so mad. Pretty sure it was one of his players not shaking hands. pic.twitter.com/S1rchACslm
— Chantel Jennings (@ChantelJennings) November 4, 2017
"I happened to look to the right after the field goal went through, and saw a couple of players running off the field," Franklin said. "Koa Farmer is one of the best kids that we have in our program, and there was probably three or four kids that were doing it, and he happened to be one of them. ... I don't want anybody to think that Koa is not one of the best kids that we have in our program, he really is. But there were a few guys that would handle the situation different than we would like."
Franklin said Farmer reached out to him on Sunday to meet about it and that they cleared the air.
"He's just a very conscientious, thoughtful, good kid," Franklin said. "I want to make sure everybody understands that."
WHAT ABOUT BARKLEY?
His numbers have dipped and during this critical three-game stretch where the Lions went 1-2 Saquon Barkley's Heisman Trophy frontrunner status faded. Barkley is now trailing at least Baker Mayfield and with Barkley being held to under 100 yards rushing in six of nine games, where does that blame fall?
Some of it is on the offensive line, but what's Franklin's response to those why say some of that blame should fall on the coaching staff? Well, he was asked that very question.
"This formula had worked pretty good for us for the last year," he said. "We've been winning games. And we lost the last two, so obviously it's easy now to critique it. But we want to get better at running the ball. We want to get better at protecting the quarterback. But we've had one of the more explosive offenses in the country in terms of yards, in terms of points. In the last year. So I get it. Saquon is one of the better football players, if not the best football player I've ever been around. He's able to be explosive in so many different ways, and that's what we want to do. We want to get the ball into his hands in a lot of different ways. And I think that gives us the best opportunity to be successful."