What They Said After Penn State's Win Over Bowling Green

"The moment wasn't too big for them," Penn State's James Franklin says of the Falcons.

Penn State coach James Franklin stands on the field during a warmup prior to the game against the Bowling Green Falcons at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

STATE COLLEGE | Penn State's James Franklin dusted off one of his favorite quotes after his team's 34-27 win over West Virginia, one that would resonate a few hours later.

"We’ve got some work to do, but it's nice doing that work with a win," Franklin said. "There's a ton of teams across the country that will be trying to make corrections after a loss."

(Looking at you Notre Dame.)

Franklin measured his tone after the game but did offer a few insights into the defense's play, the running backs and a couple missing players. Here's what Franklin and Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler had to say Saturday at Beaver Stadium.

Penn State coach James Franklin

On getting the win: Most importantly, you’ve got to give Bowling Green a ton of credit. We talked about it during the week. In the last three years, they beat Minnesota, they beat Georgia Tech, Michigan last year was 14-6 at the half. [They have] 32 seniors, and you got to give them credit. They played their tail off. The moment wasn't too big for them. The opening drive showed that, and we were in a dogfight, so got to give them a ton of credit. Obviously, [tight end] Ty Warren had a big game for us. Both running backs had big games for us. And I thought in the second half, we were able to calm down and get ahead of the sticks on defense. That was the issue in the first half. We were giving up too much on first down, creating manageable third down situations for most of the first half, and that was problematic.

On linebacker Tony Rojas: I think you guys know we've been talking positively about him, really, since we recruited him, since he showed on campus. You know, the way his body has changed, his production. He's big, fast, smart, physical. He can do a lot of different things. It's not just tackles in the box. He's the sideline guy as well as a guy that can obviously make plays in coverage. I think that's maybe some things that maybe people saw on tape. He's had some opportunities to cover backs, one on one, on wheel routes and things like that. He's done a nice job. And then today, to be able to undercut that route and get an interception [in the fourth quarter] was big.

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On running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen: There was a lot of buzzing, I think, last week, about Kaytron Allen and yards per carry and production and all those types of things. You know, both of these guys; Nick averages 9.2, Kaytron averages 7.2. Both [ran] for over 100 yards, and to be able to have that type of balance in the passing game and in the run game, I think it's really important. The thing that we have got to get better at is, we’ve got to be better on third down, because we're not getting enough plays to be able to distribute the ball around to all of our guys. We're not getting enough plays to do it. And the way to resolve that is to be better on third down, or, you know, obviously getting the first downs on first and second down and never even get to third down. But, we’ve got to get more plays. That will help our offense out significantly, but also help our defense out significantly.

On safety KJ Winston's first-half departure from the game: I can't get into KJ Winston and why he wasn't in there. As you guys know, I don't talk about those things, but it obviously increased the amount of reps for Jaylen Reed and increased the amount of reps for Zakee Wheatley. It also kind of changed our ability to be able to get into the package where Jaylen Reed is playing the "Lion" position. So, you know, we needed to be in base a little bit more.

On tight ends Luke Reynolds, who made his first career start, and Andrew Rappleyea, who was not available: Luke's a guy that we have a ton of confidence in, not only physically, but just how he's approached things since he stepped on campus as a true freshman. I’ve been very impressed with him. I can't really speak at this stage on [Rappleyea], just because I don't know. To be honest with you, this was very, very recent that this happened. So, I don't have the information to give to you.

Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler

On the game: I thought our kids played hard. I think offensively in the first half we had an excellent game plan, handling the band coverage, handling number 11 who’s a bonafide first-round draft pick.
Thought we did a good job killing plays. I think we played fairly well against this unbelievable defense, best defense in the country. I thought we defensively made some great adjustments at halftime, we were able to slowly stretch play. They were really good at running the ball. At the end of the game, we just lost those last couple of drives. We just ran out of bullets. They got into two man and we knew they had it in their package, and we just couldn’t do two men. We gave ourselves a shot at the end, the thought process was to find a way to score and take a shot. Hands off to our kids, thought they did a great job, thought our staff did a great job. We did a good job manipulating their coverages and giving ourselves a chance.

On receiver Malcolm Johnson Jr., who had 12 catches for 81 yards and a touchdown: He keeps getting better, you know he’s learning this offense and it’s a lot to learn. It can get overwhelming, but things are slowly but surely slowing down for them to start learning more. That’s why we got to get better. We got a better routine and all that, but whenever you look at how many new faces, we have now it’s got to be a race to the finish line.

Bowling Green Receiver Malcolm Johnson Sr.

On the Beaver Stadium atmosphere: I think it’s a receiver’s dream. It was a lot of fun especially with the Penn State defense. How quiet the stadium was, it was a blast. I love the stadium.

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