What We Learned About Penn State Football After Its Bye Week

The Nittany Lions return from a bye to visit Wisconsin for a challenging Big Ten game. James Franklin updated the team's progress.

Penn State coach James Franklin walks on the field during a warmup prior to the game against the UCLA Bruins at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State emerged from a productive bye week prepared to concentrate on another Big Ten road trip before the Game of the Year arrives in State College. The third-ranked Nittany Lions visit Wisconsin, winner of three straight, on Saturday night before hosting Ohio State at Beaver Stadium on Nov. 2.

Penn State coach James Franklin, who took a four-day recruiting road trip last week, discussed the matchup Monday during his weekly press conference. Some of the topic highlights.

A KJ Winston update

While on that bye-week recruiting trip, Franklin and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter visited with safety KJ Winston and his family outside of State College. Franklin said that Winston is focusing on "getting healthy" from the long-term injury that has sidelined him much of the season.

Winston, a captain and one of the team's top defensive players, played in just two games this season. He led Penn Sate with 12 tackles at West Virginia and played only in the first half the following week against Bowling Green. Franklin did not discuss Winston's specific injury or treatment Monday when asked whether the safety could return for Penn State this season.

"We are hoping for him to have a more significant impact in terms of leadership, in terms of all those other things, but right now KJ's focus is on getting healthy," Franklin said. "I actually visited with him and his family on Wednesday night, which was also me and Dex. That was great. But he's a huge part of our program and will continue to be a huge part of our program. But obviously, based on some of the things that he was working through from a health perspective, his focus was on that, which rightfully so."

Winston, a junior, has a decision to make regarding his future. He could return to Penn State for another season or enter the 2025 NFL Draft. He had been rated as the No. 2 safety in the draft class, according to one service.

Penn State safety KJ Winston (2) jogs across the field during a practice session inside Holuba Hall. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

RELATED: Penn State opens as a road favorite at Wisconsin

Scouting the Badgers

Wisconsin has outscored its past three opponents 117-16, allowing just one touchdown in three games against Purdue, Rutgers and Northwestern. Not the most taxing of offensive opponents, but Franklin said the Badgers "are playing really good football right now on the defensive side of the ball."

Offensively, Franklin expects the Badgers to run. Back Tawee Walker has rushed for 398 yards and six touchdowns in the past three games. Wisconsin's rushing offense ranks fifth in the Big Ten, one spot behind Penn State, averaging194 yards per game.

"I think there's an obvious commitment to running the football," Franklin said. "Just running the football maybe in a different way than we're used to seeing Wisconsin run the ball, but still very, very effective."

Scouting Penn State's run game

After averaging 251 yards rushing through the season's first four games, Penn State totaled just 203 combined against UCLA and USC. Factors mitigated the run in those two games, notably Nicholas Singleton's absence against UCLA, tackle Anthony Donkoh's departure against the Bruins and USC's approach to limiting Singleton (10 carries, 26 yards). That, of course, helped tight end Tyler Warren set records against the Bruins.

"Most teams are going to go into the game with something that they are adamant about that they're not going to give up," Franklin said. "Whether it's, 'Hey, we are going to double-team 44 [Warren] or whether it's going to load the box to stop the run,' most people are going to kind of have a plan and say, 'We are going to stop this, and if they're going to beat us, they're going to beat us doing these things.' I think that really impacts a lot of this.

"Would we like more production in the running game? Yeah. Would we like more explosive plays in the running game? Yes. Has that been a discussion over the last week during the bye week? Yes. But again, if we go out there to play Wisconsin and they got nine guys in the box, then we're going to still run the ball because we're committed to doing that, but the game may go differently in terms
of our production and throwing the ball and our production in the run game. So all those things are kind of factored in to how we're going to operate each week and what we're going to have to do to win."

A decision for a freshman running back

Freshman running back Quinton Martin Jr. has played in three regular-season games this season, including two snaps at USC. Martin can play in one more (plus any postseason games) and still redshirt. Ideally, that's what Franklin wants. However, the staff might not have a choice.

"He understands and the coaches understand, if we have to play him to win games, we're going to do that. Everybody is comfortable in doing that," Franklin said. "I would prefer to manage it as much as we possibly can so that we still have that flexibility and that choice moving forward, but at this stage, we're still trying to preserve it and have flexibility come the end of the year."

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Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.