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James Franklin explains where Penn State has room to grow after ranked win over Illinois

On3 imageby:Andrew Graham•09/29/24•

AndrewEdGraham

NCAA Football: Illinois at Penn State
Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

It wasn’t pretty at times and it was far from perfect, but Penn State picked up a ranked, conference win over Illinois on Saturday night. And that alone was reason enough to be content.

And while he was certainly pleased with the outcome, Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin also knows his team still left plenty on the table in a 17-7 win. Speaking on the NBC/Peacock broadcast after the game, Franklin shared some spots the offense and defense could shape up as the heart of the Big Ten schedule arrives.

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“We’re getting better as an entire offense. Obviously Drew [Allar’s] doing some great things. We’ve gotta finish in the red zone. We’ve gotta do that on offense. Defense, we’ve gotta clean up the penalties. It’s making things harder than it needs to be,” Franklin said. “But this is a really good team, I’ve got a ton of respect for Illinois and Bret Bielema, good win for us.”

One area that continued to shine for Penn State on Saturday night was the ground game on offense. Running backs Kaytron Allen (102 yards, a touchdown) and Nicholas Singleton (94 yards, a touchdown) provided the bulk of the offensive punch.

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Franklin was highly complimentary of the two, along with tight end Tyler Warren, after the game.

“I can’t imagine there’s a combination of two backs that are better in the country, playing behind an offensive line and tight ends that are doing some great things,” Franklin said. “Then Ty Warren comes in, we’re able to use him in so many different ways. A lot of weapons, which is awesome.” 

Franklin also noted the defense came through clutch late in the first half, holding strong as Illinois had a goal-to-go series. After a series of negative plays and penalties for Illinois, the Penn State defense forced a 45-yard field goal attempt that missed to go into the half tied, 7-7.

“Gotten better each week,” Franklin said. “The players, the defensive staff. That was a huge play before the end of the half. Then we were able to come out like we talked about, because we deferred and scored in the second half, when we got the ball. So those were two big possessions.”