What James Franklin said about the Rose Bowl vs Utah part 2

James Franklin said he has a ton of respect for the Utah Football Program heading into the Rose Bowl.

Opening Statement:

Appreciate everybody coming out covering Penn State football. Literally just landed back in State College. I've been everywhere the last two weeks. I've literally been everywhere. Excited to be back, see the family, get around the guys again.

Want to talk a little bit about Utah, then get into questions. I don't really have anything else to cover with you guys before that.

Pretty cool, first-ever matchup against Utah, in 2022. Not many things you get to say first time ever. I think that's a really cool thing for not only Penn State and Utah but the Big Ten and the Pac-12.

Kyle Whittingham, known for a long time. Ton of respect for him. He's been at Utah for almost 30 years. We both at one point were at Idaho State. I think he was the defensive coordinator at Utah when I was at Idaho State. I remember seeing him on the road recruiting a number of times.

He's done a great job. You watch them. I think if you're a true football guy, you watch them, that's what a team is supposed to look like, in my opinion. Offense, defense, special teams, complementary football there. Tough football team there. They're a physical football team. They know how to win games in a lot of different ways. I've got a bunch of respect for them.

Andy Ludwig, I've also known for a long time, their offensive coordinator. When I was the offensive coordinator at Maryland, Andy actually came and visited. We spent some time together talking football. He's been doing it a long time. He's really respected nationwide. He's worked a ton of different places and he's done a really good job at the University of Utah with their offense.

Cam Rising, their quarterback, I think that play in the USC game kind of exemplifies who he is. He got knocked pretty good, his helmet flew off, he jumped right up, put his helmet back on. I was actually at his high school last week. Got a ton of respect for him. He's been really productive. Obviously, MVP of the Pac-12 title game. 

Utah Utes quarterback Cameron Rising (7) celebrates a touchdown with the offensive line in a game against the Arizona Wildcats during the second quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Their tight end, No. 87, Thomas Yassmin, their tight ends really make their offense go. They use their tight ends in a similar way that we do. Their left tackle, No. 71, Braeden Daniels. Then their running back, No. 2, Micah Bernard. A ton of different guys that can hurt you in a ton of different ways. Offensively they're multiple enough to cause people issues.

Morgan Scalley, their defensive coordinator, been there 17 years, been at Utah for 17 years. They've probably led with their defense over coach's time there. Been very, very consistent. Been very, very disruptive. They got a bunch of guys that we're impressed with.

Linebacker, No. 21, Karene Reid. Defensive end, No. 81, Connor O'Toole. Defensive tackle, No. 58, Junior Tafuna. Safety, No. 11, R.J. Hubert. Linebacker, No. 20, Lander Barton. Then linebacker, No. 3, Mohamoud Diabate. They got some really good players. The Diabate kid is a transfer from Florida. They are big, physical and they are tough. They are disruptive.  

Utah Utes defensive tackle Junior Tafuna (58) reacts to an interception in the second quarter against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at Rice-Eccles Stadium / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

On special teams coordinator, Sharrieff Shah. The guy that kind of stands out for us on special teams, kind of an unusual body type as a punt returner, but Devaughn Vele. They do a good job.

I wish I could speak in more detail about these guys at this time. To be honest, we've been on the road for the last two weeks. Last weekend we were back in town, but it was mainly practice and official visits. It was more, as you guys know, program development type practice, spring ball-type practice where we really hadn't got into our opponent in great detail at that point.

This will be a busy weekend getting caught up on film and those types of things. We will practice tonight. We were supposed to practice today, but classes got canceled yesterday. Some exams got pushed to today during our practice time. We ended up having to push our practice time back or we would have missed too many guys from practice. We'll practice today. Tomorrow we'll be off because of graduation. 

Question: Can you tell us what the status is of Olu [Fashanu] and for the Rose Bowl?

James Franklin: As you guys know, there's still some time and there's no reason to rush these guys. I haven't had a chance to sit down and talk with them, where we're at. But right now, we are planning for Olu and Caedan to be available. That could change. We'll see how this thing goes.

We're not going to rush either of them back. It will all be based on where the medical staff feels that they are and where these guys feel they are, both physically and mentally.

We're planning. I'll even throw a bonus one in there, Olu, Caedan, Keyvone [Lee], we're expecting to have all of those guys. We'll see how it plays out. 

Question: At this point it doesn't seem like you've got many guys opting out of this game. Is it because of the Rose Bowl, these guys want to play one more game together?

James Franklin: Again, probably similar answer. This is who we've been. In my 12 years as a head coach, I've never had an opt-out until last year.

Again, I think part of it goes back to the leadership of our captains this year. That was a big part of our conversation before the season started with our captains, what their expectations were, what their standards were, what mine were as well.

Really, the way, in my mind, we've billed it at Penn State is there's really no reason to opt out. We will be flexible with all of our guys. I want our guys to be as successful as they possibly can. I want the bowl experience to be a great experience. We'll work with our guys. There's really no reason to opt out. That goes back to communication with the players and the parents, things like that.

I remember all the way back with Saquon [Barkley] in the Fiesta Bowl, I had a conversation with him and his family about that game because he was getting some people advising him to opt out of the game.

Again, I look at this season more as getting back to who we are. The last two years, specifically last year, to your point, was probably an outlier. 

Question: With the two early road wins that you got, how important do you think that was for setting the tone for the whole season, ultimately ending up in the Rose Bowl?

James Franklin: Yeah, early wins are important. Middle-of-the-season wins are important. Late-season wins are important. They're all important.

I think that's when I go to that 1-0 mentality. Sometimes people get frustrated, whether it's fans, especially of other schools, media. At the end of the day when you beat what people would say is a big opponent, like Auburn, on the road, that had a different feel to it. But I can guarantee you, you lose to somebody you're not supposed to lose to, that has a significant impact, as well.

They're all important. We try to emphasize them that way as much as we can, although they hear different messages from everybody else. Then what we try to do as much as we can is reinforce and show in our guys how you can't take it for granted and you better prepare the best you possibly can. Dot every "I", cross every "T," because every week, whether it's college or the NFL, there are teams losing to teams that they're not supposed to lose to. We try to illustrate that the best we can, make sure we're taking the right approach as coaches and the players as well. 

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