November 8, 2024 • 20 mins
DisruptU PSU Presents Quite Franklin With LaVar Arrington And Penn State Head Football Coach James Franklin and in this candid conversation, Coach Franklin reflects on the recent loss to Ohio State, discussing the emotional impact on himself and the team, as well as the reactions from fans. He emphasizes the importance of perspective, accountability, and the need to move forward as they prepare for the upcoming game against Washington. The discussion also delves into game strategy, including offensive and defensive performance, and the challenges faced during the match.
Takeaways
•The emotional toll of a heartbreaking loss is significant.
•Understanding fan reactions requires empathy and perspective.
•Accountability is crucial in sports; players and coaches must own their performance.
•The importance of maintaining a positive outlook despite setbacks.
•Game strategy must adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of both teams.
•Effective communication with fans can help bridge the gap of understanding.
•Coaching decisions are often scrutinized, but context matters.
•The ability to learn from losses is essential for growth.
•Maintaining focus on upcoming challenges is vital for success.
•Support from knowledgeable fans can provide encouragement during tough times.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up?
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Everybody's LaVar Arrington here, and it is a big conversation
with coach Franklin this week. Obviously coming off of the
loss against Ohio State, we talk about that, but we
took the positives away and moved on and talked about
what's going on with Washington and what needs to happen
in that game as well.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Get buckled in.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
You'll want to hear this great candid conversation with coach Franklin.
This is quite Franklin with Coach Franklin and LeVar Arrington
coming at you right now. Coach, it's a big one.
(00:43):
It was a big one. It was a heartbreaker. And
I just want to start off with the question of
for me personally, I want I want this to be
a part of the discussion of this interview because I
like placing myself in your shoes and I like to
(01:05):
understand and try to, you know, pick through things.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Because it's just.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Cool to me to be able to come in and
have a conversation with you and compare how I would
have thought about it in that position versus what you're thinking.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So it's pretty cool for me.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
One thing that jumped out at me right away after
the game, was listening to the amount of anger towards
you directly, and you know the student who was calling
out that you know you responded to and it went
viral the chance in the tunnel on your way to
(01:42):
the locker room. I'm just curious because in my mind,
I'm thinking about how do I handle that? How would
I handle a heartbreaking loss? Understanding that the fans are
going to be upset? But where is I think? I'll
tell you what got me is your family was with you.
And a lot of times people fail to understand that
(02:04):
there's this hard line, like where's the line get blurred
between family and profession? And you had your family taking
walking with you. That's what hit me.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
In the heart.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
That hit me in the heart, and I felt like,
how would I digestic? How would I handle this? I'm curious,
how do you digestice? How do you handle that and
get going towards the next week after a game like this?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Well, I think that's the challenge, right You don't get
to digest it like it happens and then you're dealing
with it right away. You're dealing with it walking off
the field, You're dealing with it with the media and
the press, So I guess it's funny because I'm like you.
(02:52):
So the first thing I try to do in any situation,
personally or professionally, is I try to look at it
from the other lens, Like the fans are passionate, they're angry,
they're invested. So I can respect that and I can
(03:14):
appreciate that because I also know that we're blessed to
play in front of eleven one hundred and eleven thousand fans,
which doesn't happen, which doesn't happen unless there's passion and
commitment there. But you know, I do think there's a
there's a line that you don't cross, and I think
(03:37):
there's a line that I can't allow to be crossed
as a man. So for me, the first thing I
said to my daughter is I said, hey, you know,
let me walk through here by myself, you know, let's
get together afterwards. And she was like, no, I'm walking
with you.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
So I'm already trying to steparate.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I'm trying to separate that so she's not in the
heat of it, right, And then the young man's screaming.
I just took a deep breath, let him scream, and
I just I asked him what his name was, because
to me, that's a little bit of the problem we
have in our society now is whether it's on social
(04:24):
media or blogs or whatever, people don't want to put
their name on things like that man. That young man,
I'll say, earn the right to have an opinion by
buying a ticket, whether it's a free student ticket or
he bought it or whatever it is. He's earned the
right to have an opinion. But put your name on it.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
But put your name. If you're gonna go on social
media and us say.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Something, or you're gonna bark something out, put your name
on it and own up to what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
So I didn't so crazy. I just I said, what's
your name?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
And he started stuttering and backing up, you know, and
then you and then you walk through the crowd and
again I put myself in their shoes, and there's the
passion and the commitment and all those types of things.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
So so I get it. I get it.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
What I what I What I also do, though, is
I try to look at it from from the other perspective.
I look at what we've done here in eleven years.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
I look what.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I've done in my entire coaching career at a at
a previous school, and I'll put our record up against
anybody it. You know, the type of job you get
and when you get the job all factors into it.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
And I think at the end of the day, I'm
just sitting.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Here saying to myself, the players and the staff and myself.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
The college football Playoff ranking.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Just came out and were ranked six in the We're
ranked sixth in that pole, and I think in most
of them were anywhere between five, six and seven somewhere
in almost every pole.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
And again, I get it.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I get the disappointment of that game and the magnitude
of that game, but in today's college football, very few
people are getting through this thing unscathed. And I just
don't know if we should be having that type of
feelings when we're in a position that ninety nine percent
(06:42):
of the programs in the country would die to be
in this position and have never been in this position
in their history, never been ranked number three in the country.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
I've never been ranked number six in the country.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
So at the end of the day, we have got
to flush this move on and we got to play
against Washington well enough to win, but we also have
to get better, because for us.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
To beat teams like that in the future, we got
to get better.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And all that other stuff doesn't help us get better.
So we gotta flush it, take it for what it is,
learn from it, and move on.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
All right. I think that's a great segue.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And and I don't know, you're you're you're a better
You're you're a good man, is what I'll say, because
I I don't know how I would have handled that moment,
especially if if my family's right there with me and
I'm supposed to be to people who are supporting me.
It's just that that's a hard one. You're a better
person than I am.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
But let me say this to LeVar, and I probably
should stop before I get going, But I think the
people that really know college football, not not not just
Penn State. They know college football. They've lived it, they've
experienced it, they've studied it. Those people are unbelievably supportive
(08:07):
because they truly know all the dynamics on a national scale,
and they know all the dynamics here LeVar, Like, the
people that truly know are are.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Really really supportive.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
So you know, I think that's something that I think
really helps me is the people that really know college
football and the people that really know some of the
challenges that we've had are very very supportive.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
So so that that helps.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I'm glad you said that. I'm glad you said that.
I really am, because you know what you're You're right.
Seeing the positive isn't is definitely more valuable than addressing
what the negative of it was. So I'm I'm I'm
glad you said that. That makes that helps me put
it in perspective as well. So what we're what were
(08:58):
the takeaways? Like you've had a little bit of time
to digest it and put it in terms of how
do we get better from what we did this past weekend.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
I know, I went on radio.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I gave an opinion, and my opinion was and listen,
I'm I'm not I'm not a sideline coach. So I
gave my opinion as an analyst, not as I know
what's going on.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And I was careful.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Because you know, obviously it's my school and my relationship
that I have with you and the rest of the team.
But I said, I felt like we were a little conservative,
and I felt like we lost we lost the edge
on defense, like they were able to gain our ads.
They outflanked us, but on and on offense, I'm like,
(09:43):
I wanted to see us go downfield.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
I don't know if it's because Drew held the ball,
I don't. I don't want a finger point. I just
know my my criticism or my observation was, I felt
like we were conservative when I don't think that Ohio
State deserve best to go ten fifteen yard passes.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
We should have went at them. That was my take.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Now that's been getting out of the way of it,
But what was your take on it.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
I think that's fair, right, but I think again, there's
a lot of things that go into that, right. I
thought defensively, we played really well except for three drives.
They had a really good plan on two drives where
they got unbound, gotten unbalanced, and they they outflanked us.
And then the last drive when we went for it
(10:32):
and got stopped at the one, you know, and they
were able to basically go four minutes those three drives.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
I don't think we played the way we played the
rest of the.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Game against a team that was scoring forty points a
game and we held them to twenty. So I will
say this, I think we played well enough on defense
to win. I do believe that, but I think it
was three drives. I don't think we played up to
our standard offensively.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
A couple things. I'll answer your question.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
First, we call shots, but if the shots aren't there,
you can't just take them.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
This is like last year when people are like, just
chuck it deep.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Like we called shots, but if they're not there, you
got to take the checkdown, You got to take the
underneath routes. But here's the bigger issue really for both
our offense and defense. We weren't able to run the
ball and get ahead of the sticks on first down
and they were. So that changes the game. When you're
(11:30):
ahead of the sticks on first down, it allows you
to take more shots on second down because you're in
manageable situations if you don't hit them to still convert
on third down. So us not being able to run
the ball the way we needed to in that game
in drives, it affects everything. So people say, well, you're
(11:54):
not taking enough shots down the field. Well, we call shots,
but if they're not there, you got to take the checkdown.
But you actually called less shots if you're not as
effective on first down so.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Can I follow up?
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Because the interesting thing about your point is I felt
as though Ohio State's defense was able to settle in
on a set that was working because they were preparing
for the run.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
They were gearing up to stop the run.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Like, so, how if that's like what they're in their minds,
because I felt like they got comfortable with loading and
crowding the line to stop the run. They were really
they were bringing an extra man down to stop the
run against us, How like, do we still stay tied
to trying to run it or do we you know?
(12:44):
Because I felt like if we did establish more of
a threat in the passing game, then now it may
give it may alleviate some of the pressure and strain
on the running game because every time we passed and
it broke down, drew space, which means to me, if
they're covering, we definitely could find space in this defense.
(13:05):
In my mind, that's that's how I was taking it
in what like.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yeah, that's why I think that's why the opening drive
was so effective. And when I say and when I
say first and second down, I'm really talking about that together.
So if you run the ball first down and you
get ahead of the sticks that allows you to push
the ball down the more on second out, or if
you throw the ball on first down and either don't
(13:30):
get it or do get it, then now you're probably
gonna have to run it on second down to get
back on the schedule.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
And I guess my point is, you.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Still got to be able to run the ball even
when they're committed to stopping it. No different than they
did to us. Like I said, everybody in the stadium
knew they were going to run that last drive and
they were able to do it, So you got to
give them credit there. But it's just like the creativity, right,
like the goal line drive, we run it vertical with fat,
(14:00):
which more.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Times than not, Fat's gonna right. So we run downhill,
we run downhill, doesn't work.
Speaker 5 (14:06):
Everybody says you should be more creative.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
I've also seen and been on the other end of
that where you're creative and it doesn't work, and then
what does everybody say, you should.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Have ran down hill? So yeah, I get it.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
I get it when it doesn't work after the fact,
I totally get it.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
I totally get it.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
You know, they had a good plan, Uh, they got talent,
they got skill, and we didn't execute.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
The reality is.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
We turned the ball over inside the five and don't
score on a goal line.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
Stand.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
You handle those two things differently. It's a different game,
and that's also why people are so frustrated. The interesting
thing is by us losing almost every one of those games,
either by one possession or one point, it's more pain
to everybody involved.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
The coaches, the fans, the media.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
If you get blown out by twenty one points, you're embarrassed,
but it's not the same anger because you can taste it, right,
So all those things.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
Play a factor. It's not just that we've lost to
these guys.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
We've lost and it's been so close and it's been winnable.
One play goes a different direction, one ball bounces a
different direction, one call from.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
The officials on fifty to fifty calls. And I'm the
last guy.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
That's going to be sitting here blaming officials. But my
point is they're fifty to fifty calls. They can go either.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Way, and we didn't get one of a couple. Right.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Yeah, So it's all that, and I think that's where
people get so angry because you can taste it.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Yeah, it makes sense, all right, we were up on
our time. I'm gonna just ask you because it's more
important to me for one to talk to you as
a person, not so much as as the coach.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
That's to me.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
I think that's what's special about the show that we
do is that, you know, we connect on a different level,
so you know, f all this other stuff like I'm
always keeping a bean and to keep it a buck
from my hit, I'm always rit with Coach Franklin. People
know that, So I think that I always want to
make sure people know that. So what, I don't care
(16:21):
if they know. I don't care, Like it doesn't have
to be a big secret. That that's that's I love,
Like I love you as a person. That doesn't have
to be a secret, you know what I mean. It's
like almost like people make it seem like these are
the moments where it's like I'm an apologist for James
Franklin and this and that and the other. You know what,
maybe I am. I use facts. I just asked you
a hard question. I gave you a heart. I gave
(16:44):
your heart.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
I think that's my point is you love your school
and you love the coaches because you've gotten to know
us as men.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Indeed.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
And and if you if you got on this and
it was all softball questions, then that's fine.
Speaker 5 (16:59):
But you're that's a tough question.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
You asked me about about the fans and the reaction.
So it's not like I'm getting on the show and
it's just softballs. You're asking me tough questions, but you're
doing it in a respectful way, and God forbid.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
That's how people interact with each other.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
And you know what, And that's that's what I wanted
to make clear. That's I want to make sure that
that was clear because a lot of people come at
me and it's like they ask me that I'm always
gonna protect the best interest of Penn State.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
That's that's me. That's all that's branded in my heart.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
That means I'm gonna protect the person that's leading our
team too, Like I don't.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
I'm not.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
It's kind of interesting because it forced me to think
about it just because how big the game was. But
it's like, I don't, like, why do I have to
sacrifice one? If anything, you should be protecting him just
like I'm protecting him. In my mind, that's how I
envision it, because you're the one that's leading us right,
So that's a whole other thing. I get off my
(17:55):
soapbox on it because there's some certain things that I
just feel like, community wise, we should always be pushing
towards the same direction, but.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Especially when ninety nine of the things are positive.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah, I hear you. I hear you.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
So staying on a positive note to finish it out,
how do we approach this Washington game?
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I know it's all oh.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
No, but by not talking about this other one that
you're the only person I'm still talking about this last
one Wednesday.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
I know that's what I had to answer. But we
got to move on and we got a flush.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
It's hard to do because when they leave the football building,
everybody else is still talking about it.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
We got to move on.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah, and that's that's like, that's that's it, like business
as usual, Like gotta get it done with Washington.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Like that's we gotta be one to oh this week.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
And if we do that, we still got a chance
to do everything we wanted to do in the beginning
of the season.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
So I need to know, man, hey, man, keep the
main thing, the main thing, that's all, you know what
I mean? You coach Frank uh you're a bad man,
that's all. Hold the course, hold the I see you
this weekend, all right.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
That was Coach.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Franklin, and well, we talked about it. We talked about
the heartbreaking laws, we talked about the interaction with with
the fans, we talked about what happened on the field,
and he's right, we gotta flush it and we got
to move on.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
That's Coach Franklin.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
You can hear it the whole entire deal at disrupt
You PSU dot com. Make sure you check it out
and go to disrupt you PSU on the social webs
as well, Instagram, uh, the X you know all of
those things. You can catch us there, and you can
catch me at King of the Mammals on Instagram and
(19:49):
LeVar Arrington at X. So we'll talk to you next
time next week. All right, y'all be good, y'all be well.
This was quite Franklin with the coach himself, James Franklin
and me.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
You're guy the Hall of Steamer Bafar Airringsoner. You're to
talk to you next time.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
H m hmm.
What's up?
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Everybody's LaVar Arrington here, and it is a big conversation
with coach Franklin this week. Obviously coming off of the
loss against Ohio State, we talk about that, but we
took the positives away and moved on and talked about
what's going on with Washington and what needs to happen
in that game as well.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Get buckled in.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
You'll want to hear this great candid conversation with coach Franklin.
This is quite Franklin with Coach Franklin and LeVar Arrington
coming at you right now. Coach, it's a big one.
(00:43):
It was a big one. It was a heartbreaker. And
I just want to start off with the question of
for me personally, I want I want this to be
a part of the discussion of this interview because I
like placing myself in your shoes and I like to
(01:05):
understand and try to, you know, pick through things.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Because it's just.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Cool to me to be able to come in and
have a conversation with you and compare how I would
have thought about it in that position versus what you're thinking.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So it's pretty cool for me.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
One thing that jumped out at me right away after
the game, was listening to the amount of anger towards
you directly, and you know the student who was calling
out that you know you responded to and it went
viral the chance in the tunnel on your way to
(01:42):
the locker room. I'm just curious because in my mind,
I'm thinking about how do I handle that? How would
I handle a heartbreaking loss? Understanding that the fans are
going to be upset? But where is I think? I'll
tell you what got me is your family was with you.
And a lot of times people fail to understand that
(02:04):
there's this hard line, like where's the line get blurred
between family and profession? And you had your family taking
walking with you. That's what hit me.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
In the heart.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
That hit me in the heart, and I felt like,
how would I digestic? How would I handle this? I'm curious,
how do you digestice? How do you handle that and
get going towards the next week after a game like this?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Well, I think that's the challenge, right You don't get
to digest it like it happens and then you're dealing
with it right away. You're dealing with it walking off
the field, You're dealing with it with the media and
the press, So I guess it's funny because I'm like you.
(02:52):
So the first thing I try to do in any situation,
personally or professionally, is I try to look at it
from the other lens, Like the fans are passionate, they're angry,
they're invested. So I can respect that and I can
(03:14):
appreciate that because I also know that we're blessed to
play in front of eleven one hundred and eleven thousand fans,
which doesn't happen, which doesn't happen unless there's passion and
commitment there. But you know, I do think there's a
there's a line that you don't cross, and I think
(03:37):
there's a line that I can't allow to be crossed
as a man. So for me, the first thing I
said to my daughter is I said, hey, you know,
let me walk through here by myself, you know, let's
get together afterwards. And she was like, no, I'm walking
with you.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
So I'm already trying to steparate.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I'm trying to separate that so she's not in the
heat of it, right, And then the young man's screaming.
I just took a deep breath, let him scream, and
I just I asked him what his name was, because
to me, that's a little bit of the problem we
have in our society now is whether it's on social
(04:24):
media or blogs or whatever, people don't want to put
their name on things like that man. That young man,
I'll say, earn the right to have an opinion by
buying a ticket, whether it's a free student ticket or
he bought it or whatever it is. He's earned the
right to have an opinion. But put your name on it.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
But put your name. If you're gonna go on social
media and us say.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Something, or you're gonna bark something out, put your name
on it and own up to what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
So I didn't so crazy. I just I said, what's
your name?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
And he started stuttering and backing up, you know, and
then you and then you walk through the crowd and
again I put myself in their shoes, and there's the
passion and the commitment and all those types of things.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
So so I get it. I get it.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
What I what I What I also do, though, is
I try to look at it from from the other perspective.
I look at what we've done here in eleven years.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
I look what.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I've done in my entire coaching career at a at
a previous school, and I'll put our record up against
anybody it. You know, the type of job you get
and when you get the job all factors into it.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
And I think at the end of the day, I'm
just sitting.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Here saying to myself, the players and the staff and myself.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
The college football Playoff ranking.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Just came out and were ranked six in the We're
ranked sixth in that pole, and I think in most
of them were anywhere between five, six and seven somewhere
in almost every pole.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
And again, I get it.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I get the disappointment of that game and the magnitude
of that game, but in today's college football, very few
people are getting through this thing unscathed. And I just
don't know if we should be having that type of
feelings when we're in a position that ninety nine percent
(06:42):
of the programs in the country would die to be
in this position and have never been in this position
in their history, never been ranked number three in the country.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
I've never been ranked number six in the country.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
So at the end of the day, we have got
to flush this move on and we got to play
against Washington well enough to win, but we also have
to get better, because for us.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
To beat teams like that in the future, we got
to get better.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And all that other stuff doesn't help us get better.
So we gotta flush it, take it for what it is,
learn from it, and move on.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
All right. I think that's a great segue.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
And and I don't know, you're you're you're a better
You're you're a good man, is what I'll say, because
I I don't know how I would have handled that moment,
especially if if my family's right there with me and
I'm supposed to be to people who are supporting me.
It's just that that's a hard one. You're a better
person than I am.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
But let me say this to LeVar, and I probably
should stop before I get going, But I think the
people that really know college football, not not not just
Penn State. They know college football. They've lived it, they've
experienced it, they've studied it. Those people are unbelievably supportive
(08:07):
because they truly know all the dynamics on a national scale,
and they know all the dynamics here LeVar, Like, the
people that truly know are are.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Really really supportive.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
So you know, I think that's something that I think
really helps me is the people that really know college
football and the people that really know some of the
challenges that we've had are very very supportive.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
So so that that helps.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I'm glad you said that. I'm glad you said that.
I really am, because you know what you're You're right.
Seeing the positive isn't is definitely more valuable than addressing
what the negative of it was. So I'm I'm I'm
glad you said that. That makes that helps me put
it in perspective as well. So what we're what were
(08:58):
the takeaways? Like you've had a little bit of time
to digest it and put it in terms of how
do we get better from what we did this past weekend.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
I know, I went on radio.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I gave an opinion, and my opinion was and listen,
I'm I'm not I'm not a sideline coach. So I
gave my opinion as an analyst, not as I know
what's going on.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And I was careful.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Because you know, obviously it's my school and my relationship
that I have with you and the rest of the team.
But I said, I felt like we were a little conservative,
and I felt like we lost we lost the edge
on defense, like they were able to gain our ads.
They outflanked us, but on and on offense, I'm like,
(09:43):
I wanted to see us go downfield.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
I don't know if it's because Drew held the ball,
I don't. I don't want a finger point. I just
know my my criticism or my observation was, I felt
like we were conservative when I don't think that Ohio
State deserve best to go ten fifteen yard passes.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
We should have went at them. That was my take.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Now that's been getting out of the way of it,
But what was your take on it.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
I think that's fair, right, but I think again, there's
a lot of things that go into that, right. I
thought defensively, we played really well except for three drives.
They had a really good plan on two drives where
they got unbound, gotten unbalanced, and they they outflanked us.
And then the last drive when we went for it
(10:32):
and got stopped at the one, you know, and they
were able to basically go four minutes those three drives.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
I don't think we played the way we played the
rest of the.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Game against a team that was scoring forty points a
game and we held them to twenty. So I will
say this, I think we played well enough on defense
to win. I do believe that, but I think it
was three drives. I don't think we played up to
our standard offensively.
Speaker 4 (10:57):
A couple things. I'll answer your question.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
First, we call shots, but if the shots aren't there,
you can't just take them.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
This is like last year when people are like, just
chuck it deep.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Like we called shots, but if they're not there, you
got to take the checkdown, You got to take the
underneath routes. But here's the bigger issue really for both
our offense and defense. We weren't able to run the
ball and get ahead of the sticks on first down
and they were. So that changes the game. When you're
(11:30):
ahead of the sticks on first down, it allows you
to take more shots on second down because you're in
manageable situations if you don't hit them to still convert
on third down. So us not being able to run
the ball the way we needed to in that game
in drives, it affects everything. So people say, well, you're
(11:54):
not taking enough shots down the field. Well, we call shots,
but if they're not there, you got to take the checkdown.
But you actually called less shots if you're not as
effective on first down so.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Can I follow up?
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Because the interesting thing about your point is I felt
as though Ohio State's defense was able to settle in
on a set that was working because they were preparing
for the run.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
They were gearing up to stop the run.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Like, so, how if that's like what they're in their minds,
because I felt like they got comfortable with loading and
crowding the line to stop the run. They were really
they were bringing an extra man down to stop the
run against us, How like, do we still stay tied
to trying to run it or do we you know?
(12:44):
Because I felt like if we did establish more of
a threat in the passing game, then now it may
give it may alleviate some of the pressure and strain
on the running game because every time we passed and
it broke down, drew space, which means to me, if
they're covering, we definitely could find space in this defense.
(13:05):
In my mind, that's that's how I was taking it
in what like.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Yeah, that's why I think that's why the opening drive
was so effective. And when I say and when I
say first and second down, I'm really talking about that together.
So if you run the ball first down and you
get ahead of the sticks that allows you to push
the ball down the more on second out, or if
you throw the ball on first down and either don't
(13:30):
get it or do get it, then now you're probably
gonna have to run it on second down to get
back on the schedule.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
And I guess my point is, you.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Still got to be able to run the ball even
when they're committed to stopping it. No different than they
did to us. Like I said, everybody in the stadium
knew they were going to run that last drive and
they were able to do it, So you got to
give them credit there. But it's just like the creativity, right,
like the goal line drive, we run it vertical with fat,
(14:00):
which more.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Times than not, Fat's gonna right. So we run downhill,
we run downhill, doesn't work.
Speaker 5 (14:06):
Everybody says you should be more creative.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
I've also seen and been on the other end of
that where you're creative and it doesn't work, and then
what does everybody say, you should.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Have ran down hill? So yeah, I get it.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
I get it when it doesn't work after the fact,
I totally get it.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
I totally get it.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
You know, they had a good plan, Uh, they got talent,
they got skill, and we didn't execute.
Speaker 5 (14:33):
The reality is.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
We turned the ball over inside the five and don't
score on a goal line.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
Stand.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
You handle those two things differently. It's a different game,
and that's also why people are so frustrated. The interesting
thing is by us losing almost every one of those games,
either by one possession or one point, it's more pain
to everybody involved.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
The coaches, the fans, the media.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
If you get blown out by twenty one points, you're embarrassed,
but it's not the same anger because you can taste it, right,
So all those things.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
Play a factor. It's not just that we've lost to
these guys.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
We've lost and it's been so close and it's been winnable.
One play goes a different direction, one ball bounces a
different direction, one call from.
Speaker 4 (15:27):
The officials on fifty to fifty calls. And I'm the
last guy.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
That's going to be sitting here blaming officials. But my
point is they're fifty to fifty calls. They can go either.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Way, and we didn't get one of a couple. Right.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Yeah, So it's all that, and I think that's where
people get so angry because you can taste it.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Yeah, it makes sense, all right, we were up on
our time. I'm gonna just ask you because it's more
important to me for one to talk to you as
a person, not so much as as the coach.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
That's to me.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
I think that's what's special about the show that we
do is that, you know, we connect on a different level,
so you know, f all this other stuff like I'm
always keeping a bean and to keep it a buck
from my hit, I'm always rit with Coach Franklin. People
know that, So I think that I always want to
make sure people know that. So what, I don't care
(16:21):
if they know. I don't care, Like it doesn't have
to be a big secret. That that's that's I love,
Like I love you as a person. That doesn't have
to be a secret, you know what I mean. It's
like almost like people make it seem like these are
the moments where it's like I'm an apologist for James
Franklin and this and that and the other. You know what,
maybe I am. I use facts. I just asked you
a hard question. I gave you a heart. I gave
(16:44):
your heart.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
I think that's my point is you love your school
and you love the coaches because you've gotten to know
us as men.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Indeed.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
And and if you if you got on this and
it was all softball questions, then that's fine.
Speaker 5 (16:59):
But you're that's a tough question.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
You asked me about about the fans and the reaction.
So it's not like I'm getting on the show and
it's just softballs. You're asking me tough questions, but you're
doing it in a respectful way, and God forbid.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
That's how people interact with each other.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
And you know what, And that's that's what I wanted
to make clear. That's I want to make sure that
that was clear because a lot of people come at
me and it's like they ask me that I'm always
gonna protect the best interest of Penn State.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
That's that's me. That's all that's branded in my heart.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
That means I'm gonna protect the person that's leading our
team too, Like I don't.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
I'm not.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
It's kind of interesting because it forced me to think
about it just because how big the game was. But
it's like, I don't, like, why do I have to
sacrifice one? If anything, you should be protecting him just
like I'm protecting him. In my mind, that's how I
envision it, because you're the one that's leading us right,
So that's a whole other thing. I get off my
(17:55):
soapbox on it because there's some certain things that I
just feel like, community wise, we should always be pushing
towards the same direction, but.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Especially when ninety nine of the things are positive.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah, I hear you. I hear you.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
So staying on a positive note to finish it out,
how do we approach this Washington game?
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I know it's all oh.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
No, but by not talking about this other one that
you're the only person I'm still talking about this last
one Wednesday.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
I know that's what I had to answer. But we
got to move on and we got a flush.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
It's hard to do because when they leave the football building,
everybody else is still talking about it.
Speaker 4 (18:37):
We got to move on.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah, and that's that's like, that's that's it, like business
as usual, Like gotta get it done with Washington.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Like that's we gotta be one to oh this week.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
And if we do that, we still got a chance
to do everything we wanted to do in the beginning
of the season.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
So I need to know, man, hey, man, keep the
main thing, the main thing, that's all, you know what
I mean? You coach Frank uh you're a bad man,
that's all. Hold the course, hold the I see you
this weekend, all right.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
That was Coach.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Franklin, and well, we talked about it. We talked about
the heartbreaking laws, we talked about the interaction with with
the fans, we talked about what happened on the field,
and he's right, we gotta flush it and we got
to move on.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
That's Coach Franklin.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
You can hear it the whole entire deal at disrupt
You PSU dot com. Make sure you check it out
and go to disrupt you PSU on the social webs
as well, Instagram, uh, the X you know all of
those things. You can catch us there, and you can
catch me at King of the Mammals on Instagram and
(19:49):
LeVar Arrington at X. So we'll talk to you next
time next week. All right, y'all be good, y'all be well.
This was quite Franklin with the coach himself, James Franklin
and me.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
You're guy the Hall of Steamer Bafar Airringsoner. You're to
talk to you next time.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
H m hmm.
Host
LaVar Arrington
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