Everything Penn State coach James Franklin said at his final news conference of Oregon week

Penn State coach James Franklin held his final news conference of Oregon week on Wednesday night as his No. 3 Nittany Lions prepare to host the No. 6 Ducks at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday for a White Out game at Beaver Stadium. The first question he fielded requested an evaluation of the right side of the Lions line, where Anthony Donkoh is at right guard and Nolan Rucci at right tackle after they shared the role a year ago due to the former’s injury, after three games in 2025.

“Yeah, just building chemistry between those guys,” Franklin said. “Obviously, the beginning of the season, that was new. It’s not new anymore. They’re a veteran group, and we’ve got to approach it as such. Donkoh has obviously gotten a ton of work at guard. But those two are working together. I think just the communication, the footwork, all of it, I think they’re in a better place.

“I think Rucci also is getting back to playing how he was at the end of last season, which was at a really, really high level. So I think we’re in a much better place.”

You can read a full recap of everything else the Penn State coach was asked and answered below.

Is there more coming from the Penn State offense?

“Yeah, it’s a good question, but sometimes you guys ask me question that don’t make sense for me to answer based on our opponent watching everything we say, just like I do for them,” Franklin said. “So it’s a really good question, but it’s not in our best interest to answer that question, if that makes sense.”

How do players handle ticket requests and side quests for the White Out game from friends and family?

“Yeah, so that’s a lot of the stuff that we talk about during training camp and early in the season,” Franklin said. “That has to be part of their routine. I have a parents’ meeting. I talk to them about it. We have a parents meeting when we have family picture day in the stadium, team photo day. I talked to the parents about it as well. Everything we try to do is try to create a routine and also to try to find ways to eliminate distractions. That’s one of them.

“So by this week, I’m not saying people aren’t going to hit them up, but they should all have a routine about how their tickets are handled. And as you can imagine, there’s not a whole lot of tickets available. You know, who’s been getting their tickets the first three or four games is getting their tickets in this game. So for me to say it’s not a problem, there’s probably a few guys that it is a problem for. But this is something we’ve talked about a great deal about terms of your process and eliminating distractions.”

On Drew Allar’s growth from a mental standpoint in big games 

“We’ve talked about before,” Franklin said. “I think you can prepare all you want to be the quarterback at Penn State. And I’m not undervaluing, if that’s the right term, the preparation that they need to do to become the starting quarterback at Penn State. But the reality is, there’s an aspect that until you’re actually back there and dealing with everything that comes with it, it’s hard to totally prepare for that kind of thing.

“Like being a head coach, you can prepare and create all the manuals you want until you’re actually sitting in that chair. It’s different. So he has gotten better with all those things every single year. He’s always lived the position. He’s grown a lot. He shared some stories with the team about, maybe his freshman year being on social media, and he’s not all social media anymore. Like, all that stuff, it’s a distraction, and it’s not needed.”

How is Penn State emphasizing starting fast this week? 

“Yeah, not different than what we have in the past,” Franklin said. “We’ve talked about it. Make sure everybody understands that’s a big part of this game. And then we always start practice, I think you guys know, like, we’ll always start practice with some type of individual competition, whether it’s one on one routes, whether it’s one on one pass rush, whether it’s an angle tackle drill, and then we do some type of good on good period, whether it’s two minute, third down, red zone, whatever it may be, good on good, so we’re getting that speed work and that competition right from the beginning of practice. So that’s something that we always do, but we get better at it as the year goes on, as you can imagine.”

What’s so special about the White Out? 

“First of all, a normal game in Beaver Stadium is special, right? We are blessed and fortunate, and do not take for granted that we, on a consistent basis, we’ll get about 106,000 fans here,” Franklin said. “That number can go up a little bit, can go down a little bit, but we get great support week in and week out. Some programs would die to have 60,000, and we’re obviously way, way, way above that. Then, the White Out, like a lot of things, whether it’s Homecoming at a certain campus, or whatever it may be, there’s unique games. And this is something that was started, I think, about 20 years ago, and has taken off. And obviously there’s a lot of factors to go into it.

“I know FOX tried to argue that a 12 O’Clock White Out was the same as a seven o’clock White Out. I think people would disagree with that. So there have been factors that have impacted a little bit. But when you’re able to get a night game against an opponent like we do with the sky, the black sky, and the white uniforms and the white clad crowd, and the contrast of the dark uniforms, and just the anticipation and the buildup, the students sleeping outside the stadium all week, it’s just turned into a special event. And not just in football, but really in sports. If you’re a sports fan, this is like a bucket list thing that you need to attend, and obviously, it has a huge impact on all the restaurants, hotels, bars, and community. It’s a pretty hot ticket.”

On the play of Penn State tight end Luke Reynolds

“I would say we expected and anticipated Luke to play this way,” Franklin said. “He showed flashes of it last year. This spring, he did a great job. This summer camp, he did a great job. I think everybody felt like he’s a guy that has a chance to be a special player for us in the tight end room, also, obviously, Khalil Dinkins and [Andrew Rappleyea] as well. But Luke is shown to be a guy that’s going to make plays in critical moments. He’s a contested catch guy. He’s also a YAC guy.

“So, you know, coaches love guys that can take, ‘OK, the scheme or the route or the ball location got you 10 yards, OK, now, what can you do with it? Can you get 16? 20? Can you break tackles? Can you make people miss? Those types of things? So he’s one of those types of guys, and obviously he’s put himself in a position that, not only does he get attention from the teams we play, but he gets attention from the coaching staff in terms of how we build the game plans.”

Does this have a feel of a close game that could come down to one or two plays?

“I think all these type of games come down to four to six plays on offense, four to six plays on defense,” Franklin said. “You know, a special teams play. It’s usually going to come down to a touchdown, a one-score type game, a one-possession type game. So, yeah, I think it’s going to be similar.

“When you have two programs that have had the type of success that we’ve both had over the last couple of years, the way the programs are built, the way the programs are supported, the level of support that we get from the community, and the stadiums, all that kind of stuff; I expect this to be a four quarter battle that’s going to come down to the end of the game. And, I like how we’re preparing to handle the moment.”

On a fast start being about both controlling the game and also dealing with what the other team is doing and getting your stuff going

“I think that’s a really good way to describe it,” Franklin said. “It’s also typically your best stuff, right? Like, you come up with your game plan. And then you’ve taken your time and preparation to say, ‘Ok, what are our 12 best plays? Or, what are our best plays by down and distance situation, or field zone,?and that’s what you’re calling.

“There’s also an aspect where people will take the philosophy that they’re going to try to get into all their formations, so that we can see, are they defending the formations the way we expected them to defend them? And they’re doing the same on the other side of the ball. So it’s kind of a fine line and a balance between attacking with all your best stuff that you’ve had a week to get ready for, and it’s also, are they playing how we expected them to play? And sometimes they’re going to throw things out there as tendency breakers to make you second guess. But then, usually, most people, after they do that, they go right back to what they do best, right?

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“So there’s that little bit of a feeling out period to start the game. But I think everybody’s at their best when when you’re in attack mode. For us, I think for both sides of the ball, third down is going to play a big part of that. If our defense can get off the field on third down, it impacts the rhythm that their offense can get into. And the same thing for us.

“When you talk about being creative, you may have a bunch of cool plays. But if you don’t stay on the field; every time you get a first down, that’s three more plays, obviously. But it’s also a possibility for three more touches for your playmakers. So when, after the game, [the media is saying], ‘Well, how come this guy didn’t touch the ball or not, or how come this guy did touch the ball?’ Or whatever it is, that’s part of it as well.

“Getting in a rhythm, so you can call all your cool stuff. But also just [get] more opportunities by creating first downs.”